Marvel's Avengers will make levelling slower alongside Hawkeye DLC on March 18th
Lest too much power overwhelm players, apparently
Marvel's Avengers seemed to come out to the mildest of shrugs from players, but there's still new DLC on the way in Operation: Hawkeye - Future Imperfect. Ahead of its arrival on March 18th, the developers have detailed some changes coming to the base game - including substantial reworks to how it dishes out XP and cosmetics. In brief: levelling is going to take longer.
As explained in a post on the game's site, the current XP curve "isn't really a curve at all" but a straight line. "This has led to pacing issues, such as skill points currently being rewarded too fast, which may be confusing and overwhelming to newer players. We want each decision to invest in a skill or Heroic to be more meaningful."
They're therefore increasing the amount of XP needed to level up after "around level 25". The amount required will continue to increase as you progress towards the level 50 cap. The change won't affect already levelled characters, just new characters you're trying to level after the update on March 18th.
The same update is bringing changes to cosmetics, to try to introduce more player choice to gathering items you want. Again, players won't lose anything already earned, but cosmetic items that would previously be unlocked via random drops will in future be purchaseable with an in-game currency from the cosmetic vendor.
Was making progress slower the secret to making the game more enjoyable? Games need friction to drive players towards interesting decisions, but I've no sense of how this will change the feel of the game. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm into the idea of having to level up superheroes at all - it seems counter to their very concept.
Future Imperfect will add Clint "Hawkeye" Barton as a playable character to Marvel's Avengers, after he was first introduced as an ally alongside a playable Kate Bishop in the previous update, Taking AIM. It'll be released on March 18th.