NUB/NCB recalibration (in Changelog)

My goal was to calibrate the bonus such that a char under bonus can achieve 95% of the XP earned by a veteran, given equivalent effort. (This is not the place to argue with the 95% number or the duration of the NUB. I'm just setting out the facts here.)

In math, we represent this as finding a bonus N such that

0.95 * [vet's xp in 12.5 months] = (1 + N) * [new user's bonus-less xp in 4 months]

Let's normalize to xp per 1 month (XPM):

0.95 * 12.5 * [vet's XPM] = (1 + N) * 4 * [NUB XPM]

But this assumes equivalent effort. We need to adjust for one or the other fighting more battles per month (BPM). In other words, we don't want to penalize a new user for fighting extra battles, or reward him for fighting less, when we proceed to use actual numbers to calculate N:

0.95 * 12.5 * [vet's XPM] / [vet's BPM] = (1 + N) * 4 * [NUB XPM] / [NUB BPM]

Equivalently,

0.95 * 12.5 * [vet's XPB] = (1 + N) * 4 * [NUB XPB]

where XPB = XP/battle = XPM / BPM.

Now solving for the "correct" NUB is trivial.

N = -1 + (0.95 * 12.5 * [vet's XPM] * [NUB BPM]) / (4 * [NUB XPM] * [vet's BPM])

Now we can start plugging in numbers. We'll pick Ranger's and Kitty's numbers as the highest vet and NUB representatives, respectively -- for this we want to use maxima, not averages.

        battles     xp       months played*    BPM       XPM**      XPB**
Ranger   400223  47332812        10.6         37756     4115896      118
Kitty    125939  43540595        2.99         42120     6331335      150
* actually "sets of 30 days played"
** kitty's current bonus is 1.3, so XPM had to be divided by 2.3

N = -1 + (0.95 * 12.5 * 4115896 * 42120) / (4 * 6331335 * 37756)
  = 1.15

Thus, all NUB and NCB have been multiplied by (1.15 / 1.3) = 0.887, adjusted for the lifetime of the bonus. E.g., kitty's new bonus is about 0.71 for its remaining month.

I'm explicit about the process here to the point of tedium for the benefit of those of you who still keep an open mind. Those of you who do not will continue to hate on the NUB anyway, of course.

Final thought: you might think from the BPM numbers that Kitty's lead is due to larger BA purchases. This is not the case; both purchase about the same amount -- which is to say, Ranger has bought about 3x as much as Kitty, having been around about 3x as long. In any case, chosing to spend money on BA instead of items is a strategic choice; the only problematic area is when USD comes in, but trying to USD-proof CB is not what is being addressed here.

good

Good.

Nice!

So was that modifier applied to duration AND value? I read above that the value shrank, but confused by the duration shrinking as well.

great, my bonus is gone and it isn't november 23 yet

The only solution I can come up with is that backwards-applying the decrease to my NUB lowers it to 0.

does the recalibration affect the price of BA also? b/c my BA cost is lower now, went from 715 to 544 each

Perfect timing. Mine just expired. (^>^)

My NUB was just about done anyways, so I'm not sure that I care. But the formula ended up getting a bit jacked by using ranger's XPM. His absurd PR tweaks his XPM downards significantly. Did the calculation also include Ranger's multiple fire/rehires?

WP,

My NW has nothing to do with the calculations.

Its all based on XP earned. True my NW raises my PR but my rewards are fairly stable even if I drop most of my NW and fight lower.

Nice change. I am sure 11% doesn't prohibit them passing me :P But at least some discount.

Just a question, is the total XP earned calculated from Ranger's current MPR ? or it's a recorded XP amount in database ?

I remember Ranger learned and unlearned, fire and re-hire couple of times. While Kitty... I don't see any news about her doing all sorts of those things. Total XP used might not be accurate for Ranger.

Is this change retroactive? My bonus still appears as 171%...

Jon,

One question,

Where is the 12.5 months from? As the game is only 10.5 months old now I cannot figure the 12.5.

If my question is out of line, sry ahead of time.

To clarify my question:

It appears that some people had no change to their duration of NUB, while other people lost their NUB entirely. Still others seem to have had no effect at all. Was this intentional?

i lost my NUB and i still had what? 1 week left?

* Doh! Ranger is right. 12.5 should be 11.5 (the number of "months" finished when Kitty's NUB ends). The new magic number is 0.98 instead of 1.15.

* Re-applied the adjustment, and fixed it for the NCB guys.

* Yes, if your bonus disappeared entirely it's because the adjustment would have been to a negative "bonus." You should thank me instead of complaining. :)

Yay for balance!

Jon, you're just too hot.

My 2-day old NCB char (also named Tyr) just lost it's NCB status. Is this temporary? or what?

I'm sorry, but maths was never my strong point.
Can someone please explain this in English?

A) Why have I now lost my NCB? - I gather that I would have been getting a negative bonus due to the change, so it was removed. But I'd still like to know why my 2 day old char lost his NCB bonus.
B) What exactly does this change do?

fixed NCBs that were incorrectly terminated

wow, that was harder than I thought :)

It's fixed already. Thank-you Jon!

woahwoahwoah....my NUB dropped to 74% as of around the time of this post i think, and NOW it is 32%! what the heck? :(

Told you it was an error somewhere.

Jon would it be possible to show the NCB on the Battle Log like the NUB is shown?
Where the bonus is shown and a link with Java popup telling you how much longer it lasts?

Thank you Jon! :)

Lost 50% of the bonus...
Well, that's got to be a good change then. :)

/me laughs as he pictures GL mourning the death of his 'masterplan'. ;P

oh, never mind i guess, i didn't read the new posts about the re-re-calibration.
*sheds a tear for his itty-bitty nub

just go to your MC page instead of asking me to uglify everything else because you're lazy

I mean, holy crap, it only changes every four months at most. Surely even with a really really bad memory "Jan 3" will sink into your head eventually.

I like to see it constantly and specifically because of something like this. Had it been there It would've noticed by quite a few people and they could've stopped fighting until it was fixed, fortunately, you fixed it rather fast. I already have enough problems with other things such as my characters auto-retiring while they still have stuff in rentals. Having to train/untrain to keep my MPR at the correct level so that my rewards are maximized. I can live with those until you find time to fix them, but a bonus is a bonus and I work my tail off fighting with the idea that I'm getting that bonus.
And Glory, it wasn't wasted CB2 on the BA purchased up to now, the price of ba is adjusted according to the bonus you have. Now we have a smaller bonus, so the price is a bit lower. So you didn't over pay for it.

Jonathan: Any word on the MPR inflation bug? I don't mind training a small amount of exp and unlearning it to bring my MPR back in line, just checking on the status...

So basically, I've been playing 9 days and most of my NUB is gone... while certain people before me got a NUB bonus of 167% for ~22 times that long? Seems like a vast unbalance to me.

(NUB until March 06)

most of it gone?
are you insane?

Oh my calculation was a 6 month NUB bonus not 4.... it's more like ~15 times.

nub length is fixed at 4 months

the % of the bonus fluctuates constantly

"the % of the bonus fluctuates constantly"

...Ok. I still find it ironic that the NUB bonus is supposed to help me catch up to people who have been playing a year longer than me when with it diminished I can't even catch up to people who've played 4 months longer.

so is there some way that i could get my forgerfreek unretired since my NUB is gone now?

Mansonfreek: you should ask an admin that in a CM or in a separate thread and pay the $50k fee.

Eminent, play a little longer before you make statements like that.

It's a proven fact that with the NUB/NCB you can catch up quite easily.

:D

No complaints from me on this. Johnny, Looks I might not be winning that bet! ;)

Just for reference my Bonus went from 171% to 124%.

and that bonus is a true percentage

as in your rewards are 2.73 times more than someone without a 173% nub

just a question--- my initial NUb was 156% yesterday it dropped to around 120%

today when i logged in its at 101%

can anyone tell me what's going on? i'm confused

nvm my last post i didn't read entire page, didn't realize there was a second adjustment sry

Hi, I want to ask, if 129% NCB means that with normal char I would get 100 xp with 129% NCB I get 129 xp or 229 xp?

Thanks.

229xp, mrwuss explained it about 3 posts above.

change #1 -> 130% -->71% : BA cost went down to 500ish.
change #2 -> 71% ->28% : BA cost went down to 500ish???? (or same)
what best i should do?

" Eminent, play a little longer before you make statements like that. "

Common sense has nothing to do with how long I've played. If someone played 4 months with a 167% bonus the whole time and I play 4 months with a diminished bonus it should be no surprise that I will not catch up to that person, provided we both spend the same amount of BA.

Eminent, If someone already finished their NUB 4 months ago before the change. His bonus should be less than or close to your NUB % now. Because over the period of 4 months, the top #1 MPR has risen a lot. NUB % is based on top char. In other words, you are still competitive compared to that person.

So you're saying my reduced NUB bonus is the same as the people who have finished their NUB bonuses already?

Emin3nt,

No, we are saying the NUB was overly powered before and recently fixed. So, you can either enjoy the fact that you have the NUB to begin with, which is something CB1 never had. Or, and listen close, leave.

Just one thought. Would the MPR bug cause any problems figuring out this amendment?

Or is it just a display bug at our end?

Eminent;

"adjusted for the lifetime of the bonus."

If you're worried about people who had the bonus 6, 7, 8 or more months ago, don't worry, there never reached Ranger anyway, so your bonus is still based on him.

Fight as much as Ranger and you'll get to 95% of his MPR by the end of your bonus time.

Don't, and you won't.

Did I read that right? Someone complaining because 'veteran' NUB players had a bigger bonus than they've got now?

'It's not fair, they had four legs and I've only got three...'

Finally CB2 is a bit more friendly to veterans that really make an effort in staying at the top :)

I'm a beginner so I hope you will not crush me with your remarks, but do you know why all these computations are done with the MPR instead of the PR?

I believed it was the PR the true mirror of your strength in cb.
thanks

while the PR is indeed a more accurate measurement of how strong a person is, the MPR is based on trained experience alone, and not based on other factors like a tattoo, weapons and armor.

Jeez I remark on how I got hosed out of my bonus and the veterans have to all go and cry, ridiculous.

Emin3nt You might want to stop proving yourself the fool until you understand the entire situation. The Veterans in CB2 have been through alot and they are just remarking on how everything is evening out now. The Balance has actually made it worth it to continue playing. Even with the NUB Being reduced, from what I see you will still have plenty of bonus to catch up to the top 10 easy enough with enough dedication to the game.
$ .02 worth of it and more!
From the DrAc

Cry? I cry when I stub my toe. When I get to weepy part of a movie or book. When I don't breakfall properly and bust my knee. When my wife finds out how much money I did spend on that night out.

But I've never cried over correcting someones misconception.

"So basically, I've been playing 9 days and most of my NUB is gone... while certain people before me got a NUB bonus of 167% for ~22 times that long? Seems like a vast unbalance to me."

You've failed to understand what "adjusted for the lifetime of the bonus" means.

People with a month left of the bonus have had more of a reduction than those with 3.

The lucky guys are the ones whoes bonuses have already finished, but they never made it to Ranger, so don't worry about it.

QQ

You big crybaby GL ;)

:D

I like to think I'm secure enough to be able to express my feelings.

I'm going to a free bar tonight, I wholey expect to cry at some time tonight. I'm being put up in a hotel, so no drunken posting I'm afraid.. :(

Yeah, except you fail to realize people lost their NUB bonus entirely because it should be negative. And I don't acutally think you're in tears, I was just remarking on how everyone's jumping on the diss the new player bandwagon.

Emin3nt,

The people that lost their NUB had far more benefit than Jon intended that is why it is gone. If you would read the posts above, especially Jon's you would see that.

I do not think we are piling on the new players with the bonus, we are only relieved that older characters are now worth playing.

Translation: Bla Bla Wee Wee Doo Dee Whambulance!

Kitty, your subtle insults to Ranger are getting quite annoying.

Knock it off, last warning.

Yeah, but I'm still disappointed that I used to make more money :(. Yeah kitty you better knock that off... you're inciting some pretty radical thinking. What'll they do next, create a Bill of Rights and protect freedom of speech?

This is carnageblender not the USA, you have no rights here except the ones granted to you. Which can also be revoked.

Thus, all NUB and NCB have been multiplied by (1.15 / 1.3) = 0.887, adjusted for the lifetime of the bonus. E.g., kitty's new bonus is about 0.71 for its remaining month.

I am sorry i am not that good in Math. I am lost right after the 0.887.
New magic number is 0.98 instead of 1.15. If i plug that in i re-read as :

Thus, all NUB and NCB have been multiplied by (0.98/ 1.3) = 0.75ish and i lost it as how i ended up with 28%. The answer may lie within "the lifetime of the bonus" but i don't know how you calculate it. Anyone care to help me understand the math?

Your original NUB was 130%, the bonus you would've received under the modified NUB is 130% *(.98/1.3) = 98%.

Since you had the 130% bonus for about three months, your NUB for the remaining month must be an amount that will make your bonus over the four months equal to 98%.
So we need to solve the equation:
130%*.75 + X * .25 = 98% (where X = bonus for remaining month)
i.e. X*.25 = 98-97.5
So X = 2% bonus for the remaining month.

My calculations may be off slightly because your getting more than this but hopefully you get the idea :)

Kitty

My guess:

According to the magic number, for you at the time you started you should have had a 98 percent NUB. You instead had a 130 percent bonus. So 3 months of 32 percent over bonus is then subtracted from your 130 percent leaving a 34 percent bonus left for your last month.

Just my thought on it.

that's way too off.

The point is, the NUB got reduced by a factor of 0.75, so your bonus for the remainder of your NUB will be a number that reduces your NUB by a factor of 0.75 over the lifetime of the bonus.

yeah Ranger got it pretty close. I think that might have been the case.

Just out of curiosity Jonathan, would the adjustment of the NUB a couple of months ago have affected the calculation? I would assume before the first change ilovehellokitty's NUB would've been higher than it is now.

Jon,

Another question.

I thought in past posts you were saying that the NUB/NCB was to let players get to the top (or lets say 95% of the top total xp) given maximization of their BA (ie 100% usage). Now I see your saying equivalent effort.

As we all know, after 10 or so months it is almost impossible to maximize ones BA usage. I, by 20k battles, have been the best at it, and I am even slowing down.

So if a new player comes along, or an older player with the NCB and maximizes their BA usage for only 4 months, would it not be possible for them to shoot past the top MPR?

I know it is against the rules and one can be banned for it, but how hard would it be for, lets say, a set of roommates (or husband/wife) to both play 1 or possibly 2 accounts and nobody could prove a thing?
This way it would be possible to use almost 100% of available BA.

But Ranger, if anyone works harder than someone else, shouldn't they pass you?

If a new player uses 100% of their BA in bonus time, shouldn't they pass you if you've only used 80% over your whole career?

I recall Jon saying "if I person works even 1% harder than Ranger, he deserves to pass him."

But in an earlier post, Jon said that a person should be able to get to the top with equal effort.

Those are not mutually exclusive statements. They are quite reasonably chained together.