Daily Challenge – what's the verdict?

[kelshe]

Greetings all…new to ABN but not to AB2. Star level 57, all birds at 9. Something is going on with the DC;I’ve won 6 of the last 8 DCs and 5 in a row. Either Rovio has made them easier or I’m a superb player. I suspect that it’s the former.

[kelshe]

Won the DC again. Now the run is 9 of the last 12. Didn’t win on the first try or first bird this time but still without using gems. I never get feathers, though. Only spells. And only ducks and peppers. I have 600 ducks and 300 peppers, so I
don’t really need any more. A few feathers would be nice occasionally. Or even a partridge in a pear tree.

[Saphira]

Kelshe, after I reached all level 8 birds I only received spells from the DC, until level 9 became available. Now I earn at least 100 feathers for completing the DC, so when level 10 becomes available you might earn feathers then.

[kelshe]

Saphira, hadn’t thought of that…guess we’ll see when 10 is available. That might be a while, though. Thanks for the suggestion.

[RedYoshi45]

@kgeisler @kelshe Rank 10 is available now.

On today’s DC: Was alright, but I needed a few goes on the boss level. Miner and construction pigs have been a pest.

[Dwhite]

Best I’ve ever done on the DC. One life made it through the Boss. I’ve really enjoyed playing these over the last two weeks or so. At least they are doable most of the time now.

[kelshe]

Streak is now 10 of 13. It’ll end soon, but I’ll enjoy it while it lasts. And, Saphira, you were right. I’m getting feathers again.

[Saphira]

I got to the boss on my second try and defeated him with no problem. I think some luck is involved in reaching him though, because I was nowhere close on my first attempt. Irritating miner pigs did me in. I got 250 feathers from the second chest; that hasn’t happened for awhile!

[kelshe]

Now my DC streak is 11 of the last 14. It seems that the DC is much more playable and winnable (and more enjoyable ) than when it was rolled out as evidenced by this streak. And, I’ve used gems only once during this run. My playing skills haven’t suddenly taken a quantum leap upward, so one can reasonably conclude that Rovio has buffed the game in response to myriad comments from players from this forum and other precincts. For those who are loath to use gems or spells, well, that’s what they’re for. And you don’t have to buy them. The daily gift combined with the 15/30 minute chest awards allows one to build up a fairly large cache fairly quickly. I don’t use spells for the DC or regular levels and I only use gems on the boss when his health meter is near zero. The reward for using gems almost always exceeds the cost of using them. As for the Arena, the goal is to win the faux PvP match-up and if gems and spells are needed, then fine. Especially when matched against cheaters/hackers. If one has a purist philosophy and wants to win in head-to-head matches on skill alone, one’s win/loss ratio might be less than one desires. How many times will you win when pitted against a player whose birds are ranked higher than yours and with 5 spells? This is not to suggest that you should play the way I play or to criticize your play method. By all means one should play the way one feels most comfortable. Bear in mind, however, that skill only plays a part in one’s method. Other variables are present that can have a larger impact on game outcome than skill. Happy flinging everyone!

[David Martin]

I agree that the DC seems to have gotten somewhat easier over the last few weeks. I’ve won it pretty much every day I’ve tried recently.

The 5-spell opponents in the Arena really bug me, but since I accumulate spells now faster that I used to (due to treasure chest rewards from the DC and sometimes the Arena itself), I don’t mind using whatever I have in my arsenal. I’ve found that whenever the app closes unexpectedly, you start back up with the spells you had on last startup (at least I think this is how it works), so when I’m about to lose an Arena match, if I’ve used any spells this round, I just quit the app. That means I can select every spell I have handy whenever I play, and they only actually get used up on victories. (And I never buy extras – I’m using only what was awarded to me.) Seems like a win/win situation until they fix that bug.

Every now and then I can actually surpass one of those 5-spell guys, because their actual skill level doesn’t always match their stats. What bothers me more is that I’ll be matched up with players who have all of their birds at level 9. I just got the last of my birds to level 7 yesterday, so what gives?

If I’m matched against an opponent with all 7s or 6s and 7s, even if they have a spell or two, I can usually come out ahead with no spells, thanks to the offer for an extra bird at the end.

[kelshe]

@david-martin, I agree. The extra bird at the end is a big help, especially if you get to use it on a new room and not to finish up room. I have used gems in the past to win in order to keep the streak alive. I’ll gladly use 60 gems to win the 7th game and get 500 feathers. I’ll use any advantage, short of cheating, to win. That includes spells, gems and glitches. Winning is the reason for playing. Not to boast about coming in second in a 100 meter race when there were only two people in the race.

[David Martin]

I don’t mind exploiting glitches if I stumbled across them accidentally. AB2 has so many glitches – many of them making the game a lot more frustrating for the player – that I figure it’s only fair. I do make sure to point them out here because I know Rovio is watching, and it’s kind of interesting to see how much of a hurry they’re in to fix the glitches that might be helping the player vs. the ones that might be hurting the player. If it effectively gets me free spells and thus I’m less likely to spend gems on spells (or money on gems, though I’d never do that anyway), I figure they have a real incentive to fix it.

Before I upgraded to the iPhone and I was using the iPod Touch, there were tons of levels and arena matches I lost due to the game crashing at the slightest provocation, despite Rovio insisting the game would work on my device. I suffered through that for so long that it’s basically the reason I’m behind a lot of other players now. It might be a flimsy justification for exploiting a loophole now, but hey, any time they want to close the loophole, fair’s fair.

[kelshe]

@david-martin, you’re right…fair is fair. There have been numerous glitches that penalized the player and numerous glitches that benefited the player. Case in point, up until recently if you hit the back button between levels on the DC, you would get feathers (sometimes as many as 250) or spells. So the incentive was not to win the DC but to exploit the free stuff. This was pointed out to Rovio and it took several weeks for them to correct it. A lot of people leveled up and started a spells stash. But then you could be leading in the arena by a large margin and then, an hour before the arena ended, someone would jump above you and prevent you from claiming the first place gems. So maybe it evens out.

[David Martin]

On that topic, I still haven’t figured out why the Arena occasionally shunts me off to a completely different group of competitors, in which I’m conveniently in first or second place, then back I go to the previous group where I was in something like 12th or 13th. Occasionally I get lucky and I stay in the new group… but it doesn’t really feel like I earned the victory in that case. (The number of stars I earned seems to stay the same; I’m just suddenly up against people who haven’t earned as many.)

[kelshe]

@david-martin, that happened to me last week. I got moved around to several different groups where I would be in first place or last place or middle of the pack. Several times I was in a group where I was the only one in the group. At least I was in first place in that group. Would’ve been depressing to be I last place in that group.

[Djangosmum]

As already remarked upon, the Daily Challenges do seem to be getting easier to beat – today’s is one I think we saw not too long ago, with the boss just below the slingshot. It looks tricky but you only need a Bomb to explode just above him, then he just falls down off-screen, job done!

Also picking up on comments above, I too got switched to a different group in the Arena yesterday, so went from struggling to keep up to top with loads more stars than the rest. Only hope I don’t get switched back at the last minute.

[heybert17]

Well just played today’s DC several times, only once did I make it beyond the first 2 rooms. Not well designed rooms, just too many annoying random blocking structures.

[kelshe]

My streak is now 12 of 15; I’ve lost track of how many in a row. Part of the reason is that with 5 birds at 10 and 2 at 9, I do more damage, fill the destructometer faster and get more bird backs. That usually allows me to go into the boss room with at least two birds. Sometimes I’ll try to do structure damage to get additional bird backs and set up a hole for the boss to exit the screen. If I’ve been lucky enough to lower the boss’s health meter while doing structure damage, he can often be taken out with one well-placed shot. Of course, that assumes the boss isn’t in some inaccessible spot. Then all bets are off.

[Dwhite]

I struggled getting past the first 3 room level today. Failed it multiple times. Then once I got past that I breezed past the Boss. The DC is my favorite part of the game right now. No Cheaters!!!

[kelshe]

Now 13 of 16. Today’s DC was pretty easy. Would’ve won on first attempt but made some real dumb shots. Second attempt left me with Bomb for the Boss. Just aimed Bomb up at the closest small balloon under Boss and goodbye Boss. It seems Rovio made the DC easier and made the Arena harder. Shots I’ve made hundreds of times with destructive results now just fall away harmlessly. Plus, all the cheaters have pretty much taken over in the Arena.

[Dwhite]

Beautiful dog Kelshe. Great Dane? I found the DC today challenging but doable. Got it on my 3rd life. I used to not even play the DC. It was brutal and a total waste of my time. I like challenging but I despise impossible. Now that the DC is fair it’s my favorite part of AB2. I’ve totally given up on the arena. It’s cheaters paradise. I don’t volunteer for misery. I look for Rovio to make the DC unbearable again. Rovio has an interesting business model. I think they genuinely want to file bankruptcy. There is no way they could do a more horrible job. I think they thoroughly examine what it would take to make the customer happy and what would make the business thrive- then they do the opposite. It’s actually quite fascinating.

*please note for the sticklers: I am being facetious- at least somewhat.

[David Martin]

@kelshe – Are there truly cheaters in the Arena, or just bribers? I figure cheaters are exploiting some sort of a hack to gain an unfair advantage. Bribers are just spending their own hard-earned money (or perhaps just time, though this is less likely) on spells. Bribers are annoying, but they’re playing by the established rules of the game. My guess is these folks will level up faster and thus be harder to beat; however some of them are less experienced and pumping money into the game to make up for it, so they’re not always as unbeatable as you’d expect.

Right now my birds are all at 7. I imagine I’ll eventually level them all up to 9 or 10. I play the DC every day and often win, so I can sometimes accumulate spells (mostly duck and chili, but the other three have come up on rare occasions). If I’m at that level, and I use some or all of those spells on an Arena run, then guess what – I’m going to look like a “cheater” to the unfortunate person (probably at the level I’m at now) who gets paired off against me.

My point is to say it’s how Rovio pairs up these players that is the real problem. The algorithm for it is just screwy. I can’t fault people for building up an arsenal of spells, even though I think they could probably spend their cash on better things.

[kelshe]

@dwhite40704, yes. 19 month old Great Dane Lady Lucy. Very sweet, very spoiled, very goofy. We’re in week 12 of a 16 week obedience training course. She does pretty well when we practice at home, but when at dog school she’s the class clown. What kind of hund is your avatar? Haven’t given up on the Arena yet, I have a narrow lead, but this week might be the last for me. It depends on the outcome.

[Dwhite]

The one in the pic is a Borador. Half lab/half border collie. Total ball of energy!! We also have a German Shepherd and a Yorkie. The Yorkie thinks he is the boss of the house.

Best of luck with the remainder of your arena battles. I’m done for a while with it. It’s been like an addiction. I love/hate it but can’t seem to stop. I haven’t played the arena for about 48 hours and I already feel relief. All I’ve asked for is fairness. I don’t think that’s asking too much. But Rovio has pushed the greed button one too many times for me. I’m actually ok with spending some jack. I own a business so I understand totally that money has to be made. But never at the expense of integrity and gold quality customer service.

[kelshe]

@david-martin, you might be partially correct; maybe some players bought their way up. That makes them paying customers though, not bribers. I can accept that even if I don’t like it. But I’m definitely being pitted against cheaters. All my birds are at 10 with several with almost enough feathers to reach 11 when elder silver becomes available. I have nearly 900 spells, all earned, not bought. When I’m pitted against “players” with a 5 or 6 star ranking and with all their birds at 11 or 12, I can reasonably conclude that they’re cheaters since I don’t think that one can buy levels that have yet to be released. If I’m wrong about that, I’m willing to be disabused of that notion. I don’t want seem immodest, but I have been playing video games of all kinds for a very, very long time. I’m good at them and I’m used to winning. Can I be beaten? Of course. There are many players who are better than I. But I am a competitor and anyone who beats me usually has to work for the win. I do agree with you about the algorithms, however. Skillful play often can’t overcome algorithmic manipulation whether at game outset or as the game progresses. And, sometimes skill alone just isn’t enough. Not when you are at the mercy of the Gods of Algorithm.