Okay so I have made this topic seeing as the Battle Tower (BT) has been open for a week already and wanted some feedback and to go over some of the logic behind how things are currently set up.
As I am sure you are aware by now there are 2 standard modes available, regular and survival mode. Regular mode involves completing several rounds of battles to raise your BT rank at which point some upgrades and new modes become available. Currently this mode yields 1 Battle Point (BP) for each battle, and then an extra 3 BP upon completion of the last round in the series.
In this mode, at lower levels the Pokemon you fight are mostly 1st stage Pokemon before then before then moving on as the levels progress to include more higher evolution and stronger Pokemon. Between each battle, Pokemon are healed.
Survival mode presents a different challenge, Pokemon are no longer healed between each battle and the aim is to put together the longest streak of battles possible. Initially the prizes for this mode were such that there would be an increase in rewards after every 5 battles but as it became apparent that long streaks were possible, this had to be changed. This led to changing it to just be capped at 2 points per battle. Since then after consultation with players, this has again been changed to yield a reward of 1 point for each battle up to 10, then 2 points per battle up to 40 battles and 3 points for each further win above this point. In terms of setting prices this gives us a dilemma as initially pricings for items were based on people doing 3 regular mode battles a day yielding 30 points total for a days effort.
Currently each player is given 3 attempts at the Battle Tower each day but has the opportunity to increase this number for an increasing number of BP, so for 30 points this becomes 4 tries a day, 45, 5 tries a day, 60, 6 tries a day, etc. Also there are several special modes available, a mirror mode, a type disadvantage mode, a custom mode and a same type battle mode. Mirror mode involves pitting your team against the same team, custom mode allows you to test your team against one which is composed of any Pokemon you have seen in the wild. Same type and Type disadvantage battles force you to use a team which consists of one type and either fight a similar team or one which it is weak against. Each of these as things stand use one of your daily Battle Tower runs and currently consist of a single battle, some of which yield a small amount of BP. This has been done to give people the opportunity for people who may not have much time and so gives a higher point per battle rate than the other modes and so is less effort but would not give as many points as taking part in regular mode or survival mode and giving up more time would do.
As for prizes we have tried to give a wide variety of prizes with some of the TMs that have not previously been made available in other locations, a couple of move tutors in Waterfall and Roost, a host of EV items and some evolution items. As already stated, the pricings have initially been done on the basis of earning on average 30 points per day but this may need to be changed in order to maintain the value of the most desirable items here.
Just to note that we are working on setting the moves NPC Pokemon use to prevent useless moves being spammed by the AI. This should hopefully improve the challenge.
There are some questions that I have prepared which I would be interested in hearing the communities response as well as any other feedback or suggestions you may have.
Questions
Which Pokemon have you fought at each level of Regular Mode or survival mode that you feel are too weak or too strong for that Battle Tower level?
Based on a level system of 1-9, which Pokemon would you like to fight at each level to give a progressive increase in difficulty?
Is it too easy or too hard to gain Battle Points as things stand?
In survival mode how would you like to see BPs work in order to both reward progression and long streaks but yet maintain the value of prizes?
What is your average length of survival round run and how long does that take you to complete?
Are you happy with the range of TMs and move tutors available in the Battle Tower as prizes?
Are you happy with the range of held, EV and evolution items found as prizes?
What prizes do you feel serve no purpose in the Battle Tower and what do you think is most missing from the available prizes?
Should the special modes in Battle Tower use daily goes and reward points or just be for fun and challenge?
Can you think of any new Battle Tower modes you would like to see implemented that could make the experience more fun or unique?
As I am sure you are aware by now there are 2 standard modes available, regular and survival mode. Regular mode involves completing several rounds of battles to raise your BT rank at which point some upgrades and new modes become available. Currently this mode yields 1 Battle Point (BP) for each battle, and then an extra 3 BP upon completion of the last round in the series.
In this mode, at lower levels the Pokemon you fight are mostly 1st stage Pokemon before then before then moving on as the levels progress to include more higher evolution and stronger Pokemon. Between each battle, Pokemon are healed.
Survival mode presents a different challenge, Pokemon are no longer healed between each battle and the aim is to put together the longest streak of battles possible. Initially the prizes for this mode were such that there would be an increase in rewards after every 5 battles but as it became apparent that long streaks were possible, this had to be changed. This led to changing it to just be capped at 2 points per battle. Since then after consultation with players, this has again been changed to yield a reward of 1 point for each battle up to 10, then 2 points per battle up to 40 battles and 3 points for each further win above this point. In terms of setting prices this gives us a dilemma as initially pricings for items were based on people doing 3 regular mode battles a day yielding 30 points total for a days effort.
Currently each player is given 3 attempts at the Battle Tower each day but has the opportunity to increase this number for an increasing number of BP, so for 30 points this becomes 4 tries a day, 45, 5 tries a day, 60, 6 tries a day, etc. Also there are several special modes available, a mirror mode, a type disadvantage mode, a custom mode and a same type battle mode. Mirror mode involves pitting your team against the same team, custom mode allows you to test your team against one which is composed of any Pokemon you have seen in the wild. Same type and Type disadvantage battles force you to use a team which consists of one type and either fight a similar team or one which it is weak against. Each of these as things stand use one of your daily Battle Tower runs and currently consist of a single battle, some of which yield a small amount of BP. This has been done to give people the opportunity for people who may not have much time and so gives a higher point per battle rate than the other modes and so is less effort but would not give as many points as taking part in regular mode or survival mode and giving up more time would do.
As for prizes we have tried to give a wide variety of prizes with some of the TMs that have not previously been made available in other locations, a couple of move tutors in Waterfall and Roost, a host of EV items and some evolution items. As already stated, the pricings have initially been done on the basis of earning on average 30 points per day but this may need to be changed in order to maintain the value of the most desirable items here.
Just to note that we are working on setting the moves NPC Pokemon use to prevent useless moves being spammed by the AI. This should hopefully improve the challenge.
There are some questions that I have prepared which I would be interested in hearing the communities response as well as any other feedback or suggestions you may have.
Questions
Which Pokemon have you fought at each level of Regular Mode or survival mode that you feel are too weak or too strong for that Battle Tower level?
Based on a level system of 1-9, which Pokemon would you like to fight at each level to give a progressive increase in difficulty?
Is it too easy or too hard to gain Battle Points as things stand?
In survival mode how would you like to see BPs work in order to both reward progression and long streaks but yet maintain the value of prizes?
What is your average length of survival round run and how long does that take you to complete?
Are you happy with the range of TMs and move tutors available in the Battle Tower as prizes?
Are you happy with the range of held, EV and evolution items found as prizes?
What prizes do you feel serve no purpose in the Battle Tower and what do you think is most missing from the available prizes?
Should the special modes in Battle Tower use daily goes and reward points or just be for fun and challenge?
Can you think of any new Battle Tower modes you would like to see implemented that could make the experience more fun or unique?