Dukasaur wrote:Agent 86 wrote:Not a chance, left Land Grab because of Bots fucking up a good game. I can't believe CC would put this in place against so many other good ideas. Fail as there are so many maps with varieties of play, no bot can be programmed to be competitive on such a diverse playing field. Will not have any bot in my games ruining real games.
86
Don't worry, the bots can't join games of their own accord, and they can't be invited to games. They are strictly a 1v1 thing that you play if and only if you choose to.
CC put in the bots for a very good reason. Our Number 1 problem has always been new user retention. People hear about the site, they come and check it out, sign up for a few games, and nothing happens. The game they joined doesn't start until maybe days later, and meanwhile they've moved an and are playing some other game on some other site. Even if the game does start, their turn doesn't come up right away, and if it does, it's probably because they are playing some farmer who has been waiting to ambush them.
We've tried various strategies to improve new player retention, but without much success. The most recent major push was to have some free speed games for new members. That did more harm then good. It increased the creation of multies, it increased farming, and it didn't do much to improve the retention rate.
This is a new attempt to achieve that goal. New players can come, get some instant gratification by having a few games that begin right away. The bots aren't very good as players, but they are just good enough to give a new player a bit of a challenge, as well as an introduction to how the game plays out and the basic mechanics. With a bit of luck, the new player will develop a taste for the game and be much more likely to stick around.
A lot of veterans have tried some games against the bots now, mainly out of curiosity. There is even a nice
official tournament involving those games. However, you and I are not the target audience, and the bots are not intended to be serious competition for a veteran. They are a new player hook, we hope, and that is all they are meant to be.