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Messages - Johnny Reb

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couldnt agree more with finishing the mmr system, everytime i see someone getting mad is because of annoying artificial difficulty, almost every problem i find in this game is because of the mmr system, it wouldnt be so much of a problem if the game rewarded a decent amount of gold even if you loose but its not like that, it screws you over if you lose.
True, but I think losing isn't the main issue with MMR. In my opinion, the system itself doesn't work. Its filters cross geolocation and MMR, but are too narrow and not too expansive. It takes time for filters to reach their limit because they start off at their minimum (region and low MMR difference) and expand to their maximum (worldwide and high MMR difference), which always extends the search. Even when you encounter a suitable session, it fails to deliver suitable teammates or a suitable match. It needs a desperate simplification. Giving players freedom of choice over their level of difficulty and match-making preferences would skip the time consuming process of expanding filters from minimum to maximum, always searching for sessions at maximum filters that fit the player's settings. It inverts the engine in order to make expanding a last resort, and not a part of the process.

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Nice thread; imo the game is not up in the top charts because of its learning curve; rather than the MMR. I don't like blaming the matchmaking because i think that'd be rather abstract; I like game, but I quit because of its matchmaking is slow? then i'm part of the problem.
Thank you, mate! I agree with you, but these points - MMR and learning curve - have one thing in common. They consume a valuable resource, common to us all: time. Not all of us have it, nor the will to spend it. If the game fails to provide a sense of accomplishment, time seems wasted, and quitting becomes inevitable. Both contribute to it.

What i think would be the solution is re-building a tutorial mission, developing a training room, making character builder's interface easier to understand (its layout is very neat and polished, but confusing when you are new), also developing private matches where you can go into a mission with an incomplete team filled with Cortez's brothers will be very appealing to many players.
Once again, agreed! I believe encouraging new players to train solo before venturing into coop could help decrease the number of unsuccessful missions, and thus, the consequent frustration. Now your idea about the twins sounds great! Entering a match with at least two players and filling the remaining spots with AI. Think of its potential for mentoring sessions! Love it. :D

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Suggestions / Gameplay and how to improve it
 on: January 27, 2019, 06:17:38 PM 
Now that I shared my point of view about the current MMR feature on my previous post (glad I put that out of my system), I can move on to secondary subjects. This topic is dedicated to general suggestions and insights on how to improve gameplay, which may prove to be simple, in the developers' standpoint, and game changing, in the players' perspective. Or neither. But the thoughts listed below are three ideas to solve one problem: unsuccessful missions due to technical or individual issues.

#1 - Connection
Spacelords requires one among four raiders to host the session (an antagonist cannot host the match). If communication between members of the team is not stablished - in other words, if the team is random -, the host is unaware of his connection status to other players and may compromise the entire session. There is a voting feature to abandon the match, where three out of four raiders must vote in favor, but why isn't one to change the host? Adding such a function may prevent unsuccesful missions due to lag, passing the host to the next suitable member of the team and so on, without having to rely on the host's disconnection. 'Oh wait', you may have pronounced. 'If the session lags, the vote closes before it even starts'. Well, not if it remains open until the end of the match. What does it need a timer for in the first place?

#2 - Learning Curve
So let's say connection issues have been solved, but still, missions fail. Well, Spacelords is not a game for the average player. The learning curve is longer than most titles of the genre, as it requires a much deeper knowledge of the characters available, mission's objectives, maps and mechanics. To put it bluntly, it takes experience and practice to be up for the challenge. New players often have a frustrating first experience with the game due to the difficulty and diversity of missions. To counter it, Spacelords grants access to training after completing the match. 'Wait, what? We have to complete it to train?' Yes, although it should be the other way around: 'We have to train to complete it.' In what planet do humans learn before they practice? Definetly not in the Broken one. So open training as the episodes are unlocked and encourage newcomers to complete it on solo before applying to it on coop. Remember those solo mission pop-ups for those waiting too long for a coop match? Yeah, pop it up for those who haven't completed the mission before, instead.

#3 - Accolades
So the new players have trained and are now more prepared for the real deal. Time for a coop match, eh? Perfect! Or almost. During a mission, one or luckily two members of a random team may be required to carry the rest of the raiders throughout the session, and at the end of it, their heroic performance falls short of proper rewards. They are accountable for the accomplishment, completed it with most kills, fewer deaths, most aleph, and nearly all objectives, but receive none of the accolades. Why aren't they rewarded for their role played in the match? These raider heroes should be awarded medals in the form of the good old bonus resources, such as gold, faction points, projects and XP cards. An efficient way to encourage players of all levels to try harder.

Off the top of my head, that's what I have. For now!
As always, feel free to share your thoughts below. :D

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Suggestions / Why Spacelords isn't in the top charts and what to do
 on: January 27, 2019, 04:02:39 PM 
Spacelords is an epic game, period. Regardless of its cons, the entire team behind its creation deserve nothing but love from the community for developing such an immersive experience, from an unravelling story and connected characters, to a diverse gameplay and increasing challenge - all for FREE (in uppercase for enphasizing purposes, since it shows absolutely no sign of the widely spread expression 'pay to win'). That being said, why isn't Spacelords leading the charts of free online games?

From the often overlooked point of view of a player, the answer lies on one single feature: the Match-Making Rating system, or MMR for short. 'And here we go again', right? Wrong. Although it may be the reason behind most negative feedback, all actions taken to attack the problem failed to solve it. Complaints surrounding the MMR function consist on a prolonged waiting time, ranging from 5 to 20 minutes - or no match at all, depending on the mission, time of the day, or day of the week. The measure taken by the team, put into effect in the last major update, was to make the MMR completely transparent, showing the expanding filters of the system. Now players can know why it takes so long to find a match, but the fact it takes too long remains.

I may have a few suggestions to help improve Spacelords and perhaps someday see it in the top charts, where it belongs, but I have only one regarding the MMR system: finish it. Like a wounded, last standing raider on sudden death. With a charging sucker punch. Followed by an air guitar. Put a definitive end to it, before players abandon the game simply because they cannot play it. 'But what then?', you may ponder. Well, all you have to do is look around, and you don't have to look far. New games can resort to old ways. Why not let players select their level of difficulty? Allow users to choose between easy, medium, hard, or insane in both solo and cooperative campaigns, match-making accordingly, while earning rewards equal to the challenge. Set difficulty to be the only defining filter, giving players the freedom over their preferences, such as crossing platforms or connecting nations. The current MMR system takes the choice away from the player, compromising the purpose of the game: to have fun and, well, to play it.

Sleep on it and feel free to leave your thoughts below.
Peace! But not while playing, please.

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