Rivals, the hero shooter from NetEase, has now put itself in a holiday state with an amazing new icy-hot cosmetic for one of its most bizarre characters and community reaction has been… let’s just say it has been a whole experience. The official account just dropped Peni Parker’s “Snow-SP//dr” skin which is basically a festive version of the young pilot and her mechanical marvel. The skin has been termed ‘snow-spider’ that is quite like SP//dr and even includes Peni dressed up for the holidays. It is part of Season 5 and one will be able to buy it from December 18 to January 16. Nevertheless, the community is not just thrilled but they are also warming up to it and even going to the extent of making some very specific demands and opening up the discussion about the ongoing bans.

The skin is indeed very cool and literally a sight to behold. The mecha is all in white, Peni is all in festive, the whole nine yards is there. The trailer text intensifies the drama with typical Marvel style calling it a ‘mechanical marvel’ and so on. But the skin is not the only point of interest in the conversation, players have a lot to say about it and that is basically what the discussion is all about.

What is the loudest and most common observation? More and more players say they want to see Peni more. Like absolutely not in the mech. User SpicyParapa was really blunt: “still don’t see any real reason to design peni if we NEVER see her out of mech in game😭” This sentiment grew stronger as it floated through the comments. User Froggy_doodles replied to another commenter saying, “Yes! Finally someone said it! She has one of the cutest designs in the game but we can’t even see her unless we get a MVP or at character select screen it’s unfair. If Iron Man can get out of metal suit skins then so should Peni. At least one!”

It is an utterly sound argument, isn’t it? Iron Man has skins where he is just Tony Stark standing around. But Peni, the character who is completely defined by being inside a robot, is like she has no way out. Some players have already started to think of solutions in the comments. CatGerbera suggestion players having the option to interact only with Peni in areas like the lobby or Times Square. MoistButtah had a suggestion that was more gameplay-based, proposing a toggle to dismount SP//DR allowing Peni to move while the mech stays put. The players definitely want to see the character’s design from the different perspective other than being just the winner’s screen.

But on the other hand, there is the view of total enthusiasm. There are some players who just appreciate the chilly spider. “PENI THE GOAT THAT SKIN IS FIRE,” shouted CommanderGamin1. User MonkeysxMoo35 listed all the benefits: “Legendary skin with Christmas music playing during her ult? Beautiful Sp//dr and Peni design? Campfire emote? Take a Seat with Peni out of the mech? Oh, it’s the best.” So the skin does not go unnoticed—quite the contrary. The design is receiving good feedback. However, there is still a little criticism mixed with the announced praises. A user dazorez made a comment, “easilyyy couldve gave her ult some snow vfx but noo yall gonna keep doing it for the same 3 characters only 😭😭”. It’s simply the usual gamer attitude: we love it, but we also know how it can be improved.

Still, what was I talking about? Oh yes, there is the other drama that is heating up in the replies. It is quite interesting the sort of direction community threads can take. In the midst of the excitement for the new skin, the discussion about the game’s monetization and skin availability erupted afresh. Users Sensations and sensei became embroiled in a dispute about whether a legendary Magneto skin from a past event was ever made available in the shop after the event had ended.

Sensations claims they bought it from the shop weeks ago, while sensei and others insist that it was an event-exclusive that has not returned ever since. It is like a detective novel unraveling in a comment thread, with accusations of bugs and faulty memories. This sort of off-topic discussions indicate that players’ concerns about how to get cosmetics—especially premium Legendary ones—are always present. User FreezerOnTop even asked outright, “Wasn’t this supposed to be an event pass?” implying the confusion over how to obtain this very skin.

And naturally, there are also the miscellaneous requests. User linlogin said, “Need whoever does the skins for Peni to do the skins for Emma because her skins eat every time,” while GrimReapper just wants a chair for their boy.