So what did you decide about going for the 35 parts for the HEAVY? I see BRAD finally got untracked; either that or he's fighting a helluva lot of battles. LOL
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
I just went through my Battlelog and I have lost 59 PVPs so far this global. I average streak has been 11.5 wins. Streak #60 is at 19. That will undoubtedly end shortly.
So what did you decide about going for the 35 parts for the HEAVY? I see BRAD finally got untracked; either that or he's fighting a helluva lot of battles. LOL
After reading through your take on the HEAVY, even though I would be using free energy, I decided to wait for the next ASSUALT weapon that comes out.
Beside being more cost effective to upgrade, I have been relying on the reload feature for ducking during battles. It seems to be more reliable that the duck button is, considering the video lag that is starting to resurface.
Also, the next time that I would probably use the HEAVY would be when the next region is released for the HEAVY diamond missions and the iron sights, like you say, are very annoying to use.
RANK #1: 38,936 AP (TEDDY)
RANK #2: 38,703 AP (DAZ)
RANK #3: 33,061 AP (MJURC2010)
RANK #10: 24,065 AP (MANUEL007)
RANK #30: 13,165 AP (G)
RANK #77: 5,754 AP (SCORPION)
Record High Vault Take: 342.3K. BASE: 11,26M (95% Upgraded).
TOOBAD RELOADED statistical sampling 100% complete. 35 WEAPON PARTS DOWN, 15 PARTS TO GO.
Ah the good old days ... had to awaken at 02:00 AM EST to finish the job. Ooh Rah !!!
SILVER LEAGUE GOAL: 100 VP each league event day, 100 GOLD, 5 weapon parts to complete weapon.
Good Luck, Good Hunting and Good Night !!!
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
I now have 60 busted streaks, average streak is ll.5 PVPs, longest streak is 66.
OK I've asked you for more information, but you really haven't shared any either because you consider it irrelevant OR you haven't read my request. Either way, I can statistically provide some feedback based on this rather simple and innocuous post.
An average streak 0f 11.5 with the longest being 66 suggests to me that the apparent issue is NOT a bug in the traditional sense.
Having a "feeling" for how you approach and play the game, 60 losses definitely seems outside your usual experience. There is a statistical consistency that has revealed itself. Using 15,000 AP as a baseline, which is roughly 600 victories, this indicates that you're losing 10% of your battles. Furthermore, your average streak of 11 compared to your longest streak of 66 has a ratio of .17.
These anomalies appear to be fairly consistent and thanks to your approach to the game (since you rarely make mistakes), I feel confident in the analysis. I would feel better about the findings if you were losing 50% of the time, but that's not the case. The statistics would suggest that this isn't a "bug" per se, but a programmed response to a set of circumstances; I doubt player health has anything to do with it.
Consequently, I can infer that if it is a programmed response, then it is intentional.
Maybe we should look at this from a different POV. Instead of scrutinizing what happens 10% of the time, we should be looking at what's happening 90% of the time and I need you to really think about this ...
Have you noticed any difference at all, no matter how small or insignificant, in the battles you ARE able to win? How the scenario unfolds? The positioning of the enemy? The length of time it takes the battle to be completed?
Anything at all would help ...
The goal here is to predict the set of circumstances that leads to a loss thus allowing you to avoid the battle and select another opponent. It will also allow me to describe the issue in detail and press GLU for a resolution.
Asking the "brain trust" to fix something that happens to a select few players only 10% of the time is going to be a tough one, but to show the set of circumstances that leads to this phenomenon, we might be more successful.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
I definitely think that it is a programmed response. However, I still think that it has to do with Brad's player health. When tier was first released, I was having the exact same problem, that Brad is having. Battles that i would normally win, I would lose. Instead of occasionally using a med kit, I was using 2 to 3 per battle. The battles that I would lose, it was like, what the h**l, I just went from 80 or 90% health to dead, bam.
Once, my player health started rising the problem started going away. But, as I have posted before, I routinely skip RL short range player battles and fight only bots. In my battles with RL players, my common thought is "wow, do they hit hard" and now that I think about it, I would describe the loss as "sudden death." Long range battles against RL players with a TESLA is a different story, if the vault is large enough, then I will fight it and will win, usually with no problem.
In the short range battles that I am fighting, I do have the problem of losing player health in large chunks, but my extra 9M health makes a huge difference. I will suddenly notice around a 50 - 60% drop in my health. It does, now that I think about it, make the difference between a "sudden death" and still being alive and fighting.
But, as I see it, there is are flies in the ointment. You are not having the same problem. While we have not specifically addressed "sudden death" in the forum, we have been telling player that they need to increase their player health to increase survivability.
But, you are right, more info from Brad is needed. A player of Brad's caliber does not suddenly start to play badly.
In general increasing player health increases survivability, agreed but this does not affect everyone and by BRAD's account his health goes from full to empty in a split second, almost as if the "program" is ignoring player health.
I cannot confirm this without more information obviously. But I can state that the faster you end the battle the better.
That said, any outcome can be predicted (take it from a gambler) ... you just need to dig as deep as you need to in order to determine the pattern.
I also attribute your particular problem to the weapons your were using at TIER 17 without the benefit of a health boost; quite different from BRAD's set of circumstances.
At times something as subtle as a second of hesitation can lead to defeat; second guessing, seeing something you've never seen before, off timing, bad aim, etc.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
Here is my update for this thread: After numerous complaint to Glu, they unfroze my Level. That would have advanced me to Level 151 except that I had accumulated enough XP to get to Level 160. I went to bed last night at Level 150, Player Health 10M, woke up this morning at Level 160, Player Health 20M+. I know of one other player who went to 160 overnight, and he had complained to Glu several times. 16 of the 20 members in my clan are still at 150.
My belief is that complaints to Glu are the only remedy, and it won't be quick.
The real good news is that at Level 160, the PVP is SO much easier. My Health meter barely moves in PVP now.
Here is my update for this thread: After numerous complaint to Glu, they unfroze my Level. That would have advanced me to Level 151 except that I had accumulated enough XP to get to Level 160. I went to bed last night at Level 150, Player Health 10M, woke up this morning at Level 160, Player Health 20M+. I know of one other player who went to 160 overnight, and he had complained to Glu several times. 16 of the 20 members in my clan are still at 150.
My belief is that complaints to Glu are the only remedy, and it won't be quick.
The real good news is that at Level 160, the PVP is SO much easier. My Health meter barely moves in PVP now.
That is great news, and apparently definitively solves the mystery ... for now. Keep a watchful eye. CONCERNED it appears your conclusion that player health was affecting the outcome was CORRECT ... KUDOS.
There is only one question that remains ... why am I winning practically all of the time?
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
That is great news, and apparently definitively solves the mystery ... for now. Keep a watchful eye. CONCERNED it appears your conclusion that player health was affecting the outcome was CORRECT ... KUDOS.
Glu clearly has a fix for the frozen Level meter, but they are applying only to people to complain. That doesn't seem right, but it is obviously the way the is working. BTW, I told them that I lost 62 streaks during the Global and used 58 Medkits. They gave me 50 Gold for my trouble.
That is great news, and apparently definitively solves the mystery ... for now. Keep a watchful eye. CONCERNED it appears your conclusion that player health was affecting the outcome was CORRECT ... KUDOS.
There is only one question that remains ... why am I winning practically all of the time?
That is the one fly in the ointment to my take, like I indicated.
I think that both of you have the same weapons, but why you are able to play as normal and Brad could not, does not make any sense. Possibly as slight difference in playing style. You did say that you will use as many as 4 grenades in a battle and you like to take out 3 and 4 bad guys at a time. It would be no mystery to the fact the less bad guys shooting at you the less damage, you will take.
The only thing that I can concluded that causes the "sudden death" would be multiple bad guys performing a head shot at the same time. With the added health, I have found that Rocket Elites and Sentries do not seem to do massive damage right now. Fighting juggernauts, for me, is a different story. If they are able to complete a full round of firing, then they still do a considerable amount of damage, in short range missions.
Here is my update for this thread: After numerous complaint to Glu, they unfroze my Level. That would have advanced me to Level 151 except that I had accumulated enough XP to get to Level 160. I went to bed last night at Level 150, Player Health 10M, woke up this morning at Level 160, Player Health 20M+. I know of one other player who went to 160 overnight, and he had complained to Glu several times. 16 of the 20 members in my clan are still at 150.
My belief is that complaints to Glu are the only remedy, and it won't be quick.
The real good news is that at Level 160, the PVP is SO much easier. My Health meter barely moves in PVP now.
it is great to hear that GLU has finally fixed your leveling issue. As you say, it makes all of the difference in the world, while fighting in PVP. It definitely shifts the balance or power.
That is the one fly in the ointment to my take, like I indicated.
I think that both of you have the same weapons, but why you are able to play as normal and Brad could not, does not make any sense. Possibly as slight difference in playing style. You did say that you will use as many as 4 grenades in a battle and you like to take out 3 and 4 bad guys at a time. It would be no mystery to the fact the less bad guys shooting at you the less damage, you will take.
The only thing that I can concluded that causes the "sudden death" would be multiple bad guys performing a head shot at the same time. With the added health, I have found that Rocket Elites and Sentries do not seem to do massive damage right now. Fighting juggernauts, for me, is a different story. If they are able to complete a full round of firing, then they still do a considerable amount of damage, in short range missions.
Yeah maybe and I do like to throw a grenade or two during those tough shorts (4 is a bit too many for my taste) when I get myself in a bind and the JUGG is my favorite target especially when he moves in front of 1-2 other enemies.
I am using 16.5 WITCH (like you) and 17.5 JUNIPER and BRAD is using 18.5s.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
My belief is that those of us who were most affected by sudden death had heavily upgraded drones. The mirror drone could kill me with one machine gun round. Lesser value drones couldn't do that. Several members of my clan are still experiencing the problem, so it is not playing style. I will say this one more time: I would find myself suddenly dead over and over without a shot being fired. This is not a question of playing style.
My belief is that those of us who were most affected by sudden death had heavily upgraded drones. The mirror drone could kill me with one machine gun round. Lesser value drones couldn't do that. Several members of my clan are still experiencing the problem, so it is not playing style. I will say this one more time: I would find myself suddenly dead over and over without a shot being fired. This is not a question of playing style.
That was a given, so it's a dead issue now but I was under the impression that you were dying immediately? How could a drone kill you before the spook makes his appearance? So my analogy of the Taliban commandeering your drone wasn't that far off eh?
So are you back to your usual winning ways of 99.9999% of the time *** SMILES ***
D.a.m.n drones ... can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em ... I'll never see a 2.95M drone, that's for sure LOL
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
That was a given, so it's a dead issue now but I was under the impression that you were dying immediately? How could a drone kill you before the spook makes his appearance? So my analogy of the Taliban commandeering your drone wasn't that far off eh?
I could generally start a mission, and would proceed normally through the early parts of a mission, and then I would be dead. Nobody firing at me, no muzzle flash, just dead. It would happen in a fraction of a second, totally without warning. Others speculated it was the Sniper, but I had sudden death when no sniper was present. Whatever it was, it had the power to kill me with a single shot.
Oddly it only happened about every 10 PVP. My average streak for this Global was 11.5. Ten easy wins and then sudden death. Not fun
It disappeared completely with the Level 160 upgrade, but other clan members still have it.
I could generally start a mission, and would proceed normally through the early parts of a mission, and then I would be dead. Nobody firing at me, no muzzle flash, just dead. It would happen in a fraction of a second, totally without warning. Others speculated it was the Sniper, but I had sudden death when no sniper was present.
It disappeared completely with the Level 160 upgrade, but other clan members still have it.
One of my many questions that went unanswered ... Bad Brad Bad ... Are you back fully now?
Do you remember me warning you that things would get interesting once you upgraded your drone/weapons past 1.5M? Nobody listens to me ... why do I bother LOL
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
I am using 16.5 WITCH (like you) and 17.5 JUNIPER and BRAD is using 18.5s.
Brad's 18.5 weapons definitely would be making a difference. If we care take this issue a little further, both of you could take notice at to the level that the bad guys are at.
Or we could just consider this a "dead" issue, now, and just move on.
As I recall, when I face a RL player that is giving me problems, the Elites and Juggernauts are level 160. The bot player has level 158 bad guys.
The drone could be a major factor on short range missions, but on the few RL player long range missions that I do fight, I take the drone out as soon as it appears, before it becomes a factor. With bots having the same 410K drone as me, I ignore it during long range battles and depending on when the lag irritates me enough, I will go after the drone in a short range bot mission.
I am back playing freebies only, working on my Drone. The good news is that my disasterous Global generated massive Diamonds. I finished 22nd, with no long winning streaks, so my rig is pretty upgraded.
Base: 9.18M, 50% upgraded, Economy and Player Health
Drone 2.95M, with MG at 1.62M, Healing Ray 1.88M, SG, 1.74M, and RL and 1.5M
39 pages of Drone weapons.
Brad's 18.5 weapons definitely would be making a difference. If we care take this issue a little further, both of you could take notice at to the level that the bad guys are at.
Or we could just consider this a "dead" issue, now, and just move on.
As I recall, when I face a RL player that is giving me problems, the Elites and Juggernauts are level 160. The bot player has level 158 bad guys.
The drone could be a major factor on short range missions, but on the few RL player long range missions that I do fight, I take the drone out as soon as it appears, before it becomes a factor. With bots having the same 410K drone as me, I ignore it during long range battles and depending on when the lag irritates me enough, I will go after the drone in a short range bot mission.
I don't consider the issue itself dead, the boost in health just made the battles survivable, so I still need to understand the root cause before I can get some closure.
Now when you're at the prevailing TIER (17 in this case) it doesn't matter if your weapons are 17 or 20, you will always face max'd out bot defenses and cloned drones (at least that's my case). There is no variation in opponents so until now the force that tipped the scales was having a stronger weapon.
By design, 17.5 weapons will take you to TIER 19 easily, 18.5s should go even further 20-21 at least. The key thing to remember is that starting with 17.5 the weapons rated power is no longer in sync with the prevailing TIER. For example, 60% upgrade on the BLOBFISH or KARMA (both 17.5) puts you at parity with a TIER 17 defense, whereas with previous weapons 60% upgraded only put you at parity with the next lowest weapon, a 16.5 for example.
With an 18.5 weapon, BRAD should be destroying anything that moves with a single burst, and I'm sure he does provided he doesn't take hits.
So I guess what I'm saying is that the level the bad guys are at is irrelevant because (1) they are always bots and (2) I'm at level 150 and still not being killed. Now to be perfectly candid, I am an expert at not being hit (duck and reload is second nature to me). This still does not explain to my satisfaction how BRAD was being killed so quickly and without him detecting any enemy fire.
I'm still thinking this through however and the tea pot will eventually whistle. ** SMILES **
Also consider this, the drone is of no consequence at all when the battle is over in 30-45 seconds.
I am also considering a technical explanation somewhat similar to the age old video frame drops because dropped frames would explain why he died so suddenly and never saw it coming. It might also explain why I'm not dying since I do not suffer from dropped frames.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
I am back playing freebies only, working on my Drone. The good news is that my disasterous Global generated massive Diamonds. I finished 22nd, with no long winning streaks, so my rig is pretty upgraded.
Base: 9.18M, 50% upgraded, Economy and Player Health
Drone 2.95M, with MG at 1.62M, Healing Ray 1.88M, SG, 1.74M, and RL and 1.5M
39 pages of Drone weapons.
The Iron Maiden is a joy to use, much better than the Karma.
Just curious why you max'd out the upgrades on the IRON MAIDEN or is it you didn't have anything else to spend those pesky diamonds on LOL Don't sweat the broken streaks (the losses were an alarm though).
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
Just curious why you max'd out the upgrades on the IRON MAIDEN or is it you didn't have anything else to spend those pesky diamonds on LOL Don't sweat the broken streaks (the losses were an alarm though).
No place to put it. 18.5 weapons are cheaper to upgrade than the 17.5s. It was an easy upgrade and it is a great gun. I can only upgrade 17.5s through Level 4 using Diamonds. The last upgrades for 18.5 weapons is 9.63M. A bargain.
No place to put it. 18.5 weapons are cheaper to upgrade than the 17.5s. It was an easy upgrade and it is a great gun. I can only upgrade 17.5s through Level 4 using Diamonds. The last upgrades for 18.5 weapons is 9.63M. A bargain.
You know I was just checking my weapons inventory (amazed by how many weapons I've collected) then I realized BRAD is in the TOP 30 every week, picks up all kinds of BS weapons via VIP, and was wondering how many fracking weapons you own LMAO
Since I brought my ASSAULT up to 100%, I don't bother upgrading those HEAVIES anymore; they're still at 60% and will remain there indefinitely.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
I don't consider the issue itself dead, the boost in health just made the battles survivable, so I still need to understand the root cause before I can get some closure.
Now when you're at the prevailing TIER (17 in this case) it doesn't matter if your weapons are 17 or 20, you will always face max'd out bot defenses and cloned drones (at least that's my case). There is no variation in opponents so until now the force that tipped the scales was having a stronger weapon.
By design, 17.5 weapons will take you to TIER 19 easily, 18.5s should go even further 20-21 at least. The key thing to remember is that starting with 17.5 the weapons rated power is no longer in sync with the prevailing TIER. For example, 60% upgrade on the BLOBFISH or KARMA (both 17.5) puts you at parity with a TIER 17 defense, whereas with previous weapons 60% upgraded only put you at parity with the next lowest weapon, a 16.5 for example.
With an 18.5 weapon, BRAD should be destroying anything that moves with a single burst, and I'm sure he does provided he doesn't take hits.
So I guess what I'm saying is that the level the bad guys are at is irrelevant because (1) they are always bots and (2) I'm at level 150 and still not being killed. Now to be perfectly candid, I am an expert at not being hit (duck and reload is second nature to me). This still does not explain to my satisfaction how BRAD was being killed so quickly and without him detecting any enemy fire.
I'm still thinking this through however and the tea pot will eventually whistle. ** SMILES **
Also consider this, the drone is of no consequence at all when the battle is over in 30-45 seconds.
I am also considering a technical explanation somewhat similar to the age old video frame drops because dropped frames would explain why he died so suddenly and never saw it coming. It might also explain why I'm not dying since I do not suffer from dropped frames.
In my case there is a big variation in the opponents that I am facing. Here is a list of opponrnts:
Tier 15 Bot 5.85M Defense Bad Guys are level 150 drone 450K (clone)
Tier 16 Bot 7.41M Defense Bad Guys are level 154 drone 450K (clone)
Tier 17 RL 6.55M Defense Bad Guys are level 162 drone 195K
Tier 17 RL 6.96M Defense Bad Guys are level 162 drone 13K
Tier 17 RL 7.86M Defense Bad Guys are level 162 drone 29.8K
Tier 17 RL 10.73M Defense Bad Guys are level 168 drone 1.17M
As you can see the bad guys are going up in level. The higher the level, the longer it takes to kill them, and the more damage that I take. In none of the battles did the drone make any difference.
A TESLA makes the battle almost a guaranteed win, since you can one shot and multiple kill many of the bad guys. But I do find a wide variation in the amount of damage I take and whether I need to use a med kit, depending on the level of the opponent, whether bot or RL.
As far as the frame rate issue, during my long range battles, it is of no consequence. During short range battles, it is something that I have to consider. When the opponent's drone comes out, it starts to be come somewhat difficult to target and I can start counting the ASSUALT gun's bullets, as I fire. If it has been awhile since I have restarted my iPad, then it can have a big impact. My battle scene will freeze for 15-20 seconds.
Oh, I forgot to include the most important information:
Base - Tier 17 8.27M Defense (Econ 100% upgraded, Health 50% upgraded)
Drone - 450K (all weapons at 410K)
Another interesting note is I draw stronger short range defenses, than I do long range, even though the TESLA is a stronger weapon.
Your experience with regards to opponents is typical. I don't know if you have ever grabbed a VIP Event weapon, but what it essentially provides is a weapon that's 1-2 levels above the prevailing tier, consequently the matching algorithm has no choice but to match you with the strongest defense possible; BOTS ... this doesn't present a problem because the weapons you're using are superior.
When we're early in the cycle, such as we are right now, many haven't upgraded their base beyond 50% so the edge continues and the same rules apply.
The stronger SHORT defense has been around ever since they first introduced the new drones; AKA CKS 3.0. It has always plagued us. It's hard wired into the system. The bot for SHORTS has a rated defense of 11.8M (max TIER 17) while the bot for LONGS has a rated defense of 7.7M. This explains why SHORT battles are tougher to win, take longer to win and most importantly why the illusion that the TESLA is so powerful persists. The fact is the opponents are WEAKER.
It's all smoke and mirrors my man ... the only truth lies in the numbers; sort of like flying by instruments when visibility is zero.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
Your experience with regards to opponents is typical. I don't know if you have ever grabbed a VIP Event weapon, but what it essentially provides is a weapon that's 1-2 levels above the prevailing tier, consequently the matching algorithm has no choice but to match you with the strongest defense possible; BOTS ... this doesn't present a problem because the weapons you're using are superior.
When we're early in the cycle, such as we are right now, many haven't upgraded their base beyond 50% so the edge continues and the same rules apply.
The stronger SHORT defense has been around ever since they first introduced the new drones; AKA CKS 3.0. It has always plagued us. It's hard wired into the system. The bot for SHORTS has a rated defense of 11.8M (max TIER 17) while the bot for LONGS has a rated defense of 7.7M. This explains why SHORT battles are tougher to win, take longer to win and most importantly why the illusion that the TESLA is so powerful persists. The fact is the opponents are WEAKER.
It's all smoke and mirrors my man ... the only truth lies in the numbers; sort of like flying by instruments when visibility is zero.
As of right now, I would have to say that I face very, very few Tier 17 bots, since I have been really paying attention, I would have to say that almost all of the Tier 17 opponents, have been RL players. It has just been today that I have bothered to fight any Tier 17 opponents, because I could just skip them and draw a lower level bot with a larger vault.
Now with the increase in health, I am confident that I can "survive" the battle.
I have grabbed weapons in probably 4 VIPs, the last full regular VIP was probably in September, I think that it was the VIP that was the one that was offering the KARMA as the Super VIP weapon. I am saying, 4 VIPs, because I have 5 of the 740K weapons, that I think are only available from VIPs. I, also, vaguely remember spending 7000 gold in one of the VIPs.
Almost all of the gold that I have spent since around June has been free gold. I have been fortunate that I have been able to watch a s**t load of free videos. Right now I am sitting on 3000 gold and by the time the next VIP rolls around, I should have the 3500 gold to spend assuming that the weapons are useful, again.
I have not wanted any of the weapons since then, because they have been recycling the global weapons, with different names, into the VIP.
Comments
1. 29,040 (DG1923)
2. 21,875 (SUPERDAD1968)
3. 20,310 (TONYZAPER)
10. 18,597 (JAGUAR0666)
25. 12,870 (BRAD752)
30. 12,693 (BRIDALMASK)
I am in 175 with 4822.
So what did you decide about going for the 35 parts for the HEAVY? I see BRAD finally got untracked; either that or he's fighting a helluva lot of battles. LOL
Good Grief ... you couldn't manage that even if you were blindfolded ... it's got to be a program bug.
After reading through your take on the HEAVY, even though I would be using free energy, I decided to wait for the next ASSUALT weapon that comes out.
Beside being more cost effective to upgrade, I have been relying on the reload feature for ducking during battles. It seems to be more reliable that the duck button is, considering the video lag that is starting to resurface.
Also, the next time that I would probably use the HEAVY would be when the next region is released for the HEAVY diamond missions and the iron sights, like you say, are very annoying to use.
1. 30,240 (DG1923)
2. 22,851 (SUPERDAD1968)
3. 20,860 (TONYZAPER)
10. 19,142 (TAKECHANMAN)
20. 14,306 (BRAD752)
30. 13,265 (LIFESAPARTY)
I am 169 with 5,047.
RANK #2: 38,703 AP (DAZ)
RANK #3: 33,061 AP (MJURC2010)
RANK #10: 24,065 AP (MANUEL007)
RANK #30: 13,165 AP (G)
RANK #77: 5,754 AP (SCORPION)
Record High Vault Take: 342.3K. BASE: 11,26M (95% Upgraded).
TOOBAD RELOADED statistical sampling 100% complete. 35 WEAPON PARTS DOWN, 15 PARTS TO GO.
Ah the good old days ... had to awaken at 02:00 AM EST to finish the job. Ooh Rah !!!
SILVER LEAGUE GOAL: 100 VP each league event day, 100 GOLD, 5 weapon parts to complete weapon.
Good Luck, Good Hunting and Good Night !!!
OK I've asked you for more information, but you really haven't shared any either because you consider it irrelevant OR you haven't read my request. Either way, I can statistically provide some feedback based on this rather simple and innocuous post.
An average streak 0f 11.5 with the longest being 66 suggests to me that the apparent issue is NOT a bug in the traditional sense.
Having a "feeling" for how you approach and play the game, 60 losses definitely seems outside your usual experience. There is a statistical consistency that has revealed itself. Using 15,000 AP as a baseline, which is roughly 600 victories, this indicates that you're losing 10% of your battles. Furthermore, your average streak of 11 compared to your longest streak of 66 has a ratio of .17.
These anomalies appear to be fairly consistent and thanks to your approach to the game (since you rarely make mistakes), I feel confident in the analysis. I would feel better about the findings if you were losing 50% of the time, but that's not the case. The statistics would suggest that this isn't a "bug" per se, but a programmed response to a set of circumstances; I doubt player health has anything to do with it.
Consequently, I can infer that if it is a programmed response, then it is intentional.
Maybe we should look at this from a different POV. Instead of scrutinizing what happens 10% of the time, we should be looking at what's happening 90% of the time and I need you to really think about this ...
Have you noticed any difference at all, no matter how small or insignificant, in the battles you ARE able to win? How the scenario unfolds? The positioning of the enemy? The length of time it takes the battle to be completed?
Anything at all would help ...
The goal here is to predict the set of circumstances that leads to a loss thus allowing you to avoid the battle and select another opponent. It will also allow me to describe the issue in detail and press GLU for a resolution.
Asking the "brain trust" to fix something that happens to a select few players only 10% of the time is going to be a tough one, but to show the set of circumstances that leads to this phenomenon, we might be more successful.
Once, my player health started rising the problem started going away. But, as I have posted before, I routinely skip RL short range player battles and fight only bots. In my battles with RL players, my common thought is "wow, do they hit hard" and now that I think about it, I would describe the loss as "sudden death." Long range battles against RL players with a TESLA is a different story, if the vault is large enough, then I will fight it and will win, usually with no problem.
In the short range battles that I am fighting, I do have the problem of losing player health in large chunks, but my extra 9M health makes a huge difference. I will suddenly notice around a 50 - 60% drop in my health. It does, now that I think about it, make the difference between a "sudden death" and still being alive and fighting.
But, as I see it, there is are flies in the ointment. You are not having the same problem. While we have not specifically addressed "sudden death" in the forum, we have been telling player that they need to increase their player health to increase survivability.
But, you are right, more info from Brad is needed. A player of Brad's caliber does not suddenly start to play badly.
I cannot confirm this without more information obviously. But I can state that the faster you end the battle the better.
That said, any outcome can be predicted (take it from a gambler) ... you just need to dig as deep as you need to in order to determine the pattern.
I also attribute your particular problem to the weapons your were using at TIER 17 without the benefit of a health boost; quite different from BRAD's set of circumstances.
At times something as subtle as a second of hesitation can lead to defeat; second guessing, seeing something you've never seen before, off timing, bad aim, etc.
My belief is that complaints to Glu are the only remedy, and it won't be quick.
The real good news is that at Level 160, the PVP is SO much easier. My Health meter barely moves in PVP now.
That is great news, and apparently definitively solves the mystery ... for now. Keep a watchful eye. CONCERNED it appears your conclusion that player health was affecting the outcome was CORRECT ... KUDOS.
There is only one question that remains ... why am I winning practically all of the time?
Glu clearly has a fix for the frozen Level meter, but they are applying only to people to complain. That doesn't seem right, but it is obviously the way the is working. BTW, I told them that I lost 62 streaks during the Global and used 58 Medkits. They gave me 50 Gold for my trouble.
That is the one fly in the ointment to my take, like I indicated.
I think that both of you have the same weapons, but why you are able to play as normal and Brad could not, does not make any sense. Possibly as slight difference in playing style. You did say that you will use as many as 4 grenades in a battle and you like to take out 3 and 4 bad guys at a time. It would be no mystery to the fact the less bad guys shooting at you the less damage, you will take.
The only thing that I can concluded that causes the "sudden death" would be multiple bad guys performing a head shot at the same time. With the added health, I have found that Rocket Elites and Sentries do not seem to do massive damage right now. Fighting juggernauts, for me, is a different story. If they are able to complete a full round of firing, then they still do a considerable amount of damage, in short range missions.
it is great to hear that GLU has finally fixed your leveling issue. As you say, it makes all of the difference in the world, while fighting in PVP. It definitely shifts the balance or power.
Yeah maybe and I do like to throw a grenade or two during those tough shorts (4 is a bit too many for my taste) when I get myself in a bind and the JUGG is my favorite target especially when he moves in front of 1-2 other enemies.
I am using 16.5 WITCH (like you) and 17.5 JUNIPER and BRAD is using 18.5s.
That was a given, so it's a dead issue now but I was under the impression that you were dying immediately? How could a drone kill you before the spook makes his appearance? So my analogy of the Taliban commandeering your drone wasn't that far off eh?
So are you back to your usual winning ways of 99.9999% of the time *** SMILES ***
D.a.m.n drones ... can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em ... I'll never see a 2.95M drone, that's for sure LOL
I could generally start a mission, and would proceed normally through the early parts of a mission, and then I would be dead. Nobody firing at me, no muzzle flash, just dead. It would happen in a fraction of a second, totally without warning. Others speculated it was the Sniper, but I had sudden death when no sniper was present. Whatever it was, it had the power to kill me with a single shot.
Oddly it only happened about every 10 PVP. My average streak for this Global was 11.5. Ten easy wins and then sudden death. Not fun
It disappeared completely with the Level 160 upgrade, but other clan members still have it.
One of my many questions that went unanswered ... Bad Brad Bad ... Are you back fully now?
Do you remember me warning you that things would get interesting once you upgraded your drone/weapons past 1.5M? Nobody listens to me ... why do I bother LOL
Brad's 18.5 weapons definitely would be making a difference. If we care take this issue a little further, both of you could take notice at to the level that the bad guys are at.
Or we could just consider this a "dead" issue, now, and just move on.
As I recall, when I face a RL player that is giving me problems, the Elites and Juggernauts are level 160. The bot player has level 158 bad guys.
The drone could be a major factor on short range missions, but on the few RL player long range missions that I do fight, I take the drone out as soon as it appears, before it becomes a factor. With bots having the same 410K drone as me, I ignore it during long range battles and depending on when the lag irritates me enough, I will go after the drone in a short range bot mission.
Base: 9.18M, 50% upgraded, Economy and Player Health
Drone 2.95M, with MG at 1.62M, Healing Ray 1.88M, SG, 1.74M, and RL and 1.5M
39 pages of Drone weapons.
Weapons:
Sniper: Stallion, 18.0, 12.89M, 15% upgraded
Assault: Chainmail, 18.5, 23.86M, 70% upgraded
Tesla: Aphrodite, 17.5, 17.79M, 80% upgraded
Heavy: Iron Maiden, 18.5, 40.24M, 100% upgraded.
The Iron Maiden is a joy to use, much better than the Karma.
I don't consider the issue itself dead, the boost in health just made the battles survivable, so I still need to understand the root cause before I can get some closure.
Now when you're at the prevailing TIER (17 in this case) it doesn't matter if your weapons are 17 or 20, you will always face max'd out bot defenses and cloned drones (at least that's my case). There is no variation in opponents so until now the force that tipped the scales was having a stronger weapon.
By design, 17.5 weapons will take you to TIER 19 easily, 18.5s should go even further 20-21 at least. The key thing to remember is that starting with 17.5 the weapons rated power is no longer in sync with the prevailing TIER. For example, 60% upgrade on the BLOBFISH or KARMA (both 17.5) puts you at parity with a TIER 17 defense, whereas with previous weapons 60% upgraded only put you at parity with the next lowest weapon, a 16.5 for example.
With an 18.5 weapon, BRAD should be destroying anything that moves with a single burst, and I'm sure he does provided he doesn't take hits.
So I guess what I'm saying is that the level the bad guys are at is irrelevant because (1) they are always bots and (2) I'm at level 150 and still not being killed. Now to be perfectly candid, I am an expert at not being hit (duck and reload is second nature to me). This still does not explain to my satisfaction how BRAD was being killed so quickly and without him detecting any enemy fire.
I'm still thinking this through however and the tea pot will eventually whistle. ** SMILES **
Also consider this, the drone is of no consequence at all when the battle is over in 30-45 seconds.
I am also considering a technical explanation somewhat similar to the age old video frame drops because dropped frames would explain why he died so suddenly and never saw it coming. It might also explain why I'm not dying since I do not suffer from dropped frames.
Just curious why you max'd out the upgrades on the IRON MAIDEN or is it you didn't have anything else to spend those pesky diamonds on LOL Don't sweat the broken streaks (the losses were an alarm though).
No place to put it. 18.5 weapons are cheaper to upgrade than the 17.5s. It was an easy upgrade and it is a great gun. I can only upgrade 17.5s through Level 4 using Diamonds. The last upgrades for 18.5 weapons is 9.63M. A bargain.
You know I was just checking my weapons inventory (amazed by how many weapons I've collected) then I realized BRAD is in the TOP 30 every week, picks up all kinds of BS weapons via VIP, and was wondering how many fracking weapons you own LMAO
Since I brought my ASSAULT up to 100%, I don't bother upgrading those HEAVIES anymore; they're still at 60% and will remain there indefinitely.
In my case there is a big variation in the opponents that I am facing. Here is a list of opponrnts:
Tier 15 Bot 5.85M Defense Bad Guys are level 150 drone 450K (clone)
Tier 16 Bot 7.41M Defense Bad Guys are level 154 drone 450K (clone)
Tier 17 RL 6.55M Defense Bad Guys are level 162 drone 195K
Tier 17 RL 6.96M Defense Bad Guys are level 162 drone 13K
Tier 17 RL 7.86M Defense Bad Guys are level 162 drone 29.8K
Tier 17 RL 10.73M Defense Bad Guys are level 168 drone 1.17M
As you can see the bad guys are going up in level. The higher the level, the longer it takes to kill them, and the more damage that I take. In none of the battles did the drone make any difference.
A TESLA makes the battle almost a guaranteed win, since you can one shot and multiple kill many of the bad guys. But I do find a wide variation in the amount of damage I take and whether I need to use a med kit, depending on the level of the opponent, whether bot or RL.
As far as the frame rate issue, during my long range battles, it is of no consequence. During short range battles, it is something that I have to consider. When the opponent's drone comes out, it starts to be come somewhat difficult to target and I can start counting the ASSUALT gun's bullets, as I fire. If it has been awhile since I have restarted my iPad, then it can have a big impact. My battle scene will freeze for 15-20 seconds.
Oh, I forgot to include the most important information:
Base - Tier 17 8.27M Defense (Econ 100% upgraded, Health 50% upgraded)
Drone - 450K (all weapons at 410K)
ASSAULT - 16.5 PUMPKIN 7.5M 100% upgraded
TESLA - 16.5 WITCH 8.7M 50% upgraded
Another interesting note is I draw stronger short range defenses, than I do long range, even though the TESLA is a stronger weapon.
Your experience with regards to opponents is typical. I don't know if you have ever grabbed a VIP Event weapon, but what it essentially provides is a weapon that's 1-2 levels above the prevailing tier, consequently the matching algorithm has no choice but to match you with the strongest defense possible; BOTS ... this doesn't present a problem because the weapons you're using are superior.
When we're early in the cycle, such as we are right now, many haven't upgraded their base beyond 50% so the edge continues and the same rules apply.
The stronger SHORT defense has been around ever since they first introduced the new drones; AKA CKS 3.0. It has always plagued us. It's hard wired into the system. The bot for SHORTS has a rated defense of 11.8M (max TIER 17) while the bot for LONGS has a rated defense of 7.7M. This explains why SHORT battles are tougher to win, take longer to win and most importantly why the illusion that the TESLA is so powerful persists. The fact is the opponents are WEAKER.
It's all smoke and mirrors my man ... the only truth lies in the numbers; sort of like flying by instruments when visibility is zero.
As of right now, I would have to say that I face very, very few Tier 17 bots, since I have been really paying attention, I would have to say that almost all of the Tier 17 opponents, have been RL players. It has just been today that I have bothered to fight any Tier 17 opponents, because I could just skip them and draw a lower level bot with a larger vault.
Now with the increase in health, I am confident that I can "survive" the battle.
I have grabbed weapons in probably 4 VIPs, the last full regular VIP was probably in September, I think that it was the VIP that was the one that was offering the KARMA as the Super VIP weapon. I am saying, 4 VIPs, because I have 5 of the 740K weapons, that I think are only available from VIPs. I, also, vaguely remember spending 7000 gold in one of the VIPs.
Almost all of the gold that I have spent since around June has been free gold. I have been fortunate that I have been able to watch a s**t load of free videos. Right now I am sitting on 3000 gold and by the time the next VIP rolls around, I should have the 3500 gold to spend assuming that the weapons are useful, again.
I have not wanted any of the weapons since then, because they have been recycling the global weapons, with different names, into the VIP.