Except the problem is that spectate is supposed to be for spectating... You are wanting to use it to wait for a player slot...
I think it's perfectly fine. People who want to spectate may do so and not use the queue. Others may be like "spare players" ready to go asap. People sometimes go to spec for a short break to have a dinner or something but they don't want to leave at all. So they are both spectating and waiting for a slot (after they've eaten).
One thing that would be nice is if we could get something showing our place in the queue...
Server join queues is something else and I don't think they can be implemented without changing the game protocol or even the engine. I'd say even without knowing the game internals that this task is a magnitude harder to implement than the in-game queues. Even if this is possible to implement with mods alone, it must be loaded before everything else (to work before connecting to servers), so each client must have it installed manually + it must be on the server. It's been requested many times and still not implemented, either it's hard to do or UWE has different priorities.
The in-game spec-to-team queue is rather simpler and doesn't require any manual work from the players. But it sure requires knowing the game framework, something I personally lack (I know Lua though but last time I used it years ago).
Except the problem is that spectate is supposed to be for spectating... You are wanting to use it to wait for a player slot...
I think it's perfectly fine. People who want to spectate may do so and not use the queue. Others may be like "spare players" ready to go asap. People sometimes go to spec for a short break to have a dinner or something but they don't want to leave at all. So they are both spectating and waiting for a slot (after they've eaten).
And once they get back from dinner or whatever, they can wait for a slot to open like they do now.. Going in spec to eat dinner or whatever shouldn't give that player rights over a player in the server browser waiting in a queue for a player slot. (which is basically what adding a queue to spec would be doing)
It would be totally unfair for someone queue'd in the browser to have to wait X minutes, only to be forced into spec when they finally got into the server, all because someone else who was sitting queue'd up in spec got their slot.
It would be totally unfair for someone queue'd in the browser to have to wait X minutes, only to be forced into spec when they finally got into the server, all because someone else who was sitting queue'd up in spec got their slot.
That's the major discrepancy here. I think it's much more fair to give the slot to someone who's already on the server. First come, first served, no? I understand that from the joiner point of view it's the opposite because we always prioritize ourselves but look at it from the spectator's perspective. It already requires bashing keys to get into the game and I see this as an anti-pattern. Maybe if we had a server queue implemented, there could be a compromise: pick players in turns from the join queue and the spectator's one. But we don't have it and it would require a lot of effort to make with mods so a local spectator queue is a much more realistic alternative anyway (although it doesn't exist as well).
Ok, let's remove the F4 bashing if you're a spectator as it's a bad and counterintuitive thing. So I sit as a spectator and want to get into the game. What are my options?
— wait until someone leaves and take their place; if some people already try to join this will fail most of the time (remember: no Russian bashing!) and you'll be stuck in spectators for eternity.
— leave the server and join just as the others; wait for undefined period of time, could be one minute or half an hour, no one knows, others can always connect before you, it's random, pure luck.
With a local spectator queue:
— you queue up to the team you want or any team. An advanced queue may even ask if you want to join the opposite team because there's a free slot and that team queue is empty. As soon as someone leaves you get there and someone else can connect to spectators. The advantages are:
1. you can finally see some action instead of "Waiting" window
2. you can queue up to a team, you know it's not random anymore and is fair
Now, the joiners are more likely to join at least as a spectator and then use the queue system to start playing. The spectators have priority because they were here earlier than the new players. That's fair as I see it. Sure, I'd always prefer a server join queue as it's much more fair but don't just remove the spectators out of the equation. They are people too!
I described this all assuming there's no queue to get into the server. I have no idea if it's easier to make than the local one but I assume it is much harder. The connecting order is still undetermined, the only difference is that instead of queuing people in the lobby we do it in the game itself. And at least they can spectate instead of staring at the useless "progress bar". My main objective is to remove the keymashing and unfair random that decide who will play next. Not to reduce the waiting time for some people and make it absurdly long for the others.
It would be totally unfair for someone queue'd in the browser to have to wait X minutes, only to be forced into spec when they finally got into the server, all because someone else who was sitting queue'd up in spec got their slot.
That's the major discrepancy here I think it's much more fair to give the slot to someone who's already on the server. First come, first served, no?
No... because the player queued in the browser specifically does not want to spec. It is unfair to force them into spec for any reason.
You're essentially talking about adding in a way for spectators to cut in line ahead of people waiting to join properly...
Also I'd rather wait in the browser so I can watch Netflix or YouTube videos while I wait... If I wait in the server I'd have to mute the game because of the sounds & people talking...
Which also means I wouldn't be able to tell when I got the player slot because I'd be forced to have it muted. (Currently I know a slot opened up when I hear the game sounds or talking)
The last issue is easily fixable with a special sound (voice or noise) when you get a slot. Yes, I want the spectators to be first because they're already on the server and I think this is fair. Anyway, it's up to debate I guess. And I think you also agree that the current system is not good anyway.
The last issue is easily fixable with a special sound (voice or noise) when you get a slot. Yes, I want the spectators to be first because they're already on the server and I think this is fair. Anyway, it's up to debate I guess. And I think you also agree that the current system is not good anyway.
How would you hear the special sound with the game muted to not hear the game sounds/people talking? It can't be the sfx slider, can't be the voip slider, would be pointless to add an extra slider just for a single added sound...
You are also completely ignoring how horrible it would be to have to wait to get onto a server, then continue waiting even longer to get a player slot.
Not to reduce the waiting time for some people and make it absurdly long for the others.
Except you can limit your waiting by leaving the server and queuing for a player slot when you notice one is about to open up (such as when the game is about to end)
You are artificially making your own wait longer by sitting in spec and mashing F4!
What you are proposing would greatly increase the wait times for everyone who joins properly, while slightly reducing it for people who wait in spec...
I very very rarely ever have to wait more than a few minutes to get into a player slot... (but then again I'm not sitting in spec)
If everyone could just agree when a game is lost, we will have increased player satisfaction and player retention and the world would be a better place.
I still say making it easier to find the concede button would help. plus having a queue for open best pinged servers while in spectator would be cool. It would also be cool if that could also be implemented to give rank consideration so its not 1 lvl 7 with 16 lvl 1 greens lol
If everyone in a spec slot would instead seed a new server, the new server would fill up quickly and the world would be a better place.
No it wouldn't. I don't think you assume every server is the same? A lot of people only want to play on certain servers, so they rather wait on a slot on that one than to join another server.
If everyone in a spec slot would instead seed a new server, the new server would fill up quickly and the world would be a better place.
No it wouldn't. I don't think you assume every server is the same? A lot of people only want to play on certain servers, so they rather wait on a slot on that one than to join another server.
So much this. I only play on one server, the only one that I trust such that the experience will be without egregious performance dips. There's a quality to that, I'd rather not play on suboptimal servers or ones that require large downloads (up until recently, I had caps).
There's no standard of quality that servers have to live up to. There's also a sense of community amongst peeps on certain servers. People don't want to play anywhere else.
If everyone in a spec slot would instead seed a new server, the new server would fill up quickly and the world would be a better place.
May i add: The world would be a better place if the skill system didn't allow predators/farmers to grind on rookies in the first place (and many other bad behaviors). Thus the shuffle won't be anything close to balanced as the numbers are far from reality.
Up to a point some players including myself think it's better to know the 'peep' other there (even if they change their nicknames often), more than the skill system can do.
Numbers are also far from reality simply due to one score for both teams...(yes I'm going to beat this dead horse again)
My tier 4 skill means when I get forced to marine it's usually as one of the "better" players to "balance" teams...
When this happens marines are at a disadvantage since I can only perform about as well as a tier 2 player on marine...
Conversely when I do get alien (and their are no tier 6/7 players on) I am often able to carry hard, getting 15-20 kills per life and owning the top of the scoreboard...
I should be tier 2 when on marine, tier 5 when on alien..
Like many update threads, this one is about a lot of things. Best to just ignore it at this point
I don't do Facebook. These forums are my Facebook equivalent, because they fill the same niche in my day. This is where I come when I want to read crazy commentary on things I care about. Either grab some popcorn and participate, or go find another show. These entertainment value has gone down over the years, and it is mostly revolving topics, but I still come with popcorn in hand.
Hello, does anyone know how skill tier is calculated ? I was Frontiersman (grey color) and now, I am Recruit (blue color) so I lost a rank, why is that so ? Thanks for the answer.
When your team loses your elo (skill level) decreases, when the team wins it increases. The rank (badge) represents a range of the skills (from elo X to elo Y, can't tell you the actual numbers though). So if you're on the edge between two ranks you'll fluctuate between them for some time until your elo goes up enough to stay in that rank. Or if your actual skill is lower and it was just a pure luck streak, you'll eventually lose some of it and will be in the lower rank again. You can see your current elo at the observatory or inside the game after round end. Before the next game starts you see the advanced scoreboard (or press X to open it), just click the players there and you'll see their elo in the popup. This might only work if NS2+ runs on the server but it's almost always the case.
Hello, does anyone know how skill tier is calculated ? I was Frontiersman (grey color) and now, I am Recruit (blue color) so I lost a rank, why is that so ? Thanks for the answer.
The ranks are not determined by an absolute ELO value, but by your relative ELO compared to all other players. That means each rank has a start and an end point at a certain percentage of all players. So, even if you didn't play, if your ELO value belongs to the top 5% of all values, and a few weeks later your ELO value only belongs to the top 6% because other people gained ELO, then you lose a rank.
Comments
I think it's perfectly fine. People who want to spectate may do so and not use the queue. Others may be like "spare players" ready to go asap. People sometimes go to spec for a short break to have a dinner or something but they don't want to leave at all. So they are both spectating and waiting for a slot (after they've eaten).
Server join queues is something else and I don't think they can be implemented without changing the game protocol or even the engine. I'd say even without knowing the game internals that this task is a magnitude harder to implement than the in-game queues. Even if this is possible to implement with mods alone, it must be loaded before everything else (to work before connecting to servers), so each client must have it installed manually + it must be on the server. It's been requested many times and still not implemented, either it's hard to do or UWE has different priorities.
The in-game spec-to-team queue is rather simpler and doesn't require any manual work from the players. But it sure requires knowing the game framework, something I personally lack (I know Lua though but last time I used it years ago).
Aye that would work. As long as you can't wind up stuck in spec after X minutes of waiting in the player queue.
And once they get back from dinner or whatever, they can wait for a slot to open like they do now.. Going in spec to eat dinner or whatever shouldn't give that player rights over a player in the server browser waiting in a queue for a player slot. (which is basically what adding a queue to spec would be doing)
It would be totally unfair for someone queue'd in the browser to have to wait X minutes, only to be forced into spec when they finally got into the server, all because someone else who was sitting queue'd up in spec got their slot.
Ok, let's remove the F4 bashing if you're a spectator as it's a bad and counterintuitive thing. So I sit as a spectator and want to get into the game. What are my options?
— wait until someone leaves and take their place; if some people already try to join this will fail most of the time (remember: no Russian bashing!) and you'll be stuck in spectators for eternity.
— leave the server and join just as the others; wait for undefined period of time, could be one minute or half an hour, no one knows, others can always connect before you, it's random, pure luck.
With a local spectator queue:
— you queue up to the team you want or any team. An advanced queue may even ask if you want to join the opposite team because there's a free slot and that team queue is empty. As soon as someone leaves you get there and someone else can connect to spectators. The advantages are:
1. you can finally see some action instead of "Waiting" window
2. you can queue up to a team, you know it's not random anymore and is fair
Now, the joiners are more likely to join at least as a spectator and then use the queue system to start playing. The spectators have priority because they were here earlier than the new players. That's fair as I see it. Sure, I'd always prefer a server join queue as it's much more fair but don't just remove the spectators out of the equation. They are people too!
If we do it your way people would wind up being forced to queue to get into the server, then queue again to get out of spec...
The would be one of the worst things that could happen to NS2.. essentially doubling the wait to get into a player slot...
No... because the player queued in the browser specifically does not want to spec. It is unfair to force them into spec for any reason.
You're essentially talking about adding in a way for spectators to cut in line ahead of people waiting to join properly...
Also I'd rather wait in the browser so I can watch Netflix or YouTube videos while I wait... If I wait in the server I'd have to mute the game because of the sounds & people talking...
Which also means I wouldn't be able to tell when I got the player slot because I'd be forced to have it muted. (Currently I know a slot opened up when I hear the game sounds or talking)
How would you hear the special sound with the game muted to not hear the game sounds/people talking? It can't be the sfx slider, can't be the voip slider, would be pointless to add an extra slider just for a single added sound...
You are also completely ignoring how horrible it would be to have to wait to get onto a server, then continue waiting even longer to get a player slot.
Except you can limit your waiting by leaving the server and queuing for a player slot when you notice one is about to open up (such as when the game is about to end)
You are artificially making your own wait longer by sitting in spec and mashing F4!
What you are proposing would greatly increase the wait times for everyone who joins properly, while slightly reducing it for people who wait in spec...
I very very rarely ever have to wait more than a few minutes to get into a player slot... (but then again I'm not sitting in spec)
^^ this!! So much this!!
Is quite common to see 2+ specs on each server with 5-10+ in the server browser.
I often think to myself "Damn I wish there was some way to chat with everyone in the server browser similar to how diablo 2 did it"
No it wouldn't. I don't think you assume every server is the same? A lot of people only want to play on certain servers, so they rather wait on a slot on that one than to join another server.
So much this. I only play on one server, the only one that I trust such that the experience will be without egregious performance dips. There's a quality to that, I'd rather not play on suboptimal servers or ones that require large downloads (up until recently, I had caps).
There's no standard of quality that servers have to live up to. There's also a sense of community amongst peeps on certain servers. People don't want to play anywhere else.
May i add: The world would be a better place if the skill system didn't allow predators/farmers to grind on rookies in the first place (and many other bad behaviors). Thus the shuffle won't be anything close to balanced as the numbers are far from reality.
Up to a point some players including myself think it's better to know the 'peep' other there (even if they change their nicknames often), more than the skill system can do.
That, you deserve.
My tier 4 skill means when I get forced to marine it's usually as one of the "better" players to "balance" teams...
When this happens marines are at a disadvantage since I can only perform about as well as a tier 2 player on marine...
Conversely when I do get alien (and their are no tier 6/7 players on) I am often able to carry hard, getting 15-20 kills per life and owning the top of the scoreboard...
I should be tier 2 when on marine, tier 5 when on alien..
https://xkcd.com/1364/
Like many update threads, this one is about a lot of things. Best to just ignore it at this point
The ranks are not determined by an absolute ELO value, but by your relative ELO compared to all other players. That means each rank has a start and an end point at a certain percentage of all players. So, even if you didn't play, if your ELO value belongs to the top 5% of all values, and a few weeks later your ELO value only belongs to the top 6% because other people gained ELO, then you lose a rank.