Palworld players felt cheated by a bug and conducted scientific tests to prove that they weren't crazy. The latest game update confirmed their theory.
As the players of video games, we typically handle the finished product and gradually discover gameplay mechanics that operate by their own rules. How these rules come about, we usually cannot say for sure, as they are hidden somewhere in the depths of the game's code. However, if the game suggests to us that a mechanic produces something positive, but we actually notice a negative effect, we feel deceived. Until recently, Palworld players experienced this firsthand.
Palworld Players Discovered A Bug And Provided Evidence
If you play Palworld regularly, you've probably come across the so-called Lifmunk Effigies. When you sacrifice these Effigies at the Statue of Power, your capture power should increase. However, several players have noticed that something was not adding up.
On YouTube, user Chalenor posted a test in which he compared the capture rates with and without Lifmunk effigies. It turned out that with effigies, he actually had a lower capture rate than without, raising suspicion that the supposed buff was actually a nerf. These are the final numbers from his test:
| Effigies | No Effigies | |
| Pals Captured | 37 | 53 |
| Pals Escaped | 63 | 47 |
| Final Capture Rate | 37% | 53% |
| Expected Rate | 61%-85% | 33%-48% |
For a scientific theory to stand, it requires a process called peer review, and that happened in this case as well. Reddit user StatusRhubarb6456 worked on a spreadsheet based on the YouTube video, in which they extrapolated the capture chances.
A statistical analysis on the Lifmunk Effigies - Are they really reducing our catch rate? by u/StatusRhubarb6465 in Palworld
With their statistical tests, they concluded that the divergent capture rate seen in Chalenor's video was not due to chance. They write, "There is no chance this happened due to randomness (actually, the chance is about 1 in 100 trillion): the catch chance on that video does NOT match his actual catch chance."
The Patchnotes Confirm: The Bug Was Real
Fortunately, players didn't have to live with knowing they were cheated on for long. On February 7, Pocketpair released a fix via an update, with the issue listed in the patch notes.
Fixed an issue where, although the displayed capture probability increased when the capture power was strengthened with Lifmunk Effigies, the capture probability did not actually increase at all due to an internal processing bug.
[Patch Notice]Steam patch v0.1.4.1 Xbox patch v0.1.1.4 Steam version v0.1.4.1 has been released.(Xbox version v0.1.1.4 will be released as soon as it is ready) Patch Notes: === Major FixesFixed an issue where the game would always crash and save data would be... pic.twitter.com/SvF12518F3
— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) February 7, 2024
The bug-fix patch is available for both the Steam version and as of now also on Xbox. So make sure you have the latest update installed on your platform before you go on your Pal-hunting journey with the Lifmunk Effigies.