Gambling
 

Still too easy. I went from paying attention to all the stats between the two fighters to just paying attention to some of the stats. Eventually it was only the strength stat that made the difference for me and then it was just down to taking a wild guess. Under the first two procedures it would be normal for me to win at least 3 out of 4 bets each day. This resulted in a record of 38 wins out of 40 bets over the course of 10 days. Under the Last two procedures it would be normal to at least break even if not take home a profit. This resulted in a record of 26 wins out of 40 bets over the course of 10days. The end result leaves me to believe that even if someone only guesses while placing bets that they will still win a profit over the long run.

One possible solution might be to hide all or certain fighter stats from the user when showing the matches for the day. This would result in the user having to rely more on intuition as opposed to just fighter stats when gambling. However, this would not resolve the issue of being able to guess a profit.

Another possible solution might be to include betting odds instead of all or certain fighter stats. Once again, this would only be a portion of the final fix since it is rather obvious that the gambling feature needs to be hard coded differently in order to bring about more challenge.

Re: Gambling
 

Actually, this is kind of on purpose...sometimes you'll get on streaks where you'll win a bunch in a row, and then lose a bunch just as quickly. I designed it so that you would have a least a little success (or else it would be a useless feature no one would use). I have to toe the line between allowing some success, and having a little failure to make you more wary. It's tricky. And each warrior has hidden stats, so the stats you see aren't all there is, so that makes it intuition in a way. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

In my recent game of 40 days, I bet 91 times, won only 49 times, that's just 50% or so. So I broke even most of the way really (I came out ahead maybe 800-900 or so). So it's a lot better than it was before. Not perfect, but better.

[ December 02, 2003, 00:24: Message edited by: StormcloudCreations ]

Re: Gambling
 

You say that over a full season you averaged 50%... just like in real life vs a casino (actually a little better) but the problem is the cap that does not allow someone to go all in. I would like a type in field to allow for higher bets. Also, while betting in the demo I got my cash into the $-600 range without any noticable affects. ie it still told me I was training, advertising, and betting. I doubt that many actual bookies would let you bet $2000 when you already can't pay $600... at least not without taking it out on your knees if you lost http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Gambling
 

That was at least 50% over the 20 days without even looking at the options. It was simply click on the bet button and pick the top or the bottom 500 stack. Repeat for all fighters on a given day and repeat again the next day. It became more of a chore than a feature. I couldn’t just not place a bet but doing so meant several clicks that I didn’t really have much to do with. This became very repetitive and boring. If it is going to be that way then maybe limit it to just one button that will place random bets for all fighters each day. Otherwise, there should be some strategy implemented that would make it somewhat of a challenge to win while gambling.

Also, why can’t I bet on my own fighter?

Re: Gambling
 

I've addressed this a few ways: One, your starting money will be bit smaller with the full Version, so betting a lot early (in the event you don't win) can leave you in a huge hole quick. Two, in the full Version you will no longer be able to bet money you don't have (it will prevent you from betting an amount if you don't have enough to cover it).

In my further testing, I basically broke even most of the time, using both stat figuring (51%) and about 45% winning just guessing, so I ended up losing money overall doing it that way, so that isn't a good way to do it.

You can't bet on your own match for obvious conflict of interest reasons (you could in principle deliberately not use potions or choose poor strategies or throw in a poor warrior to lose so you can win money). The same reasons sports managers aren't allowed to bet on games they manage (see: the alleged infraction of baseball player Pete Rose). http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Gambling
 

I agree with your assertion of why you should be able to bet AGAINST your own fighter. But you should be able to bet WITH your own fighter. Essentially putting a fighter in is a bet in itself, and yet the payout is most times less that the 500 you can bet on other fighters. (not to mention your costs)

Re: Gambling
 

I would tend to believe that deceitful betting practices were probably rather rampant back in those days. Hell, they had fighting matches to the death. This tells me that a gladiator manager might be the type of person to bet against his own man and then make sure the odds were staked against him. Holding back potions or putting in a lesser fighter would certainly be the types of behavior that you might expect from these particular businessmen.

[ December 10, 2003, 19:37: Message edited by: FloridaFringe ]

Re: Gambling
 

Maybe, in a future patch, there might be a feature where you can bet against your own Gladiator(And be able to turn that option on or off in game setup) but if you get caught by league officials you get "Pete Rosed" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Gambling
 

Heh...you guys are evil! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Hmm..might be an interesting thing to add, though it goes against the inherent goal of winning and reaching the playoffs that the game was built on. Might give a different perspective to the game though, as a "bloodthirsty" business.

Re: Gambling
 

All,

What the betting really needs is an odds calculator and only allow a fighter's record to be shown.

Then allow the computer to place bets. This will allow the heavily Favorites to only pay out small amounts while the a suprise victory will produce a better payout.