Outwitters 1.5 Patch Live

[onealexleft]

We've just released a patch for Outwitters addressing some balance issues with the Veggienauts and some bug fixes.

Gameplay changes:

- Bramble thorns now have 3 health
- Players receive 1 wit for killing a thorn directly.
- Leaderboard point attribution uses a new system to make divisions more competitive

Fixes:

- fixed some memory leaks that would cause crashes

As always, we're monitoring game analytics as well as listening to feedback from players of all skill levels to assess what needs to be addressed. Thanks to all our fans for their support!

[Eijolend]

Thanks for keeping the updates coming!!!

Could you elaborate what changed for the leaderboards?

[Ser Purple Wolf]

Yes! BWHAHAHAHAHAHA BRAMBLE DESTRUCTION INCOMING!

[funklabqc]

Lol, knew SerPurpleWolf was gonna be al, over this one! We might see ST in your future now!

[alexjiang1]

(01-29-2013 02:24 PM)funklabqc Wrote:  Lol, knew SerPurpleWolf was gonna be al, over this one! We might see ST in your future now!

Not that there wasn't ST in his future before, right?

[CombatEX]

(01-29-2013 09:32 AM)Eijolend Wrote:  Could you elaborate what changed for the leaderboards?

(01-29-2013 10:57 AM)onealexleft Wrote:  A bit more info on the leaderboards:

As it stands right now, it's somewhat of a zero-sum game. Anyone lower than rank 50 typically has zero points. We're looking to improve this so it's a bit more reflective of how you've done against other players in your division.

The new change still works similarly, in that you get more points for beating a higher ranked player and stand to lose more if you beat a lower ranked player. The change is that your league points are now considered in that calculation along with your skill rating.
For example, if you're a master league player and you face another master leaguer and a Super Titan:
- If the master league player has a ton of points (typically in the top of their division), a win against him is weighed more against a Super Titan that has close to zero points. So you stand to win way more points against someone who is not only ranked in a higher league, but also has more points (and therefore has more wins).
- In short, we're hoping that your league and your division points become reflective of your skill and help differentiate players a bit more. A 1000 point Master Leaguer should be more skilled than a 300 point Master Leaguer (assuming similar time played).

Some interesting properties this change will bring about when facing similarly skilled players:
- Holding your #1 rank in your division will become more difficult. The reason being once you have a lot of points, you gain points more slowly due to being 'ahead of the pack' and you lose way more points for losses. Those at the bottom of the division with few points can gain points more quickly against those with more points than them.
- Should allow a bit more churn and therefore more lively competition in divisions. Since point gain/loss is inversely magnified the higher you go in divisions, those that got huge leads at the beginning of seasons are no longer 'safe' later in the season as new players join and quickly rise up the ranks if they have the win ratio to make it.

However, it seems a bit problematic. Players are reporting gaining >20 points while their opponent loses <5. Seems like a recipe for "fun" points* like what we had before =P

* activity points instead of skill points

[worldfamous]

I don't like how the existing bramble thorns remain at 2 health while the destruction of them gets the +1 wit. If the rules change mid game they should change all the way. The existing thorns should've been bumped to 3. I know it's minor and probably picky of me, but none the less...