Is this a bug?

from Demigod Forums

I've recently noticed something that is potentially a bug relating to the HP/MP flags.  What it amounts to is that loosing an HP or MP flag that your team holds subtracts out HP/MP from your current amount available.  While this sounds like it's working as intended, the consequence is that loosing an HP or MP flag can completly negate whatever HP/MP regen that your demigod has.  Your demigod can be out in the field regenerating HP or MP for a while, but if you loose the flag all that regen goes to waste because your current available HP/MP gets decreased along with the max total.  I'm not certain if the total subtracted from current available HP/MP is equal to the % of the current, or the % of the total.  If it is % of total however, swapping a flag back and forth rapidly would essentially be the same as causing your available health or mana to decrease over time without getting touched or using an ability.

I guess I'm just curious whether this is intended or not, as it somewhat decreases the effective value of regen stats.  It is potentially related to the fix that was implemented for the dropping and picking up of HP/MP items a while back.  So, bug or feature?

*edit*  In order to see what I'm trying to describe, burn through some HP or mana (preferably get low relative to total), then swap a HP/MP flag once or twice

835 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from Demigod Forums Top

This isn't a bug I'm pretty sure, and has been true since as far as I know. You do not lose the HP regeneration, since if you had not regenerated, you would still have been that much worse off. It is just that when you capture a flag it gives you a bonus to your total and CURRENT amounts, and when you lose the flag, the same occurs.

The only slight bug is if they do the math wrong, and don't divide your current health by 1.15 when you lose the flag (It is tempting to instead multiply by .85, but that is not correct).

Reply #2 from Demigod Forums Top

I dont think it's a straight multiplication or division however; it appears to be an addition or subtraction of the percentage instead (think current value minus 0.15max value, min value = 1).  At least it seemed that way in the heat of the moment... I could very well be mistaken on that point.

If that is the case, it would really be the equivelent of loosing the regen.  For example, let's only consider the current value for, say, available MP (not total).  Let's graph that value with respect to time.  One would expect to see a linear curve, increasing with a positive slope that is equal to the mana per second regen value of the demigod until the max mana were reached, at which point the slope would become 0.

However, the loss of the MP flag will cause a discontinuity in that curve of currently available mana, which could make the value of currently available MP *less* than the original starting value. If we were to calculate the *effective* regen during that time, say from time t=0 to time t=1 second after loosing control of MP flag, the mana per second regen would be effectively *negative*, as you would have (mana final - mana initial)/(elapsed time) as a negative value. 

On a side note I noticed this while playing a game as oak recently.  I was left alone on the MP side of cataract for a minute or 2 after driving off an opponent, but I was pretty banged up.  Monks and divine justice were slowly healing me back up, but on the other side of the map the HP flag was getting traded back and forth a few times between my team and our opponents.  It seemed like I basically couldn't heal, as the current HP total kept on getting banged up as a result of the HP flag trading.  As I said, I could be mistaken in how the math gets done...  Haven't had the opportunity to verify today yet.

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