Patch 9.2 Solo Shuffle Details - Deserter Penalty, Best Honor Farm Method

[Lumy]

Patch 9.2 Solo Shuffle Details - Deserter Penalty, Best Honor Farm Method

I am really looking forward to the new brawl/solo Q they are trying to test out for the next patch but certain things have really been overlooked in the making sense category. I understand that blizzard looks at certain classes and specs in the game and tries the hardest to tweak the balance of certain things towards what they think the players want and with certain things like Solo shuffle they have been getting it right so far with new things coming out looking pretty good but certain things really need some addressing

First thing im really worried about is the leaving factor in solo shuffle with certain people not liking the comp they are playing and deciding it would not be worth the time to even try and leaving and while this is something that is certainly going to happen it will basically mean that team loses which would be fine if it could not be abused. I think the closest thing we have currently in the game being skirms and while certain people Q skirms all day it eventually causes you to run into the same people and while they could be on the enemy team or even your current team it could be abused. “you killed me last game enjoy ur loss” would be an example of obvious abuse that could happen where someone leaves after having lost to you causing you to lose. They will add a timer for people dropping games just like in random bgs and it will eventually just lead to leavers ruining it because of low participation from a few bad apples.

Tank positions. This is something that people obviously has major qualms about and while most of it is justified towards certain specs/classes the idea that blizzard wants tank to fill the role of healer in Solo shuffle it is probably one of the worst ideas. You have the obvious two specs that fall into the category of being the problem(Prot pally, Guardian druid) just 2 and (Brewmaster, Blood, Prot war, Vengence) 4 specs which will absolutely be punished by this for just being lumped into the same role as Prot pally and Guardian druid. Blizzard should really not decide they want to absolutely stifle the literally handful of players who decide to play those 4 specs just to "balance" out the other 2. I think it is extremely short sighted of blizzard to put a literally balance out just to slap that tiny player base in the face.

Rewards are something that people are looking forward to for the eventual inclusion of (hopefully) Solo Q with the success of Solo Shuffle and while obviously a huge potion of people will not try Solo Shuffle they need to add some rewards in regards to how great Solo Shuffle could be or it will be as dead as the Dueling Arena they introduced in BFA.

obviously this isnt all the stuff we need to address for Solo Shuffle and I will add things as I can think or hear about from people but I am really hopeful blizzard can get this right before it is stifled by incorrect thinking.

Thank you for providing feedback on Solo Shuffle. A lot of the issues you brought up are important to us as well and we know solving them is important to making this game mode fun and satisfying for all involved. Part of the reason we elected to implement this feature as a Brawl first was to discover issues like the ones you described firsthand and iterate a bit on our solutions to these problems.

With respect to people leaving early, this is certainly a big threat to Solo Shuffle’s success. Our current plan is twofold. First, if a player leaves the match early, all rounds will be resolved as if that person lost every round (even ones they’d already played). So that person will go 0-6 while the other participants will go 3-3. If the mode was rated, this would be extremely bad for the person who leaves the match early and essentially a wash for everyone else. In the case of an unrated Brawl, we don’t plan to reward anything to someone who leaves the match early. Second, we’ll be using a pretty hefty Deserter penalty that prevents people from queuing that will stack with repeat departures. The first time you leave early may be 15 minutes. Subsequent early departures within a certain timeframe (perhaps 24 hours) will increase the duration by 5 minutes. We need to provide some grace for the occassional internet disconnect, but repeatedly leaving matches is a detriment to everyone.

When it comes to Tanks in Solo Shuffle, Protection Paladins have a distinct advantage due to the potency of their off-healing. Our current plan is to have Protection Paladins only match up against other Protection Paladins, while other Tanks can square off against each other.

Finally, when it comes to Rewards, for the Brawl version of Solo Shuffle, we’re planning on making it pretty efficient when it comes to Honor. When available, Solo Shuffle should be the most efficient way to earn Honor for 9.2. Also, Solo Shuffle’s availability will be independent of the rest of the Brawls in 9.2, including its own button on the PvP pane (similar to Korrak’s Revenge).

Again, thank you for the valuable feedback on Solo Shuffle. We hope you’re excited to give it a try.

[craigw]

almost got a papercut on the tip of my penis. close call wow!

[Phagelives]

i am disappointed on how little the devs are talking to the community members , silly me thought they would be more vocal.

[h8ryan]

a quick fix to the tank problem would be to not allow people to queue solo as a prot warrior because they're ruining the game for 2 other people at the very least.

this is a game surrounded by meta comps and if you were the vocal minority crying for an end to LFG because you want to play brewmaster in 3s then you're the problem to begin with

[WowIsDead64]

15 mins - is big penalty for first time. Other games have progressive penalties too, but they start at few seconds in order not to punish accidental leaving or leaving for good reason. That's why MMOs are so punishing - they force you to sit in front of your computer no matter what. Even if your house is on fire.

[Mysterymask]

15 mins - is big penalty for first time. Other games have progressive penalties too, but they start at few seconds in order not to punish accidental leaving or leaving for good reason. That's why MMOs are so punishing - they force you to sit in front of your computer no matter what. Even if your house is on fire.

Im sorry but if your priority is getting a few internet points over your house being on fire that is sincerely a you problem not a blizzard problem

[WowIsDead64]

Im sorry but if your priority is getting a few internet points over your house being on fire that is sincerely a you problem not a blizzard problem

Yeah, but I don't want to play games, that say, that you get 15 mins penalty, if your mother asks for cup of water and you don't tell her, "WHY CAN"T YOU UNDERSTAND, THAT WOW CAN'T BE PAUSED?!!!!". I play other game, where penalties start from 10 seconds. Second penalty is around 5 minutes. And this game does perfectly ok. Because abusing = doing it repeatedly. I.e. more than 2-3 times. It's Blizzard, who overreact on minor problems, always suspecting, that players would abuse their game some way.

[Mysterymask]

Yeah, but I don't want to play games, that say, that you get 15 mins penalty, if your mother asks for cup of water and you don't tell her, "WHY CAN"T YOU UNDERSTAND, THAT WOW CAN'T BE PAUSED?!!!!". I play other game, where penalties start from 10 seconds. Second penalty is around 5 minutes. And this game does perfectly ok. Because abusing = doing it repeatedly. I.e. more than 2-3 times. It's Blizzard, who overreact on minor problems, always suspecting, that players would abuse their game some way.

Yeah but it's an online game if I was playing Street Fighter 5 online and that happens I take the loss and deal with it same thing if I had an emergency playing Hearthstone or Magic Online or even Monster Hunter...

It's called being a functioning adult

[schwarzkopf]

First, if a player leaves the match early, all rounds will be resolved as if that person lost every round (even ones they’d already played). So that person will go 0-6 while the other participants will go 3-3. If the mode was rated, this would be extremely bad for the person who leaves the match early and essentially a wash for everyone else

Isn't that going to be open to abuse (leaving to boost your mates) ?

PS: This is a question, not a statement for those of you who love to jump to conclusions.

[WowIsDead64]

Yeah but it's an online game if I was playing Street Fighter 5 online and that happens I take the loss and deal with it same thing if I had an emergency playing Hearthstone or Magic Online or even Monster Hunter...

It's called being a functioning adult

But it's just video game - not being plane pilot or operating nuclear reactor, where one mistake may cost live losses. Abusing is bad and I agree with this. That's why we should have progressive penalties. But losing due to player leaving match isn't disaster. It's just losing in video game, nothing more. It's nature of PVP games. In order not to become crazy in PVP games you should learn to lose. Because PVP games are usually imbalanced and unfair anyway. When you lose due to some unfair condition - you just should move on and start next match. This is only way to stay happy.

I just don't think, that games should put that much pressure on players. It's bad thing, we've been talking a lot recently. Games shouldn't affect your real life. This is unhealthy and should be regulated.

[Nerph-]

But it's just video game - not being plane pilot or operating nuclear reactor, where one mistake may cost live losses. Abusing is bad and I agree with this. That's why we should have progressive penalties. But losing due to player leaving match isn't disaster. It's just losing in video game, nothing more. It's nature of PVP games. In order not to become crazy in PVP games you should learn to lose. Because PVP games are usually imbalanced and unfair anyway. When you lose due to some unfair condition - you just should move on and start next match. This is only way to stay happy.

I just don't think, that games should put that much pressure on players. It's bad thing, we've been talking a lot recently. Games shouldn't affect your real life. This is unhealthy and should be regulated.

It affects you as much as you let it affect you.

And no, gaming should not be regulated, lmao.

[WowIsDead64]

It affects you as much as you let it affect you.

And no, gaming should not be regulated, lmao.

I think "Whether it's personal choice or should be regulated" - is beyond scope of this thread. It's the matter of being unhealthy and exploiting human nature weaknesses by unfair business in order to get super profits. Because at some point they cross some red line of reasonable pressure on customers and start to act like drug dealers, who don't care about anything, but money. At some point it was considered, that smoking and drinking alcohol was purely one's personal choice. But it's not now. If even sugar, salt and sausage are considered to be unhealthy now to a point, where they should be regulated, then I don't really think, that video games should be any different.

[Mysterymask]

I think "Whether it's personal choice or should be regulated" - is beyond scope of this thread. It's the matter of being unhealthy and exploiting human nature weaknesses by unfair business in order to get super profits. Because at some point they cross some red line of reasonable pressure on customers and start to act like drug dealers, who don't care about anything, but money. At some point it was considered, that smoking and drinking alcohol was purely one's personal choice. But it's not now. If even sugar, salt and sausage are considered to be unhealthy now to a point, where they should be regulated, then I don't really think, that video games should be any different.

At the end of the day yes company's do fucking exploit people for a profit

But people aren't entirely innocent in this endeavor either. There are tons of warnings and horror stories about people losing everything in gambling or dying while smoking or drinking. End of the day in wow you lose what 15 minutes shit if you bail in your last example of your house being on fire that 15 minutes will be long up by the time your house is no longer on fire and you got your shit together. You didn't lose your house or your life maybe a little bit of potential numbers in an online game. If you died because you prioritized the game that is your own damned fault.

[Kel_Sceptic]

It is clear for me, with these DEVs WoW will not be good again.
The only thing that would have actually make me TRY it in 9.2 was the Solo Schuffle, as a RATED PvP system with similar rated rewards. But all they can do, after months, is reward Honor.
Bye bye Old Blizzard, you were like family.
These new devs have nothing in common with WoW or gaming.

[WowIsDead64]

At the end of the day yes company's do fucking exploit people for a profit

But people aren't entirely innocent in this endeavor either. There are tons of warnings and horror stories about people losing everything in gambling or dying while smoking or drinking. End of the day in wow you lose what 15 minutes shit if you bail in your last example of your house being on fire that 15 minutes will be long up by the time your house is no longer on fire and you got your shit together. You didn't lose your house or your life maybe a little bit of potential numbers in an online game. If you died because you prioritized the game that is your own damned fault.

At the end it boils down to having enough self-control. Question is simple - is it considered, that every healthy human (including kids) should have enough self-control to overcome this problem and that not having enough self-control is some sort of individual sickness, or that it's natural human weakness, that can't be overcome by large % of humans (especially kids, who have low self-control by nature) and that having enough self-control against it - is more like outstanding thing, that is characteristic of strong humans, like professional sportsmen. In second case - you know, people should be protected from themselves and of course from abusive business, that exploit aggressive advertising to push unhealthy behavior in order to milk maximal profit from it. What some guys here claim - is that "Everybody should have enough self-control not to smoke, drink and use drugs, it's personal choice, nothing bad in advertising it to kids on TV".

[klaps_05]

If solo shuffle is the most efficient honor farm, doesnt that effectively kill battlegrounds?

[Thes]

First, if a player leaves the match early, all rounds will be resolved as if that person lost every round (even ones they’d already played). So that person will go 0-6 while the other participants will go 3-3. If the mode was rated, this would be extremely bad for the person who leaves the match early and essentially a wash for everyone else

Isn't that going to be open to abuse (leaving to boost your mates) ?

PS: This is a question, not a statement for those of you who love to jump to conclusions.

Well yes this already happened in the past where if you left arena before the score screen came up you didn't lose MMR due to a bug. And because you didn't lose MMR your rating would naturally inflate a ton.

So basically if you queued with friends you could leave and they'd never lose a game.

[reemi]

Yeah, but I don't want to play games, that say, that you get 15 mins penalty, if your mother asks for cup of water and you don't tell her, "WHY CAN"T YOU UNDERSTAND, THAT WOW CAN'T BE PAUSED?!!!!". I play other game, where penalties start from 10 seconds. Second penalty is around 5 minutes. And this game does perfectly ok. Because abusing = doing it repeatedly. I.e. more than 2-3 times. It's Blizzard, who overreact on minor problems, always suspecting, that players would abuse their game some way.

And I guess your mother is asking you this ONLY when you are losing lol?

If you played some 1vs1 games like MK, NHL, you will understand a LOT of people losing are rage quitting all the time..

15 minutes is not enough, it should be 1 hour minimum.

If you really have an emergency because your mother want some water... You can leave your game open and die , you don't have to LEAVE.

[Alydael]

This game relies on grouping for content and challenges.

In a way- grouping is the bread and butter of this game, the nuts and bolts. Your ability to find good groups will be a large part of your personal success or failure.

That being said, it is amazing/ stunning/ almost unbelievable that BLizz does not to do more to protect grouping.

I think deserter penalties need to be much higher. When you leave, you just basically destroyed the experiences for the other four players (or w/e is in the group). 15 mins for that? Not near enough.

The other thing is toxic behavior. I feel like every toxic player is like a virus out there that is continually causing good players to quit the game and go elsewhere. Toxic players are costing Blizz big $$$. If you don't think toxic players destroy the game and ruin your profits, you can just go and ask Wildstar. There is basically no penalty in this game for toxic players.

If I was Blizz, I would make a big push to get the deserters and toxic players out of my game. Those types do not belong in a group game and will kill your community. Once you clean them out, they will likely not come back- they will just find another game to be toxic in and they will leave your players alone, so that you can make that $$$ and have a good community.

Why would you want a toxic player or a deserter type in your game anyway? Especially in game that uses grouping as one of its cornerstones.........

[Lorgar Aurelian]

It is clear for me, with these DEVs WoW will not be good again.
The only thing that would have actually make me TRY it in 9.2 was the Solo Schuffle, as a RATED PvP system with similar rated rewards. But all they can do, after months, is reward Honor.
Bye bye Old Blizzard, you were like family.
These new devs have nothing in common with WoW or gaming.

Isn’t the whole point of the shuffle to test out how people actually engage with the solo que idea to see if it could cut it as rated later down the line?