A lesson to be learned about Battlegrounds

This battlegrounds season has been very disappointing in my opinion. I will refrain from speaking at length about the reasons why because I believe many discussions have already been created about the problems with constant cheating, sandbagging and matchmaking. I also saw discussions about the nodes on gladiator’s circuit, which currently is the biggest reason for my frustration with the game mode, so I won’t go into specifics about it either. But I do want to point out a big problem.

My alliance is composed of people who is fairly active. We are inside Top90 in AQ and P3 in War. Last season we scored 10M+ In BG. This season however, no one wants to play it. The reason is obvious. The game mode is just not fun for us, and we have no motivation whatsoever to play the mode.

Now, before some of you (there is always that group of people) start getting their fingers itching to defend the game mode and say there is nothing wrong, I’d invite to you consider the situation currently before writing.

Mind you, it’s not about being able to win matches. The 30 of us can certainly get our wins here and there. But do we care to? We don’t. Even when we win, none of us feel like we are having fun. In a few matchups our win didn’t come because we beat our opponent, instead because we died later than our opponent did. Some of you may be fine with that, but I’ll tell you something, most of us aren’t. I don’t think a game is working when only a minority is enjoying it. And I know it’s a minority based on the forums, comments from other players I know and also the time lapse to find opponents. More often than not it takes me close to or more than an entire minute to be matched up, regardless of the time of day. That wasn’t the case last season. It’s obvious people just don’t care to play at the moment. Myself I only play 3-5 matches to complete the objectives we receive every 2 days and stop. There is no point in playing more than that, just those matches are already a miserable experience on their on their own.

The mistake in selecting these nodes has already been made, I don’t want to repeat what many already said, but I do want to encourage whoever is in charge of doing that selection to think this through with more care in the future.

We want to enjoy the game mode, not be put off by it entirely. Trust me, you don’t want to be satisfying pleasing only a small minority.

Comments

TheLightBringer

I hated the week 3 node so much, damage reduction nodes are my worst poison, add to that the megamind AI that reads my every intercept attempt perfectly, it wasn't fun at all, I prefer the week 4 nodes much more

unknown

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thinkfasthippie

Here we go. 🙄

Look, cheating and sandbagging aside. You saying that only a minority of people enjoy BG's, is a false statement. The time it takes to find a match in GC is not correlated to peoples satisfaction with the game mode nor is your friends opinions. Don't delude yourself with the affirmation of your echo chamber within your alliance or the forums.

I'm sick of people whining about a relatively new game mode that is constantly being improved upon. At its core, BG's is an awesome game mode. Kabam just needs to do the obvious and adjust the matchmaking parameters to discourage sandbagging, and continue to develop their strategy to thwart cheaters.

unknown

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Heinz11

This battlegrounds season has been very disappointing in my opinion. I will refrain from speaking at length about the reasons why because I believe many discussions have already been created about the problems with constant cheating, sandbagging and matchmaking. I also saw discussions about the nodes on gladiator’s circuit, which currently is the biggest reason for my frustration with the game mode, so I won’t go into specifics about it either. But I do want to point out a big problem.

My alliance is composed of people who is fairly active. We are inside Top90 in AQ and P3 in War. Last season we scored 10M+ In BG. This season however, no one wants to play it. The reason is obvious. The game mode is just not fun for us, and we have no motivation whatsoever to play the mode.

Now, before some of you (there is always that group of people) start getting their fingers itching to defend the game mode and say there is nothing wrong, I’d invite to you consider the situation currently before writing.

Mind you, it’s not about being able to win matches. The 30 of us can certainly get our wins here and there. But do we care to? We don’t. Even when we win, none of us feel like we are having fun. In a few matchups our win didn’t come because we beat our opponent, instead because we died later than our opponent did. Some of you may be fine with that, but I’ll tell you something, most of us aren’t. I don’t think a game is working when only a minority is enjoying it. And I know it’s a minority based on the forums, comments from other players I know and also the time lapse to find opponents. More often than not it takes me close to or more than an entire minute to be matched up, regardless of the time of day. That wasn’t the case last season. It’s obvious people just don’t care to play at the moment. Myself I only play 3-5 matches to complete the objectives we receive every 2 days and stop. There is no point in playing more than that, just those matches are already a miserable experience on their on their own.

The mistake in selecting these nodes has already been made, I don’t want to repeat what many already said, but I do want to encourage whoever is in charge of doing that selection to think this through with more care in the future.

We want to enjoy the game mode, not be put off by it entirely. Trust me, you don’t want to be satisfying pleasing only a small minority.

I understand if you don’t like the nodes, but rather than just being negative, why not suggest what nodes you would like to see in the future?

SirGamesBond

Want a non competitive random matchmaking mode. 5 energy per match.

Want to play random people without worrying about losing rewards.
Would be nice to have a BG stats;
Matches played. Win percentage etc.

unknown

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Hort4

Want a non competitive random matchmaking mode. 5 energy per match.

Want to play random people without worrying about losing rewards.
Would be nice to have a BG stats;
Matches played. Win percentage etc.

What does this mean? Non-competitive but against random people. Not sure what you are looking for?

Ourobøros

Here we go. 🙄

Look, cheating and sandbagging aside. You saying that only a minority of people enjoy BG's, is a false statement. The time it takes to find a match in GC is not correlated to peoples satisfaction with the game mode nor is your friends opinions. Don't delude yourself with the affirmation of your echo chamber within your alliance or the forums.

I'm sick of people whining about a relatively new game mode that is constantly being improved upon. At its core, BG's is an awesome game mode. Kabam just needs to do the obvious and adjust the matchmaking parameters to discourage sandbagging, and continue to develop their strategy to thwart cheaters.

Here we go, there’s always people like you who feel so entitled to defend something just because THEY DON’T GO through what’s being point out, it’s like someone who is struggling and seeing other struggle as well, isn’t supposed to complain at all, but you can brag all you want while point fingers and making toxic claims against the community, you see, there’s lots of people around the world playing this game, and not a single one is you BUT yourself, so at least consider this before trolling non constructively on posts like this one

Ourobøros

I understand if you don’t like the nodes, but rather than just being negative, why not suggest what nodes you would like to see in the future?

Yeah, like it would make a difference

rockykoston

No lesson to be learned.

Just play the game if you enjoy it. I think it's pretty much enjoyable in the right amount.

Reference

Want a non competitive random matchmaking mode. 5 energy per match.

Want to play random people without worrying about losing rewards.
Would be nice to have a BG stats;
Matches played. Win percentage etc.
What does this mean? Non-competitive but against random people. Not sure what you are looking for?

An expansion of existing battle with friend mode to all players, if you aware the existence of such mode in BG.

Spurgeon14

Here we go. 🙄

Look, cheating and sandbagging aside. You saying that only a minority of people enjoy BG's, is a false statement. The time it takes to find a match in GC is not correlated to peoples satisfaction with the game mode nor is your friends opinions. Don't delude yourself with the affirmation of your echo chamber within your alliance or the forums.

I'm sick of people whining about a relatively new game mode that is constantly being improved upon. At its core, BG's is an awesome game mode. Kabam just needs to do the obvious and adjust the matchmaking parameters to discourage sandbagging, and continue to develop their strategy to thwart cheaters.
Here we go, there’s always people like you who feel so entitled to defend something just because THEY DON’T GO through what’s being point out, it’s like someone who is struggling and seeing other struggle as well, isn’t supposed to complain at all, but you can brag all you want while point fingers and making toxic claims against the community, you see, there’s lots of people around the world playing this game, and not a single one is you BUT yourself, so at least consider this before trolling non constructively on posts like this one

AMEN!

thinkfasthippie

Here we go. 🙄

Look, cheating and sandbagging aside. You saying that only a minority of people enjoy BG's, is a false statement. The time it takes to find a match in GC is not correlated to peoples satisfaction with the game mode nor is your friends opinions. Don't delude yourself with the affirmation of your echo chamber within your alliance or the forums.

I'm sick of people whining about a relatively new game mode that is constantly being improved upon. At its core, BG's is an awesome game mode. Kabam just needs to do the obvious and adjust the matchmaking parameters to discourage sandbagging, and continue to develop their strategy to thwart cheaters.
Here we go, there’s always people like you who feel so entitled to defend something just because THEY DON’T GO through what’s being point out, it’s like someone who is struggling and seeing other struggle as well, isn’t supposed to complain at all, but you can brag all you want while point fingers and making toxic claims against the community, you see, there’s lots of people around the world playing this game, and not a single one is you BUT yourself, so at least consider this before trolling non constructively on posts like this one

It is not "entitled" to have an opposition against someomes whinging. You wanna talk about not constructive? This post is the definition.

My issue is, making these assumptions (NOBODY wants to play battlegrounds) based on an anecdote; "in my experience", "my alliance" or "on the forums" These claims have zero value. Lets see the statistics from Kabam and have a survey to go out to the player base where a large group of people can tell us what the problems are. I would be willing to bet a lot of money that 90% would say it is one of two things keeping them from playing (if it is at all) 1. cheaters/modders or 2. matchmaking/sandbagging. Both of which Kabam has already addressed AND acted upon, and will continue to act upon. Until we have those numbers, your opinion is just that.

Additionally, how about OP comes with a solution framed as a suggestion to Kabam, Instead of this incessant moping which I see EVERYDAY on the forums?

Kaalen

Here we go. 🙄

Look, cheating and sandbagging aside. You saying that only a minority of people enjoy BG's, is a false statement. The time it takes to find a match in GC is not correlated to peoples satisfaction with the game mode nor is your friends opinions. Don't delude yourself with the affirmation of your echo chamber within your alliance or the forums.

I'm sick of people whining about a relatively new game mode that is constantly being improved upon. At its core, BG's is an awesome game mode. Kabam just needs to do the obvious and adjust the matchmaking parameters to discourage sandbagging, and continue to develop their strategy to thwart cheaters.
Here we go, there’s always people like you who feel so entitled to defend something just because THEY DON’T GO through what’s being point out, it’s like someone who is struggling and seeing other struggle as well, isn’t supposed to complain at all, but you can brag all you want while point fingers and making toxic claims against the community, you see, there’s lots of people around the world playing this game, and not a single one is you BUT yourself, so at least consider this before trolling non constructively on posts like this one
It is not "entitled" to have an opposition against someomes whinging. You wanna talk about not constructive? This post is the definition.

My issue is, making these assumptions (NOBODY wants to play battlegrounds) based on an anecdote; "in my experience", "my alliance" or "on the forums" These claims have zero value. Lets see the statistics from Kabam and have a survey to go out to the player base where a large group of people can tell us what the problems are. I would be willing to bet a lot of money that 90% would say it is one of two things keeping them from playing (if it is at all) 1. cheaters/modders or 2. matchmaking/sandbagging. Both of which Kabam has already addressed AND acted upon, and will continue to act upon. Until we have those numbers, your opinion is just that.

Additionally, how about OP comes with a solution framed as a suggestion to Kabam, Instead of this incessant moping which I see EVERYDAY on the forums?

I had decided to ignore your comment because I am already used to people like you, but against my better judgement, I will lose some time out of my day and teach you a couple things.

Firstly, you called me delusional and said I live in an echo chamber (very mature, by the way). Last time I checked you neither know who I am nor know exactly how I got my information. That was already enough for me to know you’re unable to have a reasonable argument with opposing opinions. What you call whining is in fact someone that thinks different than you and you are unable to come to terms with the fact your opinion isn’t absolute. I’d tell you to grow up and learn more about social interactions, but I am afraid you might be unable to do such.

Secondly, I very carefully explained my point of view and in no point made any of my arguments as a complete truth or ‘NOBODY’ wants to play it, like you said I did. I do however, feel very comfortable I speak of the majority of players at the moment. My post brings out a problem in my eyes and asks those responsible for the game mode to listen, if they care to. That’s is precisely what the forums exist for. People come here to express THEIR experiences with the game, not to say exactly what you yourself think about it (sounds to me like you are the one that want to live in a echo chamber).

Your entire tirade just proves you are hypocritical and don’t accept reading other people’s opinions. If you are tired of reading how people have different ideas than you, than learn how to argue politely with them, or ignore it completely. Don’t make a fool of yourself sounding like an arrogant brat that can’t see himself in front of the mirror.

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xNig

Well.. OP, fact is.. your alliance still scored 6m+ points for it. So obviously some in your ally are still playing it.

Kaalen

Well.. OP, fact is.. your alliance still scored 6m+ points for it. So obviously some in your ally are still playing it.

I invite you to read what I wrote one more time. In no point I said we aren’t playing. I said we do the bare minimum because we have no enjoyment in it. 6-7M is nothing compared to what my alliance is able to. We should be long past 9M by now, judging by last season’s performance.

JessieS

The lesson I just learned is that you can do everything right but thanks to Kabam bugs you can still get screwed over

PSYKEOP

This week's knot on the circuit is simply horrible, as you said we don't have fun even in winning games because many times we win simply by dying after the opponent. I don't know what kabam was thinking when she decided to put this knot in week 4 of this season, it's simply unplayable having to release a special every 12 seconds so it doesn't get rooted, There comes a time when you just won't have the e1 full to release when the counter ends and it will turn into a snowball of you trapped without being able to do anything.

Mauled

This week's knot on the circuit is simply horrible, as you said we don't have fun even in winning games because many times we win simply by dying after the opponent. I don't know what kabam was thinking when she decided to put this knot in week 4 of this season, it's simply unplayable having to release a special every 12 seconds so it doesn't get rooted, There comes a time when you just won't have the e1 full to release when the counter ends and it will turn into a snowball of you trapped without being able to do anything.

That’s very much a question of skill. It actually makes some champions easier to fight when you don’t get knocked back.

The gladiator circuit nodes being challenging is important otherwise it becomes a zurg fest which this season has avoided fairly well for the most part.

Reaching the circuit is and should be an achievement and being one of the top 10-15k players in the mode should imply the ability to play around nodes.

Omedenn

This game mode gave me excitement to play this game again. I ranked up so many 6* to r3 where before I couldn’t care less.

Yes there are some things that can be improved, but battle grounds is the best game mode for me at the moment!

Vergeman78

I won’t pretend to speak for entire player base but my alliance finally reached the final milestone with less than 24 hours to go, and that’s only because we made a push for it.

We had 15m+ last season, so that’s a considerable drop in our case. The reasons for lack of interests are mostly matchmaking.

altavista

My alliance is composed of people who is fairly active. We are inside Top90 in AQ and P3 in War. Last season we scored 10M+ In BG. This season however, no one wants to play it. The reason is obvious. The game mode is just not fun for us, and we have no motivation whatsoever to play the mode.

The mistake in selecting these nodes has already been made, I don’t want to repeat what many already said, but I do want to encourage whoever is in charge of doing that selection to think this through with more care in the future.

We want to enjoy the game mode, not be put off by it entirely. Trust me, you don’t want to be satisfying pleasing only a small minority.

Your mistake is in assuming that this game mode is meant to be enjoyable or fun. A video game should be enjoyable and fun, but that is not necessarily always true. You tout your AW ranking as part of your credentials. You know what I don't find fun or enjoyable? AW.

It would be fantastic if Kabam had all their game modes appeal to everyone, but that is simply not realistic.

There definitely is room for improvements to Battlegrounds. Could BG be made more fun and enjoyable? Yes, definitely. But your only suggestion seems to be 'think about nodes choices'. Would Power Shield and Biohazard node be more fun and enjoyable? Probably yes, but 'fun and enjoyable' doesn't answer the question about how competitive rewards should be distributed.

There are a lot more problems inherent in Battlegrounds that should be improved (ie. matchmaking, input lag, modders), that 'fun node selection' is fairly low on the list of improvements.

Kaalen

My alliance is composed of people who is fairly active. We are inside Top90 in AQ and P3 in War. Last season we scored 10M+ In BG. This season however, no one wants to play it. The reason is obvious. The game mode is just not fun for us, and we have no motivation whatsoever to play the mode.
The mistake in selecting these nodes has already been made, I don’t want to repeat what many already said, but I do want to encourage whoever is in charge of doing that selection to think this through with more care in the future.

We want to enjoy the game mode, not be put off by it entirely. Trust me, you don’t want to be satisfying pleasing only a small minority.

Your mistake is in assuming that this game mode is meant to be enjoyable or fun. A video game should be enjoyable and fun, but that is not necessarily always true. You tout your AW ranking as part of your credentials. You know what I don't find fun or enjoyable? AW.

It would be fantastic if Kabam had all their game modes appeal to everyone, but that is simply not realistic.

There definitely is room for improvements to Battlegrounds. Could BG be made more fun and enjoyable? Yes, definitely. But your only suggestion seems to be 'think about nodes choices'. Would Power Shield and Biohazard node be more fun and enjoyable? Probably yes, but 'fun and enjoyable' doesn't answer the question about how competitive rewards should be distributed.

There are a lot more problems inherent in Battlegrounds that should be improved (ie. matchmaking, input lag, modders), that 'fun node selection' is fairly low on the list of improvements.

While I can understand where you are coming from, I think it differently. True, the problems you noted should be given some level of priority, but thinking about nodes requires very little effort and no technical dedication whatsoever. You don’t need to come up with new programming or anything like that in order to beat the problem. It’s possible to tackle multiple problems at the same time, instead of waiting to solve one before thinking about the other.

Regarding how fun the game mode should be, I am of the opinion that every single game mode should be ultimately fun. Otherwise it is not game, but a task. You said War isn’t fun, and a lot of people agree with your sentiment, which is why Kabam receives a lot of criticism and is constantly trying to refresh it. There needs to be competitiveness, but a balance with how fun it is has to be important. Unless, of course, the purpose is to make the mode interesting only to a small minority of the player base. If that turns out to be their intention for BG, then I really lose the argument, but that doesn’t seem to be the case based on everything Kabam has been saying since its release.

K00shMaan

Basing a significant amount of your opinion on scores in the Alliance/Solo event is misguided imo. To do excellent in that event, you likely have to invest some units. If the entire Alliance isn't necessarily committed to that it isn't worth it when you can still participate and get good rewards by just playing with Energy. Furthermore, this season was all around both Cyber weekend and the Banquet event. Both great reasons to spend your units outside of BG's. One of the bigger struggles for BG's is that there are plenty of other game modes and BGs doesn't offer to much reward wise for just playing more. If you get to GC and find a spot where you plateau, most people are going to stop especially since there are other things in the game to do that will continue to improve rewards. I played way more matches last season and was in GC for 3 whole weeks. This time I didn't push as fast and was only there for 9 days. I was still able to get my GC Rating a little higher than last season. So less matches, better rewards