Level playing field, Avatar Campaign

**JackDionne** · April 08, 2012, 08:30 AM

This thread is in regards to the debug camera, however I must first state that I have been having issues with ctd’s and can only play one Avatar Campaign (AC) battle then I get ctd if I want to play another AC battle I have to verify game cache again. These issue all happened the day FOTS came out. That’s not why I am posting however; the staff at CA assured me that everything humanly possible is being done to fix the issue.

I have only had the patience to play around a half dozen battles using the debug camera and these are my conclusions.

AC battles using the match making system automatically puts you in a ladder or leader board if you want to use that term. That said everyone assumes the playing field is even, although there will always be critics.

The designers of the AC thought it would be good to benefit people who achieved #1 on the leader board with the benefit of a retainer as a reward I don’t have a problem with that. However I do feel the debug camera is an unfair advantage that should be removed.
It allows a field of view far superior to the default camera which allows you to move units to counter being flanked or flanking your enemy much quicker. I found that it improved my game substantially. It leaves me to wonder how many battles I would have won had it been a level playing field.

Having used it there is no argument that can be made to support it.
I’ll stop using it when everybody else does.

**spicykorean** · April 08, 2012, 11:24 AM

You're making a false assumption.
Are you saying that the existence of a ladder or leaderboard means that the playing field is or should be even?
The playing field can ONLY be even if the gameplay and mechanics so dictate it. In the case of Shogun2, the playing field was NOT even since day 1 due to the existence of avatar experience, ranks, veteran upgrades, general skills, imbalanced maps, etc. You get the idea.

For you and others to say that the debug camera is the single most important factor in making the match uneven is short-sighted at best, very ignorant and noob at worst.

**JackDionne** · April 08, 2012, 11:39 AM

Facts are moral penalties and bonuses apply evenly across the board. With the introduction of the AC there are more diverse factors and even good players will lose to an opponent who has used the proper retainer/retainers.

Some examples: your opponent use War Weary, untrained fugu cook what happens to those retainers if you have a none vet army with no swords they become useless. That is the dimension that has made the AC so unique. If you have no archers what good is cold snap.

If you think it’s unfair the other option is go to the battle list and host a classic battle or find one. Nothing I can say will make up your mind. I guess the classic battle is for people like you.

**Knowing Crow** · April 08, 2012, 01:15 PM

The Inclusion of difficult to obtain retainers, avatar skill points, other things such as unit veterency; insure that the playing field will never be even. This is a valid argument for fairness in the avatar campaign. But an option that everyone has equal access to, such as the Debug Camera, is not a valid fairness argument. Anyone can access the Debug Camera, the only issue that it's not painfully obvious to everyone; it should be made more easily accessible via game options. But that's a convenience argument, not a balance one.