The official account of Twitter for the Marvel universe and the TV series and movies, Avengers Rivals, kicked off the discussion about the possible return of Loki, the god of Mischief, in the game with a not-so-harmless gesture that couldn’t be clearer, that of the utterance “Aw…Did you miss me?” with a photo, and a picture. The player community got all hyped up over the mystery and started creative discussions and debates that seemed to cross the dimensions of the game with players talking about character design and lore, current game status and matchmaking problems. The extent of passion and division among the players of this superhero shooter is clearly reflected in the response.
Marvel Rivals carried out a vague tweet in the slowest manner possible, practically saying “Aw… Did you miss me?” and showing a photo as well, which was the whole internet. The god of mischief was instantly implied, and the internet being what it is, went crazy right away. The picture is a dead giveaway for Loki; it has the horns and the silhouette of the robe that he wears. But this is not merely an announcement of a simple return; it is a full-fledged community drama-fest and the spectators are laughing.
The battlefield, above all, is among the replies. Players like Jarro are already saying: “Mythic skin incoming.” Which, okay, most likely. But then the situation soon got messy. Very messy. The teaser image seems to depict a more feminine-presenting Loki, and that has led the fans to discuss the character’s lore. User Karl came up to give an explanation, “its lokis color scheme and horns and same robe he usually wears + loki is canonically genderfluid as stated by Odin.” And that’s, you know, a valid point from the comics.
Conversely, some players simply don’t buy it. John Smith, for example, says, “No it’s still a guy. Just cosplaying as a girl. Cos Loki is a shapeshifter. He just does that kinda stuff for shits and giggles.” And Losr another person, summed up the confusion really well: “We all have no idea what they are trying to convey.” There is a wild mix of the discussions about comic book accuracy, casual dismissals, and total bewilderment. Meanwhile, some other players are just trying to be funny like dinoboy58 who posted a GIF about being the 400th comment.
However, the whole Loki drama thing is somewhat eclipsing the other possibly more important conversations that are happening in the replies. The not-so-happy players are voicing their concerns loudly. User CV said, “Your game is trash currently – the matchmaking is broken! Uninstalling this garbage.” That’s quite a harsh comment. Another player, sinn368just, asked, “Invis nerf when?” Hinting the balance issues. Then there is Bryan who replied with an image about “EOMM” – which stands for Engagement Optimized Matchmaking, a system that is controversial among some players who think it draws unfair matches to keep you playing. So, he’s basically telling the devs, “Don’t have EOMM in Marvel Rivals…” Thus, there is a real trend of dissatisfaction about the game’s current playability problem hiding under the glamour of a new skin or character.
Some players are simply begging for their favorites, Wyvroni for instance who lamented, “PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LOCK IN WITH STORM.” Others are making… uh… interesting requests, like Arpon who commented, “Please not with cloak please not with cloak i need to see her behind.” Dude, come on. Read the room.
A mini-debate has even arisen about the game’s quality compared to others. User oztw24 argued against someone saying Overwatch is better, stating, “Overwatch in China maybe is better… but under Blizzard management no way it is even close to being better than Rivals. It barely gets any content updates.” So, you’ve got these pockets of players fiercely defending Marvel Rivals’ potential and the content pipeline against the established giants.
In the end, this one teaser tweet did what it was meant to do; it made people talk. It created hype, confusion, debate, and even brought some grievances to light. Whether it is a new variant of Loki, a mythic skin, or something else entirely, the developers have managed to shift the focus successfully. The conversation around Marvel Rivals is vibrant, loud, and absolutely chaotic which for a live-service game trying to build a community might just be a good thing. The community is showing that they are invested enough to care deeply, argue passionately, and stick around to find out what “Aw… Did you miss me?” actually means. The real test will be if the eventual reveal scales up the hype and if the developers take the feedback from their passionate player base on platforms like Xbox and PlayStation seriously.
