Bugs/Design enhancements from user community to the GST product team

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/30/2009 18:16:15

Hi, all. I have discussed with the moderator of our forum and he has graciously agreed to forward bugs/design enhancement to the GST product team and the developers so our feedback has a chance to be a part of the agenda for GST 2.0 (whenever that happens). Here is the format he would like the data to be in. You can add to this thread what you feel should go in the document and I will compile everything in a neat format and send him as a personal message after like a week (Sun Oct 4th - around 9pm PST). I will post the final draft here as well. One thing he wants is NO NEW FEATURE REQUEST, only bugs/design enhancements in existing product and functionality.

The format is:

Name of the problem (Descriptive title)
Type of the problem (Bug/Design enhancement - online/offline)
Problem description (describe in sufficient detail so that easy to understand)
How often it happens (frequency - once every N number of games)
User assigned priority (High, Medium, Low)

All please adhere to this format as it will make things simpler for me. Also list all your thoughts in single email instead of multiple posts. If you want to add to some earlier post by a different user, you are free to do so. I would expect only emails in above format in this thread. If you want to agree/disagree with other users, please use a different thread I will open shortly titled "Miscellaneous ramblings on Bugs/Design enhancements".

I'll start with the most popular bug:

Name of the problem: First serve bug
Type of problem: Bug (Only Online)
Problem description: When two players are paired for an online match, the player serving first in the match seems to have an unfair advantage in some matches in that some or all of his serves throughout the match cannot be returned successfully by the second player. When the second player returns serve normally as in any other game and it seems to be well returned on his screen, but the play is stopped right away and the point gets awarded to the server. On the screen of the server the ball seems to be coming back into the court, but he cannot return it as his racket doesn't respond to any motion and that is usually a sign that he was automatically awarded the point due to the first serve bug. Some players believe it is lag related or due to fast serves. I have seen this happen even when serve speed is between 85mph to 102mph. Sometimes if the receiver doesn't return such a serve the serve is called a fault. If his serves keeps getting called faults the only option for the server is to serve very slow (like around 40-60mph) or continue to serve fast and hope his fast serve is called an ace or hit the first serve bug instead of being called fault.
How often it happens: 15%-25% of online matches (usually depends on connection lag between users)
Priority: High

Ignore the reference to email in my previous post. What I meant to say was you can write it here as post.

And I will sticky it for them to see.

cabrosmano said.

very good idea!

I saw your first bug related in the other post and:

- Dont forget about the serve bug is due to the lag. For example, when I play european players, it almost never happens... but it can happen randomly and not constantly. And always happens with the player who serves first. High

- Also we have double, triple... bounces of the ball. This only happens with drop shots. High

- Sometimes you win a point and the opponent scores it. Medium

- Teleportation: this happens usually with lag players, and more oftenly with fast players (like Nadal). Medium

- Whats about that if you press the A button it makes a topspin very angled and fast shot? Low

- New modality of serve bug made by extremme laggers: you cant return any serve. High

- Some guy related any bug about that the camera changed surpresively Low

- It happened to me that when the match started and I had to serve I only could move him between the square of serve in a return posture, without any ball in the screen. So, I wasnt able to serve... It only happened to me once, in 1000+ online matches. Low

- More about serve bug, sometimes you serve a ball clearly out and its not a fault. Most of the time it happens when a 'classic' serve bug has happened. Medium

Thats all I remember for the moment....

Name of the problem:
Unequal lag-effect distribution

Type of the problem:
Faulty online lag correction

Problem description:
The lag correction benefits one of the players more than the other.
Most prominent effect: The lag beneficiary is unpassable at the net and also reaches almost every ball in the whole court, no matter how many seemingly sure winners you slam into the corners

How often it happens:
Probably every game, sometimes the effect is smaller, sometimes you benefit yourself, so it might be hard to recognize at times. But I'm guessing it's a fundamental problem always in effect.

User assigned priority:
High because
a) this might be at the root of other online problems ("freeze-ball", service bug, etc.)
b) this creates a fundamental imbalance in game play, creating the most frustrating moments

Sorry if my explanations arent good enough, I hope that someone explain it with a correct english. But I enumerated almost all the bugs/problems during online matches.

Name of the problem
Involuntary rematches

Type of the problem
Design enhancement - online

Problem description
Two players have finished an online match, none or only one of them wants to play a rematch --> they have to search for a new opponent. Problem: The probability is high that both players will be paired again and again (although both/one of them explicitly decided AGAINST a rematch) because they are searching at the same time.

How often it happens
Often. It depends on whether one or both player(s) wait(s) a few moments before searching for a new opponent.

User assigned priority
Medium

Name of the problem:
Prebuilt players (Nadal, Roddick) seem to be way more powerful than 5 star created player

Type of the problem:
Design enhancement (online play)

Problem description:
7 of top ten ranked players online play with prebuilt pros (Nadal, Federer etc.) The top ranked player in the game has agreed that Nadal is way more powerful than any other character in the game. Many in the top 25 have complained about the difficulty of defeating a top 100 Nadal as that character seems to have extreme (speed, topspin,stamina and many more) advantages over any possible custom character. The fact that you spend a lot of time going through grand slams building your custom character only to find them weaker than prebuilt pros (that require no effort at all to get online with) is counter intuitive to the rationale of investing so many hours building up your custom character. So the request is to reduce the level (stars) at which the prebuilt pro players (like Nadal, Federer, Roddick) can play online, scale down their powers. Playing with a custom built player should have advantage over a pre built pro when playing online.

How often it happens:
Everytime you are matched up with a prebuilt pro like Nadal, Roddick etc.

User assigned priority:
High

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 10/01/2009 07:57:57

Name of the problem:
Long-distance lag connects

Type of the problem:
Design (online)

Problem description:
The online "match-finder" frequently connects half-way around the globe, where lag difference is immense with all the ensuing problems (service bug, teleports, freeze-balls, etc.).
90% of the times one of the players aborts at the beginning of a long-distance match for the above mentioned reasons.
Fix: don't connect long-distance locations in the first place!

How often it happens:
Depending on time of day, 20-80% of the time.

User assigned priority:
Medium (at least there is a workaround with the aborts, but that gets annoying too)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 10/01/2009 15:56:42

Name of the problem:
Balanced baseline and net play in GST online

Type of the problem:
Design (online)

Problem description:
Lot of people feel that the design of GST online heavily favors net play over baseline. There are complaints that a top ten ranked player plays a style with 80% of his shots being exclusively drop shots at the net - this style of play has been coined one form of anti-tennis. Users have started a separate thread called "Baseline buddies - boycott Serve and Volleyers" so that they can meet other baseliners, as playing random opponents online seems to present a heavy dose of Serve and Volley players or mid court campers - where the players stands behind the T line on his side of the court (i.e three steps in front of his baseline) and plays all his points at that parallel throughout the match. Players complain that opponent who approaches the net looks larger than his side of the court. The common theme here is that ball speed seems to be reduced in GST online and court width/length is reduced - thus making players play in style that doesn't resemble tennis (coined anti tennis by the user community). Considering that the major grand slams (including wimbledon) in real life are being played predominantly from the baseline, with net appraches used primarily to close out a point, it would be nice if GST design also mirrors that. To do that, the design need to change for balanced play to be possible - ball speed need to be increased and court dimensions need to be extended with respect to player size/reach.

How often it happens:
About 75% of online matches

User assigned priority:
High

Summarized bugs enumerated by Cobras into the desired format.

Name of the problem:
Manifestations in the tennis game primarily due to lag between opponents

Type of the problem:
Bugs (online)

Problem description:
- We have double, triple... bounces of the ball. This only happens with drop shots. (5% of drop shots) High
- Sometimes you win a point and the opponent scores it (has happened both for and against me). (1-3% of points) High
- Teleportation: this happens usually with lag players, and more often with super fast players (like Nadal with nunchuk). Basically in one frame he is on one side of the court, next frame he is on the other side of the court and the ball is headed towards your side of the court with very little time for you to react. (25% of points with Nadal like opponents - could be higher depending on lag) High
- If you press the A button with a topspin sometimes it is very angled and super fast upwards and downwards motion. (About 2-3% of topspin lobs). Low
- New modality of serve bug made by extreme laggers: you cant return any serve. Basically your serve return is not registered and it is just aces for the opponent throughout the match. (depends on the lag - 1% of matches) High
- More about serve bug, sometimes you serve a ball is clearly out and its not called a fault. Most of the time it happens when a 'classic' serve bug is in play. (2-3% of serves) Medium

How often it happens:
Depends on the bug and listed above

User assigned priority:
Depends on the bug listed above

Hi Sanctity,

Attached is the collection of bugs/design enhancements (for Grand Slam Tennis) that the user community would like you to forward if possible to the product team and developers. All the issues listed are for GST online play. I haven't seen any of these issues in offline play (i.e playing against AI).

Thanks,
lmi

1)

Name of the problem:
First serve bug

Type of problem:
Bug (Only Online)

Problem description:
When two players are paired for an online match, the player serving first in the match seems to have an unfair advantage in some matches in that some or all of his serves throughout the match cannot be returned successfully by the second player. When the second player returns serve normally as in any other game and it seems to be well returned on his screen, but the play is stopped right away and the point gets awarded to the server. On the screen of the server the ball seems to be coming back into the court, but he cannot return it as his racket doesn't respond to any motion and that is usually a sign that he was automatically awarded the point due to the first serve bug. Some players believe it is lag related or due to fast serves. I have seen this happen even when serve speed is between 85mph to 102mph. Sometimes if the receiver doesn't return such a serve the serve is called a fault. If his serves keeps getting called faults the only option for the server is to serve very slow (like around 40-60mph) or continue to serve fast and hope his fast serve is called an ace or hit the first serve bug instead of being called fault.
How often it happens: 15%-25% of online matches (usually depends on connection lag between users)

Priority:
High

2)

Name of the problem:
Unequal lag-effect distribution

Type of the problem:
Faulty online lag correction

Problem description:
The lag correction benefits one of the players more than the other.
Most prominent effect: The lag beneficiary is unpassable at the net and also reaches almost every ball in the whole court, no matter how many seemingly sure winners you slam into the corners

How often it happens:
Probably every game, sometimes the effect is smaller, sometimes you benefit yourself, so it might be hard to recognize at times. But I'm guessing it's a fundamental problem always in effect.

User assigned priority:
High because
a) this might be at the root of other online problems ("freeze-ball", service bug, etc.)
b) this creates a fundamental imbalance in game play, creating the most frustrating moments

3)

Name of the problem
Involuntary rematches

Type of the problem
Design enhancement - online

Problem description
Two players have finished an online match, none or only one of them wants to play a rematch --> they have to search for a new opponent. Problem: The probability is high that both players will be paired again and again (although both/one of them explicitly decided AGAINST a rematch) because they are searching at the same time.

How often it happens
Often. It depends on whether one or both player(s) wait(s) a few moments before searching for a new opponent.

User assigned priority
Medium

4)

Name of the problem:
Prebuilt players (Nadal, Roddick) seem to be way more powerful than 5 star created player

Type of the problem:
Design enhancement (online play)

Problem description:
7 of top ten ranked players online play with prebuilt pros (Nadal, Federer etc.) The top ranked player in the game has agreed that Nadal is way more powerful than any other character in the game. Many in the top 25 have complained about the difficulty of defeating a top 100 Nadal as that character seems to have extreme (speed, topspin,stamina and many more) advantages over any possible custom character. The fact that you spend a lot of time going through grand slams building your custom character only to find them weaker than prebuilt pros (that require no effort at all to get online with) is counter intuitive to the rationale of investing so many hours building up your custom character. So the request is to reduce the level (stars) at which the prebuilt pro players (like Nadal, Federer, Roddick) can play online, scale down their powers. Playing with a custom built player should have advantage over a pre built pro when playing online.

How often it happens:
Everytime you are matched up with a prebuilt pro like Nadal, Roddick etc.

User assigned priority:
High

5)

Name of the problem:
Long-distance lag connects

Type of the problem:
Design (online)

Problem description:
The online "match-finder" frequently connects half-way around the globe, where lag difference is immense with all the ensuing problems (service bug, teleports, freeze-balls, etc.).
90% of the times one of the players aborts at the beginning of a long-distance match for the above mentioned reasons.
Fix: don't connect long-distance locations in the first place!

How often it happens:
Depending on time of day, 20-80% of the time.

User assigned priority:
Medium (at least there is a workaround with the aborts, but that gets annoying too)

6)

Name of the problem:
Balanced baseline and net play in GST online

Type of the problem:
Design (online)

Problem description:
Lot of people feel that the design of GST online heavily favors net play over baseline. There are complaints that a top ten ranked player plays a style with 80% of his shots being exclusively drop shots at the net - this style of play has been coined one form of anti-tennis. Users have started a separate thread called "Baseline buddies - boycott Serve and Volleyers" so that they can meet other baseliners, as playing random opponents online seems to present a heavy dose of Serve and Volley players or mid court campers - where the players stands behind the T line on his side of the court (i.e three steps in front of his baseline) and plays all his points at that parallel throughout the match. Players complain that opponent who approaches the net looks larger than his side of the court. The common theme here is that ball speed seems to be reduced in GST online and court width/length is reduced - thus making players play in style that doesn't resemble tennis (coined anti tennis by the user community). Considering that the major grand slams (including wimbledon) in real life are being played predominantly from the baseline, with net appraches used primarily to close out a point, it would be nice if GST design also mirrors that. To do that, the design need to change for balanced play to be possible - ball speed need to be increased and court dimensions need to be extended with respect to player size/reach.

How often it happens:
About 75% of online matches

User assigned priority:
High

7)

Name of the problem:
Manifestations in the tennis game primarily due to lag between opponents

Type of the problem:
Bugs (online)

Problem description:
- We have double, triple... bounces of the ball. This only happens with drop shots. (5% of drop shots) High
- Sometimes you win a point and the opponent scores it (has happened both for and against me). (1-3% of points) High
- Teleportation: this happens usually with lag players, and more often with super fast players (like Nadal with nunchuk). Basically in one frame he is on one side of the court, next frame he is on the other side of the court and the ball is headed towards your side of the court with very little time for you to react. (25% of points with Nadal like opponents - could be higher depending on lag) High
- If you press the A button with a topspin sometimes it is very angled and super fast upwards and downwards motion. (About 2-3% of topspin lobs). Low
- New modality of serve bug made by extreme laggers: you cant return any serve. Basically your serve return is not registered and it is just aces for the opponent throughout the match. (depends on the lag - 1% of matches) High
- More about serve bug, sometimes you serve a ball is clearly out and its not called a fault. Most of the time it happens when a 'classic' serve bug is in play. (2-3% of serves) Medium

How often it happens:
Depends on the bug and listed above

User assigned priority:
Depends on the bug listed above

great work, lmi. Now I wish an answer from the developer team and what are they going to do... for example: to try to reduce the bugs by changing the match finding and trying to avoid those lag players. That is on servers side, so they could try to fix it.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 10/05/2009 18:17:47

I would like to add the below. Noy really a bug or problem but would be useful for online players who do not like play nunchuk players

Name of the problem:

Avoid nunchuk players without having to quit matches

Type of the problem:

more info on your online opponent

Problem description:

Players playing with the nunchuk should have some sort of symbol next to their name so you can decide if you would like to play them before the game actually starts. If you are paired with a player, you should have some sort of start match button if you are happy to play this player instead of having to wait until the match starts and quitting.

Also if the player does not have the nunchuk attached and the match starts. Do not allow them to attach the nunchuk afterwards.

How often it happens:

often

User assigned priority:

Med

I'll add more to this thread. I'll check with Sanctity if we can send him another list after a week or two after more people have time to comment.

Name of the problem:
Implement actual player/court size and player speed/ball speed ratios in the game

Type of the problem:
Design (both online and offline)

Problem description:
If possible it would be nice if the actual ratios with respect to player/court size and player speed/ball speed ratios can be implemented in the game.

According to the url
http://westlake.k12.oh.us/hilliard/whspe/tennis/tennis_court.htm
the singles rectangle width is 27ft. If we put a typical 6ft tennis player lie on side of court he should roughly occupy 25% of the singles width. The player in GST seems much larger than this ratio (I think the ratio implemented is like 40% - giving him much greater sideways reach). Similarly if you can get rough real life ratios of player speed/ball speed it would make the game more realistic. Some margin percentage +/- to account for skills/stars/abilities etc. but roughly maintaining it close to real life ratios.

How often it happens:
Design flaw (hence every game)

User assigned priority:
High

Electronic Arts

Highlighted Game

EA SPORTS™ Grand Slam® Tennis