“Trivialization” and 7-star gates

I’ve found myself growing frustrated with the game lately. Frankly I’ve been feeling stuck. Every week or two, I’ll pull together enough revives and free time for another epoch path (3 down, 3 to go) and we have the ordeal coming. It’s not like there’s nothing to do.

I used all my gauntlet keys back in the day and enjoyed it, so I’m familiar with the fights and willing to take them on.

So why am I feeling stuck? Because Kabam has apparently made a decision to progressively increase 6-star gating in such a way that summoners get taken for a ride if they’re missing certain champs, or they have to delay content indefinitely.

Look, I get that you don’t want us Hercing half the gauntlet like we did in EOP 3. There were other ways to account for that. Even as a player who’s been f2p for the last year, I’ve accrued 108 7-stars and probably about 80% of the current base pool.

But if a champ isn’t in the Titan right now, I don’t have an especially clear path to get them besides hoping my sub-1% chance at a basic crystal pays off.

Endgame content should be for players skilled enough to complete it. Kabam made statements about wanting to preserve the value of investments made in the 6-star champs. Ascension has helped. Not releasing 7-stars of some champs has helped. Creating all-7-star content undoes so much of that progress for those of us who are middle-endgame to late-endgame players and it’s disappointing.

Comments

SirGamesBond

Been pissed about champion restrictiveness for a while now. i don't care about any competition. I don't even wanna take part in it.
I just want some specific champs to enjoy the game.

I have no issues completing hard content. I'll find my way even if I have to use tier 4 5 6 options (trash tier). And I have done that since the beginning.
I want to own the champs they have locked.

Bosley

KABAM restricting champion viability throughout the game is still alive and well.

They've removed gates from content but stacking nodes with difficult defenders produces the same result, intentionally I believe.

Or adjust the AI to 'nerf' champs like Quake without touching the actually champs kit.

Do they think we pay to use more items or open more crystals for that chance to get the rare champs that we can use? Not me.......

Vanitelia

There is a difference between content difficulty and being an end game player. For me, there's no such thing as a middle-end game player. You're either there or you're not. Any one with enough resources can complete the content that is released.

For me, end game means you have the roster, knowledge, and resources to take on (and complete) the content on day one. I admit, I struggle with posts like yours because if you're still relying on 6 stars to complete content, then you're not an end game player (roster depth).

The repeated grouping of progression levels, the accessibility of content, and the explosion of champion acquisition have all played a part in feeding the narrative of "I'm an end game player" or "I need to complete all content on day one", etc.. Gating was put into place in Act 6 to force players to expand their rosters so they could release more difficult content.

Herbal_Taxman

I think Kabam would say/think, “anyone with 100* seven stars shouldn’t be blocked if they can no longer use six stars in endgame content”

Magrailothos

For me, end game means you have the roster, knowledge, and resources to take on (and complete) the content on day one.

So to be an Endgame player, you have to have not noticed the frequency with which Endgame content is released full of bugs....?

Seems a weird definition to me 🤷‍♂️

Finalfuryk

Agreed with what some people here have been saying. The end game is having a consistent amount of seven stars probably at rank 3 right now. For true Everest content in 2025 I don't see there being any problem restricting you to just seven stars. They've been part of the game for nearly two years now so it's not crazy to expect players to have them.

BringPopcorn

It's been 10 years, and since 4* were a thing the same cycle happens.
Sell the 4* crystal, sell the first rank up mats, sell the AG + Sig Stones, sell the next rare rank up material, sell the Nexus to fill up the champs you want and don't have.
I am not surprised they put this gates, the only good part I guess is that its on permanent content.
Epoch has this little "bypass" that you could cross the paths if you plan ahead method though.

SirGamesBond

6* gates doesn't bother me though. It's a part of the game, we know how we did act 6 rarity lock and couldnt bring heimdal/hela synergy for sinsiter, or hood synergy for ghost. But many of us did it anyway.

I'm pissed because of the champs I like are locked with nowhere to be found, unless you whaled out or lucked out.
Shocker is in basic now, thank god I can get him duped out of 150 in base pool.
Os, nc, moleman, qs, and the most recent dpx medusa and sentinel. They are all locked in which safe we don't know. Then there are 12 champs locked in incursion and loyalty crystal.
eff dis whiz. Looks like I ranted in a wrong thread. rant over

startropics

i don’t necessarily disagree with the general complaint, but the new gauntlet is relatively easy given how good the rewards are and kabam is obviously trying to encourage roster growth to be able to meet the 7* gate, especially with r4s pushing out 6*s.

GroundedWisdom

So....you can't use Aegon. Got it.

GroundedWisdom

Catty remarks aside, sometimes a specific piece of content is meant to have a certain level of challenge. Part of that is having the appropriate Roster. This isn't the same as Story content. This is a special Quest.

TotemCorruption

I made a thread about this when EoP came out, complaining about the gates, but I didn't even use any 6s in my 3 runs so far.
I'll probably use a 6 Serpent and 6 Magneto in the next two runs, but could work around even that if it was necessary.
Basically, I agreed with you but then it turned out to not even be a big deal, at least for me...

DNA3000

Endgame content should be for players skilled enough to complete it. Kabam made statements about wanting to preserve the value of investments made in the 6-star champs. Ascension has helped. Not releasing 7-stars of some champs has helped. Creating all-7-star content undoes so much of that progress for those of us who are middle-endgame to late-endgame players and it’s disappointing.

That's a perspective, but it is not the perspective of most progressional games. Most progressional games focus on progress, however that is defined, and in MCOC progress is defined by content completion and roster construction. The idea that your roster is just a bunch of utensils, necessary to some extent but not the point of the game, is simply wrong. Beating Necropolis is a progressional achievement. Building a seven star roster to tackle gated content is another, equally valid progressional achievement. The fact that most higher progressional tiers have both a content completion and a roster achievement requirement is not accidental nor a necessary evil. It is an acknowledgement that this is what the game puts in front of us and asks of us.

This notion that the game *should* be about "skill" is a fantasy. If you want to play a game focused purely on skill, play Chess, where all players get the same pieces placed on the same squares and have the same playing options. It is designed that way. MCOC is not, deliberately so, because it is deliberately intended to offer this experience where the goal is progress, and the players have many options to achieve it. A player can leverage high skill and get away with little roster growth, or they can focus on roster growth and get away with less skill, or try to learn the ins and outs of the game mechanics and get away with less of both. Every player charts their own path of progress, and they are all equally valid. But that doesn't mean everyone can do whatever they want. They still have to ultimately achieve progress as the game defines it. They can use their own tactics, but they cannot define their own goals. And roster requirements are a progressional hurdle, because roster growth is a progressional avenue.

End game content targets end gamers. End gamers are presumed to have a certain amount of skill, a certain amount of knowledge, and a certain amount of roster growth. You might think one of those is unnecessary, but in MCOC it isn't just necessary, it is intended to be fundamental.

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