The UT "Equalizer" - Yes I believe it exists, I will explain...

[chia]

First off if you disagree with this post or name call or tell me "get gud loser" I am perfectly fine with that as long as you promise to read through my post and just think about it for a minute.

The "Equalizer" in video games (typically sports games) is a controversial topic and creates a very divisive conversation because of it where one side truly believes it exists and the other side believes the first side is bad at the game.

When I refer to the "Equalizer" in UFC 2 Ultimate Team I am NOT referring to being completely out played, out parried, out grappled, out slipped yet I am referring to lower rated CAFs playing at what SEEMS to be much higher than their overall attribute ratings.

Now pre-patch we had no way to see the overall rating or individual attribute ratings of our opponents so you could be a 75ovr playing against an 85ovr and he completely dust the mats with you and you would never be any the wiser. After the patch though I have been curious about this and I make a point to recap every one of my matches by going through and looking at my opponent's attributes and thinking back to how the match went.

The two CAFs I have used most post patch have been an 89ovr MW and an 80ovr HW. Typically my best matches are the ones where I am within 4-5ovr of my opponent. Win or lose these matches SEEM to be the most balanced.

Anything outside of 4-5ovr (typically on the low end because I haven't yet faced the +5ovr differential with either fighter and they were the higher rated) and the matches seem to be really odd. Sure there are the 68-73ovr players that are just masterful on the sticks and are parry/slip gods but they are the exception. I also don't factor people exploiting bad programming and taking advantage of spamming 1-2 body shots to benefit off of too much damage and the combo multiplier.

I am only referring to the matches where the CAF I am facing is -5ovr or more from me and their attributes match where they SHOULDN'T be able to give me trouble much less win after 1-2 rounds of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. I have played CAFs that were 70-73 with my 80ovr HW that apparently just refused to slip/parry and yet would hang with me or inexplicably rock me constantly with near base punches.

In regards to the "Equalizer" I do not believe it is programmed in the game to instantly BOOST the attributes to a higher hidden range so that someone's 45 punch speed is now 65 or their 75 LHPower is suddenly 100. I believe the "Equalizer" actually increases the chances in the random rolls that come along with the strikes to create the rocks and flash kos and knockdowns giving the underdog a much higher probability of pulling off these feats.

I understand the developers need for the "Equalizer" in a game mode that is influenced by $$$ and grinding to build from nothing to something otherwise it would TRULY be P2W. Having a P2W mode without any influence from casual non-spenders would not only kill the player base of the mode but it would also adversely affect the number of people paying for packs because less players = less fights.

I have a LOT of fights in Ultimate Team and until the transparency added from the last patch there was no telling what overall your CAF was matched up against. I haven't spent a lot on the game but I have spent more than most because I enjoy the pack ripping and it is entertaining to me, so with that I TYPICALLY have the higher rated CAF in a fight no less than 19 times out of 20. For example with my HW I have been the lower rated fighter 1 time out of 40 (I was 80ovr and he was 83ovr).

I'm interested to see the forum's views about the "Equalizer" and if you have seen unexplainable randomness from fighting CAFs +5ovr lower than your CAF. Again I am in NO WAY equating the "Equalizer" to being out played. I am WELL aware what being out played is and I can clearly make the distinction between "Damn that dude is good" and "WTF just happened here?"

[Boiler569]

I really felt that UT was tuned well and there really wasn't a need for equalizer/leveled playing field.

It was fair to those who didn't want to pay, fair to those who did want to pay.

Until the whole 'delete a character to farm' thing....that tilted the balance way too far, IMO

At least they're going to reset the leaderboards, but that's only a small part of the real issue that threw-off the UT Balance

I still think UT is pretty legit though. And if you have skill, you can overcome a 5 point (or 10 point) OVR difference. I went on a 17-win streak w/ my HW who was OVR 78, lowest I fought was another 78, mostly fought about 83, fought at least 3 people with OVR above 90...still whooped em

I do wish that Ranked gave you more than just +1 for choosing a lower rated fighter. I like the Featured Fighters but it's not enough. If I choose an OVR 87 and I defeat an OVR 93...6 point difference...I deserve at least +3 points for fighter difference (maybe even a whole 6 points more!)

[SisterRay]

As a person who has been fighting a lot of fighters who have usually 7+ OVR advantage, I don't see this "equalizer" thing you are talking about at all...

it takes them one superman punch to knock me out and once you are on the ground with a wrestler with sweeps, you are screwed. It's so unfair right now fighting people with big OVR advantage. I can still beat some of them with skills but I don't know how long that would last once I move to the higher divisions.

[GUCCI]

Disagre with your post.

I remember beating guys with 84 ovr when I was 70-72 OVR easily.

Now I beat 90 OVR easily with my 79-81 OVR caf.

But if i'm against a good player with 10+ rating its going to be hard to beat him and I'll probably lose by submission or decision.

The highest rated guy in UT i've seen was 94 with a 99 ground game. I coulldn't do anything. His game was also a bit laggy. He is #2 on UT leaderboards. Strastersinal or something.

[JRed529]

This is too funny. Every EA game has the 'equalizer' conspiracy theorists, and honestly it's to funny to ignore!!!!

[chia]

Quote: Originally Posted by GUCCI

Disagre with your post. I remember beating guys with 84 ovr when I was 70-72 OVR easily. Now I beat 90 OVR easily with my 79-81 OVR caf. But if i'm against a good player with 10+ rating its going to be hard to beat him and I'll probably lose by submission or decision. The highest rated guy in UT i've seen was 94 with a 99 ground game. I coulldn't do anything. His game was also a bit laggy. He is #2 on UT leaderboards. Strastersinal or something.

I'm not being a dick when I say this but you do realize what you are saying here plays into the "Equalizer" right?

Now you might be amazing on the sticks or you might be a Parry God or you might be a cheeser (I'm not accusing you of that) so that would skew the game but typically you shouldn't be EASILY beating people that have that much of a statistical advantage over you.

While I do have an easier time on a level playing field with like overall level CAFs, the majority of my tough fights come from a big disparity in overall and not because the player is particularly good.

[GUCCI]

Quote: Originally Posted by chia

I'm not being a dick when I say this but you do realize what you are saying here plays into the "Equalizer" right? Now you might be amazing on the sticks or you might be a Parry God or you might be a cheeser (I'm not accusing you of that) so that would skew the game but typically you shouldn't be EASILY beating people that have that much of a statistical advantage over you. While I do have an easier time on a level playing field with like overall level CAFs, the majority of my tough fights come from a big disparity in overall and not because the player is particularly good.

You should be able to beat people easily even if they have +10 OVR stat advantage. If they don't know what they are doing its their fault.

The guys I beat easily with +10 rating over me were ****ing trash. They only spin like balerinas.

If I face a good player with + 10 rating I'm screwed.

Skill should be higher factor than stats

[SisterRay]

Quote: Originally Posted by GUCCI

yes you should be able to beat peoole easily with stat advabtage. The guys I beat easily with +10 rating over me were ****ing trash. They only spin like balerinas. If I face a good player with + 10 rating I'm screwed.

Yep, very true. You stand like no chance against someone who is at least competent in the game with big OVR stat advantage.