Quality of life improvement: xp attenuation

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Dhanas, Oct 22, 2018.

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  1. Dhanas

    Dhanas Avatar

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    @Chris @DarkStarr
    I want to talk about xp attenuation, I think this function is important for the game, because it prevents a bit to cumulate tons and tons of xp and helps to balance zones, but I think how it is now is a bit painful and punitive.
    What I mean is let's suppose I attenuate in 15 minute, I have 45 minute of "empty time" and I get half of the experience, so it prevents me to play for 45 min, because I prefer to use my time in the best way.
    Also let's suppose I can play just 2 hours daily, I can do just 2 milion and something more daily, the one who can play 10h can go over 10 milions.

    What I would suggest is having a daily cap instead of an hour cap, like for example you can't do more than 10 milion daily, so I can decide if do all those 10 milion in 2 or 3 h or if do it during the entire day. It doesn't penalize casuals and nor hardcore grinders.

    10 milion is my proposal and it's indicative, devs will know what is the best number to balance it.

    Any thought?
     
  2. Lazlo

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    I'm not sure how much of a problem it could cause, but a daily cap would definitely make the flow of game play much better. Instead of killing stuff for half an hour and then afk or scrounge for something to do in the immediate area, you could kill all your stuff and then go work on your house or whatever.
     
  3. Girlsname

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    I totally agree that the attenuation cap should be revamped.

    24m to hit the cap, because there’s 24 hours in a day, if you figure ~1m/hour

    After 24m you get “attenuated” :/

    • (maybe can use COTOs to reset your “attenuation” once per day; but only capped at [12m] instead of 24? — & if you re-reach the cap, “attenuation” restarts again till the end of the day.

    • • Just a random idea, because I feel like Sota will appreciate a revamp to the currrnt system.
     
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  4. Dhanas

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    The COTOs use to reset the cap is a great idea, it helps the economy too and Portalarium's earnings.
     
  5. Brass Knuckles

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    It seams like crappy design Play for 15 mins the go do dishes and mow for 45 mins then play for 15 mins, then take out the trash and make lunch then etc.... I mean if I can only play 2 hours a day I only get actually 30 mins or what ever.

    I dont know if the op is the solution might or might not be but 15 on and 45 off is just wierd.
     
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  6. Mimner

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    The attenuation system was one of the best things to happen to this game imho. Before the system was in place the devs had to be very careful in how they set up the spawning rates of mobs. As a result, grouping was scarce because it was difficult to find an area which spawned fast enough to warrant spreading the exp around more group members. With attenuation grouping has flourished in SotA. Any changes to the attenuation system should be very carefully thought through as a result.

    A few months ago I performed a study of attenuation and detailed my results in a report which I'll link to below. I agree with the consequence that forced breaks are an issue with the system. As a result I studied alternative ways of defining the attenuation formula so that breaks are not forced upon the players, but the spirit of attenuation is still maintained. The basic idea is to introduce attenuation much more gradually. Currently there is zero attenuation before you hit 1 mil/hr, and it gets severe very quickly once it turns on (~20% exp from mobs once your rate hits 1.2 mil/hr). This is indicative of the exponential decay of the form for the current attenuation formula. I explored replacing this exponential decay with a variety of other functions, and found that a simple straight line was the most stable of all the forms considered.

    The important thing is this: the linear 'cutoff function' still attenuates people's experience as they earn more and more, but it does so gradually enough so that if someone takes breaks it will be IMPOSSIBLE for them to catch up to someone who levels continuously.

    To read more about my results please see my original post: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...vatar-a-quantitative-study-math-heavy.130627/
     
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  7. HogwinHD

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    its a no win situation, because there will always be people who cry/complain that the people who can hit 10 mill a day have an advantage and im tired of telling them its down to time played and it isnt their fault that they have more time than them...
     
  8. Chrystoph Reis

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    Here's a suggestion... stop farming UT. Help with dragon groups etc. Trust me you will not atten in 15mins.
     
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  9. Dhanas

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    I never farm UT, I hate it.
    I got attenuate in almost every zone, even doing dragons
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2018
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  10. Chrystoph Reis

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    Well here is my problem with what you are suggesting. The whole point of attenuation was to prevent the people who have 8 hours to play to completely outlevel the other players. All this does is reintroduce the problem. People can now level in 1 month to levels it took most gamers 6month to a year to get to.

    1) Zones too hard… nerfed.
    2) Enemies too hard.. nerfed.
    3) Need more EXP... granted yeah!
    4) As a result of the first 3, People power-leveling everything yet can't fight their way out of a wet paper-bag... Decay is too hard! Nerfed!

    Now you want to give them even more pointless exp AND reintroduce the original problem attenuation was put there for :/.
    I fear for the cool sounding new boss mechanics they are trying to introduce.... I expect nerf!
     
  11. FrostII

    FrostII Bug Hunter

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    There are lots of fun adventures and challenges available in SotA for all of us, and now that death decay will no longer steal our time I think you'll see less interest in people spending so much time in UT.
    I know quite a few of us who will be happily moving on to many exciting challenges that we have previously avoided because of the demoralizing effect that death decay has presented in the past.

    For myself and the groups of people who I spend time with - we're finally free to go challenge those dragons or liches or whatever without being "overly" concerned about death as in the past.
    Should death have meaning ? Sure, but not challenging the toughest mobs or bosses because deaths were seen as too "expensive" just killed the desire to adventure for so many of us.

    Now that Port has "woken up" :eek: and removed decay, the world of Shroud is our oyster again.

    No more will we hear that old tired refrain - "sorry, don't want to go... don't have enough points to spare" that we've lived with for so long.

    For myself and those that I hang with - attenuation is not going to be a big deal anymore and we will (for the most part) get out of UT and move on to more fun adventures and challenges. ;)

    Which is what we should have been doing all along.
     
  12. Antrax Artek

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    @Chrystoph Reis the problem is that the current situation advantages just who follows the routine, 15/30 min exp 45/30 min pause from the game, those who have followed and follow this routine on a daily basis will still be unreachables, they will always be ahead of you because the attenuation per hour prevents you from pursuing them.
    This also pushes players to play other games and discourages them from playing sota during the attenuation.

    Not a win for hardcore grinders and not a win even for casuals, maybe a win for careful routine planners.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2018
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  13. Dhanas

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    I understand your point, and I do agree they are doing the game too simply but this solution should help mostly people that have less time to play, indeed you can optimize your time and do as much xp as you can in your little time.
    I think a group in UT without attenuation can reach around 3/4 milions per hour, as it is now to reach 4 milions you need to play 4h, and you stay afk waiting attenuation goes away around 2 h of playtime.
     
  14. Chrystoph Reis

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    That's is completely a choice. You can always do other things instead of mindlessly grinding. Crafting, fishing, shopping or anything other than grinding. Trust me it's healthier to take that break anyway.

    The other way they can fix it for you, is to roll back the perma double Exp change... just saying.
     
  15. Dhanas

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    Well for example at the moment I am doing LostVale, so I have to wait attenuation goes away, because I cannot exit cause I cannot enter anymore until the other portal opens.
    By the way, many people like to optimize their time, I would prefer to spend 1 or 2 h of active grinding then go to do something else, and maybe spend other 1 or 2 h doing this, instead of break my grind time. I just wait attenuation goes away, because I am lazy and don't want to teleport back than teleport again.
    This is just my point of view, not everyone have to agree with me, so I respect your point of view, let'see what devs think about it.
     
  16. Chrystoph Reis

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    Difference is you don't have to pause through attenuation. You are still getting original exp. People CHOOSE to pause because it's nice to take a break.... which if you look at the original posts after the change was made was because people enjoyed the break. You can still continue fighting and make the same ole exp you would have always made before the change, making way more EXP than those who paused... Tested and confirmed.
     
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  17. Chrystoph Reis

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    ^^ See above.
     
  18. Antrax Artek

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    Yes but obviously you're discouraged from doing it and people will just change game until the attenuation is gone.
     
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  19. Chrystoph Reis

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    Again that is completely a choice.... I'm all for keeping the playing field level without any of the changes mentioned.
     
  20. Barugon

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    While I agree with most of what you said, these two are not true. In fact, it's been the opposite recently.
     
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