To make the issue transparent and open, I hereby publish the exact steps I used to pick fast on small earth.

Step 1: before you begin the game, open autopilot (a feature that are currently available to members only), do not click the begin button.
Step 2: choose "prod 2.0".
Step 3: adjust the position of the autopilot dialog box so that the "run and commit" button is right beneath the "begin" button which is on the begin dialog box.
Step 4: click on the "begin" button multiple times in succession as fast as possible. As a result, your first click will trigger "begin" and close the begin dialog, and one of your other clicks will trigger the autopilot bot. It should take the autopilot bot less than 0.1 seconds to run the picks.

If everything goes well, you could be able to finish your picks in 0.5 seconds.

Someone called me a cheater because of this. I don't agree. I didn't hack the game. I played in the game. I never lied to anyone who inquired into this issue.

I believe that a hardcore warlighter should have the passion to explore and try all combinations of the features the warlight system provides, including the unexpected ones. I was exited to be among the few players who experienced how exactly the seemingly dumb autopilot can enhance performance in high end games. If some other players don't share my value, I can understand.

Nonetheless, I think the system needs to change and be updated to fix this loophole because it should be fixed, regardless of the fact that I am benefiting from it.

Edited 7/6/2016 17:30:50

The issue is clearly on the autopilot. It has been discussed before and having this setting on ladders and coingames is obviously a bad idea.

You abused that flaw but i'm sure you wouldn't be the only one who used that trick. Too easy on a simplistic template like small earth.

You used one setting (auto-pilot) to completely negate the effects of another setting (no-luck cycle).


To be completely honest, this game has weird and foreign concepts on what is regarded as cheating and what is not (ie: multiple accounts) that I have no idea anymore if what you did is wrong by Warlight standards.

Considering any other member can do it, and you're limited to only taking the picks the AI gives, rather than thinking about counter stratagies, I don't see the problem with this myself.

I used "double A" to get my picks down to a few seconds, would that be classed as cheating too? It's just part of the game.

"Membership unlocks new features and gets rid of advertisements. It does not increase your chances at winning a game. WarLight does not sell additional armies, cards, or anything that would give paying players an advantage over free players. WarLight is fundamentally a competitive strategy game and it's important that free players have the same chances to win as members."

They do have the same chance to win. There are some scenarios wherein getting second pick is actually preferable since you can secure the bonus. There have been many games where I was put at a disadvantage due to winning the selection stage.

Never mind the fact that you are now relying on a rather unintelligent AI without any oversight as Fleecemaster pointed out.

Finally, it's not as if this is a lottery game wherein the fastest pick gets the bonus. You still have to play the game out.

My other question is, how often is the quick pick time actually impacting the game? Most of the games I've played on that template have had a wide disparity in selection speed so making someone who is already quite fast that much faster has zero bearing.

Richard in small earth it IS often like a lottery. australia is OP if not wastelanded. of course i can only talk from my experience, but on coingames on this template the faster Player normally wins

I realize Australia is typically the priority but I've gotten burned many a times by gunning for it and thus losing out on easy SA/NA or SA/Afr pairings. It all depends on the wasteland and starting spot locations. I don't know how much I trust the AI to account for such minutiae and pick properly.

That said, I'm nowhere near the player you are so perhaps the issues I described aren't a problem for you. I also never played the higher stakes coin games, only the 5 coin games so often faced less-than-stellar competition.

Can you then shut autopilot off and play the game yourself or does the AI play out the game for you?

How is guaranteeing first pick in a no-luck cycle game not an advantage over non-members?

It would be a non-issue if there was a setting to disable it in games/tournaments or at the very least for the selection stage.

@Fleece, what is "double A"?

Autopilot is a turn-by-turn thing. You have to activate it with every turn and you can either check what it orders and manually commit or roll the dice and have it auto-commit (which is what he is doing).

First pick =/= automatic victory.

"Double A" is referencing the hotkeys to advance from deployment to committing. Same applies to standard games.

Mind you, I agree that it should be removed as an option from coin games if only to force the human element to be a bigger part of the game. I don't see it as an unfair advantage though.

Best option would probably be to incorporate a set delay time between order computation and commitment (manual or otherwise). Perhaps 30 seconds? (I would say 10 but that may be too short in larger maps)

Thanks.

Hmmmm, so you're saying autopilot can be used as an advisor...

Agreed, it doesn't mean automatic victory, but autopilot in this way always equals first pick v. non-members in no-luck cycle games.

If your opponent hasn't committed yet, can you undo the AI's picks if you don't like them in the selection stage?

Ah ok, thanks.

I don't see how guaranteeing first pick in these type of games is not an advantage. Do you think he would be doing it if it wasn't advantageous to him?

I think the best option would be to make it a setting that can be shut off. Members who pay for that ability might not be happy though, but they could make their own games with that as an option I guess.

How do you see turn speed like in his profile picture? Is that a member only stat or am I just not seeing it?

To see first turn speed:

> Menu (bottom right corner of game) > Players

And I think you can only see it with no luck cycle.

Is there any randomness involved in the autopilot algorithm? If there is, I'm surprised Fizzer was able to include it in coin games due to the gambling laws or whatever. Or maybe it's an oversight?

Edited 7/6/2016 19:45:07

I think the biggest problem here is that the pick speed is not based on true speed (i.e. how fast you click begin, pick and commit), but how long it takes AFTER the begin click. This way, using the autopilot won't give you a "free first pick". The timer should be counting just like the boot timer; from the moment the game actually begins.

Is there any randomness involved in the autopilot algorithm?

I'm not sure about P1, Wunderwaffe and Cowzow, but not in P2. In fact, that's why P2Random exists.

Edited 7/6/2016 19:48:51

Thanks awesomeusername. For some reason I checked everywhere but there.....

That would create some problems. Most of the time the player who joined the game at the latest will get his first pick. Also if the option "Automatically start game once all players join" is disabled the host gets First pick.

I don't see how guaranteeing first pick in these type of games is not an advantage. Do you think he would be doing it if it wasn't advantageous to him?


I know of some coin game sharks who only pick 2 picks sometimes in order to pick faster and get their Australia pick.

I know of some coin game sharks who only pick 2 picks sometimes in order to pick faster and get their Australia pick.

Can they do that as fast as autopilot?

Edited 7/6/2016 20:03:33

Yea, the timer should only start once Begin is selected, not when the game starts. Otherwise it is too easy to game the system one way or another... either for the joiner or the host.

As for changing AI commitments, yes it can be done. The Autopilot is the same as the member performing the orders and committing. Obviously the clock would be running the whole time between beginning and correcting the picks so it would negate the Autopilot value.

As I said before, I can think of many instances where getting first pick actually put me at a disadvantage. It is by no means a guaranteed advantage, especially since the Autopilot member doesn't take any time to review the map, just trusts the unintelligent AI.

Normann, I'd wager those coin sharks lose a decent number of games by using that strategy and getting the randomly assigned second pick.

Edited 7/6/2016 20:04:36

It is basically impossible to be faster than autopilot. Even if you know what territory in australia is pickable and if there is a wasteland in there you will be slower. Definitely an advantage for members

Richard,

I interpreted your earlier statement as meaning once the AI was used for picks, it was said and done, my bad. If your opponent hasn't committed, you can double check them, and obviously risk losing first pick. But you always have the option of first pick, always, and can often times double check it to make sure you like it.

Taking Green Turtles word for it from another thread:

The autopilot has an algorithm of first picking the bonus with the best value/territory ratio

Always getting the best value/territory ratio pick is an advantage. If we both determine Australia is the best pick, I can never get it first, ever. As a non-member I'm at a disadvantage.

I don't care if this is a game feature, I just think it should be an option that can be disabled, especially in tournaments/coin games/ladders.

Edit: Eh, I guess it already can be nullified, just change the template from no-luck cycle to cycle or random and it becomes a moot point....

Edited 7/6/2016 20:21:43