K so I just experienced something for the first time, that while not cheating and totally allowed, just felt very underhanded. While playing in the bunker, I was racing someone whose times I beat on all three tracks initially. One track by like .700 of a sec. The other 2 tracks by well over a second and minus a wreck on both. I think on one he had like 3 wrecks. So to summarize, took all three tracks with decent margins back on my first try(he raced first) and had no wrecks (he had several). So hours go by, and at the last possible moment with minutes left on the timer he took all three tracks back. Just barely. I would like to hear how you all feel about this, and am wondering if it's unreasonable to feel like this was an underhanded way of winning. Any comments? Thanks, -Jonny-
As the person who got sniped, it sucks to lose when you think you're going to win. Other than that, I don't have a problem with the strategy...it's a good way to increase chances of winning a showdown without blowing a bunch of GTs in the process. If I lose a showdown this way, I figure it's my own damn fault for not putting in a strong enough time. This is Trials, after all. That said, I don't like sniping, I much prefer giving my opponent some time to respond*
If it's any consolation, your opponent effectively gave you a bunch of "free" chips and also saved you from spending a bunch of GTs defending an attack
Further food for thought, I have a typical job. These 5 hour encounters allow me to start a showdown in the morning and have just enough time left at lunch to battle for the last 15 minutes or so (then start another showdown and do the same when I get home from work). Sometimes I just squeak in with a couple of minutes to spare...my choices are to (1) not battle at all or (2) possibly offend my opponent by playing with only a few minutes left. I always choose the latter, and I almost never use GTs**. The difference here is that I don't play lame duck at the start of the encounter...I want as many chips as I can get.
* tonight I sniped 3 individuals and blew a bunch of GTs in a bid to make legend. Once I make legend, you can be sure I'll roll over and play dead if I encounter any of these players again...particularly if they also haven't made legend.
** Bunny Hop, Hill Climb, Sine City. Watch the tickets fly![]()
I'm going to agree with the latter posts.. and I've been in the OPs shoes as well... it sucks to get sniped, but if you don't have your best run on the table and there are tickets to spend... use them. Get your best run possible, if you know that you can do better. I don't like leaving things to the last 5 minutes, because there are plenty of people out there that are better than me.. I would rather have the last 5-15 minutes as a back and forth by milliseconds.. than someone beating my time by more than half a second.
All in all.. Always assume that your opponent is better than you. If you know you can do better on a track, practice *even if it's not with the bunker bike that you've been assigned* and re-familiarize yourself with the track, then smoke them in the end. I was just in a bunker match that raced the Tango on a Mantis track. While it produces a slightly different style of play, it still helped me grasp the overhand on the 3rd attempt.
Meh. Anyone who does that rather than taking over the tracks at the start of a showdown won't get a great number of chips.
Welcome to the world of sports where it doesn't matter who was winning for the first 99.9% of the match all that matters was who won when the time ran out.
I'm not sure what really happened because part of your story makes no sense (you say he had no wrecks and that he had several in the same sentence). But if you left him time to race while you had won tracks with faults that was a huge mistake. A 30 second run with 1 fault can be beaten by a 9 minute run with zero faults.
The other side of this is some people will throw nearly unlimited golden tickets at a track to win it back. I had showdowns where I took a track over with hours left in the showdown only to see my opponent use 25-50 golden tickets to take it back immediately. If you are playing someone like this, sniping at the end is the only way to win.
In the end, just like any game/sport, you play until the final whistle because it's not over until it's over.
The only TRUE rule is that the person who owns the most tracks at the end... wins. This whole idea of being "playing honest", and "always put your best times, every time".... thats just stuff people WANT to think is a rule. Here is the totally honest truth of it:
If you put your honest best possible times for those tracks that you were willing to do with the tickets you were willing to spend.... then the person you were playing was better (today), and thats it. Nothing to be ashamed of, etc; happens to the best of us. If your didnt put your best times in... then its your fault you lost, really. Just like the old fable:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tortoise_and_the_Hare
I do not feel there is any difficulty in understanding what I wrote, I will repeat for this reason and then respond to everyone else. He raced first, had no wrecks on 1 track but wrecked a few times on both others. I raced once on each track, with no wrecks and took the tracks. Had to go make supper, but checked again when only about fifteen minutes remained on the clock and everything was still as it was. Put kids to bed, checked again, all three were now his just barely. Maybe this is easier to understand? To everyone else, thanks alot for your input. Considering others situations, as well as mine, helps. I had not considered that (time constraints etc.) and I should have. I think it was just the feeling I was left with lol. And you are right, the objective is to win. I am a bit surprised I have not encountered this more often. Usually, my opponent and I race once and maybe use a ticket or two. But that's the end of it. I will differ to you guys and accept it, no biggie. Just a crumby feeling when the race ended lol, thanks again -Jonny-
This was discussed on the TFG, and while it can be viewed as a cheap move, it's totally valid and I don't see a problem with it. You both have equal time to set the best possible times on the tracks. You could, in theory, do the same thing to your opponent. If it's a moral issue, than maybe you are just a nicer person than them. Most people don't even like to ping-pong, etc.
The way I have always played since day 1: I don't trust my opponent to let me win unless I know them, so I constantly race my own ghost to get the best possible time, even if it means spending golden tickets. If I get sniped, so be it.
There is also the possibility that the legitimately couldn't play and/or beat you until the last few minutes. I, personally, have had matches where I would spend 4 hours trying to beat someone on a track, because it's a tough ghost but I know I can beat it. Sometimes it just happens at the very end of the timer. Also factor in real life. Maybe they have work and start showdowns when they wake up, then finish them on lunch break (near the end).
tl:dr: Each player has equal opportunity.
I am constantly giving away free wins to my opponents as long as they leave me at least one track, so i can have some chips at the end. This repeats until i get back to 15 position then i go to 5-6 and again fall back to 15 and all this is because i need chips for tracks to buy...
I am totally ok with someone rushing the retries at the end of the timer, if he beats my time ... well ... may be i should have spend more tickets in order to achieve a better time.
Its totally true:
that's why i like this kind of games - the experience and skill level a player has is all that matters the most, until some cheater appears and you say NeeeextOriginally Posted by justinman114 Go to original post![]()
There are some opponents where this strategy is almost a must. There are people who will throw massive amounts of tickets to take a track back. Unless you are literally a top player setting top times, the only way to beat them is to take them back in the final minutes so they don't have time to try 20-50 times to beat you.
It's really a lot like an eBay auction. If you can't be logged in and paying attention in the final minutes your chances of winning decrease substantially.