Ben Brode Explains Why Even "Simple" Solutions Take Time - Ladder Revamp
There have been a few posts out there asking why it took so long to arrive to these "simple" ladder changes that we'll see come March. Ben Brode answers!
- They go through multiple rounds of brainstorming and testing.
- The hardest part isn't always the implementation itself, it can be the testing itself.
- Simulations need to be run to see how things may look after certain amounts of time. "What's the experience like for players at each rank?"
Quote from Ben BrodeThe first phase is coming up with the right solution. Often when you land on the right solution, it feels "obvious". Derek's GDC presentation has some great examples of hard problems that look like they had obvious solutions in hindsight.
We actually went through multiple rounds of brainstorming and testing pitches – everything from completely changing the system, to subtly tweaking it to reach our goals.
Once we have a pitch, we model it. We run a simulation and test what the results will be after 1, 2, 3, 6 months, and a year. Does it spread players out more, to improve matchmaking? How much rank inflation does it cause over time? What's the experience like for players at each rank? We have a team of Data Scientists who try and model player behavior to give us as accurate a picture as we can, to help make the right decision.
Once we have a design we are confident in, then it's ready for implementation. Often during the implementation process we identify edge cases or other snags. For example: We can't line a patch up to launch at midnight in all regions and all platforms on March 1st, so we need to have both ranked play systems live in the client, and build a way to transition between them at the exact right moment. The current design requires a significant change to how players earn their monthly ranked rewards, and we added several warnings and UI call-outs to help reduce the chance players miss out on their card back for March. We had to change the victory screen and the Quest Log screen to accommodate the new flow.
But implementation isn't the biggest factor in a system like this. In this case, it was testing. When we create a new card, it's pretty straightforward to make sure that it works. One tester plays the card in a large variety of weird situations and logs bugs related to it. Our automation engineers force it to be played millions of times and check to make sure the servers don't explode. But a system like this presents a more challenging testing requirement. It involves large numbers of players, normal season resets, feb->march season resets, and coordination between developers, testers, and automation engineers to make sure everyone has the tools they need.
I'm glad people are enjoying the changes – please make sure to give us feedback after you play with it!
@MaximGorkij that doesnt solve any problem it only creates one (as i mentioned in the post you quoted). you didnt present any case...youre basically saying that you just want all of the cards for free. Im not saying thats right or wrong, but it doesnt justify a PTR
How is this an improvement for lower ranks? The minority of opponents in lower ranks are high ranks anyway because those players climb very fast. This new system only helps those high ranked people but pretty much shits on low ranks or casual players. With 5 stars at every rank the grinding for lower ranks will be even more frustrating.
Sorry Blizzard but a big thumbs down from my side.
It's not as binary as you think it is. There aren't only casual players at rank 18 and those who grind to legend top 100. Mainly this is a huge improvement for the middle ground players at around ranks 10-5. The update does help players more the higher they are but on top of the climb being directly affected above rank ~15, with the bettter players out of the way, the climb will be significantly easier for low rank players as well.
High ranked players leave lower ranks within one or two days. They have never been the main issue. The time investment for casual players like me is an issue. This revamp wont change as much as some people here claim.
You can think it like this.At this time,you can play lets say for example 20 games.The 15 games of those are versus legend players that want to climb quickly and destroy you in all of those 15 games.You only win 5.(old ranked system)
With their changes you will face 20 players of the same skill level as you,and you might even win 10-11 out of 20.(new ranked system)while this will take more time,it is more certain that you will climb at a certain point.
And in the meantime new players wont have to compete against old players with full collection cause eventually they will all climb to higher ranks.
You can take a pick and decide for yourself what is really helpful for the newer players.
shits on low ranks or casual players.As someone else mentioned,you can't expect to be a casual player or a bad player and get Legend when people literally play over 200-300 games per month to reach the point where they at.If you want to play for legend,you have to commit yourself,and become better.If more stars are what bother you,maybe you should'nt even try for legend.
Since you will face more players at your level cap,if you play enough games/become a better player each game.which equals to a higher win percentage,getting through those stars wont be this hard.
It is the same as rank 5.If you are not a good enough player to break through those 5 ranks,and reach legend,then you don't deserve to become legend.Now it will be the same for every rank.If you can't get passed 5 stars on rank 10,it is maybe because you don't deserve to be at rank 9.
And if you don't want to grind to get to legend or higher ranks as a casual,stay in casual mode and do ranked for the card back.
How many million simulations did you run to come to this conclusion? Because Blizzard ran MILLIONS of simulated games to make sure this solution didn't shit on anyone. Maybe give the experts the benefit of a doubt and cop to your own ignorance.
How about nerfing priests????????
You work on this for last year, right? Wow, it is such a good solution i can not believe it, so it is the same ladder just different in terms of games you need to play to get to rank 5, lame...
"In the latest episode of Ben Brode defends PR."
I feel the same as with the Warsong commander: If they would say out loud that they did not thought that out, okay, but they are full into the "this was an elaborate work of years" , which makes this poor decision undescribably worse.
What were you expecting out of a ladder rework? I expected less grind to legend, and better experience for lower ranked and newer players. This has both of that.
Better rewards.