Why do we even have casual stopwatch?

(Zenity) #1

Objective seems like the perfect casual gametype to me, while stopwatch doesn’t offer all that many advantages when played with randoms. So why not keep it simple and unified? It could be like this:

CASUAL

  • Objective Gametype
  • 8on8
  • Friendly Fire Off
  • Auto-balance teams*

COMPETITIVE

  • Stopwatch Gametype
  • 5on5
  • Friendly Fire On
  • Teams are balanced in advance by the matchmaker
  • Auto-balancing doesn’t make a lot of sense with stopwatch, but with objective mode it could be done by checking if a team pulls to far ahead in terms of total XP after X minutes, and then shuffle a few players around to balance it out. This should be done only in extreme cases of course, since it would be pretty disruptive for a player to suddenly be thrown into the other team.
(bubblesKeyboard) #2

It’s there because it can be there. It offers teams the ability to scrim each other in empty lobbies. It has longer match times so it allows someone who wants to practice in a lobby to practice longer.

It’s already implemented. People can play it if they want or not. Taking it away because you see no point in it doesn’t make sense.

(Zenity) #3

I’m not talking about Stopwatch servers being available to connect to directly, but the matchmaking system. Hopefully there will be better solutions for scrims in general.

(RuleofBooKz) #4

Forget matchmaking - you are making yourself a lot of headaches over something that has a really simple solution - just dont use it.

Use the browser and let people who foolishly use matchmaking worry about why they are so bad, the game lags, its the wrong server type, FF is enabled etc etc etc. it should be acknowledged match making is only for noobs who dont know what they are doing in a real FPS.

Seriously just use the server browser. Problems gone.

(Kroad) #5

not while there are no 5v5 lobbies, currently the lowest is 6v6 which requires two people to go afk in spectator mode to prevent randoms from joining

(B_Montiel) #6

I’m not a fan of 8vs8. Way too messy in such small maps. And I also like to attack/defend on the same map because maps cannot be perfectly balanced. Some are easier on attack and some are on def. Bridge, once you’ve passed the first repair is pretty easy to win on attack on pubs. To me, stopwatch promotes fairness between the two teams.

(bubblesKeyboard) #7

Yeah IMO 5v5 is the way to play it.

(keenPetroleum) #8

Well there are 6v6 stopwatches, Which is pretty close to 5v5

(Zenity) #9

Yeah these day and age settling for “close enough” isn’t necessary. :slight_smile: Since SD will most likely keep updating the game until it’s dead, we should always think big picture and what’s the absolute ideal solution.

Also of course I’m not saying that nobody will want to prefer playing stopwatch, but the competitive matchmaking is much better suited for it IMO (e.g. Stopwatch becomes weird when teams change in between rounds, which is avoided in competitive, and also teams are rarely so balanced that games are actually close).

So why not keep Casual matchmaking simple. Aside from unifying the player pool and streamlining the UX, the big advantage is that auto balancing can be implemented in objective, while it would be weird in stopwatch.

(Steve Martin) #10

Do we have any kind of idea on how private server/public server rental will happen?

Are dedicated servers going to be available? Are they going to release dedicated server files?

Anyone hear anything on this?

(Szakalot) #11

[quote=“Steve Martin;9830”]Do we have any kind of idea on how private server/public server rental will happen?

Are dedicated servers going to be available? Are they going to release dedicated server files?

Anyone hear anything on this?[/quote]

Only thing I heard is that they do not dismiss any options regarding the servers. Probably will depend on how the whole $$$tization is done.

(Zenity) #12

It would be kind of awesome if we could set up custom games with rules of our choosing and passwords / invite only. Of course these servers could only be reserved for one game at a time, but that should be sufficient.

I don’t think private servers are totally necessary if they make their own servers flexible enough. Knowing that servers are provided by a trusted party (and free!) would have many benefits. Also, it could still hand out rewards when playing scrims or matches. That would be difficult to do at least with untrusted servers.

(Amerika) #13

[quote=“RuleofBooKz;9654”]Forget matchmaking - you are making yourself a lot of headaches over something that has a really simple solution - just dont use it.

Use the browser and let people who foolishly use matchmaking worry about why they are so bad, the game lags, its the wrong server type, FF is enabled etc etc etc. it should be acknowledged match making is only for noobs who dont know what they are doing in a real FPS.

Seriously just use the server browser. Problems gone.[/quote]

I use matchmaking all the time and haven’t had any issues with it when I’m playing solo. I pretty much exclusively get NA servers and the only thing that varies is whether it’s 6v6, 7v7 or 8v8.

(artfulSedan) #14

Why not? You don’t have to play it if you don’t want to? It doesn’t harm nor affect any of the other gamemodes. And i prefer soem variety. Also stopwatchmode is good when the map is baised towards either def or att.
And the maps are big enough so it isn’t the problem like in CS with 20 people on a map made for 10

(Zenity) #15

[quote=“artfulSedan;9915”]Why not? You don’t have to play it if you don’t want to? It doesn’t harm nor affect any of the other gamemodes. And i prefer soem variety. Also stopwatchmode is good when the map is baised towards either def or att.
And the maps are big enough so it isn’t the problem like in CS with 20 people on a map made for 10[/quote]

This was my answer to “why not”, highlighting the relevant parts:

So why not keep Casual matchmaking simple. Aside from unifying the player pool and streamlining the UX, the big advantage is that auto balancing can be implemented in objective, while it would be weird in stopwatch.

Benefits of taking something away are not always easy to see, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. :slight_smile:

Does casual stopwatch mode really provide significant variety? To me it feels exactly the same, only that you are guaranteed to play each map on each side.

What if it would be replaced with a gametype that’s actually different? Without getting too fancy, there are some interesting options, e.g.:

  • A practice mode, like in CoD where everyone is anonymous and there are no scoreboards or chat. The only tracked score is your own and it’s compared to your previous scores. This is a great way for players to focus on learning the game, without being concerned about their relative performance or how the team is doing.

  • The notorious Team Deathmatch, where players can go to practice their aim or warm up without worrying about the objectives.

  • Simple King of the Hill gameplay, as a minor step up from TDM.

What I like best about CSGO’s gametypes is how they provide a natural progression for new players (or depending on your state of mind): TDM for pure aim practice. Arms Race as the simplest form of competitive gunplay. Demolition introduces objectives. The actual casual mode introduces weapon buying. And finally the competitive mode introduces balanced 5on5 with friendly fire and more complex buying rules.