Statistics for Median-XL

Here is an idea that I would like to see discussed if possible:

I am a big fan of data and statistics in general. Games such as Dota, Hearthstone and Overwatch have 3rd party application/saas services that provides them with character statistics and progression graphs compared to everyone else playing the game. This adds a level of overall competitiveness among the participants as they try to improve their builds/stats by seeing what works and what fails in aggregate.

Taking a look at something like https://masteroverwatch.com or https://www.dotabuff.com I cannot help but wonder why median doesn't have something like this in place. All that is needed is read permissions for save files from the sin war servers and something like this could be easily constructed. You could compare your characters to the characters of another player or look at how many people use main wap X instead of Y for build Z.

All in all, it would be fun to be able to view the aggregate of what people are doing and be able to compare it to where you stand. In addition, this could help spark some sort of race for creating and maintaining new and awesome builds.

What do you guys think?

This is pretty much what the ladder is, except there's just less "ranked data". This is something I have in mind for MXLS, having more ranking types eventually, starting with the bounty tasks completed

Well, it would already suffice to see what gear the top people use, as it is in Diablo 3. In D3 I usually only look at what set is the best in this season and then only try to get that one.
But I guess it'd be hard to implement that system. Especially since you have to farm a lot in order to get everything. And yeah... There are much more items in MXL than there are in D3, and in MXL there isn't the 99% chance to drop an item that is for your class only, so you can't simply use the exact same gear 100% of the time.

whist wrote:This is pretty much what the ladder is, except there's just less "ranked data". This is something I have in mind for MXLS, having more ranking types eventually, starting with the bounty tasks completed

I did not know about bounty tasks. Pretty cool tbh! I love the idea

With that said, I am not talking about just "ranked data" here. Median Ladder is a race to the top and so is the original D2 ladder. However, If I wanted to explore a certain class/build in order to know what item alternatives/options there are, currently, there is very little I can do in order to find that information out. All a new player (as well as seasoned ones sometimes) can do is ask for help on this forum. We constantly see people here asking: "why is my amazon weak plz help!!".

While forum members are generous and help out most of the time, I do believe that the community as a whole could benefit greatly from being able to browse through what others with similar builds are doing. Rank has very little to do with this. Instead, what I am suggesting is the introduction of some tool through which people can theory craft and get to know their characters as well as possible improvements a bit better. This might in turn lead to more guides and interesting builds.

DotaBuff for instance helps you understand your farming patterns a bit better and shows you what pros do compared to you. These instruments generally help you understand the game and provide a way to improve your skillset and knowledge when it comes to item/stat/skill choices.

Here is an example: If I compare my OW stats with a friend of mine, we can clearly see who does better in what areas. Imagine substituting the stats in the screenshot below with DEX, STR, Main Wap, Offhand, Armor, Charms etc. This way I can get a better glimpse into the mind of other players and in turn learn to improve.

In addition, you could track your own character's progress over time. Net worth, Exp, deaths, damage done per game, etc.

I personally would find a tool like this rather helpful, would you not agree?

For the number of players in this game divided by the number of classes and viable builds and gear...I don't see many meaningful statistics coming out of in-depth item/skill breakdowns. This also discourages in-game and in-forum community interaction. Also we spend relatively little time with starting/mid game gear - which is the source of many gearing questions from new players.

Statistics like DPS don't tell you much - maybe you spent 10hrs flamestriking an uber for a trophy while someone else with a similar build used AoE skills for 10hrs of cow runs. About learning from an experienced player - what if they're specced/geared for a very specific task or uber? Without context, how can a new player look at those choices and translate the gear choices to the task they want to accomplish?

Those statistics work better in games with fewer goals that are very clear. In Dota 2 the same gear is available to you every game (if you get enough gold). Roles are pretty defined each game (with some adapting to team comps, etc.) so the metrics for improvement are more well defined and you can emulate the pros. Not really the case here in my opinion. Median has too many diverse goals and viable ways to achieve those goals which are very difficult to capture with these kind of statistics.

As a new player i like the idea to see the choices of best players.

The help on forum is great and i think this will not overlight it, because an end game gear doesn't teach you how to get there or how to play that char with that spec and gear.

About different gear for same char, a solution may be to "screenshot" gear after completing a task (maybe these new bounties).

I am aware this will be uncomfortable for players who got the effort to reach that gear and spec.. but still this may be a topic to analize deeply.

Maybe all this can be done but the results of best gear of best players for hardest quests can be showned at the end of the ladder season.

good idea, a less complicated version could be implemented to the ladder. gave my cookie

----- wrote:For the number of players in this game divided by the number of classes and viable builds and gear...I don't see many meaningful statistics coming out of in-depth item/skill breakdowns. This also discourages in-game and in-forum community interaction. Also we spend relatively little time with starting/mid game gear - which is the source of many gearing questions from new players.

Statistics like DPS don't tell you much - maybe you spent 10hrs flamestriking an uber for a trophy while someone else with a similar build used AoE skills for 10hrs of cow runs. About learning from an experienced player - what if they're specced/geared for a very specific task or uber? Without context, how can a new player look at those choices and translate the gear choices to the task they want to accomplish?

Those statistics work better in games with fewer goals that are very clear. In Dota 2 the same gear is available to you every game (if you get enough gold). Roles are pretty defined each game (with some adapting to team comps, etc.) so the metrics for improvement are more well defined and you can emulate the pros. Not really the case here in my opinion. Median has too many diverse goals and viable ways to achieve those goals which are very difficult to capture with these kind of statistics.

I had the same concerns initially about the idea actually. I don't know the total size of the player base. But assuming that it is a few hundred players each season, it is possible to organize the data in a structured and meaningful way. At its worst, it becomes possible to add build-guides into the system (similar to the guides on the forum) and show you how your character stacks up against a certain build at a given stage of the game.

You can group up all amazons with similar skill builds under the "pouncezon" build and browse through what others of similar skill build are doing, etc.

I think there is some potential here. However, I am not sure as to how large of an audience this tool would get. That's why I started this thread in order to discuss the viability of this idea!

Sir Legar wrote:good idea, a less complicated version could be implemented to the ladder. gave my cookie

nom nom nom delicious! Thanks!

Feeles wrote:About different gear for same char, a solution may be to "screenshot" gear after completing a task (maybe these new bounties).

The age old Gangsterhood.net game used to take a snapshot of the entire server at the end of each season and allows you to browse it as an "archive" in order to see what people used to do in previous patches. That sounds like a really cool idea actually. Thanks for bringing that up

This thread makes me think about the probability of a "Damage Meter".