Post by Vertigo on Sept 7, 2014 15:13:06 GMT
In the recent weeks (and in fact since the beginning of the game, just to a lesser extent) has given rise to people “grinding” the game. These players, such as myself, continually queue game with cheap batteries gaining as much XP and money as possible with little regard to rank.
Why do we do it?
Well there are a number of reasons for this style of play that has become so prevalent.
Money:
In order to maintain a top position in the ranks, and indeed to progress, you need money for parts. The better your parts, the more likely you are to win. The parts make much more difference in this game than any neuron level and its not close. Level 15 and 16 bots with good gear can smash level 22s with bad gear. In order to gain money, you need to play many games.
XP:
In order to maintain a competitive level of neuron, one must acquire XP. This XP indirectly makes your neurons slightly better than lower level neurons in the form of accel/speed/str points. Coupled with good gear, this can lead to an extremely competitive team. Notice how most of the top teams in the game as of writing have neurons of around or above the level 20 mark.
How do people grind:
The method varies but the objective is the same. The goal is to queue back to back games with a team non stop to acquire the money and XP mentioned above, and even to maximise the rate at which you can gather it. The more XP and money you have, the further up the rankings you go. The main method is by using batteries that are “disposable” that will last a single game or 2 games, and then be replaced. This is sustainable as past a certain NWL point the money gathered from wins and draws is greater than the cost of changing the batteries. To cut a long story short, each game you play you gain XP, a tiny amount of money, charges and boosters (provided you don’t require them to grind).
The ranking system:
The ranking system resembles that of an ELO system as used in some chess leagues. Each team is assigned an ELO value, that it turn is used to match you up against other people of similar values. It is a good method for matching 1v1 games such as this. The ONLY thing the system will take in to account when matching you with other people is your NWL value. Not your bots, not your equipment, just your NWL.
The problem:
The problem is there is very little difference in performance between the top levels of the game at the moment. The difference between lvl 20 and 24 is nearly negligible apart from the br-ba battery lasting slightly longer. This is a problem, because of the way the XP system works. Now, before we all blame the XP curve from being too steep lets think about the way the game works.
1. Many high level bot teams (20+) are grinding
2. They are all sitting at around 700-900 NWL
3. They crush anyone coming up from 650~ with their gigantic level advantage, and have not got enough equipment to challenge for the top 50. So they stagnate there, grinding games.
What's actually happening is they are surfing on a cushion of all the players from around 650NWL. It is impossible for them to lose their rankings to these players in the long run and will always rise to the top.
Back to the XP curve. The XP curve past around lvl 22 is enormous. I mean, it requires something like 800,000xp to get the next level. Hundreds, maybe even a thousand games or more for that level alone at 700NWL. Is this because the curve is too steep? I'm not sure.
In my eyes the problem is the lack of players. If that cushion was bigger, the grinders would be sitting at about 2000, maybe more NWL while everyone else fills the spectrum below them. With people grinding at a higher NWL, because of the way the XP is distributed (see Quadrophenia post in the game information section for info), people would level much faster. Indeed leveling neurons to level 23-24 would probably require the same games as getting from 19-20.
This is not the way the game is today. The cushion is too small, and we are trying to grind levels like 24, and 25 at just 700NWL. The way the game is designed these levels are supposed to be achieved and ground on a high player base where people with level 22 neurons are at 2000nwl perhaps. Players would require around a third of the games played in order to achieve the same results.
Tl;dr – The XP curve isn't too steep, the grinding and grinders are not the problem. The lack of players is making XP acquisition require thousands of games at 700NWL instead of just a few hundred at 2000NWL.
I am interested in hearing what people think of the grinding situation at the moment. The system is set and designed for a continually growing and expanding, where the playerbase is distributed across the NWL spectrum. But that is simply not happening. It doesn't appear to be expanding and the game is quickly becoming stale at the top level.
Why do we do it?
Well there are a number of reasons for this style of play that has become so prevalent.
Money:
In order to maintain a top position in the ranks, and indeed to progress, you need money for parts. The better your parts, the more likely you are to win. The parts make much more difference in this game than any neuron level and its not close. Level 15 and 16 bots with good gear can smash level 22s with bad gear. In order to gain money, you need to play many games.
XP:
In order to maintain a competitive level of neuron, one must acquire XP. This XP indirectly makes your neurons slightly better than lower level neurons in the form of accel/speed/str points. Coupled with good gear, this can lead to an extremely competitive team. Notice how most of the top teams in the game as of writing have neurons of around or above the level 20 mark.
How do people grind:
The method varies but the objective is the same. The goal is to queue back to back games with a team non stop to acquire the money and XP mentioned above, and even to maximise the rate at which you can gather it. The more XP and money you have, the further up the rankings you go. The main method is by using batteries that are “disposable” that will last a single game or 2 games, and then be replaced. This is sustainable as past a certain NWL point the money gathered from wins and draws is greater than the cost of changing the batteries. To cut a long story short, each game you play you gain XP, a tiny amount of money, charges and boosters (provided you don’t require them to grind).
The ranking system:
The ranking system resembles that of an ELO system as used in some chess leagues. Each team is assigned an ELO value, that it turn is used to match you up against other people of similar values. It is a good method for matching 1v1 games such as this. The ONLY thing the system will take in to account when matching you with other people is your NWL value. Not your bots, not your equipment, just your NWL.
The problem:
The problem is there is very little difference in performance between the top levels of the game at the moment. The difference between lvl 20 and 24 is nearly negligible apart from the br-ba battery lasting slightly longer. This is a problem, because of the way the XP system works. Now, before we all blame the XP curve from being too steep lets think about the way the game works.
1. Many high level bot teams (20+) are grinding
2. They are all sitting at around 700-900 NWL
3. They crush anyone coming up from 650~ with their gigantic level advantage, and have not got enough equipment to challenge for the top 50. So they stagnate there, grinding games.
What's actually happening is they are surfing on a cushion of all the players from around 650NWL. It is impossible for them to lose their rankings to these players in the long run and will always rise to the top.
Back to the XP curve. The XP curve past around lvl 22 is enormous. I mean, it requires something like 800,000xp to get the next level. Hundreds, maybe even a thousand games or more for that level alone at 700NWL. Is this because the curve is too steep? I'm not sure.
In my eyes the problem is the lack of players. If that cushion was bigger, the grinders would be sitting at about 2000, maybe more NWL while everyone else fills the spectrum below them. With people grinding at a higher NWL, because of the way the XP is distributed (see Quadrophenia post in the game information section for info), people would level much faster. Indeed leveling neurons to level 23-24 would probably require the same games as getting from 19-20.
This is not the way the game is today. The cushion is too small, and we are trying to grind levels like 24, and 25 at just 700NWL. The way the game is designed these levels are supposed to be achieved and ground on a high player base where people with level 22 neurons are at 2000nwl perhaps. Players would require around a third of the games played in order to achieve the same results.
Tl;dr – The XP curve isn't too steep, the grinding and grinders are not the problem. The lack of players is making XP acquisition require thousands of games at 700NWL instead of just a few hundred at 2000NWL.
I am interested in hearing what people think of the grinding situation at the moment. The system is set and designed for a continually growing and expanding, where the playerbase is distributed across the NWL spectrum. But that is simply not happening. It doesn't appear to be expanding and the game is quickly becoming stale at the top level.