If you are a player who has tasted the thrills and excitement of Marvel Rivals and has been disheartened by updates over recent weeks, perhaps this patch will put a smile on your face. The patch is releasing globally on 25 September, so surely this will be a big event. The made-and-tweaked lists have already been put up for you to peruse all the changes coming to the battlefield.
Anyway, a new patch. It sure is a big do for this type of live service game. The official Marvel Rivals account merely tweeted, “Patch is here. Go read the notes.” The real story, as always wondered what was really discussed in the reply section, was there. Comments were almost immediately flooded by the community with… let’s say their ‘feedback.’ It was a frenzy of hype, frustration, and very specific demands.
Early days of matchmaking, for one, maybe probably everyone’s sore point. One savetheking45 went to town: “Fuck your matchmaking. Wth is wrong with this season? This is the hardest climb I ever had.” Another player, Kainez, was direct: “Fix matchmaking, unplayable.” Ranked experience season feels like extra headache to the community. So, is the algorithm really broken, or are we just getting worse at the game?? I can’t say for sure.
Character balance, on the other hand, has been maintained with just about any hero shooter. It’s a make-or-break area wherein users argue for specific nerfs and buffs. AbelKw says it simply, “Nerf spider man and buff mantis.” Meanwhile, in-depth discussion about Peni Parker starts, with users like DavidXander_ defending her play style and complaining that those who think she’s weak probably haven’t correctly used her nest. I guess it’s that classic comeback you hear for every game: “All characters are trash” – some other person says – “But the character is secretly OP if you just know how to use them.” Who’s right? Probably both and neither at the same time.
Sidelining me at the farthest end is another much-discussed topic of Resources Rumble. They do not hold back with their sentiment. EchoedStar1203 flatly asked the devs to remove Resources Rumble from QP rotation, facepalm emoji included. The thread exploded. Chimp_monk said it… should be its own mode, and Comixfan agreed with chimp_monk, suggesting it should be removed outright from Quick Match. Luis R came to defend, however, saying, “It’s not leaving, there is a reason they are improving the game mode, isn’t it obvious? And it will come to competitive at the right time.” This led to the heated debate of DavidXander_ who says that mode is “fucking terrible” and needs to be deleted. So, I guess we can say the community is a little divided on that one. It’s either an artfully misunderstood gem or an absolute abomination: no in-between.
Good and even more constructive ideas began to punctuate this cacophony of complaints and debates over balance. User theAlomare positively commented on the changes: “Update the site to scale correctly with wider screens!” Then, baraology uttered a quality-of-life feature request: “Let us see how much damage we’ve boosted on Mantis please.” ShenRodd added another request: to expand the friends and ‘Avoid Teammate’ list-well honestly, every competitive title should have that. It’s fantastic to see that despite frustrations, players are still engaged and thinking constructively.
Right in the middle we had requests for content alongside the negative vibe. Comixfan asked, “Bring back Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol as a permanent mode please!” And, of course, yet another plea for additional game modes spurted out from peppedapig, suggesting that the devs “keep tweaking until perfection” and also request better naming for the arcade games so that players know exactly what they’re queueing for. And that’s a fair point: if you don’t know what a mode is, why would you play it?
Oh! And let’s not forget that above it all is the push for cross progression. Comixfan also: “Still no cross progression. Game’s almost a year old at this point.” That’s a big one for people who might want to move between platforms like PlayStation and Xbox. maddoxman9 jumped in on the Twitch drops, demanding that required watch time be reduced to 2 hours max. Everyone wants their freebies, but nobody actually wants to have to keep a stream going the whole day for them.
So what does that all mean? Essentially, the Marvel Rivals community is alive and kicking. The September 25 patch is most certainly a big event, but it is also a springboard for the community to voice what they really want going into the future of the game.
There’s a lot going on for the devs, with the balancing of heroes; matchmaking, game modes, and highly requested features. It’s a tough gig, but the passion from the players is undeniable-even if that passion comes out as harsh criticism. There’s conversation, which is nearly always a positive indicator for a game’s long-term existence. Now to just see how the patch really feels once it’s live.
