Alliance Quest Season 5 - Kingpin's Conclave: Discussion Thread

Hey All!

We've just announced the end of Dormammu's Dominion, and the beginning of Kingpin's Conclave!

Here’s a quick look at all of the changes that we’ve made with Season 5, with LOTS more details in the Announcement post:

- We now have different Maps for different Battlegroups! Battlegroup Map choice allows different Battlegroups to play different Alliance Quest Maps, so Alliances with different types of players can still enjoy Alliance Quests together!
- Alliance Leadership can now select the number of Battlegroups they wish to play at the start of each Alliance Quest Day.
- Each Map now has a cost per Battlegroup instead of a total cost for 3 Battlegroups to incentivize different Map choices for different Battlegroups!
- Randomized enemies in certain sections keep things fresh from week-to-week.
- Some all-new encounters across all Maps will shake things up alongside an all new boss: Kingpin!
- A new difficulty scaling system raises the ceiling on difficulty for the most powerful Alliances in the Contest, but will also yield more points to coincide with the addition of new Peak Milestones!
- New Season 5 Map Crystals offer increased rewards for Summoner efforts!
- More Tier 2 Alpha availability in Ranked rewards will help Summoners to Rank Up their top Champions more quickly!

If you want to dive deeper in to the deets, find them right here: https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/91153/alliance-quest-season-5-kingpins-conclave/

Comments

Kabam Miike

FAQ

If my Alliance runs multiple different Maps (ex. 6,5,3), do I get Conqueror/Exploration rewards for all 3?
Yes! Just as it is right now, as long as you participate in the Alliance Quest, you can get rewards from all 3 of the Battlegroups.

Can we have different Maps/Numbers of Battlegroups every day, or is it set at the beginning of the week?
You’ll be able to change this every day of the Alliance Quest series if you like! For example, this means that if your Alliance is more active on Weekends, you could run all 3 Battlegroups on Map 4 and 5, and on weekdays you can run 1 or 2 Battlegroups on Maps 3 and/or 4.

If I start 2 Battlegroups, but have more than 20 people that want to Participate, can I start another Battlegroup after?
You’ll have to decide beforehand how many Battlegroups you’ll want to run. It is not possible to start another Battlegroup after you’ve started Alliance Quests for that day.

Are Sentinels still around?
Yes. Our goal with Sentinels is for them to get to a point where, like the Adaptoids, they are “rest fights”. You’ll still be playing, but they won’t be nearly as much of a challenge as other Enemies on the Map.

Are the Minibosses being changed?
The mini-bosses are NOT changing, but some adjustments have been made to the Buff Nodes (notably, many of the Champion Boosts)

Will Map 6 be getting a similar overhaul in the future?
Yes. We are currently in the planning stages of what this change will entail, but it IS coming sooner than Season 6.

Why aren't all the Map's Costs split 33/33/33 like Map 4?
There's a lot to unpack here, but the long and short of it is: We wanted to lessen but NOT remove the burden of running 2/3 Batttlegroups, and encourage going "up" a Map. Our goal was, first and foremost, make the first Battlegroup of these Maps less expensive to encourage growth, but increase the cost of the second to encourage running all 3 Battlegroups. We received a lot of feedback from our Beta group suggesting other cost breakdowns, but for the time being, we are choosing to maintain this breakdown. Of course, as with all these changes, we will be monitoring the effects it has, and adjusting accordingly.

How Often to the Randomized Enemies change?
The Randomized enemies are selected and locked in at the beginning of each Alliance Quest series. The enemies you see on Day 1 are the sames ones your will see on Day 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Will my Alliance have different Randomized enemies than other Alliances?
No. All Battlegroups in all Alliances that are on the same Map will have the same Enemy encounters.

Does the Cost per Battlegroup change depending on which Map I choose for which Battlegroup? Eg. Would it be Cheaper for us to run 535 than 553?
No. The cost per Battlegroup is determined by how many Battlegroups you are running per Map.
Regardless of what order you run it in, (553, 535, 355), 2 Map 5's and 1 Map 3 will cost the same.

How long are you shooting for Alliance Quest seasons to be in the new design?
- We are still figuring out what the best schedule for this is, however as it stands right now, a "Season" is lasting about 8 months, with a mid-season update somewhere in between with more minor to moderate adjustments. This can and likely will change slightly, but that's what we're aiming at right now.

What other new features are you working on?
We are currently in the planning stages of these things, so we can't say with too much specificity. A better answer might be to talk about the areas we want to focus on:
- Giving Alliance Leadership more tools in-game to manage their Alliances
- Making the user experience for growing Alliances a bit more smooth, so they don't have to leave the game to understand things like path assignments, BG assignments, etc.
- Providing even more dynamic content that is still fair for all Alliances
- Allowing Alliances more control over the difficulty of their content
- And more! This list may change after we launch 20.0 (it did after we spoke to our Beta testers), so the feedback you give us on Season 5 is super important!

Will Map 6 be getting a similar overhaul in the future?
Yes. We are currently in the planning stages of what this change will entail, but it IS coming sooner than Season 6.

Any way we can see what our Donation costs are gonna look like before this starts?
Yes, though this one is courtesy of Mutamatt and his website, The Class Advantage. He's created a calculator that you can use to take a look at your entire Week's Donation costs if you know what you're planning on running. Check it out here: https://theclassadvantage.com/aq-cost-calculator/

XxOriginalxX

Any clues on what kinds of randomized enemies we can get, say for example I’m doing a map and first week i fight a Hyperion, can that be randomized into any champion the next week?

Riegel_3

I have around 500 map 6 crystals. Will this new change increase the odds of t2 alpha for my alreadty earnt crystals. Or will it remain what it was when i obtained them?

GAM3RGUY

Riegel_3 wrote: »

I have around 500 map 6 crystals. Will this new change increase the odds of t2 alpha for my alreadty earnt crystals. Or will it remain what it was when i obtained them?

Nope sry bro

Hulksmasshh

Will the cost of running map 6x5 or any other combination of map 5 and 6 (assuming the same map across all BGs each day) be the same as last season?

Kabam Miike

XxOriginalxX wrote: »

Any clues on what kinds of randomized enemies we can get, say for example I’m doing a map and first week i fight a Hyperion, can that be randomized into any champion the next week?

We're gonna keep that a surprise for the most part, but each of those randomized Encounters chooses from a pool of 3 Champions (2 Champions on Map 2), and they will usually follow the path identity. Remember, you can check out the map before starting it, so you can scout ahead before choosing your Champs!

Kabam Miike

Hulksmasshh wrote: »

Will the cost of running map 6x5 or any other combination of map 5 and 6 (assuming the same map across all BGs each day) be the same as last season?

Yep! The Prices of the Maps have not changed, so if you run 3 Battlegroups of Map 5 for 1 day, it will still be the same as just running 1 day of Map 5 in Season 4.

pd187

Why exactly did you all feel it was truly necessary to shift the schedule to cut the break down by 1 day?

I understand that part of what you want is for the players to constantly be playing and AQ/AW helps with that but with all the compla...er, "feedback" last time with the (intended) short break between AW seasons, I don't see why the schedule should have been changed to make AQ nearly be breakless...

FactorQ

This is ridiculous, it now costs 20001 loyalty to pay for a day of map 4, that's 5 extra loyalty per AQ series.

other than that it looks good.

Kabam Miike

Riegel_3 wrote: »

I have around 500 map 6 crystals. Will this new change increase the odds of t2 alpha for my alreadty earnt crystals. Or will it remain what it was when i obtained them?

@GAM3RGUY is correct. These will be brand new crystals, so older ones that you're holding on to will not be updated.

Kabam DK

pd187 wrote: »

Why exactly did you all feel it was truly necessary to shift the schedule to cut the break down by 1 day?

I understand that part of what you want is for the players to constantly be playing and AQ/AW helps with that but with all the compla...er, "feedback" last time with the (intended) short break between AW seasons, I don't see why the schedule should have been changed to make AQ nearly be breakless...

This is a temporary adjustment, and after this schedule change, AQ will return to its normal cadence.

The reason we've done this is to avoid issues wherein an Alliance Quest using OLD tech would overlap and be played using a new build. This would cause potential crashes and other issues we want to avoid.

TL;DR It's temporary and is to avoid crashing the game.

Grub

Kabam Miike wrote: »

Hulksmasshh wrote: »

Will the cost of running map 6x5 or any other combination of map 5 and 6 (assuming the same map across all BGs each day) be the same as last season?

Yep! The Prices of the Maps have not changed, so if you run 3 Battlegroups of Map 5 for 1 day, it will still be the same as just running 1 day of Map 5 in Season 4.

This is completely unacceptable @Kabam Miike

You made map 6 costs ridiculously high in the first place because you wanted it to be a deterrent for alliances playing it 5x per week. Now it’s become common place and the only way people can afford to run these maps is by buying resources from the black market because they are so high per week.

You need to reduce the costs to make it more accessible now that everyone wants to run these maps. People actually want to play the game, but your ridiculous map costs are prohibitive for many players in game unless they are willing to buy resources weekly or constantly be in game to grind arena.

mum_m2

I like being able to select different maps than the rest of my alliance. but managing this is going to be tough because everyone needs to donate accordingly if everyone in the alliance is getting the same rewards. so if one group does map 6 and the others do map 5, it means that 100% completion gives you 6,5,5 map crystals. gonna need to donate more now if groups are able to do that.

BitterSteel

With dungeons and now the AQ changes, I want to give credit where it’s due. I’m really liking the amount of thought and insight going into these decisions, and being disclosed to us in these long posts. Please, please continue describing why you make these changes, it’s really great to see.

jlamadison

i'm liking these changes!

Gamer

Nice cancge like it so fair what ther Said but hav to play it berfor. Im se im Not a fan of randmozice but. Ther is always a Way to works out of it

J_Gray7734

I like the changes, just wish you would add 30 min timers permanently

Jaded

My main concern here is that to gain any real chance at the “increased” amounts of t2a people will have to run map 6.

IMHO t2a increases shards should be added to the map 5 crystals. While having map 6 crystals the chance to pull a fully formed t2a plus increased shards.

I don’t see a increase in t2a outside of map 6 crystals. And lowering the cost on t2a shards in the glory store doesn’t really make a huge difference.

bdawg923

I see the appeal of running different maps for different groups, but the issue is say for example we run 5x5. Now we find 10 people who want to do map 6. So every day we do 556. That third group of 10 is doing map 6, and we all are rewarded. But what if the other 20 people who aren't running map 6 can't afford to pay for map 6. Do they have to pay for a map they aren't doing, but are getting rewards for? I have no idea how to handle the donations in this case.

Gamer

Jaded wrote: »

My main concern here is that to gain any real chance at the “increased” amounts of t2a people will have to run map 6.

IMHO t2a increases shards should be added to the map 5 crystals. While having map 6 crystals the chance to pull a fully formed t2a plus increased shards.

I don’t see a increase in t2a outside of map 6 crystals. And lowering the cost on t2a shards in the glory store doesn’t really make a huge difference.

If u get 120m it 5 map 6 cystal ther

Demonzfyre

Jaded wrote: »

My main concern here is that to gain any real chance at the “increased” amounts of t2a people will have to run map 6.

IMHO t2a increases shards should be added to the map 5 crystals. While having map 6 crystals the chance to pull a fully formed t2a plus increased shards.

I don’t see a increase in t2a outside of map 6 crystals. And lowering the cost on t2a shards in the glory store doesn’t really make a huge difference.

Not really. They extend the TA2 out to top 800. So if You place top 800 min amout to get is 1k every 5 days.
Also the map 6 crystals give more and a small chance at a fully formed TA2

Matt1985

PLEASE test these changes out before launch!!!

Demonzfyre

bdawg923 wrote: »

I see the appeal of running different maps for different groups, but the issue is say for example we run 5x5. Now we find 10 people who want to do map 6. So every day we do 556. That third group of 10 is doing map 6, and we all are rewarded. But what if the other 20 people who aren't running map 6 can't afford to pay for map 6. Do they have to pay for a map they aren't doing, but are getting rewards for? I have no idea how to handle the donations in this case.

It doesn't breakdown that way. Its a percentage of the map cost per by bg or shared costs.
Also if you do 556 and 100% each map, everyone gets all rewards. So rewards for 100% map 5 x2 and map 6 x1.

bdawg923

Demonzfyre wrote: »

bdawg923 wrote: »

I see the appeal of running different maps for different groups, but the issue is say for example we run 5x5. Now we find 10 people who want to do map 6. So every day we do 556. That third group of 10 is doing map 6, and we all are rewarded. But what if the other 20 people who aren't running map 6 can't afford to pay for map 6. Do they have to pay for a map they aren't doing, but are getting rewards for? I have no idea how to handle the donations in this case.

It doesn't breakdown that way. Its a percentage of the map cost per by bg or shared costs.
Also if you do 556 and 100% each map, everyone gets all rewards. So rewards for 100% map 5 x2 and map 6 x1.

I understand the rewards part, all 30 people will get rewards from map 5 and map 6, I don't follow the costs part. Sorry but can you elaborate

Demonzfyre

bdawg923 wrote: »

Demonzfyre wrote: »

bdawg923 wrote: »

I see the appeal of running different maps for different groups, but the issue is say for example we run 5x5. Now we find 10 people who want to do map 6. So every day we do 556. That third group of 10 is doing map 6, and we all are rewarded. But what if the other 20 people who aren't running map 6 can't afford to pay for map 6. Do they have to pay for a map they aren't doing, but are getting rewards for? I have no idea how to handle the donations in this case.

It doesn't breakdown that way. Its a percentage of the map cost per by bg or shared costs.
Also if you do 556 and 100% each map, everyone gets all rewards. So rewards for 100% map 5 x2 and map 6 x1.

I understand the rewards part, all 30 people will get rewards from map 5 and map 6, I don't follow the costs part. Sorry but can you elaborate

So map 5 and 6 selections will be 25%/50%/25%.
If I run 655-
Bg1- 25% of map 6 cost
Bg2- 50% of map 5 cost
Bg3- 25% of map 5 cost

OMC_Pinto

Is there any value or discussion of shifting the timing of AQ/AW starts? For instance, AQ is a 5 day event, why not run it Monday-Friday so that summoners always have the weekend free of AQ? Likewise moving the maintenance window from Tuesday to saturday or sunday so that the downtime for AW matchmaking will also overlap a weekend. Seems like that is the most challenging window for alliance participation when real life activities tend to fall on weekends.

Demonzfyre

OMC_Pinto wrote: »

Is there any value or discussion of shifting the timing of AQ/AW starts? For instance, AQ is a 5 day event, why not run it Monday-Friday so that summoners always have the weekend free of AQ? Likewise moving the maintenance window from Tuesday to saturday or sunday so that the downtime for AW matchmaking will also overlap a weekend. Seems like that is the most challenging window for alliance participation when real life activities tend to fall on weekends.

Its always going to be a bad time for someone somewhere. So doubtful

Ghostspider231

Will the odds change in crystals change for those who like to hoard Map 5 and 6 crystals?

KoperBoy

Hmmm...so if 2 BGs are doing map 3 and one BG is doing map 5, people who are doing map 3 still have to donate right?

KisHin

Can we have a timer reduction from the 60mins to 30 mins