Overview Poll Tally & Claims: Peni Parker
(Reuploaded just for the Peni Parker Rivals Sub only this time)
Discrepancies would be the time I released the polls, the before was in the afternoon, while the after was in the morning. That being said, even combined, the Likes and indifferent votes do not come close to the dislikes. I didn't engage with the comments, as I figured many would leave some that highlights that key and crucial reasons why this change is fundamentally terrible, and makes Peni way more annoying in one way, whilst being absent almost entirely in her another way, so I essentially let them do the talking. Now I'm just gonna take the comments around and on these posts, and paraphrase, whilst I add my on thoughts. I should mention I play on console, so ranked there differs slightly on PC, with dive being more prevalent.
1. She needs a nerf to her nest and teamup.
>> Her nest is the problem, it's something we've gone back and forth over even in the Peni Subreddit, that Rocket teamup has got to go. Personally, I don't even like the rocket teamup, I'm usually hybrid in attacking and defending, and I'd rather take the BP teamup. The brutally honest truth is that there are simply too many people that can't be bothered dealing with the nests, because then they can't have free reign and go in without a plan. This is why even now in season 9.5, she is still banned, it spells a death sentence if divers get caught in the backline. In some instances of console ranked, you will see Dive eccentric comps, something like The Thing, Venom, Spider-man, Black Cat, and simultaneously on the same team, can be a very common sight to see, with some varying parameters of Thor, Angela, BP, Star-Lord, Iron Fist, and Magik.
2. The web snare change should just be a cooldown increase
- That's it. Make the cooldown go from 3 seconds to 5 or even 6 seconds. No need for 2 charges, no need for a follow up shot on targets, and the slow is practically unnoticeable, may as well remove that, and apply it elsewhere. The argument that Peni Parker's stun requires no skill is not a very sound one, as a big part of her identity is maintaining the Anti-Dive mechanics that she has. The snare itself is used to kill momentum, and make it easier to apply some damage or kill them. A tracer is not going to deter Black Cats and especially Spiderman for example. Its just been a pain to get the follow up, especially since he knows as well as his teammates that its active. Majority of the time they'll just continue fighting.
3. The glitches are what most Peni players are mad about.
>> December 6th, 2024 is when Marvel Rivals officially released, so its been nearly 2 years since Peni has kept some major glitches, some that are gamebreaking. The Cyber-Bond is a GAMBLE, because it will rubberband you back in place. Other times you may see an animation of it creating the web and sling, only for it to break moments after, sometimes putting the ability on cooldown( some folks are saying it doesn't after 9.5 released, but my personal experience is more about the same to other seasons). The Spider-Nest is finicky about its placement , breaking half the time in areas that's deemed ok, having you waste more time looking for another spot. It may even break it and not put the ability on cooldown, meaning Peni needs to head back to spawn, or unfortunately , just die. On top of that, web snares that come in contact with surfaces, may sometimes not even create a web when it lands ( this is also in tandem with Cyber-Bond). There's several more; so the fact Peni got a nerf like this, with her kit still being janky and a coin toss at best, this is the bulk of the reason why alot of Peni mains are irritated.
4. Underwhelming Ultimate
- Personally, I like the ultimate, but comparing it to alot others, and it becomes clear why Peni Parker's ultimate can feel and at times be underwhelming. The ultimate itself hasn't seen a unique change to it directly to make it more responsive, like the ability to cancel it early. This is really it, anymore specifics, and it would just be an essay long.
5. Tank players suffer more than DPS with this change, further encouraging that favoritism towards a certain role
>> All this Web snare change does is emphasize tank lockdown rather than focus on anti-dive. The problem? She already did that, and was better at that before these changes. And now she can do it slightly faster on follow-ups, meaning tanks like Thing sometimes can't get a Haymaker throw out. How exactly does this change make Peni less annoying, apart from Dive characters with smaller hitboxes being able to have more freedom in the backline if Peni is their opponent? Better question; why bring Peni into a anti-dive situation, if the only "reliable" people she could stun are other tanks? In what way is this fun?
That's really it, I wanted to add my own points while summarizing the main key problems. While Reddit is a minority compared to how many actively engage with Marvel Rivals, the fact of the matter is twice this change saw high marks in dislikes, and its even higher since the change has gone live. I get Peni should see nerfs, but its in the wrong direction. **That nest should've lost 50 more HP and seen either a damage nerf to its drones( I recommended from 40 to 35), or a cooldown increase( from 15 to 20). Still, Peni punishes hasty people, folks who don't like to flank often, and uncoordinated dives, so she may still be banned even with that. I just want her fixed, it'd be nice to use Cyber-Bond without worrying about it bringing you right back.** Now everything on Peni Parker's kit is a gamble, in which you already have to work for since she's a tank( Godspeed if you try to play Solo tank Peni), and overall worse Anti-dive.
This is what originally was released in the main sub, but it got taken down in less than an hour. Needless to say, not a lot of love thrown for Peni. Unless we can make traction like the "Epic Bikini incident", just a lackluster experience for the time being.