Solving the 99% can't win Rumbles against the 1% issue

@Fil alone offered a couple different options including cutting your guild in half to make the less than 25 cut off to face major guilds as well varying your starting times. I think you need to decide what it is that your guild is trying to accomplish... is it just that you need to recruit some people that want to rumble hard? Maybe plan a rumble in your guild with all the active members to achieve a score worth posting here. Actions speak louder than words and members will go where they think their hard work will pay off. Another idea would be to look at the rumble leaderboard and see what guilds perform but not to the extent of the "1%" and visit those guilds for a rumble or two... see how they do things.

 

This......

 

Let me try to get this discussion restarted along the lines I had intended in the first place.

1. Let me make it clear that this discussion isn't intended to benefit my guild but it is intended to represent the people who I have posted in various places around the board saying they no longer compete in rumbles because they wish to either spend very few gems on a rumble or hopefully none and still have a good time. These guilds have a low percentage of highly active members but still enjoy playing the game and feel that to continue enjoying the game, and most importantly, to continue playing, they should have the opportunity to take part in some form of rumble where the playing field is more level.
2. They are not looking to change their guild structure, members, style, attitude, or anything else. They are not looking to be told that they have to pay to play - or that if they don't they will lose.
3. The "definition" of "unbeatable" for these people is a guild that is happy to do the things in point 2.
4. I was hoping to get suggestions for how the game could change or expand rumbles to accommodate what I'm calling the 99%. I'm not looking to change the current rumble system for the guilds that enjoy playing that way or change their behavior. I expect all that to stay the same.
5. I suggested three rumble divisions or brackets if you prefer where the rewards were greater for the top division than the bottom and anyone was free to enter the top rumble division. For the middle and lower divisions they would have restrictions on the "strength" of the guilds that could enter. Strength would be some combination of base size, attack participation, pirate strength, all divided by guild size. The intention was to create many more opportunities for many more guilds to enjoy a rumble with lower rewards for lower divisions.
6. If anyone has other suggestions as to how the game could be changed to accommodate these people who are currently often leaving the game due to feeling that they are the 99% and that the game is focused on the 1%, and that the 1% don't care but will miss them as the numbers playing falls considerably then please contribute. If you want to explain how they should change to fit into what is currently available, you are missing their point completely. They don't want to be like you. They want to stay the way they are and get to enjoy a rumble.

It seems a win win win if these folk can be accommodated.

• they win because they get to play and rumble
• midoki wins because they keep a large base of gamers who will likely still spend money in some form
• the other players win because if the game loses large numbers of players then it becomes marginalized.

This is my final attempt at this. Run with it and help, or pour scorn on me for believing the things I do about this.
Thanks

 

Jake, I get what you want. Having different rumble divisions, similar to college football leagues for example. It is a good idea, if it could be implemented fairly and to where it doesn't create long wait times for rumble starts. Unfortunately, it seems anytime the rumble system is tweaked, it causes more, unintended, problems. Sometimes you have to work within the parameters of the system that you have currently.

What confuses me, and I am not pointing at you or your guild, this is just a general statement, but I am confused by captains and guildmembers that come on here and complain how rumbles aren't fair, they aren't fun, and it just makes no sense to me. The rewards are an afterthought for me (I make far more off my poor victims than I do in rumble rewards). The real reward is how well I do, and I don't make a habit of gemming. If a guild that averages (these numbers are inflated), lets say 300k a rumble, with 50 members, with 2-5 members making up 250k of that score, can't see the problem, then something is wrong.....

 

Yep, you got it. I agree that the rumble algorithm is delicate and apparently minor changes can make it run like a dog. My assumption and hope would be that by entering one of three (and I'm not saying three is the right number, just seemed a sensible starting point) leagues you'd be splitting the data set into three and three instances of the current algorithm would run, one per set, meaning:-

• The current algorithm would run unaltered - no changes/tweaks
• The data for each instance would be reduced and as typically the time something takes to run increases significantly as the data set gets large - especially when it begins to fill main memory - this should cause performance improvements not degradations.
• The check that would be run to prevent the higher strength guilds would be quick - a value for the strength of each guild could be pre-calculated and updated directly on significant events such as someone joining or leaving, and/or updated periodically in the background This valve could be compared to the maximum entry strength value when the rumble entry screen is displayed and only the available rumble levels show as accessible with suitable messages. This ought to be fast and low system load
• Obviously there could be issues I'm missing either with the idea itself or the way the rumble matches are implemented

I agree totally with you that the incentive to do well personally in a rumble as well as the plunder that you gather while playing in one are far greater than that actual rumble rewards if you actually get involved in the rumble and the concept behind it.
And I also agree about there being a clear problem with those unbalanced guilds. Although I'm not looking to solve that with this line of thinking, and can't think of where to start with a general solution as I think that is a personality issue.

Thanks for your comments.