Marvel Rivals has presented the initial information regarding the eagerly awaited Season 6.0 and the community is… to say the least, they are quite confused about it all. The main highlights were given in the official tweet: a new character (who is said to be “witty,” which is enjoyable), new costumes, a link to the complete patch notes, and the Jan 16 server downtime which is a requirement for that. It is just the usual for a live service game, right? But if you read the replies it is a totally different picture – a mad mixture of thrills, confusions, and even some complaints concerning the updates.

At first, the good vibes flowed. Players were, in fact, some of them enjoying too much. User Gavanator, who describes himself as a “day 1 invis main,” could not be more satisfied and is thanking “lord guang guang” for two new skins and VFX (visual effects) for the ultimate ability. “Invis mains eating good this season i see,” says another player HangInTher3, who is joining the conversation. For this particular group, it is a W. One more player, TheVP, is very thrilled about a quality-of-life change: “Saving and sharing controller settings is pretty peak. Let’s go!” Sometimes, it is the small things that matter, after all.

Nevertheless, on the other side of the scale, everybody has their complaints. There is a lot of movement and noise concerning the skins distribution, mainly. Players have been booing the devs for that reason. Their argument is that the new Battle Pass legendary skin is the first to come with not only the extra color variants (chromas) and the very special ultimate VFX usually sold separately via the premium currency called Unstable Molecules but also to be this close to the purchase. “Invisreal the first BP costume to get unstable molecule vfx and recolors…,” user Aevus points out and sounds like he is a little surprised.

This has prompted people to express their opinions. One of them is user dulfy who can’t believe it and responds to someone, “No legendary skin in the bp has ever had this but noooo let’s start doing it with fucking invis.” Another one, sera, is just in disbelief and says, “Another chroma and vfx for invis?? Get real.” Meanwhile, some other players say that they feel neglected. User Edyn wonders, “Can Adam Warlock get a Galacta-emote too? You again overlooked him..” And it is not just him – Stefan Iorcic mentions buffs for Adam Warlock and Mantis, while Vih merely asks, “What about a Black Widow buff or rework?”

Several members of the community take it as a fact: the focus of dev. the character has been unevenly throughout the whole roster. “Yeah the skin distribution this season is completely messed up,” says user Mango candidly. “Invis with a special ult vfx and colors, plus twitch drops. YIKES.” There is even a pun about the game’s title, with DJSK8_3D suggesting that “Seriously, changing the game’s name to ‘Your Rivals’ would make even more sense.” Ouch.

Besides the cosmetic turmoil, there are also some practical issues. Players are asking for better matchmaking, with Stefan Iorcic pointing out the problem of new players having to compete against very experienced “smurfer accounts.” Others are getting simple UI fixes like the option to choose the default chat channel. And, of course, there are patch note translations – one user requested an Arabic translation of the fixes for Magneto, Thor, and Doctor Strange and another account, Grok, did it. The fix for Magneto is rather funny as it reads that now his ultimate no more sends him like a “bad elevator” unless he is “acting dramatic.”

So, what does all this noise mean to Marvel Rivals? Season 6.0 is reminding us that the typical live-service game’s situation is like a tightrope walk: trying to present new content that attracts the players while at the same time balancing the demands of a diverse and noisy community. The new hero hype and the shared controller settings feature show us the players still have the same fundamental needs. Nevertheless, the strong response to the so-called unfair treatment in cosmetic rewards has revealed that the players are very sensitive to the issues of fairness and value. It is a reminder that for the community of a competitive game, balance is not only about stats but also about feeling that every hero, and hence every player respawning them, has had a moment of glory. NetEase developers have the hard work ahead ensuring that no characters from the roster feel like rivals to each other while still celebrating the newcomers.