I'm not trying to be controversial, but simply to point out a fact that has been observed after hundreds of games. I'm an old Wingspan player from the early days of the game, both in real life and on BGA.
Arena mode really makes me smile. It's a draw game with very uneven cards, as are the bonuses, not even to mention the serial food drawing. In fact, you can easily lose even to a beginner due to a really bad run on the draw. However, in tournament mode, this draw is always counterbalanced by a good player's ability to minimize losses. This is absolutely not taken into account at all in Arena mode scoring.
So losing by 1 point or even tying against a lower-ranked player can drop you more than 30 points, whereas when you crush another player by 30 points you gain a very little handful of points. So sometimes it takes 4 or 5 new wins to make up for a single defeat. The conclusion is simple: the highest-scoring player is not the best player at Wingspan. He's probably a good player, sure, but above all he's the luckiest.
It would have been possible to create a balanced and exciting Arena mode for good players. Instead, it's a bit like fairground claws, where you try to catch a stuffed animal to no avail.
It's a pity that programmers aren't gamers and don't take into account those who have long experience of games... This is just my opinion, without polemic, but it's based on a long experience of gaming as a player but also as a creator.
Arena mode really makes me smile. It's a draw game with very uneven cards, as are the bonuses, not even to mention the serial food drawing. In fact, you can easily lose even to a beginner due to a really bad run on the draw. However, in tournament mode, this draw is always counterbalanced by a good player's ability to minimize losses. This is absolutely not taken into account at all in Arena mode scoring.
So losing by 1 point or even tying against a lower-ranked player can drop you more than 30 points, whereas when you crush another player by 30 points you gain a very little handful of points. So sometimes it takes 4 or 5 new wins to make up for a single defeat. The conclusion is simple: the highest-scoring player is not the best player at Wingspan. He's probably a good player, sure, but above all he's the luckiest.
It would have been possible to create a balanced and exciting Arena mode for good players. Instead, it's a bit like fairground claws, where you try to catch a stuffed animal to no avail.
It's a pity that programmers aren't gamers and don't take into account those who have long experience of games... This is just my opinion, without polemic, but it's based on a long experience of gaming as a player but also as a creator.