Classic Showdown 2016

[FR_Bugs]

We've just launched a new special competition where you have to shoot a turkey from a treestand with a compound bow. This is the first one that doesn't have a SP or MP requirement.

Score are not registred for this comp with the snakebite Alena ? i'm in a hunt and one of the turkey not counted but with the parker python it's OK.
i'm in a SP game by the way.

[Alena Rybik]

@HooCairs: Sorry, but we can't reproduce it. It only says Turkey on our screens when enrolled.

@FR_Bugs: The problem was Cupid Arrows, we are fixing it.

And now back to the topic (A Classic Showdown)

[FR_Bugs]

yes, sorry Alena. Thanks

[Alena Rybik]

yes, sorry Alena. Thanks

No sorry needed, it was me reacting to SP vs MP discussion that derailed the thread

[Muglug]

A choice would still be an improvement.

I think so too, at least for now, until we come up with something that makes more sense.

We've just launched a new special competition where you have to shoot a turkey from a treestand with a compound bow. This is the first one that doesn't have a SP or MP requirement.

And now back to the topic (A Classic Showdown)

[stancomputerhunter]

True MP comps will require team registration for the comp, and those on the team will all contribute, or not to the teams success or failure. You will need the average score of those on the team to be their result. Then you can make it an MP comp, and it would benefit the team to play together, because you would want to help the person with the lowest score on your team to get something better.

IMHO this is the only good way to do MP comps for those who want to hunt with friends. It would end the exploits and actually be a MP competition.

[phil1]

Alena, if you don't resolve the MP spawn mashing exploit, then they should be strictly in SP. If you let people choose, guess what they will pick. ;)

We'll look into whether we can do anything about it, can't promise anything right now. Do you maybe have any ideas on how to solve this?

I can't think of any. Two situations, the first one admirable and even wished by EW, the second one not.

Situation A - the good one
:P Hey Marie, I am in an MP game right now and you won't believe the trophy I am seeing!
:? Really, what is it?
:P It is a monster elk and the scoring estimation says it will be around 400!
:? You gotta be kidding me, I always wanted to find such a trophy!
:P Why don't you join the game and we hunt it down together? You can harvest it.
:? That is so cool, I will join you momentarily!

Situation B - the bad one
8-) Hey Mario, I have been spawn mashing for three days straight and finally found a monster.
8-) I'll be there in a minute and get it. Then we'll switch I'll start spawn mashing.

You cannot technically keep these situations apart. Only a complicated rule framework might bring some alleviation, only to make it more cumbersome for everyone. However if EW cannot remember anyway why these comps are MP, why not make them SP and be done with this? MP is also more prone to bugs and connections issues, making people lose valuable attempts.

Don't forget:

Situation C - the more likely spawn mashing one.

I'll think i'll create a spotting account, I'll just buy a membership so I can start a multiplayer hunt. If I spawn mash with Marie and Mario they might let it slip on the forum that I have two accounts, this way I can keep it secret.
Also, I don't think EW are bothered enough by this exploit to try and catch me, after all they are selling another membership.
I'll also just buy tents, treestands, blinds, feeders and barrels for that account.
I'll make sure that I have the best rangefinder or spotter's scope and get my spotting levels up.
I won't shoot much using this account, because some of us think that the lower your Hunterscore, the more likely you are to get a trophy spawn, as a sort of hook to get new players to invest more.

This is a much more likely scenario than somebody spawn mashing for 3 days straight for another player, unless it's your wife and she tells you to.

A way to identify spawn mashing in MP comps would be to expand the Hunt statistics to include:

The host of the Server, the amount of time spent on that server by all players, distance travelled by each player.

The availability of this information might deter some of the mashers who can get away with it without fear of being caught, some might not care about their reputation - but I suspect some 'veteran' players might think twice if they could be 'outed'.

[DHRifleman]

you cant kill spawn mashing without removing tents.maybe you could disable tent use for the comps if possible.

thing is some lodges can also be spawn mashed on certain reserves.for certain species.so maybe you could disable fast traveling aswell during comps.

this would make it how we used to play and fairer.no triggers for spawn mashing and people would have to hunt longer in general.it all depends how far you want to go with it and what you can and cant disable ingame.


maybe even include 30 minute hunt duration for a result to count.the thing is the more you make it fairer or more of a hunting scenario the more you will probably exclude.tricky balance

Honestly it shouldn't take restricting items that players bought for the game to fix an exploit.

[phil1]

Ron, a 30 minute hunt duration can be easily defeated by minimising and remaining in the hunt after joining the spotter's server and harvesting the trophy.

The latest comp is said to be either SP or MP - if it's the same leaderboard and prizes/trophies - how will that affect anything?

I'd like to see team competitions, where each team members scores affect the outcome - but this can be done in SP.

MP is great fun and I like to join friends in hunts, but unless a foolproof way of ending MP exploits in competitions/events is found, then making minor changes which can easily be defeated is pointless.

[DHRifleman]

You cannot technically keep these situations apart. Only a complicated rule framework might bring some alleviation, only to make it more cumbersome for everyone. However if EW cannot remember anyway why these comps are MP, why not make them SP and be done with this? MP is also more prone to bugs and connections issues, making people lose valuable attempts.

We don't want to go that route. There are a lot of players who want to play and participate in competitions together, it would be unfair for them to suffer because of a couple of bad apples.

If this is the case, why are all the other comps still SP only? Don't you think all those players would like the standard comps in MP as well? I personally would hunt more than just Ducks in MP, if all the comps could be played in either SP or MP, my choice.

I think limiting the number of attempts in comps has made mashing no longer productive. I don't think it was ever that productive based on time over result. The thing was that the mashers would expend massive amounts of time, and hunts (often 100s) to get a result that was a winner, and that was usually due to baiting. The issue now is that with this event being MP the ability to circumvent the attempts limit becomes an exploit.

The fix is the host needs attempts left for any animal on the map to count in a comp. The host dictates if their server and it's players are allowable for the comp. This would also fix the exploit of having one account for baiting only, and another one that actually takes advantage of the lack of penalty. Host load a game and the server marks what comps they have enabled, and anyone else joining that hunt can only be in those comps if they also have them enabled.

I understand EW feels that MP play will increase player and memberships. This just might be true, but it needs to be the players choice to play MP for that to happen. Forcing them to play in MP if they want to do events isn't an enticement, because it is a restriction imposed on them. You must lead them with a carrot, not beat them with a stick.

This event shows players do like the team/MP aspect, so it is worth the effort to do it now. I would think having more play MP because they want to would gain more than a new item.