Bad luck protection for events

[Arch]

I have no idea how difficult this would be to do in a mobile app but I have played online mmorpg that introduced a bad luck protection algorithm.

A frustration with any game or activity that relies on RNG is that regardless of how much effort you put in there is no guarantee you will complete a task. Personally, for most tasks in the game there is no real time limit and what I don't complete today I can try again tomorrow (or when I get the next map etc.). However with events there is a limited window once a year to try and complete it.

For events you need to be lucky enough to get a drop and then it needs to be the right one - that frustration grows when you get lots of drops but because of RNG it never seems to be the right one.

The bad luck algorithm could after every drop slightly reduce the probability of items you have lots of and then slightly increase the probability of ones you have less of (without changing the total probability of getting a drop).

Increasing the chances of a drop in the first place would help alleviate some of the frustration but make events easier for everyone to complete (which I'm not sure the develops want) but at the same time still run the risk of getting lots of one item but never the one you want.

 

[Steve1632]

How about a participation trophy? Not everyone should be able to finish every event. Would you like me to come fly your airplanes also?

 

[Arch]

Maybe I could have worded it better but this wasn't about everyone being able to finish every event. Events are challenging (to varying degrees) and unless you are carrying over items from previous year will take considerable effort (time) to complete which is the developers model and it is what it is.

However with pure RNG:
- Good luck is finite - to complete a 5 piece collection 5 times the best luck you can have is to do it with 25 items.
- Bad luck is infinite - you can collect 50 or more items and still not complete that event task.

To me that is a model that can be more balanced without necessarily being easier for those that are unwilling to (or can't) put in the effort.

 

[ArditoDesio]

😒

 

[lestersoto]

good post!

 

[exwhy]

I like your idea. I've been playing Clash Royale and read somewhere that the drop rates of cards are slightly higher for those that the player has fewer of. Shouldn't be challenging to code such an algorithm.

Alternatively we could have sort of an exchange function. Say use 5 of a certain item to exchange for another item of your choice from the same collection. If the developers indeed have in mind to maintain certain difficulty levels for drops, they could very well reduce the overall drop rates of that collection while still implementing the exchange function. No financial impact on them but certainly a positive psychological effect for players!

Disclaimer: I have a faint impression of having seen this exchange idea somewhere, not sure if it's on this forum. No plagiarism intended