Every room with a controller will have a neutral structure called decoder. It is only active when some user owns the controller, and its efficiency depends on the controller level. However, it is an unowned structure, which means anyone can use the decoder, not just the room owner.

Each decoder is assigned with one symbol. There are 22 symbols in total, meaning there are 22 types of decoders in the game.

New objects called symbol containers will spawn randomly in all rooms, similarly to score containers in the current season. The container will have some amount of symbol resources (e.g. RESOURCE_SYMBOL_ALEPH). You have to take this resource and bring it to any decoder with the same symbol. If the resource and the decoder have matching symbols, you can transfer resource and receive season score. The amount of score is resource amount * controller level (in the decoder room).

Since there are 22 symbols, it is impossible for one player to have all needed decoders under their own control (it would require GCL 22). In order to maximize score, you must cooperate with your neighbors who own decoders of different types, and gain access to their rooms. In turn, those players will be possibly interested in your decoders. And since it is beneficial for you to bring your symbols to decoders in higher level rooms, it may make sense to help your neighbors to develop their rooms rather than destroy them.

This is a unique experience for Screeps which we think may have big potential for this and following seasons.

This is not set in stone yet, so feel free to suggest any other improvements to this concept.

I can imagine a scenario where a single player only ever turns in the symbol in their starting (highest RCL) room. They would use the market to exchange all their other symbol types for that single kind.

I kinda like the idea of forcing players to devise a cooperative system where creeps need to meet in the open and physically exchange goods. Harder to program and easier to ambush!

With the rule set proposed like this, I would definitely team up with 1 or 2 other players which ranked top 20 this round and still wipe all the smaller players in between. I would really urge to implement a mechanic which was proposed multiple times in the feedback topic to cluster the top 10 ambitious players together in the map center.

If you would just include that controllers in the sectors near the map center give you 10x the score, the sector sector at range 10-20 rooms 3x score and rooms further away 1x score I think you would perfectly solve this issue.

By the way, if you only cooperate with 1 or 2 players, you will not be able to score all resources.

If you work together with 1 other player you can fully control 6 sectors together if you just wipe all smaller players. You'll each have 10 rooms so if you pick those carefully you can together process 90% of everything spawning in those 6 sectors.

Compare that to working with 4 or 5 small players, it'll be a chaotic mess. It's true that you'll be able to process probably every type which gives you potentially a higher total score but you'll loose much more due to score which those other small players capture and "waste".

I would really urge to implement a mechanic which was proposed multiple times in the feedback topic to cluster the top 10 ambitious players together in the map center. If you would just include that controllers in the sectors near the map center give you 10x the score, the sector sector at range 10-20 rooms 3x score and rooms further away 1x score I think you would perfectly solve this issue.

With this approach (top player cluster and distance-graded decoders) there's no point in entering since top10 can easily dominate all 8 sectors closest to center (while still wiping anything outside of it) and i'm really not sure if combat there would be 'worth their time'. It would end up more as a CK3 diplomacy and intrigue at top of a ranking instead.

I'd say that the map should be made BIG on purpouse, so in order to win, ppl would need to clump together

@artch said in Season #2 concept:

By the way, if you only cooperate with 1 or 2 players, you will not be able to score all resources.

Almost yes if all of them are at GCL7 (for 3 players cooperation)

2 another questions @artch :

• how the rewards ladder will look like
• do decoders have capacity/cooldown

Almost yes if all of them are at GCL7 (for 3 players cooperation)

But you will take GCL 7 only after a month. That means you will lose a lot during the first month.

2 another questions @artch :

how the rewards ladder will look like

do decoders have capacity/cooldown

Yet to be decided.

@qzarstb You can only use decoders in owned rooms. Wiping the sector does not benefit you directly, since you can decode as many symbols as your GCL is.

So if i decoded TAW,SIN,RES,PE and have GCL4 i cannot decode AYIN in someone elses owned room ?

Let's assume I have 1 room myself and cleared my sector: I can gather all the score for 1 type and process it.

Let's assume I let my neighbours live and work together with 4 other players in my sector: We can process 5 types in total, but since we work together on AVG we only get 1/5 of each of those 5 types.

Both scenarios would give me the same amount of score.

Also, no portals probably.

I am always in favor of smaller maps, as it gives more meaning to controlling territory. In a large map the question is not how to secure a given bit of score, but to spread as wide as possible and avoid all combat. The cost/benefit of fighting for what you know vs just spreading in the other direction is too far towards 'just spread'. In a large map, fighting just means both you and your sparring partner drop in the rankings, so you avoid fights. In a small map, everyone has to fight, and you have to figure out how to fight well. A good economic bot should get you in the top 100. Your combat code should determine top 10.

A smaller map benefits smaller players. In a large map, a top-10 player is only able to indirectly compete on the leaderboard by exerting total dominance over their holdings to maximize gains. They must maximize these gains better than their other top-10 counterparts, as that is the only path to victory. However, if portals and map size make them neighbors with their true competitors, then they can compete via directly fighting over rooms and score.

Finally, I think that when you allow lower players to score, even if they get wiped often, they will still enjoy the season. This mechanic will give them the option to be taken under the wing of a bigger player if they want a higher degree of safety. Even if you think a larger map makes smaller players not in an alliance less likely to get wiped, it's not necessary.

Also, an increased amount of score spawning will make it rapidly apparent that you need access to as many symbols as possible to be competitive. Alliances of larger players can hope to negotiate amongst themselves who places how high and wipe all the small players near them, but that won't remotely cut those players off from spawning elsewhere near more amenable players, which is all that matters. Seeing the wipes of this season, and thinking it apply under this new mechanic, is at best misguided. The incentive structure is completely different.

A good economic bot should get you in the top 100. Your combat code should determine top 10.

There's ~140 players in this season with less than 50% having scored.

@cribbit said in Season #2 concept:

In a large map, a top-10 player is only able to indirectly compete on the leaderboard by exerting total dominance over their holdings to maximize gains.

That's not true. in large map top10 player needs to cooperate with smaller players to get access to highRCL decoders.

In small map there is high risk of alliances, created by season1 top10-15 players, that will determine most of ranking.

Hypothetical Example

• 3 teams of 4 top15 players decide to take 6 sectors (2-3 sectors/player for optimal GCL-7/8 room setup), wipe anyone else within and 4-8 rooms around it, split code picking into assigned zones and do not fight with each-other (best in alliance wins, since breaking/fighting within alliance is too risky from ranking perspective for every member)

With big map it should reduce chance of top players clumping together. Example:

• Each of top15 players creates it's own kingdom with some smaller-player vassals as to not have to share code-picking with other top10 players

@cribbit said in Season #2 concept:

A good economic bot should get you in the top 100. Your combat code should determine top 10.

There's ~140 players in this season with less than 50% having scored.

Yes, and this new seasonal mechanic solves that bottom 50%.

@cribbit said in Season #2 concept:

In a large map, a top-10 player is only able to indirectly compete on the leaderboard by exerting total dominance over their holdings to maximize gains.

That's not true. in large map top10 player needs to cooperate with smaller players to get access to highRCL decoders.

All that matters is # of symbols accessible. Once you reach 22, the benefit of pushing anyone else out will inherently always outweigh the cost of letting them stay, if those are the only options. By introducing a 3rd option - direct combat against the players close to you on the leaderboard - you gain interesting interplay. Only in a small map do you have the 3rd option. This rationale stays the same no matter what the alliance is comprised of.

In small map there is high risk of alliances, created by season1 top10-15 players, that will determine most of ranking.

Hypothetical Example

• 3 teams of 4 top15 players decide to take 6 sectors (2-3 sectors/player for optimal GCL-7/8 room setup), wipe anyone else within and 4-8 rooms around it, split code picking into assigned zones and do not fight with each-other (best in alliance wins, since breaking/fighting within alliance is too risky from ranking perspective for every member)

With big map it should reduce chance of top players clumping together. Example:

• Each of top15 players creates it's own kingdom with some smaller-player vassals as to not have to share code-picking with other top10 players

We are acting like anyone getting wiped, ever, is a bad thing. Wipes happen. This game has PvP. The question is whether those players are able to find some area to exist after being wiped. Even if we disagree on how map size impacts that being able to happen, the seasonal mechanic guarantees that vassal states will exist.

A smaller map is more interesting, period. We agree that a larger map means less fighting between players that are close to each other on the leaderboard. This is a bad thing.

Seasonal does not need to allow bottom 50% players to exist in ignorance of the rest of the server.

Snowgoose 9:50 PM

I don’t think the top players need to make any deals, if they could kill you they can just take out your towers, or just heal there way to the collector

Snowgoose 9:52 PM

Once your towers are gone they can probably keep a room down with small creeps

Snowgoose 9:56 PM

Perhaps there is a way to tweak it so that if the room owner keeps the collector ‘awake’ then it is twice as efficient, so that barging in is worse than coop

QzarSTB 11:59 PM

Could force-assign players to a random sector to spawn in to remove premade teams

There was also a great discussion about boosting, especially late game. If the game mode promotes alliances, it's easy to imagine a situation where several players cooperate fully until some point, and after that whoever has the highest score gets a full boost from the others. The alliance that does it will win (ok technically their representative will but I'd still call it a win). Actually, the alliance which starts it earliest, should win...