Collecting Data on Player / A.I. cascades

PeterGibbons316

TLCstormz wrote:

All I know is that in the PvE before Gauntlet, the AI was getting Match5, after Match5, after Match5. I literally was in shock, most matches. Like.......3 or 4 Match5s in a row, on one town.

If my phone's screen goes into lock mode, it means that it's been idle for at least 20 seconds. That SHOULD NOT be happening several times in ONE match against a non human player, in a puzzle game. lol.

Period.

Don't worry, it's not your fault - your brain has evolved to find patterns where none exist.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... -patterns/

TLCstormz

I challenge you, D3, or any other naysayer to buy me a recording device and I will literally record every match I ever play, from now on. All to justify the claims of "uhm.....somethin ain't right, here."

;+)

Unknown

I definitely noticed the AI getting match-5 into match-5 with critical during Xavier's PVP and Loki's last pvp. It was ridiculously bad. Sometimes you just have a bad day, sometimes a bad week.

Also, odds are after a bad cascade you're more likely to quit for a bit, so you tend to remember the last thing more.

PeterGibbons316

daibar wrote:

I definitely noticed the AI getting match-5 into match-5 with critical during Xavier's PVP and Loki's last pvp. It was ridiculously bad. Sometimes you just have a bad day, sometimes a bad week.

Also, odds are after a bad cascade you're more likely to quit for a bit, so you tend to remember the last thing more.

Of course you noticed it more, those characters have abilities that trigger when those matches happen - calling attention to them.

Noticing something is happening more often does not mean that it actually has been happening more often.

Malcrof

PeterGibbons316 wrote:

daibar wrote:

I definitely noticed the AI getting match-5 into match-5 with critical during Xavier's PVP and Loki's last pvp. It was ridiculously bad. Sometimes you just have a bad day, sometimes a bad week.

Also, odds are after a bad cascade you're more likely to quit for a bit, so you tend to remember the last thing more.

Of course you noticed it more, those characters have abilities that trigger when those matches happen - calling attention to them.

Noticing something is happening more often does not mean that it actually has been happening more often.

If not for AI cascades with hulk tanking, i would not have finished the gauntlet using whales only once..

I love it when i have 3-5 anger tiles on the board! Then it is my turn to cascade them into oblivion

optimus2861

theHappyDance wrote:

I find that it almost always stores AP to unleash powers on my weak characters if I don't force it to unload on stronger characters by making suboptimal matches (risky), and that it does in fact store AP to fire off chains.

This is the one that has thrown me lately. Six months playing this game, and the AI always used to fire a power as soon as it had the AP to do so. That gave you some measure of control over who had to eat the damage. But now, as you say, the AI is playing possum. I watched Ares, on a team with no other yellow user, sit still for 3 turns on 10 yellow AP, until I moved my Storm to the front. He then hit her with Sunder and immediately followed up with Rampage to down her, thus minimizing her Raging Tempest counter-attacks to one (if he'd used Rampage first he'd have triggered three attacks, and if he'd used that combo on anyone else in my team it wouldn't have downed them).

Clearly there's some new "wait for low health character" logic in play for the AI under certain conditions; I've seen Juggernaut sit on Headbutts too until he can kill someone.

Malcrof

optimus2861 wrote:

theHappyDance wrote:

I find that it almost always stores AP to unleash powers on my weak characters if I don't force it to unload on stronger characters by making suboptimal matches (risky), and that it does in fact store AP to fire off chains.

This is the one that has thrown me lately. Six months playing this game, and the AI always used to fire a power as soon as it had the AP to do so. That gave you some measure of control over who had to eat the damage. But now, as you say, the AI is playing possum. I watched Ares, on a team with no other yellow user, sit still for 3 turns on 10 yellow AP, until I moved my Storm to the front. He then hit her with Sunder and immediately followed up with Rampage to down her, thus minimizing her Raging Tempest counter-attacks to one (if he'd used Rampage first he'd have triggered three attacks, and if he'd used that combo on anyone else in my team it wouldn't have downed them).

Clearly there's some new "wait for low health character" logic in play for the AI under certain conditions; I've seen Juggernaut sit on Headbutts too until he can kill someone.

I noticed this months ago. Some character powers seem to be tagged when the AI is using them. There is a "strongest" color, we know because some skills are tuned to play on it, so the AI holds a skill until the enemies "strongest color" skill user is in front.

This seems like smart programming on the dev's part, as it is EXACTLY what we would do.

I know it is a pain, but if we are going to call it AI, it should be at least a tiny bit intelligent.

Malcrof

aesthetocyst wrote:

Malcrof wrote:

I noticed this months ago. Some character powers seem to be tagged when the AI is using them. There is a "strongest" color, we know because some skills are tuned to play on it, so the AI holds a skill until the enemies "strongest color" skill user is in front.

This seems like smart programming on the dev's part, as it is EXACTLY what we would do.

I know it is a pain, but if we are going to call it AI, it should be at least a tiny bit intelligent.

True, and it can be manipulated. Stun the power character the AI seems to be holding on, and it will blow the AP on some other power. Or keep a different character out front and wait for AP drain (if you have one).

AI use of AP is still pretty spastic tho. Loves to burn it off. Then it will mysteriously pile it up for no discernible reason. Keeps one guessing.

Someone put Devil Dino in with Kamala in PVP.. now Dino's purple doesn't even require AP i think (kidding), but it is used so much it is not funny. Here is the odd part, using Top Gun as an example, my Falcon is 0/3/2, so when fighting in the top sub, i used the loaner, just because i long for a yellow cover, and Dino would never dance for Falcon, he only used it when Thor was in front. It recognized that yellow was not a strong color, and green was my strongest, so skills were saved for my strong color.

Or Dino has a crush on Thor like many women and men i know, so he only wanted to dance for him.

Unknown

Malcrof wrote:

If not for AI cascades with hulk tanking, i would not have finished the gauntlet using whales only once..

I love it when i have 3-5 anger tiles on the board! Then it is my turn to cascade them into oblivion

Yeah, this is the thing I really disliked about Gauntlet this time around. Scaling was through the roof on the third sub, because *gasp* there was a 4* and it's not acceptable for people to actually have fun earning one. As such, strategy by necessity mostly revolved around using the boosted heroes after a certain point and nothing else, as that tends to reduce the board volatility somewhat - at least up until those final nodes where it was literally just constant stream of death and early turn cascades / cheap shots. I try to avoid boosting and team-ups as much as possible, so I'm frustrated when lazy difficulty forces you to use specific heroes for nearly every match to have any hope.

Malcrof wrote:

I know it is a pain, but if we are going to call it AI, it should be at least a tiny bit intelligent.

I actually don't have a problem with the A.I. opponent playing smart. I do have a problem with the A.I. knowing in advance what will be on the board and choosing what tiles will come onto the board or if it'll get a cascade, and what color cascade it'll get, and adjusting its strategy appropriately and choosing board based on event triggers, something impossible for a human.

It's like playing blackjack and having the A.I. decide arbitrarily what card it'll give itself based on what cards you have, rather than picking a card randomly from the deck.