Re: +1 per 10 alternatives

From: Kevin P. McDonald <paul_mcdonald_at_...>
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 13:16:34 -0500

My skill at probability math is pretty weak, but after taking a second look at the proposed "+1 auto-bonus per 5 ability over 10" scheme, I believe that it is starts too low on the ability scale. As best I can figure, the results are much closer to those of a rolled contest if you start the "+1 per 5" scheme at 20 instead of 15. (Even starting at 20 your chance of having won the auto-bonus in an actual contest is not more than 75 percent, which might not be attempted by conservative players.)

This appears to hold true for the "+1 per 5" scheme until around the W3 range, where trying for a "double bonus" becomes more beneficial than trying for a bonus directly. That introduces a logarithmic (?) increase in bonuses that could quickly get out of hand, but this is a quirk of Hero Wars that I am not trying to fix here.

Starting the scale at 20 also has the somewhat cool advantage of making intuitive sense for starting characters: Your two 1w abilities give you an autobonus of +1 and your 5w ability gives an auto-bonus of +2. The lower skills are ones you have not mastered, and so don't get an autobonus.

Comments?

~Kevin