---Note: Alpha info is subject to change, derision, and speculation---
Nine days into the season is a brutal time to try and find a team. In GLB you are way behind where the other builds are and you've missed boosts, TP, and SP, and you won't catch up until the rest of the dots hit plateau.
This is something I was fighting to change in the other game.
Originally posted by BortGLB2Changelog
- There is now a "catch up SP" option when creating a playerThis is great news for GLB2: no longer is there a "bad day" to build as a newcomer.
Note the word "option" though: it is a choice!
If you choose the catch-up SP option you will start out as though you had built a bot at the start of the season when most of the other players did. You will be able to assign all of the same SP and Abilities that any other player could have earned by that date. You will still have to find a team, but no longer will you be stuck as an underlevelled bot.
However, in order to prevent players from exploiting this system, if you \choose/ this option (you don't have to), your bot will also retire on the same day as the other bots. You will lose nine days of stats, games, etc... but it is a choice that you made in order to never have to play at a disadvantage. This is required in order to prevent that bot from getting extra SP, extra games at plateau, etc.
If you choose to not catch-up your bot, you will start out as a day 0 playing against day X bots, but you will get to play out every single game of your career. You will end up hitting your retirement age partway through a season. I asked Bort what would happen if you hit retirement age partway through the season. He indicated that the player wouldn't vanish and would be allowed to finish the season. Note that if you are on a team after your retirement age, you will no longer accumulate stats to prevent exploitation of the hall of fame and stats leaders lists. You will also decline until the end of the season.
Anyway, I think this is a great option to have. I think as a new player joining the game the first option is a no-brainer. Who cares that you will lose a few days at the end of your life... and if you do, well you can choose the other option.
The player forum in GLB1 is way too full of people asking advice and getting the response "retire". "You built on the wrong day", "you've screwed up your build". In GLB 2 the answer might be "respec", but at least you don't have to wait to get back to where you are. Now, if you choose 1 Stamina and 1 Confidence when building your player.... that you can't come back from. I've got a player in GLB2 who can have a maximum "conditioning" skill of 25. Needless to say, if I were to ask for advice, I hope the forums would be gentle when they tell me to retire.
That's all for now, I'll be adding SP to my skills when I get home, so my replays starting tomorrow, all of my bots will have special abilities (they earned 1 AP today!), so there will be more abilities activating and more customization.
