The Currently Exploitable and Unfair State of Meltdown

[pindleton]

Issue: Exploit
Severity: Game Breaking
Players Effected: All
Game Type: Meltdown


Meltdown in Shadow Era is a game type that I have recently become interested in but have also come to despise. The concept is intriguing. You get a few random cards, and you do what you can with them to hopefully come out on top. However, due to recent in game experiences, I have come to believe that the game type is not being played fairly nor is it being played the way that it was originally intended among many players in game. The game mode is unfair and exploitable in its current iteration.

First, the game mode is unfair. I say this due to the time required to find a "competitive" card combination. Having a selection of 4 packs from among each card series (currently 3 different series) allows up to 12 different unique combinations. Each combination yields a different set of heroes and a different set of cards. Users can choose which set among the twelve that they think is best to build their deck. There are 60 cards per set to choose from. That means in order to find "the best" combination, a player needs to sift through 720 cards. That is something that might be acceptable for someone with a lot of free time on their hands, but it is truly unfair for casual players.

Secondly, it is exploitable. The spirit of meltdown, as said earlier, is to take a random set of cards and do your best with them. Casual players like myself tend to pick the first card set they come upon with a decent set of allies and a hero that they like. However, the hardcore players will sift among the 720 cards from the 12 combinations I mentioned earlier. That in itself isn't a bad thing. However, those hardcore players are searching for unbeatable card combos, not just a "pick a few cards and go" type of game. If they sift through 720 cards and can't find what they're looking for, guess what they can do? They can start a game and then exit the game quickly before another player joins. This gives them a new set of 720 cards to sift through so that they can find their unbeatable Meltdown deck. This is exploitation of the system and defeats the spirit of meltdown.

In conclusion, Meltdown in its current iteration is broken. Players with a lot more time than casuals can sift through sets of 720 cards one after another until they find unbeatable card combinations. Doing so gives those with more time an unfair advantage in the Meltdown game type and goes against the spirit of what Meltdown is supposed to be. It isn't random if you get to "choose" your cards by exploiting the game mechanics, and it isn't fun for casual users and those playing in the true spirit of Meltdown to be preyed upon by a few "hardcore" players.

I personally believe that players in Meltdown should be assigned a singular random set of 60-120 cards per completed game to choose from. That set should not be "refreshable" until a full game has been played and completed. Doing so would keep in the spirit of randomness and fun that is supposed to be what Meltdown is all about. It would also be less susceptible to exploitation.

[greasypig]

Obviously as someone who plays almost exclusively Meltdown, this exploit is well known to me and everyone else. I don't think there's anything inherently "unfair" as you say with regards to the game mode; having to sift through the cards is just how the mode works, and other than making the process more streamlined and quicker to choose your cards, there isn't much more you can do in that regard.

As to your other suggestions, I agree that in the spirit of the game mode we really shouldn't be able to "open" the other deck combos to test them out, as much as it's now become a part of the game mode, and just eventually became part of the strategy. Since Meltdown is still only scored, not ranked, it's still in a player's favor to pick a deck as soon as possible, in order to maximize the number of games they can play. Looking at every combo and then starting/quitting games really slows you down.

That said, if Wulven ever changes the mode to how you say, I would support it, because again, that's how the game would/should work in a real-life situation.

Edited to add: Both the proposed fixes are good, but if Wulven were to implement only one of the two fixes, they should prioritize having the deck "stick" until you actually play a match with it. Fixing the "peek" exploit but not the "restart" exploit is kind of moot because players would then just quit immediately if they don't like their card options.

[Dvsklown]

No one is at a disadvantage. The choice is yours to make. Sure new players might just hit start. But like learning how to play anything, you need time to figure it out. Time wasted sifting through the cards takes away from game time. Most players who sift, quickly look for card combos they are familiar with and fill the rest of the deck up with useful cards. It isn't as much sifting as you would think. I find the first decent deck and go. But I look for good combos.

Just imagine how little the game would be played if you were forced to play that really bad deck. Sometimes, quite often actually The card combos you got are unplayable, cards after card is useless.

The game is playable and fun in its current state. The sifting is there for consistency. If you don't want to take the time to find some good combos, you can't blame the game.

[Kross]

Sorry, but I am not fully understanding. Are you saying that players are taking advantage of the fact that you can choose which packs from each set that they want (based on prior knowledge of which sets have the better cards) to determine the best of the 12 unique combinations--then using that information to construct the best possible decks the meltdown game mode can produce?

[pindleton]

Sorry, but I am not fully understanding. Are you saying that players are taking advantage of the fact that you can choose which packs from each set that they want (based on prior knowledge of which sets have the better cards) to determine the best of the 12 unique combinations--then using that information to construct the best possible decks the meltdown game mode can produce?

You are not understanding. The first part of what you said is part of my gripe, but there is more to it. Players with more time can indeed form a better deck. As I said in the OP, that is a bit unfair to people with less time, but it isn't inherently wrong. The exploitation, however, is wrong. Players with a lot of time to pick and choose will search all 720 cards in a given set. If they can't find an overpowered card set, they will simply refresh it by starting a game and ending the game before a player joins. This gives them a new set of 720 cards from which to choose from. Then once they have found their overpowered card combo of choice (not random) they will wait for a game with another player.

[pindleton]

Obviously as someone who plays almost exclusively Meltdown, this exploit is well known to me and everyone else. I don't think there's anything inherently "unfair" as you say with regards to the game mode; having to sift through the cards is just how the mode works, and other than making the process more streamlined and quicker to choose your cards, there isn't much more you can do in that regard.

As to your other suggestions, I agree that in the spirit of the game mode we really shouldn't be able to "open" the other deck combos to test them out, as much as it's now become a part of the game mode, and just eventually became part of the strategy. Since Meltdown is still only scored, not ranked, it's still in a player's favor to pick a deck as soon as possible, in order to maximize the number of games they can play. Looking at every combo and then starting/quitting games really slows you down.

That said, if Wulven ever changes the mode to how you say, I would support it, because again, that's how the game would/should work in a real-life situation.

Edited to add: Both the proposed fixes are good, but if Wulven were to implement only one of the two fixes, they should prioritize having the deck "stick" until you actually play a match with it. Fixing the "peek" exploit but not the "restart" exploit is kind of moot because players would then just quit immediately if they don't like their card options.

I like your terminology. "Peek" exploit and "Stick" exploit. I'm definitely in agreement with you over "Stick" needing the highest priority in order to stop Meltdown exploitation. People should not be allowed to change their card set at whim.

Even if you didn't look at every single card out of each 720 card set, and tried to do it as fast as possible, it can be exploited. For example; let's say you want to find Amber Rain, 1-2x What Big Teeth, and maybe a Sorcerous Poison. You could open 4x Call of the Crystals packs. Then, if you didn't find what you were looking for, start a game and cancel the game to refresh. After just a few "refreshes," there is a high probability that you will find what you are looking for. But is that truly a random game experience in the spirit of Meltdown? Or did you just choose exactly what you wanted? That's why I say it's unfair and clearly exploitable.

[Kross]

You are not understanding. The first part of what you said is part of my gripe, but there is more to it. Players with more time can indeed form a better deck. As I said in the OP, that is a bit unfair to people with less time, but it isn't inherently wrong. The exploitation, however, is wrong. Players with a lot of time to pick and choose will search all 720 cards in a given set. If they can't find an overpowered card set, they will simply refresh it by starting a game and ending the game before a player joins. This gives them a new set of 720 cards from which to choose from. Then once they have found their overpowered card combo of choice (not random) they will wait for a game with another player.

Okay. I think I understand now.

Looks like the only "bug" here, if one at all, is that you can pick more than one combination of packs without taking a game loss for it. Albeit not really a huge bug, imo, but still seems like the incorrect functionality nonetheless.

Nothing wrong with the concept of drafting in itself, though, as this is a tried and true format for a lot of CCGs.

[pindleton]

Okay. I think I understand now.

Looks like the only "bug" here, if one at all, is that you can pick more than one combination of packs without taking a game loss for it. Albeit not really a huge bug, imo, but still seems like the incorrect functionality nonetheless.

Nothing wrong with the concept of drafting in itself, though, as this is a tried and true format for a lot of CCGs.

Please consider my example from above; let's say you want to find Amber Rain, 1-2x What Big Teeth, and maybe a Sorcerous Poison. You could open 4x Call of the Crystals packs. Then, if you didn't find what you were looking for, start a game and cancel the game to refresh. After just a few "refreshes," there is a high probability that you will find what you are looking for. But is that truly a random game experience in the spirit of Meltdown? Or did you just choose exactly what you wanted? That's why I say it's unfair and clearly exploitable.

[greasypig]

Okay. I think I understand now.

Looks like the only "bug" here, if one at all, is that you can pick more than one combination of packs without taking a game loss for it. Albeit not really a huge bug, imo, but still seems like the incorrect functionality nonetheless.

Nothing wrong with the concept of drafting in itself, though, as this is a tried and true format for a lot of CCGs.

None of this is a bug, but it's a shortcoming of the current mode that goes against the spirit of what Meltdown is supposed to represent: a real-life game where people are given a choice of 12 booster packs from which to choose 4, and to build a deck based on the contents of that deck. It is SO based on this real-life concept that the interface even looks like it (picking and dragging actual packs).

In real life you wouldn't be able to peek inside the booster packs, you'd only be able to see the contents of the 4 boosters you picked, and you wouldn't have a choice to reset and choose 4 new booster packs until after you've played/quit an actual match with someone (leading to an actual win/loss/draw).

The current setup of Meltdown currently allows one to "preview" the contents of the different packs, and to go back and forth trying out different combos of packs in order to find the best combo for them, and then after that, they build their deck.

On top of that, if they didn't find any combo that works for them, they can simply build an arbitrary deck, start a game, and, especially since Meltdown isn't too popular, be able to quit a game with no loss to stats before someone else can show up. When they return to Meltdown, they'll have a brand new set of packs to choose from.

As I said, I'm fine with the current system because it's only really unfair to people who don't realize you can do that, as well as, very mildly, to people who don't have the time to look through all the packs. Again, that's not that big of a deal to me because you could say that about any part of Shadow Era (that's like saying a Stall deck is inherently wrong and unfair cause some people only have 2 minutes to play a match).

BUT I agree with Pindleton that the way Meltdown is presented as a game mode and the way the mode actually works are very different from each other, and knowing the latter gives a MAJOR advantage over the person who only knows the former.

Part of what makes Meltdown more fun for me is the random aspect, and while it'll take a lot to adjust to those changes, they SHOULD enhance that quality of Meltdown.

[pindleton]

None of this is a bug, but it's a shortcoming of the current mode that goes against the spirit of what Meltdown is supposed to represent: a real-life game where people are given a choice of 12 booster packs from which to choose 4, and to build a deck based on the contents of that deck. It is SO based on this real-life concept that the interface even looks like it (picking and dragging actual packs).

In real life you wouldn't be able to peek inside the booster packs, you'd only be able to see the contents of the 4 boosters you picked, and you wouldn't have a choice to reset and choose 4 new booster packs until after you've played/quit an actual match with someone (leading to an actual win/loss/draw).

The current setup of Meltdown currently allows one to "preview" the contents of the different packs, and to go back and forth trying out different combos of packs in order to find the best combo for them, and then after that, they build their deck.

On top of that, if they didn't find any combo that works for them, they can simply build an arbitrary deck, start a game, and, especially since Meltdown isn't too popular, be able to quit a game with no loss to stats before someone else can show up. When they return to Meltdown, they'll have a brand new set of packs to choose from.

As I said, I'm fine with the current system because it's only really unfair to people who don't realize you can do that, as well as, very mildly, to people who don't have the time to look through all the packs. Again, that's not that big of a deal to me because you could say that about any part of Shadow Era (that's like saying a Stall deck is inherently wrong and unfair cause some people only have 2 minutes to play a match).

BUT I agree with Pindleton that the way Meltdown is presented as a game mode and the way the mode actually works are very different from each other, and knowing the latter gives a MAJOR advantage over the person who only knows the former.

Part of what makes Meltdown more fun for me is the random aspect, and while it'll take a lot to adjust to those changes, they SHOULD enhance that quality of Meltdown.

Well said. I'm glad I'm not alone in my thinking.