Posts from Favorites, into battle! - 11. Auto-translated

rebuilding the Mage Guild is a more serious change than starting with a random hero; the possibility of starting with a random hero is provided by the gameplay itself, what's wrong with that?

rebuilding the Mage Guild and neutering heroes and towns (all more or less reasonable restrictions in this regard have long been implemented in the HeroesWorld rules) are completely different things.

(all more or less reasonable restrictions in this regard have long been implemented in the HeroesWorld rules)

So, in your opinion, the current rules regarding the Conflux restriction and, if I'm not mistaken, Goshan, are absolute truth and there is no need to even try to change/supplement them?

reworking the game mechanics and nerfing heroes and castles.

Am I right in understanding that you are suggesting playing without rules and limitations on all templates? So that the true spirit of Heroes lives in every game? P.S.: I'm not against it :smile54:

I understand that my question about Tanta and Galtran on level 111 has an obvious answer for everyone present – in approximately 100% of cases, this hero will become the main one. Therefore, no one even bothered to answer. Q.E.D. Now, I will ask the next question. When playing a faction other than Necropolis, if you encounter a Necropolis hero on level 111, what are the chances that you won't make him one of your main heroes?

Now I'll ask the next question.
When playing as a faction other than Necropolis – if a Necropolis hero joins you on day 111 – what are the chances that you won't make him one of your main heroes?

50%. Either yes, or no)

I understand this is a super-clever joke in the style of encountering a dinosaur. In that case, it doesn't count.
I'm asking because I don't plan to delay the Regulations until December 11th, and I want to summarize the discussions and release the final version as soon as possible.

Regarding the Necropolis, if I have the opportunity to play on maps that aren't just swamps or snow, then (in Shades of Darkness, of course) the Necropolis becomes one of my main factions – always. That's 100%.
Therefore, I'm interested in hearing well-reasoned alternative viewpoints.
I don't understand what doubts there are about something being broken in the game if everyone clearly votes on this issue with their real in-game decisions?
What Dave wrote – I understand. I've illustrated with examples from my own games that there is a clear problem in the game. The solution I proposed may not be optimal, but at least he doesn't deny it.

So, in your opinion, the current rules regarding the restriction of Conflux and, if I'm not mistaken, Goshana are absolute truth and there's no need to even try to change/supplement them?

Do I understand correctly, you propose playing without rules and restrictions on all templates? So that the true spirit of Heroes permeates every game?

P.S.: I wouldn't be against it

No, but I'm saying that efforts to change the rules should be timely and justified. At the moment, there are no objective prerequisites for this.

Let me explain using this tournament as an example. There hasn't been any particular dominance of Necro in the last two years; other towns have been winning. If, for instance, in this season, and also in the next one, Necro wins with a clear advantage, then we could talk about restricting this town, but not before that. And only for this tournament.

As for general changes. I don't have exact statistics, but I recall that in the Blitz-Jebus Cross tournament, the Necro town with Goshana showed a negative win-loss difference. Of course, the buyback at auctions had an effect — but that's exactly what balance is...

I understand this is a super-clever joke in the style of a chance encounter with a dinosaur? Then it doesn't count.

It depends on the question. There are a million factors: map, heroes, guards, objects, army, primary/secondary heroes, etc. It's also important to understand which Necromancer entered the game? It's one thing if it's Goshan, and another if it's Nimbus. And the meaning of the question "making a main" is also unclear. Why would I need to make someone a main? Maybe the Necromancer will create 200 skeletons for me to take the first castle, and then I'll manage the rest of the map on my own.

I mained Nimbus just like any other Necromancer; there's no significant difference. The imbalance lies in the 30% Necromancer composition, and everything is geared towards getting that free stack, which solves problems that can't be solved any other way. And I suggested thinking about it and writing a response that doesn't just say that the solution depends on something – but on what exactly and how it depends. Or at least, what the overall percentage is, without going into details, but seriously, not just 50/50 as a joke. For me, it's simple: if I'm playing a Necromancer, can I avoid running through swamps or snow? If so, that's my main. (I don't play just one main; I play 2-3, but it doesn't change the essence – the Necromancer immediately becomes a key hero). Yes, sometimes it's primarily about the period before the middle of the second week, when you need to pick up the pace to get to Angels and Ducks, but that doesn't change the essence – it's the Necromancer who immediately takes on the decisive roles and carries the game, setting that pace.

Regarding the general changes, I don't have exact statistics, but I remember that in the blitz-jebus tournament, the Necropolis castle with Gosh showed a negative win/loss ratio. Of course, the rollbacks in the auctions had an impact - but this is precisely what balance is...

But I've been saying for a long time that a rollback is not the same as balance. If this is considered balance, then rules are not needed at all. It is wrong when, for example, Inferno with +7k is equal to Necropolis with -7k. Based on the magnitude of the rollbacks, one can draw conclusions about which castles require adjustments and which do not.

I suggest implementing an auto-reset if cons come into the zone on turns 111 and 112; otherwise, one unit deals 4 damage, while another deals 0. In the final stages, these angels and archangels are getting tiresome.

Regarding the Tournament ranking. Yesterday, LuckyF contacted me, and we had a detailed discussion about all the pros and cons. So:

1. Arguments in favor.
Why I wanted to have a Tournament ranking and use it. First, I didn't like the regular ranking because:
(a) of the abuse, when someone plays against weak opponents and diligently increases their score.
(b) some players haven't updated it for a long time and don't post reports.
And the advantage of the Tournament ranking is:
(c) in tournaments, everything is very serious; as a rule, everyone tries to show their maximum potential (and those who don't try also provide valuable information). All reports are posted, everything is as fair as possible, and therefore more indicative.

But it turned out that it's not that simple - there are also
2. Arguments against:
(a) the distance. In the Tournament ranking, it's shorter, and a sudden win streak or loss streak leads to significant distortions.
But the decisive argument was the following:
(b) the tournaments themselves sometimes have very little to do with skill.
There were OFB tournaments where you had to play skirmishes, Panic, and Anarchy; there was Outlaw; there are tournaments with a non-standard pool of heroes, where you simply don't have time to figure it out; there were OZV tournaments where you had to play with a full random hero selection; there are Favorite Heroes tournaments, where a player may be doomed to play with a weak Castle "out of love"; there is Game of Thrones, where a player plays with the Castle that they get in the draft, and this, again, is not compensated by trading for a city;
that is, tournaments have a very significant element of fun and randomness, it's absurd to deny it, and it's impossible to trace its influence on the final score.
And then the only thing that levels out all this variance is the distance, which (see the previous point) is actually in favor of the overall ranking.

In general, the overall ranking will be used to form the brackets. Abuse it to your heart's content.

Let's go over the main points regarding Observer Mode (OM) again. So, let's give a voice to a hypothetical OM supporter:

There is no point in playing without OM. It disrespects the opponent's time. There are still some stubborn individuals who refuse to play with OM enabled. OM should be made mandatory.
90% of the community supports OM.

Let's assume that the OM Supporter is right about everything, including the fact that 90% support OM.
Now, here's the question: what should the OM Supporter fear if 90% are in favor of OM?
Even in a tournament, you will encounter at most one stubborn player, and maybe even none, since they represent only 10%.
Even if OM isn't explicitly required, you can likely agree on using it with everyone (perhaps with very rare exceptions), as you yourself wrote.

I believe that all that needs to be done is to allow time for these changes to occur. The opportunity was completely missed in OFB. As an organizer of Favorites, I don't plan to take responsibility for all the unresolved issues within the community or try to resolve everything. I see my role here as making things better based on the information available now, providing space for communication and exchange of information and ideas – use this space for its intended purpose. Provide factual evidence that cannot be dismissed.
If the OM Supporters are correct, and they truly constitute a significant majority, then they will easily coordinate among themselves and play with OM enabled throughout almost the entire tournament. Your own words (if you are indeed correct) serve as the best proof that you have nothing to fear. Ideally, fulfill the request in Tournament Regulations (Section I, point 12) - write more than just "thx for game / tfp" - reflect your agreements in the reports so that it can be reviewed during and especially after the tournament, allowing us to say: yes, indeed, that's how it was; they were right. Or at least, after the tournament, write: yes, I played with OM throughout the tournament, and didn't encounter any stubborn players. And after Favorites (or even during), we can demand OM in tournaments even more confidently.
It seems that I have said everything I wanted to about this issue.

I understand that my question about Tanta and Galtran on round 111 has an obvious answer for everyone present – in approximately 100% of cases, this hero will become the main hero.
Therefore, no one even bothered to answer.

Now I will ask the next question.
When playing a faction other than Necropolis – if a Necropolis hero appears on round 111, what are the chances that you will not make him one of your main heroes?

In the previous Favorites, I played Castle. In the group stage, I played against Battanas, who is far from a noob (he played Fortress). So, he had Galtran from week 1, but for some reason, his main hero was Cielke (and this was on 6LM!). He didn't even level up Goshana.

lol, often, leveling up a Necromancer without focusing on Necropolis units leads to a significant slowdown in the game's pace, so the answer is obvious, regarding the main Necromancer build in 100% of cases.