Losing on purpose

I don't really make any attempt to justify it. It's not a supportable behavior in a team game. It is what it is. I could make statements like, "I still win half the time anyway as I must" but honestly, you and I both know that despite the hard mathematics, losing on purpose is a shitty thing to do to your team.

I would argue, however, that It is not me destroying the integrity of the game because I didn't make this jacked up system. That is literally the problem. The game systems have no integrity (ie: they don't integrate well with each other). I didn't make the screwed up matchmaking system. I didn't make the guild quests. I didn't make the loot system. And I didn't and never would've even dreamed of making "the punishment zone". That little gem there was a bit of lunacy that should've gotten someone fired for even thinking it.

Rovio has developed a system in which the rewards and the incentives work counter to the desired behaviors. Trust me on this. I've seen that plenty of times as a manager in the real world. NOTHING will fix that other than fixing the incentive structure. People will just "work around". Or in my case, more likely quit (take some solace there... there'll be one less tanker soon I suspect). There's gotta be some fun combat game out there where you can just play to win.

(can someone clue me in, though, on why being forced to fight at your normal infamy is so punishing? As I understand it, if I drop down to 475-ish then it'll just go back to matchmaking me at 1275 -- my infamy max. Granted, I disliked 1275 but I did actually fight my way there and I am able to play at that level... if you call that playing. I'm obviously missing something about the penalty zone)

 

I like the grind, the impossible climb over the paywall. I’ve played against people who one shot me on a regular basis, and keep coming back for more. The slower the climb, the longer the wait, the more rewarding success is. I play soft, contemplative games like Emperor’s Mahjong, or at best Everquest. This is my only shooter but I love it.

This game is global. If they make it the perfect game for you, then it will be that much worse for the thousands of people who don’t share your particular point of view. Rovio has an impossible task in trying to please everybody and they should not even try... they conceived the game, they have a vision. They should stick to the path they have chosen... Full speed ahead and damn the torpedos!

It will never ever be close to perfect, but it’s hella fun when you can get an honest game... it’s not fun when others on your team are determined to sandbag you.

The matchmaking I rarely complain or even think about, because there are WAY too many factors to consider. It is not the problem.

 

Plus, please don’t give others ideas on how to tank their game or teach them techniques to not get caught... like your post about missing shots etc.

 

That is a part that confuses me. I get it that I'm in a rare category with this experience. I know that because i know I don't see any peers when I'm at the top of my infamy range. I listen to guild chatter and I know people with M4 boats are not tanking and yet hovering in the 450-650 infamy range. I wish that happened for me. Honestly though, the fixes for my problem really wouldn't be screwing all those people. It would only be retarding the progress of people like me and... well... there aren't any people like me.... not enough to matter. All they need to do is to stop the infamy rise and/or put some hard caps on the gear mismatches with matchmaking. And, of course, they need to seriously reconsider the guild quests.

I've read your statements before about "I've played against people". I'll ask you the same question again. Was that EVERY player in EVERY battle you played.... likely to continue indefinitely? Because if not, then we're not discussing the same thing. You make it sound like I ran into one higher level player somewhere and ran screaming in terror back to the low infamies.

Let me ask you a question. If I allowed my infamy to rise I expect it'd go up to around 1450 or so now... maybe higher. It would certainly go up to the place where I was mostly useless on your team. How is that not tanking also.... just enforced by the game? Why on earth would you want that boat on your team? This is part of why I say that addressing the symptoms on this issue will not address the problem.

** edited to add**

Personally I think this is naive. As long as the rewards and incentives push so strongly in this direction you can rest assured that the player base will always find ways to work the system.

 

OK, I just read the rules and deliberately losing is classed as "gross misconduct". People are supposed to report me in various ways including to an MVP (you LOL?). I have to admit I'm sorely tempted to report myself via their email reporting system. I'd be able to explain exactly what this nefarious player was doing and why they are breaking the rules. It'd be fascinating to see their response.

 

It has happened twice already this morning. Since I am once again in the Black Sky Zone (no stars in my sky, or on the horizon) the matchmaking kicks in hard to keep me at 50%... so it takes an extra effort to climb...

Last night we even had two people fleeting, who both suicided right off the bat. 5on3 the hard way...

 

Heh, here's me tanking.... every single one of these games I'm trying to lose. My infamy is starting to get concerning. This is pretty typical except it's a bit more clumped than both. Note the 3 star and 2 star performance in those top 2. This list goes on for about 120 or so games... during which time my infamy went up despite trying to hold more or less steady... up substantially. As I've said, I stink at losing.



Where I'm at right now is I'm afraid to even play the game until I can get with my son and we can fleet to help insure a bit more "cushion". So take heart, I don't lose all that well to start with and my play time gets capped anyway. You have your problems. I have mine. We are both screwed by the same broken system.

 

The matchmaking system does need work... when my team gets decimated in 2 minutes one match and I get a penta-kill the next, it certainly raises a lot of questions. I find the game to be much more enjoyable if I don't worry about infamy, because the best we can do is exert control over only 10-20% of the participants in the match. Matchmaking feels like RNG as much as all other aspects of BB.

I've seen a lot of talk about the benefits of infamy taking but to be honest I don't see it... a win for me pays rewards about the same regardless of level. Does anyone have stats that show otherwise? I think the best way to solve the infamy dropping problem is to give out rewards proportional to match infamy, which would remove any advantage given to dropping.

 

Yup. That's my thought also. The incentive structure either needs to be better explained or changed... one of the two. In addition, there's the issue about ridiculous match making when the player, as antisnipe put it, "doesn't conform to the developer's expectations of performance".

I've been trying to think on what's going on with the match making. In the end, the system either needs to give "star performer underdogs" much bigger rewards so that the gear to close the gap is still available despite their low team placement or else it needs to give those same underdogs less infamy as their contribution to the team drops. One way or another it's a serious mismatch between infamy gain and gear gain.