Arcade Co-Op Option: "Dibs."

[Own]

Toggle this on in the matchmaking screen (or maybe a Candy curse, dunno) and for 2 player co-op, you get +#% highscore at the end of your run. Adds a higher percent depending on if it's 2, 3 or 4 player.

The effect?

When one player chooses a skill, it becomes locked off for all other players that run, making every build unique.

The intended effect?

A counterbalance to objectively 'best' builds. If one build is better than all the rest, people will use it in groups to get the highest score. But if you can get extra score from not all choosing the best builds, then maybe single-build dominance can be contested.

Honestly, I'd much rather see one player with Whirlslash+Protect, one with Shadowclone+Haste, one with Earthspike+Cloudbuddy and one with IceNova+InsectSwarm over four WhirlSlashes, for example. It makes for more interesting gameplay and for better videos.

The alternative is to nerf 'best' builds, but then people just move on to the second best, then third best, and on and on. It's a game of whack-a-mole, and I prefer honey to vinegar.

 

[HexZyle]

Or just have a system that implies a percentage penalty the more duplicates of skills there are. Have it ramp up by the product of the skillpoints sunken in by each player. i.e. 3 players with 5 points in the same skill would create 25x the penalty (A 125 point penalty) of one person with 5 points, and the other two with 1 point in it (A 5 point penalty)

For every 100 penalty points or so, your score could be reduced by 5%
This means that 3 players with the same maxed skill will be playing the game with a whopping 50% score penalty. Obviously these numbers are just rough estimates of something that might work.

 

[Own]

Honey works better than vinegar, rewards over penalties. No one likes to be punished for using their favorite skills just because their friends use those skills too.

 

[HexZyle]

Honey works better than vinegar, rewards over penalties. No one likes to be punished for using their favorite skills just because their friends use those skills too.

If they're playing to have fun with their friends, and using their favorite skills, then having a small nerf to the score shouldn't really bother anyone.
If they're min-maxing, aiming for the highest score, then this'll be affecting the group of people it very much needs to affect.

 

[Own]

I just don't see the functional difference between a bonus and a penalty, beyond lowered Essence rewards annoying people.