Distension discussion

[roxxkatt]

list moved to page 6

[Viruk]

Issues from weekend Distension

• Frequent complaints about team balance.
• Problems with number of players exceeding limit and game/bot laggyness.
• Some players annoyed by ERs decisions.
• Bot still dies sometimes.
• Most players still want a proper Distension schedule or 24/7 Distension.
• Leveling starting to get hard for some.
• Confusion over defection. Possible bug.
• Confusion over specialization costs. Possible bug.

Suggestions for improvement:

Team balance:
Alter helpfiles and distensionbot messages to educate players that temporary team imbalances are part of the Distension fun.
Make it clear that terriers and sharks are often essential for victory but that it is up to the players to make this happen.
It needs to be made very clear to a new player when they can switch to support ships with no penalties and when they will receive bonuses for doing this.
Make it very clear when players get bonuses for assisting (including saint bonus if this still exists.)
Ensure there are plenty of imbalance warnings before allowing any Avarice.
Make team win/loss and RP stats since last reshuffle time on available on command and make it so anyone can start a team reshuffle vote. If 50% of active playerbase (anyone logged on within a week) agree then the reshuffle happens automatically otherwise the poll expires after a week.

Player numbers causing laggyness:
Fix the bot if possible. (Since it wasn't fixed in beta I am guessing it is mostly beyond control.)
This is only a problem when popular and so the problem should be self-correcting as long as Distension is not strictly rationed.
I'm not convinced player numbers warrant the additional problems of a second arena right now but we ought to consider it.
Add an option to only see kill messages when the rearm queue is short and get the RP bonus instead when it is busy (when the FR is about to fall and the battle is at its peak who cares about picking high value targets - you would rather target the main threats and have extra RP and faster rearming right?)
Double the no kill message bonus.
If the lag is mainly caused by bot messaging rather than database updates or processing add a :distensionbot:lk command to show a kill message for your last kill even when you have kill messages turned off. Protect this from abuse by disallowing high usage rates of the lk command.

Staff decisions:
Making it automated as soon as technically and politically possible should help.
Remind everyone that Staff may have feelings/a life (even though we know they are all evil no-lifers really).

Bot deaths:
Ensure players know to report any repeat crashes that happen when they do something.
We need enough people trained and able to restart the thing.

Schedule:
Make it so bot can be left running in refit mode and add commands to set and show time and duration of next Distension event and whether this is 'automated', 'firm' or 'intended'.
Attempt to get staff to host regularly around the clock and post the schedule here.
Encourage staff to host additional Distension sessions whenever they can be persuaded.
When technically and politically possible - switch to 24/7 automated Distension! (Possibly only activated when X number of people are in the arena.)
Ensure it is possible for staff to temporarily suspend Distension if they ever need to host something so important that they are willing to risk the wrath of the Distension playerbase to steal a player or two.
When automated 24/7 is running fairly reliably add an automated schedule of RP multiplier events and add capability for staff to host odd RP multiplier events too.

Leveling difficulty:
Will continue to be a problem for a few until RP multiplier events are hosted. Good!

Defect bug:
Ensure defection help and bot text make it clear what to expect if you defect. If it is supposed to give negative progress it should say so.
Ensure it is clear to players when team reshuffles are likely to occur.
Possibly make it so players who spend ranks to defect are immune/resistant to reshuffles?

Specialization:
Ensure it is clear in helpfiles and bot text when you get free specialization and what it will cost when you don't. Make sure it always warns before deducting any RP so people don't accidentally repeat specialize thinking that it is free when it isn't. If it is supposed to give negative progress it should say so.

[roxxkatt]

dakos numbers agree with mine somewhat, even though i told dako i was doing it -__-"

and mine looks nicer ^^;

Rank 1: 10              Total: 10
Rank 2: 16              Total: 26
Rank 3: 25              Total: 51
Rank 4: 40              Total: 92
Rank 5: 65              Total: 158
Rank 6: 104             Total: 262
Rank 7: 167             Total: 430
Rank 8: 268             Total: 699
Rank 9: 429             Total: 1128
Rank 10: 493            Total: 1622
Rank 11: 568            Total: 2190
Rank 12: 653            Total: 2843
Rank 13: 751            Total: 3594
Rank 14: 863            Total: 4458
Rank 15: 993            Total: 5452
Rank 16: 1142           Total: 6594
Rank 17: 1313           Total: 7908
Rank 18: 1510           Total: 9419
Rank 19: 1737           Total: 11157
Rank 20: 1998           Total: 13155
Rank 21: 2297           Total: 15453
Rank 22: 2642           Total: 18095
Rank 23: 3038           Total: 21134
Rank 24: 3494           Total: 24629
Rank 25: 4019           Total: 28648
Rank 26: 4420           Total: 33069
Rank 27: 4863           Total: 37932
Rank 28: 5349           Total: 43282
Rank 29: 5884           Total: 49166
Rank 30: 6472           Total: 55639
Rank 31: 7120           Total: 62759
Rank 32: 7832           Total: 70591
Rank 33: 8615           Total: 79206
Rank 34: 9476           Total: 88683
Rank 35: 10424          Total: 99107
Rank 36: 11466          Total: 110574
Rank 37: 12613          Total: 123188
Rank 38: 13874          Total: 137063
Rank 39: 15262          Total: 152325
Rank 40: 16788          Total: 169114
Rank 41: 18467          Total: 187581
Rank 42: 20314          Total: 207895
Rank 43: 22345          Total: 230241
Rank 44: 24580          Total: 254821
Rank 45: 27038          Total: 281860
Rank 46: 29742          Total: 311602
Rank 47: 32716          Total: 344318
Rank 48: 35987          Total: 380306
Rank 49: 39586          Total: 419893
Rank 50: 43545          Total: 463438
Rank 51: 54431          Total: 517870
Rank 52: 68039          Total: 585910
Rank 53: 85049          Total: 670960
Rank 54: 106312         Total: 777272
Rank 55: 132890         Total: 910162
Rank 56: 166112         Total: 1076274
Rank 57: 207640         Total: 1283915
Rank 58: 259551         Total: 1543466
Rank 59: 324438         Total: 1867905
Rank 60: 405548         Total: 2273454
Rank 61: 506935         Total: 2780389
Rank 62: 633669         Total: 3414059
Rank 63: 792086         Total: 4206146
Rank 64: 990108         Total: 5196254
Rank 65: 1237635        Total: 6433890
Rank 66: 1547044        Total: 7980935
Rank 67: 1933806        Total: 9914741
Rank 68: 2417257        Total: 12331998
Rank 69: 3021572        Total: 15353570
Rank 70: 3776965        Total: 19130536
Rank 71: 6043144        Total: 25173680
Rank 72: 9669031        Total: 34842712
Rank 73: 15470450       Total: 50313160
Rank 74: 24752720       Total: 75065880
Rank 75: 39604352       Total: 114670232
Rank 76: 63366964       Total: 178037200
Rank 77: 101387144      Total: 279424352
Rank 78: 162219440      Total: 441643776
Rank 79: 259551104      Total: 701194880
Rank 80: 415281760      Total: 1116476672

[dako]

Cheese!> EARLY_RANK_FACTOR = 1.6f; // Factor for rank increases (lvl 1-9)
Cheese!> LOW_RANK_FACTOR = 1.15f; // Factor for rank increases (lvl 10+)
Cheese!> NORMAL_RANK_FACTOR = 1.10f; // Factor for rank increases (lvl 25+)
Cheese!> HIGH_RANK_FACTOR = 1.25f; // Factor for rank increases (lvl 50+)
Cheese!> STUPIDLY_HIGH_RANK_FACTOR = 1.6f; // Factor for rank increases (lvl 70+)

According to this, if you start out with rank 1 = 10 rp to achieve, then

rank 1 = 10 RP
rank 2 = 16 RP
rank 3 = 26 RP
rank 4 = 41 RP
rank 5 = 66 RP
rank 6 = 105 RP
rank 7 = 167 RP
rank 8 = 268 RP
rank 9 = 429 RP (1k RP total mark)
rank 10 = 687 RP
rank 11 = 790 RP
rank 12 = 908 RP
rank 13 = 1045 RP
rank 14 = 1201 RP
rank 15 = 1382 RP
rank 16 = 1590 RP
rank 17 = 1828 RP
rank 18 = 2102 RP (10k RP total)
rank 19 = 2417 RP
rank 20 = 2780 RP
rank 21 = 3197 RP
rank 22 = 3676 RP
rank 23 = 4288 RP
rank 24 = 4862 RP
rank 25 = 5591 RP
rank 26 = 6150 RP
rank 27 = 6766 RP (50k rp total)
rank 28 = 7442 RP
rank 29 = 8186 RP
rank 30 = 9006 RP
rank 31 = 9906 RP
rank 32 = 10896 RP
rank 33 = 11986 RP (100k rp total)
rank 34 = 13185 RP
rank 35 = 14503 RP
rank 36 = 15953 RP
rank 37 = 17549 RP
rank 38 = 19304 RP
rank 39 = 21235 RP
rank 40 = 23358 RP
rank 41 = 25693 RP
rank 42 = 28263 RP
rank 43 = 31089 RP
rank 44 = 34198 RP
rank 45 = 37618 RP
rank 46 = 41380 RP
rank 47 = 45518 RP
rank 48 = 50070 RP (500k rp total)
rank 49 = 55077 RP
rank 50 = 60584 RP
rank 51 = 75731 RP
rank 52 = 94663 RP
rank 53 = 118329 RP
rank 54 = 147912 RP (1 mill rp total)
rank 55 = 184890 RP
rank 56 = 231113 RP
rank 57 = 288891 RP
rank 58 = 361114 RP
rank 59 = 451392 RP (2 mill rp total)
rank 60 = 564241 RP
rank 61 = 705301 RP
rank 62 = 881627 RP
rank 63 = 1,102,033 RP
rank 64 = 1,377,541 RP
rank 65 = 1,721,927 RP
rank 66 = 2,152,408 RP
rank 67 = 2,690,511 RP (10 mill rp total)
rank 68 = 3,363,138 RP
rank 69 = 4,203,923 RP
rank 70 = 5,254,904 RP (20 mill rp total)
rank 71 = 8,407,847 RP
rank 72 = 13,452,555 RP
rank 73 = 21,524,089 RP (50 mill rp total)
rank 74 = 34,438,542 RP
rank 75 = 55,101,668 RP (100 mill rp total)
rank 76 = 88,162,669 RP
rank 77 = 141,060,272 RP
rank 78 = 225,696,435 RP
rank 79 = 361,114,296 RP (1 billion rp total)
rank 80 = 577,782,874 RP

Lol. Discuss.

Double post. Fuck you if you ban me for it. Last posted several hours ago

Does that stargazer faggot count as a bug? Since when does an event get ended because there is "too many people playing"?? And how are "THE" weekend events any different than "A" weekend event. Both suck, and hardly anyone cares about them. Only the Jabjab's do so they can beat off while looking at their name on the TW.org homepage. Get somebody with some balls and half a fucking brain to run ECT/Dist coordination. Fucking ignoramus.

Another bug I noticed....

I was a weasel most of the day today, but at one point I guess I was stabwounds 15th kill in a row, therefore losing my option to use the weasel anymore....but I continued to use the weasel until I switched ships about 40 minutes later, then I couldn't switch back.

Shouldn't it be that once you lose the privilege you are placed in another ship immediately?

[Vergilius]

trust me stab, that spider ability gets very powerful later on.

[Viruk]

Oh, and I feel that the spider's super ability is a bit underwhelming... you get it about once per game, and it lasts about 3 seconds. It could probably stand to be a bit more often, in my opinion.

But its already got me a few extra kills - and that is with only one upgrade level of it and no fast-firing multifire let alone L2 bullets.

[Stabwound]

It would be nice if there was a bot command to warp yourself to the rearmament area. It's kinda annoying getting warped into the spawn area at the end of the game and having to run away.

Also, pleeeease at least make PMs a different colour.

Oh, and I feel that the spider's super ability is a bit underwhelming... you get it about once per game, and it lasts about 3 seconds. It could probably stand to be a bit more often, in my opinion.

Distension> You about to !return to your army, or do you need to !enlist in one? Don't recognize you quite.

Its just a small thing really, rather insignificant. That doesnt make any sense though.

Also, Twice tonight I was told I could enter, then immediately removed to "allow another player" in.

[DankNuggets]

Lanc is next to impossible to unlock at the moment. The method itself is okay, but I think it'll be a while before anyone really has a chance at unlocking it (without extreme luck), especially if they don't know the method to do so. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose.

yeah i'm gonna amp up my spider, don't know long it'll take to get that good ol' super+multi going, but it's a sure-fire way to get it.

[Stabwound]

Lanc is next to impossible to unlock at the moment. The method itself is okay, but I think it'll be a while before anyone really has a chance at unlocking it (without extreme luck), especially if they don't know the method to do so. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose.

[DankNuggets]

Cheese!> the reason that anyone knew how to unlock wzl or lanc is because i told the secret before i knew i wasnt supposed to

So the only reason anyone has weasel is because they were told how. I think the ship should be locked or everyone should know how to get it. Opinions?

Things like this remind me of the way hyperspace is ran which was very annoying. I hope this is not the road distension is going down.

oh i think i figured it out

and it's going to be hard to get :O
FTR, i won't post what it is but if you ask me in game, i'll tell you how to find out...

Also I think it should just be said out in public what the requirement is for these ships, and add a rank requirement on all other ships first so that people don't get them right away.

i didn't do anything illegal to comeby this information, it's out there if you know where to look :fear:

[project dragon]

Boost+move+bomb=fast projectile bomb

I am aware of trust bombing, but when you don't have a room, or the energy to do it, kind of makes it moot.

[DankNuggets]

Alternatively add a tiny bit of forward thrust to the bombs to make them easier to shoot but still requiring momentum. This might make them easier to spot and avoid when rushing at someone though. Otherwise tweak the support bonus as the shark is still very effective at mining, sweeping and flag grabbing.

only problem is that they're very handy to set as extra mines, and adding forward thrust would make it much harder to cordon off an area with bombs. i welcome bullet upgrades.

if an upgrade to bomb radius made a +10% difference in kills, it would also make a +100% difference in tks, as most if not all mines/bombs get repped away.