I want to offer my sincere apologies Val guys group. I fell into the mud. I thought we were outside. So I quit. I did not realize how much you (falling) guys hurt it! It will not happen again, I promise.
Yesterday, as part of the platformer royals season four update, Val guys receive a squads mode. Instead of traditional solo matches – where you qualify for new rounds, depending on your personal position – you are paired with up to three other team members. At the end of races you earn points based on how fast you finish. Survival rounds meanwhile give you more points the longer you survive. The total score of all four members determines whether your team goes to the next round or not.
Even better, if your group has advanced to the final round, only one member must win to win the entire group. It will earn each of you 20 Crown Shards. Earn 60 of it, and you get a crown.
On paper, it all sounds divine, especially for those who are embroiled in an eternal battle to win a final round. And if it works, the squads mode is really a blast. The feeling of camaraderie is not only a wonderful addition to this infamous penetrating game, but playing with a team also lowers the barrier to earning those sweet, sweet crowns. Well, sometimes. There is a disturbing trend in which players will stop if they personally fail and effectively condemn their teammates to disqualification.
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Suppose you play a round of Block Party and you somehow get stuck in the mud within the first few seconds. Muscle memory will tell you that you’re done, that it’s time to stop and try again, because there’s no way you’re in the qualifying block. In group mode, however, you still have a chance. Yes, by falling early, you have made it difficult for your teammates, but there is still a chance that they (and by extension you) will stay. Maybe they will play really well. Or maybe all the other groups are playing really weak. The point is: there is a chance.
What is all but certain is that your group will fail in the next round if you quit. Think about it. Your score is determined in its entirety. If a team of three beans is put up against different teams of four, the team of three has an immediate, insurmountable disadvantage. I played for a few hours Val guys‘squads mode last night. I have not once seen a team of three people qualify after a round.
After the game’s fourth season went live yesterday, players went to the Val guys subreddit en quickly pointed out the problems with players throwing in the towel prematurely. You can get it to a bad posture or muscle memory. You could say that it’s even the result of a lack of attention, but the elimination screen is pretty clear that you have to stay around until the end to see if you qualified. (See above.) The people – and, yes, I say this as someone who is guilty of such a sin and apologizes for it – deserve a single strike.
In terms of criminal Val guys behavior, I would put early issues above the badly hated grabbers who keep you from winning at the last minute. In solo mode, Val guys is a dog-eat-dog-glove. Poor sportsmanship obviously does not deserve praise, but it is expected and probably defensible. When playing groups, there is an implicit degree of confidence. You guys are a team. You are in it together. To betray this trust – whether malicious or indifferent – is indefensible.
The logical change is to switch the group play from a linear total to a calculated average. This way, groups of three or even two can act against the full parties. (Kotaku reached out to Mediatonic, the game’s developer, about possible plans to implement it, but did not hear in time for publication.)
This is not the only problem with groups at the moment. As a look back at the game launch day server misery, loading in a group of groups is a bit of a mess. A match starts as soon as 40 players are in line. But, according to to Mediatonic, if a match is full, places cannot be refilled if someone leaves. This prevents the game from starting, so if you see the number of players drop instead of up, you should rather go to the title than wait.
But the squads mode is largely a delightful addition to Val guys, and I like the fourth season overall. I walk away from Val guys for seasons two and three, so there are plenty of new levels to enjoy, including the seven added this season. The brand new Big Shots stage – in which you balance on a jigsaw and escape from huge projectiles blown from cannons – is a real standout.
There is a wonderful intensity to playing group play. Yes, there is pressure to do your best as other people trust you. But the spectator mode will also put you on the edge of your seat. If you finish a race in front of your teammates, the camera will focus on an assassin, according to your partner. You can watch with long breath as they travel through the course. In solo play, the spectator mode was for me a time of downtime, where I would go check my phone or have a drink or whatever. In groups, I can not manage to look away. I am just as focused on the root of my fellow beans. It’s not a strange feeling, but it’s a new one. I do not know how long it will take, but Val guys has his brackets in me again.
I’m sorry I put the one game to the test.