To make matches play out as smooth as possible, this update provides more visibility on what’s happening behind the scenes, with a few future insights to boot.
Connecting the dots with disconnects
Disconnect and reconnect alerts now include the reason why these events took place. These will provide specifics so you know what needs fixing to get back in the game, helping mortals troubleshoot their issues and navigate their way back to a match, as opposed to being at a loss as to what is affecting your match.
This process is iterative. If there are multiple issues affecting your game, you won't be bombarded with nonsense messages, rather given issues one at a time. For example, if you get hit with "Internet was unreachable", you know to solve this by reconnecting your internet. But what if that breeds other issues? You may then get hit with "Game server was unreachable", which could mean that during your disconnect your VPN stopped working and the game can’t find your server.
These tools are aimed to guide you towards a solution (and hopefully a win in the Arena!), as opposed to finding yourself in the launcher with a loss.
The quest to destroy all softlocks
Softlocks have been our main nemesis this quarter. They stop the game from functioning and lead to some cards being unlived (at the moment this is the case for Corrupt Ceremony, which is unlived as the rate of soft locks are beyond what is reasonable; we have a fix for this, and it’s currently in testing). We’ve been waging this war across the last few updates, and 0.36 sees our behind-the-scenes softlock and desync analytics greatly improved, helping us detect things ahead of time.
0 strength attacks
Creatures with 0 strength can now attack. Previously, a 0 strength creature would just sit on the board like an egg. Now? That creature can slap itself against another creature. This might seem like an odd change, but this sets the foundations for things to come. While we can’t talk about these mechanics just yet, you are very welcome to speculate away...
Here are some rundowns of how 0 strength attacks work:
- Creatures with 0 strength can attack, in the same way that creatures with 1 strength can attack.
- This change does not apply to relics, meaning relics with 0 strength will not be able to attack.
- Creatures with “can’t attack” text still cannot attack.
- A creature attacking with 0 strength does not trigger deadly, as deadly requires damage to be dealt to take effect.
- A creature with 0 strength does not break another character’s protected during an attack, as damage needs to be dealt to remove protected.
- Despite not dealing damage, a 0 strength attack is still classified as an attack for the purpose of card/game effects.
- Gods can’t attack unless they have a relic.
- 0 strength attacks against a god do not generate favor.
UPDATE 7, July 2021: The above aligns to the rules around attacking a god who has protected, namely: a direct attack to a god that deals damage to your opponent will generate favor. A direct attack to a god that does not deal damage to your opponent will not generate favor.
Balancing bonus: new developer alert
Have you been matched against a Gods Unchained developer and feared for your rank? Well now you’ve got a way out! When you face a dev, you will now be alerted and given the option to dodge the match (without any repercussions). Devs have access to a majority of the card sets for testing purposes, so it’s only fair that you don’t have to face us when the going gets tough, especially if you are just starting out. That said, more cards doesn't necessarily mean more skill, and you'll be forfeiting a chance at some stellar bragging rights in Discord if you come out on top… so will you choose fight or flight?
For the team, this feature means the devs get to play the game more; an important point because it helps the team have a first-hand understanding of the meta. The team currently avoids playing on the weekend in fear of affecting Weekend Ranked results without you having a choice in the matter. With this update, you have a choice on whether you’d like to play against a dev or not, so you'll start to see more devs in the Arena. That said, dev accounts won't be included in the leaderboards and aren't eligible to receive rewards.
The more we play against the community, the better we understand the intricacies of card interactions (and not all devs are expert players). The goal here is that we remain connected to the heart of the current meta. When combined with community feedback, this will help us make the best balancing decisions possible!
See you in the Arena, mortals.
