12-30-2011, 11:10 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-30-2011, 06:32 PM by Nude For Satan.)
[quote name='Axe Demento' timestamp='1324927017' post='280286']you should always be able to form a team of equal size to what evers in the zone.
ie when you have 16-20 players and can form 4 man teams. Everyone should be able to get 4 untill that team drops to 3 then the zone goes down to that.
i personaly would like to see no teams till 5-6 players. or never have a team limit less than 4.
[/quote]
On the surface, this looks impossible to argue with. From memory, though, there were fair reasons to try the current setup.
The main problem, regardless of when "next freq size" kicks in, is not so much when it rises to that level, but when it drops below it.
Scenario:
- Say there's 11 ships @ freq size 2, and freq size 3 is available when the population reaches 12.
- I enter, and the freq size increases to 3. I join with t00z and Turbotron, and of course pwn the zone due to us being the only ships that don't lag.
- Everybody else 3's up, but are no match for our panic reps, violent speech and schizophrenia.
- One by one, people give up because they can't kill us, and spec to pitch hate from beyond the boundary line.
- Soon there's us three, and Axe, left. A four-ship population, with three on one freq.
- Totally unfair, although you may eventually err and one of us might get you.
This scenario occurs no matter what the freq-size increase setting is. When pop goes up, you can team up. When pop goes down, there's no way to force a team to split "down".
How is that approached? Two ways : voluntarily, or by force.
1. Voluntarily - Awesome, but don't rely upon it. Some players will refuse to split up because a) they have a streak/bounty and don't want to lose it through a freq-change , or b ) they prefer to enjoy the advantage a big freq in a little population has. Ask, by all means, but you won't always be pleased with the response.
2. By force - Awesome, but how?
2a. When freq size drops, the bot can automatically split players off an oversized freq. Err, which one will it choose? The last to join? The first alphabetically? Regardless, a player forced off a freq would have the right to ask "why me and not that **** over there?"
2b. After freq size drops, the bot can check for deaths and split an oversized freq by changing out a player who just died. BUT, when they are a 3-ship turret in a four-player zone, like say a specialist turret such as Gad or Blackers, they are likely to survive a long time, and the damage we are talking about, will be done long before the change kicks into action.
2c. After freq size drops, the bot can wait for a player to go to safety and change them out. BUT, see 2b, as maybe they won't feel the need to go to safe until the damage is done. Even if they did go to safe soon after, if they are turretting, they will all hit safe at the same time, and from hence please refer 2a.
2d. After freq size drops, a timer warning can be applied to freqs that are over the new limit. A thirty-second timer can perhaps be available for a player to change freqs without losing bounty/streak/etc. This might be impossible in a coding sense, though, and I'm sure there's pitfalls with it, that I have overlooked, but it's what I would lean towards.
ie when you have 16-20 players and can form 4 man teams. Everyone should be able to get 4 untill that team drops to 3 then the zone goes down to that.
i personaly would like to see no teams till 5-6 players. or never have a team limit less than 4.
[/quote]
On the surface, this looks impossible to argue with. From memory, though, there were fair reasons to try the current setup.
The main problem, regardless of when "next freq size" kicks in, is not so much when it rises to that level, but when it drops below it.
Scenario:
- Say there's 11 ships @ freq size 2, and freq size 3 is available when the population reaches 12.
- I enter, and the freq size increases to 3. I join with t00z and Turbotron, and of course pwn the zone due to us being the only ships that don't lag.
- Everybody else 3's up, but are no match for our panic reps, violent speech and schizophrenia.
- One by one, people give up because they can't kill us, and spec to pitch hate from beyond the boundary line.
- Soon there's us three, and Axe, left. A four-ship population, with three on one freq.
- Totally unfair, although you may eventually err and one of us might get you.
This scenario occurs no matter what the freq-size increase setting is. When pop goes up, you can team up. When pop goes down, there's no way to force a team to split "down".
How is that approached? Two ways : voluntarily, or by force.
1. Voluntarily - Awesome, but don't rely upon it. Some players will refuse to split up because a) they have a streak/bounty and don't want to lose it through a freq-change , or b ) they prefer to enjoy the advantage a big freq in a little population has. Ask, by all means, but you won't always be pleased with the response.
2. By force - Awesome, but how?
2a. When freq size drops, the bot can automatically split players off an oversized freq. Err, which one will it choose? The last to join? The first alphabetically? Regardless, a player forced off a freq would have the right to ask "why me and not that **** over there?"
2b. After freq size drops, the bot can check for deaths and split an oversized freq by changing out a player who just died. BUT, when they are a 3-ship turret in a four-player zone, like say a specialist turret such as Gad or Blackers, they are likely to survive a long time, and the damage we are talking about, will be done long before the change kicks into action.
2c. After freq size drops, the bot can wait for a player to go to safety and change them out. BUT, see 2b, as maybe they won't feel the need to go to safe until the damage is done. Even if they did go to safe soon after, if they are turretting, they will all hit safe at the same time, and from hence please refer 2a.
2d. After freq size drops, a timer warning can be applied to freqs that are over the new limit. A thirty-second timer can perhaps be available for a player to change freqs without losing bounty/streak/etc. This might be impossible in a coding sense, though, and I'm sure there's pitfalls with it, that I have overlooked, but it's what I would lean towards.
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