About the Angry Birds 2 Arena

[DDeck]

@kedik22 @ktcain

And I know for a fact that NOT ALL nine of my opponents are cheaters or hacks.

This. Absolutely this.

I should have won my league, but I got nothing. Maybe it’s the bug that has me bouncing to a new group all the time? Maybe I bounced into one where I was in the bottom three before the tournament ended. Of course I should have been demoted but we all know about that bug.

Maybe I was a false positive and got flagged as a cheater — yet another bug? Perhaps. Rovio can’t get ANYTHING right with this software, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they screwed this up to.

[DDeck]

@ktcain

Wow. Why even bother any more?

[DJLarryt]

@ktcain this is exactly what I see happening too, on a regular basis. In my previous screenshot, that 950K score was what I saw AFTER I watched the video and AFTER I bought in and JUST AFTER I shot my last bird. Total BAIT-AND_SWITCH from Rovio. Had I known I hadn’t even stood a chance I would have bailed on the match AND the lousy 30 feathers.

Today I played and bought in. My score was above my opponent’s but my icon was still greyed out. I shot my last bird, got my points, my icon was STILL greyed out even though my score was above.

When I saw the “XXXXXXX BEAT YOU” screen, I was at least 1,000,000 points behind.

This game is FUBAR.

[kedik22]

@ktcain

Thought I had heard it all!

@hank, I think it is very important for Rovio to address this issue.
Nobody will believe it is just a lame bug.

Please have Rovio explain how scores can go down.

Regards.

[Rovio_Hank]

Hello flingers!

It’s a new week and I can address some of your concerns here.

First off, making changes takes time. This is the boring part for both you and me. I will try to give you answers within a few days (just came back from a long weekend), but getting game changes into the game can take some time longer when it goes live for millions of players. We are however closely looking into your feedback.

Secondly some good news. From the feedback we’ve gotten from you we’ve managed to track down a few of the major bugs that hopefully should be fixed for the next update. Among those fixes are the mid-week change in tournament league and the incorrect score shown at the end of the run. We know that these bugs cause great frustration and if all goes well they are completely fixed now.

I will pass on the new feedback you’ve presented here about the league placement, we’re thankful for that and we’ll try to look into what’s causing this issue. I’ll update you if I find something.

Thank you!
/Hank

*Update*
I asked our programmers and the tournament bug you’re mentioning should also have been fixed a few weeks back, coming for the next update. Fingers crossed!

[Kt]

Thank you, Hank, for answering the posts of the last couple of days so quickly. I am not quite clear about the fixes for the tournament bug. Is that referring to the player’s score being reduced during the game and/or rolled back at the end of the game? Or having a winning score that does not seem to register, keeping the winner’s picture grayed out who is then declared the loser? Getting an extra video card when the game was won and finding a loss instead? Are these all the same bug? Are these the problems that will be fixed? Can we players actually trust the scoring mechanism after the next download?

And what problem was it that was supposed to have been fixed several weeks/months back that still isn’t fixed? We here in the Arena are angry, disappointed, frustrated and weary of feeling cheated by some very specific things that keep happening repeatedly. Can you be more specific?

Will we continue to be over matched for every Arena game? Will any player be able to get past round 3 of the 7 Card Streak without facing an opponent whose birds are Levelled at 11 (soon to be 12) bringing in 5 spells?

I think I remember at some point Bankler posting that in the Arena we are playing the same game set as the opponent. Is that true, or do I misunderstand? I assume that meant the same game group and structure set, for example, one of the Gravity Grove games that have been assembled for Arena play, but the same one of those Gravity Grove games, not one of the others. I am wondering about this because I am also noticing in my games that very often the first round is won by my opponent, even when I have completely cleared the platform using a bird whose level is higher. I keep wondering how this is possible. And it happens often. Will you clear this up? Other players have noticed this and mentioned it here as well.

So I would appreciate it if you could be much more specific as to what problems are recognized and acknowledged by the game programmers and what kind of changes we should expect to see.

Thank you.

@hank

[Angry Beaver]

How can it be possible at all: Today i was in the battle against…. MYSELF!
And i won! At least i believe it was me – same star rank, same birds and same nickname. It was a hard battle, finally i won with 5000 points using videobird.

And as usual, #3 was player with L11 birds and 5 spells.(Rodrigo, star rank 14!)
Criteria of arena opponent should be: Same star rank & same birds or same sum of bird ranks w/o any spells!

[JezzaH99]

The arena has become a joke.

Round 1 – usually win. Opponent much weaker than me

Round 2 – normally win – opponent same as me but as I’m a better player I normally win

Round 3 – Hardly ever win. Opponent either a higher level (I’m 57) with birds higher than mine and/or uses 5 spell cards.

I refuse to use 80 gems so as I have a life I just lose and wait 3 hours or play a video. Sorry Rovio.

As for the leagues – well very strange. Up to about 3-4 weeks ago i would normally win with 250/300 points. A few weeks ago towards the end of a week when I was clear top I was moved to a league where I was 8th or so. Since then I continue to get my 250/300 points and usually finish 8th/9th. Winner has in excess of 1000 points usually.

How is this possible all of a sudden?

Bit bored with it all really now – especially with the 20 new levels every two weeks.

[kedik22]

@hank

Hi.
Thanks for getting back, we know you put in a great effort.

But with all due respect, very specific questions have been posted here.
Therefore we would appreciate straightforward answers.

I really do not understand why this obscurity.

It is a sad day when Rovio does not send a clear message that they are at leat trying to make AB2 experience a little bit better and fairer.

Regards.

[cognitive]

Observations from last week’s tournament:

– there seems to be a change in the physics of the game as one-bird rooms now become 3-bird rooms for me. The opponents are generally flawless with the odd exception of the first bird which is often bricked.

– scoring remains a mystery. At level 7 a room has at most 700k points for me if I completely destroy it. Yet opponents score runaway scores with lower level birds seemingly at ease.

– There seems to be zero opportunity to catch up if you brick a bird. You look up and all of a sudden opponent is a head by 700k-1M points. Come on people…

– streak 1 and streak 2 are not too difficult, but streak 3 and beyond…

– the 5 spell clowns seem to have been reduced, but in their place I’m seeing flawless, absolutely flawless players. Every Time. Robots? cheaters? no idea.

I’m banking tickets and coins right now… Play well enough to maybe finish 3rd or 4th an d get a few gems. Pity…

[heybert17]

I just lost 4 first streaks in a row to opponents I usually beat because of the 1 bird rooms becoming 3 bird rooms. Plus I have been keeping track, if these opponents are all real they are the luckiest players ever. They usually start the game with the perfect birds for the first couple rooms. and somehow even if their bird is a lower rank than mine they usually score 100,000 more than me on the first room, no matter how good I did.

[Angry Beaver]

8 times in a row in #1 opponent with l11 birds and 5 spells then 2 normal opponents i won, reached #3 in winning streak and SURPRISE!: Opponent with l11 birds and 5 spells.
“Fun game” yes? It’s going worst day by day. I like to think that i’m not worst player in the world but i just can’t against mass without spending lot of money what i can’t do even if i want because f****** google payments just blocked my account.
Yeah, i’m little bit disappointed today.

[cognitive]

Yep,

the last two posts are pretty much my sentiment. I have 3 7’s and 4 6’s birds and really have to focus on winning streak 1 when the guy has all 6 birds. One mistake and you’re behind by 500K points, and that’s it. Also lots of 1 bird rooms are now magically 3 bird rooms, generally via immortal micro-pig appearances. Any wins are 5 stars, 6 at best.

Streak=2 is more winnable than streak=1 assuming you get there. Streak = 3 is non winnable.

So basically what Rovio has done is replaced the typical player with the absolute best Michael Jordan type player even at streak=1. Only way to win is to have the right birds at the right time.

[kedik22]

@hank

Have to agree with previous posts sentiment.

Fact: We know Rovio is aware of this.
So…
Specific question: Does Rovio have any plans to improve the arena playing sentiment?

Regards.

[angrynerds2]

Even in the first round two out of three opponents are a*hole-opponents now. I end the game, win some stars and one arena ticket. With some luck I win the great present of 30 feathers but not more.

It would be fine if the bird levels would freeze. Otherwise we would meet suckers with “level 150 birds” pretty soon.

[cognitive]

This week there seems to be a lot of interest in the league I am on. THere’s some serious competition for 1 thru 3, and I’m content to collect and save tickets, feathers, and so on and not play anything extra. Not a good way given I won Gold or Silver for 22 weeks straight.

[heybert17]

My opponent just got 810,415 on the 1st room with a level 5 bird, insane.

[DDeck]

I’ll just leave this here.

@Hank

[cognitive]

My opponent just got 810,415 on the 1st room with a level 5 bird, insane.

That’s the thing. Back in the good old days of “3-birds-appearing-out-of-nowhere” at the end, opponents made mistakes, and were for the most part similar to us. Right now it feels like every match, even a streak=1, is like playing pick-me-up basketball with Michael Jordan…

[kedik22]

@hank

Hi.

All week, about 90% of battles, I have faced opponents that are way off my level, bringing in all kinds of spells and therefore massively outscoring me.
Seems that this is the general experience of this huge minority.

Specific question:
Is Rovio´s intent to maintain arena gameplay in this unfair manner?

@hank, people are just grinding away in order not to be demoted and are not having a good time.
How long will this keep going on?

Regards.

[bigbadaboom]

@kedik22
Specific question:
Is Rovio´s intent to maintain arena gameplay in this unfair manner?

Of course it is. The purpose of the game is to make you spend money, remember?
Currently the arena is tuned so you can get a 2-win streak fairly easy to get a taste of what’s to come, but you no matter how good you are you will lose most fights after that unless you spend gems and/or spell cards.

[Anonymous]

@hank I’ll follow-up on @kedik22’s question:

Is this intentional?

[kedik22]

@bigbadaboom

It certainly seems so.

But it would surely be nice to hear Rovio´s position through @hank !

Clarity is one of Rovio´s missing characteristics.

[David Martin]

At times I see Arena opponents that follow the “ramping up” pattern described by either Hank or Bankler. Particularly in those rare times when I’m fortunate enough to 5, 6, or 7 – these opponents will generally have all their birds 1-2 levels above me and maybe a few spells. It’s when those highly imbalanced matches happen on 1 or 2 that I have to raise an eyebrow.

I actually got an opponent I was perfectly matched with today, on the 4th match of a streak. Both of us had all our birds at exactly level 8, and he had no spells. I want to say the matching algorithm was working correctly at that point, but even a broken clock is right twice a day (unless you’re in the military).

[angrynerds2]

@partshade: It’s always the same. Birds 1-2 levels higher and all spells.