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This may sound like a dumb question but I was told by a somewhat reliable source that video game studios do in fact make stealth changes to games (changes explicitly excluded from any patch notes or documentation available to players) that can significantly impact/change individual user experience and that sometimes those individual changes can be permanently spread to others if they co-op/multi-play with another player who has been impacted by one or more of these stealth changes/mechanics in the game.
For example in TOM CLANCY'S THE DIVISION there are numerous changes made in each update that are (presumably) fully documented in the Patch Notes. In addition many say there are other undocumented changes (offten referred t9o ass stealth Nerfs/Buffs) that can significantly impact the players experience. Usually these are Nerfs and not buffs because those are more often perceived as negative changes by a majority of the games player base. I'm told these mechanics are primarily used to keep more experienced players (i.e. the top %1 of the games player base) challenged so that when they reach end game and have obtained the best gear/weapons they still can experience some level of challenge. By using stealth Nerfs/buffs that are applied to individual players it prevents the changes from being applied to less experienced players who otherwise would find the game unplayable if these changes applied to the top %1 were applied to all players.
I understand the need for player specific changes that increase difficulty but what concerns me is when they are done in stealth (undocumented) and especially if/when they get permanently applied to other players who are not at the level of the top %1 and who have received these kinds of changes simply because they grouped or co-oped with a player in the top %1 or some similar high-level/More-experienced player base.
<b>SUMMARY</b>
Are there any former or current developers working in the video game industry that comment on whether or not studios do in fact employ stealth changes that can significantly impact individual players and if they do then do they also (sometimes) make it so that player B's experience is permanently altered by one or more of these stealth mechanics because they co-op'd with another player who is more experienced but when they got back to single player those stealth mechanics persists and thus continue to impact player B's experience?
Ubisoft's MASSIVE Studios that designed TOM CLANCYS THE DIVISION has hosted 2 Events they call ETF's (Elite Task Force) were 12 -15 of the games player base are invited to a 3 day on site feedback/testing/discussion about upcoming changes to the game. They are like a steering committee four the game. I was lucky to be one of the 12 that attended the last ETF that was at RED STORM studios; a Ubisoft partner/studio that lead the development of the games 3rd DLC. They are hosting another ETF in a week and those who attended the first 2 are participating in the 3rd one remotely. I'd like to raise the topic of stealth changes but only if I have confidence that these are real and not something a small percentage of video gamer's believe is real so any feedback on this especially from someone with experience in that industry would be greatly appreciated. A google search on stealth changes to video games has so far not returned any useful links so I don't know if this is simply a well guarded secret in that industry or if it is indeed just conspiracy theory created by players.
Thank You
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soapbox.
Sin tack
the any key okay
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Undocumented changes are common enough, but I've never heard of them being specifically applied to individual players.
But I've never been in the game industry so what would I know.
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If that's true I think it's terrible that a game maker makes changes to a game that uses their own infrastructure in order to make the game fairer and more fun for the vast majority. What next? Banning the 1% of people who cheat just because it makes it less fun for others?
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Quote: ? Banning the 1% of people who cheat just because it makes it less fun for others
Sounds fair!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Every game patch note document I've ever seen has always had at least one "Various balance and performance improvements" line item.
That said, balances that are applied to a select few individuals/teams that I've heard of are algorithmically determined based on Level/League Rank or something similar. And I've only heard about them in respect to competitive games like Overwatch, LoL, etc... A recent kerfuffle in one community (can't recall which now) had to do with something like this. i.e. changing matchmaking based on perceived rank rather than actual rank. But the dev certainly wasn't stealth about it.
Note: I'm not actually in the Game Dev industry. More of a parasite floating around the rim of it.
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When was the last time your cat tried to pull you out of the deadly bathtub?[^]
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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Never was there a better time to bring back downvoting in the Lounge. 
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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I clicked it so many times. I just wanted to spare others.
Oh the humanity!
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
- Benjamin Disraeli
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Related true story: A good friend of mine suffered a pulmonary embolism last month. He collapsed on the floor. He woke up an hour later when his cat was licking his face. He called an ambulance and thankfully survived.
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Judah Himango wrote: his cat was licking tasting his face.
FIFY
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Marinating?
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx
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There can never be enough cat videos on the net. 
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I hate cat videos, but that's a thing of beauty.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Are the smallest soft drinks in the USA all in Minisoda?
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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and they are all Minus oda too
Sin tack
the any key okay
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The serious ones are in PensiveCola Florida.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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And the ones in Boring, OR don't hold my interest.
/ravi
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I was wrong to expect Utah run out of material...
... such stuff as dreams are made on
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I think that's his Maine problem.
/ravi
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Iowa debt of gratitude to you for that one.
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. ~ Ronald Reagan
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Not me - Della should take credit for this. Let me find her... Delaware are you?
/ravi
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Ravi Bhavnani wrote: Delaware are you?
I think she's with Michigan.
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. ~ Ronald Reagan
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Oregon or are they still here?
/ravi
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Alaska round.
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. ~ Ronald Reagan
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