IMPORTANT: Sprint Exploit

[IveGotACaseOfTheMage]

Ross I emailed you before on this a while back but I think you were going through some busy personal issues.  There is a sprint exploit that I think came about when async was introduced.  I've always had grumbles about the sprint ability because its completely unpredictable and makes planning strategy next to impossible.  However, now if people are unhappy with their sprint rolls they can just leave the game and come back until they get an ungodly sprint roll.  This isnt just a game changer its a game breaker at critical points.  I know for a fact this is going on with certain players but I won't name any names.  I've seen it happen so often that I've just decided that until its fixed i'm going to do the same to take away any unfair advantages.  I realize you are a very busy person right now so I understand, but this needs to be a hot patch fix ASAP.  Its becoming increasing more rampant. 

On a side note, I wonder if there would be any support amongst the community to make sprint a flat 4 grid move.  That would eliminate guessing for strategy and still give people the ability to outrun opponents or get closer to attack them.

[q666]

Making Sprint always 4 steps would diminish Minotaurs ability to charge at opponents. This would further establish him as the weakest guard (weak defense, not a lot of health).

[amlethus]

I think that the randomness is a good part of the game, but I think it would be better if the sprint was more likely to be somewhere in the middle, but could reach higher or lower values (e.g. instead of sprint being 1d6 + 1, make it 1d3 + 1d4).  That way, a sprint of 4 or 5 is more likely than a 2 or 7.

[IveGotACaseOfTheMage]

Regarding  it weakening the Minotaur isnt his ability 2 dice plus whatever he sprints?  So that would still give him the ability to roll 6 if I'm correct.  That's 1 more dice then the Barb plus he's the only unit that gets to attack after sprinting.  He also has the ability to take away an opponents attack.  If I'm not mistaken he also gets an extra point to defense then the barb.  He seems quite poweful already considering no one has the option of purchasing him.  I havent had the luxury of playing a Minotaur but if you pair him with a bard and he uses inspire on the minotaur and then the mino uses the sprint attack does he get a plus 4 modifier to dice roll plus 2 dice base and what  up to 7 dice from sprinting? 

I've gotten off track a little I guess but I can support the post directly above this about the dice for sprint being more in the medium range.  The exploit definetly needs to be fixed though.  Obviously a minotaur exploiting the sprint reroll could be extra deadly.  As well as Mages getting in LOS because of it.

[q666]

The Minotaur is the weakest guard when it comes to.defense except for the barbarian. On the same level as the sorceress and weaker than fighter mage. He melee offense is on par with with the soul reaver and the fighter mage. His running attack goes.from 4-9- Dice, but since it's a running attack you need to be able to run an u can use it only every second move and you can't real plan it, because you don't know how long you can Sprint. Also if your opponent is placed diagonally from you it is hard to know if it will Sprint vertical first or second. Depending on what it does, you might end up with no attack at all.So on second thought the running 4 spaces might even be an advantage for the Minotaur. Still in my eyes he stays the weakest guard. Strength modifiers don't work on that running attack.The taking away attacks ability is ok, but it costs 2cards and only hits 60 percent of the time. So it's only worth it if there are.2 or 3 opponents around you. Also once the roar hits it can be reversed by both Palladian and mage. Compared to the barbarian he is 1 defense stronger and 1 attack weaker, but all Minotaurs special abilities are heavily influenced by chance, while barbs jump and chain attack in them self are certainties, also all his attacks can be modified by strength and cost a card less and he's got one life more than Minotaur.

[WorldChamp(ELITE)]

Re to planning moves with Mino, 2 sprint is garanteed! Minotaur has 4 Attack Regular. Minotaur sprint/attack. Say your opponent is 7 spaces away. Mino can move 5, sprint 2.. Bull charge = 2 x 2 4 total damage. It would be just like hitting him without sprinting but has 7 spaces to walk.

When I play with mino I plan to sprint 2 spaces. Sometimes I get lucky and get to bull charge 9 spaces. But usually 2.

2 sprint is dependable, you get 2 no matter what.

[q666]

If u use Sprint as 2 u get normal dice, but if you're lucky u need a different opponent standing at the right direction to make use of the extra dice. I feel like  bull charge is the most difficult to plan attack because u can only use it in very specific circumstances. That weakens the attack extensively. I find it very hard to combine it with an other guard and mage to make him strong.

[Yaemon]

Yeah this is a critical bug that affects gameplay, I like the random element in the sprint (because it allows risk management decisions :p), but it should be logged by the system so that if you log out and try again you get the same number, basically the same it is already happening for dices.

[Slump]

Noticing this myself. Some bizarre offensive tactics going on and all out suicidal attacks, and then suddenly two characters "coincidentally" roll 7's and are able to escape 

[Ross Przybylski]

This is next on my list after having resolved the Google Play IAP issue (finally). Has the community come to a consensus on how Sprint should be handled?

One unique opportunity could be as follows:

You always have the option to *try* and sprint up to seven spaces (vs. see your roll amount and then pick) - then, based on your actual roll, you move those many spaces.

This would make sprinting a far riskier tactic since you couldn't always rely on to escape certain situations - PLUS - you commit to the sprint vs. take a pass if you don't like the roll. Personally, I feel this capture the nature of the game mechanic. Sprint is intended to tax your character's endurance and produce unpredictable results. Knowing, in advance, that your character is too tired to make the full distance diminishes the suspense.

What does everyone think?

[WorldChamp(ELITE)]

Very Nice! I'm in with that 110%. Make it happen

[jmvh59]

As much as I like the idea of a set or reduced sprint, I think the existing 2-7 range is good.  I suggest instead of rolling a d6+1 for the distance, do it as 5d20 (only count rolls of 10+ and add 2) to get a range of 2-7 that has a more bell shaped distribution; here are the rounded chances:

2 spaces (approx 1.9%)
3 spaces (11.3%)
4 spaces (27.6%)
5 spaces (33.7%)
6 spaces (20.6%)
7 spaces (5.0%)

The number to beat on d20 can always be modified to make the average sprint further or shorter.  Program the game keep a record of the roll to eliminate the logout/return exploit.

An even more extreme system might be to modify the character's current attack dice (add 4, maybe), use that number against that unit's modified defense rating (subtract 4, maybe) to determine a number of spaces able to be sprinted.  Lightly armored characters with high strength (i.e. the Barbarian and Minotaur) would outstrip the others at sprinting; this has an intuitive feel to it, but low attack units with high armor (i.e. Warrior and Samurai) may not even be able to sprint some turns.  This proposed system would change the game status quo and would require some playtesting and tweaking to establish an agreeable balance.

Thanks for listening,

Jason

[IveGotACaseOfTheMage]

Ross, Just so I understand your suggestion, you would see what the sprint roll was going to be and either accept it or pass so you can sprint next turn?  Would you still be able to attack if you declined what you rolled on your sprint?  If that's the suggestion I'm okay with that.  Anything to make sprint a gamble but at the same time you should be able to somewhat plan your strategy around it.

I also like Jason's idea.  I dont think all the probabilities for sprint should be equal.  You should rarely roll a 2 on a sprint imo.  You should also rarely roll a 7.  I think 4-5 should have the higher chances then the other extremes.  Out of the two I guess my vote goes towards a model similar to Jason's.

On a side note Ross, any chance of opening up the Mino as a purchasable character?  Promos and opportunities seem rare to get him for free.  I'd pay a small fee.  Also any timeline on a new expansion set coming down the pipes?

[Ross Przybylski]

I'm reading from the original bug post that the issue is sprint rolls can be canceled by jumping out of the game and re-entering to get a new result. This is definitely an exploit.

Sprint is supposed to function as follows: Once you roll for sprint, you lose your attack- you can choose not to sprint, but you don't get your attack back and you can't roll again until next turn.

In order to fix this, I need to log the sprint roll result in the system. Alternatively, I was suggesting I could change the sprint rule so that you don't get a choice of seeing the roll result before you commit to sprinting. You would always see a possible move of 7 spaces, but you might only get a 4 and move that many spaces towards your goal, potentially leaving you exposed. This makes sprint much more of a gamble because you lose (not only your option to attack) but potentially expose yourself to vulnerable position if the roll is not as high as expected.

[jmvh59]

So, you're saying when you hit the check to decide to sprint, it shows you spaces in the max range, and you may or not make it when you commit to the sprint?  That makes sense.  So I could pick a spot under cover 3 or 4 moves away to play it safe and almost always make it, but if I go for a spot 7 moves away, I might peter out after only moving 2 or 3?  If I don't roll enough to make the full distance, I still move the partial distance that I rolled?