Internal Playtest Recap – Matchmaking!

Discussion in 'Planetary Annihilation General Discussion' started by brianpurkiss, October 25, 2014.

  1. mered4

    mered4 Post Master General

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    It's that age-old problem!

    Part of it can be solved by looking at the game as a whole. You realize that a 1v1 (for example) may only get to the mid to late game, whereas FFAs and especially large team games will move well beyond the late game into a sort of end game, where orbital and super weapons make up the majority of attacks. Currently, 1v1s only reach into the early-mid game, which makes the divide between FFAs and team games.....quite apparent.

    You don't balance the game around a single game mode - you do a balance based around the progression of the game over time, with boundaries for how far each game mode reaches into the meta. Like Comm-boxing, which never gets by the second mex.

    Take in mind that this is my opinion though - it is what works best for me.
    brianpurkiss and iron71 like this.
  2. wpmarshall

    wpmarshall Planetary Moderator

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    I highly doubt that Uber consider Commboxing when they balance :D
    That's like saying you consider the colour of a new, in-dev Car before you make sure the machinery inside of it can make it move.


    Now, on this thread; inb4 semi-rant :p

    As for earlier comments on balance and uber not full-filling promises for release - have we not been over this time and again?
    What difference does it make now if all anyone ever does is moan and winge? As elodea already said it seems as though the majority of PA's supposed 'fans' will never be happy and/or want to see the game succeed so badly to the point they come across as haters.
    The Devs are continuing to support PA post-release and despite the 'soon' labels everywhere is a leitmotif of "This stuff takes time."
    As for the 'vision' being achieved - personally I consider it just so (though perhaps not as complete or polished yet as we'd like, but see above comment. We have big battles with hundred of units. We have said battles across multiple planets, we can smash planets into one another, we can 'annihilation' planets. We have ground, air and naval units in the game, we have so much stuff to be appreciative and proud of, and personally, I definitely am.

    There's a difference between 'Feedback' and 'Feed-forward'. So far feedback has been the norm and to be honest everyone is repeating themselves to the extent that they somewhat vividly resemble a puppy chasing its tail while failing to learn that the tail is glued to its rear.
    Now - feed-forward on the other hand is where the 'useful' talking happens, not so much constructive criticism as consideration of future possibilities (and hopefully in a mildly intelligent, calm and collected manner).
    As for this thread at this time, what started as a good opportunity for feedback , discussion and feedforward regarding the upcoming ranked update has taken a sharp turn and the nose of discussion has taken a dive down a rabbit-hole that was waaay off the beaten track for the thread topic.
    Oh boy balance.

    Now, to re-iterate what I've said above - let's make useful comments in a calm, collected and intelligent manner while also staying on topic.

    TL;DR - Stay on topic please :)
  3. MrTBSC

    MrTBSC Post Master General

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    wrong he is not just another person ...
    he is THE KING OF THE PLANET ... for now ....
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  4. eratosthenes

    eratosthenes Active Member

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    I'm happy there will be matchmaking soon. <-- Notice the on-topicness of this post. :D:D:D
    cdrkf, reptarking, elodea and 2 others like this.
  5. LmalukoBR

    LmalukoBR Well-Known Member

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    I much don't care about ladders:rolleyes:, but i do think the game needs balancing, even me, a mediocre player, that usually goes for big FFA and team matches, can tell u that. U basically build only 4 or 5 units, hummingbirds, doxes, tanks and Shellers (late game), maybe spinners, that makes the game feel poor:(. People only use boom bots and bombers for snipes:eek:.

    I think uber can put their money where their mouth is by implementing small balance changes in PTE versions so that we can see what they are cooking up and give them feed back, they can also see if their changes have some unintended results as they often generate. I think this way everyone is happy, players get to see uber working on balance and Uber gets feedback and testing on their balance changes;).

    IMO this is much better then a huge balance changes that trows everything head over feet.
    bradaz85, cmdrflop and brianpurkiss like this.
  6. cmdrflop

    cmdrflop Active Member

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    I agree with your post, but i just want to point out that shellers are not that good anymore :p Snipers bots have kinda taken over their role.
  7. MrTBSC

    MrTBSC Post Master General

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    "the game clearly doesn´t need further balancing!" - said nobody ever!
    "the balance of this game is ONEHUNDREDPLUSTHAUSANDPERCENT PERFECT!" - said nobody EVER!
    "the game TOTALY and utterly is were i wan´t it to be" - said NOBODY EVER! (inb4 "but the devs do": "release is merely the basegame")

    "i expect optiperfectional balance on first-nanosecond-of-the-first-day release!" said no sane person ever ...
    (in no way directed torwards @LmalukoBR ... but seriously some people truely act like ... )
  8. LmalukoBR

    LmalukoBR Well-Known Member

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    I understand what you are saying, but there are levels to a problem. Nothing is ever perfect, like building a house there is always a small something you can improve and might wanna change (and that is alright), but if the house is missing a roof, then that is a big problemo_O.
    I decided to post because people were saying that the regular players (not 1v1 pros) found the balance good, and that is not the case IMO.:confused:
    Also, have you read the rest of the post? When i suggest that, if balance is a work in progress, why not show it to the community, and use them as testers as u incrementally make the changes you believe are needed (does that sound like someone who expects perfect balance by next update?):rolleyes:
  9. jables

    jables Uber Employee

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    Great recap.

    This update has no balance changes. We'll release update notes once it is closer to live, but it is a ranked update with matchmaking. That was the focus.

    Balance is being worked on. I do not have a date for you as to when it will be released unfortunately, but as soon as I do, I'll let you know.

    We are planning on streaming a lot more often. We playtest every day, but don't think it will be helpful to stream them all as some are really just broken stuff we are first working on. We'll also be shooting for more weekly video updates. We are planning on being around a long time with PA, and the goal is to continue making it better. We have a lot we want to do, and are trying to prioritize it to match up with the majority player expectations. The goal is to make it a better game with every update, and we hope to be able to continue this into the future :)
  10. cola_colin

    cola_colin Moderator Alumni

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    It would be really nice if communication about that process could happen. Just throwing balance changes at us without prior discussion would be a dice role.
    How i.e. do you guys consider texts like mine: https://forums.uberent.com/threads/of-investments-energy-metal-and-reclaiming.65512/
    for your decisions?
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  11. jables

    jables Uber Employee

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    Good thoughts. We'll look into more ways to communicate it.
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  12. mered4

    mered4 Post Master General

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    I too would like this question answered.

    But I'd also like a balance changes discussion thread where the devs post their proposed changes and we discuss them.

    That would be cool. And super awesome. And useful.


    I'll try to keep Nanolathe in helpful minion mode :D
    stuart98 likes this.
  13. mered4

    mered4 Post Master General

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    Awesome. I....admire your ignorance of the question in that post. Well played.
    stuart98 likes this.
  14. cola_colin

    cola_colin Moderator Alumni

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    My thoughts are good. I can't seen an issue. :p
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  15. brianpurkiss

    brianpurkiss Post Master General

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    Thanks! I do these recaps for every playtest y'all do.

    Agreed.

    In the past, Uber has made some efforts to some big balance changes that the community just tore apart and the entire balance changes were dropped because they didn't work.

    We'd love to help y'all out with the balance.
    stuart98 likes this.
  16. wondible

    wondible Post Master General

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    Personal streaming preference: features we don't have, bugs and all ;^) While it's fun to watch you guys just playing the released (more or less) version, I'll probably pass if I know thats it.
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  17. Quitch

    Quitch Post Master General

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    I have to admire you mered. Rude and offensive didn't work the first few months you tried it, but you're damned sure it'll work if you just give it a little longer.
  18. squishypon3

    squishypon3 Post Master General

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    What happened to your posts? Now it's all either derail or a bit double edged sword. :/
  19. cola_colin

    cola_colin Moderator Alumni

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    dox psychosis. Don't worry it can be healed by nerfing dox.
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  20. mered4

    mered4 Post Master General

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    MY GOD THAT IS WHAT IT IS.
    I've been angry. It rubs off. I have posted the solution to my anger for all the world to see :D
    Looks like a Day of Reflection is in order.
    stuart98 likes this.

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