BST Update Controversy

Midterms, midterms, and more midterms. I have been dealing with a hectic schedule as of late, but with the new BST update around the corner, I am shocked at how negative the community reaction has been.









Moreover, many players believe "Ready" will damage BST PT and solo aspects, and their main concerns seem to be:

a) "Ready" will replace "Sic" for jug pets, limiting the WSs they can use at 100 TP.
b) The charge system, at one charge per two minutes, is too costly.
c) Good WSs should not require a full six minutes to use.

All three concerns seem rather unfounded. Even if jug pets had a smaller WS subset, I would much rather choose the WS than have one chosen at random. Using Funguars as an example, limiting the 100 TP choices to "Frog Kick" and "Spore" lets you spam WSs freely instead of worrying whether the next WS will be a breath/AoE move.

On the other two factors, too many BSTs feel that three random WSs is better than at least one guaranteed WS. Unfortunately for them, not all WSs have an equal chance of occurring, and as an experiment, try summoning an Amigo Sabotender and document how often it uses "1000 Needles" (my average is about once per three jugs).

Even if the probability of performing a WS was inversely proportional to the total number of WSs, in a six-minute interval, pets with 4+ moves would average a 3/n* (where n is an integer ≥ 4 equal to the total number of WSs) chance of using that WS under "Sic" compared to 1.0 chance under "Ready." Since most BSTs use Crabs or Funguars (pets with 4+ WSs) given the cost of other jugs, "Ready" becomes much more beneficial to the average BST.

In conclusion, let us wait until after the update to blame the developers for poor decision making. There is always time to sic angry pets on them afterward.

*2010 EDIT: The probability above is incorrect. Over a six-minute interval, the probability of seeing a particular WS (at least once) with a 1/n chance of occurring per "Sic" is 1 - [n - 1/n]^3 (for n>1). As such, "Ready" would have be more effective than "Sic" for any n≥2.

n = 1; "Sic" Probability = 100% [P = 1/n; 3 uses]
n = 2; "Sic" Probability = 87.5%
n = 3; "Sic" Probability = 70.3%
n = 4; "Sic" Probability = 57.8%

n = 1; "Ready" Probability = 100% [1 - 3 uses depending on WS]
n = 2; "Ready" Probability = 100% [1 - 3 uses depending on WS]
n = 3; "Ready" Probability = 100% [1 - 3 uses depending on WS]
n = 4; "Ready" Probability = 100% [1 - 3 uses depending on WS]