Wolf Team Case Study 1 - How Much Better Does AP Make Your Character?

http://wolfteam.aeriagames.com/

 

Wolf Team is a free to download free to play FPS (First Person Shooter). What makes this game unique is the players can transform between human and werewolf. AP (Aeria Points purchased with real money) and in-game gold can be used to purchase new weapons and armor. This study is to find out how much better a player can be when using AP.

The extra armor and better weapons is without a doubt an advantage. But how much? I see a lot of complaining both in the game and on the forums about "AP Noobs." For some reason people who purchase and use these upgrades are considered amateurs or newbies. Why is someone who uses something that is a part of the game so looked down upon? Its not like only people with money can have these items. Aeria Games sends out random gifts to all players. Currently I have two free one day uses of Lin Meiling with full armor. Lin Meiling with no armor costs 1200 AP for 30 days of use. This is approximately 10 to 13 US dollars depending on method of payment.

   

Along with the random free gifts there is also a daily mystery box all users can access for free gifts. http://wolfteam.aeriagames.com/itemmall/free-rewards

   

Even with the gifts the matches are typically fairly even. Usually each side has one or two players in full gear. However the users with NO gear typically feel they are at a serious disadvantage when coming head to head against AP armor and guns.

So Is it skill or is it armor?

Hopefully this series of tests will lay this question to rest. How much of an advantage does AP armor and guns give the player? To keep things in focus I will not bring the wolves into any of these tests.

Bullet Count Test

Using the following weapons this test will count bullet hits against the head, torso and legs. The column on the left are all basic weapon that all users have. The right side are some of the more powerful guns you can buy with AP or in-game gold.

 

  

  

Final results after several rounds of counting

Bullet Count Test - Torso

Bullet Count Test - Head

Bullet Count Test - Legs

Clips of our testing

Test Conclusion

WOW... and again WOW! I didn't expect such a huge difference. Looking back I should have chosen a different purchased automatic rifle. The EM-60 has great wolf stun but doesn't seem to be the most powerful gun in the game against humans.

After running the numbers, it looks like it takes (on average) two times the number of hits to kill a fully armored player over a default player. 53 hits vs. 108 hits.

Based off of the charts alone I think its safe to say; if you go head to head with default gear and weapons against a full AP character, you should expect to die first. Having said that when you do kill someone with armor reach around and pat yourself on the back. You deserve it well done.

Overall I don't think the AP messes up the balance of the overall game that much. Typically if there are one or two AP users on the blue team there are one or two on the red team. The AP armor is totally worth the money if you have it to spend. If you don't then don't try to go head to head against an AP player over and over. Take a different route and try not to let it ruin your game. When you do get an AP kill with all basic gear... toot your own horn using the chat. I would rather see trash talk in a game than the constant whining about how its not fair. Those AP players are paying for the game. Be happy they are there. Without them free to play Wolf Team would be a thing of the past.

---

Player vs. Player Test

I am gathering data from a series of 1 vs. 1 matches for a second round of tests on this matter. I will post a link to the page once its complete.