Low XP Level Server

(SockDog) #1

I’ll keep this short.

I’m finding the game a little rough going right now. At the best of times the player skill levels are generally too rich for me, at the worst things are so stacked I might as well just play by holding down the K key. I’ll be patient, play bits here and there and hope that when new players join we get a better spread of skills to even things out a little.

What does concern me though is that new players to the Alpha/Beta are going to be totally turned off by this and just say the game is crap. I have to say I’m finding it hard to say whether I have an issue with the game or just the skill level myself.

So how about having a server that limits the XP level of the players? Not anything clever or necessarily part of the full release but just as a nub server for people to start out in without being destroyed immediately by more experienced participants of the Alpha/Beta.

Okay that wasn’t that short. :wink:

(Valdez) #2

I agree. to really make this work though I think we would need more people in the alpha.

(ImageOmega) #3

This makes sense and I support SockDog.

Question though SockDog…What level are you now? And, what happens when you surpass the level for these servers? Any way to limit it so it is something that reflects your skill?

That brings us to skill rating, but I hear some people don’t want to talk about it like that.

(SockDog) #4

Agree more players… yet also wonder how many don’t play who are in the alpha because of the player generated difficulty curve. Would be nice if there are any lurking here who have stopped or play a lot less to chime into this thread so I don’t look like a weirdo. To be clear this isn’t a witch hunt but I do think it’s valuable information for SD to know both in regards to the testing and the final release.

Level 18, which I think is going to be above anything a nub server should have. SD probably have some data on average time it takes to crawl up the current levels, 5-10hrs play is probably going to be enough to learn the maps and mechanics?

Yes, on release there should be a more intelligent method of doing something like this but I think now, during the testing it would be good if players had a walled garden to at least get a feel for the game itself rather than have more experienced players maybe tainting the whole process. Doesn’t help my predicament but then I’m not going to spout off and say DB is ****e, worst game evah.

(Mustang) #5

I don’t have major issue with the fact of playing with players of all skill levels, what is killing things is when one team absolutely dominates the other.

In the past we have all pretty much agreed that the most fun games are those that come down to the wire, where the victors are unknown before the game begins.

We are small enough in numbers to know when teams are balanced or not, by which I refer to comparable skill levels of each team as a whole, not just numbers of players on a side.

However there seem to be a number of people that for whatever reason will insist on “stacking” the skill levels in their favour.

Several of whom will further persist the antagonising with statements such as “half our team is afk, lol”, “I’ll only use my pistol to give you a chance”, “mad much?”, “stop whining and just play”

It’s very hard to “just play” when all the enjoyment is being sapped left and right.

I’d love to see this resolved by said individually enacting less douchebaggery.

(Bloodbite) #6

[QUOTE=Mustang;438341]I… Several of whom will further persist the antagonising with statements such as “half our team is afk, lol”, “I’ll only use my pistol to give you a chance”, “mad much?”, “stop whining and just play”

It’s very hard to “just play” when all the enjoyment is being sapped left and right.
…[/QUOTE]

You left out my favourite “u mad bro?”

Don’t worry though, those twits that use expressions like that will fail at life once they’re forced to move out from mummy and daddy’s protective bubble.

(LeeStyle) #7

The question stands however; you mad bro?

(Dormamu) #8

I try to keep the rage quits to a minimum thru yoga :D, or i switch to Sniper, try to stay close to a teammate, camp, spectate, give myself negative goals. EX: “Let’s see if i can rack up 50 deaths in this map” :D, spam airstrike on walls, mute all the sounds and listen to radio/favorite music, etc.

One of those servers will be good, if is not to much work to do and if their are more people (more than 20) who don’t play because of the skill gap/stacking. Imo the easy way, would be to implement the “shuffle teams vote” :smiley:

Q:“What happens when you surpass the level for these servers?”
A: You can still join the server but you will not earn XP/Coins and you play on that server with some handicap (lower health?).

(BTMPL) #9

Sorry, are you saying that you need a low-level server because better players kill you? HAving higher level at the moment only means you’ve put more hours into the game - it doesn’t grant you any perks, more HP, better weapon etc. And from what I understand, it never will have such mechanics. The Tier unlocks are campaign specific.

I see such limitations (you won’t get XP, bla bla bla) as way to split the community into smaller groups. If you really need a server that limits players to given XP level, do it the other way - make a server that you need to be certain level to join, this way the skilled players can play by themselve and they can pubstomp (term used when comp players play on pub severs and generaly kick everyone ass) if they wish to.

(Raviolay) #10

Your XP level isn’t going to be a good indicator of skill level, it just denotes how long you have played in essence. Shouldn’t echo be able to coalesce your play data and assign a ever changing skill level based on how you are currently playing?

(Anti) #11

We’re very aware of this issue and are trying to find both short term and long term solutions to make sure folks at any level get good games

(Ashog) #12

just ban the sort of pricks like strychzilla and leestyle from alpha altogether - problem solved.

stupid kids.

(potty200) #13

I think certain people need to stop team stacking. I haven’t been able to play for a couple of weeks since a patch killed my frame rate but there was a couple of germans I will leave un-named who always seem to go on the same team. Makes it very frustrating from a testers point of view when the sole reason they are here is to get good before its open to the public.

(Breo) #14

Level is not really a good indicator because you have newbies who play for the first time a FPS and players who already played other similar games.
But the matchmaking system will solve this?

(Volcano) #15

[QUOTE=Ashog;438363]just ban the sort of pricks like strychzilla and leestyle from alpha altogether - problem solved.
stupid kids.[/QUOTE]

there were a couple of names but I cant remember who they were

(Humate) #16

Dont have an issue with stacking, or players wanting to play with their mates.
Yeah the majority of the player group have a comp background, and that can scare away new testers wanting to play.
But I feel this can be solved pretty quickly with more invites, and a performance pass (hint hint)

just ban the sort of pricks like strychzilla and leestyle from alpha altogether - problem solved.

These guys contribute quite a bit to the alpha, if you ask me.

(Volcano) #17

as do many other comp players, but at least they aren’t pricks about it

(SockDog) #18

Thanks Anti.

(Kl3ppy) #19

[QUOTE=Ashog;438363]just ban the sort of pricks like strychzilla and leestyle from alpha altogether - problem solved.

stupid kids.[/QUOTE]

There are other kids who should get banned instead …

(Violator) #20

I’m currently at level 33 but thats due to persistence rather than skill level :slight_smile: