Tetris Friends Arena Changes You Want

[DannyBars]

my main problem is that E+ is no longer available, which is entirely ridiculous, i need combo-block like on TOJ, if they brought it back i would play there more, although i still go there a lot

[Blink]

I agree strongly with some of the other players about removing handicapping.  It kills the gameplay because when you win/lose you don't know if the other player is better or if it's because they had nicer garbage.  It also misleads players into thinking they are better than they really are.  Lastly, it makes any ranking/rating system meaningless.

If handicapping was a room feature that could be toggled on/off I think that everybody would want to play with it off, even the players who don't ever win would probably choose off for fairness.

[meow]

it's quite clear TTC won't cater to the hardcore players. we've suggested so much stuff to them in the past and they've never listened.

if you actually want tetris friends to improve, then don't support them until they get their sh** together. instead, support the games which are good and force them to change to draw their users back.

i have a feeling that all the good players on TF arena moving to TOJ had something to do with them bringing E+ mode back.

note: E+ is still sh**.

[Kitaru]

it's quite clear TTC won't cater to the hardcore players. we've suggested so much stuff to them in the past and they've never listened.

Never? Yeah, they'll never implement fast DAS and IRS/IHS in all the modes. :p By no means should that have been a two year battle, but "never" is hardly the right word. I'd say it is more like: "Effecting any sort of positive change is an excessively arduous process."

if you actually want tetris friends to improve, then don't support them until they get their sh** together. instead, support the games which are good and force them to change to draw their users back.

My understanding is that TTC magic Catch-22 logic dictates that they should not bring out better games because people make their own better games. (e.g.: Why allow TGM to be released on consoles or worldwide when there are clones? Never mind that clones aren't perfect. Never mind that passionate players would definitely support a retail release of their beloved game. (I mean, Cave Story Wii has performed terribly, hasn't it? Oh wait.) Never mind that the passionate players are dropping mad dough on legitimate arcade hardware when they get the chance. Never mind that passionate players are going to arcades to pay to play the real deal if they're fortunate enough to live near a machine. TGM is clearly doomed to fail.)

Anyhow, have some approximate timings on the new DAS -- initiating crosspost action:

All frame values should be accurate to ±1 frame. Flash drops frames too often, haha.

DAS:
Level 1 - ~16 frames (Previous guideline standard)
Level 2 - ~11 frames (Splash-esque, I think.)
Level 3 - ~9 frames
Level 4 - ~8 frames
Level 5 - ~7 frames

Rate:
Level 1 - 20hz (Previous guideline standard)
Level 2 - 30hz (Matches Tetris Splash)
Level 3 - 45hz?
Level 4 - 50hz?
Level 5 - 60hz?

The rate was really confusing so I basically just guessed after a while. It seemed to behave really inconsistently in the video since Flash is clearly not rendering at 60fps. I think the point here is that you want to max the rate anyhow, and that the max rate is good.

[caffeine]

I agree strongly with some of the other players about removing handicapping.  It kills the gameplay because when you win/lose you don't know if the other player is better or if it's because they had nicer garbage.

TTC just wants everyone to have fun, so beginners have a shot at winning and the experts don't get bored by winning every game. Maybe, though, the bronze/silver/gold/platinum divisions suit that purpose already.

There's something to be said about "complete information" games (which TF rejects by taking past performance into account and handicapping). Making handicap mandatory seems silly if you look at other games. Imagine if in these games the official rules stated:
In Chess, the better player has to start with one less rook.
In the 100 meter sprint, the worse player starts at the 80 meter line.
In Basketball, the worse team starts with ten points.

Sure, if it's voluntary, great, but making it mandatory is like trying to get equal outcomes no matter your skill. If I wanted equal outcomes (opposed to equal opportunity i.e. fair play), I'd play "let's flip coins and see who wins."

[Magnanimous]

My understanding is that TTC magic Catch-22 logic dictates that they should not bring out better games because people make their own better games.

I thought their logic was that they shouldn't make better games because just as many people will play the crappy ones. Do you think 85 million people play Farmville because it's a great game?

TTC just wants everyone to have fun, so beginners have a shot at winning and the experts don't get bored by winning every game. Maybe, though, the bronze/silver/gold/platinum divisions suit that purpose already.

The beginners don't need a shot at winning, except against other beginners. Tetris Friends should work like Blockbox: the veterans inspire the rookies to train and play a lot so they can get better. When I first got to BB my 40L time was about 1:05... Then I saw how a lot of people had sub-40 times, and I wanted to be like them.

Personally, I have more fun when Blink/Trance/etc kick the sh*t out of me in versus. When I'm in the mood to win, I play against people who are around my skill level.

[zaphod77]

TTC's logic about TGM is that anyone hardcore enough to want to play it is hardcore enough to hunt down or program their own clone.  I don't like it any more than you do.

See, in their eyes, Tetris is supposed to be a casual game, and non casual features must therefore be hidden from the casual players. Simple is not the same thing as casual.  No one would call Pac-Man or Space Invaders casual, though they are very simple.  Tetris was the same way, originally. Simple, and easy to understand, but not casual.

Have there ever been any truly great casual games ever?  POSSIBLY Bejeweled comes close to being one.

[Blink]

Okay so expert plus mode is back now.  They didn't tack on an additional fee for it if you already bought the room settings.

[m__]

See, in their eyes, Tetris is supposed to be a casual game, and non casual features must therefore be hidden from the casual players.

i know that's what they want, but I have a very hard time seeing tetris as "casual".   The first time my wife saw  me playing tetris she asked me "how is that even fun?"

[iphys]

lol, first time I saw a screenshot of gameboy Tetris, I thought something similar.  The graphics just looked so blocky and boring that I wondered how it could possibly be a fun game.

[jennr246]

Despite having E+ back, I still think there is a big issue with the garbage. I have played a few times since they brought it back, the garbage is still VERY neat, which makes it very easy to just spam tetrises back and forth the whole time. There is garbage blocking and longer gameplay, but, imo, it still needs some work.

[Blink]

Despite having E+ back, I still think there is a big issue with the garbage. I have played a few times since they brought it back, the garbage is still VERY neat, which makes it very easy to just spam tetrises back and forth the whole time. There is garbage blocking and longer gameplay, but, imo, it still needs some work.

I agree, the garbage right now is too neat and easy to clear through.  Please increase the hole change rate so that matches don't become seesaw battles and so that they require some actual skill to clear through.

[massi4h]

But then it would be less casual and noobs wouldn't be happy. And there are probably 100x more rank 1-15 than 16-20.

[jennr246]

But noobs would probably not use the E+ rooms anyway, they could just use the regular room settings- those are not going to change.
Besides if they actually did something to make the game better maybe more of the better players would actually play on TF, and it would be nice to have more higher ranked players to compete with.

[Wojtek]

E+ needs to be default. Auto-balanced rooms are worst idea ever.