Reimagine the Gauntlet
CrunchyFleet
✭✭
in Make It So!
The gauntlet is the one section of the game that seems to still have the most problems; as far as most of the player base seemed to be concerned. While these are by no means a perfect suggestion on how to fix the problem, they may be worth exploring to reduce player fatigues and frustrations.
1.) Remove criticals:
The critical system is by far one of the most broken aspects of the gauntlet. From heavily weighted match-ups (where only 1 character runs away with a 65% chance) to these traits meaning nothing when a 45% chance character scores no crits against a 5% chance, the critical system is broken.
We can fix this by removing the critical system entirely and instead changing the way exhaustion works.
2.) Change how exhaustion works:
Instead of a critical percentage, tie trait matching to a reduction in fatigue characters experience. Set a defined rate of 20% fatigue per match when a character is used. (Ex.] A character with a range of 350 - 600 would experience a reduction of 20%, knocking their proficiency rolls to 280 - 480 the next time they are used; then 224 - 384 on the third use, and so and so on until they zero out.)
Matching traits reduces the overall fatigue a character would experience, instead of giving them a critical chance. Give a 5% reduction for each matched trait, meaning a character who matches all 3 traits in a gauntlet would experience fatigue at 5% instead of the normal 20% due to a 15% reduction. (Ex.] A character with a range of 350 - 600 would experience a reduction of 5%, knocking their proficiency rolls to 332 - 570 the next time they are used; then 315 - 541 on the third use, and so on and so on until they zero out.)
So the emphasis on matching traits becomes greater since you can't randomly hope to score an epic critical role; it would make matching traits be of greater importance, rather than just sending out lower crit characters and hoping to balance the field with critical roles.
3.) Revamp rewards:
The problem now is a lack of critical choice with rewards; so more should be done to allow players to have some impact on their rewards.
Keep the win-streak system, but modify the rewards to allow for some choice:
When a player hits a win streak box (3, 6, 9, etc.) present them with 3 randomly weighted options:
A.) Trainer Box - A box that contains a random amount of trainers of a random level.
B.) Item Box - A box that contains 2 - 3 items/components/equipment of a random level
C.) Honour Box - A box that contains a random amount of honour
D.) Character Box - A box that is effectively a behold that will contain 3 Gauntlet exclusive characters to be chosen from
So, like a behold, the player is presented with 3 options from the above list and then makes a selection based on what they want from as a reward from the box. This at least allows them to have some impact on what they are receiving, minimizing the feeling that a streak reward wasn't worth the effort to the achieve the streak.
Like I said, this is hardly the be-all-end-all of ways to fix the gauntlet; but I think it's a solid place to start on how to repair it.
1.) Remove criticals:
The critical system is by far one of the most broken aspects of the gauntlet. From heavily weighted match-ups (where only 1 character runs away with a 65% chance) to these traits meaning nothing when a 45% chance character scores no crits against a 5% chance, the critical system is broken.
We can fix this by removing the critical system entirely and instead changing the way exhaustion works.
2.) Change how exhaustion works:
Instead of a critical percentage, tie trait matching to a reduction in fatigue characters experience. Set a defined rate of 20% fatigue per match when a character is used. (Ex.] A character with a range of 350 - 600 would experience a reduction of 20%, knocking their proficiency rolls to 280 - 480 the next time they are used; then 224 - 384 on the third use, and so and so on until they zero out.)
Matching traits reduces the overall fatigue a character would experience, instead of giving them a critical chance. Give a 5% reduction for each matched trait, meaning a character who matches all 3 traits in a gauntlet would experience fatigue at 5% instead of the normal 20% due to a 15% reduction. (Ex.] A character with a range of 350 - 600 would experience a reduction of 5%, knocking their proficiency rolls to 332 - 570 the next time they are used; then 315 - 541 on the third use, and so on and so on until they zero out.)
So the emphasis on matching traits becomes greater since you can't randomly hope to score an epic critical role; it would make matching traits be of greater importance, rather than just sending out lower crit characters and hoping to balance the field with critical roles.
3.) Revamp rewards:
The problem now is a lack of critical choice with rewards; so more should be done to allow players to have some impact on their rewards.
Keep the win-streak system, but modify the rewards to allow for some choice:
When a player hits a win streak box (3, 6, 9, etc.) present them with 3 randomly weighted options:
A.) Trainer Box - A box that contains a random amount of trainers of a random level.
B.) Item Box - A box that contains 2 - 3 items/components/equipment of a random level
C.) Honour Box - A box that contains a random amount of honour
D.) Character Box - A box that is effectively a behold that will contain 3 Gauntlet exclusive characters to be chosen from
So, like a behold, the player is presented with 3 options from the above list and then makes a selection based on what they want from as a reward from the box. This at least allows them to have some impact on what they are receiving, minimizing the feeling that a streak reward wasn't worth the effort to the achieve the streak.
Like I said, this is hardly the be-all-end-all of ways to fix the gauntlet; but I think it's a solid place to start on how to repair it.
5
Comments
Proud member of Patterns of Force
Captain Level 99
Played since January 2017
TP: Do better!!!
Also, why not increase the trait number? How about 5 or even 7 traits that would decrease fatigue by 5 purrcent? Then we would also see other crew than Locutus, Guinan, Armus, Gary, Boothby, Ari and Caretaker. The basics in this idea of the OP are excellent.
Losing is frustrating. Why not give the attacker a slight edge in mirror matches? (I'm not sure how to accomplish this, but please hear me out.) So the defender loses - what are the consequences? The defender doesn't see it, so that part of the frustration is eliminated. The defender loses a small amount of trophies, but has an opportunity to win them back (plus some) in a mirror match. I played another mobile game where the attacker had the advantage in most cases. It worked out pretty well.
6 opponents:
1) 200 pts - very strong target - maxed out large dbl stats
2) 150 pts - strong target - maxed out single stats - avg 1500s
3) 100 pts - strong target - avg 1000s
4) 60 pts - average target - avg 600s
5) 30 pts - weak target - avg 300s rolls
6) 10 pts - very weak target - avg 100s rolls
.. or something like that.
but regardless, two points:
1) points awarded should be based on the estimated difficulty of the opponent ... stronger opponent = more points. Weather you start with the points, then find the opponent .. or find the opponent and calculate the points . either way would work.
2) force/choose varrying different points. If you end up with multiple HUGE targets ... than you reroll or keep looking until you find a better range of opponents. If you start with the points .. it shouldn't be too hard to find an opponent to work with. Remember than choosing a champ that's "off skill" will naturally result in a smaller/weaker opponent ... so there's plenty to choose from ..