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Post by Dredd77 on Dec 27, 2016 22:31:04 GMT -5
Hey folks! I've got this week's data and analytics blog post up. I'm not gonna post a link in here every time I update the blog (I'm no more a fan of spam than you are), but I know a number of folks enjoyed last week's inaugural data post, and thought I'd spotlight the next one. This will probably be a weekly thing over there. This week's highlights: > What can Magic: the Gathering design theory teach us about War Robots's playerbase? (Hint: it's about MagGeps and clubbing) > I've moved up in the matchmaker > What robots are us Bronzy folk playing this week? > All the rest of the stat crunching, from average bot level to average number of trophies and level of experience > The Grinches who stole my Christmas Thanks for all the early support! geparddiary.com/2016/12/28/doom-blade-versus-counterspell/ |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2016 22:44:46 GMT -5
Maggeps could be the spiritual offspring of the arcbound ravager.
Little guy, low cost, huge upside.
Or... I'm just a huge nerd.
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Post by Dredd77 on Dec 27, 2016 23:01:04 GMT -5
@gildedwolf This comment makes me happy. Of course, Arcbound Ravana was the poster child for the second-most-broken tournament environment in the game's long history, so...
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The Violator
Destrier
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Pilot name: The Violator
Platform: Android
Clan: [(RT)]
League: Silver
Favorite robot: Gepard
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Post by The Violator on Dec 27, 2016 23:16:21 GMT -5
Great Read Dredd!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2016 0:38:49 GMT -5
@gildedwolf This comment makes me happy. Of course, Arcbound Ravana was the poster child for the second-most-broken tournament environment in the game's long history, so... Yeah...in another age I was trying to break into the pro tour with some of the best players in Colorado...but I was not as good as them. I did manage 2 top 8's in PTQ's though, one with affinity right after it rotated into extended, when it was a little more fair and it was great fun. When extended blue fairies was all the rage, affinity was a perfect foil. ? Miss those days... Edit: I didn't start playing until AFTER Skullclamp was banned lol. Ravager = Gep Skullclamp = Mags/Aphids |
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Post by ShutUpAndSmokeMyWeed on Dec 28, 2016 1:04:14 GMT -5
Great read as always! I need to point out a math mistake though: given an incidence of 9% of clubbers in the player pool, the chance of running into a red clubber (assuming mutual independence of the event that each player is a clubber) is 43%, not 5%. But as you point out, the occurrence of clubbers isn't mutually independent, although the actual chance of running into one or more of them is still probably higher than 3%.
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Post by BLYTHE on Dec 28, 2016 2:55:48 GMT -5
Really enjoyed the piece, Dredd. Thank you. I do think however that there's an intentional blurring of lines between clubbing and the more euphemistic "farming." Personally, I've stopped seeing a distinction, but that's just me. I could put thunders on a Schuze (sp?), mags on a destrier, or use a tri-mag Gep. Really the same thing. It may be a little disingenuous to think fighting against a 7 year old with one glove tied behind your back is "more fair" because he has a better chance of beating you. So, most of us, whether we like to call it clubbing or farming, are essentially using the advantage we have to vanquish less experienced or equipped players. Really, the more I play the game the less judgmental I am about all this, because in the end, this game with its shortcomings is reflective of life wherein people use what they have/who they know to gain a certain advantage over others. And as in real life, some have qualms doing so while others don't. If you were to take a survey on why people club/farm, you probably get then following responses: 1. Because it's allowed. 2. It takes too long to get gold. 3. I don't want to invest the time to get good at the game. 4. I'm frustrated that I lack the skills. 5. I'm fighting fire with fire. 6. It makes me feel good to win; I'm not that good in certain aspects of my life. 7. I started clubbing to build an ideal hangar; turns out gold tier's unforgiving. 8. I get a real thrill obliterating everyone. Like the clubbers/farmers, Pixonic and other developers are capitalizing on this aspect of human nature. Many here have expressed a concern that this practice will drive people away. Well, have a look at overall sentiments here: www.apptrace.com/app/war-robots/id806077016/sentiments I personally don't care too much about winning, but I do want challenging games. So I'd rather get my arse handed to me than have 16 kills and score higher than all Blues and Reds combined. In short, I'm enjoying the ride cause I know once I max out my hangar I'll likely lose interest and not play as much. P.S. Look at that! War Robots is #1 in Azerbaijan! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2016 3:43:30 GMT -5
Good read. Glad you brought up the concept of getting countered vs not being able to play.
As for the context of Taran Cossack/Thunder Shutze vs Gepard...
Lv 1 Gep, 58kmph, 54k HP.
Lv 9 Cossack's speed
Lv 1 Patton's health
75% Patton firepower/150% Destrier Firepower
Level 4 medium bots:74k-8xk(forget Boas exact HP)Armor, 35-36kmph
Low bronze
Level 4 light bot weapon limit is 6.
Level 1 light bot weapon limit is 8
High bronze:
Level 4 light bot limit is 10
Level 2 light bot limit is 11
Level 1 medium bot limit is 7
Level 4 medium bot limit is 6
Every level up is approximately a 10% cumulative increase in firepower, geps are the ONLY bot that have lv 5 light bot health, and level 9 light bot speed at level 1. With a rolling 10% increase in DPS per level,a 4 level advantage over every other light bot means each of gepard's weapons is 44% stronger than it's adversaries of the same weight class, on top of Gep having 50% more firepower off the bat.
That much of a difference in firepower definitely makes it feel like you're not being allowed to play.
Wait until you get to low silver and 4/12 Maggep clans show up every 3-4 games. Yes, low silver isnt noobville, but as I pointed out elsewhere, many won't exactly covet the thought of spending an amount of resources that could start a Gold-tier hangar to compete at intermediate levels.
It's been said that most clubbers love the speed of battle, and in retort, if these people are Pix's targeted audience, that means the rest of the game is lacking.
Gep needs an overall buff(it should at least be viable in low gold) at the cost of it's ludicrous base speed. Being worthy of premium currency, and being broken are two independant things, and with all of the changes to everything else (all other bots now need to be lv 9 for max speed), Gep leans toward the latter.
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Post by KaneoheGrown on Dec 28, 2016 4:31:22 GMT -5
Tin brings up an excellent point about the Gep's speed and HP as compared to all other bots. When the speed buff (and rebalance) the Gep was noticeably left out of spreading out the incremental speed increase over the level spectrum. Rog (the other au bot that does not have a mm penalty) went from 45 down to a reasonable speed progression. Curiously the Gep did not.
Personally I don't think Pix wanted to deal with the headache associated with the complaining a nerf would have caused. However, I also believe it should have faced the same "rebalancing" all other bots suffered...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2016 6:49:20 GMT -5
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Post by sweetpickle on Dec 28, 2016 8:28:36 GMT -5
I got quoted!!! I feel famous!
I enjoyed this installment. Thanks Dredd.
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Post by Dredd77 on Dec 28, 2016 14:26:46 GMT -5
@gildedwolf This comment makes me happy. Of course, Arcbound Ravana was the poster child for the second-most-broken tournament environment in the game's long history, so... Yeah...in another age I was trying to break into the pro tour with some of the best players in Colorado...but I was not as good as them. I did manage 2 top 8's in PTQ's though, one with affinity right after it rotated into extended, when it was a little more fair and it was great fun. When extended blue fairies was all the rage, affinity was a perfect foil. ? Miss those days... Edit: I didn't start playing until AFTER Skullclamp was banned lol. Ravager = Gep Skullclamp = Mags/Aphids
That's awesome. I never got into the competitive side of the game, but I've been a longtime player. Funnily enough, I wouldn't be doing this War Robots blog if it wasn't for all the writing I've done for MTG. I'm a writer for Gathering Magic, and I've kept my own blog for years reviewing MTG's preconstructed decks. At this point, blogging about things I enjoy is a natural part of fandom. I only wish I'd started GD sooner, would be fun to go back and read my earliest impressions on the game, and how I approached those starting steps of play.
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Post by Dredd77 on Dec 28, 2016 14:29:36 GMT -5
Great read as always! I need to point out a math mistake though: given an incidence of 9% of clubbers in the player pool, the chance of running into a red clubber (assuming mutual independence of the event that each player is a clubber) is 43%, not 5%. But as you point out, the occurrence of clubbers isn't mutually independent, although the actual chance of running into one or more of them is still probably higher than 3%. Can I blame too much spiked egg nog now, or later? 
43% does seem high to me, though. My gut reaction to that is, "it doesn't FEEL like half my matches have clubbers in them." But you're right, that math was off. Glad you enjoyed otherwise, and THANK YOU for the attention to detail!
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Post by ł⸰§ĦȺĐ◎ŴƧŦḀɌ on Dec 28, 2016 14:49:16 GMT -5
"The truth lies somewhere in the middle." This is one of my operational metrics for exploring conspiracy theories, and one of my best tools for finding diplomatic social solutions. This simple concept should be in the tool-chest of all master strategists.
My respect for the OP just went up another notch. Even if you don't agree with what he has to say, you should listen.
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Post by Thunderkiss on Dec 28, 2016 18:02:52 GMT -5
Heh, I went on hiatus from magic and found Walking War Robots. And now I found you!
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Post by Deadalready on Dec 29, 2016 0:50:35 GMT -5
I must admit I didn't enjoy this blog post as much as your other ones. I think it was the amount of metaphors/similes/sayings that I was not familiar with or starting off with Magic the Gathering without quickly relating it to War Robots, essentially it took too long to get to the point in my opinion. Battle Stories: Portfolio Diversification was an awesome read however, relate-able more succinct and it covered an interesting experience. It's good to hear you're dropping the MagGep as in my opinion it is the premier clubber vehicle of choice, run an AphidGep and you're doubling up on being a jerk. There is a huge difference between winning through better equipment or skill, as you've realised  A suggestion: upload a picture of your current hanger + Profile with each post so we can see how you've progressed! |
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Post by Dredd77 on Dec 29, 2016 9:10:05 GMT -5
I must admit I didn't enjoy this blog post as much as your other ones. I think it was the amount of metaphors/similes/sayings that I was not familiar with or starting off with Magic the Gathering without quickly relating it to War Robots, essentially it took too long to get to the point in my opinion. Battle Stories: Portfolio Diversification was an awesome read however, relate-able more succinct and it covered an interesting experience. It's good to hear you're dropping the MagGep as in my opinion it is the premier clubber vehicle of choice, run an AphidGep and you're doubling up on being a jerk. There is a huge difference between winning through better equipment or skill, as you've realised A suggestion: upload a picture of your current hanger + Profile with each post so we can see how you've progressed! Thanks for the helpful feedback! I appreciate the candor; not every post is going to resonate with every reader, and that style (set the table, present data, tie it all together with conclusions) was a deliberate style choice that may not have been the right choice given what the word count of the post ultimately ended up being. The Stats posts may just be long by nature, I'll have a better idea when I've done more of them. The idea that seems to be shaping up is, two different weekly columns: Stats, and Battle Stories. The latter is where I'll talk about my development and hangar, but I like your suggestion too about posting a status in the Stats posts. Might help give context to why I am seeing what I'm seeing which is likely going to be especially relevant this week. The poor MagGep is gone for the now. I honestly don't know at what point I'll consider it "fair" to bring him back out again, but I AM okay using a Pinata Gep at the moment. The long relaod time makes that feel a lot more balanced, and gives folks lots of opportunities to clean me out. If they can catch me, that is. |
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Post by Dredd77 on Dec 29, 2016 9:11:31 GMT -5
Heh, I went on hiatus from magic and found Walking War Robots. And now I found you! You know, I'd wondered when I first saw your forum avi whether or not you'd used Skithiryx on purpose or just because it was "cool art." Now I know! |
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Post by Thunderkiss on Dec 29, 2016 19:26:15 GMT -5
Heh, I went on hiatus from magic and found Walking War Robots. And now I found you! You know, I'd wondered when I first saw your forum avi whether or not you'd used Skithiryx on purpose or just because it was "cool art." Now I know! A 2 of in my mono black infect back in scars block. LOVE him ? And now it's G/B infect in modern. Just can't stomach standard anymore. I spend so much less $$$ on War Robots than I ever did in magic. Although now I'm still finishing of my legacy eldrazi deck...... someday I'll have the last 6 lands I need ? |
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