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Kaelizilla
#5 • 20039 views
Posted: 2012-02-10 14:26:58
#10297
Fixing the Trial System; Part Deux
Welcome to the Fixing the Trial System, part two!
We had a lot of interesting discussion in the first thread and got to know a lot of your opinions and frustrations. We know what whatever is ultimately chosen is going to upset some people and make others happy. I do want to reassure everyone that changes are reversable. If we discover that whatever is changed isn't working the way it should or having a negative effect, we can always change it back and try something else.
As you can see by the new poll, we've narrowed down the options to three choices. These were the most supported options, but with a bit of a twist.
Option 1: Limit the number of dogs each person can enter into a trial to 2. This will put a stop to "trial teams" which is the main way players create for themselves 3 sure wins in trials that run quickly, and therefore a massive influx of cash. Running trial teams is not realistic in the slightest and isn't very sporting. By forcing players to compete with each other, the game dynamic of trialing becomes more competitive and realigns Alacrity with its original vision.
Option 2: Increase the Energy Cost by trial tier. This option will more effectively limit the number of times a dog can compete each day. The original suggestion put a hard cap on the number of trials dogs could run each day, but a player gave us this much more fair option. This will not render energy companions useless in terms of trialing, but will ultimately slow down how many trials run as dogs progress into higher trial tiers. Below is the suggested energy cost per tier:
Dogbert: 20 Energy Scooby: 25 Energy Odie: 30 Energy Toto: 35 Energy Marley: 40 Energy Otis: 50 Energy Gommit: 55 Energy Snoopy: 60 Energy
Keep in mind that as you go up trial levels, prize payouts also increase.
Option 3: Both Option 1 and Option 2. This option will both put a limit on the number of dogs a play can enter into individual trials, as well as increase energy costs per trial tier.
This will be the final round of voting before changes are implemented. We truly do value your opinions, so please don't be shy about posting them here :) Just remember to keep opinions and responses kind and courteous -- not everyone will agree with you!
Replies
Doom Shroom
#95270 • 2012-03-17 22:40:23
#95270
Many of my high TP dogs (3k and up) are way over 100 (or used to be before I got more sessions lately). So they would get health issues and would have issues reaching Otis :) Mostly I grabbed them up cheap and speed trained them when they were already over 80 or so. <br /> <br /> <br /> I see now what you mean with the high TP dogs making less money. But wouldn't they win a lot more often than the lower TP dogs still? <br /> <br /> But really, those super high entry fees make it ineffective to trial anything but capped dogs - but if everyone would trial capped dogs, it would also be pointless *scratching head* <br /> <br /> Another big issue I noted since yesterday with the whole "just two dogs" problem - trials don't run for ages, including your own. Some people see it fit to throw their own monster in your trials, which you can't compete with, and then your trials are stuck. Considering how many more trails you'll need anyway, most of which will likely take long to run at Odie and above, how much more auto trials is Ala going to create? Or do we get to make a lot more trials? <br /> <br />
Hemp
#95135 • 2012-03-17 09:46:54
#95135
Jambers - Just because someone has a different opinion than you does not mean they are throwing a fit. We are trying to figure out how to fix the trial system and exploring different alternatives. Everyone here has offered some sort of idea to try to help fix the issue, except you, who has posted almost nothing in here except "stop complaining" to other users.<br /> <br /> The problem with the trial system is it's dumping too much money into capped dog owners pockets and causing the inflation. It's great that they spent the money to cap their dog but it ISN'T great they are destroying the overall economy by trialing them. Saying that others should cap their dogs in order to "stay in the ranks" is not going to make inflation go down.
Seconding Jambers. People shouldn't be crippled because they are able to afford Aviator Caps and Soldier Helmets. They're good at saving their money and I commend them for it.
Jambers
#95128 • 2012-03-17 05:02:10
#95128
Im sorry but really? Does it really matter how much money a person puts into a dog to get it to win? If it wins then it wins. Say congradulations and move on, dont pout because "well they used a MFB" "its not right they have those gogles" "Its the SH falt.." <br /> <br /> It is right, its there stuff let them use it. If you want something look for it, ask around. Save your money and get it. do not throw a fit because they are using their money to improve their game.
Steaks
#95008 • 2012-03-16 18:40:26
#95008
<i>"It is, obviously, about dogs with lower TP (and I'm not talking foundations) being worthless after a while because you are forced to go to a higher level, while the capped dogs just go on and on. They CAN'T stay in the lower levels, that's just one of the points."</i><br /> <br /> All dogs, no matter the TP (excluding the over-the-cap dogs) end up like this. This is why I stopped trialing my two capped dogs that hit Gromit already.<br /> <br /> <br /> <i>"Add to that that, for most of us not owning lots of trial monsters, getting our dogs so high despite them being low TP is part of the fun. I got 2 of my customs to Marley. I'm super happy about that, even if they lost money in the process. It takes work to do that, not just randomly enter some capped dogs."</i><br /> <br /> Though it's cool that you were able to do this, this is not how agility trials on Alacrity were made to work.<br /> <br /> <br /> <i>"I don't get this. Why would the higher dogs make any less money?"</i><br /> <br /> Okay, let's think of a reasonable trial winning for a LOW-TP dog. Low-TP dogs do not take as much money, time and effort into getting them maxed, therefore their trial winnings would not be very high, right? Let's set it at around $5000 for 1st place. Now, capped/higher-TP dogs are not worth maxing and trialing because it's easier to just max a low-TP dog and go on with your day. A capped dog making $5000 (fixed trial winning) will not make that money back in a reasonable time-frame and it wouldn't be worth it to max a capped dog for any reason.<br /> <br /> <br /> <i>"Breeding for TP has become somewhat pointless anyway, as there are so many capped dogs out there already and not much else to go for."</i> <br /> <br /> Not entirely. Higher-TP dogs are worth more, win more in trials and like you said with your customs in Marley... it's fun to reach a goal.<br /> <br /> <br /> <i>"The only challenge is to train them with as low cost as possible before they get too old and then hope they still make it to at least Marley :-)"</i><br /> <br /> All of my capped dogs reach at least Otis, what are you talking about "at least Marley"?
Doom Shroom
#94982 • 2012-03-16 16:27:24
#94982
Probably, but to get much over the cap with just trialing bonuses is taking a while, and not too many people add aviator caps and pay for soldier helmets when the dogs can't even give the bonus to their parents. <br /> <br />
Hemp
#94957 • 2012-03-16 11:20:53
#94957
<i>"The über-TP dogs are another matter altogether. But as their offspring is 'only' capped and they eventually can't trial anymore it is not that much of a problem I think."</i><br /> <br /> I completely forgot immortal dogs stop trialing at 20 years. XD My bad. Won't there always be dogs pushing beyond the cap and doing the exact same thing though?
The über-TP dogs are another matter altogether. But as their offspring is 'only' capped and they eventually can't trial anymore it is not that much of a problem I think. <br /> <br /> Fixed entry fee/fixed winnings would be a lot more like RL, too. Just because my dog is a super well bred shep does not mean he would win more than the ugly cross eyed mutt who happens to have a good day :-)
❦ Masquerade
#94952 • 2012-03-16 10:43:27
#94952
<i>"Maybe if we'd have fixed entrance fees and fixed winnings (different for the placings maybe) and the option to decide what level we'd enter our dogs, it would all level out."</i><br /> <br /> Actually I kind of like this idea. Instead of winnings being based off TP they should be a set amount for each trial level. That way a capped dog competing in, let's say Odie, will be making the same as a low level dog in that some category. (More realistic this way too.) Capped dogs supposedly zoom right through the trials so they'll get up to those higher paying ranks very quickly. <br /> <br /> I'm not going to touch the "decide what level we'd enter our dogs" part since it goes back to TP sectioning and there is already a debate on that. :P<br /> <br /> Right now it isn't even worth it to breed to the cap, imo. Let's say I bred my dogs to 8999 and now they can't go any higher without certain items. They can't be guarenteed wins if they don't go higher than that. What do I do? Do I invest my money to get items that would exploit the cap glitch? (Which I personally think is cheating. Cap = an upper limit on what is allowed. That means they shouldn't be able to go over that limit, in my opinion.)<br /> <br /> This is the way I look at it. Let's use Rosencrown for an example since s/he was brought up earlier. This dog has 24k TP (could have sworn it was 20k yesterday. I'm half asleep so I maybe wrong. o.o) while the 2nd top dog has only 18k. Unless you have an absolutely absurd amount of bones or real money to spend, no one will <b>ever</b> be able to catch up with that dog. In fact, even if you DO have that much money and time on hand it won't matter. Certain items like aviator caps (which were used in this case) can't even be found. (Aren't like 10% of them owned by the same person too?) If I never have a shot at winning, ever, then why even bother putting all my time and effort into it?<br /> <br /> The whole low tp vs high tp thing seems to be going around in circles. At the end of the day it is the capped dogs causing the inflation by raking in too much cash. Perhaps Doom's suggestion is the way to go.
*sigh* It is NOT about high level dogs being worth more. It is, obviously, about dogs with lower TP (and I'm not talking foundations) being worthless after a while because you are forced to go to a higher level, while the capped dogs just go on and on. They CAN'T stay in the lower levels, that's just one of the points. <br /> <br /> Add to that that, for most of us not owning lots of trial monsters, getting our dogs so high despite them being low TP is part of the fun. I got 2 of my customs to Marley. I'm super happy about that, even if they lost money in the process. It takes work to do that, not just randomly enter some capped dogs. You need to make sure you enter the right dogs in the right teams. I read some only trial customs and see how high they would get. To take away teams is to take away half the fun for at least a few people. <br /> <br /> "This would just end up in one way, low-tp dogs making too much & high-tp making too little and making high-tp not worth the effort put into them (thus making the drive to breed for higher-tp dogs on Ala useless)."<br /> <br /> I don't get this. Why would the higher dogs make any less money? They would go on as they do now. Or maybe you mean because they can't rush over the lower TP dogs in the high levels anymore and thus you'd need 5 capped dogs in one trial. I guess it would come down to speed and drive then. But that would make those stats more useful again which would be cool. <br /> <br /> Breeding for TP has become somewhat pointless anyway, as there are so many capped dogs out there already and not much else to go for. Once you have capped dogs you always have them, it is not a challenge. The only challenge is to train them with as low cost as possible before they get too old and then hope they still make it to at least Marley :-)<br /> <br />
