Proposal for a points system

[Object]

I've been watching a fair amount of the competitive matches in GoIO and one thing I've noticed is the large amount of snipers.  Sniping isn't a bad tactic to use in GoIO, but it is one of the most boring things to watch, so I have a proposal that I'd love all of your input on, a time limit and points based system.

My inspiration for this was the UFC, in the UFC matches are judged by a fair number of factors, a few of those that translate into GoIO are octagon control, aggression and effective strikes landed.  This would translate to battlefield control, aggression and damage done.  This system would definitely require added code, so it's something that the Muse team would also have to agree on, but I believe it would create more enjoyable competitive matches. 

The damage done would be based on a three point system, the team with the highest damage done would get three points while the other team would get one or two points.  So as an example, if you were in a 2v2 match and red did a total of 1000 damage to blue and blue did 499 damage to red then at the end of the match red would be rewarded with three points and blue would get one, but if blue did 500+ damage then they'd get two points. (my initial formula is based on 50% of the highest damage which could be changed if you guys have a better idea)

Aggression is purely based on a stat that calculates how much distance a team traveled towards an enemy, so it wouldn't count any distance traveled away from an enemy.  The team with the highest aggression would gain one point while the other team would get zero.

Battlefield control is a little more complicated, it's a stat based on holding ground, so it ends up being the exact opposite of aggression, the team who traveled the least distance away from the enemy team would be rewarded with one point while the other team would get zero.

My idea was to have these points added to the final score at the end of the match if time ran out, so potentially you could have a situation where a match ends up ending with a 3-1 score in favour of red, but if blue ended up doing more damage, was more aggressive and retreated less the red, blue could potentially win the match.

I haven't thought this system through entirely, I've put about 3-4 hours in total into the idea so I haven't thought of every little thing, but I did notice that damage done would play a huge factor.  This means that having members who repaired very well and a pilot who retreated at the best time would end up being a detriment based on the points system.  I did not overlook this fact and it was actually an intended feature.  The reason why is it ends up promoting more exchanges and less running away which in the end makes for much more interesting matches for the viewer.

Also, as with the UFC, the time limit on specific matches would be different.  In the UFC most fights are three five minute rounds while belt matches are five five minute rounds, this would translate into GoIO very well with regular matches being 15 or 20 minutes long while the championship matches end up being 30-40 minutes.

Let's take another hypothetical, match ends with a score of 1-0 in favour of red, blue had more damage but not by much, red won aggression and lost on battlefield control, this ends with a final score of 1 (score) + 2 (damage) + 1 (aggression) + 0 (control) = 4 for red and  0 (score) + 3 (damage) + 0 (aggression) + 1 (control) = 4, so we end up having a draw because even though red did some nice burst damage and got a kill, blue ended up focusing on trying to rip out reds heart while reds engies repaired the damage instead of sitting on guns.  Maybe blue took out reds guns quickly so red literally couldn't respond very well in most exchanges.  All red would have had to do was retreat less and they would have easily taken that match with a score of 5-3 but their pilot decided to run away more then blue did because he/she probably though that with that one kill their victory was secured.

I'd appreciate input on this and would absolutely love some dev responses on if the idea is viable enough to implement a way to track damage done, control and aggression so that a system like this could be accurately implemented.

Thanks for your time.

[Urz]

The only thing teams should be focused on in-game is winning.

The prevalence of sniping is an issue of game balance. It's up to Muse to adjust the balance if they want to change that. Silly objective-based alternate wincons are not the answer.

[Sammy B. T.]

I don't know how it would fit GoI gameplay.

This is an extreme scenario to illustrate some issues. Imagine on one team you have two brawling Pyras charging two lumberjack Goldfishes. As the Pyras charge the Goldfishes, the land a lot of damage but due to Goldfish quick rebuilds of armor, they aren't able to finish the kill. The goldfishes adopt a "kiting" strategy where in they are constantly backing up but keeping guns on the Pyras. They manage to destroy the balloons and grind the Pyras into the dirt. They eventually win 5-0. More then likely however the Pyras had put more damage on the Goldfishes due to the fact that they have such fantastic repairs. They spent more time advancing on the enemy so they got aggression points. Also since the Goldfishes were kiting, they would lose their battlefield control points.

Is win given to the blundering Pyras?

Moving away from an enemy is not always disengaging and moving towards an enemy is not always egaging. This game is just tactical but it is also strategic. UFC is a very tactical sport and to some extent strategic (kicking someone in the leg for 3:30 minutes  and backing up can be quite strategic). However, at the end of the day it is designed for fights that are necessarily close range. Snipas gotta snipe and sometimes that means re-positioning.

I love the concept and the amount of effort you put into this post is fantastic. Also a recording of total damage done by a ship would be AWESOME! Muse get on it!

[Object]

Thanks for the response Sammy, to answer your question the points system would only be used on a match that required a decision, if the battle ended before the time ran out then there would be no reason to review how many points each team scored.  So in theory a team could still snipe if they were still able to get their five kills to win the match.

I don't think this sort of system would eliminate sniping, I just think that it would get teams to become a lot more active and maybe end up taking a risk with going in for a kill if they felt they were low on points.

Also, due to the fact that draws could happen in a system like this I imagined the system in a league type format, win gains you two points, draw one and a loss zero.  Then the top four teams would then duke it out in the elimination semi-finals and finals to determine the champion.  During the elimination rounds draws would most likely be decided with a 'sudden death' match where the first kill wins.

Also, on the comparison to the UFC you stated "at the end of the day it is designed for fights that are necessarily close range" and I'd have to say that sniping in GoIO could easily be compared to some technical striking matches in the UFC.  Sure some striking matches end up becoming a brawl but some are centered around a straight jab or front side kick specifically used to keep the opponent at range.  These fights use tactics that use reach advantages and can very easily be compared to sniping in GoIO as sniping is generally keeping the opponent at range by using your reach advantage.

Moving back to your hypothetical with the pyras and goldfish, even if the battle ended 4-0 when the time ran out the goldfish would very easily win aggression as they were using a kiting tactic, which ends up canceling out the control point the pyras would have won.  If the pyras rarely actually repaired and just attempted to pump out a stupid amount of damage the most points they would have won in damage done would be two, if it was a 3-1 damage score, thus meaning the score would have been 6-4 for the goldfish.

So in essence even if the pyras were far superior in damage done, the score would have had to be 1-0 for the goldfish to lose or 2-0 for a draw.  (or any other example of a one or two point advantage)

I think one of the biggest questions that is probably asked about this system is why not just ignore the points system and award the win to the team with the most kills.  What's the point of calculating damage done, control and aggression.  The answer is quite simply the fact that someone could slip in get a quick kill then hide or run away the rest of the battle.  They could put their entire team on damage control and soak any hits the opponents get on them.  With this type of system they would have lost damage done, lost aggression and lost control ending with a final score of 5-3 or 5-2 instead of 1-0 in their favour.

The goal of this point system is to entertain the spectators, the point system is entirely focused on teams who almost ignore repairing and go for the throat.

[Surette]

The goal of this point system is to entertain the spectators, the point system is entirely focused on teams who almost ignore repairing and go for the throat.

I know you've said this would be to entertain the spectators, but I hate watching matches like that. People charge and engagements (and matches in general) last no time at all. I love seeing the strategy and coordination, the cautiousness and then sudden chaos once the engagement breaks out. Also as someone who plays engineer competitively, almost ignoring repairing would make me sad. I don't want to sit through two hour long sniping matches, but ten minute long nonstop brawls are just as uninteresting, if not more so.