The lazy strategy must lose#
SLOP2875 · Week 8
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One idea under Close Quarters#
Getting stronger means walking back into the fight.
For under an hour one evening, that was false. Nothing on screen showed it.
The claim#
A strategy that wins regardless of what the game throws at it turns every other option into decoration.
Players find it eventually.
A simulation finds it in a second, if you think to write the lazy player as well as the good one.
The hour running away was correct#
Experience was scattered generously across the arena.
A player that only ever fled: median 102 s.
A player that went looking for experience: 87 s.
Free experience had reversed the premise#
Two changes put it back#
Experience dropped by a kill became worth 2.5 times the experience lying free.
Nothing is collected at a distance any more. You walk onto it.
Where it stands#
Three strategies, the 100 ms player, 51 runs each.
| Strategy | Median survival | Wins out of 51 |
|---|---|---|
| go for the experience | 101.6 s | 12 |
| run away | 52.5 s | 1 |
| stand still | 17.4 s | 0 |
The intended way to play is now also the best way to play#
That is what “balanced” means for strategies in this course.
Thursday#
Three degenerate strategies of your own for the specimen.
Their numbers against the intended strategy.
If one wins, the one constant you would change.
Week 8, in full#
The page for this week has the numbers and where they came from.