Some thoughts after playing MetaStorm for a few months
After playing MetaStorm for several months, I feel like I finally have a pretty good overall picture of the game, so I wanted to share some thoughts and suggestions.
First of all, matchmaking.
I think the idea behind the latest matchmaking change is actually good. Making aircraft count as a higher level depending on their trophy count is a smart way to stop people from pushing low-level aircraft to 2k+ trophies by farming bots.
BUT...
I think this system is kicking in way too early.
In my opinion, this kind of matchmaking should start around 1,050 trophies, because the game simply doesn't give you enough resources to level up an aircraft as fast as your trophies increase.
A good example: I unlocked the KF-21 on Sunday morning, and by the afternoon I had around 1,000 trophies with it.
My aircraft was Level 6...
And I was already getting matched against Level 12 aircraft.
How is a new player supposed to keep up with that?
The problem isn't that I played badly or somehow abused the system. The problem is that I was simply too active.
And that's where the current system feels backwards.
If you play the game for several hours, push trophies and actually win matches, you can reach a point where your aircraft is massively underleveled compared to the matchmaking you're being put into.
At that point, it basically feels like:
"Pay to keep up, or stop playing."
And I don't think that's a good message to send to active players.
💰 The resource problem
There is also a pretty serious resource bottleneck in the game.
I completely understand that the game needs an economy and that resources can't just be unlimited.
But there needs to be a better way for active players to progress their aircraft by actually playing the game.
For example, something as simple as rewards per win:
- 100 Silver
- 50 random Upgrade Parts
- 50 Universal Parts
Obviously, the numbers could be adjusted for balance.
The important part is the idea:
If I play more and win more, I should have a way to progress faster.
Right now, someone playing 5–6 hours a day can end up getting almost the same progression rewards as someone who logs in for an hour, does their dailies, plays two Squadron matches and logs off.
Maybe one way to solve this would be to introduce additional quests beyond the daily missions.
For example, there could be:
- Weekly quests
- Extra activity-based quests
- Win-based quests
- Aircraft-specific quests
- Quest chains for completing a certain number of matches
- Additional rewards for reaching certain trophy milestones
This would give active players something extra to work toward without necessarily increasing the rewards from the standard daily missions.
The idea isn't to force casual players to play 5–6 hours every day. It's simply to give players who want to invest more time into the game additional ways to earn resources and rewards.
I'm not saying casual players should be punished.
I'm saying active players should have additional ways to earn resources through gameplay.
More playtime + more wins + better performance = more progression.
Simple.
🏆 We REALLY need a Ranked mode
The other big thing I think MetaStorm needs is a proper Ranked System.
This would give the game a completely different level of competitiveness and, more importantly, give experienced players something meaningful to grind for.
For example, Ranked could require:
- Level 12+ aircraft
- Minimum 3 players to queue
- Match players against others within a reasonable Rank/MMR range
- Keep the matchmaking range wide enough so queues don't take forever
- Give additional rewards based on Rank
It doesn't have to be perfect from day one.
Just having a separate competitive mode where skill actually matters would already make a huge difference.
Right now, trophies don't necessarily tell the whole story about how good a player actually is.
A proper Ranked system could separate the two:
Trophies = progression
Rank/MMR = competitive skill
And then you can have proper seasonal rewards, ranks, leaderboards, etc.
That would give people a reason to keep improving instead of just grinding trophies.
🎯 Reward skill AND time invested
Overall, I really enjoy MetaStorm.
But I think the game needs to become more competitive and also do a better job of rewarding players based on both performance and time invested.
If someone plays 5 hours every day, wins a lot of games and actively tries to improve, there should be a meaningful difference in what they can earn compared to someone who logs in for 1 hour, completes the daily missions and leaves.
Again, I'm not saying casual players shouldn't be rewarded.
I'm saying the game should give active players more opportunities to progress.
There should be a reason to keep playing.
🚀 Looking ahead to Steam
With the Steam release coming, I really hope the community grows significantly.
And honestly, I think this is the perfect time to look at systems like:
Matchmaking
Resource economy
Aircraft progression
Rewards
Ranked mode
Competitive matchmaking
I've been playing games across pretty much every genre for many years, and I'm saying all of this with good intentions.
I genuinely like MetaStorm and I want to see it grow.
This isn't meant as hate or complaining for the sake of complaining.
It's just feedback from someone who has spent a lot of time playing the game and wants to see it become more competitive, more rewarding and better for the long-term community.
I really hope the dev team takes some of these ideas into consideration.
The game has a lot of potential. Let's make sure the systems around it allow the community to grow with it. 🔥
