AI cascades increased?

Unknown

Let me start with this: I know that correlation does not equal causation. With that in mind, I can't be the only one that has experienced what I'm about to post.

Ever since this "true healing" garbage started, very frequently when I go into a match, this happens on the first turn:



The AI getting 30+ (!) tiles on a single match/turn seems to be happening with much more frequency than it did a few weeks ago, which makes it incredibly frustrating to continue to play. If I had to guess, this has happened for the computer within 1-4 turns from the beginning of the match in 8 out of every 10 games I've played since true healing started. Maybe I just didn't notice it before, but something smells fishy...

Unknown

I haven't noticed an increase in cascades, but I truly think they have tweaked the AI because it is playing smarter and in a consistent manner.

wymtime

I have had cascades go both ways. They have deffinatly increased the chances of cascades happening. I have had multiple critical tiles made in cascades that have made me want to throw my phone or Ipad. I have also noticed I have also gotten some crazy cascades as well. I think the Dev's increased the possibilty of cascading in general to give defenses an opportunity to get off some powers. I am sure they saw so many people winning a such a high percentage of time without being hit by a single power. This alows the AI to still make dumb matches but still get powers off.



and sell more health packs.

Unknown

This has, quite literally, happened to me no more than 5 times out of the thousands and thousands of matches that I have played.

Unknown

Demiurge_Will actually commented on a similar post in the Bugs and Tech Issues forum...

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).

avs962

Yeah, it happens. I'd agree with the principle that it's completely random. Although the first thought may be a conspiracy theory, you'd definitely just having some bad luck.

Unknown

Then again reducing your ability to heal and increasing the likelyhood and extent of damage taken would be in keeping with the "damn the player base; squeeze every available cent" theme they've been running lately.

Unknown

Paintsville wrote:

I haven't noticed an increase in cascades, but I truly think they have tweaked the AI because it is playing smarter and in a consistent manner.

Second this - seeing a lot more AI using the most effective attack or combo that it never used to figure out. For example, Patch's green and Loki's black in the same turn in the PvE

Dayv

Nothing's changed here. People continue to notice painful cascades more than helpful ones.

I started a match off with a cascade that downed one of my level 166 opponents the other day. The blade of luck swings both ways.

mytisbrewin

I had one the other day where I ended up with 64AP after my first move. I tend to have spells of bad luck there was one tournament a couple of weeks ago where it was every match from about 600 points up, but I agree that it is more noticeable because each big hit now equates to an amount of time that character could be out of action.

squirrel1120

It is hard to believe that tiles dropping have an equal chance of being any tile. If that were the case I doubt the AI would get so many extra matches that just fall from the sky in perfect strips. They make a match, and literally all the tiles that fall in are the same color. On a match 3 that should happen once in like... what? 1 in 343? I'm sure my math is off there, but still a low %, by the figures, yet happens constantly. Nevermind when they manage to match two rows of three at once and it drops in as a nice critical ball of one of the AI's favored colors. Ugh, I understand the above poster's urge to throw the phone. Never had that feeling before playing MPQ.

Eh. I wish it was limited in some way. I dislike winning with some random cascade. I like winning on having some measure of skill and learning to take advantage of my strengths and my enemies weaknesses. Playing the board smart to cause multiple moves in my favor. When they do drop from the sky (imo way more often in the AI favor), I really just feel like the player on the other end of the pvp match just got cheated by the system. Alternatively, when I lose spectacularly on turn 2 because it rained blue for days for c.storm, I also feel pretty cheated. I rather wish there was a cap to how many AP and damage could be realized in a cascade. At least sometimes it would become recoverable...

I know, never gonna happen... but it sure would be nice.

Unknown

It's all confirmation bias. And bad math.

The chance of a match-3 having the new tiles be all of the same color is 1:49.

Unknown

ZenBrillig wrote:

It's all confirmation bias. And bad math.

The chance of a match-3 having the new tiles be all of the same color is 1:49.

True, but the odds of the 3 new tiles matching 2 adjacent tiles for a match-5 is 1:343. And the odds of that happening in 3 games out of 5 are pretty astronomical. Nothing about this game is fully random.

Maybe I should take off the foil hat now

Unknown

ZenBrillig wrote:

It's all confirmation bias. And bad math. The chance of a match-3 having the new tiles be all of the same color is 1:49.

This. Random number generators aren't really random. They're just computers that don't know how to be random pretending they are. Some are better than others. I don't have any idea what they use behind the scenes on MPQ but when one horizontal match-3 results in five more falling in perfect little bands into the tiny empty spot you start to wonder that maybe they're not using the most sophisticated technology. But most of the complaints are based in psychology and bad luck, as others have said. So...enjoy?

Unknown

I also feel like facing more serious cascades.

Though I'm sure there was no change whatsoever. Just lately I fight more heavy opponents (due to level++ and the additional increase of levels in most-point nodes in PVE) and the caused damage went up bigtime. Also being able to p-heal I was less concerned about nonlethal damage, and now every few hundred cuts deep as it can't be just reversed.

HairyDave

The one that's really annoying the tinnykitty out of me at the moment is I can almost guarantee my first match of a game will set up at least a match-4 for the AI, often much worse. There's nothing I can about it because it's all replacement tiles dropping into just the right position to screw me over

Unknown

I got to experience an AI horizontal match-3 followed by a match-3 from the newly fallen tiles, followed by a match-4, and then another match-3. All in the top row. 3 were yellow matches, during top gun.

This isnt even a massive cascade. It does seem unbelievable

Unknown

I must point out though, the cascade rate seems to be less, overall.

Unknown

Confirmation bias? Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.

HairyDave

Bugpop wrote:

I got to experience an AI horizontal match-3 followed by a match-3 from the newly fallen tiles, followed by a match-4, and then another match-3. All in the top row. 3 were yellow matches, during top gun.

This isnt even a massive cascade. It does seem unbelievable

I've been seeing that a lot too.

It's not every match but it's definitely pretty frequent,

dr tinykittylove

Prior to healing change, I've had one neverending cascade that literally killed my full-health 2* wolverine in the third turn, as in, tiles kept falling and matching, no powers used, until he went splat. That was memorable.

In the Simulator hard node with Steve, She-hulk and DD yesterday, over the course of the match during which I had to search to find 3 tiles to match every turn in assorted colours, the AI got several chain cascades that allowed it to fire off Sentinel of Liberty twice, Reprieve twice, Power of Attourney and Settlement once. PLUS Steve also got to throw his red and blue shields and DD put out half a dozen traps. I was really struggling to keep from falling asleep waiting for my turns. I think I did manage to get in one or two powers from Ares, Torch and Punisher each before they all kicked the bucket. That was awesome.

Everything's working normally!