Marvel's Avengers

[Vanguard]

This Black Panther DLC is the only reason I’d get this game.

[Huntsman Spider]

i think the core content is too shallow for even a successful dlc to really save

that said, maybe this dlc will change things drastically enough and lead to other big overhauls so that'd be nice but probably too optimistic

That is a big part of the problem. Even "the strength of the Black Panther" can only do so much. Unless they completely overhaul Avengers to strengthen and deepen the core of the game . . . well, I'll hang on for Black Panther and to see what and how they do with Spider-Man. That's about it.

[Ascended]

Well, I finished the story mode for Panther a day or two back, and I am quite satisfied with it.

T'Challa is amazing to play and has some great mechanics. For sheer "fun" factor I think he's gotta be my second favorite after Thor. I like the new vibranium and sonic status effects, as well as the vibranium payload ability. The Panther's skins are pretty good, far better than what we've got before. I actually spent real money for the first time on this game to get the "shadow physics" skin (it's based on Stelfreeze's design and looks super badass). And I feel like they tweaked the leveling process again; T'Challa's gaining levels *and* power level quickly.

Finishing the story mode gives you a new artifact that summons Okoye, and I am very glad to see the devs continuing with the "summon" artifacts. I don't want that to be the *only* kind of major artifact they introduce but I do love being able to summon more people to fight with me and for T'Challa, I wouldn't have accepted anything else.

The story mode was solid and I think they did right by Wakanda and its people. Writing for Shuri, T'Challa, Klaue, and everyone else felt spot-on. The biome was beautifully rendered and felt really fresh. The new hub is amazing, I love how interactive it is, how guards will salute when you pass, all the dialogue you overhear, and the other Avengers have some great interactions; Thor talking to the spiritual advisor (I forget his name) is hilarious, and I like how you'll overhear the advisor talking to people like Wanda, Strange, and Loki. Just a nice little detail yknow?

The story missions had a lot of environmental hazards, which is something I've wanted to see. And the new Event has some different prerequisites for each hero; rather than just "use your Ultimates X times" it's got some variety like "perform X takedowns" and "defeat X foes with headshots." I suggested that here a while ago and it was cool to see the suggestion implemented (not that I think the devs are reading this thread, but still nice).

Only real "disappointment" here, and it's a minor spoiler so skip this sentence if you don't wanna know what happens, is that Monica apparently survived. I was really hoping she was dead.

The new enemies are nice, with varied abilities, but it's a small step in the right direction and not as different as it could, and likely should, have been. But still a step in the right direction.

I don't care for the new UI. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet, and it's not "bad" either, but I don't feel like it made things more streamlined or easier to access. And I'm not thrilled that we didn't get a MCU skin for Panther right out of the gate, I feel like the game would've made a lot of cash if they had just added a Endgame skin for T'Challa instead of the Avengers 1 skin for Cap (it's his worst costume from the MCU too, why couldn't it have been Winter Soldier or Age of Ultron?).

I think the DLC did pretty much everything right, and showed us what this game could be. Will it save Avengers? Not by itself, no (and it was never going to). But I think if the devs can roll new stuff out faster than they were, and that content is as high quality as this DLC, then there's definitely real hope.

And I think now, that's the real question. Wakanda showed us that this game can grow into something with real viability and long-term potential; they seem to know where they need to make changes and what those changes should be. But will they introduce these changes quickly enough? The buzz on this expansion has been almost entirely positive from what I've seen...but can the devs keep the ball rolling before everyone gets bored and leaves?

The devs said they want to let Wakanda have its moment to shine before they talk about upcoming content, and that seems fair. They'll release a new roadmap in a little while, and I guess we'll see if they can pick up the pace then.

[The Gold Stream]

i reinstalled it to start catching up but i just got bored with the combat after a few mins, i have a max lvl iron man though so i may try again to power through it since it does seem to be getting good reviews

[BlueElf94]

After a little over a year hiatus, I reinstalled the game and am gonna give it a shot. Replaying the story mode first to re-immerse.

[Ascended]

Good luck, hope you enjoy yourself!

[BlueElf94]

Good luck, hope you enjoy yourself!

I'm very pleased with all the quality of life updates so far, game just feels overall smoother now. I'm trying to play the content in the order that it came out, so while I'm less than impressed with the Tachyon Rifts I look forward to starting Kate's campaign and seeing what all is there

[Ascended]

So it looks like the game had a really big boost in players from the free weekend (or was it a whole week?) up into Wakanda, but the numbers have settled back down to roughly where they were before. Or are trending that way at least.

To my mind, this tells us that there is still interest in the game, but a few hours of new campaign content and a new hero isn't enough to generate long-term increases. Which, of course, begs the question of what *would* keep people logging in?

We know that "variety" is the biggest problem. But adding new biomes, enemies, and a few new wrinkles to mission parameters isn't likely to fix that. That's what Wakanda did, and while those additions were great and the whole DLC was a big step in the right direction, it wasn't enough to keep people engaged for more than a week or two. And we shouldn't be surprised by that, no single DLC is gonna be enough to change this game's trajectory.

So....thoughts?

I'm thinking we need stuff to do outside of combat missions.

How about we take Avengers Tower back from AIM, and make it a new hub we can modify and decorate? If you've played DCU Online you'll have a good idea of the kinds of stuff you can do with such a thing, and while I'm not suggesting a straight copy of DCUO's lair system, I think Avengers might benefit from something similar. It'd at least give us something to work towards other than new gear with slightly more optimal stats.

Gear creation/modification. Does anyone enjoy praying to the RNG gods for a new exotic in the right gear slot, with the right stats, abilities, and status effects? How tired are you of running the Mega Hive, knowing that you're almost certain to get crap you're not gonna use? Wouldn't it be better if we could just grind resources and use those to optimize our gear? I'd be more likely to play if I knew I had an achievable goal and wasn't just relying on raw luck, even if it took a stupid amount of resources to modify my gear. Creating gear from scratch, Elder Scrolls style, might be out of the question (or not?) but even being able to modify stats and keywords (like changing "light combo finisher" for "heavy combo finisher" or "plasma" damage to "gamma" or "Intensity" to "Resolve") would be enough for me.

Mini missions/games. Consider the casino in Final Fantasy 7. You can earn XP, gear and rewards, all that stuff, by playing minigames where you snowboard, race chocobos (big chickens), play basketball, etc. And I know people would go there to screw around when they were tired of playing the main story. PS4 Spider-Man also had different mini-games where you had to catch pigeons, destroy drones, find certain locations, etc. Replay value on Avengers might increase if we had something similar; flying the quinjet on a short mission, playing darts against Clint and Kate, sneaking past AIM security to save hostages, stuff like that could really add to the game's variety and give us different things to do when we get tired of Hives and Villain Sectors.

And why don't we have "stealth" moments in endgame missions anyway? We had "stealth" moments in the main campaign where we had to successfully sneak past some guys before we went back to combat. No reason we can't do that now.

Sandbox biomes. I feel like the Wasteland Patrol content is gonna be like this (here's hoping it comes out soon), but maybe make each biome a single location with each map woven together to make one huge area, and on top of the missions themselves you could find random villains to battle, side quests to do, civilians to save/escort, etc? Revamping the biomes like this would provide a good opportunity to add more variety and layers to the layouts, which helps with the "variety" problem. Add in some randomized environmental effects, hazards, and other randomized events to make each play-through and region feel more unique, and I think players would find themselves logging in more often.

Honestly, I'd happily accept a DLC that didn't offer a new hero and instead reworked the established content to add more variety and endgame options. What good is getting Wanda or Wasp or someone onto the roster if I'm too bored to play them?

Wakanda was good. Really damn good. But the devs need to drop more unique content, and do it a lot faster than they have been, if this game is going to have any chance of surviving.

[Immortal Weapon]

If Wakanda didn't move the needle in terms of sales (game and DLC) then I don't see it getting anymore content after Spider-Man

[Derek Metaltron]

I think Captain Marvel is going to be the last piece of content next year, if only to conclude the Kree plot they’ve been dangling for ages. I heard a rumour that something Doctor Strange related was also suggested?

[BlackClaw]

I think Captain Marvel is going to be the last piece of content next year, if only to conclude the Kree plot they’ve been dangling for ages. I heard a rumour that something Doctor Strange related was also suggested?

Doctor Strange was discovered via Datamining along with Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, Falcon, and Winter Soldier. Hell the Wakanda dlc even hints at Wanda as Zawafari talks to her if you go to his room after the story is concluded.

[Ascended]

If Wakanda didn't move the needle in terms of sales (game and DLC) then I don't see it getting anymore content after Spider-Man

I don't think the studio is ready to give up on the game yet. I'd assume they'll at least try a free to play model before shutting down. I mean, why just admit defeat when you still have options on the table? On the 8th they're gonna release a road map for the rest of this year and all of 2022, and I think the game will probably be kept alive that long unless things go even further south in a bad way. Other games have recovered from bigger deficits (FF14, DCU Online, etc) and I feel like giving up now is premature. Coming back from the brink is no easy feat but it's not impossible, and who wants to give up on a IP as big as Avengers before exhausting every possibility? But we'll see what happens, who knows what'll transpire?

I think Captain Marvel is going to be the last piece of content next year, if only to conclude the Kree plot they’ve been dangling for ages. I heard a rumour that something Doctor Strange related was also suggested?

My guess is that we'll get Carol before that. Early summer perhaps? Given the state of the game I'd think the devs want to drop some big name heroes who will generate a lot of hype as quickly as they can right? Better to give us someone like Carol sooner rather than later, when we might not have a game "later" at all.

I know the past release schedule makes this very unlikely and we've heard absolutely nothing that even hints at this, but my gut tells me we might get someone like Strange or Wanda around Halloween, with a holiday Event instead of a full DLC to introduce them. I fully expect to be wrong about that but getting a well known hero like those guys so quickly after T'Challa could do a lot for the game, and launching them out of a Event means a lot less work for the devs.

[Derek Metaltron]

My guess is that we'll get Carol before that. Early summer perhaps? Given the state of the game I'd think the devs want to drop some big name heroes who will generate a lot of hype as quickly as they can right? Better to give us someone like Carol sooner rather than later, when we might not have a game "later" at all.

I know the past release schedule makes this very unlikely and we've heard absolutely nothing that even hints at this, but my gut tells me we might get someone like Strange or Wanda around Halloween, with a holiday Event instead of a full DLC to introduce them. I fully expect to be wrong about that but getting a well known hero like those guys so quickly after T'Challa could do a lot for the game, and launching them out of a Event means a lot less work for the devs.

If the studio was operating under the rule of synergy with the MCU I would have imagined that we'd be getting Spider-Man at the end of the year to tie into NWH, then maybe a two part story adding both Strange and Scarlet Witch to tie into MOM, maybe an Asgard update for LAT and then we'd get the Captain Marvel stuff at the end of 2022 to tie into The Marvels. But by that logic we'd be waiting for the Hawkeyes and Black Panther, so probably not. But I doubt we'll get anything as significant as WFW for October, or even a Hawkeye level update. We'll have to see. I could possibly believe Spider-Man will be added this year, maybe. Depends how big they want something that's exclusive to be.

[Immortal Weapon]

I don't think the studio is ready to give up on the game yet. I'd assume they'll at least try a free to play model before shutting down. I mean, why just admit defeat when you still have options on the table? On the 8th they're gonna release a road map for the rest of this year and all of 2022, and I think the game will probably be kept alive that long unless things go even further south in a bad way. Other games have recovered from bigger deficits (FF14, DCU Online, etc) and I feel like giving up now is premature. Coming back from the brink is no easy feat but it's not impossible, and who wants to give up on a IP as big as Avengers before exhausting every possibility? But we'll see what happens, who knows what'll transpire?

This game has lost huge money for the publisher. They will have to pour in even more money into it a sinking ship to try to save it. It would be easier to cut losses than spend more hoping there will draw enough people it make it profitable.

[Ascended]

If the studio was operating under the rule of synergy with the MCU I would have imagined that we'd be getting Spider-Man at the end of the year to tie into NWH

From the look of things it's possible Spidey will release somewhere around the same time as NWH, but the game has definitely not tried overly hard to line up with the MCU. And for the most part I think that's probably a good thing; I don't want content here to be dependent on MCU release dates yknow? If things line up right for synergy, then great, but it probably shouldn't be a major focus. If I get MCU skins when a new show/film comes out (like Widow's white suit), or a MCU hero joins the roster (like T'Challa), maybe a nameplate or emote or something, that's all the synergy I need.

This game has lost huge money for the publisher. They will have to pour in even more money into it a sinking ship to try to save it. It would be easier to cut losses than spend more hoping there will draw enough people it make it profitable.

Oh, it's definitely bad business to keep throwing good money after bad. And obviously I don't have access to Sony's accounts and metrics so I don't know if they've already crossed that threshold. But I'm not completely sure this game has reached that point yet. The last free weekend saw a big spike in players, and so did Wakanda, so there's definitely a viable level of interest in the game. Sony just has to figure out how to turn that potential into actual revenue and keep people logging in beyond free weekends. It's not impossible. Hell, in a way it's not even "hard." This is the Avengers; the interest is built-in. Mostly I see it as a race against time; can the devs churn out the right kind of content, at the right level of quality, before the game crosses the "bad money" threshold?

I dunno if they can. I took a look at the new roadmap (didn't watch the livestream, or whatever they announced it on) and I'm not impressed. The roadmap only covers the end of the year (and not 2022 like I had thought), and in that time we have a lot of content coming in; returning events, a raid, power cap increase, gear/resource rework, a new enemy type, a challenge to tie into Hawkeye's show, and of course Spidey on top of more MCU skins and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.

And those are all pretty good things, taken in a vacuum. There's stuff the community has been asking for since launch. But I don't know if it's enough. Small steps in the right direction are fine....if you're in a good place to start with. This game isn't. It needs major improvements and big content drops that get attention and pull players in and I'm not convinced these incremental steps will achieve that before the game stops being worth the effort for Sony. I definitely think not releasing another hero (other than PS exclusive Spidey) before year's end is a missed opportunity; dropping someone like Wasp or Wanda or somebody before the holidays would have been a real nice move nobody would have seen coming.

We'll see. According to the roadmap livestream (or according to an article I read by someone who did watch it, anyway) Sony said they were happy with Wakanda and they have content coming in next year (heroes included) so Spidey won't be the game's last gasp.