Developer Q&A - Grand Arena Championship Changes - 12/02

Replies

  • I find during 3v3 seasons that I come across more auto placed teams (myself included) than manual set teams, I’ve even won a fair few GAC weeks by not doing anything at all and winning with a higher gp. Seems to me it’s not a popular set up, are we really going to be stuck playing it to earn our crystals?
  • Ultra
    11452 posts Moderator
    edited December 2021
    Fatal wrote: »
    With GAC taking more of the spotlight as the premiere competitive mode, tools to help the community detect cheating are more important now than ever before. Are match replays a viable feature for the game?

    Match replays would be dope but I doubt the game can do that
  • This is SANTAJEDI. Kind of on a different note is there a possibility of adding items to the donation list. Some of the day 1 players have thousands of center things they can do nothing with. Purple mats is one but there are gear pieces as well that don't fall under the donation list.
    SANTAJEDI
  • Will there (or are there?) be Inbox notifications when a new signup period for GAC is up? Will the GAC sidebar alert be more prioritized?
  • Ultra wrote: »
    Fatal wrote: »
    With GAC taking more of the spotlight as the premiere competitive mode, tools to help the community detect cheating are more important now than ever before. Are match replays a viable feature for the game?

    Match replays would be dope but I doubt the game can do that

    Probably right, but if it was possible, it would really help break through the whole process of "did they cheat or did they just get really lucky RNG" that you kinda have to go through right now.
  • Rath_Tarr wrote: »
    Do I need to resubmit my questions from the announcement thread link here?

    No. Crumb collected the questions from the other thread.
    So questions asked only in this thread will not be included?

    Questions asked in this thread are also being monitored and passed along.
  • Fatal wrote: »
    Ultra wrote: »
    Fatal wrote: »
    With GAC taking more of the spotlight as the premiere competitive mode, tools to help the community detect cheating are more important now than ever before. Are match replays a viable feature for the game?

    Match replays would be dope but I doubt the game can do that

    Probably right, but if it was possible, it would really help break through the whole process of "did they cheat or did they just get really lucky RNG" that you kinda have to go through right now.

    Why can't it do that? I know there's a lot I don't understand, but if a log file were made with the initial RNG seed and each action performed and the target(s) thereof, could the battle not be reconstructed with that information?
  • Monel
    2776 posts Member
    So if I come in first place for GAC does that mean I am the best ever?
  • Is anything planned for players who don’t love GAC as a game mode? Or is it just ****?
  • I feel like even just the client recording skills used, damage done to/taken by each character and then sending that info up to the server could allow replays. Wouldn't be that terribly much data in the request, and you could reconstruct a replay based on that. And if you see toons taking 5 damage from relic characters or doing millions of damage without some ramping mechanic, it'd be fairly obvious to automatically flag for review.
  • I asked this question (or at least a version of it). Thanks for the answer but I do have a follow up.

    Q: How do you intend to make sure players still set GAC defense since you are removing banners from placing defense? Since banners are no longer earned from placing Defense, what measures will there be to penalize players who leave zones empty to increase their attack roster? What happens if no Defenses are set?
    A: Players facing empty Defenses will receive full credit for Defense or Zone. Not setting a Defense is a pretty surefire way to lose and after a while you'll be dropping Leagues and Divisions which means worse and worse rewards. -Jay


    What is considered full credit for a Defense or Zone? If a Zone has 4 defense squad slots is that 240 (120 for the zone plus 4 * 30 for the 4 slots)? or 480 (120 for the zone plus 4 * 30 for the 4 slots plus 4 * 60 for the max banners for 4 attacks the player can't do since there isn't a defense)?
  • As a player under the GP threshold to be Kyber for the new GAC (I'm at 5.2mil) but that takes 1st in both SA and FA daily, why is the percentage of players that I am in being penalized with this new change? The "daily reward box" is not 500 crystals. I am perfectly capable of getting 500 crystals each day from SA, and have been for almost the entirety of my 1.5 years playing. The 4.0-5.5mil GP players that take first in Arenas are getting a massive short end of the stick here. I'm not F2P, I've spent a lot of money on this game. And now, it seems like I'm being penalized for spending money to make my account better, to get GLs, and be able to reach the top of SA.

    An "average" of daily crystals is not the same as actually getting 900 crystals a day (500 from SA, 400 from FA). This negatively impacts the daily grind of energy refreshes, node refreshes, and gear purchasing. What measures are being taken to rectify this obscene issue?
  • Also when you say severe punishments, can you clarify? In the past CG has levied varied punishments. And since it’s often behind the scenes, I often feel like CG is hiding the fact that they don’t really punish cheaters. Will you expand on severe or can you make a table/chat, cheat this much = this length Ban?
  • If in the future we could have hundreds of toons with omicron. How will we remember easily which toon is good for which gamemode(s) ?
    For example we could forget that Squad A is only good vs Squad B in TW and send that team in GAC by mistake
  • Also on cheaters, why are forum users punished more harshly than cheaters historically?
  • You answered that Squad arena changes come 12/8, but GAC starts 12/13. Isn't this short changing players, particularly those who get top 20?
  • CT_122514 wrote: »
    So I am currently studying Games in college, and I was wondering, how do you test character balancing? Do you just test a character with as many characters as possible, or only ones with synergies? Also on average how many iterations would you say a character goes through?

    "Each game will need to test character balancing in a different way. What works for SWGOH might not (and probably won't) work for any other game just due to the way our game systems interact and the tools we have on hand."
  • Monel
    2776 posts Member
    Monel wrote: »
    So if I come in first place for GAC does that mean I am the best ever?

    More importantly will there be a taunting feature upon defeating our enemies?
  • Breezy91 wrote: »
    The wording on QGJ Omi has been bugging me. As it stands it literally means the team is unkillable without a GL. Since it says "jedi allies can't be defeated while QGJ is active" and we know from previous statements that you're considered an ally of yourself. I don't think this is how it's intended to work but it's what it literally says currently.
    We are keeping this Q&A to GAC related questions today but since I'm here, it means all other Jedi allies

    Since I'm here, I was under the impression that QGJ's omicron applies to GAC and is a component of GAC gameplay.
  • SemiGod
    3001 posts Member
    edited December 2021
    CT_122514 wrote: »
    So I am currently studying Games in college, and I was wondering, how do you test character balancing? Do you just test a character with as many characters as possible, or only ones with synergies? Also on average how many iterations would you say a character goes through?

    "Each game will need to test character balancing in a different way. What works for SWGOH might not (and probably won't) work for any other game just due to the way our game systems interact and the tools we have on hand."

    So basically avoiding the question on how or if you guys test units ;)
  • If I was in hospital all day or had a wedding or a funeral or something that means I miss the join period then I get 2 losses. I don't understand why there can't be an auto join feature. Other real life examples that cause you to miss join apply to.

    I overall really like the change but if I miss one day in squad it's one day if I miss one day and don't join GA that's a full week. I honestly think if possible there should be an autojoin. I'm aware that the actual coding etc will be difficult but it seems like a massive kick for missing a single day
  • CT_122514 wrote: »
    So I am currently studying Games in college, and I was wondering, how do you test character balancing? Do you just test a character with as many characters as possible, or only ones with synergies? Also on average how many iterations would you say a character goes through?

    "Each game will need to test character balancing in a different way. What works for SWGOH might not (and probably won't) work for any other game just due to the way our game systems interact and the tools we have on hand."

    Aka we don’t test, we have our player testers test and then wait for them to go live?
  • Will you be hiding scores until the round is over? Showing the current score in real time gives the player attacking second a distinct advantage.
  • TOPIC: General Questions
    A: Skill Rating (Win and Loss) is the sole determining factor in the matchmaker, and Players should stabilize in the League and Division where they have a 50:50 win rate. In the theoretical case where someone has a "terrible" roster for their current GP - yes, this player may lose their opening matches in their initial League and Division. Skill Rating would then adjust them down to a more suitable league, where they can begin winning matches and earn Round Win and Event Win prizes. This is a problem fairly specific to this initial spin up; new Players coming in after this first season will generally begin working their way "up" from lower leagues and have a better chance to learn what squads are "good." -Jay

    Is it solely win / lose or will it use the ELO system where it's win lost based on getting points for a while where you get more points for winning against a stronger opponent and less for winning against a weaker opponent?
  • Ultra wrote: »
    have you guys considered or are in talks on releasing an exclusive character through GAC, whose shards are given out at the end of season based on league ranking?

    What a terrible idea. Anything that rewards bigger rosters more than smaller rosters adds to accelerating the gap between players. And before anyone inanely responds with "that's how it is in other game modes", this is not a reason to justify every game mode should do the same, and neither does it justify that accelerating separation of player gp levels is a good thing.
  • Ultra
    11452 posts Moderator
    Monel wrote: »
    Monel wrote: »
    So if I come in first place for GAC does that mean I am the best ever?

    More importantly will there be a taunting feature upon defeating our enemies?

    Hope we can send one voice message in each round during defense phase that plays whenever you enter the round / GAC table in offense phase
  • so between 12/8 and the start of the GAC season on 12/13, are we only getting the daily crystal income per the dev post division breakout?
  • HK22
    644 posts Member
    What steps are you going to take to reduce the time commitment now that GAC now is the main source of crystals? GAC takes a great deal more time than current squad arena and there are already a great many sources of time crunch. GAC, Conquest, LS Geo running at the same time requires a great deal of time, especially when time is limited due to the real world.
  • Monel wrote: »
    Monel wrote: »
    So if I come in first place for GAC does that mean I am the best ever?

    More importantly will there be a taunting feature upon defeating our enemies?

    Yes we need emotes
    My discord - BabyYoda#4470 My swgoh.gg - https://swgoh.gg/p/648565123/
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