Info > Feedback and Suggestions

Team Stacking - Match Balance

<< < (9/16) > >>

Commodore Phoenix:
Not at all what I'm actually asking is why is this system better than the one we already have there is no "Oh youre better as you have played more games than us and won" it's your better because you have played hundreds of games and have earned valuable knowledge not based on statistics but on gameplay actually gameplay not your so called gameplay like how many parts did you rebuild and so on and so forth. In my ship I aim to have my ship in the least vulnerable places at the least nice time giving my crew the ability to keep the ship alive without having to not man the guns, all the stats you use like kill parts and repair stuff are very likely to be messed around, what about support ships ones that weaken the enemy but destroy no real parts, what about when you have a captain that only ever rams so you never have a chance to fire or when you are always getting ganged and so you don't have time to repair, there are so many things you cant factor into this idea merely because they aren't quantifiable.

The system we have shows skill based on achievements, yes, but these achievements are hard as hell to get sometimes, so thats one reason we dont need points, skill is determined through actual gameplay and levels are only seen as a rough idea, which are more often accurate than not, of their skill. Also if we were to do this points based we cant expect the people who are good at the game but play rarely to get a good level I know a few level 8s who rarely play more than once every two weeks but they got to level 8 as they are good they could get through the achievements as they are good players.

I don't like seeing this game as an mmorpg its not its an airship combat simulator there is no role play here so stop using that analogy it doesn't work.

zlater75@hotmail.com:
 ???

Yeah.. The "what" got described a bit better.. but i still lack an answer for "why" and fail to see how this would really decrease stacking without the cost of the fun, casual or even creative aspect. What i see from it is it would instead increase players wanting to go to good teams, good crews, good clans and try to maintain their scores and forced to improve constantly to not lose an upwards curve or battling for something else than the teamwork. And wouldn't that end up as stacking teams?
The ranks aren't important in goi imo since it goes to 15. Skill shouldn't define people. The attitude and social skills may define more in GOI. The achievements are well thought through to enhance teamwork.. "help your teammate rebuild 150 engines" for example. What is improved, how would it help make goi a better game?
To improve what is it just needs improved communication and teamwork.

Thomas:
I figured the 'why' had been beaten half to death. The issue being unbalanced matches being not very enjoyable to everyone involved. Higher skilled players tend to like facing players their own skill level, where lower rank players like to face people around their skill level. No one likes an easy win, and no one likes being absolutely stomped. Then you can add in lobby wait times for high ranked players to get a challenger, trying to stick with playing with friends instead of being forced to swap teams, player retention, etc, etc.


Our current system more or less forces unfavorable teams to occur. This is from the differences in experience with GoIO, as well as our desire to play with our friends. They generally do not start with the intention of going pubstomping. You start playing with your friends, maybe against another clan, play a few rounds, and then one team ends up leaving. Your team wants to play more and the enemy ends up filling with random relatively low experience players. A series of 5-0/1 matches occur. The newer players call hacks, complain about stacked teams, etc; and very often end up leaving. It's unsavory for everyone. The 'stacked' team ends up having to leave and find a new lobby, or do some switch swapping to balance out the teams. This often results in them not being able to play with their friends in a way they wanted.


If you don't believe team stacking happens, I don't believe even a pile of screenshots and videos could change your mind. I'm actually looking at one right now.

The important thing to restate is that we're not trying to vilify the high skill teamed. They've essentially achieved the GoIO dream, putting together a great crew that communicates well and gets things done. However, they did not achieve this to whomp on new players, they want a 'real' fight.


So team stacking happens, and it is a problem. Is it a big problem? It's hard to say. On some days it's tough to find an imbalanced match, on other days it seems that every other match seems heavily skewed. A lot of people never say a word about it, while sometimes players are very vocal about the conditions of the match. Which causes a response from the other team, which is not very often positive.



So why would matchmaking help?

-Balanced teams. The main objective is to create a competitive atmosphere by placing teams against each other who have 'as close as possible' skill level and chance to win. This is more likely to end up with closer, more intense matches.

-Teamwork. The system I proposed is in no way the only idea. However, it does emphasize teamwork. You have a much higher chance of winning with an organized team than an unorganized one. This will reflect itself in player ranks. Those that don't communicate and don't work together will end up getting lower scores. While those who do will be higher up. You're ability to work with others highly reflects on your skill.

-Fairness. So what about people trying to max out their rank? Remember that the stats should be invisible. They have no idea what they are, what they do, or how they're calculated. People who end up on a team they don't like and immediately leave should be penalized, the same in any other game where this happens. GoIO is very team dependent. Let's take a look at the MOBA style games. Not as highly team dependent (Nothing can compete with GoIO level of teamwork required) but still up there. Leaving a match essentially puts you in timeout, requiring your to wait a while before you can join a new match. But still allowing you to connect to the old one. Could easily do that.





The current system we have is nice, but does lead to the match imbalance problems. And the achievement system only represents the amount of achievements you've completed. I'd argue that it does not actually support teamwork, as I've seen a lot of cases to the opposite. Players running around only buffing while the ship is under fire to get their buff achievement, captains only going for rams to get ram kills, or just keeping moonshine on for 240 seconds straight while in a match. Gunners refusing to use ammo appropriate for the guns because their achievement requires different ammo. I've even seen people join as pilot when there already was one, just to get some of their rebuilding achievements.

I can't see how it takes away from fun or creativity. You still get all your loadout choices, you pick your ship, vote on the map, and still choose how you want to play. And the old 'make your own match' option should still exist for those wanting to play around with just flamethrowers or even do a tournament. The matchmaking is just for balancing things out, and randomizing them a little. You don't have to fight the same people over and over again, and you can go in solo and meet lots of different people and play styles. It essentially is just an automated lobby system, finding matches for you that you can feel confident in doing well in; instead of forcing you to enter and leave lobbies over and over again manually, looking for something that fits you.

Then it also gives player something else to do. Having clans and teams stay active longer as they vie for the top of the ranks, getting in some real significant practice against other similarly skilled teams (instead of being forced to plow through lvl 3's and such).

And finally, I am hoping that it would increase player retention. We can't seem to keep new players around long, which can be seen in the steam charts link I posted. A system change such as this might be just the safety net they need, giving them a learning curve, allowing them to improve their skills at their own pace. Not the 'sink or swim' method we have had.

zlater75@hotmail.com:
I don't believe i said it ain't happening. i guess we go on our own assumptions and opinions. which is fine.
I assume this idea would be a coding nightmare and what some peoples motives are for joining/leaving/playing is speculative. Not every gamer is a teamwork player.
It just sounds contradictive to me. I'll leave it at that.
Appretiate your effort in answering. Good luck with it.

Thomas:
I usually just do a 'blanket' response, trying to cover all the points from people above. Which is why my posts tend to be so long winded and repetitive, sorry about that. D;

But right now we're faced with the exact same player base. Changing how the system works will not change that. Also I like to pretend that the suggested design filters down players that don't cooperate, as they tend to have poor performance anyways (and also have a lower chance of winning). Since it's hopefully randomized, you shouldn't get paired with them as often, and will create a larger gap in your ranks. And if you really really want to avoid players like that, you just have to form your own team ahead of time. Something that's always been encouraged in GoIO. This system just makes it so that you don't -have- to premake your team for a decent chance of victory.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page