Jumping Alliances (Fair or Foul)

Marvel Puzzle Quest MPQ Alliances
1

As season 1 comes to close in a little bit more than a week, I wanted to ask for some advice about jumping alliances.

I started off in an alliance that was top 100, but people started to slack and not put any points in events, and we dropped, and were no longer getting covers consistently. I thought about leaving for a while because I really wanted covers and when one of the top achieving members left, I knew it was time for me to leave. I felt bad, and I still do a little bit, because i felt that was the alliance i was gonna stick with.

So I put myself out there in the alliance thread, and I actually got over 10 pms asking me to join their alliances, ranging from top 50, to top 2.

The problem i was having was should i try to join the highest alliance I could but have very little security with them being able to just kick me, or go to a top 25 that guaranteed me a safe place that if i was out of town for some reason, or something came up, to communicate, and i wouldnt be kicked.

I was grateful, but now more alliances have pmed me and these are some of the alliances I would never dream of joining because they are so active on the boards and have a high reputation.

Do i stick to my new alliance that i joined yesterday, or is it fair to possibly jump one more time?

I DO NOT wanna just jump from place to place. But to be in some of the alliances that have offered would be pretty insane to me.

I do see a lot more alliances(top ones) opening a spot due to lack of performance or people burning out, so i see more possibilities now more than ever to jump to different alliances.

I need a voice of reason

All opinions welcome and asked for!

2

a alliance is a group of likeminded people and if you think that your needs are not met then you should see to find a group you fit in

3

I agree, get with a group that’s top 50 and that you enjoy. I think if you’re putting the time in and your alliance is slacking then there’s no shame in wanting to leave a sub 100 alliance.

If you just joined an alliance, it’d be kinda lame to leave them already but they’ll get over it and ultimately you want to be where you’ll enjoy yourself the most

4

I think it’s not unreasonable that you join the alliance that you most “philosophically” and competitively align with. As for alliance hopping, my suggestion (and it’s only a suggestion) is to communicate and avoid leaving right before an event ends. That’ll give alliances time to fill your vacancy. After all, you have a reputation to protect and leaving on good terms helps maintain that reputation. Who knows, one day, we’ll need to do reference checks during the recruitment process and you’ll want your former alliance/employer to leave a great letter of recommendation.

Boy, I’m getting this mixed up with real life.

5

If I was in your position, I would try to get with alliance that’s more “safe”, with people who play like you and have similar views - if it’s less competitive than you, then you will feel like you’re pulling more eight than others, if it’s more competitive than your average, then you will fall behind and feel like you’re deadweight. Not to mention about being kicked out due to “underperformance” - you wouldn’t want to be burned out just by trying to jump over your head. After all, top 5 and top 25 is not so different for alliances (with exception of bragging rights).

6

Pretty much reiterating what everybody else is saying, join the alliance that you think fits best for your playstyle.

From the scores I randomly see you get out there, you seem to score pretty high…if that’s something that you really want to do all of the time because of your high degree of competitiveness, then by all means join the hardcore alliance. While there’s certainly a little bit more pressure in such a situation, if you find those types of things fun, then go for it.

For 99% of people, though, it’s almost never worth the additional pressure. I think you’ll find the best alliance you can find is one that communicates well and that you enjoy talking to.

7

I left an alliance where I paid my way in but I was seeing my score make up a tenth of the score. Because everyone was a commander and you had to pay your way in, there was no way to kick the inactives and I didn’t like that. So I (like a douche) jumped ship, with little notification, when I saw an opening at Olympus (then a top 10 alliance). But because I had grown relationships and also pumped money into the other alliance, plus I started to have second thoughts, I felt bad and asked if they’d let me back in. When they said no I felt I had made the right decision. Now after having left Olympus because of the same thing, inactive commanders, I decided to front the bill for an alliance named stealth. Its been great. We’ve gotten several guys who have been in that situation of being in a less competitive alliance looking for a top alliance. We have started placing top 10 almost every pvp and we have fun at the same time. As we have gotten higher I have started regularly receiving pms from interested players and also pms from my fellow alliance mates looking for a spot for some on they know. While I don’t think alliance jumping should be encouraged I think you need to find that place where you will have fun. That’s the problem with this game: to many people have started putting pressure on themselves to place well for their alliance and they burn out. Something I stress to my players is don’t push yourselves to where it’s no longer fun. Well I’ll get off my soapbox now but if your like me and just jump to the end the message is this: don’t be a douche and have fun in this game icon_e_smile.gif

8

It was only a short time ago buying your slot to get into one of the coveted 20 person alliances was the way to go.
That is no longer worth all that much and those telling their success stories buy entire alliances so they have the control to recruit the most active players.
The patched together ~everyone bought their slot and has too many commanders~ alliances start to suffer from people going inactive, burning out and can no longer get top 100 rewards. The top performers in these alliances will likely jump ship eventually for greener pastures and will fall even further down the rankings.

This progression is fair, even natural. But it is rather demoralizing to watch in action…

9

As a longtime observer of the alliance landscape, here’s my completely unbiased opinion: jumping alliances used to be very fair icon_e_biggrin.gif
, now it is clearly foul. icon_evil.gif

P.S. - Welcome to DjangoUnbuffed.

10

Uncannymugs are open for 1 new member
The slot is already open and the reason is inactivity by members, we do not tend to kick members but 300 score per Versus isn’t acceptable
We are an alliance that regularly reach top 35 on alliance rank without much issues on Versus and top 20 on long events

We look only for strong members now, versus players particularly with a Season 1 around 6k, full 3* roster is a basic requirement
6k would be mid alliance score so don’t apply with less than it, nothing personal but we need to reinforce our current ranks

We don’t demand much, just an active player that can support the alliance

Even with inactive members we were top 50-60 on Season 1 but we don’t to give advantage so if you meet the requirement and want a Fury cover feel free to apply and mention it here
we will pick the best ones that identified themselves

Thanks!

Send an invite to uncannymugs so we can review your roster.

PS. Even though we will need all commanders to approve, our selection will be in time to receive the top gun alliance reward.
josly
S.H.I.E.L.D. Trainee

Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:03 am

11

I jumped Alliances this week-end too, and my story is about the same as yours.

This game is becoming very competitive, and some guys like it. The credo here is : the more, the better, the most, the best.

I joined Ten Rings in the beginning of the week-end, and left quickly because results were unbalanced between PVE (excellent) and PVP (average). They were cool and I had to leave quickly as the new Alliance recruiter needed someone to make a quick decision.

My strategy is to build an excellent roster so as to be competitive in the long run. So far so good. I underperform in PVP because I lack the “good ones” (spidey, Thor and BP can’t be levelled up anymore because important cover colours are missing) and perform very well in PVE because I nearly have all chars maxed out (28/39).

So, this is my 4th Alliance in 6 weeks, hope that number remains the same for awhile.

I learnt a lot about Alliances this week-end, and I am very proud to be part of one of the Top 5 Alliances in Season 1. Can’t wait to get the missing covers to help them more. That will be for Season 2 icon_e_smile.gif

12

Looks like you joined Django, which I think was a pretty good choice. They seem like a pretty fun group with a lot of high scorers (like yourself), without the must win at all costs attitude. Good luck!

13

“Pretty good”? “Pretty fun”?! icon_mad.gif
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Consider yourself uninvited from the triannual Django soirave. No teacup poodle pyramids or Vomit Comet mosh pits for you. icon_evil.gif

14

Ditto what HailMary said, whatever that was.

15

Ouch! icon_e_wink.gif
Average is a little harsh for a Top 20 alliance. But good luck with your new alliance.

16

I left quickly and as I did not know the guys much, did not take the time to explain. Sorry for that.

I was taken into a Whirlwind for some hours. Fortunately you found a good replacement quickly (I checked).

You still rock on the PvE icon_e_smile.gif

17

Call me complaicent, but I’d say it is better to stay put in an alliance you are happy in than to constantly chase the bigger better thing.

I left my first alliance because it was a very small one where I was putting up an inordinate amount of the points.

I’m currently in a borderline top-100 alliance which I’m fairly happy with, though I wish at times we could do a bit better.

I’m vaguely interested in an alliance with a little more security with regards to prizes (3* covers, Fury for season reward, etc.), but I don’t want to risk ending up in a high-stress situation that drives me from the game when I’m fairly happy putting in effort where I am, being a big fish in a small pond.

18

Pretty sure the alliance you jumped from was mine. No hard feelings, people leave all the time, and as we’re a top 10/15/20 or whatever alliance, there’s plenty of people. So I don’t mind, the rest of the team was a little confused but it wasn’t that big of a deal.

To make a parallel with the working world though (and no, MPQ is not a career so the metaphor is a extremely exaggerated): my brother graduated college 5 years ago. He held his first job for one year, his second for one year, his third for six months, his fourth for two years and is now on job number five. Employers view him as a “flight risk.”

When I’m hiring people at my company, I look at job history to ensure the person will not get the name of my company stamped on his/her resume and bolt for “greener pastures” because, in most businesses, the learning curve is steep and employers lose money on employees until a certain point is reached. I would never hire my brother. Offer him a $10k signing bonus or a 10% raise and BAM, he’s gone. But he’s closing doors on opportunities to where if he finds he’s truly unhappy with the one he is, he’s eventually not going to be able to leave.

So my advice: it’s a freaking game. It was a game, is a game, and will always be a game, and anyone who thinks otherwise takes life too seriously. Jump alliances all you want…play turncoat for alliance A and join alliance B, only to switch back with 5 minutes to go and screw everyone’s scores up. Spy on alliances, create double-accounts and whatever else floats your boat. Just don’t do it in the real world!

19

Wow. We have had exactly one membership change in our entire run. I guess that’s why we’re perennially just under top 2! icon_razz.gif

Bet we have more fun, though.