Data scientists need not apply

@DarkStarr

I've followed since KS and watched as this amazing community made all kinds of contributions to this game. Poems, comic books, music, theater, radio stations, player run events, etc. all these things make this game so much more than any team of dev's could ever do alone. I've always wanted to contribute but my skill set is in science and math.

Then last year I found out what the equation for attenuation was. Thrilled at finally seeing where I could contribute, I spent five days and 70 hours putting together a detailed analysis. Over a year ago I posted the results on the forums. I never heard any feedback from the devs.

Fast forward a year later and all the issues which I foresaw in my analysis are still in the game. That analysis pointed the way toward their solution, but I decided to spend another 30+ hours writing up a second paper which explicitly spelled out how to keep attenuation in place and fix the hard cap problem of forcing players to take breaks.

Its been six weeks since putting that paper on the forums. I also wrote an attenuation primer for people who are not into math so they could better understand the system and my suggested fixes. This is no $0.02 proposal. It was well thought out and based on facts.

Now I hear @Chris answer a question about attenuation in today's livestream which made it clear he never even read my proposal. I can't for the life of me understand that when a Ph.D. physicist donates 100+ hours of their time, the devs can't even be bothered to read the proposal. I'm no game designer and don't assume that my suggestion is best for the game. But I would hope that they would carefully consider it and then respond in a thoughtful way for or against it.

Like I said, I've been here since the beginning. I love this game just as I have all RG games. He's really made a big impact on my life. I am also greatly appreciative of the devs and their tireless work to make this game which I love. So I'm not going anywhere.

However, I am feeling very unappreciated.

Here's a link to my proposal for any who care: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...it-works-and-how-it-could-work-better.156465/

 

If Mimner says this is a better way to do attenuation, let's do it already .

 

Dr. Mimner is a math god, sorry @Chris -- But @Mimner right, ya know?

 

I actually did read that proposal and liked it, but I don't think expecting devs to take action in three weeks is reasonable.

From what I noticed (about a bunch of my complaints over time), the devs do actually read it and eventually take action if the topic is reasonably argued well enough, but they don't give feedback directly (i.e. post a reply in the thread). Bunches of my complaints that I argued reasonably well got resolved over a long time frame, say 6-12 months. However, I never did get any direct feedback on any of them other than the feature/fix suddenly getting implemented in some release notes.

 

Your algorithm didn’t factor for SOTA math. Otherwise your analysis was a Masterwork. Hoping Port reviews and implements.

 

The goal should be to REMOVE attenuation. Its a total crutch only needed cause of poor game design. Any changes to the current attenuation calculations are throwaway code and should be de-prioritized out of existance.

That said, I read all the papers and found them AMAZING. Wish we could get you to do something actually useful for the game.

 

Have to throw in my support for Mimner's proposal. His research is thoughtful, and well researched. Unlike a lot of solutions given to us, this proposal takes into consideration the impact to actual gameplay (since Mimner actually plays, and has played A LOT!).

The proposed change effectively does get rid of it (at least from a gameplay perspective). It applies a formula that maintains a fair balance between casual and hard-core players while removing the punch-in-the-face attenuation drop-off we have today.

 

With all due respect, the opening post's thesis seems to assume that others' contributions received attention that the poster shows he feels he too deserves. That is a faulty assumption. A great many folks have contributed. But only a handful have been recognized. Only a handful have received a response from a dev in a forum post. Those recognized in any manner are a tiny minority. And so on behalf of the rest of us downtrodden, I would have to respond by saying 'welcome to the club, buddy!'

 

I don't think forum posts are getting read as much as they should. One deterrent has been that these forums in earlier days became much a den of evil to read. Spewing criticism without constructive feedback for pages and pages.

Many good and great ideas were lost in the mountains of text.

Imo to try to get a devs attention send your proposal to them if you have not already done so. If at first you don't succeed try, try again.

You should always have many examples of why you feel we need this and never ever stop if you truly believe in it and feel that it would make the game better.

I know for myself I never give up but some days I want to. What stops me is that I truly believe we can be a better game. It will not happen from repetitive, mob killing, loot and xp grinding and same old same old. While yes these are unfortunately necessary to any game too but what sets those games a part is the 'what else'. Like the reasons to continue, the surprises, the goals, the small details, the achievements, the lore, etc. Not just mobs and grinding. Are we ever going to get a wake-up call?

 

It sounds like you had a great time, though! And thats all that matters!

Have you considered that your entire framework in which you comprehend the problem is not congruent with that of others? Have you considered that there isnt a problem at all, and that the devs are successfully signaling to players that this game is not one meant to spend the time grinding to max out all of your skills?

Attenuation is only a problem if you are addicted to grinding.

Addition to grinding, and having a value system with the sole obsession of making numbers get bigger, is the problem I see.

 

The OP said he heard that and stated in the first post in this thread that it

 

What did he say about it?

 

Damn didn't see your orignal post but thanks for all the work!

 

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I stopped listening after the first discussion of attenuation because Chris clearly hadn't read my stuff. Later on he confirmed he hadn't read it but promised that he would! That's really all I could ask for and am so happy to hear it.

I also want to say that I am a bit overwhelmed by the incredibly positive support I've received from this community. You guys really are the best and make sticking around easy in spite of any issues with the game I may have.

 

I believe he said they are wanting to get rid of attenuation.

 

I think its time to get rid of it. The 3 main players that argued hard about "the gap" are gone now anyways.

 

We have "waves of mob"s in places to keep us busy raising skills, for those of us who like doing that.
New players will ALWAYS have to catch up - and they know it coming in, just like the rest of us did.
It is EXPECTED by any rational "gamer" .

Dump this attenuation silliness...

 

Wow. I had no idea what attenuation meant in this context, so started reading the post linked in the OP. It was really impressive and easy to understand. It doesn’t affect me directly because I ‘m delighted if I manage to earn 10,000 XP in an hour, but it gave me insight into the game with regard to high-end players. I agree that the devs should be glad to receive expert advice and at least acknowledge it.

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯