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The Firing Line: Getting into Global Agenda
OK, so you've heard about this whole Global Agenda thing, and you've talked yourself into giving it a shot. It's completely free-to-play from start to finish these days, and the Unreal graphics, sci-fi setting, and strange mixture of hyper-competitive PvP and ultra-accessible PvE have always held a certain appeal. You're not sure, but you think it's kind of an MMO, given that it has persistent territory control, lots of quests, and plenty of progression-based gameplay. Maybe you're a pro skillz baller, or maybe the extent of your shooter knowledge is which end of the gun gets pointed at the bad guys. Either way, you'll likely have a good time in Hi-Rez's spy-fi action title, and you'll have an even better time if you understand a few key points about the game prior to diving in.
APB Reloaded blog details the matchmaking makeover
This week's APB Reloaded blog entry is a pretty lengthy one, and Bjorn Book-Larsson has a lot to say about the game's matchmaking system as well as a warning for the hackers who have showed up in the free-to-play title's closed beta. Matchmaking is a huge issue for GamersFirst's APB redesign, and Book-Larsson relates that "it was a bit of a shocker to discover that in spite of relying almost exclusively on computer-generated matchmaking... no real thought was made to create a decent skill rating system to feed those matchmaking decisions." Book-Larsson also provides some insight into how GamersFirst is tackling the problem, illustrating several approaches to matchmaking including algorithms founded on Chess ratings, Glicko, and Microsoft's TrueSkill system. Read all about these topics and more on the official APB Reloaded blog.
Gears 2 'Snowblind Map Pack' coming March 31, title update on March 24
If you tire of brutishly halving your enemies in the same boring Gears of War 2 locales, a recent Epic Games announcement will likely thrill you to death -- on March 31, the title's second batch of downloadable arenas, titled the "Snowblind Map Pack," will find its way onto Xbox Live, bringing four new maps to the chainsaw party: Grindyard, Under Hill, Courtyard and Fuel Depot, a remake of a map from Gears the First. No price has been announced -- we're assuming it'll be around the same 800 price point of the "Combustible Map Pack."Arguably more exciting than this, however, was Epic's announcement that the oft-discussed retooled ranking system will be coming to the game the week before "Snowblind" drops -- a title update on March 24 will (mostly) eschew the criticized TrueSkill system in favor of a more intuitive, experience point-based system. Players will earn experience points for scoring in public matches, rising up to level 100. They'll even unlock achievements at set levels (5, 15, 25, 50 and 100) -- we also hear that "Cole Train" evolves into "Cole Barge" at level 60. Gotta curb stomp 'em all!
Shadowrun forgoes TrueSkill for 'party' play, Epic told the truth [update 1]
Shadowrun will use a friend-linking party system for ranked matches, yes, but developer FASA had to forgo the use of Microsoft's TrueSkill matchmaking system to implement the feature. In fact, according to Knuckles Dawson who had a chance to play Shadowrun, FASA has built its own matchmaking system from scratch. Microsoft's TrueSkill system does not allow friends to play together in ranked matches -- the explanation Epic used in its own defense.It's hard to knock Epic for opting to go with TrueSkill. Heck, the system was already in place, and there were seemingly more important areas of development to focus resources on -- and Epic succeeded with an exceptional title. But there's no denying that the Xbox Live community has been upset with how the limitations of TrueSkill affect Gears of War. Epic is certainly considering these opinions, and it wouldn't be too far-fetched to predict that a future update will replace TrueSkill with an Epic-designed matchmaking system that supports parties.[Update: We incorrectly identified Knuckles Dawson as an employee of Shadowrun developer FASA when he is in fact an echidna an avid Xbox Live player invited by the FASA team to test out their title. The post has been amended.]
TrueSkill matchmaking demystified [update 1]
With all the hoopla surrounding Gears of War's matchmaking system we've been led to believe that come Emergence Day we won't get to play ranked games with our friends on Xbox Live. Well, that's only partially true. The smart folks over at Microsoft's Applied Games Group try to explain the TueSkill matchmaking system that Gears implements for ranked multiplayer sessions. They state that the TrueSkill system doesn't allow you to play ranked games against your friends due to the possibility of intentionally throwing a game to increase anther's rank. (That makes sense, keep going.) The other dark side of the coin is that the system doesn't allow you to "party up" with your friends either, due to them wanting to keep TrueSkill valid and completely random. (That kinda sucks, anything else?) The bright spot in all of this is that the TrueSkill system doesn't prevent you from playing alongside your friends, since you'll share the same outcome as them, but it's all up to chance of the TrueSkill system that you'll actually be paired with your buddy. Hopefully this clears up some of the mystery surrounding the matchmaking in Gears of War ... or maybe I just made you all the more confused.Update: Ok, after analyzing this more thoroughly it looks like Gears of War's rank isn't based solely off of your win/lose ratio, but takes into account numerous individual stats. So, the TrueSkill ranking system looks at players individually and not as a team, hence why you can't party with a buddy in ranked games. Thanks BenzMoney for your insight, but the outcome is still the same no matter who you want to point your finger at ... you can't play ranked matches of Gears of War with your friends in one party. Also, I fixed that evil spelling error and I love how you're keeping the new guy on his toes![Via VGBlogger]
Competitive ranking systems go head-to-head
If you're at all interested in competitive gaming and skill rankings such as the ELO system (used by chess players and also by Yahoo! Games) and Microsoft's TrueSkill, this article is well worth a read. It delves into the intricacies of ELO and looks at other ranking systems designed to combat its flaws, such as the eGenesis Ranking System developed for A Tale in the Desert. It also covers tournament ranking systems, such as the well-known double elimination system used in many professional gaming tournaments. As the prize funds and public awareness of these tournaments increase, it's essential to ensure a fair competition for everyone, so don't be too surprised to see mathematics boffins with clipboards observing the next gaming tourney you go to.[via /.]
