Handicap System for the arena

[bored_ninja777]

I would support this nice idea. reminds me of bowling lol

[DarknessDemon]

It's a very good idea but it wOuld also mean that because there ae changing handicaps there are also going to be an always changing deck. So designing a deck to use for arena would mean that you need to change decks every few days or so.

It sounds like a good change but it would make deck building a nightmare.

[nerd1]

I like +rep

[Elite arbiter]

I like the concept of it, but I see one major flaw, and that is that this has the potential to have the opposite effect. That is, to make 'more' uncreative decks flood the arena.

Take the case of a person who is thinking about an interesting deck idea in the following example.
Oh hey, I got a Ghost of the Past. Pretty neat, although I don't want to throw up another Ghostmare deck, thats boring.
I know! I'll make a quasi Devonian Rush with GotP's, a couple devonians, and some other fun stuff.
Aw, wait... I can't. It won't be as effective as GotP. GotP has a 'real' bad handicap, and if I don't make this deck function at that level of efficiency then it'll get kicked out in three hours.
*sigh* Ghostmare it is.
I believe that should explain my problem with this idea. Put simply, the problem is that this takes only into consideration the card, and not the deck it is being constructed for. So original decktypes that use an oracle card that is commonly used become altogether unviable because they are expected to function at the efficiency of a 'common deck'.

[onnig]

I like the concept of it, but I see one major flaw, and that is that this has the potential to have the opposite effect. That is, to make 'more' uncreative decks flood the arena.

Take the case of a person who is thinking about an interesting deck idea in the following example.
Oh hey, I got a Ghost of the Past. Pretty neat, although I don't want to throw up another Ghostmare deck, thats boring.
I know! I'll make a quasi Devonian Rush with GotP's, a couple devonians, and some other fun stuff.
Aw, wait... I can't. It won't be as effective as GotP. GotP has a 'real' bad handicap, and if I don't make this deck function at that level of efficiency then it'll get kicked out in three hours.
*sigh* Ghostmare it is.
I believe that should explain my problem with this idea. Put simply, the problem is that this takes only into consideration the card, and not the deck it is being constructed for. So original decktypes that use an oracle card that is commonly used become altogether unviable because they are expected to function at the efficiency of a 'common deck'.

Can't oracle cards be excluded from the handicap?

[Jangoo]

Can't oracle cards be excluded from the handicap?

I think they should be excluded.
Drawing those 5 Destroyers/SNs etc. is a gift from the Oracle ... what you make of it is your call.

I like the concept of it, but I see one major flaw, and that is that this has the potential to have the opposite effect. That is, to make 'more' uncreative decks flood the arena.

Take the case of a person who is thinking about an interesting deck idea in the following example.
Oh hey, I got a Ghost of the Past. Pretty neat, although I don't want to throw up another Ghostmare deck, thats boring.
I know! I'll make a quasi Devonian Rush with GotP's, a couple devonians, and some other fun stuff.
Aw, wait... I can't. It won't be as effective as GotP. GotP has a 'real' bad handicap, and if I don't make this deck function at that level of efficiency then it'll get kicked out in three hours.
*sigh* Ghostmare it is.
I believe that should explain my problem with this idea. Put simply, the problem is that this takes only into consideration the card, and not the deck it is being constructed for. So original decktypes that use an oracle card that is commonly used become altogether unviable because they are expected to function at the efficiency of a 'common deck'.

I kind of see you point: What good is betting on a 3-legged dog if it never wins anyways?
You can bet that there will be a large deal of people who are willing to take any handicap just
to have their deck rise to the top/ stay in the line-up. Even moreso when the competition is
a bunch of three-legged dogs ...

Then again, the meta might just change: If the composition of arena-decks changes to
start out with, the type of deck used to farm Arena will too, which again feeds back on the
success certain deck-entries have.
It can still be expected, that certain dogs, like the Immodog, just are what they are: Apex.
They don't give a crap who is betting on or against them and what their competition is.

Oh well, the cat is chasing its own tail here ...
 

[Brontos]

I'm an arena farmer.
This idea is the best idea ever to support creativity. Can't wait to have this implemented in the game, because it's not fun to win/lose against another mono-aether/firestall while it's fun to face a surprising deck regardless of the outcome.

About coding it, it's *very* easy. Stats are already done.

[Polari]

Noticed this in SnoWeb's sig and bumping because it should be implemented already. It's the same thing I've been saying and the real reason it's ways better than the current system is that you'll know the "creativity bonus" up front instead of relying on opinions of people who saw a third of your deck, which might as well be random. The exact mechanics and numbers can be whatever, it's a big fundamental difference anyway.

[Friedrich Psitalon]

C'mon, surely one of the Masters in this thread can bend Zanz's ear?

[TheManuz]

I support this idea.
This handicap system should also give a feedback meanwhile we build our arena decks.
So every card i select should display its handicap modifier, and there should be a global handicap value that changes with every card addition/removal.

EXAMPLE:

Current handicap: 1.21

Then i hover the mouse upon a Supernova, and the text becomes:

Current handicap: 1.21 (-0.17 = 1.04)

then i hover the mouse upon a Hematite Golem and the text becomes:

Current handicap: 1.21 (+0.24 = 1.45)

I also think that calling it "Creativity" sounds better than "Handicap", i find it less "scary" for new players.

[atom9]

God yes, this is a great idea. On all levels of the arena, there are approximately 5 different deck variations, which increase in difficulty from annoying to impossible to win against. Just as there's a counter for duplicate cards, could a handicap value be built in for each card, with perhaps a maximum value counter before you lose your win reward altogether? I think there should be an ultimate penalty of 0 cash per win above a certain handicap, personally. I doubt this will encourage creativity, as the attitude, almost universally, seems to be "create the same deck as everyone else and bask in the radiant warmth of AI wins as though you've accomplished something". I might be bitter.

[silinda]

might as well throw my vote in too...though there is always room for abuse, I'm getting stomped...so I'm a little bias...