When I first joined Steem Monsters I was looking for a community of like-minded people looking to advance the Steem blockchain and to have a little fun along the way.
And for the first few months, I couldn't have been happier.
But now the bots are here it feels like they are destroying the community and the energy within. However, bots aren't the problem, they are actually the solution.
WTF!
Yeah, you heard right, the bots aren't ruining the game, they are just highlighting the problem.
The Real Problem
People just want a competitive game.
Yeah, when you click 'Battle' in all honesty people just want to play a competitive game.
Sure there are incentives to winning more than losing but if you win some and lose less you'll probably be happy enough to keep trying.
win some and lose less
The real problem at the moment is highlighted when people reach the 'Diamond League'.
At 'Diamond League', you can be paired with players from The 'Champion League' as you now have zero summoner restrictions so you start getting matched with maxed teams.
And this is where the bots with maxed teams start making this game less FUN. As they beat you down, battle after battle as they claw their way up the leaderboard +10 points at a time.
Ultimately for a 100 SBD prize.
Bots don't have emotions and can do this all day long. (That's why this season the max player rating, for top players, is likely to be over 20K more than it was last season)
And if you look at the top battles in any given conflict, 90% of the teams are exactly the same. Again no FUN!
Side Note: The other perceived problem with bots is they can be used for pack farming, but I have other thoughts on this too. Regardless, hang onto your hats as I might solve that problem as well.
A Possible Solution
So if we can all agree, having a chance of winning every game based on your skill and not the size of your wallet will improve this game, maybe we can make this game more FUN.
And you probably wouldn't even care if you were playing a bot as a win is a win, isn't it?
And this is not a hard problem to solve either.
Every game you play should be against the same level summoner.
Yeap that's right, you'll have an equal chance of beating someone else if you both have the same level summoner.
Why?
Because the @steemmonsters team have put a lot of effort into balancing the cards, so why aren't we taking advantage of it?
So how would this work?
Well, instead of everyone holding summoners from level 1-8 for each splinter, in the interface you could select the level of summoner you want to play.
Then the interface would limit the rest of the cards in your team similar to what it does now for different leagues.
Of course, you'd still need to own these higher level summoners if you wanted to play them so collecting and maxing cards would still be a thing.
Nobody can be pissed competing on a level playing field, can they?
And if you wanted to test your skills against higher level teams then you make the choice to play a higher level summoner with the lower level cards you own.
There is nothing like the feeling of crushing a team with lower level cards when it's a choice you make and not against an auto-assigned maxed bot team.
But surely we don't have a big enough player base to sustain this sort of matchmaking 24x7?
Or do we?
Bots are Part of the Solution
So if you accept this idea, maybe we can talk about making bots part of the solution and not the problem.
Yes, @yabapmatt could quite easily run up enough bots (8) for the various levels of summoners we need for this solution. Guaranteeing a game is available when you want one.
In fact, I'm sure a tweak in the matchmaking algorithm could also ensure these bots have a lower priority and are only used as a backup when a 'real player' match can't be found.
This would only be a temporary requirement until the player base supports auto-matching and could also be supplemented with community bots to ensure this is a more distributed game.
Oh, and the bot team difficulty could be refined over time so it's not too hard to play against and not too easy, as nobody enjoys playing against a 1 card team, ever!
A Level Playing Field
OK, so how would the season work with this solution in place?
Well essentially, it would be the same although the league restrictions currently in place would be removed, as you can choose which level summoner you play in any league.
But to stop people just playing single level decks and reaching higher reward tiers with botting, the points awarded for a win should be scaled per summoner level.
Summoner Win Max Points
Level 1 - 5
Level 2 - 10
Level 3 - 15
etc.
Thus, if you play with a lower level summoner you earn fewer points for a win and lose fewer points for a loss.
Of course, if you put your balls on the line and play maxed decks the win-loss value should be higher, and perhaps similar to what it is today.
And because 'player bots' are playing against 'real players' on a level playing field, it'll be much easier to counter their deck if one exists.
So based on the fact that @SteemMonsters have put so much time into balancing cards, there is usually a deck that will beat another. This gives real players a chance to counter the bot decks that simply play the same team over and over again.
Oh, and because bots will be forced to play each other, in their chosen tier, the +10 point matches will no longer exist, and the bots will have a harder time grinding to the top as they experience more losses.
Then maybe someone like @clove71 will again dominate the leaderboards, as a reward for her 'actual' effort.
Conclusion
Making matches on a level playing field is the only solution here, and will ensure bots have to play bots, which is not happening enough at the moment.
I've been saying this for a long time, and it'll ensure the NOOBS joining this awesome community can enjoy the FUN of Steem Monsters even with just a Starter Deck.
Which is what I've promoting all along.
After all, more new players will grow a community quicker than fewer rich ones.
Good Luck Have Fun!
Some people are using one card and dropping. Not a big fan of that though
Posted using Partiko Android
Yeah, it's horrible. I'm here for the game rather than the win.
Yeah true that and playing one card is like argh
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I have no issues with lower level summoners running into higher ones if both parties are around the same rank. The real issue with bots isn't only what you highlighted .... it sucks losing out on rewards due to others using a bot or in some cases running multiple bots.
Lets say you are a human player and rank 11th in this weeks league. If the bots were removed I bet you would have made some extra rewards.
SM " gambling " and league play is very closely similar to poker and the poker industry found out long ago allowing bots to play is bad for business. The average user will not be happy to lose out on rewards because of them. It leaves people with a ..... I feel cheated feeling.
Bots eventually need to be removed. Not only from game play but from the market as well. The average player needs to have a fair shake at finding that cheap card some newbie posted up for half its value. As is bots are sweeping up all those type of cards. This isn't sour grapes from me as I rarely buy from market. Its just the truth as I see it. Any game that requires people to invest money to win rewards need to make sure everyone is on an even playing field. Bots bring an unfair advantage to those who use them. If they didn't there would be little reason to use them in the first place.
On the other hand I am all for Site owned bots that don't collect rewards and are in the game for the sole purpose of keeping wait time for battles down to a minimum.
Changes to the market are coming that will eliminate bots (woohoo), I guess the Steemfest has slowed development around here.
Player vs player is the ultimate goal. Best of 3, and all that. It's only the insane rewards that have escalated the bots, but now they are here, lets put them to work for good.
Nice I never knew about the bots removed from market news. I rarely buy from market but I would still like everyone to have a fair shake at cheap cards.
I rather just crush the bots then put them to work for good as there will always be issues with them. Someone shouldn't be allowed to set up a bot and forget about it while another needs to sit and smash buttons all day. There is no way to make bots and human only play equal. The poker industry already figured this out ......
All those bots really killing the fun
Posted using Partiko Android
Well articulated. It would also be interesting to see something implemented where you are always up against a different splinter as well
I'm not sure the different splinter thing would make sense with this idea, as to improve the chances of a win you need to be able to choose which counter team you use.
I don't know that anything would need to change per se, just for example if I choose the Fire Splinter, I'll only be paired with one if the other splinters. It would help highlight other card options for when you are not playing your "preferred" splinter such as when doing quests. Just not sure how it would work for the Dragon Splinter given that it can also summon from other splinters.
OK, that sounds better and would a be a better idea than having to run daily quests that obviously get you to play the splinters you rarely play.
I cannot compete with bots, lmao! I have said it before, I am 1 person with 1 computer. That is all. I stopped so much as it was literallyt impossible to get to the to the past 2 season endings. It is not just bots playing- more like one person has so many and they put them all in with all different splinters that make it impossible to win at the top -then they play and beat their own bots as well, I have seen it, so yeah I am not going to compete with a bot or someone who has al the bots as well, lol! I believe yabapmatt and aggroed will figure it all out. I have faith in Steem Monsters! :-)
So true @clove71 , I also have faith that @aggroed and @yabapmatt will fix this issue soon!💁✌👍👌
Let's hope so because players won't stick around and the cards will be owned by hodl nerds
Posted using Partiko Android
Check out the latest link from @steemmonsters , with all the updates coming! its really awesome and will help to take care of the bots!
https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@steemmonsters/reducing-reward-exploitation-with-cooldowns-and-conflicts
Yep. Rank within League, within summoner level (for level). Some bots to fill the spaces when no human is playing, with randomized teams from whatever rule set is currently out there.
All part of the solution. :)
Yeah, I think I'm not going to be happy until we level this playing field. To be honest I don't even enjoy playing people who have weaker teams than me.
Generally, I'm not playing for the win but rather to learn how to get better.
Come play a simple game on Steemit for a bit... Run by a bot vs. overrun by bots. Don't like advertising on other peoples posts - but your overdue for a dose of IBT? :)
OMG, you should totally figure out how to incorporate the Steem monster cards into your game. Then we'd come en masse :-P
I totally agree @just2random ! its becoming less fun and seems impossible now to ever reach the top ten, I really hope @yabapmatt gets together with @aggroed and does something about this as soon as possible , I love steem monsters and would hate to see it fail, and people leave. Great post, see you again on the battle field! upped and resteemed!💁👍✌👹💀👻👹
Yeah, I'm sure they are going to do something although, I think we went backward this season. Sadly, I think people are already leaving, but they'll be back I'm sure. Tournaments will be a big drawcard, so get them maxed decks ready :-D
That's too bad I was really hoping for Steem Monsters to take off right away, hopefully they fix these issues soon before the tournament's start, we don't need the rich and the bots to ruin the game! Also everyone including @yabapmatt is at Steemfest all week until Monday so I dont expect to much to happen untill next week.
@yabapmatt and @aggroed did say it would take a couple of months to fix bugs and issues and that in January it should be running good, they released the game early so we could all play and they could see what all needs fixed,So hang in there, the best is yet to come!😊👍👌❤️
Posted using Partiko Android
There is a heap of fluctuation. I enjoy looking at the teams and trying to estimate who will win before I start it.
If I'm up against a much higher or much lower team, it gets boring because the answer is obvious.
There are heaps of possibilities, and Matt's been a total wizard so far. I'm sure we're in good hands.
While we're bandying around suggestions, one tweak might be on the team selection page, next to Battle, we could have the boxes for each splinter, clickable, so you can choose to NOT be matched up against Earth, for example. This could be offset by higher penalties for losses.
If you have a team you believe will dominate against everyone except Earth, then you roll the dice
Just in that, there are a tonne of possibilities.
Removing one splinter doubles your loss penalty, remove two, triples it.
Remove 5 and you can drop down the leaderboard real quick, which you might want if you need a quick ride down for the dailies.
Yeah, I really like the idea of gambling with the number of potential points you can earn based on your actions before hitting 'battle'.
It certainly could mix it up a little, for sure, because let's face it when you always lose against a particular deck it gets a little mind-numbing after awhile.
And when we get into drafting where each player excludes/bans a card before team selection begins. it'll be even more interesting.
Bots are only able to make limited choices, so if we improve the number of decisions to be made the bots will need a new level of intelligence to compete.
As soon you reach diamond, you almost need to have cards max out to be able to win. It is very costly in term of money.
Posted using Partiko Android
Yeah agreed. But hang in there, as I think next season it'll improve. Fingers crossed.
Good suggestions. I can agree with almost everything you write. I wouldn't say the summoners need to be exactly the same lvl. After all, there is some thrill when your underdog team wins one. But they should be at least within 1-2 levels of each other. The annoying park of being stuck at Diamond isn't the lvl 3k or 4k guys who come with you with cards 1-2 above, it's the lvl 20k folks with maxed decks. Then I immediately know there is no chance and I click the skip fight button.
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TrufflePigBot is part of the solution when players are below Diamond level but it will be an issue for above, as they do need to paid a large amounts to gather the great team to battle with others. The issue to be addressed is there are not much players playing or not being than easy to entry or attractive?
What I'm saying is, more than half of my Steemian (I guess have less or no playing game experience) found it so hard to win, even the ranking of them is around 100(?), I'm serious, and that's really disappoint them or discourage them to keep moving.
A great or long lasting game is the one which can start easy but getting difficult at last(or finish). In the world of Steem Mosnters, it should be up until certain level like 399 Ranking/699 Ranking, so that the Steemians can experience certain fun before they really got beating hard(or stuck) by other players/bots.
As part of the solution, bots have certain affords to help the game to have fun(it enable more/easy matching at first). But bots shouldn't prefer at the Arena level of the game(Diamond or above).
Your conclusion is same as mine(or mine is same as yours).
And, I really appreciated @clove71 and her sharing!!
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