Improve Ranking matchups - allow turn-based

[1mb4k4]

Hi, guys

Regarding the multiplayer question...

This game has a real time elements, like seeing your opponent every move. Every multiplayer has a invite/create game/search and a join/comply/search on the other side. So our game is not different form that. Leave alone the whole technical stuff, It always comes to player actions - meaning their will to play. No matter if it is real time or turn based. Regarding you commitment into playing a match or doing in causally without time limits rises the question about your opponent waiting for you to action and allowing him to play another game/match in the same time. As this game relies on heroes and levels (not like chess for example) it really looks inappropriate to me.

As an old CCG players, you should really consider inviting your friends, who like to play such games in multiplayer. Most of our players play in single player. They like the campaign and really don't like playing against other people.

Players in the lobby are online but not playing. Many just ignore the challenges and yes the players from the web usually leave their game clients running for days in a different browser tab Which is good!

Now here are some current numbers for the US server:
There are about between 300 and 500 ranking games daily.
There are around 7500 single player games every day.
There are around 600 player visiting this server daily.

[Essence Team]

Hi guys,

In addition to what imb4k4 said:

1) About the turn-based-non-real-time-ranking-game-mode: this game has RPG elements (possible hero leveling with stat points update and/or skill update and/or collector deck update after each battle). From technical point of view playing multiple ranking games simultaneously like GM chess can provoke a great chaos in the stats of the heroes. Also imagine the tens of times higher number of started and for some reason not finished ranking games (there will be no "drop" as the game will be not be related to time), each one of them having traction of the current hero stats/skills/collector deck in the moment when he/she started each one of those ranking games. And also the ranking points that each one receives/loses in the end of the ranking match depends on so many factors (not only levels in the beginning of the ranking match, but also win/lose ration, current ranking points, etc.) This is a huge amount of information for our servers. But even if we handle all of these technical issues the impact on the number of real ranking games will not be so high. Currently the ranking game search works depending on the level of the hero. When the level of the hero is higher it's possible to find in ranking search opponent with higher level difference. Also there are two levels of search (in the first 30 seconds you are searching for lower level-difference, later on this level difference expands). But even at highest levels this difference (after this 30s) cannot be higher than 8 levels. So the issue here is the lack of critical mass of players willing to play in ranking games so that there are available 24/7 fair ranking games for all levels. As I said in some other posts we are currently working on some other multiplayer modes that can both make the game interesting and challenging for all high level heroes and maybe remove the fear of ranking games from all those guys who play only singleplayer.
2) Regarding the min-deck requirements - we still refuse to copy MTG and YuGiOh and don't want to implement those. You must understand that some of the characters benefit from short battles (small number of turns) and others benefit from long battles. For example if we greatly prolong the battle (force the players to play a lot of turns) some of the characters will have not chance against others. And we will have a new balance issue. As many of you are still complaining about the short decks and the early brutal combos we are going to further increase the calmness of some of the cards.
3) As you see, most of the guys out there are just scared from ranking games. Maybe you are right that there are balance issues - I agree and we are constantly trying to observe and fix the balance. But you must understand that for most of them this is a psychological phenomenon. They are just scared to lose to other living beings and feel comfortable to play against AI or Campaign. They lack the competitive appetite of you guys and nothing in the universe will make them want to become competitive But I agree - we must create more incentives for ranking games like Kotori Acadius suggests.

[Naga02]

Thanks for the replies imb4k4 and Essence Team.

I understand the RPG leveling aspect would make non-real-time games a big challenge. I will await your new multiplayer game modes.

[Tremblor]

On the subject of ranking games... I'm always looking for ranking games, and I would love your help in finding them more easily. I think I understand that when I first hit the "ranking game" button, it looks for people in a narrow level-range around me and flashes their “Play” buttons. It then expands that range the longer I wait, flashing more players’ buttons. After the ranking search says, “Expanding search”, is it still flashing players in the narrow range or only the wider range players? I never know if, when it says “No one found, do you want to keep trying?” and I click “keep waiting”, all available players’ buttons are flashing, or only those at the extremes of eligibility? I never know if at that point I should restart the search (in the hopes of finding a more even matchup) or keep waiting.

Also, often after I am searching for a ranking game and press “Stop”, my avatar and the “ranking game” button flash in a muted way (without the big “Play” button flashing. What does that mean? I always assume it means that someone is looking for a ranking game but their search hasn’t expanded to my level yet. If that’s true, should I also hit “ranking game” at that point, or should I wait until I get the big flashing “Play” button? In neither case do I seem to find much success, so maybe my assumption is wrong about what it means when the “ranking game” button is flashing but not the “Play” button.

Third, I would offer a suggestion that there be a way for players to know when someone is looking for a ranking game, even when they are in single-player mode. I'd happily surrender in the middle of my daily quest to get some PvP in, but when I am doing daily quests or messing around with my decks, the "Play" button is hidden. It would also be nice if there was a way to indicate (with a markers of some kind by the icon in the lobby) that 1) someone is "looking for PvP" and/or 2) someone is "currently engaged in PvP". That way players can more easily identify who might be up for a challenge/ranking game and if they are currently available to do so.

Lastly, I appreciate in your latest update your addressing users’ requests for a way to make combos easier to identify with the “combo finder”, but on my (relatively large-screened) Samsung Galaxy S4, the combos block my view of one or two cards in my hand. I couldn’t find a way to turn off the “combo finder”—is there a way to do that? Thanks, as always, for a great game.

[Naga02]

Tremblor - I totally agree with everything you said about the ranking matches. I just recently found the setting to turn on the "ranking notifications". Prior to turning that on, I never saw the Ranking button flash (not sure about the "Play" button). So, it could be that many other players do not have this notification turned on...

Also, for your Combo helper issue, I already started a new thread for that: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=713

Still waiting for Devs to respond.

[1mb4k4]

Yeah, the dev is only one busy all the time you know the devs ...

Just to let you know, that the ranking notifications are turned ON by default i guess ...
I will check this in case i messed something in the recent versions

[Tremblor]

I still have no idea what it means when my "Ranking Game" button is flashing but my "Play" button is not flashing. Anyone know?

[1mb4k4]

This is most likely a glitch...

In general the buttons blink to guide you to the ranking game available for your hero.
For example if you are on the single player page, the "multiplayer" button will blink, then when you press it an reach the multiplayer page the "ranking" button will blink.