Re: Updates on RA Round 4

by Manadomiel Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:30 pm

Kenzu wrote:Not sure if you have noticed, but you are going offtopic here.

Spoiler:

What are you saying here? Are you suggesting that, because you put the features in yourself, the exploits aren't exploits? scratch

Apparently you are missing the points made by Nomad: the features on RA seem to disproportionally benefit you and your supporters.
When I devised a strategy to use against weapons based players, like you, by assassinating covert and then sabotaging, destroying 200% the value of the explosives, the rules changed putting weapon tech against covert.
When Byakuya harrassed you with a pure assassination account, assassins got weapons. The list goes on.
Really, as admin you should not be competing for top rank. The point about Sara being a de facto extension of you, since you seem to have control over her actions, and speak for her, was lost on you as well it seems.
There are, and sometimes were, great things about RA. The simplicity of the missions is very attractive. Explosives are a nice touch. But the partisan rule changes spoil a lot of the fun.

by Nomad Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:12 am

Thank you for conveying that which I was not able to Mandomiel.

@ Kenzu,,,,,I am not straying from the topic 1 single bit, you are to limited in your ability to think outside your own ways to see the topic is to the community, NOT to you, NOT to Sara. It is to the community ABOUT you and how you run things and how your limited vision molds this game in a single and obvious direct, so NO SIR I am not straying off topic, your the one spamming here.

I can point out 100 point that are all true, even your own brother admits them. I can even get you to admit them, yet you still can not see how your actions and the timing of those actions appear and what they do to the player base.

Perfect example is this new "loan" system and the changes to it. Does it need to be changed? IDK. Not my call. I'm willing to back your decision and say it is, but WHY in the heck do you do it in the middle of a round and conveniently AFTER you and the gang have massive sizes and UP's? the change makes it so no one else can do what you did and gives those in the lead a gap no one can over come.

So I ask WHY? Why do you do things that make you look bad at the worst times every time? Why are the only changes put in place changes that benefit only you and your style of play? You got a game, not one I perticulary like but you got a game that many can and will like if you would act half way decent with it and stop being so narrow minded with such a limited view of what it could be.

Anyway. point made, no need to get ugly or heated or out of hand so I'll let it be.

by Steveanaya Tue Aug 30, 2011 3:44 am

I just ignored the loan system.

Seems pointless

by Kenzu Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:40 pm

Manadomiel wrote:
Kenzu wrote:Not sure if you have noticed, but you are going offtopic here.

Spoiler:
What are you saying here? Are you suggesting that, because you put the features in yourself, the exploits aren't exploits?

"An exploit, in video games, is the use of a bug or design flaw by a player to their advantage in a manner not intended by the game's designers."
-wiki

What I am saying is that if you use updates the way they were intended to be used, then you are not taking advantage of any exploits.
Exploits are actions that are not intended by the game developers.

Apparently you are missing the points made by Nomad: the features on RA seem to disproportionally benefit you and your supporters.

I disagree, because last round has been won by opposing alliance (alliance of kaiballz). This is one piece of proof against your case.
And now the most important point which proves your case wrong:

Almost all updates are announced long time before they are implemented. People have enough time to adjust to the new changes, and also enough time to ask questions if they are not sure about their strategy or impact on the game.

Most updates came with the start of the new round, when everyone starts from beginning. A change that comes at a beginning of a round cannot benefit anyone disproportionately as anyone can adapt to the change and build his account according to the change. Of course for updates that come during a round, you might argue they benefit someone more than someone else. And I am 100% positive some benefit from it more than others, because everyone has a unique account, however I do believe that changes I make during a round do not shift the powerbalance of any side much.

Please explain, or let Nomad explain, why he thinks that. I would love to know what made him think this way. It is afterall his first round he is playing now.

When I devised a strategy to use against weapons based players, like you, by assassinating covert and then sabotaging, destroying 200% the value of the explosives, the rules changed putting weapon tech against covert.

I was also using this method a lot. First assassinating spies and then when no spies are left sabotaging the player. I destroyed weapons worth tens of billions of weapons, building explosives in my 500 explosive factories. You are in no way the only one who used this. Due to the imbalance, most players were focusing on a strong assassination power, keeping other stats much weaker, including me. However, the update was announced long time in advance, and once put in place, everyone has to adapt to the more balanced gameplay.

When Byakuya harrassed you with a pure assassination account, assassins got weapons. The list goes on.
Really, as admin you should not be competing for top rank. The point about Sara being a de facto extension of you, since you seem to have control over her actions, and speak for her, was lost on you as well it seems.
There are, and sometimes were, great things about RA. The simplicity of the missions is very attractive. Explosives are a nice touch. But the partisan rule changes spoil a lot of the fun.

I was assassinating a lot as well. Getting rid of games imbalances is much more important for me than rank, and I would never make updates, which I'd believe damage the game, no matter if they benefit me or not. You can't expect me not to play the game, if I love it so much. Besides, if I didn't play the game, then it will be much harder for me to find bugs and determine what updates can improve the game.

by Manadomiel Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:03 pm

@steve: Loan system was there to give starting players an extra boost if they can calculate return on investment.
@kenzu: There have been a lot of changes mid way. Sometimes things that were implemented with a few days warning, sometimes features that were announced but later dropped, like airforce in round 1. Please stop denying this. Denial is bad, admitting you may have made mistakes and finding a way to learn from them is good.
We have told you which points we did not like about the way you handled RA.
And I did not say you shouldn't play RA, you just should not be playing to win and making up the rules at the same time. Given that criticism focuses on RA, I'd say that dropping one of the two would work. Announcing the full feature set before the round starts and doing no changes during a round might work.
And you've been ignoring the point about Sara: if she does not have enough identity apart from you, she effectively is a multi.
Apart from this, I have real concern that the game is tilted to favour arms-based players. Please let covert have its teeth back.

by Kenzu Wed Aug 31, 2011 7:45 am

Oh, then you should know that I am not playing to win. I am playing to have fun.

Now regarding the airforce, I was sure it will be released during round 1. Now it keeps dragging on and even though I wanted to have the airforce long time ago, and still want it, it has to be waited out. It turned out that the airforce update is so complex that it should be finished first and only once its completed it can be announced to be released.

About Sara, our opinions differ on many matters related to dealing with Aderan Wars, there was for example a case when VIS had trouble with a player and even though I tried to convince her to go to war, she wouldn't listen. Had it been my alliance there would be a war immediately, but she chose not to start an alliance war because of it. This is just one of the times when she disagrees with me. And that she doesn't post here has nothing to do with identity. It's her decision if she wants to post here or not.

Now back to RA updates. Sure mistakes have been made and I don't deny it. The biggest mistake I see was that we have not been prepared in advance for what to do in case of server seizing to function. This happened shortly before end of Round 1, the most important of all rounds, having a detrimental effect on the image of the game. Other mistakes have been done too. We learn from our mistakes and work on improving the course of the game. Now for example we have a stable server, and even in downtime, are better prepared what to do, and all new updates are announced in advance.

Thanks for our opinion and for pointing these things to me. I will see what I can do to improve the game further.

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