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[SC2B] A Shot In The Dark - Page 2

Forum Index > News
123 CommentsPost a Reply
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UbiNax
Profile Joined February 2010
Denmark381 Posts
March 09 2010 15:41 GMT
#21
On March 10 2010 00:34 micronesia wrote:
Can you explain how 50% miss means 4 hits to kill the marine?


it says " on average " so really just in theory, in reality its about luck O.o
ckjy
Profile Joined March 2010
United States12 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-03-09 16:00:41
March 09 2010 15:44 GMT
#22
When balancing, you can't just look at averages - you have to look at the distribution as well. With a 50% hit chance, it is accurate to say that it takes an average of 4 shots to kill the marine. But this is an incomplete statement. It is also true that 50% of the time, three or fewer shots will be required, and 25% of the time, 2 shots is all that is needed. So, it's important to consider that 25% of the time, a 50% hit rate will result in a faster marine kill, than simply reducing damage by 50%.

Now suppose we upgrade the tank's weapons. If we assumed a level 3 upgrade of +6 to the tank's damage against marines, then the math changes substantially. A 50% miss rate will result in a dead marine with two or fewer volleys 75% of the time, with only one volley required 50% of the time. This is in contrast to a 50% damage reduction, which will always require two shots.

Let's take it one step further, and upgrade the marine's armor to +1. Now we have a complicated situation involving damage reduction. Should the damage bonus from the upgrade be applied before, or after the fog-of-war damage reduction of 50%? If it is applied before (so damage taken is [(35+6)*50% - 1]), then three shots are required to kill the marine. If it is applied after (so damage taken is [(35 * 50%) + 6 - 1], then only two shots are required. If there is no damage reduction and only a 50% miss chance, the marine will still die with two or fewer volleys 75% of the time.

The difference is drastic, when you consider going from 2 to 3 volleys equates to taking 50% longer to kill a unit.

The difficulty of balancing a game goes far beyond deciding whether a number should be calculated one way or the other - it involves taking into account every possible way the battle can play out, and weighing every single variable against each other in a similar fashion.
0neder
Profile Joined July 2009
United States3733 Posts
March 09 2010 15:44 GMT
#23
How about moving the warp gate mechanic a little later in the tech tree? Maybe having it at the twilight council would give some more interesting tension to between robotics heavy and gateway heavy strategies.
Wintermute
Profile Joined March 2010
United States427 Posts
March 09 2010 15:46 GMT
#24
On March 10 2010 00:34 micronesia wrote:
Can you explain how 50% miss means 4 hits to kill the marine?


It doesn't take 4 hits, it takes (on average) 4 shots. Sometimes the first two shots will hit, and sometimes it will take 8 shots, but on average, 4 shots, because you need to hit twice and you have a 50% chance each shot.
Don't let me say this, but you're no worse than me; it's crazy.
theSAiNT
Profile Joined July 2009
United States726 Posts
March 09 2010 15:50 GMT
#25
Blizzard might or might not see this post. Given that the beta is for such feedback (whether they choose to follow it or not), you should copy this on to the official beta forums.
Crunchums
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States11144 Posts
March 09 2010 15:51 GMT
#26
imo make warp gate research require a twilight council

your analysis of %miss increasing shots required to kill is oversimplified. hit miss hit miss is just as likely as miss hit miss hit but the first only requires 3 whereas the second needs 4
brood war for life, brood war forever
ckjy
Profile Joined March 2010
United States12 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-03-09 15:55:17
March 09 2010 15:52 GMT
#27
On March 10 2010 00:41 UbiNax wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 10 2010 00:34 micronesia wrote:
Can you explain how 50% miss means 4 hits to kill the marine?


it says " on average " so really just in theory, in reality its about luck O.o


It takes two successful hits to kill the marine, so if it takes n volleys to kill the marine, the last volley must have been a hit, there must have been a hit in the first (n-1) volleys, and there were a total of (n-2) misses.

Here's a table of all the possibilities, and the chance of it happening (death in n volleys).

Shots Needed..Percent Chance
2......................25.0%
3......................25.0%
4......................18.8%
5......................12.5%
6......................7.8%
7......................4.7%
8......................2.7%
9......................1.6%
10 or more.......2.0%

The average number of shots needed is equal to the probability of each possible outcome multiplied by the number of shots that were needed (2 * 25% + 3 * 25% + 4 * 18.8% + ... = 4).

A shortcut to this calculation is (shots required) / (hit chance), which works out to be (2 / .5), or 4 shots.
intrigue
Profile Blog Joined November 2005
Washington, D.C9935 Posts
March 09 2010 15:57 GMT
#28
nice post naz
Moderatorsloppy little slug
Hrrrrm
Profile Joined March 2010
United States2081 Posts
March 09 2010 16:00 GMT
#29
I agree on everything except the cliff change/LOS issue. Luck and randomness was taken away from the high ground/low ground battles with this new implementation. I enjoy it because no longer do you have to have an overwhelming force to overcome the disadvantage the miss chance garnered. Instead you just need vision which is a huge improvement. If the person on high ground can remove all your options observer/phoenix/colossus/zealots charging up(as Toss) to provide you vision, you deserve to lose. People complained about needing observers/vision to deal with lurkers and mines as Toss for a long time but, they got use to it. The same can be said for this new high ground mechanic.

I think using the cliffs on LT and Kulas as an example of this mechanic needing a change is misplaced. These are more map decisions that can be changed.
alot = a lot (TWO WORDS)
Maceifer
Profile Joined February 2010
Germany11 Posts
March 09 2010 16:00 GMT
#30
Well, since this game has no elements of chance besides spawn locations, can we just get over the whole miss chance idea? Adding chance to a system that was designed to eliminate chance so that the game is determined only by decisions and not dicerolling appears kind of backwards..
If brute force does not solve your problem, you are not using enough...
Wintermute
Profile Joined March 2010
United States427 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-03-09 16:02:18
March 09 2010 16:00 GMT
#31
On March 10 2010 00:44 ckjy wrote:
The math for the average number of shots required to kill a marine is incorrect.

The expected (average) number of shots required to kill the marine with no damage reduction is (2 / hit rate), so with a 33% hit rate, it will take an average of 6 shots.



The math says 50% hit rate, not 33%, so it is correct.


Now suppose we upgrade the tank's weapons. If we assumed a level 3 upgrade of +6 to the tank's damage against marines, then the math changes substantially. A 50% miss rate will result in a dead marine with two or fewer volleys 75% of the time, with only one volley required 50% of the time. This is in contrast to a 50% damage reduction, which will always require two shots.


With upgrades, a marine will die every shot. 50% miss rate will result in an average of 2 shots per kill. Thus, 50% miss rate always results in causing units on high ground to have (on average) twice as much staying power.


Let's take it one step further, and upgrade the marine's armor to +1. Now we have a complicated situation involving damage reduction. Should the damage bonus from the upgrade be applied before, or after the fog-of-war damage reduction of 50%? If it is applied before (so damage taken is [(35+6)*50% - 1]), then three shots are required to kill the marine. If it is applied after (so damage taken is [(35 * 50%) + 6 - 1], then only two shots are required. If there is no damage reduction and only a 50% miss chance, the marine will still die with two or fewer volleys 75% of the time.

The difference is drastic, when you consider going from 2 to 3 volleys equates to taking 50% longer to kill a unit.


This is why miss chance is suggested instead of damage reduction, because it always gives the same effective advantage, vs damage reduction, which will depend on how much overkill a unit normally would do to another.


Don't let me say this, but you're no worse than me; it's crazy.
lossofmercy
Profile Joined March 2010
United States29 Posts
March 09 2010 16:03 GMT
#32
I am in favor of pushing warp gate techs later (someone mentioned twilight council) and balancing the units around that (buff stalker, build time for gateway is reduced). Every game has warpgates, it just makes things too homogeneous. There is never a reason to not do it.

Also, warping in through a pylon just seems like a late-game ability.

And it is the beta after all. Balance can be fixed in patches as we find out stuff. Right now, Blizzard should be looking for bugs and finding the better build, which means they can change the tech tree.
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14911 Posts
March 09 2010 16:13 GMT
#33
thx naz
3nickma
Profile Joined November 2007
Denmark1510 Posts
March 09 2010 16:13 GMT
#34
On March 09 2010 23:28 damenmofa wrote:
ive seen plenty of good players abusing the auto target worker mechanic in fights by bringing a cpl of scvs in big fights and abusing the fact that the ai targets workers with a-click. I think it not only takes away the defenders advantage, but it can also be used offensively to an extent. Then again, I agree with the cliff mechanics. What really is key imo though is bnet delay, muta stacking, right click functionality and a way to move your units in formation, forcing them to NOT clump like they always do.


Lol I didn't know your offensive units would auto-target workers instead of the opposing forces when A-moving? That's acutually a pretty big deal but ofc your scenario also gives a new possibility. Bit at least nice to know.
L E E J A E D O N G ! <3
diehilde
Profile Joined September 2008
Germany1596 Posts
March 09 2010 16:27 GMT
#35
On March 10 2010 01:13 3nickma wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 09 2010 23:28 damenmofa wrote:
ive seen plenty of good players abusing the auto target worker mechanic in fights by bringing a cpl of scvs in big fights and abusing the fact that the ai targets workers with a-click. I think it not only takes away the defenders advantage, but it can also be used offensively to an extent. Then again, I agree with the cliff mechanics. What really is key imo though is bnet delay, muta stacking, right click functionality and a way to move your units in formation, forcing them to NOT clump like they always do.


Lol I didn't know your offensive units would auto-target workers instead of the opposing forces when A-moving? That's acutually a pretty big deal but ofc your scenario also gives a new possibility. Bit at least nice to know.

yeah its quite frustrating because this is one of the few points in the game where ur units actually feel dumber in sc2 than in sc1. I wanna tear my hair out when I attack with massive roaches against his mmm ball and he has like 10 scvs in front and the roaches waste their attacks against the scvs while the marines/marauders happily shoot them down without being touched.
Savior: "I will cheat everyone again in SC2!" - SCII Beta Tester
onmach
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States1241 Posts
March 09 2010 16:28 GMT
#36
I still say that reducing the range of units below a cliff or reducing their fire rate is a better solution to the high ground issue than damage reduction or miss chance. No randomness, no change in number of hits required to kill.
Mystlord *
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States10264 Posts
March 09 2010 16:35 GMT
#37
Nice post. We'll just see what remedies Blizzard takes (if they make any at all!). The PvP issue is certainly the worst right now. It really needs to be fixed ;/.

The (non-existent) cliff mechanic is also troubling. It takes away an element of realism from the game.
It is impossible to be a citizen if you don't make an effort to understand the most basic activities of your government. It is very difficult to thrive in an increasingly competitive world if you're a nation of doods.
phyvo
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States5635 Posts
March 09 2010 16:40 GMT
#38
I am disappointed that someone's idea to have -1 range when attacking high ground idea was not mentioned in the main article. Sure it's not traditional but it's a third option that could be really really effective, the thought should at least be entertained.
"BE A MANGO TO SLEEP LIKE A SNORING TIGER" - Monte
hugman
Profile Joined June 2009
Sweden4644 Posts
March 09 2010 16:41 GMT
#39
On March 10 2010 01:35 Mystlord wrote:The (non-existent) cliff mechanic is also troubling. It takes away an element of realism from the game.


Tell me you're joking!
UnderWorld_Dream
Profile Joined September 2009
Canada219 Posts
March 09 2010 16:48 GMT
#40
I can't believe they changed they way cliff gives an advantage from BW. I mean, high ground has always been part of the dynamic of the game. And the game was so successful, why changing this.

Cliffs should be just as it is in bw, you get sight on higher grounds only when they shot at you. After all, when a marine is gunning you, how can you not see him if he sees you, thats totally dump. You are still less likely to fight from the bottom if you have chances to miss and thus you will try to avoid these situations anyways.

I say just put cliff rules like in was in bw. (i know its a different game, I can still point out it was better before)
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