Patch Contemplation...

[wonderpug]

I'm totally on the same page about the pitfalls of achievements. I think they're also (usually) a horrible thing to add to single player games, for similar reasons, but that's another story.

[stevensenger]

My biggest suggestion is the Bombshell transformation confirmation. I have lost more than one game because I tried to select my bombshell to fire a shot, and it transformed, making it vulnerable, and costing me several wits/units to protect.

As for achievements, I find them very useful for teaching new players how to play the game. They can function like puzzles or an extended tutorial. A great example is the achievements on Ticket to Ride for the iPhone. Their achievements really flesh out the various mechanics of the game. However, in Outwitters, I don't really see a need for anything beyond the basics. I could see something like weekly challenges though, e.g. "Win five games with Adorables this week for five bonus points," although even that could be subject to some of the aforementioned pitfalls.

[RandyDogz]

(08-27-2012 07:28 PM)Kamikaze28 Wrote:  Are you willing to risk a league demotion to earn achievements? Because that will inevitably happen once you introduce secondary goals into the gameplay. What's more important to you? Winning or getting that last achievement?

That's what I like, no longer is winning the one and only goal, if one goes after achievements (or one could simply ignore with no impact to other aspects of the game). I agree that your opponent can resign and mess up a late plan for an achievement, but that's good. Means you can't just decide to go for one once you have guaranteed victory, it's something that you'd need to i) incorporate into you're overall gameplay (ie multi specials), or ii) accomplish kinda randomly without really planning (ie one unit left).

If you play solely for achievements, league play - which would still be the prime indicator of skill - suffers. But they'd be something that may reward creativity rather than just choosing the statistically best move all the time. Which for someone like me with slim to none chances of making it to Super Titan, adds another layer to keep playing if and when league progress plateaus. Thankfully I can say I'm nowhere close to getting bored ATM, just thinking longer term.

Or maybe it's just my illogical need for immediate feedback, even if not purely skilled based. It'd be exciting to watch climbing from 37,610 to 37,611 out of 91,728 in one night, not just waiting for the long term league movements.

But y'all make very good points, and I definitely did not give it a heck of alot a thought. Thanks for the interesting feedback.

[CommandConquerer]

Achievements definitely WILL make league plays suffer, no argument there. But, achievements are awesome How does a dual system compromise sound?
Eg. For league matches, only boring stuff like: win 100 matches
For friendly games, a separate achievements section with normal, fun achievements like winning with only soldiers, heal 10 units in 1 game, etc.

[L3R4T]

See a wining ratio, or the losses somewhere, and to get the access on the old games.
Reduce the fta.
To have a wits count in the replays.
To create a time mode (15 min by player) like the blitz in chess

[CombatEX]

(08-30-2012 06:17 AM)L3R4T Wrote:  See a wining ratio, or the losses somewhere, and to get the access on the old games.
Reduce the fta.
To have a wits count in the replays.
To create a time mode (15 min by player) like the blitz in chess

I agree with everything except the timed mode. If you want to make a blitz mode it needs to be on the order of 1 min per turn. Anything much greater and you run the risk of a game dragging on past the time you can play. For example if your opponent takes avg 10 min turn and you take 5 then that's 8 turns an hour or 40 turns per 5 hours...

[Yipperpants]

(08-30-2012 06:17 AM)L3R4T Wrote:  See a wining ratio, or the losses somewhere, and to get the access on the old games.

I understand that LoL removed their losses stat from profiles as an effort to cultivate half-full player mentalities, and thus make the game much more friendly to players not taking it as seriously. 4:1 win/loss ratio might be a nice thing to brag about to friends, but the other side of the coin 1:4 displayed as a constant reminder would likely result in one less player.