Something is off with this game's Meta - 2nd Round Boost (TDM, KOTH,etc)

Gears 4
#1

I know I can’t be the only one that has noticed this, but something that has always bothered in this game besides its convoluted rank progression system and a myriad of other issues. Is the very apparent, self-described, “Second Round Boost”.

On many occasions, specifically within core, the losing team for the 1st round always seems to get a damage and health boost for the 2nd.

Now some may be saying, “Well what do you mean?”

Well, have you and your team ever destroyed a team the first round and the second round, you either get blown out or the match is alot closer. I know some, may say that is due to player adjustment, But in my experience playing, I honestly believe they are dealing more damage while absorbing more than the previous round.

What was once a two shot kill in the first round, is now a 3 or 4 shot trade in the second, A non active Gnasher is now one shotting me and shooting further the 2nd round.

I am quite sure, there is an advantage for the losing team for the 2nd round. As I myself have abused it, there has been times where I knew for a fact, I simply wasn’t taking damage and I simply was sponging, Not because my opponent missed their shot, but because I have a “2nd Round Boost”.

But hey, that’s just a theory, a game theory lol

But seriously, have any other Gears players noticed this? It’s like TC did that to make it more competitive for the losing team, that no matter how bad you are, you can still kill a much more experienced player while bot walking, so that the game remains, “Fun” for them.

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#2

Really tough to say without some legit testing being done. Could be a ton of different factors like the connection of the game stabilizing as the match goes on, or even something as simple as the team shifting their play style as you say. Tough to really say without some major testing being done.

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#3

I don’t believe this is a thing. I think the servers often adjust between rounds. I’ve had a LOT of first rounds where there’s a lot of lag just getting out of spawn and so many shots won’t count. Then in the 2nd, things have stabilized and shots are counting. I’ve also had games where we were romping, then sponging started and the enemy just ran through us.

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#4

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5 Likes
#5

I always think the oppoenent team deliberately throws off the first round and then somehow sweat like its no tomorrow in the second round and third round.

Just dont get why people do this. They just prolonging the game just to have more exp / credits :\

#6

Gold lmao :joy:

1 Like
#7

I first thought it was a type of rolling buff within the game. If I start out a game smoking everyone, very shortly I’ll be getting chunked across the map while shooting water guns myself.

The more I’ve played, the more it’s become obvious the lag compensating mechanism is constantly in flux behind the scenes. Ever notice one high ping player disconnects (lags out) and the feel of the game changes? Not sure how exactly it works, but OP is definitely right that the game changes (power of weapons, range, etc) both between rounds and even during rounds at times.

3 Likes
#8

Absolutely. It blows my mind that some players still claim that someone else’s lag is only a detriment to them, not you. You can observe changes in quality when someone has a fluctuating ping and when someone is kicked, there is often a huge, lobby-wide lag spike. I have clips of laggy players teleporting, shooting me while rolling, shooting me while reloading. Etc.

I don’t rage over this stuff anymore because it’s the nature of playing with people who are many miles away. But, I do like to make sure people know about it.

2 Likes
#9

I don’t think so.
My thoughts are that changing from passive to aggressive or vice versa could be a thing during rounds,
Lets say TDM is our case, one strategy there seems to fail in rounds, e.g, going for longshot/embar in checkout and leaving frags behind could do unpleasant surprises sometimes xD.

#10

I agree, they manipulate this game. its colled hidden buffs and if you dont dont believe me type: hidden buffs gears of war on google. they say about newbies and their first games but it is proven and epic said its true,. When you play 1000 games on koth you can feel something is wrong,…

#11

It’s The Coalition, I wouldn’t put anything past them at this point.

#12

Yea, I know I am not crazy, I’m done giving TC lag compensation passes to be the reason for why everything is broken in this game. When there are actual buffs given to players. For example, when I kill an opponent, it’s always easier to kill the second, despite me already being damaged.

1 Like
#13

I notice this all the time. My theory has always been that the team that won the previous round has become overly confident and are now making bad decisions. Or they don’t realize the importance of the current round as they know they have two more chances to win the match so they just goof off more. Maybe they rush in when they shouldn’t, or whatever.

The team that lost the previous round however has adjusted their tactic. Maybe they had a player or two that did stupid things the first round and have chosen to stop this round. They play smarte this time and are on top of their game because they know now it’s do or die. They can easily take advantage of the other teams over aggressiveness and punish them for it as they sit back and be more tactful.

There are other scenarios that could explain it as well but I think in general it’s an adjustment of tactics and a bit of a carelessness/overconfidence on the winning team’s part and a heightened prudency on the losing side.

As for buffs, I’ve no comment on that. Not noticed anything myself but I wouldn’t put it past them to have that in place to a degree.

#14

I think this might be the reason but also hill position changes probably gives the other team a skight advantage. All of my matches so far bwent to third round and the other team always in the second.

I just hate it when koth goes to third round to be honest.

#15

I agree with OP on this theory…happens with me as well. It tends to shift sides 2nd round…I’ve also been on both sides of the spectrum…get smashed 1st round and come back and smash on 2nd.

#16

I would guess some of it is lag comp adjustments. There was a game of escalation I played in which we were beating the other team easily for the first 3 rounds. Then some of their players became difficult to kill for a couple rounds. However, things stabilized afterwards, and there was no issue beating those same players.

1 Like
#17

Connections change mid-round so I wouldn’t doubt it. One minute the enemy is dying in one shot but all of a sudden my shots aren’t registering at all. This also happened on UE and the funny part is we spoke with the other team who agreed only one teams guns worked at any given time. It was laughable.

#18

While it’s possible, there are other reasons it could happen as well. I’ve been blown out the first round because 2 players were afk leaving the round mostly 3 vs 5. They return for the second and things go a lot smoother when it’s an even 5 vs 5. Plus always factor in whether your team beat them down at the end of the first round or not. Anytime someone pulls that first round (warranted or not), that’s extra motivation to get sweaty and repay the favour. Don’t know how many times I’ve gone super try hard (and seen others do the same) after some noob with 1 kill and 4 deaths motivates the other team by beating someone down to end a round. Doesn’t always mean a victory, but sometimes it does.

Edit: spelling

#19

dude, i have about 700 friends om xbox and i have played ranked versus with 300 of them, me and they all know the famous secound round of gears where the odds seem to magically get flipped. were sarcastic about it and make fun of it, but we noticed it long time ago and it happens until today… i myself wonder all the time about this and how it happens in this game, but not in others… ive put this phenomenon in the psychological corner, yet i wouldnt be surprised if theres a bug in the game that glitches game mechanics…

#20

Oh it’s real. It’s there to give the losing team a fighting chance. I’ve had many instances where my team ended up losing the second round when they absolutely dominated the first and third rounds. You can tell if the other team is good and you catch them off guard to adjust tactics but if you’ve been consistently steamrolling a team that overachieved round 2 where they are winning battles they shouldn’t normally, it’s the boost.