Best Of

Let me share my perspective on why I've started to become disillusioned with the game and where it is headed.

Rewinding back to a bit over a month ago, I had 3 r4s that I managed to get by putting in some effort and completing content (9.2, epoch, gauntlet, etc.), and it was all done f2p. For comparison, most youtubers were ahead of me by 2-3 r4s, which was fair considering they played higher tier AW, BGs, and spent on the poolshield/hof event. They still had way bigger r3 rosters and access to champs I couldn't get as a f2p, but I was fine with that gap.

I was never competing with these guys on the same level, but it felt I was following them close behind. So whenever a new piece of content came up, I felt like I could hop in together with them and a lot of the community in the forum/discord. It felt like joint effort where we're all trying to get those quests done, open those rewards, and share what we got.

Then, this sale event rolls around and overnight a lot of these guys effectively doubled the size of their r4 rosters. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame them for spending. That's their business. I understand they need to stay competitive at the top and that they have the means to be able to spend on this game. That said, how easily they were able to just double their r4s doesn't set a great precedent for future events imo. Kabam sold nearly double the amount of r4s in this event than what is available for f2p players to obtain. Then you consider all the other sale events left in the year, the eidol champs, new relics, plat tracks, and all the old guard 6*s yet to move up to 7*s like hulkling, doom, cgr, kitty, etc. It just seems like a lot, I got left behind in what feels like an instant and it has killed my enthusiasm for upcoming content and events.

You are living under a Rock with how dense some of these takes are @GroundedWisdom

I am f2p but I still maxed both of the unit deals for July 4th and Cyber Monday of last year in return I got Kraven and weapon x two Champions that are not doing anything for me.

At this time those gated champions were not that much of a must-have weaponx was pretty decent at one point but by no means was anybody missing out by not having him

But now we have human torch which is one of the best science Champs you can see the change in Direction going from the Champs I listed above to a top science champ. This is infact monetization

People are fine with the whales getting advantages in rank up materials shards Crystal selectors but when the champions are not obtainable by any other means then it raises the eyebrow

More to the point, it's a business. There's no such thing as too much. We can still play for free if we choose.

There absolutely is such thing as too much. The aggressive push for 600 dollars every 2-3 months is too much when you compare it to doing that only 2 times a year.

Too much for who?
For people who think they must buy everything, perhaps.
For a company who is trying to keep the lights on, not at all.
No one is forcing anyone to buy these. If it's too much for us personally, we're free to pass. The fact that people are still offended with EVERY Offer this game releases almost 11 years later is crazy to me. They're a business. They're going to try and make money.

When even the mega whales who buy everything says its becoming too aggressive and predatory, then something is obviously wrong. Just cause you either refuse or fail to see that doesn't make it any less true.

Predatory is a ridiculous word for a mobile game that offers optional sales.

I don’t have a particular opinion on the sales, hence my lack of comment, but this is just blatantly wrong. “Predatory” has been standard language used to describe all sort of gacha mobile game tactics designed to trick people into spending money, we’ve had literal legislation written because of it. We have drop rates on crystals because of this. Again, I make no comment on whether such language deserves to be applied here to MCOC but this feels like a ridiculous claim to make given the very real specter that hangs around similar games.

You can call it what you want. I don't agree. No one is being tricked into anything.

Gonna be real, this is the comment that makes me finally agree with everyone that you’re loony.

Predatory has never been a term that requires force or even strict coercion in anything but the literal predator/prey sense. Predatory lenders don’t force anyone to accept their loans. Predatory behavior doesn’t need to involve literal coercion, many victims engage willingly. It just means you’re preying on people in some way, often in a deceitful manner. Literally every industry engages in this sort of thing, intensive research into human psychology to figure out how to make people do what you want without them realizing there’s anything suspicious going on. The video game industry is no different, microtransactions and lootboxes especially. The idea that either these sort of things don’t exist or that it’s just a skill issue on consumer’s part is so offensive and divorced from reality that it’s kinda staggering.

And because you seem to really want to defend MCOC, I will restate from my original comment that I’m speaking generally and make no claims as to whether MCOC is predatory. I just find your apparent take that predatory tactics don’t exist or don’t matter to be fundamentally appalling. The human brain is a weird thing, and expecting that people just know how to avoid any and all ways that it can be taken advantage of is just myopic. People don’t work like that.

You can write as many paragraphs as you want, but I do not agree that the game is predatory. That kind of strong ideology for a game that is designed to entice people to enjoy it and play has never sat well with me, and I will never agree to that. You'd have a great time with the gambling debate with me. I disagree. Feel free to form whatever opinions you want. No one would play the game at all if it wasn't designed to appeal to people. That's much less nefarious than some people assert.

A lot of comments here from you about how you’re reading everything people are saying and just simply disagree, but saying that I can’t claim MCOC is predatory despite doing my damndest to emphasize I don’t have any opinion on MCOC being predatory seems to indicate otherwise.

It's not predatory. Sorry, disagree.

Bro why don't you break a take somedays. We all can see over the years you have gotton many legit innocent players banned because of your constant bootlicking and enraging them, someone here said above that you are the CEO OF KABAM and I think you might not be but still connected to it.
Also Seatin posted a video how Kabam has totally sucked the fun out of this game by paywalling torch that wasn't A MONETIZED champs before like Weapon X or Thanos or OG vision nothing like that. Community loved him so Kabam thought let's sell him, everybody already can see they gonna do this to CGR or hulkling etc. if the PLAYER with highest subscriber in MCOC said he won't spend a dime EVEN WHEN HE HAS 40000 units in stash from previous sales on this J4 then there's something deeply wrong with the recent Kabam aggressive money extraction mission which they have started like how if a man eater tiger gets the taste for human blood and yes it is all PREDATORY.😆
Here's the link to his video and read the comments, AGAIN HE IS THE HIGHEST SUBS based MCOC commentator you cannot ignore him and by you I mean KABAM

https://youtu.be/sMcICpplgo4?si=HeCcX74fTtinZHdq

More to the point, it's a business. There's no such thing as too much. We can still play for free if we choose.

There absolutely is such thing as too much. The aggressive push for 600 dollars every 2-3 months is too much when you compare it to doing that only 2 times a year.

Too much for who?
For people who think they must buy everything, perhaps.
For a company who is trying to keep the lights on, not at all.
No one is forcing anyone to buy these. If it's too much for us personally, we're free to pass. The fact that people are still offended with EVERY Offer this game releases almost 11 years later is crazy to me. They're a business. They're going to try and make money.

When even the mega whales who buy everything says its becoming too aggressive and predatory, then something is obviously wrong. Just cause you either refuse or fail to see that doesn't make it any less true.

Predatory is a ridiculous word for a mobile game that offers optional sales.

I don’t have a particular opinion on the sales, hence my lack of comment, but this is just blatantly wrong. “Predatory” has been standard language used to describe all sort of gacha mobile game tactics designed to trick people into spending money, we’ve had literal legislation written because of it. We have drop rates on crystals because of this. Again, I make no comment on whether such language deserves to be applied here to MCOC but this feels like a ridiculous claim to make given the very real specter that hangs around similar games.

You can call it what you want. I don't agree. No one is being tricked into anything. Also, I was around when the Drop Rates were posted. I don't need a lesson on that.
*also worth noting that there exists no such law. The Drop Rates were posted because they were required by the platforms MCOC has partnered with, and they honored that.

you're not really listening.

the game is losing some of it's magic, whether you spend $6k a year or $2k the experience is the same, nothing really matters and it feels like we're sleep-walking into the next rarity wondering what's the point. this time next year they could announce 8*s for release in summer 2027 and it feels empty. how will 8*s be any different than what they're currently doing?

I listened. I also said I respect that you feel that way, and I'm sure others do as well.
The topic is about how much monetization is too much, and that's what I'm addressing. There is no such thing as too much in a game that makes it optional. For literal years, they've been saying that not all offers are for everyone. That's not just a blanket statement, that's literal. Also, monetizing less isn't going to help the game be less stale.
Now, if someone had an issue with the newest shiniest things always being too expensive, that I could see. I don't have any control over that, but I get it. What I take issue with is the idea that they're monetizing too much in general because that's just asinine. They're a business. They need to do business things. Businesses are a lot like Hollywood movies. If something has a modicum of success, they'll keep doing it until it stops working.

Doesn’t sustainability matter? At some point, if you burn out your user base, you lose your consumers, and the game is dead anyways.

This is just a conversation to point out maybe this path forward of maximizing short term gains may not be good for long term success, as this event used to be exciting… this year it just felt stale and overly aggressive. Based on the reaction from this segment it’s not fun anymore, and I’d wager a bet that this sentiment is probably true throughout the highly engaged segment of the community.

I doubt creator videos about Crystal openings do as well as they used too. Because if there’s always a Crystal event it’s really not interesting.

Sometimes people burn out. That's nothing new. Based on your original post, it sounds like you're just over the game in general. It happens. That doesn't mean you speak for the entire community.

I don’t think I’ve claimed that, just sharing the overwhelming sentiment I’ve seen in every communication channel I’m a part of. But you and I’ve done this dance where you straw man and misrepresent concerns and you argue against things that were never said more than once. Not surprised we disagree at all, and not interested in another dance.

I've seen you in countless discussions and my statement about you being over the game comes from the fact that you seem to have a complaint at every turn. The communication channels make up a small percentage of the Players. The fact is, people have complained about every single Offer they've ever made. Half the time, the irony is that it's people who have no intentions of buying it to begin with. Have prices gone up? Sure. So has the rest of the world. The only thing I can respond to is what you post, and it reads more of a cynical vent that the game is selling more often than they used to. Which doesn't matter to people who don't want to pay it.

Just trying to balance the scales with the irrational protectionism offered by others here. Cant all be good “yes men”, some of us try to offer constructive criticisms.

More to the point, it's a business. There's no such thing as too much. We can still play for free if we choose.

There absolutely is such thing as too much. The aggressive push for 600 dollars every 2-3 months is too much when you compare it to doing that only 2 times a year.

Too much for who?
For people who think they must buy everything, perhaps.
For a company who is trying to keep the lights on, not at all.
No one is forcing anyone to buy these. If it's too much for us personally, we're free to pass. The fact that people are still offended with EVERY Offer this game releases almost 11 years later is crazy to me. They're a business. They're going to try and make money.

When even the mega whales who buy everything says its becoming too aggressive and predatory, then something is obviously wrong. Just cause you either refuse or fail to see that doesn't make it any less true.

Predatory is a ridiculous word for a mobile game that offers optional sales.

I don’t have a particular opinion on the sales, hence my lack of comment, but this is just blatantly wrong. “Predatory” has been standard language used to describe all sort of gacha mobile game tactics designed to trick people into spending money, we’ve had literal legislation written because of it. We have drop rates on crystals because of this. Again, I make no comment on whether such language deserves to be applied here to MCOC but this feels like a ridiculous claim to make given the very real specter that hangs around similar games.

You can call it what you want. I don't agree. No one is being tricked into anything.

Gonna be real, this is the comment that makes me finally agree with everyone that you’re loony.

Predatory has never been a term that requires force or even strict coercion in anything but the literal predator/prey sense. Predatory lenders don’t force anyone to accept their loans. Predatory behavior doesn’t need to involve literal coercion, many victims engage willingly. It just means you’re preying on people in some way, often in a deceitful manner. Literally every industry engages in this sort of thing, intensive research into human psychology to figure out how to make people do what you want without them realizing there’s anything suspicious going on. The video game industry is no different, microtransactions and lootboxes especially. The idea that either these sort of things don’t exist or that it’s just a skill issue on consumer’s part is so offensive and divorced from reality that it’s kinda staggering.

And because you seem to really want to defend MCOC, I will restate from my original comment that I’m speaking generally and make no claims as to whether MCOC is predatory. I just find your apparent take that predatory tactics don’t exist or don’t matter to be fundamentally appalling. The human brain is a weird thing, and expecting that people just know how to avoid any and all ways that it can be taken advantage of is just myopic. People don’t work like that.

You can write as many paragraphs as you want, but I do not agree that the game is predatory. That kind of strong ideology for a game that is designed to entice people to enjoy it and play has never sat well with me, and I will never agree to that. You'd have a great time with the gambling debate with me. I disagree. Feel free to form whatever opinions you want. No one would play the game at all if it wasn't designed to appeal to people. That's much less nefarious than some people assert.

A lot of comments here from you about how you’re reading everything people are saying and just simply disagree, but saying that I can’t claim MCOC is predatory despite doing my damndest to emphasize I don’t have any opinion on MCOC being predatory seems to indicate otherwise.

Just stop responding to him dude
I have been around the forums for 2-ish years and GW is the biggest kabam sucker I have seen

I've been here the full 10 years, started posted in 2018. He hasn't changed the entire time lol.

More to the point, it's a business. There's no such thing as too much. We can still play for free if we choose.

There absolutely is such thing as too much. The aggressive push for 600 dollars every 2-3 months is too much when you compare it to doing that only 2 times a year.

Too much for who?
For people who think they must buy everything, perhaps.
For a company who is trying to keep the lights on, not at all.
No one is forcing anyone to buy these. If it's too much for us personally, we're free to pass. The fact that people are still offended with EVERY Offer this game releases almost 11 years later is crazy to me. They're a business. They're going to try and make money.

When even the mega whales who buy everything says its becoming too aggressive and predatory, then something is obviously wrong. Just cause you either refuse or fail to see that doesn't make it any less true.

Predatory is a ridiculous word for a mobile game that offers optional sales.

I don’t have a particular opinion on the sales, hence my lack of comment, but this is just blatantly wrong. “Predatory” has been standard language used to describe all sort of gacha mobile game tactics designed to trick people into spending money, we’ve had literal legislation written because of it. We have drop rates on crystals because of this. Again, I make no comment on whether such language deserves to be applied here to MCOC but this feels like a ridiculous claim to make given the very real specter that hangs around similar games.

You can call it what you want. I don't agree. No one is being tricked into anything.

Gonna be real, this is the comment that makes me finally agree with everyone that you’re loony.

Predatory has never been a term that requires force or even strict coercion in anything but the literal predator/prey sense. Predatory lenders don’t force anyone to accept their loans. Predatory behavior doesn’t need to involve literal coercion, many victims engage willingly. It just means you’re preying on people in some way, often in a deceitful manner. Literally every industry engages in this sort of thing, intensive research into human psychology to figure out how to make people do what you want without them realizing there’s anything suspicious going on. The video game industry is no different, microtransactions and lootboxes especially. The idea that either these sort of things don’t exist or that it’s just a skill issue on consumer’s part is so offensive and divorced from reality that it’s kinda staggering.

And because you seem to really want to defend MCOC, I will restate from my original comment that I’m speaking generally and make no claims as to whether MCOC is predatory. I just find your apparent take that predatory tactics don’t exist or don’t matter to be fundamentally appalling. The human brain is a weird thing, and expecting that people just know how to avoid any and all ways that it can be taken advantage of is just myopic. People don’t work like that.

You can write as many paragraphs as you want, but I do not agree that the game is predatory. That kind of strong ideology for a game that is designed to entice people to enjoy it and play has never sat well with me, and I will never agree to that. You'd have a great time with the gambling debate with me. I disagree. Feel free to form whatever opinions you want. No one would play the game at all if it wasn't designed to appeal to people. That's much less nefarious than some people assert.

A lot of comments here from you about how you’re reading everything people are saying and just simply disagree, but saying that I can’t claim MCOC is predatory despite doing my damndest to emphasize I don’t have any opinion on MCOC being predatory seems to indicate otherwise.

Just stop responding to him dude
I have been around the forums for 2-ish years and GW is the biggest kabam sucker I have seen