1) Should there be a permanent mute function?
One of the most requested features for Marvel Snap is a global mute to prevent emoting.
Stephen from Second Dinner recently explained Second Dinner’s rationale for resisting this feature.
“We believe a core part of games where you engage with other players is relatedness. It means you have a connection with another human or game object. Emotes and reactions are the only way for players to communicate in Snap, and when people give you a fist bump or make a mistake and use the Deadpool emote, it makes the game feel alive and engaging. Those moments are worth the sometimes negative ones that some players employ, and that’s why we provide the mute functionality in those instances. Auto mute would remove all interaction, making Snap a single-player game, which is not our intent. We want to replicate the feeling of sitting at a table playing a card game against another person in a safe way, and we feel the emotes and reacts achieve that.”
I have mixed feelings about this response. I agree with Stephen that having some way to interact with your opponent makes the game feel more “alive and engaging.” Any game that pits real players against other real players should feel alive. While I think that's important, the player base has decided that nearly all emoting amounts to gloating or displaying bad manners. Ideally, rather than a global mute function, there would be some way to change the culture and perception around emotes. I have no idea how that could be accomplished or if it's even possible. Currently, some players are being forced to mute immediately upon starting each match or have their feelings negatively affected by the emotes. It seems easy to say, “Just get a thicker skin” or “Don't forget to mute,” but why should these players be denied a feature that would help them decrease negative feelings around the game? I'm struggling to come up with a satisfactory answer, so I'm inclined to believe the global mute should exist, though it kind of bums me out that it's needed.
Second Dinner is in the early stages of introducing many new emotes and reacts to the game. I'm not sure I buy the cynical analysis that they're only unwilling to introduce global mute to protect the monetization of these new emotes and reacts. Still, it does make the feature less likely soon, especially since they're probably very interested in tracking their use and sales in the short term to base business decisions on in the medium term.
Back in May of 2023, when Ben Brode appeared on Bynx’s stream, he kept encouraging Bynx to emote in a friendly way to greet his opponents. Maybe one way we can change the culture around emoting is to emote earlier rather than as a post-game activity. Under Brode’s guidance, Hearthstone famously dragged its feet in making an auto-mute function available for a long time. Is it possible that he is philosophically opposed to the concept of an auto-mute?
It doesn't matter much whether you want it, think it would ruin the game or are more on the fence about it since it seems clear that global mute isn't coming soon. Social systems in the game and a massively increased amount of emotes and reacts can positively affect the in-game communication culture.
2) What is “good value?”
There are a lot of excellent guides to help you spend your money or resources in Marvel Snap. They all make a few assumptions about value. But what represents good value in this game?
Our guide to bundles has two numbers: bundle value and currency value. These numbers represent the amount of gold you would need to spend to get the same (or equivalent) items with gold. In other words, a bundle listed as 100% value contains items that would cost you that same amount of gold (or real money converted to gold) to obtain. The amount above 100% is the “extra value” you get by buying the bundle. You can click the “view breakdown” button below each bundle and toggle between the total bundle value breakdown and the currency-only breakdown (which doesn't factor in cosmetics).
So, is everything above 100% worth buying? Not quite. A few other assumptions are built into the “value” of any bundle. First, all valuations are based on a comparison with buying gold for real money. In the shop, the best value way to purchase gold is the largest bundle, 8000 gold for $100. Second, cosmetics are valued based on in-game costs. A variant, for example, is valued at 700 gold. The assumption is that if this variant were in your shop, you would spend at least 700 gold to get it.
However, there are a lot of players that never convert real money into gold. $100 is a lot to put into any mobile game. Average spenders want something that isn't just above the rate of buying gold but is somewhat above that rate. When you factor in that the first time you purchase gold at each amount available in the shop, you get a double bonus. You'll want at least 200% value to feel like you're getting any “deal.” Furthermore, cosmetics are individual in value. Some value a variant at zero, while others are happy to pay a premium for a variant they like. When evaluating any bundle, you must decide how highly you value the cosmetics.
Significantly, since bundles are changing so much from what is datamined and with the introduction of personalized bundles, you should develop your value system, given the above ideas. It will be more important than ever to evaluate bundles on the fly. Here is my philosophy as a low to medium spender. I buy bundles above 200% of total value and approach that in just currency value. I also purchase bundles in which I love the cosmetics. There will always be more “good value” bundles later. If you have a fat stack of gold but the latest gold bundle doesn't speak to you, hold out until one does. There is no such thing as a “must buy” bundle. I only buy valuable and appealing things to ensure I never regret my spending.
3) Events are back! But are they good?
The Power Couples event, from February 13th to February 20th, replaced our usual over-the-air (OTA) balance changes and is billed as the first-ever Imbalance Patch!
This event is genius. But I never believed it would happen. Glenn Jones was asked about the possibility of a temporary OTA in December (when this must have already been in the planning stages).
“Q: Have you considered doing a temporary OTA for future events? Mainly as a conquest and ladder "hot location" kind of deal. For example, a 24-hour period where Angela is original stats or surfer gives +3 for the day.
A: One of the things we want to avoid doing with OTAs is destabilizing players’ collections or their ability to maintain decks too much. That’s why we prefer to keep a regular OTA schedule with meaningful space so that the cadence is predictable and players can build appropriate expectations.
That’s not to say we’d never do this sort of thing, but I’d probably oppose doing it for all play modes with a given card, which we currently don’t support (the card is the card).
-Glenn”
Looks like someone guessed right! This response saddened me since I loved the idea of changes that were announced as temporary. It opens up so many possibilities that other card games have never had. It could also be an alternative to rotation, essential to traditional paper card games. The changes themselves haven't been super impactful, but that's wise when trying something like this for the first time. This is a 9/10 event. With a few tweaks in execution, I'd rate it as perfect.
Bon Mardi Gras Galactique!
From February 7th to February 17th, Marvel Snap is celebrating Carnival. Let's review it!
The Carnival celebration consisted of two events. First is the Galactic Carnival in-game event, and second is the login bonuses from the 11th to the 17th.
I'm going to give the event a grade of 7/10. It's been nice to have login and easy-to-earn rewards instead of the Whale spending track we've had in recent seasons. However, the event lacks something to make it a little more engaging, and having the Galactic Carnival buried in the news tab led to quite a few people forgetting to collect their masks daily. The event was not particularly exciting, but it compares favorably with some of the events we had in the game's early days and could be an excellent first step toward future in-game events.
We also got a bundle with a pretty cool Sunspot variant.
The variant is a nice nod to Roberto da Costa’s Brazilian heritage. A wider audience will become acquainted with ‘Berto as he's slated to feature prominently in the upcoming X-Men ‘97 revival animated series.
On the other hand, we already have many good Sunspot variants, including pretty exclusive ones like the Winter Vacation variant from a big bundle and the Sunspot from the first round of Twitch Drops.
Not to mention that the best ‘Berto happens to be a 700 gold variant!
That's it for this week! Please submit your burning question in the comments or by hitting me on Twitter!