Burning Questions
Welcome back to Burning Questions, where we look at the hottest topics in Snap. Let's face it - there's only really one topic on everyone's mind: the pricing of Quentin Quire in the new High Voltage: Overdrive game mode. We'll discuss that, plus a couple of more fun topics!
1) What can be done about Kid Omega?
Quentin Quire has always been a thorn in the side of authority and now he's causing another riot.
I wrote extensively about the flawed developmental process of pricing Kid Omega so high in High Voltage: Overdrive. It's definitely stirred up the engaged community and I'm worried it's going to blindside the less engaged community later in the week as they realize they're not going to be able to earn Kid Omega without Gold.
Compounding the issue is that Kid Omega seems omega busted. He's posting insane stats so far, despite being in the hands of very few players. KMBest highlighted a deck that is doing very well with a 60%+ winrate. It may not yet be time to panic, though. There's a pretty obvious correlation between who has Quentin and how committed a player they are. Additionally, Quentin has counters. Whether they will prove good enough or not is unclear, but we won't be able to evaluate that until Kid Omega is being played in enough decks for the counters to become worth running.
Kid Omega Alpha
The need to wait for additional data on Kid Omega is part of a conundrum. Now, Second Dinner faces two problems. First, they need to calm a community that is upset about a poor pricing decision. That is incredibly tricky and it may have caused some degree of irreversible damage, but there are clear options available. Compensation, reduction in cost, and changes to future events and modes are all potentially on the table.
However, the second problem feels a lot more tricky and feels like a ticking time-bomb. What if Kid Omega is good enough that he necessitates a nerf? I cannot imagine the community firestorm if Quentin is left in this state until he's in Snap Packs and then eats a nerf after more players get their hands on him and more data accumulates. On the other hand, nerfing him now, when he's at the core of a pricing controversy, feels terrible as well. I honestly don't know what they should do and I do not envy them. Time to earn those paychecks, balance team!
2) What art do you most want added to the game?
Rather than a specific artist or style, my answer is a more inclusive idea: interior art. We've had a couple of variants that draw from the art inside a comic book as opposed to a cover or art commissioned of a single character. One of my favorite variants in the game is the buggy Shocker because of its delightful story. We also just got a new Sunspot that is from the interior of Avengers World #19 by Marco Chechetto!
There are decades of comics to choose from and thousands upon thousands of pages, so it's hard to choose favorites to be turned into Marvel Snap variants, but here's a sampling of some of my favorite candidates, including my first choice, Kitty Pryde by Paul Smith. The others, in order, are by Steve Ditko, John Byrne, John Byrne again, and Jack Kirby.
3) Is Nightmare good?
You mean is Nightmare good content? Absolutely! Nightmare is the new clip king of Marvel Snap!
https://www.reddit.com/r/MarvelSnap/s/ixE9TIFHdH
Now let's hop over to the official Marvel Snap discord and grab some developer Q and As!
4) Q: Why is there still no response on HV:O?
With so much detailed player feedback around the HV:O grind and reward structure, including the time investment, lack of clarity, and concerns about value, why has there been no official acknowledgment or response besides “we hear you”?
Even if changes are not ready, can the team clarify whether this system is being re-evaluated? At this point, the silence feels louder than the grind itself.
A: We don't have anything new to share but conversations are ongoing. As soon as I have more to share, I will. Thank you for your continued patience.
-Griffin
Author's Note:
I want to address why something like this takes so much time. From what we know about Second Dinner and their organizational structure, there are a variety of stakeholders aside from just the development team. In order to make major decisions that affect the financial side of the game there are lots of meetings. Meetings and meetings. Meetings with different departments, but also meetings with supervisors, investors, the licensor (Marvel itself), and others. Any plan needs to be debated and hammered out first internally, then drafted, approved, localized, and then communicated. First of all, that it's taking a while is actually a good sign that there will be some favorable action taken. Second, based on previous situations, there is some kind of internal debate about monetization and acquisition within Second Dinner. In this case, whoever was responsible for making the disastrous decision to price Kid Omega that way is facing opposition that has a lot of ammunition at the moment. I know many of you aren't exactly hopeful, but we might be pleasantly surprised by the eventual response.
5) Q: Simply wondering why White Widow (WW) can't have her kiss be destroyed at the start of the turn, similarly to how Luna's Ice Cubes can act as a pseudo-clog card (especially with both armor and red guardian having similar interactions for keeping it there). Is there any particular reason why such a small change couldn't be made for adjusting the destroy trigger's timing in order to address her current lack of playability? It would especially be nice to see WW get some long overdue attention considering Thunderbolts* came out last month with her acting as the film's lead.
A: We could do that, though I don’t think it would move the needle much. We’re actually evaluating a different approach right now.
-Glenn
Author’s Note
I definitely disagree with Glenn here. After I went and saw Thunderbolts*, I spent about a week playing the heck out of White Widow, just because I wanted to. I learned a few things and first and foremost was that if the timing of the Kiss’s destruction were changed, the card would be a lot better. It opens up Red Guardian plays, giving you a lot more time and flexibility to find Red Guardian or Armor by giving you more turns to put everything together.
Juggernaut, Cannonball, and Polaris also become possible partners. Honestly, I don't even think the Kiss needs the beginning of turn trigger like Luna Snow, (I actually think that might be too strong!) just making it end of turn instead of immediately upon the fill would make her playable.
Люблю Елена
That's it for this week! Come find me on Bluesky (@scosco) where I'm going to run a contest this weekend based on interior comic art. The prize? A PAX code!