One-man Guilds

One-man Guilds

Postby icyglaze » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:04 pm

Definition: "One-man guilds" are guilds in which there is only one main player with any number of alts wherein. Henceforth referred to, as OMGs.

OMGs are bad for the game because:
1. The main player can exploit his alts to boost guild levels and buffs.
2. The main player gets no competition in guild auctions, allowing accelerated blessing material acquisitions.
3. Players who exploit this would have no incentive to buy gems to boost their game.

Important distinction:
OMGs are distinct from family guilds - where a guild comprises of players from a family unit or close knit group (i.e. classmates).

How to identify OMGs:
OMGs are likely to possess the following characteristics..
1. Single very powerful player as the guild leader of a guild with or without other players.
During guild war, this player would be placed on the first barrier alone. Defeating said player would reveal the alts he/she has inside his/her OMG.


2. Low guild level with many low level actives.
New players are typically sorted randomly amongst a large population of low level guilds. So the number of active new players per low level guild should observe a random distribution. Statistically, truly random distributions can either be Gaussian or Poisson. In the case of an OMG, it is clearly an outlier. i.e. There shouldn't be that many new players in a low level guild.

This argument does not apply to higher level guilds because population distributions tend to move from "rural" to "urban" with the converse being far less likely to happen. Hence a truly low level guild with many actives would not remain low level for long, and many actives within a low level guild would eventually move on to a higher level guild.


3. Many players on at the same time or staggered along a fixed time frame during non-events.
Easiest way to observe this is through guild mining.


Proposal:
Nobody likes nerfs. Nerfing guild rewards may inflict unnecessary disadvantages to legit small/family guilds (OMGs are not limited to guilds with low levels and high numbers).Instead, I propose a counter-balance.

Introduce multipliers to guild rewards.

The idea is simple. Main players of OMGs benefit because they lack competition in guild auctions. Players in legit guilds bid insane points for the same. E.g. Here in Necessarius, material stones go for >2k+ in guild points whereas a main in an OMG can grab the same for 1050.

Moreover, in guild wars, one single powerful main can rack up guild points at leisure. And now, there is the compounded bonus of acquiring 5-star weapons and soulstones boosting the tally. Again using our guild as a counter example, our wars barely exceed 1h, with many members destroying the competition in just 1-3 battles.

To even the playing field, I propose increasing guild rewards from guild wars and dungeons to the guild auctions by three compounded multiplier tiers (rounded to the nearest number).

1. Guild level
2. Number of players in guild
3. Average power of players in guild


Elaborating, I propose the following tiers:
1.1 Guild level
- levels 1-5: ×1
- levels 6-9: x1.1
- levels 10-12: x1.25
- levels 13-14: x1.45
- level 15 and up: x1.7
1.2 Number of players in guild
- Below 15: x1
- 15-20: x1.1
- 21-25: x1.25
- 26-30: x1.45
- Above 30: x1.7
1.3 Average power of players in guild
- Under 7k: x1
- 7000-9999: x1.1
- 10000-14999: x1.25
- 15000-19999: x1.45
- 20k and above: x1.7

So, a level 1 guild with one player of 5k power still gets x1 of whatever rewards he/she supposedly gets (1x1x1=1), but a level 12 guild with 25 players, with each player averaging 14k power gets x2 (1.25x1.25x1.25=1.95..) the stated rewards, etc. Which if you think about it, is still very conservative as they still have to bid for the rewards in auction.

Under this paradigm, a traditional OMG would receive a much lower reward multiplier for either having low player populations in guild, or low average player power. And while family guilds may have less players, the standard deviation of power would be significantly less skewed than in OMGs. And big guilds with many actives would be far less penalised.
icyglaze
 
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Re: One-man Guilds

Postby admin » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:13 pm

Hi Icyglaze,

Thanks for your suggestion. We do agree OMGs are not good and want to encourage players to form guilds together. However smaller guild players are already at disadvantage:
- They can't share lucky card info to earn rewards
- They won't get much out of guild dungeons by themselves
- They won't be winning against similar strength player guilds
- Their mines will be raided quite easily.

Similarly, larger guilds are already at huge advantage due to the above. The multiplier idea while do sound beneficial, would only make things unfair to smaller guilds, and make the game more unbalanced toward the top guild and widen the gap further.

Best Regards,
Admin / Playmage Support
admin
Site Admin
 
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Re: One-man Guilds

Postby icyglaze » Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:29 am

I thank you for your response but I disagree with your premise.

- They can't share lucky card info to earn rewards

With just 3 alts, the main account can get all the necessary information for the guild card rewards.

- They won't get much out of guild dungeons by themselves

I vehemently disagree. The structure of guild dungeons is such that the highest previously cleared dungeon stage automatically resets when cleared. This provides a clear gem-free/guild-fund-free loophole to exploit. Anyone with a power over 20k can solo a stage 1 boss. Extrapolating power, higher stages can be solo-ed. Throw in an alt free dungeon chance, that's one full stage cleared per day. That's a very very very lucrative way to exploit guild dungeons and blessing materials. I didn't want to elaborate this because it essentially opens the floor to exploitation.

- They won't be winning against similar strength player guilds

I refer to my original point: Moreover, in guild wars, one single powerful main can rack up guild points at leisure. And now, there is the compounded bonus of acquiring 5-star weapons and soulstones boosting the tally. Again using our guild as a counter example, our wars barely exceed 1h, with many members destroying the competition in just 1-3 battles.

I refer to my original point: During guild war, this player would be placed on the first barrier alone.
Elaborating, the guild war structure is such that, if you have a sufficiently strong front man, no amount of smaller players in another guild can win you. Compounding these two points, it is not in the interest of OMGs to compete in large or medium guild war plots. In small guild war plots, they shine.

- Their mines will be raided quite easily.

True, but inconsequential. The point is guild rewards. Moreover, the main account in an OMG is less likely to be affected if surrounded by alts. Even more so if the main solo mines while having his/her alts group mine.

larger guilds are already at huge advantage due to the above

I disagree due to the main point - larger guilds have far more players competing for a far smaller pool of rewards. Even with the multiplier proposed, if any of the actives in a large guild solos, he/she will get far more rewards than he/she would in the guild.

only make things unfair to smaller guilds, and make the game more unbalanced toward the top guild and widen the gap further

That is a false accusation. Right now, several top players belong in OMGs. While there is no need to point and blame, they are there because they are in OMGs. If this is not addressed, more will drift and make their own OMG. THAT will make the game more unbalanced.
icyglaze
 
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Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:06 pm

Re: One-man Guilds

Postby icyglaze » Thu Mar 16, 2017 2:09 am

While we are on this, let us address one more point:

want to encourage players to form guilds together

and
make the game more unbalanced toward the top guild



This can be encapsulated by an overarching issue: Basically, we are weighing the pros and cons of being in a guild.

Everyone wants to be in the top guild. Or is it? Let's dissect this thoroughly.

Necessarius has, at any one time, more than 20 actives with an average player power hovering at 20k. Any one of us can solo a stage 1 boss with spare change. Ergo, any one of us can get a blessing material stone per day if we go OMG. But we don't. Because i) some of us haven't realised this. ii) it's not fun flying solo. So instead, on average, each one of us bids for stones and gets on average, a stone every 2 weeks (conservative estimate). That is in spite of the fact that we clear dungeon stages very very quickly. In that regard, players in top guilds, especially heavily populated top guilds, are at the disadvantage.

Guild dungeon rewards. This has to be tied in with guild war rewards, because both give 5-star weapons, soulstones and pets. The argument is simple. A player with 20, 30, 40k power can easily hold the fort in a guild war. Solo-ing an opponent with an average under 15k power in guild war, is like driving through a swarm of insects in a car. While the rewards may be superficially less, in war, there is the compounded chance of getting 5-star stuff from each encounter. In a big guild however, random 5-stars from battle encounters drop drastically, simply because we don't get as many opponents to go around. Moreover, bidding for rewards is tough - popular weapons go for no less than 5000 guild points, and same goes for soulstones.

How about not-so-big guilds? Well, life is good for them too. Being in a mid-range guild with a mere handful of actives is the best - as it mimics a OMG without actually being one. You have a bunch of infrequent-players donating, defending, but not actually participating in guild war and auction. So the few actives reap incredible benefits.

The point is, despite the inherent disadvantages of being the top guild, we are surviving. However, there has to be recognition that we are, paradoxically, disadvantaged relative to our powers.


Player consolidation
Let's be honest. Guild wars are the best part of the game. But in order to have meaningful and enjoyable guild wars, there must be decent competition. Hence, player consolidation amongst the guilds is only a good thing. Excessive nurturing of new guilds is counter-productive. Why would you want numerous small (in level and player population) guilds? You don't get that many gems from guild creation. It is illogical.

My proposal drives guild consolidation. Right now there is no decent competition - and top guilds only have so many vacancies. This proposal would encourage the mid-top tier guilds to drive up recruitment and drive competition between guilds - which will incentivise spending.


I hope I've been very clear that my proposal benefits not only the game environment but also your underlying revenue. If there is any point of contention, please highlight and I will acknowledge or clarify.
icyglaze
 
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Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:06 pm


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