Also, in regards to your first point: I think part of the problem isn't so much the code (though there is a problem there I think) but rather just lag in general. There are times when the coliseum runs very smoothly, others there is a huge amount of lag between what I pick and what happens. However, I see that elsewhere on the site as well, including the forums (I am getting out of the habit of pinging people, everytime I do, FR lags and double posts...), it seems to have been especially bad since the latest registration window.
Again, I am not saying the code couldn't use some optimization but I don't think many of your problems in the first part are the fault of the code but rather just general lag on the site itself.
Also, in regards to your first point: I think part of the problem isn't so much the code (though there is a problem there I think) but rather just lag in general. There are times when the coliseum runs very smoothly, others there is a huge amount of lag between what I pick and what happens. However, I see that elsewhere on the site as well, including the forums (I am getting out of the habit of pinging people, everytime I do, FR lags and double posts...), it seems to have been especially bad since the latest registration window.
Again, I am not saying the code couldn't use some optimization but I don't think many of your problems in the first part are the fault of the code but rather just general lag on the site itself.
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Jemadar poorly optimized code is what causes the "lag" in the first place. The fact that the "lag" is not global and these problems only seem to affect certain people indicate bad coding. Server sided lag would affect the entire player base. The symptoms I've described would not be so regular and predictable were it just random lag. These slowdowns happen at all hours after 1-2 battles and cease immediately after refreshing the page only to crop back up again after 1-2 battles. That isn't to say the lag doesn't exist, what I'm saying is that all my problems with performance so far are the result of poor optimization.
I've spent years 15 years playing online games both browser based and client based, I've run game servers and voice servers from my home office. Not only that but I've dabbled quite a bit in game design.
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Jemadar poorly optimized code is what causes the "lag" in the first place. The fact that the "lag" is not global and these problems only seem to affect certain people indicate bad coding. Server sided lag would affect the entire player base. The symptoms I've described would not be so regular and predictable were it just random lag. These slowdowns happen at all hours after 1-2 battles and cease immediately after refreshing the page only to crop back up again after 1-2 battles. That isn't to say the lag doesn't exist, what I'm saying is that all my problems with performance so far are the result of poor optimization.
I've spent years 15 years playing online games both browser based and client based, I've run game servers and voice servers from my home office. Not only that but I've dabbled quite a bit in game design.
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shakey2 Okay now that I'm back home rather than on mobile I can do a more detailed response.
Since you are new, you are likely unaware that of the issues FR had when first opened. Registration windows are not how Flight Rising intended to run the game; it was supposed to be completely open registration (an it was for the first few months) however Flight Rising was far more popular than the site intended so they closed registration while they rewrote the code to make it more stable. The rewrite is still in progress and the coders tend to use registration windows as stress tests to see which portions still need work. The coliseum (and site in general) tends to be most laggy during registration windows, during festivals and on Saturdays of a dominance battle.
As I said earlier, the coliseum is undergoing a rewrite. Part of the reason for the rewrite is solve issues with the code and a variety of the bugs in the coliseum. Because they are in the process of recoding it, they are unlikely to add much in the way of new mechanisms to the current version of the coliseum. There is no ETA on when the rewrite will be done. Below is some information from the admins about dodge and their plans for it in the rewrite
Quote:
Have you changed the dodge rates?
No changes have been made to dodge rates since launch. We understand that the current system can be frustrating. To give a bit of insight: at this time, there is currently no stat that directly counters agility, which makes dodge chances go up and up and up. While this is cool for your dragons, it’s not so great for your enemies. It becomes a game of “can’t hit me!” on both sides, and we don’t think that’s very fun, either!! In the new build of the Coliseum we plan to revisit how dodging mechanics work. Ideally, we would like for agility to provide both the swiftness needed to dodge an attack and the dexterity needed to land hits on enemies attempting to avoid you. Please note that the particulars of these mechanics may be tweaked during the rebuild, but in the end, dodging should be a significantly less frustrating experience and instead be an additional facet to the game.
They are adding new venues on a fairly frequent basis as that tends to be something the artists can do and if I recall correctly, the coding team said the new venues won't affect the speed of the rewrite. I wouldn't mind if each level eventually has two venues, the current one which is well suited for glass canons, and an alternate that are better suited for alternative build or if they instead implemented an easy vs hard (same venues, just on hard the enemy builds are far more varied).
Because of the nature of eliminate its probably going to always be the go to build for grinding simply because if used correctly it can be used over and over again without having to 'recharge' barring the occasional dodge meaning that battles are generally over much faster when using eliminate. I rarely use rally so on enemies that can be rally-eliminated I'll scratch-eliminate which means often even a couple dodged eliminates means I can still use eliminate with the extra breath.
You may find Varric's
coliseum rebalance suggestion an interesting read as it also addresses concerns with the coliseum and has suggestions on adding more variety to the coliseum
@
shakey2 Okay now that I'm back home rather than on mobile I can do a more detailed response.
Since you are new, you are likely unaware that of the issues FR had when first opened. Registration windows are not how Flight Rising intended to run the game; it was supposed to be completely open registration (an it was for the first few months) however Flight Rising was far more popular than the site intended so they closed registration while they rewrote the code to make it more stable. The rewrite is still in progress and the coders tend to use registration windows as stress tests to see which portions still need work. The coliseum (and site in general) tends to be most laggy during registration windows, during festivals and on Saturdays of a dominance battle.
As I said earlier, the coliseum is undergoing a rewrite. Part of the reason for the rewrite is solve issues with the code and a variety of the bugs in the coliseum. Because they are in the process of recoding it, they are unlikely to add much in the way of new mechanisms to the current version of the coliseum. There is no ETA on when the rewrite will be done. Below is some information from the admins about dodge and their plans for it in the rewrite
Quote:
Have you changed the dodge rates?
No changes have been made to dodge rates since launch. We understand that the current system can be frustrating. To give a bit of insight: at this time, there is currently no stat that directly counters agility, which makes dodge chances go up and up and up. While this is cool for your dragons, it’s not so great for your enemies. It becomes a game of “can’t hit me!” on both sides, and we don’t think that’s very fun, either!! In the new build of the Coliseum we plan to revisit how dodging mechanics work. Ideally, we would like for agility to provide both the swiftness needed to dodge an attack and the dexterity needed to land hits on enemies attempting to avoid you. Please note that the particulars of these mechanics may be tweaked during the rebuild, but in the end, dodging should be a significantly less frustrating experience and instead be an additional facet to the game.
They are adding new venues on a fairly frequent basis as that tends to be something the artists can do and if I recall correctly, the coding team said the new venues won't affect the speed of the rewrite. I wouldn't mind if each level eventually has two venues, the current one which is well suited for glass canons, and an alternate that are better suited for alternative build or if they instead implemented an easy vs hard (same venues, just on hard the enemy builds are far more varied).
Because of the nature of eliminate its probably going to always be the go to build for grinding simply because if used correctly it can be used over and over again without having to 'recharge' barring the occasional dodge meaning that battles are generally over much faster when using eliminate. I rarely use rally so on enemies that can be rally-eliminated I'll scratch-eliminate which means often even a couple dodged eliminates means I can still use eliminate with the extra breath.
You may find Varric's
coliseum rebalance suggestion an interesting read as it also addresses concerns with the coliseum and has suggestions on adding more variety to the coliseum
@
DragonSage The whole grind thing, that is the root of my problem with the coliseum (outside of the performance issues of course). As others have stated it's boring and repetitive. I don't want to play something like that but right now it's a key part of FR. Not only is it a big money maker but you can't level your dragons without it. My contributions to dominance will also suffer because the higher the level the more your exalts contribute, and I want to support my flight as much as I can.
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DragonSage The whole grind thing, that is the root of my problem with the coliseum (outside of the performance issues of course). As others have stated it's boring and repetitive. I don't want to play something like that but right now it's a key part of FR. Not only is it a big money maker but you can't level your dragons without it. My contributions to dominance will also suffer because the higher the level the more your exalts contribute, and I want to support my flight as much as I can.
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Shakey2
To my understanding (depends on what flight you are in) there are many ways you can contribute. you don't have to train and exalt yourself, you could send them off to be trained by others, etc...
As for the grind thing, that is sort of what I was trying to say in my first post: that is the essence of the coliseum. Shoot, it is nearly the essence of any game, online or off, that has fighting and levels, you will eventually have to 'grind' to reach the next level. I have done it myself countless times in other games, on and offline.
As I said I think the major problem with the coliseum right now is that it is the main feature of the site. Outside of fairgrounds games (which I can barely play due to the lag between my moves and when the site moves, except shock switch) there isn't any other area of the site to really DO something at any given moment. You put something in baldwins: wait. Swipp: wait until the correct trade comes up. Breeding and dragons: incubate, dress, bond then wait. The other areas are dailies in that once you finish them, you are done for the day.
As I said earlier, I am hoping that as the site gets the rewrites done and moves closer to the goal of open registration, we will start getting more areas and features that will lessen the importance of the Coliseum to the site itself.
Again I am not saying that there shouldn't be improvements to make grinding easier, but I am just saying that I believe that the essence of the coliseum IS the grinding.
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Shakey2
To my understanding (depends on what flight you are in) there are many ways you can contribute. you don't have to train and exalt yourself, you could send them off to be trained by others, etc...
As for the grind thing, that is sort of what I was trying to say in my first post: that is the essence of the coliseum. Shoot, it is nearly the essence of any game, online or off, that has fighting and levels, you will eventually have to 'grind' to reach the next level. I have done it myself countless times in other games, on and offline.
As I said I think the major problem with the coliseum right now is that it is the main feature of the site. Outside of fairgrounds games (which I can barely play due to the lag between my moves and when the site moves, except shock switch) there isn't any other area of the site to really DO something at any given moment. You put something in baldwins: wait. Swipp: wait until the correct trade comes up. Breeding and dragons: incubate, dress, bond then wait. The other areas are dailies in that once you finish them, you are done for the day.
As I said earlier, I am hoping that as the site gets the rewrites done and moves closer to the goal of open registration, we will start getting more areas and features that will lessen the importance of the Coliseum to the site itself.
Again I am not saying that there shouldn't be improvements to make grinding easier, but I am just saying that I believe that the essence of the coliseum IS the grinding.
I agree that the Coli is in need of a rewrite, and I don't agree that the Coli should be mindless or be set up exclusively for people who are farming/training/grinding for long periods of time. I would rather that the Coli be made more interesting with more possibilities - including more penalty (for example, KO'ed dragons losing some or all Breath, or something, that would make me even come close to considering using a Potion, which are imo the most useless item in the game). The trade off, I think, could be less experience needed to gain levels. That way the extra work would pay off.
Since it's getting a rewrite, I can't really comment on what should be done without knowing what they are already doing, but I'd much rather the Coli actually be fun and not a chore, and can't agree with the sentiment that we ought to be content to have a boring, predictable grinding machine, just because it's a "side game". It can be a side game and still be fun. And Coli is one of the few features that has the potential to keep people on the site and interested in hanging around after they've fed their dragons and done their Gathering, so I would think it would be in the site's best interest to make it more exciting.
I agree that the Coli is in need of a rewrite, and I don't agree that the Coli should be mindless or be set up exclusively for people who are farming/training/grinding for long periods of time. I would rather that the Coli be made more interesting with more possibilities - including more penalty (for example, KO'ed dragons losing some or all Breath, or something, that would make me even come close to considering using a Potion, which are imo the most useless item in the game). The trade off, I think, could be less experience needed to gain levels. That way the extra work would pay off.
Since it's getting a rewrite, I can't really comment on what should be done without knowing what they are already doing, but I'd much rather the Coli actually be fun and not a chore, and can't agree with the sentiment that we ought to be content to have a boring, predictable grinding machine, just because it's a "side game". It can be a side game and still be fun. And Coli is one of the few features that has the potential to keep people on the site and interested in hanging around after they've fed their dragons and done their Gathering, so I would think it would be in the site's best interest to make it more exciting.
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Jemadar: I disagree that grinding is the essence of the coliseum. I think at the heart of it is an unpolished turn-based combat system just waiting to be refined into a precious gem. With the inclusion of status effects, party buff abilities, and tank/heal abilities it feels like the devs intended it to be more than what it is right now. The grind you are describing is the idea of killing the same monsters over and over to achieve levels, and the thing is that is fine as long as you are not just mashing the same buttons over and over endlessly. There is good grind and there is bad grind, this grind in the coli right now is the bad kind. The grinding does not need to be made easier, it needs to be made more entertaining.
As for contributing to your flight, if I send my dragons to be trained/exalted by others I might as well just be an extension to their own lair/nests. To me leveling dragons is a big part of the "raising" your dragons in this dragon raising sim. It's like if I were to play pokemon but never once trained my pokemon and just gave away everything I caught to my friends.
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Jemadar: I disagree that grinding is the essence of the coliseum. I think at the heart of it is an unpolished turn-based combat system just waiting to be refined into a precious gem. With the inclusion of status effects, party buff abilities, and tank/heal abilities it feels like the devs intended it to be more than what it is right now. The grind you are describing is the idea of killing the same monsters over and over to achieve levels, and the thing is that is fine as long as you are not just mashing the same buttons over and over endlessly. There is good grind and there is bad grind, this grind in the coli right now is the bad kind. The grinding does not need to be made easier, it needs to be made more entertaining.
As for contributing to your flight, if I send my dragons to be trained/exalted by others I might as well just be an extension to their own lair/nests. To me leveling dragons is a big part of the "raising" your dragons in this dragon raising sim. It's like if I were to play pokemon but never once trained my pokemon and just gave away everything I caught to my friends.
I just wish there was a hotkey for attacks & targeting monsters so I don't have to click on everything
I just wish there was a hotkey for attacks & targeting monsters so I don't have to click on everything
