Developer Update for the Week of January 11, 2024: Post-Patch Edition (35+ Questions)!

Hello all! Welcome back to this week’s breakdown of what’s happening over on the Marvel Snap official Discord! We took a break last week since the developers closed the Q/A channel for the holidays. This week, we get answers to why did Kingpin and Dracula get changes, is the end turn button still coming, how will the custom card function work, and more! If you want to stay up to date with what’s coming and what answers developers have for the community, make sure to check back here each week!

This week’s edition comes after the launch of the new card Hercules! If you don’t know if Hercules is worth a Spotlight Key, check out our weekly Spotlight Cache guide! This week also comes after the latest patch. If you haven’t seen what changed in the patch, check out the patch notes. Finally, the latest roadmap was released lately! If you haven’t seen that either, read about it as well!. Many questions reference these news bits, so make sure you know what has changed and what’s coming!

Note: The Weekly Developer Update will move from Thursday to Friday starting next week! This is to bring you more relevant information quicker, especially in regards to OTA’s and the questions players have about them.

Answers and questions may be slightly rephrased for more clarity and ease of reading. This weeks topics will be divided into Card Specific questions and Other questions.

Remember, you can check out our new Marvel Snap Developer Tracker to see all questions and answers in real time! Topics can also be searched, filtered, and sorted.

Card Specific Questions

Q: Leech is becoming popular and feels unfun like pre-nerf Alioth. If the metrics are showing the same thing for you, would Leech get a nerf?
A: Glenn “As we stated when we changed Leech to his current state, Leech has a role in the game, but that role includes maintaining a low play rate.”

Q: Why did you make Hercules a 4-Cost? Was your goal to make a big Hercules to match lore more?
A: Glenn “Certainly we wanted a ‘big’ Herc, but among our design goals for Move decks have been trying to push some cards that function in the archetype at a more diverse range of Costs. We certainly hope to have succeeded here, but if we didn’t we’ll adjust accordingly.”

Q: Why doesn’t Skaar get a discount when cards get 10 or more power from Throne Room or Monster Metropolis?
A: KentErik “There’s a bug where Throne Room / Monster Metropolis’ buffs are being added to the card before Skaar scans the card’s power (Skaar is seeing the card’s Power before that buff is landing). We have this fixed in an upcoming patch.”

Q: Why did you land on this specific change for Kingpin, rather than keeping his destroy effect?
A: Glenn “Because we want to have a solid line in the sand for unrevealed cards being largely immune to effects. The more often we cross it, the harder the line is to see and the less special moments when we cross it for good reason become.

In this case, we also wanted to buff Kingpin. Destroying a card has to be costed very specifically, which is why the previous design was weak in the first place. We think this design is more fun, more playable, and less confusing.”

Q: With the new change to how cards resolve while being moved, does that mean Elsa will buff a Spider-man that’s played into Elsa’s location before it swings away?
A: Glenn “Elsa’s functionality with Spider-Man didn’t change, she is still checking whether her location is full after a card resolves if that card was played at her location.”

Q: Is the Dracula change more of a buff or a nerf, given that Dracula can no longer dodge negative power effects like Evolved Clyclops or Jotenheim?
A: Glenn “The change is definitionally a buff. If he specifically loses 2 or more Power (4 or more if Wakandan Embassy flips) he will be slightly weaker, but this is much less common than every other game scenario where it’s upside.

When we have more data on this change, we’ll evaluate what to do–the primary purpose, as the notes said, was to give us the ability to act on that data more easily in the future.”

Q: Is there any way Hercules could see a buff while he’s in this spotlight cache?
A: Glenn “A day or two of data is not a meaningful enough sample, nor would we be testing internally with it. As such, we won’t be rebalancing cards during their first Spotlight Cache. We are happy to commit to ensuring new cards find happy homes—that’s always the goal.”

Q: Now that Angel has been buffed, can M'Baku get the same treatment?
A: Glenn “I’m not sure the same change is the right solution for M’Baku—while similar in effect, their conditions each encourage different play patterns. We do agree M’Baku deserves some love.”

Q: Can you pull Agatha from the new location Great Portal?
A: Glenn “Agatha is excluded.”

Q: What made you remove Annihilus’ interaction with Debrii?
A: Glenn “Annihilus is a good card whether he moves 0s or not, and when a card will still be good it’s usually worth looking at shaving some strength. If he moves 0s, he ‘freerolls’ a lot of strength against a card like Debrii. Her metrics took a large dive upon Annihilus releasing because he is so much better against her than he is with her. Since he doesn’t need that extra oomph, and she does, we’re hoping this returns some to her style.”

Other Questions

Q: Why do all location changing cards need to be On Reveal? Are there technical limitations? Could they be ongoing or something else instead?
A: Glenn “We already have an upcoming card with such a trigger. I’m not really sure how an Ongoing one would work, offhand.

On Reveal is the most common keyword in the game because it’s the cleanest way to do a lot of stuff. It just plays well.”

Q: Has the team considered adding a way to read a little lore about characters when you click on them?
A: Daniela “Yes! This is something we’ve talked about, no timeline as of yet though”

Q: Is it possible to get a “claim all” button for the collection track?
A: Daniela “It’s something we’ve talked about for sure!”

Q: Sometimes when I receive boosters for a card I rarely use, it’s very difficult to find out which card has the notification, and I have to scroll through my whole collection. Is there any plans to make this more user friendly?
A: Daniela “We hear you! We are exploring this, but I don’t have much info on this at this time.”

Q: Since they weren’t listed on the roadmap, are there any updates to the undo end turn button or global matchmaking?
A: Glenn “We’re still working on global matchmaking, but excited for it.

The Undo End Turn button is pretty far along; we’re playtesting it. Looking forward to it going live in a future patch.”

Q: Was if a conscious choice to make infinite cardback rewards just a gold version instead of a unique cardback?
A: Glenn “It was a conscious choice. Gating a fully unique cosmetic behind the time and skill Infinite requires frustrated many players, so we reduced that while maintaining a prestige cosmetic by switching to the gold treatment.”

Q: Will players ever get a infinite Silver Surfer cardback since that season didn’t get one?
A: Glenn “We don’t have any plans to retroactively award different cosmetics for achievements from a year ago.”

Q: Is there any update to “test mode” that used to he on the roadmap, but now it isn’t?
A: Glenn “We removed Test Mode from our Road Map following the release of Conquest. While they are different, there’s a lot of overlap on what Test Mode offers available there.”

Q: Is the graveyard going to be a hud that shows all the actions that happen in the game, such as Spider Ham making a card a pig, or is it specifically destroyed cards?
A: Daniela “Graveyard is the first step! It only shows which cards were discarded or destroyed. In game history (more what you’re describing with Spider Ham) is something we’re discussing.”

Q: Can you explain how border customization will work.
A: Stephen “You will have a new card at the top of your variant selection screen called a ‘Custom Card’ for each character.  You will be able to pick three characteristics to start:  variant art, split combo, and border.

Variant art will be selectable based on what variants you own for that character.

Split combos will be based on what splits you have received for the variant art you select (for example if you previously got a gold foil finish + purple sparkle flare for your Artgerm Carnage then you can apply gold foil + purple sparkle to your Custom Card when Artgerm Carnage is selected).  We did not include mixing and matching because getting a cool split is an awesome achievement and we want it to remain an awesome achievement.

Border will be selectable based off what you have unlocked for the character as a whole.”

Q: Will there be any costs associated with setting custom borders?
A: Stephen “There is no cost”

Q: Does border selection still get tied to card effects?
A: Stephen “Border selection will match the normal state of that border (i.e. white border will not be frame broken or animated).  The scope to uncouple them is quite large and we may do it at a later date, but for initial release border color will be coupled with its same effect level as currently in the game.”

Q: For character mastery on the roadmap, will previously earned variants, splits, ect carry over once the feature rolls out?
A: Stephen “Yes you will get Mastery levels retroactively for owning variants, splits, avatars, etc”

Q: When winterverse was live, cards like Debrii and Rockslide showed coal instead of rocks, but apparently it was just a seasonal coal and not tied to the card. For players who bought these variants thinking they gave permanent coal instead of rocks, what will happen?
A: Glenn “We’ll be adjusting these variants to use the Coal token. It wasn’t our original intention to attach that token to these variants, but we understand the bug may have provided extra encouragement to some players based on the token.”

Q: Why was Ultimate variant revamp moved down on the roadmap?
A: Stephen “The design of Ultimate Evolution  has not changed.  However, it dropped in priority because we want to aggressively add new gameplay experiences and clans.  We hope to get to Ultimate Evo later this year”

Q: What happens if you buy a webshop bundle, but already own the variant in it?
A: Stephen “You receive all of the items you do not own and any currency offered”

Q: Will the character mastery track reward you more for collecting new variants or splits?
A: Stephen “We are still working on the tuning for Mastery but variants will most likely be the most efficient way to gain mastery.  Splits will be the primary way to gain mastery”

Q: Is there a simple explanation for how data goes into autodeck and how it outputs a deck?
A: Glenn “It examines the frequency and success with which cards are played alongside the card(s) you start with by all players. Then it builds what that data indicates would be the best deck your collection can support. Basically.”

Q: Any chance having card effects with a card’s base art (as in no foil, inked, or gold finish) could be implemented?
A: KentErik “Maybe!”

Q: How did you change Stegron and Alioth back so fast after their accidental buffs?
A: Glenn “The primary time constraints on OTAs are localizing the notes and QA’ing the changes, which weren’t necessary here.

We also need to be able to schedule the change for our server team and get some basic reviews of the work. When we need to rush a change, we have a specific process for that.

We do also highly value maintaining regular cadence, and the current frequency has felt just about right. Too much change can be disruptive to players’ enjoyment of their collections.”

Q: Can you explain why you won’t give refunds for nerfed cards when other card games do it?
A: Glenn “Our balance patches fulfill a role more similar to content releases in other card games. We’re using buffs and nerfs to constantly to stimulate the metagame and create fresh environments, which means we want players to expect cards to change fairly often. Philosophically, we’ve likened it more to the balance process used by MOBAs or autobattlers.”

Q: Where is the next album?
A: Stephen “More albums coming soon!  Pandart will have one for sure but we are trying to get more in the game sooner than later.  Stay tuned.”

Q: Didn’t the series 4/5 slot in the shop used to update daily? It’s showing me it’ll update next week as opposed to a few hours.
A: Addison “Yep, a known issue I’m hoping to get fixed next client release. It unfortunately was found after this most recent client was locked (as well as the patch notes). The good news is that the functionality should still be the same with the weekly spotlight refreshing on a weekly basis and the S4/S5 slot refreshing every 8 hours…it’s just a really silly UI swap of the timers.”

Q: I know the team doesn’t like discussing leaked or datamined info, but did the leaked balance notes effect changes that were made from the leaks to the actual patch due to player discussions? Like Ms. Marvel wasn’t initially getting a power reduction. If so, do you intend to release drafts of patches going forward?
A: Glenn “No, that discussion didn’t impact our choices. We made a preliminary patch in mid-December knowing we’d have a short turnaround time upon getting back into the office in 2024 with 2+ weeks of more data to review. We also don’t intend to adjust our patch notes schedule at this time.”

Q: With the change to Dracula, are there times when preserving the fun moments of a card are more important than clarifying some confusion it may bring? Like Dracula removing his debuff with his ability to win vs Hazmat. Is fun factor a measurement you use, or is it all data driven?
A: Glenn “Like with so many things, it depends. We weigh the frequency of these moments against their impact, so fairly rare things, such as Dracula defeating a full Hazmat combo, aren’t going to carry a lot of impact relative to us wanting to be able to make Dracula a 4/4 or a card that buffs him to create the most net fun for a Dracula fans. If Dracula is too weak, those rare events above are even less likely because his play rate dips.

As the person answering the majority of questions about unrevealed card behavior in many forums, I assure you Fisk Tower created meaningful confusion. Things have to be very fun to be worth that, and a location players have no agency in being able to play with just can’t meet that standard.

The end of your question is indicative of something that’s common in this forum, which is reducing a nuanced subject to two binary outcomes on the far ends of a spectrum. Memorable moments and data both drive our decision-making—they’re partners, and enhance one another. Very little good game design is ‘pure’ anything, in my experience.”

Q: Hey team, so I was listening to a podcast and heard through that grapevine that y’all have some of the best office chemistry in the industry. Given our small window into your world, I’m inclined to agree. So tell us, what’s your favorite office anecdote that you haven’t been able to tell us yet?
A: Glenn “One of my favorite bits is the handful of custom Slack emotes for some our bigger personalities 🙂”

Addison “Everyone on the QA team has some card or character that they’re weirdly associated with now either because of a joke or because they just love the card so much. I won’t go into the context (mainly because I think it’s funnier without context), but it tickles me to no end that one of the folks on our team is forever Mojo’s #1 fan.”

Stephen “Brode and I are in an eternal conflict between who has better burritos between SF and LA/OC so we send each other to new spots to keep trying to win the war.  Everyone knows SF has better burritos (La Taq is my favorite).  Tacos are a different story, LA wins that one.”

Nicki Broderick “-For those who are local to OC, we try to do team lunches at least once a week and try new food or favorite spots, and I love how food is such a bonding activity! ALSO people have strong opinions about food (see Stephen’s comment), so we regularly argue about the best Ramen spot

– We often hang out in Discord to have that fun virtual office environment, so folks can hang, get feedback, and catchup. Somewhat recently people have really enjoyed using the discord soundboard which (usually) makes me laugh

– Back in the early days a few of us were really passionate about naming the in-game shop the “taco shop”, because we had just seen End Game and seeing Hulk hold the tiny taco was hilarious. It didn’t make it into the game, but we try to hide tacos wherever we can now. 🙂”

Questions From You!

Each week, I ask readers of the weekly dev update to leave their questions down in the comment section. That way we can ask those questions on your behalf, or let you know the answers if those questions have been asked before! I read each comment you leave, so I will be adding this section at the end of each week’s edition to highlight your questions that you asked last week!

Q: Is there any thought to removing gold tickets from collectors reserves?
A: This was referred to the team’s feedback channel. I don’t think they will comment on the matter so more players don’t hoard reserves to dodge the tickets.

Q: Why does the app reset my deck choice after each match?
A: It’s a known bug

Q: What is the thought process when a new character or location debuts in Marvel media (the comics, the movies, etc) and if/when to add them to the game?
A: To summarize the multiple answers to this question, they try to sync up with media when the character or theme could be really exciting. They won’t do each and every release a Marvel character is in though. Nicki Broderick explains more here:

Nicki Broderick “We plan our themes for seasons many months ahead! We have a huge backlog of ideas and themes we want to explore that are a mix of comic inspired, Marvel’s show/movie schedule, etc. There’s a variety of factors that influence the theme, but we typically look at things like new characters to introduce, an artistic glue that can hold stuff together, an opportunity for cool/unique designs, etc.”

Keep Your Questions and Feedback Coming!

That’s all for this week’s update! Be sure to check back here at Marvel Snap Zone for next week’s update! If you enjoyed the amount of content in this edition, make sure to keep asking your questions to the developers by submitting it in their official Discord in the “#ask-the-team” channel. If you have questions and don’t use Discord, leave your questions for the developers in the comment section here, and I will make sure your question has been answered by the devs!

If you have feedback or changes you would like to see with these weekly updates, also let us know in the comment section!