Release Notes

Marvel Puzzle Quest MPQ General Discussion
1

Should release notes be a lot more forthcoming and comprehensive especially for things like a full rebalancing across the board and purchasing methods?

The two most recent changes really are changing the way the game plays in the biggest way since true healing and the lack of prior communication before making these changes is quite shocking. I know games designers or publishers are under no legal obligation to announce any changes but the better ones do so in good faith to garner good customer relations.

Feedback for planned changes is good as it allows many people to maybe forsee issues that a core group of employees may miss and even if the developers and or publishers decide to ignore it a simple “We thank you for your feedback, however the changes are going ahead as planned.”

I know and realise that D3Go! like a certain air of mystery but there are ways of engaging the community without giving too much away.

2

[spoiler]Poppy

General

Title changed to the KEEPER OF THE HAMMER from the IRON AMBASSADOR.
Complete visual upgrade across all skins: PoppySquare.png Classic Poppy [S|L], PoppySquare.png Noxus Poppy [S|L], PoppySquare.png Blacksmith Poppy [S|L], PoppySquare.png Lollipoppy [S|L], PoppySquare.png Ragdoll Poppy [S|L], PoppySquare.png Battle Regalia Poppy [S|L] and PoppySquare.png Scarlet Hammer Poppy [S|L].
New voice over.
New artwork for all skins.
Complete gameplay rework.
New ability icons.

Iron Ambassador.png Iron Ambassador (Innate)
PASSIVE: Every 18 / 14 / 10 seconds, Poppy’s next basic attack gains 400 range (525 total range), hurling her Buckler at her target dealing 20 - 190 (based on level) bonus magic damage. The Buckler ricochets off the target to land on the floor nearby and can be picked up within the next 5 seconds, granting Poppy a (+15% maximum health) shield for 4 / 5 / 6 seconds. Enemies can step on the Buckler to destroy it. If Iron Ambassador kills the target, the Buckler will ricochet directly to Poppy instead of falling to the ground.

Hammer Shock.png Hammer Shock (Q)
ACTIVE: Poppy slams the ground, dealing 30 / 65 / 100 / 135 / 170 (+65% bonus AD) (+6% target’s maximum health) physical damage and cracking the ground, slowing enemies in the area by 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%. After 1 second, the ground erupts dealing the same damage again. Hammer Shock deals only 80% damage to minions.
Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds
Cost: 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 mana

Steadfast Presence.png Steadfast Presence (W)
PASSIVE: Poppy’s total armor and magic resistance are increased by 12%, increased to 24% while below 40% of her maximum health.
ACTIVE: Poppy gains 27 / 29 / 31 / 33 / 35% bonus movement speed and creates an perimeter around herself for the next 2.5 seconds. Enemies who attempt to dash into or within the area Airborne icon knocked down and take 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 / 230 (+70% AP) magic damage.
Cooldown: 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 seconds
Cost: 50 mana

Heroic Charge.png Heroic Charge (E)
Damage type changed to physical from magical.
Charge damage changed to 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 / 130 (+ 50% bonus AD) from 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+ 40% AP).
Impact damage changed to 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 / 130 (+ 50% bonus AD) from 75 / 125 / 175 / 225 / 275 (+40% AP).
Stun duration increased to 1.6 / 1.7 / 1.8 / 1.9 / 2 seconds from 1.5 at all ranks.
Cost changed to 70 mana at all ranks from 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80.

Keeper’s Verdict.png Keeper’s Verdict (R)
FIRST CAST: Poppy begins charging, increasing the smash range and knockback distance of Keeper’s Verdict over the next ~2 seconds. Poppy is slowed by 15% while charging. After 4 seconds, Keeper’s Verdict is cancelled and the cooldown is refunded by 75%.
SECOND CAST: Poppy smashes the ground, sending out a fissure in the target direction that deals 200 / 300 / 400 (+90% bonus AD) physical damage to every non-champion it passes through. When the fissure collides with an enemy champion, a massive hammer erupts from the ground, dealing the same physical damage to all enemies in a tiny area and Airborne icon knocking all enemy champions hit an enormous distance towards their Summoning Platform. Enemies are untargetable while they are being knocked away.
Cooldown: 140 / 120 / 100 seconds
Cost: 100 mana[/spoiler]

This is how you properly patch note. This is just one character that was reworked/rebalanced. Old values, new values, and all other details clearly stated. Full notes here http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/V5.24

On top of a patch preview video shown here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaFtDj42WGk

What a huge difference from “- Coming Soon: Champion Levels game mechanic breathes life into old & new favorites!”

3

If there is one thing I am 100% sure of in MPQ it is this group of developers at Demiurge hate communicating. The examples of bad or no communication versus the times they got out in front of something is all the data you need.
Been this way for over two years and I don’t it will change no matter how much we ask.

4

There’s a reason that the only red name who’s done junk since IceIX left was a redname representing the publisher.

I can imagine why there’d be issues communicating when it came to like, trying to express intent or desire or something: You’re going to get people here trying to debate it and tell you how wrong you are and have you ever gotten into an argument on the internet? Nobody is happy, and everything sucks.

But when it comes to like, bigger things like across-the-board match damage rebalances… I agree it should be explained MORE, like, if not a total chart of match damage at every level, at least a rough graph of damage comparisons along all characters or something…

5

The thing is, the guys at Demiurge used to do a really good job with explaining the upcoming changes and detailing out everything. Look back at the announcement for the changes to IW, Elektra, XFW, Beast, Doc Ock and She-Hulk, along with all the health buffs and ISO-8 level changes that occurred way back in April 2015. Demiurge_Miles did an awesome job laying out all the changes in advance, detailed out exactly like the release notes Ruinate is quoting above from League of Legends.

Later that month, Demiurge_Miles posted another detailed list of changes, laying out all 3-stars returning to token packs, the weekly buffed characters and the 3-, 4- or 7-day PvE schedule.

The next month, Demiurge_Will posted a notice on the PvP scoring changes.

Since that time (May 2015), we have very, very rarely personally seen either Miles or Will here on the forums. IceIX filled in the communication role, until he left last month. We still see Will and Miles in the (occasional) community video updates, but we greatly miss their personal presence here in the forums.

What will it take to get the Demiurge crew back here to communicate with us directly? Do they need anything? Cookies? Cupcakes?

6

Exactly this. Communication used to be good. Then suddenly it dropped off the face of the earth.

7

Apparently Cthulu is getting up to speed on everything that’s happening and once he does we can expect IceIX’s levels of interaction from him/her. I do agree that it would be nice to hear again from the devs themselves but I’m afraid that their disappearance from the forums coincided with a huge wave of extremely caustic reactions to the changes introduced back then (most of which, in hindsight, ended being positive). I’m guessing that for their own peace of mind, they have sworn off the forums now.

8

IceIX wasn’t interacting that much lately either. Some time shortly after the changes to Thor/Xforce, forum communication from the developers shut down, even with IceIX here. They started posting the monthly videos, which were nice, but they stopped answering questions on a regular basis and discussing the reasoning behind the changes they were making and their aims for the game.

9

Is there an open spot at Demiurge for a Community Relations Managers? I would love to know.

10

Couldn’t agree more. In fact, if I were a red name, I’d make a point to stay off the forums but for a couple times a week.

The XFW/4hor changes weren’t even the tip of the iceberg as it turns out. Forget about a single meltdown on the forums…it’s been constant! It always takes a different form (true healing! nerfs! server crash! Ultron! GALACTUS! anniversary! new tiers! new characters! stupid characters!), but the result is always the same. It is incendiary, vitriolic rioting on the forums. And it doesn’t stop. I’ve never seen it stop. It’s a tinykitty minefield.

I’ve read plenty of “rage-quit” retirement threads, and that’s not a huge deal. But it’s escalated. I can’t even believe this, but since the Galactus event I’ve read more than one call for people to lose their jobs. That floors me. It’s exemplary of a basic lack of compassion. I can’t say the publisher is blameless - who doesn’t want more and better communication? I definitely do - but I bet it’s pretty hard to get excited about communicating to a group of readers partially comprised of folks that actively want you to be replaced.

I imagine the developers, product managers, etc. work a ton of hours to put together major events. If I were in charge over there and I read the forums after one of these events, I’d consider pulling the plug on the forums altogether.