Crazy Cascading

Unknown

So from around the time gold Storm was released, I've noticed the cascading has gone overdrive. Not just for the AI but for me as well.

Game like this are quickly tweaked by adjusting a probability setting to make matches. In games like Bejeweled, the cascading probability reduces as you go up higher levels. Small adjustment, big effect.

I suspect the devs did this on purpose to end matches quicker or possibly encourage usage/purchases of health packs but even if I'm wrong, I do think that these killer cascades of death need to be adjusted. 7 of my top leveled characters (all between level 85-87) were wiped out in 3 straight matches during PVP against **** opponents. I bring this up now because it's sucks not to have healing anymore via OBW/Speedo-man

Demiurge_Will

Looks like you've just hit a string of worse/better/different luck. No change to tile drop rates any time recently - it's completely random, with an equal chance of every tile type dropping (with the exception of a couple missions in the first chapter of the prologue, before all the tile types are introduced).

billsrule7

Demiurge_Will, with all of the posts that are on this forum, with all of the amazing suggestions that users have made about how to make the game better, it is really disappointing that this is a post that you would take time to respond to. Could you make time to respond a thread such as this one?

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11398

Thanks!

Demiurge_Will

Thanks, Bill.

I try not to announce changes to the game until I know we can deliver them soon. The way the development cycle and approval process work, it's usually quite a while before a suggestion makes it into the game, and often something that seems straightforward on paper has to change or be scrapped during development or testing. Frequently, too, something more urgent will come up that displaces planned improvements. It would be impractical to update the forums every time we adjusted our backlog or our designs - these things happen dozens of times a day. I'd be setting you up for disappointment and making promises I don't know I can keep if I told you what we were planning and when I think we can get it into the game in response to your suggestions.

We read all of the suggestions on this forum and evaluate ones that aren't already addressed by our current plans in our weekly meetings where we determine what to work on next.

Nonce Equitaur 2

It would be useful to know

Current high priority items. Suggestions that will not happen, and why. New characters being considered, but not coded yet. Characters that will never be in the game.

Unknown

Demiurge_Will wrote:

Thanks, Bill.

I try not to announce changes to the game until I know we can deliver them soon. The way the development cycle and approval process work, it's usually quite a while before a suggestion makes it into the game, and often something that seems straightforward on paper has to change or be scrapped during development or testing. Frequently, too, something more urgent will come up that displaces planned improvements. It would be impractical to update the forums every time we adjusted our backlog or our designs - these things happen dozens of times a day. I'd be setting you up for disappointment and making promises I don't know I can keep if I told you what we were planning and when I think we can get it into the game in response to your suggestions.

We read all of the suggestions on this forum and evaluate ones that aren't already addressed by our current plans in our weekly meetings where we determine what to work on next.

Will,

I can definitely understand this perspective, but I think you're misconstruing where player disappointment/frustration comes from. What bothers us most isn't the amount of time things take, it's the lack of transparency and communication. With the cMags rework, for example, we have *no idea* what's being tested, what feedback from the forums has been taken on board, etc. Sure, we know you read the forums, but we have no idea whether anything we say makes any difference. We understand that things take time, and we really don't mind delays as long as we have some feeling of inclusion on the process.

If you'd like to improve your relationship with your playerbase, I'd highly, highly recommend you spend some time reading through dev posts on the League of Legends forums. The way they handle communication with their public is the best of any company - let alone gaming company - I've seen. Threads like this one - http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/bo ... 7#43049907 - make all the difference in the world. A post like that says, "We're listening to what you have to say, let me make sure I'm hearing you correctly. Here is what I'm planning on doing with your (beloved champion X). I may or may not take your suggestions on board, given what I feel best for the game, but I'm definitely bearing them in mind." And with a thread like this, it's easy to keep people informed on progress - "Hey folks, we realized today that Trundle's new E just won't work. We're scrapping it and trying something new, so this will take a few more weeks." It's much easier to be patient for an upcoming feature when you have a window into its progress. Finally, forum-goers represent a wealth of enthusiastic, knowledgeable beta-testers - when Lol was reworking Rengar, the public realized that his Q animation was slow long before even Riot's professional beta testers did. It can make for better, more efficient design to work with your fans.

Unknown

Nonce Equitaur 2 wrote:

It would be useful to know

Current high priority items. Suggestions that will not happen, and why. New characters being considered, but not coded yet. Characters that will never be in the game.

It would be useful to hear anything from the devs more often more than once a week (and sometimes longer)

Demiurge_Will

Thanks for this feedback. I'll give some thought to what we might be able to do in this direction without taking too much time away from development. The character rebalancing list was an attempt at this sort of thing, though it doesn't seem like that was particularly helpful.

Bear in mind that the team behind League of Legends is 50-100 times as large as the team behind Marvel Puzzle Quest, and they are very different games with very different audiences (the majority of MPQ players aren't nearly as interested in how the competitive landscape will change with the introduction of a new character, for example). We won't realistically be able to come close to Riot's level of communication.

Unknown

We do appreciate the efforts, and we will readily consume, discuss, and enjoy any level of information on what is being worked on.

Nonce Equitaur 2

How hard would it be to lower a few costs for the Overpriced powers? Storm Modern's Mistress of the Elements went from a cost of 5 AP to a cost of 9 AP and then back to a cost of 5 AP within a couple of hours.

Unknown

Demiurge_Will wrote:

Looks like you've just hit a string of worse/better/different luck. No change to tile drop rates any time recently - it's completely random, with an equal chance of every tile type dropping (with the exception of a couple missions in the first chapter of the prologue, before all the tile types are introduced).

It's hard to believe there isn't some control affecting tile output. I've experienced a high rate of yellow these past several days. Very high. IM40 with 1 cover in recharge is fun when you can count on yellow.

Dayv

Nonce Equitaur 2 wrote:

How hard would it be to lower a few costs for the Overpriced powers? Storm Modern's Mistress of the Elements went from a cost of 5 AP to a cost of 9 AP and then back to a cost of 5 AP within a couple of hours.

They said as soon as they were asked about it that the change in cost on that skill was a mistake, and rolled it back so quickly that I'm inclined to take them at their word.

Unknown

Demiurge_Will wrote:

Thanks for this feedback. I'll give some thought to what we might be able to do in this direction without taking too much time away from development. The character rebalancing list was an attempt at this sort of thing, though it doesn't seem like that was particularly helpful.

Bear in mind that the team behind League of Legends is 50-100 times as large as the team behind Marvel Puzzle Quest, and they are very different games with very different audiences (the majority of MPQ players aren't nearly as interested in how the competitive landscape will change with the introduction of a new character, for example). We won't realistically be able to come close to Riot's level of communication.

*Nods* And that's perfectly fair and understandable. LoL was more meant to be an example of the type of communication I think is valuable. I do get not having the same level of interaction or time to devote to communicating. Even a few sentences now and then, though, would be very much appreciated. If the person in charge of the cMags rework dropped by the character forums once every week or two to mention - "Hey everyone, new AP costs seem to be working well. Currently heavily playtesting to find appropriate numbers for damage adjustment" - it would make a big difference.

Nonce Equitaur 2

DayvBang wrote:

Nonce Equitaur 2 wrote:

How hard would it be to lower a few costs for the Overpriced powers? Storm Modern's Mistress of the Elements went from a cost of 5 AP to a cost of 9 AP and then back to a cost of 5 AP within a couple of hours.

They said as soon as they were asked about it that the change in cost on that skill was a mistake, and rolled it back so quickly that I'm inclined to take them at their word.

I also believe them .... but it seems that if they can can change AP cost values this quickly, then then could give a huge boost to the credibility of their balancing arguments by lowering some of the overpriced power costs.

Unknown

Demiurge_Will wrote:

Thanks, Bill.

I try not to announce changes to the game until I know we can deliver them soon. The way the development cycle and approval process work, it's usually quite a while before a suggestion makes it into the game, and often something that seems straightforward on paper has to change or be scrapped during development or testing. Frequently, too, something more urgent will come up that displaces planned improvements. It would be impractical to update the forums every time we adjusted our backlog or our designs - these things happen dozens of times a day. I'd be setting you up for disappointment and making promises I don't know I can keep if I told you what we were planning and when I think we can get it into the game in response to your suggestions.

We read all of the suggestions on this forum and evaluate ones that aren't already addressed by our current plans in our weekly meetings where we determine what to work on next.

Demiurge_Will, thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. As a former project manager at a development company, I completely understand this.

Unknown

Nonce Equitaur 2 wrote:

I also believe them .... but it seems that if they can can change AP cost values this quickly, then then could give a huge boost to the credibility of their balancing arguments by lowering some of the overpriced power costs.

Correct, this showed they were ~capable~ of adding changes in quickly, but currently shows they are unwilling to make changes without playtesting. Or are just unwilling to make changes, because reasons...

Unknown

That would make for an interesting buff. In simulator, for instance, they could adjust the AP cost of powers. This way they could do actual testing by thousands of players under conditions set in place by the developers.

Unknown

Demiurge_Will wrote:

Thanks for this feedback. I'll give some thought to what we might be able to do in this direction without taking too much time away from development. The character rebalancing list was an attempt at this sort of thing, though it doesn't seem like that was particularly helpful.

Bear in mind that the team behind League of Legends is 50-100 times as large as the team behind Marvel Puzzle Quest, and they are very different games with very different audiences (the majority of MPQ players aren't nearly as interested in how the competitive landscape will change with the introduction of a new character, for example). We won't realistically be able to come close to Riot's level of communication.

Edit: my post was stupid and evidence why shouldn't write if it's so late, you can't keep eyes open.

Dayv

Bugpop wrote:

That would make for an interesting buff. In simulator, for instance, they could adjust the AP cost of powers. This way they could do actual testing by thousands of players under conditions set in place by the developers.

Changing the cost for a skill in one event only is a lot more complicated than changing it throughout the game, and is probably not possible in the current client.