34 replies to this topic

[Gakuseinozen]

Hey all,

Seems like there has been a lot of discussion lately about sever retention, i.e. people dropping and going to a different server after a match is over.   I wanted to do a poll to find out the cause of this phenomenon so that the devs can get some feedback and perhaps offer a solution.

If you have suggestions on how to prevent this from happening or your reason was not covered above, feel free to reply.

Edited by Gakuseinozen, April 21 2014 - 03:02 PM.

[ReEvolve]

Why is there no "I leave the server to reform my party after one of our party members was switched by the auto team balancer"_

[Gakuseinozen]

There is now, thanks!

[ShadowGTR]

I'm starting to wonder if part of the reason why people leave after a match is because of the daily bonus associated with each game mode_ One side wins, they get their daily for that mode. They hop off to go get their other dailies. Now, the losing side sees all the people leaving, and leave too because the server is emptying out and they don't want to wait for more to show up.

I know this isn't the all-encompassing reason why the servers empty out after a match is over. Just a theory.

[nokari]

Personally, my biggest problems are:

1) Sometimes the only servers available to me at the time are game modes I don't really want to play, but play anyways just to pass the time. After the match is over I go back to the server browser in the hopes that something else has opened up, which is usually the case.

2) The majority of people leave at the end of a match, leaving 3 or less players, including me.


To give more context, I have 0 abandons. Win or lose I stick it out and try my best every time.

Edited by nokari, April 21 2014 - 02:09 PM.

[Estif]

Real life issues must be on the list too,

Anyway, I try to not leave. (at the moment I just have 3 abandoned teams on my statistics, for real life issues), funny thing is that, if your team is winning, and you talk to the other team, asking "who will be reage quitting_" "Are you going to quit_" no one leaves the battle,  happens to me a lot to just be a coincidence, try it, a direct hit in to the pride of people seems to work

[spo0n]

nokari, on April 21 2014 - 02:03 PM, said:

Personally, my biggest problems are:

1) Sometimes the only servers available to me at the time are game modes I don't really want to play, but play anyways just to pass the time. After the match is over I go back to the server browser in the hopes that something else has opened up, which is usually the case.

2) The majority of people leave at the end of a match, leaving 3 or less players, including me.


To give more context, I have 0 abandons. Win or lose I stick it out and try my best every time.

I also have zero abandons to show how flawed the system is.


Biggest reason I swap is it's faster.
I can go back to server browser, pick a game that is ten or eleven players and be right back in the action.  Sure, the game might suck, but as long as it is two minutes out of action to stay in a server with no guarantee that you will get even six people, compared to thirty seconds with server browser I'll keep quitting at end of match before the server rolls over.

The funniest part is if I want to go into the server I was in before, I can still do that almost always.  So there is no downside for a single player to switching, even if it hurts everyone who plays a little bit.

Edit:typo
Edit2:grammar

Edited by spo0n, April 21 2014 - 02:40 PM.

[Hellzilla]

Good topic. I have a few reasons I end up bouncing from one server to another.

Daily Bonuses:
Clearing daily bonuses. No big decision here, just moving on to the next game mode after clearing a bonus. I don't just clear the bonuses though. I then like to play several rounds of TDM, as well as some more Siege and MA.

West servers are underpopulated:
Most of the time I have to play on the East, and after a round I try to find a game in the West again so I don't have the ping handicap. I don't even like playing my A Class mechs--and I have all of them. With all the A classes buzzing around at light speed it feels like quite a handicap to have a high ping on a server full of Scouts and Zerkers.

Maps:
I refuse to play Bunker because I just don't like the map at all. Haven't played it in weeks, and don't miss it at all. It seems like an ok beginner's map, but eventually I just felt like it was usually a big doo doo show.
Don't really like Last Eco much either, but will play it sometimes. Not in Siege because it will eventually crash for me there. I'm running 32-bit, and Last Eco is very crash prone again, even after applying the memory fix which resolved crashes on this map for me before.

Lack of players, or most other players leaving:
It's so common for most of the players to leave after a round now. I read or heard something about broken parties having to leave a server to reform, and that will be resolved. Regardless, the lack of player growth makes it a chore to even find a game with players on West servers. I try not to join servers with less than six players--I've ended up playing 1 vs 2 Siege Mode before, waiting for others to join, only to keep getting auto-switched 1 vs. 2 in a very tedious and pointless game that wasn't fun.

A rollover bonus to give players an incentive to play another game on the same server would be helpful; as would more good, smooth-running maps like Origin and Front Line. And, of course, we need a growth in playerbase, as it is not retaining very well as it is, much less growing at all. But for that, some things about the game need to change to make it a more satisfying experience...

[EliteZeon]

I try my best to stay in a server, but once I see everyone else has left, I really don't see a point in staying anymore... if not I am frustrated and rage quit, take a break from Hawken and do something else, cool down and then come back later or eventually.

As for leaving mid match, I think the only times I really have to do it was when real life urgencies called...
(FOB parents are random as hell)

On other cases:
To me if a match was evenly placed and enjoyable to both sides, it feels like watching the scoreboard is like waiting and watching your opponents in an old western movie where the characters stand in the center of town waiting to see who makes their move first. Everyone in the server is not sure if they should stay in and play more with such great teams or leave in search for more adventure. Then it happens. One person leaves, their first shot has been fired in the western standoff, and soon everyone else has come to make their choice and respond that one person's action. One person leaving becomes two, two becomes three, and just a quick glance states that 1/4 of the population of the server has already left, and immediately everyone else disperses in search for another match, or to just call it a day.

The fact that one player makes such a large percentage of the game server's population is a problem... just throwing it out of the window, seeing a scoreboard that displays 16 v 16 on another game, and at the end of a match seeing 6 people leave doesn't incite others to leave as much as this game would, since a strong majority of the population is still within the realms of that server. Some might be tempted to leave, but a good majority is more likely to stay in as well.

How should I put this_ I suppose the chain reaction of things are so much more apparent and devasting in these small skirmishes compared to other games with larger servers.

[renynzea]

I leave if the game is going to start with uneven odds and I don't feel like dealing with that, less than 8 players, or if the other team is obviously in a party to stomp pubs (since they are no longer shuffled).  Will also leave if I get stuck in a 2 vs 2 cause I hate those fracking games.  Had a few good ones, but most of 'em are just painful.

[Bazookagofer]

RL aggro OP please nerf

[EliteShooter]

How to solve this annoying problem:
1- Make the wait delay shorter: 20 secs between matches, I don't think server need a cooldown nowadays. When the next map is loaded if a lot of people still need to do things, they won't ready up and the game won't start, so a long wait time is useless. 20 secs is pretty good.
2- A little bonus for staying for multiple games: 2 games=10HC - 3 games=20 HC - 4 games=30 HC - 5 games=40 HC - 6 games=50 HC. Any more games won't get people this bonus (it's daily, once a day, people can't do this more than once a day).

[reVelske]

I don't ever leave a room unless the room emptied itself or I need to go. Unlike most people (apparently), I actually enjoy playing matches from beginning to end.

Remove Daily Bonus to reduce the play for HC mentality, and as mentioned above, give incentive for actually staying, I see no actual harm in this.

[Houruck]

I leave sometimes when my sound cuts out and I have to restart the client.

[RozerMahbub_]

i leave sometimes , not by me my ISP forced to leave from  hawken aswell when the hawken crash .  i leave the game bcz i dont wanna loose the match

Edited by RozerMahbub1, April 22 2014 - 12:58 AM.

[Ker4u]

Houruck, on April 22 2014 - 12:40 AM, said:

I leave sometimes when my sound cuts out and I have to restart the client.

i also had this issue, but with help from nepacaka found that forcenomovies was causing it, breaking map loading screen.
it you still don't want to see ads when launching game jsut delete these lines from hwkengine.ini

Spoiler

StartupMovies=Splash_legal
StartupMovies=Splash_nVidia
StartupMovies=Splash_meteor
StartupMovies=Spash_adhesive
StartupMovies=Splash_hawken
StartupMovies=Splash_loading
SkippableMovies=Splash_nVidia
SkippableMovies=Splash_meteor
SkippableMovies=Spash_adhesive
SkippableMovies=Splash_hawken

and set it to readonly

Edited by Ker4u, April 22 2014 - 01:37 AM.

[FakeName]

Many reasons are not included why I leave:

- matchmaker gives me players below 1800 MMR to balance me.
- Joining when the team is losing and only 1 minute or less is left
- beeing matched with beginners in the beginning of the game
- Force switched at the end of the match
- Noobs

[LONEDEADWOLF]

I ended up in a server with folks who have no intention on capturing the AA....all they want to do is farm...
I leave if i notice one or more players selling out our team to the enemy ..by giving away our position before we can ambush.....blocking our teams shots continuously and blatantly ...
I leave when i notice a high tier joins and decides to go scout and is basically ruining the game experience for the whole match.......how is it they manage to end up on such low level games is beyond my understanding...better yet why ...were not even a challenge...lol...im here for fun not for the Winston Cup.....
People who are just disgustingly rude to players and are no more then gutter trash insulting others who don't know how to play....as if were all born with a game attached to our hands.......
Also when the game decides to shut down  my pc or crash on me for no apparent reason...and only this game...it only happens with Hawken...why_...

[angryhampster]

i'm starved of HC. so id not leave anymore.

if i continue being broke like this, i won't leave any match. no matter what.

[Ker4u]

i think daily bonus on separate gamemodes was a terrible idea, and that a lot of people quit because of it.