Alex & Adam - Getting +1 Wit for Kills: Why it's a really poor change to Outwitters

[Samura|]

Just to add balance to the argument (to help understand the developers' point of view), as there's been little discussion about the positives of the change, or at least rebuttals to the negatives (which might be due to the general resistance to change). And I appreciate that OML really think there's a good reason for this change. I personally am indifferent for now (from being strongly averse initially), though I think more playtesting may be required to check balance across maps etc, implications for FTA, simply because of the number of changes in the current beta. I'd probably prefer no change just in case something gets broken, but in practice in the games I've played you get into the new format pretty quickly.

Here are my thoughts about some concerns raised in this thread:

1) turtling - I don't think this change increases turtling, as many have suggested. This is because the change gives a wit bonus to the one who takes the attacking initiative. Yes, your opponent could counter and get even more of a bonus. But here's a mathematical look at this... when FTA is fixed, the wit balance will be +3, -3, +3, -3... and so on. If on your turn you take the initiative to attack and can kill say 3 units, you'll suddenly become +6. If your opponent kills the same number of units, you'll be back at -3 after his turn. He needs to kill 6 units for you to be in an equivalent wit disadvantage (of -6). All I'm saying is an advantage like this can turn a battle, if you attack smartly (as Adam explained). Obviously the fear with turtling is that your attack is inadequate, and you get crushed by the counter. This fear is the same with this rule change. You still shouldn't attack if you're going to get crushed when you attack. But this rule means you now get additional wit to launch the attack, and therefore a higher chance of a successful attack.

Re bombshell turtling - yes I agree at first glance the BS looks to be even more powerful now. However here's one thing that reduces the BS's 'strength'. This is the fact that one of the most effective ways to counter a BS is to save up sufficient wit (say 10+) to launch a strong attack that can take out defenses and take out the BS in one swift attack. Having more wit as you launch your attack can only help you to take out a BS. Think of the reverse - i.e. if you only received 3 wit a turn, BS's would be even more insanely powerful, just because it would be nigh impossible to kill. With more wit in the game, the BS becomes easier to take out.

2) unpredictability - I think 'unpredictable' is probably the wrong word to be using, it implies randomness. There's nothing random about this, it simply creates more permutations of the possible outcomes, therefore requiring more analysis of your opponent's possible responses. This should eventually allow for even greater skill disparity to appear. Plus it's really not as hard as it looks. You broadly know how many units are within killing range of your opponent. If it's 2 units, you know it's possible for them to gain +2wit to their standard wit count if they attacked. Not exactly rocket science.

3) having to re-work strategies - I think that's always a part of this game in any event. People discover an interesting use of a scrambler, a mobi or a BS. Then develop ways to counter. Then there'll be a counter to that! This change could open up many more strategic possibilities.


Having said that, I do have some concerns to add too:

1) without having playtested this in enough detail, I'm concerned this adds further to FTA (particularly on certain smaller maps). I.e. P1 may have enough wit to launch a devastating attack before P2 can spawn enough defense. I know there's little evidence in the beta games, but then players don't tend to play beta games the same way as they play league games. I.e. they're experimenting rather than going for a quick kill of the opponent. I can imagine the issue's the same for 2v2, where some maps are prone to early rushes. If there's no P2 wit boost for 2v2 in the pipeline at present, this could tip the balance more sharply so that rushes might be v dififcult (or worse impossible) to stop (at least that's my speculation).

2) wits in the game - yes this definitely adds more wit to the game, and reduces the scarcity value of wits. Hard to tell what the right balance is, but the status quo didn't seem to require fixing. More wits should mean faster games - for better or worse.