Hitting the Auto Finish Button

[Manticore8]

Not always, but sometimes when my driver\chariot\horses become very damaged and I have no chance of even fourth place, I'll get out of the way and hit the Finish button. This always causes me a twinge of guilt, almost as if it's a small cheat. I could live with all that but something that IMHO absolutely should be changed is the fact that if you do finish a race by hitting the button before crossing the finish line, you still get paid as if you had run the whole race. I'd like for there to be a small penalty for hitting the Finish button, that being a Finish result as it is now, but no money at all is awarded for doing this. I like the fact that there is this out option, but at least don't allow it to offer a reward for doing so. Any feedback please?

[Frido1207]

Basically agree. But early in a campaign it might cause financial troubles, as you have to heal/repair auriga/chariot/horses. Then you would be forced to cross the finish line just to get the minimum amount of money, what might ends fatal.

[NZgunner]

there should be a fame hit associated with finishing last and/or being lapped (crashes shouldn't have a fame penalty as they provide entertainment) - an auto-finish should guarantee last place and a fame penalty, but you can still get your appearance money

[Manticore8]

ORIGINAL: nzgunner

there should be a fame hit associated with finishing last and/or being lapped (crashes shouldn't have a fame penalty as they provide entertainment) - an auto-finish should guarantee last place and a fame penalty, but you can still get your appearance money

I'd be happy with any sort of small penalty for hitting the Finish button, even one of the several suggestions mentioned above is better than bailing out just because I know for sure my chariot is on the verge of breaking up and to avoid that I take the easy way out and bam...I'm in the locker room safe and sound and got paid too. [8D]

I have nothing against using the button whenever one chooses to, and sometimes it's certainly useful and practical. My problem with it is the ease of use and not having any consequences really to using it. Maybe apply a mild penalty to using it in Epic mode only?

[SteveD64]

I agree. I think there should be a penalty for finishing last (either money or fame hit).

[Manticore8]

If the monetary reward was taken away after hitting the Auto Finish button, I'd be more than satisfied.

[Herrbear]

I disagree. It is a way to eliminate having to waste a lot of time going slowly around the track when heavily damaged. The game is a campaign and not just an individual race.

[sharkie]

I disagree too.
Yesterday I got that rubbish where horses randomly wont respond to the whip after the first turn.
8 times....8 times!!! Out of 9 attempts the whip didnt work for me...random my a$$!!
Anyway, I came last because of this, two chariots with only 3 horses each beat me because their "random" successes were higher than mine.
This should be removed because it takes all strategy out of the game.
So taking the money earn t for coming last in this case is hollow satisfaction for a feeling of being cheated.

[Marder]

I disagree. If you tell me to work harder i'll do. If you force me to work harder i'll do nothing 9/10
Do not whip your horses if they are already on fullspeed.

[Manticore8]

There's a big misunderstanding here. I'm only asking that players not get paid money for Auto Finishing a race, I'm not at all asking that the option be taken away, I use it too on occasion. But getting the same reward for ducking out of a race as if I had risked everything by continuing a lost race doesn't make a lot of sense to me. So again, I'm just suggesting that it's weird to get paid the same for auto finishing out of a race as you'd get for maybe a little more time on the track. I am not for eliminating the Auto Finish feature. I am for taking away the money reward for doing so, at least in Epic mode.

Aside from all that, a lot of times I hunt enemy rivals when I'm beat up and have no chance of finishing in the top three, even if I have to brake and wait on them to lap me. [>:] So even in a losing situation, I can possibly make my teams more competitive by hanging around on the track and causing trouble for my rivals....then I cross the finish line in last place! I try use the whole time in my races to win and earn money, but also to inflict damage on my rivals, and even that can be done when I have no chance of obtaining the first two. And something I noted once. If I had not ended one race prematurely by hitting the Auto Finish button, I know for sure that two dragged rival faction leaders would have died on the track if I hadn't saved their hides by ending the race before that had a chance to happen. Since then I monitor all chariots every turn and if someone is about to meet his fate as I'm plodding around the track, I'll at least wait to see if a little more time will finish the job before hitting the finish button or finally crossing the finish line.

[SteveD64]

Just award prize money based on finishing order. 4th place gets more than 5th place which gets more than 6th place etc. That would encourage you to keep racing. Auto finish would put you in last place and you'd get a small amount of money (smaller than you currently get)

[Harmor]

ORIGINAL: sharkie

I disagree too.
Yesterday I got that rubbish where horses randomly wont respond to the whip after the first turn.
8 times....8 times!!! Out of 9 attempts the whip didnt work for me...random my a$$!!
Anyway, I came last because of this, two chariots with only 3 horses each beat me because their "random" successes were higher than mine.
This should be removed because it takes all strategy out of the game.
So taking the money earn t for coming last in this case is hollow satisfaction for a feeling of being cheated.

I fully agree - the rubbish with horses not responding to whipping is right now the only gripe I have with the game. I got it in two consecutive races no less, and in both races whipping worked only once or twice on numerous attempts. This is a FAR too gamey predicament and should imo be taken out of the game just like sharkie said, because there's zilch for strategy attached to it.

As far as the topic of this thread goes - I only do autofinish when in a situation where I'm on the homestretch and/or so far behind there is no chance in hell I'm gonna overtake anybody. That, I think, is a situation where the player should not be monetarily punished for auto finish. You'd be punishing a player's attempt at trying to overcome tedium, which is simply put NOT good game design.

[nats]

ORIGINAL: Harmor
I fully agree - the rubbish with horses not responding to whipping is right now the only gripe I have with the game. I got it in two consecutive races no less, and in both races whipping worked only once or twice on numerous attempts. This is a FAR too gamey predicament and should imo be taken out of the game just like sharkie said, because there's zilch for strategy attached to it.

Are you sure? I have never noticed this myself after around 70 races. The only time my horses dont respond is when they are damaged or exhausted from overwhipping - you only get a certain amount of whips per race before the horses refuse to respond, and the extent of response is dependant on their endurance.

ORIGINAL: Harmor
As far as the topic of this thread goes - I only do autofinish when in a situation where I'm on the homestretch and/or so far behind there is no chance in hell I'm gonna overtake anybody. That, I think, is a situation where the player should not be monetarily punished for auto finish. You'd be punishing a player's attempt at trying to overcome tedium, which is simply put NOT good game design.

I personally dont like the autofinish at all and I have only used it once or twice when I was going nowhere fast and it was taking ages for me to finish the race. I would much prefer to see no reward at all for using autofinish, I didnt like it when I got the finishing money after using it. Its a way of avoiding any more risk in the race so there should be no reward, or even a monetary penalty, for using it.

[Harmor]

ORIGINAL: nats

Are you sure? I have never noticed this myself after around 70 races. The only time my horses dont respond is when they are damaged or exhausted from overwhipping - you only get a certain amount of whips per race before the horses refuse to respond, and the extent of response is dependant on their endurance.

Yep, 100% sure - it's one of the predicaments before a race, don't remember the exact words but it says something like 'Random chance for horses not responding to wipping'. But it's almost like a 100% chance wipping won't work at all instead of just a chance for it not to happen here and there - imo a little overboard and generally, I don't really like this predicament at all. Why? Because it almost completely removes a tactical feature from a race.

ORIGINAL: nats

I personally dont like the autofinish at all and I have only used it once or twice when I was going nowhere fast and it was taking ages for me to finish the race. I would much prefer to see no reward at all for using autofinish, I didnt like it when I got the finishing money after using it. Its a way of avoiding any more risk in the race so there should be no reward, or even a monetary penalty, for using it.

Well, I don't use autofinish either except for what I described - situations where my auriga will just crawl to the finish line without any chance of gaining a position. It's my kinda ragequit button I have to say, which I use instead of painfully slowly finishing a race when in actual fact, all is said and done already.

[Manticore8]

I personally dont like the autofinish at all and I have only used it once or twice when I was going nowhere fast and it was taking ages for me to finish the race. I would much prefer to see no reward at all for using autofinish, I didnt like it when I got the finishing money after using it. Its a way of avoiding any more risk in the race so there should be no reward, or even a monetary penalty, for using it.

That's how I feel too when almost forced to use Auto Finish because I crashed after the first turn. [:(] I feel a little dirty and lowdown for taking Auto Finish money. And let's face it...there are times when hitting that button saves your life because you (I) are nearly dead on the track, and you (I) fell victim to what I consider nearly a game cheat. Now to get paid the same for extricating yourself (myself) from potential dangers on the track is just tacky and seedy IMHO. [:D] So you might say, "well don't use the button then, it's purely optional" and I find useful things to do with my time on the track while in last or nearly last place, but I think conversely that everyone would agree that it's impractical to crawl around the track for more than two laps so it does have a practical purpose.

Again, I'd just like to see some sort of penalty for hitting that Auto Finish button, even if only in Epic campaigns and even if it's just to take away the monetary reward for doing so. I think that's a small price to pay for such a drastic time-shifting measure.

[nats]

ORIGINAL: Harmor

Yep, 100% sure - it's one of the predicaments before a race, don't remember the exact words but it says something like 'Random chance for horses not responding to wipping'. But it's almost like a 100% chance wipping won't work at all instead of just a chance for it not to happen here and there - imo a little overboard and generally, I don't really like this predicament at all. Why? Because it almost completely removes a tactical feature from a race.

Do you mean this was an event? You get events at the start of the races and one of them says you aren't allowed to whip at all - I've seen that one. But the event only affects the current race.

[SteveD64]

I don't think I've ever had a race where whipping doesn't work (unless the whips have been removed entirely). I've raced over 100 times and have never encountered that event.

Edit: Wait, is it the drugged horses event?

[SteveD64]

I would also be fine with events showing up "randomly", meaning that there would be, say, a 30 or 40 percent chance that there would be no event at all. Just a race.

[nats]

ORIGINAL: CLEVELAND

I don't think I've ever had a race where whipping doesn't work (unless the whips have been removed entirely). I've raced over 100 times and have never encountered that event.

Edit: Wait, is it the drugged horses event?

I just got the event today I think is being referred to where your horses may not respond to whipping past the first turn. I dont agree with taking it out of the game though. I think half the fun is how you deal with these events.

One question I have though is: do the events effect all the racers the same way? Obviously things like banning whipping or having two laps will affect all the racers. But what about the initial damage to the chariot? - that only seems to affect me? In that case do the other racers also get other individual events that just affect them?

So are there whole race events and individual events? If there is a whole race event I presume that rules out any individual events happening for anyone?

[SteveD64]

do the other racers also get other individual events that just affect them?

Sometimes other Aurigas will fight each other pre-race, that affects those two and they'll receive damage from the start. Sometimes their horses will kick each other as well.