Participation Requirements for BAF

[BlackSpectre]

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

 

I read in the wiki that "There is a participation threshold that must be met in order to receive an Incarnate Component table instead of 10 Threads or one Super-level inspiration "consolation prize"." This got me curious, what exactly does the trial consider "participation"?

 

The most the live devs gave us is several things participation is NOT... 

• Tagging targets
• Healing points or damage points
• Interrupting powers mid-cast
• Cycling powers on and off

 

Through testing, it also appears that mouse clicks and button presses also do not count toward participation (for the most part, see below). So then what is it? 

 

Well, a quick look through the I24 code, and I saw that the game is actively polling and counting the status of players at each phase or stage of the trial. What the game looks for is:

• Players in the zone
• Players in the zone that are alive
• Players in the zone that are active

 

Players being in the "zone" means three things. First, to be considered in the zone the character must be inside the walls of the BAF. Outside, where players phase into the trial, is NOT considered "in the zone". Secondly, the players must be within proximity of each phase of the trial when it is completed. What this means is, if the phase's goal is to defeat Siege, then the player must be near Siege when he is defeated. How near is uncertain, but it is far enough that most players don't have to worry about it. Lastly, within the hospital is considered outside the zone.

 

Players must be alive in order to receive credit for completing each phase of the trial. Players will NOT receive credit for completing a phase of the trial if they are dead at the time the phase is completed. Further, if a player is alive but inside the Hospital at the time a phase is completed, they will also not receive credit for completing that phase.

 

An "active" player is any player who does not have the AFK status on them. AFK means the player has not pressed a keyboard key nor clicked a mouse button for 5 minutes. Interestingly, I was not able to get a character to go AFK while in proximity to each phase of the trial. 

 

 

REWARD REQUIREMENTS

 

The requirement for players to be awarded the incarnate component drop table at Homecoming is to be actively participating during at least 3 out of the last 4 phases of the BAF trial at the time that a phase is completed (not including the first phase, destroy 40 warworks). Phase 1 does not count toward earning the incarnate component table reward but is required to complete so that Phase 2 of the trial will begin.  It does not matter which 3 out of the last 4 phases the player completes. They can be completed in any order. 

 

If the player actively participates and receives credit for completing only 2 or less of the trial's last 4 phases, the player will be awarded a choice of a Super Inspiration or 10 incarnate threads instead of the incarnate component drop table. 

 

So, what is required to be awarded the incarnate component drop table?

 

1. The player must NOT have been designated AFK by the game at the time each phase is completed.

2. The player is inside the walls of the BAF, not in the hospital, and within proximity of each phase of the trial as it is completed.

3. The player must be alive at the time the phase is completed in order to qualify for successfully completing the phase.

4. The player has actively participated (see the 3 previous requirements above) in the completion of at least 3 out of the last 4 phases of the BAF.

 

To demonstrate how easy it is to earn the incarnate component drop table, I participated in a BAF where all I did was fly from the entrance point to the tennis court for phase 2. Then moved to the south choke point for phase 3. Then moved back to the tennis courts for phases 4 and 5. I did not activate any power, attack, or press the keyboard or mouse button at any time after I moved to the above locations. I was then awarded the incarnate component drop table at the completion of the trial. I might have went AFK during Phase 3, the prisoner escape phase, but that would only mean that I completed 3 out of the last 4 phases instead of all 4, and therefore still qualified for the drop table. 

 

Anyway, I thought I'd share what I've gleaned so far about earning the incarnate component drop table for BAF.  🙂

 

 

 

 

Edited June 16 by BlackSpectre

[GM Crumpet]

As far as I'm aware, all trials are the same. All you need is to have reached level 50 and hit things, and be in the trial when it ends and you get a pick off the incarnate table. Master of has different objectives, but you just need to be inside and complete it to get a component. 

 

now waiting for one of my dear friends to tell me I'm wrong 😛 

[ZemX]

Interesting stuff.  I think anyone's first instinct here would be to assume that you have to actively DO something in the raid. i.e. Assuming the game is somehow measuring your level of contribution to the raid.  

 

But that's REALLY hard to do.   What metric would you use?  Damage and healing are the two most obvious, but also obviously... wouldn't fairly apply to every possible AT and role in the raid.  It would heavily reward the primary damage and healing ATs.   What about debuffing and control? What if I'm just tanking some enemy while the rest of the raid deals with another one?  Lots of problems trying to measure contribution.

 

That list of stuff they are NOT measuring actually says a lot becuase damage, healing, and even just "hitting stuff" (i.e. "tagging enemies") isn't measured.

 

And so... "participation trophy"!  Literally. 🤪

[Digirium]

I think you could develop and define some test cases and try them.

 

What triggers the reward table without an incarnate component roll?

What triggers no reward table?

 

Try joining a BAF then when the cut-scene begins immediately logout wait for the BAF to finish then login again see what pops up? What notice do you get? Does it say you were not active for long enough to receive a reward? There is code already in the game that denies reward if participation did not reach the required level. For example, you join a mission team and enter a mission the others have mostly completed you receive no completion reward.

[BlackSpectre]

7 hours ago, Digirium said:

What triggers the reward table without an incarnate component roll?

What triggers no reward table?

 

Some of that I know!

 

In incarnate trials, which reward table is determined by how many stages or phases of the trial were completed (with the possible caveats that you were not AFK, were in the zone, and alive at the time the phase was completed).  

 

In Issue 24 there were 3 tables of rewards players could earn: 

1.  Table #1 - super inspiration or 10 threads (this required 0-1 phases of the trial to be completed)

2. Table #2 - a single common piece of incarnate component salvage (this required 2 phases of the trial to be completed)

3. Table #3 - an incarnate component drop table (this required 3-4 phases of the trial to be completed)

 

Issue 25 or Homecoming reduced the number of tables to 2:

1.  Table #1 - super inspiration or 10 threads (this requires 0-2 phases of the trial to be completed)

2. Table #2 - an incarnate component drop table (this requires 3-4 phases of the trial to be completed)

 

Issue 24 gave players 10 participation points both individually and for the team when each stage of the trial was completed. A player needed at least 30 participation points (possibly more) to be awarded the component drop table. However, team participation points were also factored into the calculation (not sure of the proportion) so that a player could have less individual participation points than 30 but still reach the threshold by adding in team participation points. Interestingly, this whole participation system was named the Karma system, and the name of the participation points were called KarmaPoints and TeamKarmaPoints. Karma... what you do determines your fate in the future. Totally makes sense! 🙂

 

Homecoming or Issue 25 must have simplified this system because what the league does matters more than what the individual player does as far as completing stages of the trial. The player doesn't have to lift a finger, attack, or do much of anything to be credited for the stage's completion by the league. The player merely earns the credit for the stage completion by "participating" (I.e., in the zone, alive, and not AFK).  

 

The decision was made during live that everyone in a league that has completed the trial will receive at least the Table #1 reward, no matter how many stages they were credited for completing.

 

Quote

Try joining a BAF then when the cut-scene begins immediately logout wait for the BAF to finish then login again see what pops up? What notice do you get? Does it say you were not active for long enough to receive a reward? There is code already in the game that denies reward if participation did not reach the required level. For example, you join a mission team and enter a mission the others have mostly completed you receive no completion reward.

 

If I recall correctly, the error that appears merely says that you are unable to rejoin the trial. I can test it though and find out. Players are phased into the trial/zone before the cutscene plays, FYI.

 

I haven't looked at participation requirements for missions, but you are absolutely right. They do have participation requirements. Each mission might even have different participation requirements. No idea.  It could be based on completing the goals of a mission, how many enemies were defeated, how much time was spent in the mission, or all of the above. I did see some code that concerned itself with measuring how long the player was "paused" during a zone event, though.

 

I don't want to give the impression that I know everything the code is doing or saying. I'm not a programmer and have never learned a programming language, although I do write pseudo-code using a couple of scripting languages. But I can read, and I can follow sequences and steps and often see where code is pointing, even if I don't always know what the code is pointing to. When I look at the COH code I often feel like a blind man trying to make his way through a maze. Fumbling, fumbling...

 

Edited June 13 by BlackSpectre

[Snarky]

1) be 50

2) figure out how to join anyone saying “starting a BAF”

3) navigate the complex world of “hit the green button”

 

 

you are welcome 

[Ukase]

Pretty sure if you can see the player on your team roster, they're "in zone". Beyond that, other than the occasional player having a real life issue, I've never encountered someone not participating. 

I used to worry about it during the master of ugt runs when a league leader would impose "snipers only" for the bomb portion. But it was never an issue. I do recall on retail getting the 10 threads once, but I can't remember why. I'm sure it had something to do with escorting desdemona, but that was a long time ago, and details in my mind are fuzzy. 

[BlackSpectre]

I haven't checked the other Incarnate trials, but I'd wager their active participation requirements are very similar to BAF.

 

I've done some more testing, and have figured out a few more things. I think I'll edit my first post above and add the things I've learned. There are still a few questions left unanswered, but for the most part I'm satisfied that I've answered what "active participation" means in BAF.  🙂