Complete Arena Revamp

Note: This is shorter than it should have been because the last time I deleted my 1500 word version of it on accident. Please pay respects with a #ripspaghettipost in comments

#ripspaghettipost

Hello, I am here today to first point out some flaws and fixes to the current arena system, and then introduce some ideas of what the new arena maps should look like. It may be long but please read through.

I would also like to say that arena and auto hugs (ropes) are pretty much the only reason why I keep playing wilds - I love 3v3 (only when i win) (i hate it when I lose)

First of all, the current situation. 

In the beginning...there was Bilbos and Balins and Thorins and Frodos that put complete shame to their namesake. It is relatively easy to find 1v1 matches.

Then, around the 200 point range, you fight with decent people. Very few matches, but you get to join 3v3 games.

At 350+ arena points, I find it extremely hard to find a 1v1. And if I do, its either Claudia in the EU servers or KaterinaScriptsKappa in the US servers. Almost always. (And they are both better than me :P)

I am currently at 450, which is only because I am never not in a queue for a 3v3 when playing wilds. In fact I am in a queue right now and Ill bet you an upvote that none will start by the end of this post, even though it it 6 o'clock and it should be the time when everyone is online. Back to the point, it is impossible to find a worthwhile match.

Once you get in a match, there is a chance that your game glitches out and instead of going to the 3v3, you get sent to the homepage and the UI flashes on and off repeatedly. But chances are, everyone single one of your friends got into a 3v3 and had a blast while you waited lonely and sobbing in the lobby or ruins. And in the rare case that you get put in a 3v3, you have fun. Well, if you have a good team. The teams are often times grossly unbalanced and although I am sure there is some algorithm that is supposed to fix this it isn't working at its 100%. The bigger problem here is that teams don't get mixed up after each game. Chances are that if you lose the first game, you are going to lose the next couple ones too because one team is obviously better than the other and the teams do not get changed after each match. 

That, is the current arena situation according to my experience. 

Potential Solutions

1. Promote arena

First and foremost, we need more arena players. This, I think will make the biggest difference in arena gameplay. This can be done by any of the following:

• Instead of having one "PLAY" button, take 1/3 of that button and make a "PLAY ARENA" button that is smaller, which will lead to a selection of 1v1, 3v3, and another option, BOTH! I cant care less whether its 3v3 or 1v1 if I CAN JUST GET A MATCH!!! This will then lead to a waiting screen that also has a "Explore the ruins" button, instead of having to go to your setting every time you want to decide whether or not to play ruins while waiting. I happen to be a strong believer of big buttons in GUIs and instead of the little pop down menu thing we have, being able to navigate your way through big buttons seems much nicer and to me. (I have met people who have never played anything other than ruins because they didn't know that the pop down was a button). Additionally, in the menu that shows up after you die in a ruins game, of there could be a option to get in AND LEAVE queue for 1v1 and 3v3, that would save a great deal of trouble. A good example of what I was thinking of when I said "big buttons" would be the slay.one system if you want to check it out. 
• Having little popups that alert players that an arena, does in fact exist!
• Include a UI tutorial when a new player comes in to let them know how to use each button, including the ones for arena. 
• Have the arena leaderboards show up before the bone leaderboards. This will increase the prestige that comes with a high arena score and motivate players to participate in more arena matches. 
• Reward gold for arena points. Maybe a conversion, or some way to give an incentive to arena that reaches outside of the arena system.

2. Fix bugs

Oh please please please cancel all items at the beginning of each 3v3. The worst bug of all is when you throw a grenade at the opposite team right before another round starts, the bombs goes off and damages everyone. This is a HUGE amount of damage. Another very irritating bug is when sometimes a game will not end until someone kills them self. Usually what happens is some jerk on the enemy team (looking at you DIEGUTO) spends a minute stacking up all the items he can get on his side and running around getting armor. This can mean an extra 6-10 health given to the enemy team to prepare them for the next battle. This also means it is that much harder for losing teams to make comebacks. Another problem is not necessarily a bug but mirage clones should definitely be reset after each round. As a bow enthusiast myself, I can feel all the power in each shot of arrows. You can easily take out more than half of the enemy team's health before the skirmish even begins. Also, im sure you are aware of this but the borders of the 1v1, 3v3, and practice maps are messed up.

Here is a quick list of bugs/problems

• borders
• clones that live past round
• items and weapons are still active when going from one round to the next (as well as items, armor)

3. Balance 3v3 teams

This is also important. I already talked about what is going on so here is the solution: mix up teams before every game and if it is not happening already, balance the teams in some way according to the total arena points. The average arena points should be similar, right now I do not feel like doing math so there will be no demonstration. 

4. Reset hacker scores

I think this is pretty self explanatory, its pretty awful that hackers get the top spots for such a long time. 

5. Split 3v3 and 1v1 queues

In the little box at the bottom right that shows the current people in line for 3v3 and 1v1, i'd say split this. Additionally, make it so that the 1v1 only shows people you can actually play against, otherwise there is no sense or purpose at all in having one. To be able to see whether your rank is in the same threshold as the other player's would make the queuing system so much more efficient. There may be 20 people in queue for 1v1, but most likely none of them are in the same level threshold as me.

Here are also some questions for rezoner that I would really love answered:

1. What is the percentage of points you need to join in the same 3v3 as someone? I know that it is 75% for 1v1 but what about 3v3?
2. Do you plan to introduce 5v5 if the game becomes more popular, as you said somewhere in the comments?
3. Do you plan to add more arena modes?
4. Do you plan to change the arena scoring system?
5. WILL ARENA SCORES BE RESET, AND WILL WE RECEIVE GOLD FOR THE ARENA POINTS WE HAD?

Here is an opinion from Rezak, the current holder of 1010 arena points, a wilds record. He wrote this. 

To begin with, it will be very useful to popularize the arena 1 to 1, because on it, almost nobody is there, everyone prefers to fight in the team 3 to 3, since this is a lot easier. The division will be correct, as it will be possible to see who is really a good player, but the main thing is the presence of players. It would be nice if you could see who can fight with you. And now my most interesting idea, which Rezoner often missed - A call to battle, which can be real with a player that can be fought, as well as friendly, without gaining points. These duel challenges can increase the activity of the arena somewhat, and this is extremely important. A place where you can wait for a fight, just find a player and challenge him, and he can accept it or not. This can significantly reduce waiting time. For example, waiting for a fight in the arena, and then someone came with enough points, and you call him, and so you squeeze the waiting time. Or someone wants to test their strength in the arena, and throws a strong player to a friendly fight in which no points are given, and so both players do not expect a fight, and enjoy the game, and the other increases their skills.

Ever since rezoner confirmed that he will in fact be adding more maps to 1v1 and 3v3, I have tried to think of potential maps. Here are some prototypes that I thought of. I believe that it is of upmost importance that the map does not interfere at all with gameplay, especially with 1v1. In 3v3 it might be acceptable to have obstacles especially because the obstacles help contain the currently overpowered bow, but there should be ZERO obstacles in 1v1. I made these maps assuming that the collisions with the outer walls will be not like in normal palisades, but like the current borders. (so no falling down when you roll into it) Also don't mind the lines - they didn't show up in the master race superior software "Pages" that I used to make these. (basically the MacOS equivalent of word, don't judge)

(i was going to make a graphic for this too but I could not figure out the alignment for the sprites - but you get the idea right?

This could be accompanied by some stone paths or something to make it look nicer

That is how I envision that 1v1 arena maps. Now for 3v3, more fun designs. 

I would have loved to upload more, but It looks like I need to sleep now and I really do not want to put It off until tomorrow. Some more ideas might be two forts against each other, like a mini ctf, or a mini ruins map to fight in. I think that you get the idea of what kind of maps that I would personally like, and hopefully you agree with me on this point. 

Please leave comments on what you think and rate this post. 

Thanks,

Moms Spaghetti