Automated combatants

[Faux Play.6104]

First off I'd like to commend Anet's AI team for their efforts.  For a long time the PvP community has asked for better tutorials for new players.  Their new automated combatants are a big step-up in both effective skill selection and mechanical play from the automated combatants in the PvP lobby.  Not only that, they are the perfect solution for transitioning PVE players to the PvP game mode.  They promote a non-hostile environment to learn and they teach good game play habits both in 2v2/3v3 and conquest.

 

Historically, one of the entry barriers to PVP is lack of acceptance and in some cases outright hostile behavior to players new to the game mode.  With these automated combatants, people's first experience with the PvP game mode will be with teammates that are very businesslike.  They don't trash talk, they don't rage quit, they just shut up and play.

 

With that problem addressed, we move on to teaching good game play tactics.  The automated combatants react well to pressure, have solid builds, and are likely more than a new player can overcome if they try to fight them outright.  However, in conquest, the automated combatants take fights in bad locations, and sometimes send multiple players to free cap the same node.  This teaches good rotations, and in the low tier game mode, and one can advance but just looking at the mini-map and prioritizing the key objectives.  In the 2v2 game mode, this is a little more subtle, but it does do a good job of showing what not to do at the end of the timer.  As many know a cloud will slowly shrink on the arena.  Standing in the cloud will quickly kill you. Once the timer runs down the automated combatants will just freeze in place allowing you to run to the center and claim your victory.

 

Finally, the automated combatants emphasize kiting techniques.  Even if you run a bruiser spec, you need to learn when and how to effectively disengage.  There are a lot of jumping puzzles, and port tricks you can use to get away.  The automated combatants are intentionally programmed to be less efficient than most people at this important skill.  While I think this a great addition to the PvP scene, I think Anet can do better.  So I'd like to know what you think they should focus their efforts on going forward.

[GutterRat.1269]

I think the best way to get Arenanet to continue to improve this feature is by showing them how popular it is. Would be nice to get those few remaining semi-popular streamers to feature the automated combatants on their streams, making suggestions about how they could be improved, and so forth. The community can only grow if it does so hand-in-hand with those hard-working individuals who develop and arduously maintain the game.

[Axl.8924]

I voted breakbar Because i think its one of those things that should be shown to say This person has Stability. If you plan to stun them maybe corrupt it or steal it first maybe kinda? or even resistance so you don't waste time.

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

I seem to be confused here.

 

You are suggesting adding teams of bots that people can queue with?

[GutterRat.1269]

10 hours ago, Trevor Boyer.6524 said:

I seem to be confused here.

 

You are suggesting adding teams of bots that people can queue with?

He's written a satirical piece based on the idea that the rampant bot infestation is an intended feature. It's a clever and humorous way to take the kitten out of Arenanet for their incompetent failure to address the problem.

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

9 minutes ago, msalakka.4653 said:

He's written a satirical piece based on the idea that the rampant bot infestation is an intended feature. It's a clever and humorous way to take the kitten out of Arenanet for their incompetent failure to address the problem.

 

The whole situation is Monty Python weird.

 

1. Arenanet won't take 5 minutes a day to hand out suspends to accounts who are being mass reported by the community, who are caught on stream with unarguable evidence that they are cheating. This drives off player base.
2. Arenanet won't take an hour to do a quick hotfix to some absolutely broken mechanic that is destroying class balance, ruining the game experience, and driving off large amounts of player base.
3. Arenanet instead devotes hard time invested to program, run, and employ a sophisticated full community of AI robots to replace the player base, so that it looks like there are human players, instead of tending to quick & easy routine tasks that would have kept human player base around to begin with.

[Guirssane.7082]

This bot fiesta is annoying for sure, game is free, 0 barrier to entry to spvp so bot can just go straight up to spvp. In few years we're like gw1 all over again. 

[Faux Play.6104]

On 5/21/2021 at 3:57 AM, Trevor Boyer.6524 said:

 

The whole situation is Monty Python weird.

 

1. Arenanet won't take 5 minutes a day to hand out suspends to accounts who are being mass reported by the community, who are caught on stream with unarguable evidence that they are cheating. This drives off player base.
2. Arenanet won't take an hour to do a quick hotfix to some absolutely broken mechanic that is destroying class balance, ruining the game experience, and driving off large amounts of player base.
3. Arenanet instead devotes hard time invested to program, run, and employ a sophisticated full community of AI robots to replace the player base, so that it looks like there are human players, instead of tending to quick & easy routine tasks that would have kept human player base around to begin with.

 

You are grossly understating the effort 1 and 2 would take.

If you were a programmer which of the 3 bullet points would look better on your resume and which would you volunteer for?

1. Read through a bunch of PvP players complaints to see which were legit reports and which were just rage induced salt.
2. Provided knee-jerk hotfixes within an hour of the first complaints showing on the forums.
3. Program, run, and employ a sophisticated full community of AI robots to teach gameplay tactics to lesser experienced players.

 

[Boggs.6482]

On 5/21/2021 at 6:57 AM, Trevor Boyer.6524 said:

 

The whole situation is Monty Python weird.

 

1. Arenanet won't take 5 minutes a day to hand out suspends to accounts who are being mass reported by the community, who are caught on stream with unarguable evidence that they are cheating. This drives off player base.
2. Arenanet won't take an hour to do a quick hotfix to some absolutely broken mechanic that is destroying class balance, ruining the game experience, and driving off large amounts of player base.
3. Arenanet instead devotes hard time invested to program, run, and employ a sophisticated full community of AI robots to replace the player base, so that it looks like there are human players, instead of tending to quick & easy routine tasks that would have kept human player base around to begin with.

Sophisticated is too generous for these bots. These are simple state machine AI's at best.