Would you rather?..

IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
edited April 2019 in NS2 General Discussion
*DISCLAIMER*: This is an unofficial poll, it has nothing to do with UWE or existing plans. I am doing this on my own accord.

It's impossible to predict WAIT TIMES with any of these options, so try to take that into account when deciding your choice.
Just out of curiosity and for the sake of discussion... would you rather :
«1

Comments

  • NintendowsNintendows Join Date: 2016-11-07 Member: 223716Members, Squad Five Blue
    To expand on my vote: for a service like this to be useful, I'd like to see the process as automated as possible. I don't want to have to fiddle with server settings, map preferences, or game rules. If I felt like doing that, I'd be administering my own servers and playing my own mods the way I want (as I currently do).
  • DoppyDoppy Join Date: 2006-11-15 Member: 58624Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    I like the current spectating method. I can watch the game beforehand to see if anyone good is playing (or any toxic players I want to avoid). Plus it's fun having (and being in) the peanut gallery.
  • AeglosAeglos Join Date: 2010-04-06 Member: 71189Members
    I like this option best but it also depends. If the server I'm spectating in has a significantly higher hive skill or if I'm joining friends, I wouldn't leave. Then I'll stick to the current method of spectate -> F4. Before spectator slots were introduced, I'd just be auto queuing from steam while doing other stuff.

    Also, there are certain servers with extra mods that I wouldn't join, so the whitelist has to be less lenient. I don't think there are performance issues now but that would be a concern as well.

  • pete_pete_ Join Date: 2019-03-26 Member: 251975Members
    I'd love whip out a nerd essay like nous but I have to leave for work in... now.

    My gripe w/ the first option is that it seems to be forcing me into playing with whatever 12 other people hit this button recently.

    For 1 - if that's the only way to join a game, people will sign in, see 2 people looking for a game, and not play. I think this system could work in a game w/ a larger player base, something that we are not.

    2 - What if I don't want to play on a server with an average tier rating of 1. Right now I actively get to decide "well I could join and play instantly on that server, but it has 1k lower average hive skill, so I'd rather wait"

    C - Right now a player decides the environment they play in. There are communities formed on the servers that players actively return to w/ the intention of seeing the same nerds from yesterday. Not to mention things relating directly to the server itself. I don't play on TTO almost ever, even though it has high hive skill and I know a lot of the players. I don't want to play this game on 150 ping, so I don't play there.

    C.2 - In relation to what Nin said, and considering the player base, I don't think there is any way to account for a matchmaking queue that functions in any way that could make players happy. Even if there were 10000 preferences you could check, and everyone was happy to do so, you're not going to get any of those preferences to matter. NS2 doesn't have the luxury of taking a matchmaking pool of 1000 players searching for a game and pairing them accordingly. Even from the description, it is painfully simple and wouldn't account for anything other than 12 players hitting a button.



    late 4 work kthxbai
  • MephillesMephilles Germany Join Date: 2013-08-07 Member: 186634Members, NS2 Map Tester, NS2 Community Developer
    edited April 2019
    Would you rather...

    yes

    honestly I am not sure if I would do any of those. Mainly because I imbalance most servers that hard that I am hesitant to join any public servers and ruining the experience for many players on that server. So I'd much rather join a private server with people I know are around my skill level which would either make it a matchmaking system (not enough players for that) or I organise with other high skill players and make out a time when to play with them (current)

  • KasharicKasharic Hull, England Join Date: 2013-03-27 Member: 184473Members, Forum Admins, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, NS2 Community Developer
    I would rather see a system that allows me to spec while I wait for a server to seed... I don't care what server, or what people, I'd like it to be balanced if possible but understand that it is incredibly difficult to achieve with such a small community.

    I often see 14+ people "searching" in the browser, while also seeing 10+ spec slots filled over multiple servers... I can't tell you how frustrating this is to me.
  • ZavaroZavaro Tucson, Arizona Join Date: 2005-02-14 Member: 41174Members, Super Administrators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Playtester, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    edited April 2019
    Lots of text

    I vote this. It sums up all the bad parts of the current and old systems while offering real solutions
  • PelargirPelargir Join Date: 2013-07-02 Member: 185857Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Forum staff
    None of the above. I want to play while waiting for a slot on a specific server. Just like I used to before this let's spect but can't play system was implemented.

    Getting a notification won't solve anything. By the time you react, the slot will be taken already.

    As for the other options, the playerbase is too small for those systems to be effective + most of the time I want to play on a specific server or/and with specific players, so getting a way to play on a random server is useless, I can do that myself through the Menu.
  • ScatterScatter Join Date: 2012-09-02 Member: 157341Members, Squad Five Blue
    I voted one of the options but prefer what Nous said.
  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    Which one of these supports 8v8 most?
  • NintendowsNintendows Join Date: 2016-11-07 Member: 223716Members, Squad Five Blue
    Nordic wrote: »
    Which one of these supports 8v8 most?

    The one where Tishka Dront can open his 8v8 servers, since he is probably the most successful server operator to run 8v8.
  • moultanomoultano Creator of ns_shiva. Join Date: 2002-12-14 Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    edited April 2019
    My ideal system is as follows:
    - Queue for as many servers as you like simultaneously, with the default being "any." You can do anything at all while this is occurring, spectating, seeding, reading twitter, whatever.
    - If there are ever 12 people in the "any" queue that are close enough to share a server, they get immediately dumped into a server, preferably one that is already slightly populated and with ping near them.

    As a simpler to implement alternative:
    - Every 10 minutes, pop up a message for all spectators that lists a server with decent ping that is attempting to seed and needs players. 1 click to join. Menu option to opt out.
  • NintendowsNintendows Join Date: 2016-11-07 Member: 223716Members, Squad Five Blue
    moultano wrote: »
    My ideal system is as follows:
    - If there are ever 12 people in the "any" queue that are close enough to share a server, they get immediately dumped into a server, preferably one that is already slightly populated and with ping near them.

    As a simpler to implement alternative:
    - Every 10 minutes, pop up a message for all spectators that lists a server with decent ping that is attempting to seed and needs players. 1 click to join. Menu option to opt out.

    These would only be valid if servers were identical and a commodity, but everyone knows this is not the case. These are community run servers for fun and sometimes profit. Servers can have bad ping, bad performance, bad mods, and bad administrators. Some even have pop up ads, some had smaller hitboxes for paying members, and in the past one even had a bitcoin miner.

    In your system, what happens when 1 of those people are banned/gagged on the server the system chose? What if the server is running some weird map with a giant wall that pops up in nanogrid? Or a troll map where it's impossible for one side to win? All these variables make it impossible for such a system to be satisfactory in a world of community servers.
  • moultanomoultano Creator of ns_shiva. Join Date: 2002-12-14 Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    Nintendows wrote: »
    All these variables make it impossible for such a system to be satisfactory in a world of community servers.

    This objection would apply to any system that can choose a server for players by itself, but that's why the server whitelist exists. The same requirements that quick play uses would apply here.

    In the queue system I described, a player worried about playing on a server that they intensely dislike would choose to exclude that from the list they are queuing on, or perhaps would blacklist it in their client in some other way.
  • MoFo1MoFo1 United States Join Date: 2014-07-25 Member: 197612Members
    edited April 2019
    Apologies for not honoring the format. I vote "other". This is what I'd like to see:

    When Joining Full Servers:
    When attempting to join a full server, I should be added to a position-sorted queue for that server. I want to see my position in the queue, and I want to see that position count down as players join the server or leave the queue.

    While waiting to join, I should be able to do virtually anything else: spectate another server, join a non-ranked arcade game (e.g. combat), browse the internet via steam, etc. I should not be removed from the queue while doing these things.

    ---

    When Spectating:
    I should be able to join a server's spectator view directly via the server browser. If I've already joined the server and am currently taking up a player slot instead, I should be able to convert my player slot into a spectator slot by joining the "Spectator" team via the ready room option, or a keybind. Within the in-game world of the ready room, the holographic text for the "spectate" option should be colored red (so that it feels like an 'exit') and include additional text informing me that I will have to re-queue for a player slot after becoming a spectator. This should be a one-way ticket; I should not be able to spam F4 to grab the first available player slot once I become a spectator.

    However, I should be able to rejoin the player slot queue directly via the spectator view. Upon doing so, I would be given my position in the queue, just as I would if I attempted to join via the server browser.

    Spectators should not be able to communicate with the player population unless designated by the server operator.

    ^^ Basically this.. I want the current system improved with a better queue that lets you join another server to play and/or seed without leaving the queue.


    So if I hop on and see the following

    Server A - 18/18
    Server B - 3/18

    I want to be able to queue to server A and hop on server B to play/seed while I wait.

    If a slot opens up before the server I'm on hits 6v6 it automatically takes me there.

    On the flip side if the server I'm on hits 6v6 it should automatically remove me from the queue.

    I basically do this manually with the current system. Hop onto an empty server to seed and every minute or so I check the browser for open slots. - But I think that having the ability to queue while being in a different server seeding would encourage more people to seed while waiting for that slot instead of just sitting in spectate.





    I will add that the last thing in the world I'd ever want is to be forced to use quick play/matchmaking type features. My biggest fear is that NS2 devs will make the horrible decision to drop the server browser in a future update :(

    The server browser is literally the only reason I've played this for 4500+ hours while not even touching any of the other popular fps games out there.

    If a game doesn't have a server browser so I can manually choose the server I join, then I just consider it unplayable and won't even touch it.



    Edited for clarification.
  • NintendowsNintendows Join Date: 2016-11-07 Member: 223716Members, Squad Five Blue
    moultano wrote: »
    Nintendows wrote: »
    All these variables make it impossible for such a system to be satisfactory in a world of community servers.

    This objection would apply to any system that can choose a server for players by itself, but that's why the server whitelist exists. The same requirements that quick play uses would apply here.

    In the queue system I described, a player worried about playing on a server that they intensely dislike would choose to exclude that from the list they are queuing on, or perhaps would blacklist it in their client in some other way.

    But then you're basically not automating anything. Now players need to discover for themselves if a server is acceptable to play on? No thanks, I want the algorithm or rules of the system to figure that out. I just want to play the game, not do chores.
  • moultanomoultano Creator of ns_shiva. Join Date: 2002-12-14 Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    Nintendows wrote: »
    moultano wrote: »
    Nintendows wrote: »
    All these variables make it impossible for such a system to be satisfactory in a world of community servers.

    This objection would apply to any system that can choose a server for players by itself, but that's why the server whitelist exists. The same requirements that quick play uses would apply here.

    In the queue system I described, a player worried about playing on a server that they intensely dislike would choose to exclude that from the list they are queuing on, or perhaps would blacklist it in their client in some other way.

    But then you're basically not automating anything. Now players need to discover for themselves if a server is acceptable to play on? No thanks, I want the algorithm or rules of the system to figure that out. I just want to play the game, not do chores.

    Again, that's the purpose of the whitelist. The rest of it is just to accommodate our apparently extremely neurotic player base.
  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    moultano wrote: »
    ...our apparently extremely neurotic player base.
    That is really all who is left. Do you know how many people queue just to get into the TA servers alone? There are clear favorites based on individual preferences. There is a specific TA community, a specific DMD community, and specific TTO community, and so on. People have specific servers they want to play on.

    There are the roughly 60% new players and or old returning players who play who primarly use quickplay, but they don't stick around very long anyways. Most play less than 10 hours of gameplay, and almost all of them quit before 20 hours of gameplay.

  • NintendowsNintendows Join Date: 2016-11-07 Member: 223716Members, Squad Five Blue
    moultano wrote: »
    The rest of it is just to accommodate our apparently extremely neurotic player base.

    Oh that's a good one! :#
  • SantaClawsSantaClaws Denmark Join Date: 2012-07-31 Member: 154491Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    The old method where I could just use the steambrowser to que up was fantastic.

    That said, I like this idea.
    IronHorse wrote: »
    Receive a notification to join another server that has player slots available while spectating a full server, ONLY if that server community has another server available of theirs?
  • jrgnjrgn Join Date: 2006-11-03 Member: 58289Members
    watching pub games -is not very interesting. I think few enjoy it.
  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I always need the option to use a server browser in order to manually select an optimum server. I like to look at ping, number of players, max player count, and current map. Ideally at minimum a couple of people already on the server if I'm forced to seed a server with the ideal ping I want
  • NintendowsNintendows Join Date: 2016-11-07 Member: 223716Members, Squad Five Blue
    I always need the option to use a server browser in order to manually select an optimum server. I like to look at ping, number of players, max player count, and current map. Ideally at minimum a couple of people already on the server if I'm forced to seed a server with the ideal ping I want

    Well if people are already on the server, it's not empty, is it?
  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Ideally there would be people on the server I want but if there isn't I'm still going to join the chosen server via server browser. It's hard for me to use quickplay or any other feature, I like having the control to see and pick the correct server
  • .trixX..trixX. Budapest Join Date: 2007-10-11 Member: 62605Members
    edited April 2019
    This is the closest, but what I usually do (and will do) is:

    Find my regular server in the server browser, if there are slots join it, if there are no slots wait in the server browser queue until a slot is free.

    There is a reason why im regular there, and it's mostly because of the other regular players. I dont just play for the sake of the game, but also because of the community that gathers on that server.
  • skav2skav2 Join Date: 2007-05-28 Member: 61037Members, Reinforced - Gold
    edited April 2019
    My only addition to my vote for # 1 is let it consider Rank and ping of the players. Id rather not hop in a server of Asian 400 ping rookies if at all possible. I would rather wait a while for a good game than have to keep re-queueing.

    Also i would like to keep the server browser option open so I can join some of my favorite servers.


  • jackson7jackson7 France Join Date: 2013-10-05 Member: 188594Members
    Can't we have a way to be put in combat mod servers while waiting in queue for a server to be seeded with 12 people like in the first option? This way we could still play, warm-up, but without being too involved. This way, when we leave for the new server, we're not frustrated because combat doesn't really need much commitment.
  • MoFo1MoFo1 United States Join Date: 2014-07-25 Member: 197612Members
    edited May 2019
    jackson7 wrote: »
    Can't we have a way to be put in combat mod servers while waiting in queue for a server to be seeded with 12 people like in the first option? This way we could still play, warm-up, but without being too involved. This way, when we leave for the new server, we're not frustrated because combat doesn't really need much commitment.

    Wouldn't it be better if the server could be on combat during seeding then switch over to normal NS2 once you get enough players?

    I personally think pre game should be modeled after sentinel mode... There used to be a server set up sort of like that (Tactical freedom?) and it was always easy and quick to seed.

    During pre game - everyone on marine vs hordes of alien bots

    Once you hit 12 players it shuffled everyone and reset automatically.
  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    I'm at my happiest playing when a server fills up around me. I like going from a 1v1 to suddenly having a full server, and the upgrades being all over the place :smile: Oh how people scream.
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