Please rework the server level restrictions

(HoopleDoople) #1

We all know that Dirty Bomb is just plain terrible when it comes to creating balanced teams. But what has bothered me for the longest time is that the game makes it essentially impossible for teams to be balanced by having servers with no level restrictions be the default. Almost every match has a few outlier players who are either so good or so awful that they cannot be properly accounted for with any possible team combination. In almost all cases these outlier players have levels that match their skill or lack thereof.

I think everyone would have a much better experience if we made a few changes. First, the new server types would be as follows:

  • Maximum level 5
  • Minimum level 6 AND maximum level 10
  • Minimum level 11
  • Minimum level 25

We already attempt to segregate level 5 and under players because they are almost universally awful, but the new server restrictions will make the segregation almost universal (more on this below). But as the average player still hasn’t really mastered the game by level 6 we would give them another tier where they can continue to hone their skills before being thrown to the wolves. Minimum level 11 servers would be the default for everyone else and could potentially be the last server type, as past this point skill no longer correlates as strongly with level. However, I still think it would be worthwhile to have a few servers for the veteran players who want a real challenge. Minimum level 25 servers would unique in that they would be opt-in only. Unless you selected them from the server browser or enabled an option to allow quick join to place you in these servers, you would always join minimum level 11 servers.

The next change is to make server level restrictions dynamic. Any empty server would be automatically converted to a different level restriction as needed. These empty servers would then be quickly populated with several matching players searching with quick join. This is the key to allowing an additional set of level restricted servers - very few servers would actually need to be dedicated to minimum level 25 matches.

With servers able to match the needs of the current player population, one long existing annoyance could be eliminated. Players should now be able to set a region lock . Players could select one or more regions and quick join would never place them in servers from this region and the server browser would never show these regions.

One final thing to account for is friends of different level. Unfortunately there is no perfect way to handle this, but we could at least ensure that friends are always able to play with one another. This would be achieved by allowing the lower level friend into servers he would not otherwise be allowed into. For example, a level 7 player could join his level 12 friend in a minimum level 11 server.

(Backuplight) #2

Unless you force players into servers of the appropriate level, it won’t matter what they do. I’ve seen plenty of level 3-4s running around in regular servers getting whooped by people who have been playing for months.

Over complicating the system with extra layers of limits on servers just fragments the community. Anyone who has played to level 10 is no longer “new” to the game, so the only difference between them and a level 20 is time spent. Level isn’t a good gauge of skill once you take away the initial adjustment to the game, though people who have the dedication to be playing enough to hit the higher levels are likely to be more serious about playing and, along with it, probably a bit more skilled. At the same time, you get the people who play causally but often that aren’t that great.

Whatever you try to “fix” the situation of balance in games, there will still be some amount of imbalance. Level restricting servers won’t really change that, especially in publics where you can switch teams freely. It only takes a couple of skilled friends in Skype to upset the entire balance of a game. Just accept that some games aren’t going to go your way, fight your best and see what you can learn from it. If there are people consistently stacking a side in a server - find another server.

There’s only so much they can do. Working fine for me as is.

(Jostabeere) #3

Please don’t separate players even more.

(Amerika) #4

That would guarantee that people like myself would never get to play. It wouldn’t scale well over time. Also, more time played does not mean more skillful and that’s especially true when you start talking about months/years played. All you do is punish long time players of varying skill levels.

Why are people so crazy about levels (as in amount of time played) equating to skill? Nothing else that humans can do works that way so why do so many people in Dirty Bomb treat an account level as if DB is an MMO? Account levels shouldn’t even be public so people can stop looking at a scoreboard and instantly getting angry at players or the game and instead focus on the actual game.

(SaulWolfden) #5

Levels should just be hidden, also people can have bad games even if they are a skilled higher leveled players, happens to everybody in any game. There can also be lower levels who are really good (or have really good games). Going by level will never really work.

(Izzy) #6

Also, I have learned a lot by getting rekt by high levels when I started. I understand that some people don’t want to play against low levels, so the level 10 min servers, but segregating the people won’t help as people with bad habit will arrive one they reach the level. Just wait to have a decent player base with enough people good enough, ie lvl 20.