Developer Q&A II

This is the second out of five Developer Questions and Answers Threads taken from the Official Playdom Forums.

Note: please  do not  ask your question intended for the Developer Q&A at the comments below. Marvel: Avengers Alliance Wikia is not owned by Playdom. Please leave your questions at the Developer Q&A Forums.

Developer Answers (response to 2012.06.20 questions)
Thanks to everyone who participated in submitting questions for this round of Q&A! While we can't answer every question, we did our best to provide as many answers as possible below. Enjoy!

Can you update us on your future development plans since the last Q&A?
We’ve been working hard on getting new content and features into the game on a regular basis. The second phase of the PVP revamp has launched and we’ve made efforts to handle cheaters. We are working on “Phase Three” now - increasing the long term competitive gameplay and rewards of PVP - stay tuned for more information coming soon!

We’ve made good progress increasing the stability of our game, but we still have work left to do - we have more fixes on the way to safeguard against players losing progress in the game. Thanks for your continued patience and support!

Chapter 8 is live, and Chapter 9 is coming soon. We are also working on the next Spec Op mission. We learned a lot from the first Spec Op, and we are working hard to make sure it is a super-fun experience for all players and we’re keeping a careful eye on the balance and plan to greatly improve the rewards along the way.

We have a bunch of new heroes and costumes running, flying, and teleporting their way to the game very soon! Some classics and some fan favorites will be announced shortly at San Deigo Comic Con.

Do you plan to add more different Hero team up bonuses, such as Black Panther and Storm, in the future?
Yes, we really enjoy showing off classic Marvel teams and character interactions in the game. We’re looking over the roster of characters and plan to add more of these in the future.

Are there any plans to develop any additional game modes?
We are always looking into ways to improve the game. We have a few big, exciting new features planned before the end of the year. Stay tuned for more info.

Are there plans to add a feature to upgrade weapons so the weapon matches Agent’s current level?
We have been looking into this, but are focusing on continuing to add new and different weapons to the game to give people rewards to strive for and add further variety and visual differentiation.

Will we be able to port our current character to the new version on playdom.com?
This is not currently planned. We encourage Facebook players who want to play on playdom.com as well to start fresh, try different heroes and strategies, and also take advantage of the features unique to the playdom.com version.

In PVP, is there any way we can preview the opponent’s team so you can put up your best against their best?
The asymmetrical nature of the PVP class system would mean that your opponent would always be at a disadvantage. We think that not knowing who your opponent is or their capabilities adds to the challenge, and to the fun.

I would love to see replays of PvP matches other players initiated.
We have been looking into this idea. It would be really cool to allow players to share replays. It’s something we’re looking at but want to focus on some of our upcoming releases first - like continued improvements to PVP gameplay and rewards and our upcoming Chapters and Spec Ops missions.

Are there plans to release more female heroes, particularly a 90 CP female hero?
(Player comment: If so, can you please not introduce her via a scenario where she needs to be rescued. I hate putting Mockingbird into the same category as Daphne (Scooby Doo)).

Yes! We just launched Scarlet Witch at. We have more upcoming female heroes as well, but for our next hero, it is best to look but not touch!

==='''ISO brings boosts to a Hero's stats, but will they be further customization for Heroes? Like being able to put skill points to amplify certain abilities and their effectiveness, helping to make character builds per Hero more unique?'''=== We are looking into ways to continue to customize your heroes. In the meantime, we want to make sure that the different heroes can work together in interesting ways, and that players have lots of meaningful choices and strategies when recruiting and assembling their strike team. We are also looking into adding additional power progression for the Heroes and the Agent in the future.

The Agent and Items
===Instead of purchasing new outfits with specific ability sets on them, could we purchase "kits" that housed the buffs/abilities/different classes and then put it onto a uniform we want?=== We have been discussing the possibility of this. For now we’ve decided to place passive buffs and abilities on Agent Gear that can be equipped.

Will you look at allowing us to have customized headquarters?
This is not planned for the immediate future. We think this is a very cool idea, but we feel we have a lot of really exciting new things on the horizon in terms of new Heroes, Agent items, and mission and PVP gameplay improvements. We’re tackling those first, but it’s possible that we’ll have something cool in store for the Flight Deck in the future.

Can you tell us how points and XP are awarded?
XP is awarded based on the enemies you face. Each enemy has a set amount they will reward when they are defeated. If you are higher level than that enemy, you’ll get less XP - it scales to the challenge you are facing. You get 1/4th of the XP when you lose a fight.

You should be able to see how points are awarded if you look at the score details after a fight. The base score is calculated from enemies defeated, how fast you defeated them, how much health your team has left, and any special bonuses like team bonuses or overkill bonuses. Then we apply multipliers based on combat difficulty and survival.

Will there ever be some type of option to know the level of the ally before adding them?
Not at the moment, but we have done our best to make it easy to add and remove allies using the “Allies” tab at the top of the app.

==='''Will the Mockingbird Spec Ops be available again in the future for players who start the game later? Have you considered having Spec Ops always be available and allow the timer to start only when the mission is activated?'''=== Right now, we have no plans to make Spec Op 1: “Don’t Say a Word...” available again. We will be releasing new Spec Ops missions on a regular basis though. Look for our next Spec Op mission very soon!

Thanks again for all your support, patience, and suggestions. We’re excited to bring you lots of new and exciting upgrades to Marvel: Avengers Alliance in the future!

Thanks for playing! -M:AA Devteam