Marvel Avengers Alliance 6-4-12 Update and Editorial Notes
It is important to keep up with the latest updates if you want to continue to lead in an online game. In this post, we will go over these changes and give our comments about what to expect in the future. If you have found these commentaries helpful, please check out the rest of our Marvel Avengers Alliance guides.
Source: Playdom Marvel Avengers Alliance Forum
Heavy Ion Beam Changes
Recently there were changes to the damage done by the Heavy Ion Beam. These changes were accidental. It was not our intention to reduce the power of this weapon. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. We have returned the Heavy Ion Beam back to its previous stats.
In light of this, we have identified issues with the damage range of this weapon. It was not our intention to release a weapon that deals full damage and causes a potent damage over time effect as a quick action.
We do not want players to worry that we are going to change weapons after they purchase them. It’s not our intention to make frequent changes to existing items. However, if we discover that an item, character, or move is too powerful, it can threaten the fun of the community at large. In this case, we have no choice but to rebalance it in a way that is fair for everyone.
We are still investigating the power of the Heavy Ion Beam, and if we find it is too powerful, we will implement a solution that will be fair to both high and low level players. With the new “Customized Weapon” technology this is now possible.
Heavy Ion Beam’s power and damage had been adjusted and been tested over the past few days. Check out our short guide for Heavy Ion Beam. It’s a part of the game for weapons to become updated and rebalanced.
Coulson’s Revenge and Ignore Defense in PVP
We are aware of concerns that the damage of the Coulson’s Revenge is too high. While the weapon does deal a large amount of damage, the drawback is the weapon’s exceptionally long cooldown, not unlike War Machine’s Minigun Barrage. We are investigating these reports, and we appreciate that players take the time to bring up their concerns on the forums. However, at this point we have no intention of changing the current functionality of the Coulson’s Revenge.
We have also received reports from players getting killed in one shot in PVP with the Coulson’s Revenge. This is not our design intention. We have identified that the cause of this is the “Ignore Defense” property of the weapon. There are known issues concerning Ignore Defense dealing too much damage in PVP, not just with the Coulson’s Revenge, but other attacks such as War Machine’s Blade Punch. We think we have a solution to this issue and plan to include it in an upcoming patch. We appreciate your patience as we get this fix out as quickly as possible.
We look forward to the updated solution for the ignore defense, at the point of writing the Ignore Defense ability is a bit overpowered in certain situations
Limited Edition Items and Avengers Costumes
We are aware some players are concerned about the “limited” nature of Limited Edition items due to the recent re-release of the Avengers movie costumes for characters that have already expired. We understand the prestige players feel for owning these limited items and the amount of time and effort put into acquiring them.
Many new players have come to Marvel: Avengers Alliance after the success of the Avengers movie. We have also launched internationally, bringing in many new players that were not around for the early part of the sale when Hawkeye and Black Widow were still available. We also had difficulties clearly communicating the value of the costumes to players. To address this, we created a video highlighting the gameplay effects of “Coordinated Attack” and “Cooperative Defense,” which gave out one gold to players who watched it over the weekend. We hope that these efforts can help reach more players before these uniforms are no longer available.
When an item is released as Limited Edition, it means that the item in question will only be available for a limited amount of time. We currently do not have any sort of digital stock or quantity-limited items. If a player fails to acquire the item in the time specified, that chance to get the item will be lost and there is no guarantee when the player will have another chance, or if the item will ever become available again at all.
The bottom line is that you should always try to get everything possible while these limited items are available. Although the chances are that they will be released some time down the line with cheaper prices. But you are really buying the premium of having the collection and power before the rest of the player base.
Difficulty of Spec Ops and Mockingbird availability
We admit that the first Special Operation did not go perfectly. This is a new way of delivering content for us, and we are learning a lot from the experience. Players feel that the fights are too challenging, or that the scores required are unattainable in the available time.
We recognize that the nature of the fights and encounter design ended up too difficult for some players, which led to lower combat scores and mission scores, thus making it even harder to acquire Mockingbird. While Mockingbird is supposed to be an achievement for those who perform well and invest the time to earn the mastery, we feel the current challenge bar is set too high.
As a result, we are scaling back the difficulty and requirements on the current Spec Op to make Mockingbird more accessible. We have learned much from this first Spec Op and will use these lessons to increase future rewards and make them more fun. We have no plans to re-release this Spec Op after the time expires, so those interested in maxing their mastery or finding a rare reward from one of the bosses should do their best to do so now.
These Spec Op changes are coming very soon. Stay tuned and thank you again for your patience.
Check out our Special Ops guide on how to succeed in beating them. With the difficulty adjustment, you will have an even easier time of beating the Special Op missions and acquire Mocking Bird.