@Kabam, I’ve come back to a frustrating game

RexnSpikeRexnSpike Member Posts: 64 ★
in General Discussion
I had to take a while away from the game a few years ago. I’ve come back in the last 3-4 months. I’ve advanced to TB. I play routinely and have relearned the mechanics of the game, but it’s a game that is really frustrating to play now.

Since coming back, there’s a new game type- Battlegrounds. I’ve learned most of the general mechanics to play it reasonably. This is my third season now. I have reached Platinum, but I have to say this hasn’t been fun. I resumed playing the game because I wanted a break from daily stressors - to escape, have some fun, to chill. This game type is anything but fun but I’m playing it to earn the Guillotine blade tip - it’s the only way to get it apparently, so I can’t not play it if I want the champ.

My BG experience has been:
- Matchmaking it terrible. It’s literally trash. I’m a new TB w/champs averaging 13,000 -14,000 in my deck. I’m routinely being paired with Paragons, whose teams are averaging 18,000-20,000+. I have 5r5s matched against 6r4-7s. This needs fixed yesterday. You can’t tell me there are no other TBs with similar decks to mine at Platinum tier. It’s not like I’m ranting about mismatches in GC.
- AI is out of hand. This might be the most frustrating part of the game. AI can Parry me while it’s blocking? AI can Parry with a draftback? It Dex’s into a Parry? It can Heavy then immediately SP - I know I don’t have that option b/c I have a cool down on that move after the heavy animation. AI can take the first hit of a two hit heavy then counter the second hit? AI can SP into the second hit of a heavy? AI can get stunned by my Parry then launch an SP before I get my heavy off?
- AI could beat every player if it can Parry at will. Every player. Because we have input constraints established by the devs, milliseconds of reaction time/decision making to make those input occurs, etc. The game doesn’t necessarily have those constraints because an algorithm can be written such that every user input can have an immediate/automatic response to the rock/paper/scissors game. If there’s no transparency or consistency to what the AI is going to do for any given move we make, then it’s hard to trust that the game will ultimately result in a winnable venture on our part.
- If I win a match using Energy, I get a pittance of points for solo/alliance event rewards and don’t receive trophy tokens for the match wins, but if I use Elder Marks to earn better points - I’m unable to earn back what I just spent by simply winning matches, I will earn just 200 only when I ADVANCE TO THE NEXT LEVEL. This then further feeds the frustration because of the Matchmaking snafu, because I can’t play people with similar accounts. Getting stuck in this doom loop isn’t where I want to be with a pastime.
- As a solution, maybe players can receive larger solo & Alliance event rewards for every match played in higher level tiers. This might also stop whales & high level players from point-farming and tanking so they can stay in lower tiers to beat up on modest level accounts. F*** them.

It’s not all bad though. Among other game types:
- I like the efficiency you’ve built into the Monthly EQs. Thank you. I like the use of nodes to force players to mix up champs they bring. Thank you. Monthly SQs - I generally like the variety and rewards. Thank you.
- AQ - I like taking part in this Alliance dependent game type. The Glory rewards we receive are not super competitive apparently, however, because it appears that a lot of players no longer want to participate.
- Incursions is frustrating because once you’ve earned points/artifacts for a season you can’t earn them again until the new season. I can’t use lower rated champs in lower difficulty Tiers or Sectors because my account is too strong? What? Why can’t I use 3&4* against lower level Sectors? Why can’t I play with champs other than my best team and replay levels for points & rewards? This game type makes so little sense to me.
- Arena - I don’t mind grinding but man, it’s really a grind. After going hard at this game type for 3 days, I am so sick of it I can’t play it for a month or more. Plus I work for a living. I can’t go back to it every 2-4 hours during the day to grind for an hour then rinse and repeat. Again, I work! Am I the only one who feels this way?

Kabam, there is a lot that is fun with the game: the Champs, the care in the artwork, the style of play, the learning curve for new champs, the variety among champs & creative ways they can be used to offset each other, the dopamine hits for getting rewards, champs and wins. These are all quite amazing qualities in your game. But the fundamental nature of a game is to feel like you have a good chance to win. When you take that away by having terrible matchmaking or inconsistent, frustrating “AI” actions which make it feel like matches are unwinnable (because the decks are literally and figuratively stacked against you), that is a recipe for financial disaster if your player base gets sick of this stuff.

It would be really nice to get the impression that you are actually listening to players and what we are experiencing, rather than telling us it’s our fault, it’s “user error”, the AI is functioning the way it was intended, etc. You might reach a point where your gameplayers keep experiencing unwinnable matches (for these various reasons) and they feel that they aren’t going to be able to have a fun experience. I have left once before for many reasons, but wanted a mobile game I could get back into, so I rejoined. I’m not sure how long I’m going to be able to put up with the above, though. You might not care about my one little account. I get it. But if I’m not the only one with similar frustrations, I might be the tip of the iceberg as well.

Comments

  • RexnSpikeRexnSpike Member Posts: 64 ★
    @Ahmynuts I appreciate the quote from the devs. While I agree with the tenor of what they’re saying, it doesn’t address the many frustrations I have. This isn’t just about “My matchups are too hard”.
    It’s the circular nature of poorly thoughts out reward structures incentivizing high level players TO NOT PLAY higher level content, not rewarding players in an equitable fashion compared to their time and resource expenditures, and it’s a shady/shifty AI no longer using responses which can be countered or anticipated.
    ANd it wasn’t all a complaint post.
  • DemonzfyreDemonzfyre Member Posts: 21,833 ★★★★★
    RexnSpike said:


    Example of my matchups since Silver/Gold and now Platinum.

    So you climbed the latter to Plat 1 and facing harder competition and now you're here complaining?

    Go finish some content, improve your roster and get better at BGs.
  • RexnSpikeRexnSpike Member Posts: 64 ★
    Demonzfyre said:

    RexnSpike said:


    Example of my matchups since Silver/Gold and now Platinum.

    So you climbed the latter to Plat 1 and facing harder competition and now you're here complaining?

    Go finish some content, improve your roster and get better at BGs.
    ——
    Clearly you didn’t read beyond the first paragraph, but thank you for the response.
    I’m not complaining about the mismatches on their own. I expect to play harder accounts, but also expect a better AI experience, a more equitable reward structure and disinsentivized structure for lingering with the intent to wrack up points against lower level teams (Point-farming).

    And as I said, what’s more frustrating is AI that is doing stuff it wasn’t capable of doing before but which is limiting gameplay. It would appear that I’m not the only one noticing that the AI isn’t right any longer.
  • BringPopcornBringPopcorn Member Posts: 4,623 ★★★★★
    RexnSpike said:

    Demonzfyre said:

    RexnSpike said:


    Example of my matchups since Silver/Gold and now Platinum.

    So you climbed the latter to Plat 1 and facing harder competition and now you're here complaining?

    Go finish some content, improve your roster and get better at BGs.
    ——
    Clearly you didn’t read beyond the first paragraph, but thank you for the response.
    I’m not complaining about the mismatches on their own. I expect to play harder accounts, but also expect a better AI experience, a more equitable reward structure and disinsentivized structure for lingering with the intent to wrack up points against lower level teams (Point-farming).

    And as I said, what’s more frustrating is AI that is doing stuff it wasn’t capable of doing before but which is limiting gameplay. It would appear that I’m not the only one noticing that the AI isn’t right any longer.
    You quit the game, you fell behind. Its the way it works. The game is not gonna be tailored so you can get an item or champ.
    AI experience is the same for everyone, equitable reward structure? Why should it be equitable when you quit the game for 3-4 YEARS.
  • Colinwhitworth69Colinwhitworth69 Member Posts: 7,423 ★★★★★
    They are addressing the AI issue (see post on main page).

    Matchmaking is not supposed to be fair. You are not owed easy matches. This is a competition.

    Anyway -- everything you mentioned (I skimmed it) has been raised a bajillion times here, so nothing new in this post. Before taking an hour to compose a rant, maybe just find other topics that share your sadness and agree or add a comment.
  • RexnSpikeRexnSpike Member Posts: 64 ★
    BringPopcorn said:

    RexnSpike said:

    Demonzfyre said:

    RexnSpike said:


    Example of my matchups since Silver/Gold and now Platinum.

    So you climbed the latter to Plat 1 and facing harder competition and now you're here complaining?

    Go finish some content, improve your roster and get better at BGs.
    ——
    Clearly you didn’t read beyond the first paragraph, but thank you for the response.
    I’m not complaining about the mismatches on their own. I expect to play harder accounts, but also expect a better AI experience, a more equitable reward structure and disinsentivized structure for lingering with the intent to wrack up points against lower level teams (Point-farming).

    And as I said, what’s more frustrating is AI that is doing stuff it wasn’t capable of doing before but which is limiting gameplay. It would appear that I’m not the only one noticing that the AI isn’t right any longer.
    You quit the game, you fell behind. Its the way it works. The game is not gonna be tailored so you can get an item or champ.
    AI experience is the same for everyone, equitable reward structure? Why should it be equitable when you quit the game for 3-4 YEARS.
    I don’t expect everyone to understand the concepts of equity, equality or equanimity. But I wont stop using the terms when they fit.
    I’m talking about systems architectures in the post that are failing. It’s that simple.
  • RexnSpikeRexnSpike Member Posts: 64 ★
    Additionally I talked about where Kabam have made some nice changes to the structure of the game in other areas. This wasn’t a rant, it was written as criticism which I believe is warranted. That’s the small and large point of it.
  • PikoluPikolu Member, Guardian Posts: 7,433 Guardian
    OP, if you're looking for a stress reliever, then stop attaching your value to an outcome of a BG match. Just say come what may and love it. If you're unable to do that, then I recommend not playing BGs. If you want fun content, do story, EQ, and sometimes the SQ. Once you've exhausted that, I recommend having another game to play.

    BGs is stressful by design. Definitely don't play it unless throwing your phone after Domino stunlocks you to death is a stress reliever for you.
  • ReignkingTWReignkingTW Member Posts: 2,774 ★★★★★
    Here we go again.
  • Denslo500Denslo500 Member Posts: 905 ★★★
    @RexnSpike The fun mode is Act 7 and 8. 8.3 was particularly fun and rewarding.

    The fun way to play BG is to set-up a match and walk away. Do that 2 more times and get 600 BG money. Spend it and go play Act 8.
  • RexnSpikeRexnSpike Member Posts: 64 ★
    Pikolu said:

    OP, if you're looking for a stress reliever, then stop attaching your value to an outcome of a BG match. Just say come what may and love it. If you're unable to do that, then I recommend not playing BGs. If you want fun content, do story, EQ, and sometimes the SQ. Once you've exhausted that, I recommend having another game to play.

    BGs is stressful by design. Definitely don't play it unless throwing your phone after Domino stunlocks you to death is a stress reliever for you.

    Thanks. I needed this. You’re absolutely right. Not kidding.
  • DNA3000DNA3000 Member, Guardian Posts: 19,423 Guardian
    RexnSpike said:

    I’m not complaining about the mismatches on their own. I expect to play harder accounts, but also expect a better AI experience, a more equitable reward structure and disinsentivized structure for lingering with the intent to wrack up points against lower level teams (Point-farming).

    That's being disincentivized by Kabam announcing that point farming in the Victory track is now a bannable offense.
  • klobberintymeklobberintyme Member Posts: 1,540 ★★★★
    edited November 2023
    This is the equivalent of I Stopped Watching around Age of Ultron and now I'm confused and angry why Loki is time tripping with lightning mcqueen and data from the goonies.

    I don't touch BGs or arena or AW or lots of stuff, yet like many I'm 2 7r3s away from Valiant on 2 accounts. Find stuff you like and enjoy, or take a few more years off and check back in during 8* rollout.
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