About the Angry Birds 2 Arena

[Anonymous]

@angrynerds2 Yes and it desperately needs to be addressed by Rovio.

[Rovio_Hank]

Hello flingers!

I’m trying to address most issues the best way I can, but in some cases the answer is simply that we’re working on improving it. That’s an answer I’ve given regarding a few issues in this thread, because I want to be able to give you a better answer once we actually have a solution on the way rather than giving “false hope”. Your feedback is really important and it’s all passed to the rest of the team.

@ktcain

The bug where it looked like you were winning a game, but at the end of the run showing you that it wasn’t the case, is the bug that we fixed. It had nothing to do with the score calculation, it was an animation bug that interfered with the opponents score text which prevented it from updating correctly. So while the opponent actually was ahead of the player, the score didn’t update to reflect that.

Some fixes we will be able to do live, when we have built in support for it. But for bugs it’s usually rarer for us to be able to fix it on the fly, meaning it will be released in the next update. The fixes I told you about now will all come in the next update.

@kedik22

There are a lot of questions in this thread, some overlapping in their sentiment, and some already answered. I can’t answer everything in detail and as I said, for some questions, I can only say we’re working on fixing it. I’m trying to filter through and give the most important answers, but it’s not easy. In the last few posts there are some direct questions that are easier for me to address than to go through longer posts and pick out the questions. If your feeling is that we’re not working towards making the game better, I’ve failed you, because we are.

We are working on the Arena improvement, as I’ve mentioned before. The tricky part is doing live changes on a big game so that it works well for all types of players. This Tuesday we did a live test (nothing that affects players) with positive results and with a bit of luck you might notice some changes in the upcoming days. We’ve also worked on finishing the next update with lots of cool features, so stay tuned for that!

@ddeck

Thanks for reporting this, that level has now been fixed.

Thanks for all the feedback, we’re working on improving the experience the best we can!
/Hank

[heybert17]

This was easily my worst round ever, room one, my first bird, bomb, blasted the bucket pig to the top of the trunk. I finally got a Chuck and all he did was break the bucket even though he was aimed right at micro miracle. I did get close one by getting the angle of Matilda almost right but just missed the little bacon bugger. No other birds could even come close.

[Travelinaddy]

So I’m not complaining because now in #1, but the top player in the arena just disappeared…. Anyone know why??

[DJLarryt]

@hank The Arena score bug isn’t fixed. This just happened to me five minutes ago (this is the screenshot after it told me I lost and made me buy-in so I could take the screenshot). My device was rebooted prior to this as well.

View post on imgur.com

[Angry Beaver]

Again and again if i reach #3 in winning streak i get opponent with l11 birds and 5 spells. If i get equal opponent i usually can win but against this i i have not a smallest chance. When it finally be fixed?

[Vogel Birdson]

Just to add to the discussion, I too am experiencing huge difficulties with the arena nowadays. I’ve not completed the entire streak for a good few weeks I think.

I can hardly get past the first two or three battles. In fact, I’ve managed to lose the past 4 or 5 attempts to even get a first win in a streak – and that is even with opponents with less ‘ability’ then I. The next opponents are far too strong and I have no chance of defeating them.

Very frustrating.

[kedik22]

@hank

Again, thank you so much for getting back.

We know you cannot answer every question, but saying you are working hard to fix things, at this stage is just not good enough.
Many bad arena experiences and even worst sentiment is a big thing with this huge minority.
What is it you are trying to fix and what things you are NOT considering is a big difference.

And giving straightforward answers to specific questions can make a world of difference, between enjoying the game or abandoning it.
It is quite simple, for example:
Question: How can I tell apart genuine opponents from fillers or cheaters in weekly tournaments?
Answers:
1) Not now, but working on it, any time soon…
2) Never, we do it on purpose to keep you in the dark, so you keep on spending an unnecessary amount of gems, and to make your day to day arena experience a bad one.

See how easy it is?

Kind regards.

[angrynerds2]

Shame! Shame!
I fought for a first place the whole week long and now almost at the end the league changes everytime I start the game.
It will be a surprise what I get on sunday.

[Rovio_Hank]

@kedik22

Question: How can I tell apart genuine opponents from fillers or cheaters in weekly tournaments?

I’ve given the following answers:
1. There are no “filler opponents”, the users you play are real. I can however add upon that… there is an edge case where there are coded opponents, but that’s an extreme case when there’s a new week with no recorded runs, so this only happens to a few countries and only during the first hour.

2. Cheaters who are caught will not upload their runs, so you won’t play against them.

3. Cheaters will never “steal” your top spot in a tournament, they are placed last with one star (this star is not counted in the promotion/demotion though). We could probably improve this system over time. There are huge improvements planned for the Arena, stay tuned and you’ll see!

I hope that answers the question! Have a great weekend!
/Hank

[Angry Beaver]

Why i never get any spell as ‘extra card’ when i start battle without spells?
Why i loose opponent weaker than me in winning streak #1?
Why, if i reach #3 in winning streak i always get opponent with l11 birds and 5 spells?
Why i can’t buy just one spell or arena ticket like earlier?
Why arena ticket what costed earlier 12 gems costs now 33?
Why is all the fun gone?
Why i still playing it?
etc
etc

[kedik22]

@hank

Hi again, and thanks for getting back and the effort.

Unfortunately, you did not understand the question.
We know opponents we battle in the Arena are scores of real players, no doubt there.
They are NOT randomly chosen, but that is another story…

What I meant by fillers are those I compete against during the week, the ones I have to beat to earn medals.
Last week I placed tenth, but was awarded fist place and gold medal.
The other nine that placed better than me were not cheaters, and therefore fillers or whatever you want to call them.

The question asked, is how can I distinguish between those “fillers” and actual honest players I am competing against for medals?

And while we are at it, what is with all the jumping around in tournaments/leagues during the week? I really has a bad influence on strategy!

Regards and have a good weekend.

[David Martin]

@kedik22 – I think the jumping around between tournaments is your problem. You were in tenth the last time you played that particular tournament, then when you logged back in after the tournament ended, you had probably been shunted off to another group of competitors, in which you happened to be first. That’s my best guess, anyway. I’ve been alternating between 1st and roughly 7th or 8th this entire week, without my own score changing unexpectedly – it’s just that I keep getting shifted back and forth between a group of really good competitors and a group of not-so-great ones.

I don’t think there are any “fillers”, but I sure would like to know how things got so screwed up in the programming department that we aren’t competing with a consistent group of 14 other people throughout the week. It’s counterintuitive to even show a leaderboard if our placement in a competition is going to change arbitrarily from one login to the next.

That and the horrible matching algorithm seem to me like the biggest bugs in the Arena that need urgent fixing. I can deal with the occasional “unfair” match against an overpowered opponent with 5 spells – occasionally with a bit of luck, I can even beat one of those punks. But I think it’s notable that so many of us have observed how such an opponent is almost guaranteed to show up at match #3 in a streak. That needs to be investigated, stat.

[cognitive]

The matching algorithm coders had the weekend off – I played a few streak 1 games these last couple weeks and nearly every opponent was a 5 spell type.

I’m simply banking tickets and gems, and will finish 6th or 7th.

[kedik22]

@david-martin

Hi.

I have NOT been jumping around between tournaments, I have read it happens to you and many others.

Regarding “fillers”, I was looking at the screen when the tournament ended, and witnessed how instantly from tenth place I received the gold medal.
An let me tell you, it is not the first time, it has happened to me before.

Fillers are a fact.
A few weeks ago @wrw01 appeared in my leaderboard, but was actually competing in another tournament.

@bankler may have made a comment about this , not sure though.
So, you are really in the dark, when it comes to strategy: How many arena tickets, gems and spells you bring into play.

And regarding mismatches, I agree there is a huge problem.
In the sense that opponents you face are NOT randomly chosen and not even close to your birdlevel, the game is rigged.
And if money is involved along the way, that is cheating on Rovio´s part.

[heybert17]

All the other players must be experts. Was leading by over 1,000,000, made one small mistake, and within 1 bird was losing and lost by almost a million.

And once again I am in a stretch where I can’t win a first round battle no matter how well I play.

[kedik22]

@heybert17

I have noticed that when they bring in spells, and not make mistakes, they usually score around 8 million.

If they do miss a a bird or misuse a blizzard, the score drops to between 6 and 7 million.

Either way, it takes a lot just to make the contest competitive!

[David Martin]

@kedik22 – Given how the developers experiment by changing the rules for different groups of players at different times, it would not surprise me at all that you’re experiencing a glitch I’ve never experienced and vice versa.

[DDeck]

@david-martin
This is what happens to me. Bouncing between various leagues such that I’m always in a different position, sometimes first, sometimes not. However last week, while I appeared to on top of my league at the end, nothing happened when I logged back in. No gems, no pop-up saying what place I finished. The tournament just ended unceremoniously for me.

@kedik22
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity buggy software. Perhaps you are experiencing the opposite of what I am. Since the beginning, this game has been buggy as hell. They often squash one but introduce two more in the process.

[David Martin]

@ddeck – I’ve had that happen too. Finished a tournament, logged in several hours later, and got absolutely no notification of my placement. I figured it was because I had force quit the app during a match where I was losing badly, so it didn’t get to show me the “Broken streak” animation (which I hate having to see anyway – I already know I lost, no need to rub it in) until the next time I logged in. It’s like if it has to show you that, it forgets to show you your placement in the last tournament.

[Angry Beaver]

@hank
In this arena should be option – If you want play with or without spells.
If you choose with: you get opponent with spells and can use them yourself too,
if you choose without: you get opponent without spells and cannot use them yourself also.

[DJLarryt]

And this is your idea of a fair match, Rovio? The day after you introduced the new Tier? On LEVEL 1 OF ALL THINGS?

Good joke. On us.

View post on imgur.com

[kedik22]

@djlarryt

Hi.
Faced someone very similar and got creamed.
Do you think these type of opponents are randomly chosen?
I think not.
Therefore I have to conclude the game is rigged.

[heybert17]

Is it to much to just ask for consistency?

Just played 2 pretty much back to back first rounds in the same Arena. The first time I was striking in almost every room and won by a few hundred thousand to a reasonably even matched opponent.

The next time every room was taking 2-3 birds and got destroyed by someone I slightly outranked. My aim was true but my birds were lame or pigs were surviving destruction they should never survive.

Also, and this is getting very annoying because it has cost me A LOT of rounds. If you make a game based on physics, learn basic physics, when on an incline, round objects ROLL, pigs should not stick to flat surfaces at a decent incline, my birds don’t when they land there.

[heybert17]

Okay, now I am back in a streak where my birds are so lame I can’t win a single first round, and I am in second place by just a few stars.

edit: Just lost my 5th first round battle in a row, this one by less than a thousand points. AAARRGGHHH.