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How a Mobile Game gave me my MMO Fix
maskedweasel
Member LegendaryPosts: 12,197
The world of MMOs has changed substantially since I came to this website many years ago. It went from a predominantly Pay to Play genre on the PC, to a Free to Play with subscription or cash shop model almost entirely across the board - including across platforms such as Consoles, Social Media and Mobile. I guess you can say that I stopped playing MMOs because, the changing nature of them, and the costs that accompanied them made it tougher for me to finally pick a single one and stick with it for very long.
When more online games entered the mobile space, I was very skeptical that I would ever get involved in them to any serious value. I've played several games off and on, but mostly my gaming took place on PC, or console, with the off exception of emulated games on my mobile.
To preface this, I'd start by saying the games I have spent the longest amount of time in, in order of length have been 1) City of Heroes, 2) Guild Wars 2 3) Star Wars Galaxies and 4) DC Universe Online. That being said, super hero games have always had a place for me, so when I downloaded what appeared to be "just another puzzle game" with a super hero theme I figured it would maybe last me a few weeks and I'd get tired of it.
What I found was actually quite surprising. Though it's a much older game, the game I downloaded was Marvel Puzzle Quest, an innocuous title though aptly descriptive, it's basically a Match 3 puzzle game where you pick a band of super heroes and "fight" through match puzzles to earn more superheroes and currency to level up.
You may question whether the game is an MMO or not and, loosely used, the game could fall into the MMO space quite easily. It has Alliances (guilds) It has team ups (you lend your characters to your alliance) It has Alliance scores as well as personal scores to match up against other players in both PvE and "PvP" (it's based around a defense system where the players characters defend them), it has Daily Quests, Special Events and Epic "Drops". Ultimately the game has a lot to offer - but what really grabbed me was how often I found myself playing it. Understand, I'm not saying that everyone should play it, on the contrary, I don't believe this game will appeal to everyone, or even most people.
See, this game is Free to Play as most games are now, but included within is a Subscription "VIP" Service, and plenty of (insanely priced) Cash shop grabs. To say that this game is "Pay to Win" would be fairly accurate, but what sets itself apart from traditional pay to win standards, is that even modest players that have spent little to no money can compete well given enough play time. Some days I find myself logging in just to complete the dailies, and usually that is enough.
Other days, events will pop up where I've found myself playing for several hours throughout the day. You'd imagine that the gameplay would eventually get monotonous - but with nearly 70 heroes at my disposal (I've been playing for several months now and have spent most of my in game currency on expanding my roster - I've also paid the 10 dollar VIP for the past 3 months which does give quite a bit of in game currency throughout the month and regens character health faster) it's kept me entertained.
It gives me the feeling of progression to see my characters "level up". It gives me the PvP fix I get from battling other players, and getting revenge on those that attacked me. It gives me the camaraderie of being in an active guild that plans events, works alongside you and helps you level. Most importantly, its a game that is available and at hand anytime, anywhere. 10 Minutes when I have downtime at work, during my lunch break, waiting for my food at a restaurant, in bed about to fall asleep. It's taken little moments here and there that I would have probably spent looking up information on another game, or finding something on Steam to occupy my time with, but instead I've found something that I can keep coming back to, keep building on... and that is something I haven't found in a while. Note.. that this game is also on Steam and yet, I wouldn't recommend this as a steam game. It only really makes SENSE in the mobile space.
So why the thread about it? I think a lot of us may take some kind.. some sort of .. pride I guess you could call it. We started out here as the PC Master Race, playing these MMOs that gave us these feelings that were hard pressed to find in other genres. I ended up finding that feeling in an unlikely place. I just wanted to post my experience. I know that Marvel Puzzle Quest isn't perfect or even that stellar of a game in comparison to traditional games I've played. In fact there are a lot of things I dislike about the game, but it gives me the same kind of frustrated comfort I had with many other MMOs in the past and it does it with the convenience of playing anywhere for very short stints of time.
Maybe I'm the only one, but if not, post some similar experiences here.
When more online games entered the mobile space, I was very skeptical that I would ever get involved in them to any serious value. I've played several games off and on, but mostly my gaming took place on PC, or console, with the off exception of emulated games on my mobile.
To preface this, I'd start by saying the games I have spent the longest amount of time in, in order of length have been 1) City of Heroes, 2) Guild Wars 2 3) Star Wars Galaxies and 4) DC Universe Online. That being said, super hero games have always had a place for me, so when I downloaded what appeared to be "just another puzzle game" with a super hero theme I figured it would maybe last me a few weeks and I'd get tired of it.
What I found was actually quite surprising. Though it's a much older game, the game I downloaded was Marvel Puzzle Quest, an innocuous title though aptly descriptive, it's basically a Match 3 puzzle game where you pick a band of super heroes and "fight" through match puzzles to earn more superheroes and currency to level up.
You may question whether the game is an MMO or not and, loosely used, the game could fall into the MMO space quite easily. It has Alliances (guilds) It has team ups (you lend your characters to your alliance) It has Alliance scores as well as personal scores to match up against other players in both PvE and "PvP" (it's based around a defense system where the players characters defend them), it has Daily Quests, Special Events and Epic "Drops". Ultimately the game has a lot to offer - but what really grabbed me was how often I found myself playing it. Understand, I'm not saying that everyone should play it, on the contrary, I don't believe this game will appeal to everyone, or even most people.
See, this game is Free to Play as most games are now, but included within is a Subscription "VIP" Service, and plenty of (insanely priced) Cash shop grabs. To say that this game is "Pay to Win" would be fairly accurate, but what sets itself apart from traditional pay to win standards, is that even modest players that have spent little to no money can compete well given enough play time. Some days I find myself logging in just to complete the dailies, and usually that is enough.
Other days, events will pop up where I've found myself playing for several hours throughout the day. You'd imagine that the gameplay would eventually get monotonous - but with nearly 70 heroes at my disposal (I've been playing for several months now and have spent most of my in game currency on expanding my roster - I've also paid the 10 dollar VIP for the past 3 months which does give quite a bit of in game currency throughout the month and regens character health faster) it's kept me entertained.
It gives me the feeling of progression to see my characters "level up". It gives me the PvP fix I get from battling other players, and getting revenge on those that attacked me. It gives me the camaraderie of being in an active guild that plans events, works alongside you and helps you level. Most importantly, its a game that is available and at hand anytime, anywhere. 10 Minutes when I have downtime at work, during my lunch break, waiting for my food at a restaurant, in bed about to fall asleep. It's taken little moments here and there that I would have probably spent looking up information on another game, or finding something on Steam to occupy my time with, but instead I've found something that I can keep coming back to, keep building on... and that is something I haven't found in a while. Note.. that this game is also on Steam and yet, I wouldn't recommend this as a steam game. It only really makes SENSE in the mobile space.
So why the thread about it? I think a lot of us may take some kind.. some sort of .. pride I guess you could call it. We started out here as the PC Master Race, playing these MMOs that gave us these feelings that were hard pressed to find in other genres. I ended up finding that feeling in an unlikely place. I just wanted to post my experience. I know that Marvel Puzzle Quest isn't perfect or even that stellar of a game in comparison to traditional games I've played. In fact there are a lot of things I dislike about the game, but it gives me the same kind of frustrated comfort I had with many other MMOs in the past and it does it with the convenience of playing anywhere for very short stints of time.
Maybe I'm the only one, but if not, post some similar experiences here.
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