1 reply to this topic

[_BadLucky]

This follwing is a very simple solution. I'm long winded and occasionally pedantic by nature. Hopefully that ended here.

Problem:

• Siege and Missile Assault's base destruction speed is too slow for low-player/unbalanced servers.

Why is this a problem_

When matches lose multiple players, a continuous cycle of joining/leaving often occurs. This can be due to lopsided odds, or the slower degraded gameplay. Even though the match continues, competitive play has usually ceased. Players who remain in a match need an immediate incentive to stay and finish, along with the prospect of competitive play in the near future.

Solution:
Speed up the completion of the current match, and allow the server to reach a point where it has built up a new player pool that's eager to play the next round.​

• Destruction needs to be scaled/triggered based on the number of players and balance of teams / the frequency of disconnects / or both.
  
• Some destruction should should always occur, even without any silos captured.
  
• Destruction rates should be accelerated evenly for both teams.

If a single-player team caps some silos in Missile Assault and promptly beats a team of four -- because they're AFK or whatever -- so be it...It's a good thing. The match will probably have been a forgone conclusion in most cases, but no matter what, accelerated destruction should still result in fair and pleasant play. Especially for those who already won, and are just wanting to get back to competitive play.

Because the goal becomes to reach a post-game state, It might be necessary to trigger the accelerated destruction rate rather than scale it. If the server does start to gain more players, a lop-sided game might result in further disconnects caused by the return to the slow destruction rate due to constant join/disconnect events. It could also be designed to trigger/scale based on whether disconnect levels are high, as opposed to team team-sizes.

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I think this feature would function as a quality control system to promote healthier servers, and all without the need for a radical change in design/mechanics.

I personally consider this high-priority, along with matchmaking/auto-balance/late-join-disconnect issues.


Is there anything overlooked_
Would this be as effective as it seems_

Edited by _BadLucky, April 01 2014 - 08:37 PM.

[ASneakyFox]

i could see this working for missile assault, espeically since a 2v2 game an seem to last a long time. the downside being that itd be a subtle gameplay mechanic. and people who are of the type to leave games instead of play them will probably never figure out whats happening.

for siege though. this would be a horrible idea. 2v2 games still work just as well and can be just as exciting.