The latest Twitch Drops promotion has been unveiled on NetEase’s Marvel Rivals, with the newest cosmetics certainly managing to ruffle feathers and cause a stir in the community-discordantly so. From October 10th till November 7th, the Mister Fantastic “Will of Galacta” skin permits players a whole month to acquire this purple-and-blue outfit for free just by watching any Marvel Rivals streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, its reception? Well, let us say it has been… rather complicated.
What does the skin look like, really? The Will of Galacta skin essentially changes the entire look of Reed Richards into purples and blue colors that supposedly represent the Twitch brand colors combined with the Galacta theme. It is so much opposite of his customary Future Foundation colors of blue and black, and the players are just full of… opinions. Lots of them.
The social media reaction has been pretty much all over the place. Some players are calling it MR LEANTASTIC because of the purple hues while others are less flattering. “What is that gay shty colors. 🤮” said a user, and another one commented, “The twitch skins look like shit.” Ouch. However, supporters exclaimed: “He doesn’t care what it’s supposed to represent, he just wants the skins to actually look good and unique which is fair to ‘cry’ about.” The debate is real, folks.
On that note, it adds more twist to the bigger argument of the direction of Rivals’ cosmetics. One player exclaimed their exasperation that this is just another Twitch Drop skin rather than a better deserving one. A Reed Richards main came back with “Bro you just got a beach skin us Reed players haven’t had anything since the future foundation skin,” in reference to some characters appearing to receive more love on the skin side.
And then, presents itself the whole Twitch Drop system. Many a comment spoke of missing prior drops, with one player saying: “They need to bring back some of the previous ones. Hate that I missed the Namor one ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜”. This raises the issue of cosmetics being able to remain exclusive and for only a limited time. I mean, what happens to a player who finds the game late? They are just out of luck forever for some skins, right?
Good timing for this drop, as one would say, even more so since it came after the summer event some players had hoped would bring along beach-themed skins for characters like Mister Fantastic. Here instead… One frustrated player explained: “When I said I wanted a skin for him, I meant during the summer event not this piece of grape.” It resonates frustration.
But catch lies in that the skin is free! Many a defender claimed it, including one user who replied to all the haters, “also its free what are u on?” This creates an interesting scenario of players feeling as if they can’t really complain about something they didn’t pay a dime for-but then continue to voice their demands for quality cosmetics for their favorite characters.
And then goes the question of character selection for these drops. While Mister Fantastic gets this fresh new skin, some other crowd favorites like Magik, Emma Frost, and Hela are yet to get much of this said treatment. “I hope they all get one eventually,” one player commented, indicating an even share of the roster is being sought after for the distribution of cosmetics.
The whole “Will of Galacta” theme really presents a concept. What does it even mean? One sarcastic comment inquired, “Is the will of Galactica to make the most dogshit looking skin imaginable for each hero,” which… okay, harsh, but funny. That naming convention and thematic unity throughout this Twitch Drop skin series seems lost on some players, who just want to see their favorite heroes looking cool.
Even more interesting is how vying interest erupts around virtual outfits for heroes some may not even play. One person confessed: “Anything but a new skin 🥀 (I don’t play him),” which sums up that weird FOMO (fear of missing out) I feel sauce plaguing a great deal of the engagement with these limited-time cosmetics. You don’t want it even if you don’t play the character… just in case.
It’s an excellent business plan when you think about it: NetEase gets free advertisement off Twitch streams, players get free cosmetics, and everybody wins-perhaps except those players who dislike the skins. But then again, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder; there are even some players that praise this new look, with comments like “This kinda looks fire” popping up along with all the criticism.
As Marvel Rivals continues to grow and unveil more characters, the cosmetic system is bound to inevitably evolve, maybe through a few drops featuring more varied skin themes beside the Twitch colors, or just by throwing back some older drops for those that missed them. The community is split on whether this is the course to take at the present, but one thing they agree upon is that people are talking, and that value certainly counts.
From the perspective of a good night out, whether people despise it or embrace it, there is the new Mister Fantastic skin that will be available for a limited period, and Mercado Rivals players are given until the 7th of November to figure out just how much it is worth sitting through those streams. The talks about quality cosmetics, fair representation of characters, and drop exclusivity will likely go on long after that particular skin cycle dies down. But these are just the growing topics on current-day live service games.
