XP Shuffle

(EnderWiggin.DA.) #1

In a way, I guess this is a continuation of this thread
http://www.splashdamage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21252&highlight=shuffle

TBH, I enjoy games where the talent between the two teams is balanced. The most memorable games/matches are the one with the last second win/loss. Balanced games make a better user experience. Note:I am not thinking of campaign mode, just objective or stopwatch mode.
In Brink, can admins shuffle players by XP at the end of maps like they could in ET? Specifically I am thinking of:
-Team A Attacks
-Team B Attacks
Shuffle by XP. Begins AB on new map.

Additionally, is there a smarter way to shuffle than by just XP? For example, people earn XP by completing objectives and by killing other players. When calculating teams, would it be smarter subdivide the XP between “RAMBO XP” and “Objective/team XP” If you have players that mainly shoot other players, then they wouldn’t all end up on one team. Also, the bad shooters that lemming the objectives could be separated.

Also, I’ve never noticed. How does the function work? Assume 10 players in decreasing XP.

Method 1: Team A: 1,3,5,7,9  (team of best)
Team B: 2,4,6,8,10           (team of second best)
Method 2: Team A: 1, 3, 6, 8, 10   (Matches best with worst)
Team B: 2,4,5,7,9                  (players 5 or 6 could really be randomly assigned)

I don’t know. I’m just thinking of BC2 in which a good team will roll the other team map after map. That’s no fun on either side. When I admined ET and ETQW servers, we spent quite a bit of time trying to even the teams but avoided switching people after the maps got going. It’s not fun to play well and get switched at the end.

(15% or more) #2

What? ? ? ?

(LyndonL) #3

Unfortunately you can’t balance a server with an algorithm. XP can accumulate massively if someone plays a lot even if they’re a mediocre player which is an extension to what level they are.

So you can’t split the players up by XP or rank/level or anything like that. The only way you can shuffle the teams is by observing everyone’s performance. And that’s not going to happen…

(Je T´aime) #4

actually players with more xp probably means they played the game longer then new dudes wich make them better in majority of cases so ye i agree.

(Cankor) #5

Random shuffle is probably as good as any other mechanic. You can still get a stacked team, but that would be pretty rare.

(SockDog) #6

This is why I thought it a great idea to balance teams based on performance and either temporarily handicap or assist teams via health, abilities, upgrades etc. That way even the most stacked teams would find themselves (for an extreme example) with 25% health.

Might be too complicated to implement or open to exploitation but the argument that it’s unfair is total bull****, it’s unfair in a pub game to have disproportionate teams and sucky games as a result. Anyway. Yes Random shuffle seems the easiest traditional approach but of course people just avoid servers with that on.

(brbrbr) #7

hardly think its meaningful or can be properly done. and thats why, probably.
No Shuffle ! No Xp !! Nothing !!! mwhahahaha !!![Random Evil laugh]

(obliviondoll) #8

They did something like the OP in War for Cybertron.

The high-scoring players were split evenly between teams after the first round.

Brink’s drop-in drop-out and encourages choice - would be spoiled if you don’t have the “But I wanna be Security” option - if autobalance is a server option, that would be nice, but you shouldn’t be forced to do it.