Topic

Game of Crowns

I'd like to start this topic by saying that I really like playing Game of Crowns. It's been one of my favorite things to do in Glitch since a couple of months after I joined almost a year ago. I've recently completed all the badges for it, yet I find myself playing GoC more than ever before. I kinda like it this way. No pressure. Just fun. No more anxiously wondering "Will I finally get to 100003 seconds today?"

So it's fairly safe to say that GoC is a topic that I'm passionate about. This is why I'm here on behalf of the Game of Crowns group, to appeal to Tiny Speck something that has recently begun to grieve us. Yesterday, members of the group began to notice that triple jumps were no longer working in Game of Crowns. At first, I thought it was just a random thing, until today, everyone in a four-player instance confirmed they had the same issue. I've never reported a GoC bug before. It's so full of bugs, and I'd imagine these reports would be duplicates; people have been complaining about them for ages. And most of these, we've worked around. But this one fundamentally affects our gameplay style and strategy, and it's new, so I figured I should report it. I did, and was then informed that this is the new intended behavior. The idea is that it makes GoC fair by allowing everyone to have the same abilities regardless of purchased upgrades. And this is an admirable goal. But I think TS has gone about it the wrong way. Allow me to explain why.

Here in Glitch, we don't have many options as far as movement is concerned. Which is just fine for practically every other element of the game. But in Game of Crowns, the more elements with which we can use in our strategies, the more fun it is. Triple jumping was a pretty major thing for us. It allowed for all kinds of strategic maneuvering, and GoC feels a little watered down without it.

I'm not entirely sure I understand the logic which was used to determine this "standard" set of abilities. Triple jumps seem like the only thing that's been changed (as in removed completely). But I think there's four walk speed upgrades and four jump height upgrades, and if anything, those each have been knocked down only one increment in GoC. I don't think new players leave the tutorial with no triple jump and three each of the walk speed and jump height cards (then again, I haven't actually gotten to try the new tutorial, so I could be wrong here; please correct me if I am). Considering this, disabling the triple jump in GoC seems a little... arbitrary, at least to me.

Additionally, I won't dwell too much on this one, but GoC being insurmountable for new players is a bit of a moot point. After all, hasn't TS gone to great lengths to make sure new players don't unknowingly step into GoC not knowing what they're getting into, which is why the only two booths in the game are in fairly obscure locations? Furthermore, I have all the upgrades in question, and I've still been systematically beaten by a player who was lacking a few of these. This change won't really make a difference in who wins the games; it just takes a lot of the fun out of GoC.

Finally, I'd like to propose a solution that was discussed in group chat earlier (and actually long before this; back when we first heard things like movement speed upgrades were a future possibility). What we'd like to see is for any player in Game of Crowns to behave as though he or she possesses all movement/jump upgrades while playing GoC. This would both reflect the case most common among GoC players, and allow us to enjoy the maximum opportunity for use of strategy. It would also allow GoC to be fair for everyone, as all players would then be on an equal level, and winning would fall as it should based solely on the skill and dedication of the players involved.

-- Signed,
Concerned members of the Game of Crowns group

Posted 66 days ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Yes. What he said!
    Posted 66 days ago by JimDaddy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree with this, as another member of this GoC group.
    Posted 66 days ago by ShadowCat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree with this wholeheartedly, but perhaps this should be moved to the Ideas forum? (:
    Posted 66 days ago by Moi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Excellent OP,  seconded in its entirety; nothing to add. :)
    Posted 66 days ago by Sumi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, +1 to Moi, and I've only skimmed this (ridiculously long) post, but really, GoC won't truly be fair until the placement and timing of the locks are randomized.
    Posted 66 days ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Think about other games. When you play something like World of Warcraft, Modern Warfare, Team Fortress 2, Assassin's Creed(Multiplayer), established players will always have an edge against new players, whether through experience or upgrades.
    Posted 66 days ago by Yarrun Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Katlazam-- well, it's fair either way, it's just nigh-impossible for a first (or 31st) timer to win until they learn some patterns. 

    @Justin-- I don't really think it needs a fix (the original "problem"-- I agree with you that taking away triple jump takes away some of the fun), but if it does, yours seems reasonable. However, it may not be trivial to implement, and it may not really make things fair. I got all the movement speed and jump upgrade at one time, and a lot of edges started coming up sooner than I was expecting, which often left me flailing about in mid-air. Granted, my platforming experiences goes back to Duke Nuke'm, and I was able to adjust after a few streets, but a lot of people complain about the colored-light puzzles (which I'm sorry, but they're just not that hard!), so I imagine there's a group of people who take awhile to adjust to a different movement speed.

    --Me
    Posted 65 days ago by SchWM Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It may be fair after some practice, but as I've said elsewhere, more random = more fun.

    --No, Me.
    Posted 65 days ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Yarrun, as a member of the Game of Crowns group and having joined when so many were already playing it months before me, I wholeheartedly agree. I have learned the jumps, I know where all the locks are, but if you see my post to Justin you'll see another reason why it's imbalanced.

    @katlazam Lock placement doesn't matter. I have seen people who've played Game of Crowns for months win by not even picking up a single lock. It is entirely possible.

    @Justin Let's not forget to mention that there's something about Game of Crowns that causes people even on faster computers to lag. It gets extraordinarily laggy in GoC, and some of us "younger" gen players don't have much of a chance when even though we've reloaded before getting in game we can be right on top of the crown holder and never get the crown because it's lagging. It's pretty much gotten to the point where some old timers won't play due to the fact that it's just that much buggy over other parts of the game. It's rediculous. When the booths were around the world I had a fighting chance to show that I'd improved at the game because there wasn't so much lag, now? Not so much. This is why it's also referred to as "Lag of Crowns".

    While I certainly would like to see more new players in GoC (new blood to mix things up) chances are that some would rather play the Cooperative version over Competitive simply because few would rather learn the jumps and strategy over just chilling and holding the crown for 60 seconds.
    Posted 65 days ago by Ayasta Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Can I add on here just to ask that the tickets go back to being activated with three players? Or better, have a three or four player option? With the buggy and crowded booths, it can take upwards of 20 minutes to get a game started now, especially if your group wants to play a particular way (co-op vs. not).
    Posted 65 days ago by Pii Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Pii I rarely have trouble with tickets. Usually the first time the ticket is used it bugs out, but the second time all 4 people get in (and sometimes there's a 5th in the booth). It takes less than 5 minutes for a game to get started. Are you suggesting that there be two different kinds of tickets, one for 3 player and one for 4? I thought I'd been told that the tickets also work for 3 player as well, I believe I once joined a 3 player ticket, but it could have been just before the change.

    That also sparked an idea. Maybe we could have Game of Crown lobbies wherein when you use the booth it tells you that there's 2 different games going on and how many are in there and when they're waiting so that all you have to do is click the group you want to join. It can auto join you after a game has gone through.
    Posted 65 days ago by Ayasta Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Actualy I wish one would be able to choose how many participants they want to play against in the game...so we would have the ability to choose from 2  to 6 players or more if possible. Could make it a game of crown party with many players being able to join in at the same time.

    And  why does everything have to be fair you are at a different level so don't expect to be able to perform the same as someone with more experience in the game.? That is something I don't understand. Is it the mentality of..''.Mom my brother has an Iphone 5 so I want an Iphone 5 too , doesn't matter that he is 25 and I am 12!, I am entitle to it!'?'.

    If one does not have all the upgrade  levels for triple jumps than just make friends and play the GoC with players of the same level as you. Do something else with your friends that are higher up on the levels/upgrades scale.

    Their is plenty  to do in this game.
    Posted 65 days ago by Jeasilver Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My justification for not having placed this in Ideas is that it isn't so much a suggestion for a new feature, but a fix to approximate old functionality.

    @SchWM Exactly. New movement speeds require adjustment. And most GoC players, present and future (once again, the booths are [re]designed to only be easily accessible to long-standing players) are used to having all the upgrades.

    @Ayasta GoC is quite the laggy activity. If you refresh before you start, you're usually set for awhile though. With the caveat that older computers don't like it at all, the lag issue isn't so much a fairness thing. It sorta affects everyone, as you point out. And removing triple jumps from the equation doesn't really help. I actually thought at first that the missing triple jumps were caused by lag, so intended or not, their absence makes GoC feel more broken and more laggy.
    Posted 65 days ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Ayasta The tickets work only for groups of four now, so if I get a group of three together we have to go to a booth. Then if there are other people using the booth, people will end up in the "wrong" instance, playing with people who want to do co-op when they want to do competitive, and vice versa. And even if there's nobody at the booth at all, someone will often get kicked into a different instance (by themselves) anyway.

    I really miss the simplicity of the three-player ticket.
    Posted 65 days ago by Pii Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This thread shouldn't be at the bottom of the page... it must be read! GoC isn't nearly as fun without triple jumps :( triple jumps were sometimes the only reason i kept the crown for more than a few seconds. I think the proposed solution would work really well, and that's pretty much all I can think of to say now. Justin said it all perfectly up there :) 
    Posted 62 days ago by Gwynne Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Gwynne raises an extremely good point. TS has stated before (for instance, in the yellow crumb and ticket nerfs - my opinion on which I'll keep to myself for now) that the intent of the nerfs was to balance one gameplay element against another (e.g., that there should be no one best method for grinding currants or iMG). There are many strategies involved in GoC, and as she points out, the removal of triple jumps has sort of removed the balance that once existed.
    Posted 62 days ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The Jump upgrades have also been nerfed in Hell.  After I Upgraded my Triple jump I was able to jump a little higher in Hell, not a lot but enough to get the goodies on that suspension bridge at the beginning of Naraka and enough to grab some low Giant Favors and other quoins.  This made Hell more fun for me.  I usually die in my own Home and have no one to mourn or celebrate me so I never get wine.  I have only gotten about 3 or 4 bottles of Wine of the dead since it was introduced (plus some gifts!).  Now I am back to Hell being merely a place to satisfy Badge requirements and Not a place for anything else.  Yes, this is Off Topic but the Jump nerf is the same and leaves me so disappointed.
    Posted 61 days ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • A few days back, we happened to be in an instance in which triple jumps worked. Apparently a bug, because for some time after that, they didn't. But now the last two instances we've been in, they work! So I'm going to assume TS has listened to our pleas. Thanks for listening, as always! I'd imagine the entire GoC group thanks you as well.
    Posted 57 days ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink