...about the thread i posted earlier. didn't mean to offend anyone, but locking the thread wasn't necessary.
i was in that game because it's a tournament, quarterfinals if i might add. i'm writing to ask if you have any solutions, and to know if this concernes you.
i'm no critic, just want to help you improve this game.


thanks

It's random distribution. It is not supposed to be fair or balanced, simply random.

If you don't want to rely on luck for such situations don't use random distribution but manual instead.

i understand the definition of random, but at a game such as this, the randomness should provide both teams with a winning chance. the game i played was IMPOSSIBLE to win.

it was the equivalent of getting 2 troops/turn while the enemy team gets 5/turn. even the guys i played with said that they would have to try reeeeaaallly hard to lose the game :))
so, my point is: what's the point of playing a game you can't win?

i joined it cause it's a tournament and i like playing in tournaments and i was in the quarterfinal round. i understand to lose a game cause you don't know how to play, i understand losing a game because your team mate can't play good, but losing a game because the computer had a bad day... it's too much

here is the link, see for yourself....


http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?GameID=2062871

The game has to end before we can see anything.

Nobody can see anything about the game because it's not over yet (so everything is fogged). So nobody can judge whether your assessment of the game is right. Assuming it is:

Despite your assertions to the contrary, it does not seem you do understand the definition of random. No check is made to ensure that the distribution is in any way "fair", so it is possible that you'll lose some games before they even start. That's unavoidable in games that involve luck, for the most part. So yes, even if you're the most awesome player ever, you'll lose sometimes: Deal with it.

TL;DR: Though luck, stop whining.

Guess what... just as you got screwed by the randomness of the positioning, so too can you benefit from it. Somehow I doubt you complained in previous tournament games when your team received the better starting spots.

theres a reason the thread got locked: your problem is stupid in a way which cannot possibly be explained to you.

you know what automatic distribution is. you chose to play in the tournament. there is nothing anyone can do to make every automatic distribution game 'fair'. go and reflect on these things and try to recover from your loss. leave this poor, innocent forum alone.

I think this shows the futility of arbitrarily locking threads in the first place. People who feel they have legitimate issues, whether right or wrong, will just feel more slighted and make a new thread anyway.

As for the OP's problem, there's a reason why there is no "random-but-fair" option-- that would be extremely difficult, if not impossible to implement over the many maps of Warlight. Every map has it's own quirks of strategy that even humans can only discover through trial and error. It would take quite a sophisticated piece of software to do the same with any kind of reliability.

|> *theres a reason the thread got locked: your problem is stupid in a way which cannot possibly be explained to you.*

You need to read the thread in question before you make assumptions. I stated right in the thread why it was locked -- because he tried to make his subject line annoying.

I have nothing against discussing how the automatic distribution system works. In fact, it's to be encouraged. Calling someone stupid isn't helpful. Please try to keep your discussion constructive.

i think i know what the Big Friendly Giant Eurozone means, and i think it would be beneficial to warlight if fizzer looked into what i'll explain below:

at pogo.com's risk game there is random distribution and manual distribution. but the random distribution is not entirely random. i played about 2000 games there before coming here. from that large sample size of games, i realized that pogo's 'random' distribution are actually about a dozen or so custom distributions that appear random but are in fact predetermined to offer "controlled randomness."

how it works:

- all the games are played on the small earth map.
- no player is allowed to have free reign in australia or south america
- every player has a few spots here, a few more there, but it is more or less balanced: each player has an equal chance pick and choose his spots to expand
- reading the map's pattern of distribution (there's no fog) is as strategic there as making picks on the ladders is here: the patterns tell you which area is the best area for you to concentrate your attention
- nobody complains about a bad shake of the dice (unless they are foolish)

in comparison, the biggest problem i have with replicating that risk game on warlight is that the random distribution is not "controlled randomness":

- i recently made a game and was awarded australia right off the bat. my opponent surrendered on turn 2
- i tried making a customized template to alleviate this; it too has problems for lack of "controlled randomness"
- i've since given up on that map's potential

I think we all understood what he was looking for but the majority also recognize that it is impractical to implement if not outright impossible.

isn't it simply an algorithm? pogo can do it. why cant warlight?

It's possible they implemented it with an algorithm, but given that you say there's only a dozen, it's more likely that they just created those dozen by hand.

This can actually be done in WarLight, at least partially, with scenario distributions (not to be confused with custom scenarios). The map creator could define a dozen different scenario distributions, and game creators can choose between them.

The part that WarLight can't do is randomly choose between the distributions. In other words, the game creator has to pick one and everyone can see which was picked.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but pogo creates its own maps (if it even has more then 1). Thus, it's not that hard for them to create these "controlled random" dist.

Warlight has to have around 1000 maps (guestimatiion) and more coming out every day. For Fizzer to have to go and make custom dists. for all of them would be insane.

And that is why pogo can do it and Warlight can't.

TL;DR pogo < 10 maps, Warlight > 1000 maps

Fizzer is a post ninja FYI >.>

I see a way to make it slightly more fair. But in some games, it's simply impossible. For example, 5 player ffa in small earth, and everyone starts with only 1 territory. How can you possibly make this fair? However, as I said, it may be possible to make SOME games more fair. i guess you can randomly pick a player, like player A and give A a random territory, say B. B has a bonus of N. Then for all other players, give them a bonus of either N, N-1, or N+1. Of course, if possible. Like the example above, that's simply not possible.

what i was thinking for an autodistribute algorithm:

1. for warlords

- if 2+ starting territories per player, the system alternates between big and small bonuses given to each player: if 4 starts, i get 2 big, 2 small; you do too.
- for 2+ starts: each start given to one player is a certain distance away

2. for cities/full

- same two points above
- each bonus has either only 1 territory distributed or has 2+ people to contest the territory: thus, if i play small earth, nobody will be able to get aust or sa so easily

it could apply to every map. it is not perfect. but it would make autodistribute games a bit more worth playing

Gui, that would only work if we assume that all bonuses on a map are using a same or very near similar territory/bonus ratio
many maps have varying ratios throughout the map, based on expansion and defense possibilities, difficulty to hold/capture, or just because the creator felt the need to make an over/uner powered bonus... all of these factors would make your 'random but fair' algorithim, no longer fair, and less random then currently..