6 replies to this topic

[Peace2U]

Half of my team was booted out of the forest map, early in a Skirmish mission.
We could hear VOIP but were unable to re-connect (reporting 'check internet connection').
My internet was up, and I could even access the MWO support to see if they were still experiencing server issues (none reported).
Finally, after about 6 min of not being able to connect, I was able to log back in.
Unfortunately I was awarded a penalty for leaving the match too soon.
*** Doesn't the system know when there is a server problem, and as such, shouldn't it remove the automated penalty?
This has happened to me several times and it's getting to be a bit frustrating, especially since the high rate of disconnects that started two patches ago.
I can attest that I was even penalized after going into the 'testing grounds', realizing I forgot to make a modification, and logged back out, only to find that I was granted a penalty the next time I tried to join a mission????? (for leaving the testing grounds too early???---Really???)

Sorry about the rant, but the penalty system was put in place to punish the jerks who would leave a mission early on purpose, therefore leaving their team weaker.
Why is it beating up people who get kicked out due to server error?

Happy Mech'ing all - - - -

[Jep Jorgensson]

Preach it brother! It has happened to me and my guys a few times as well. Whenever it happens, I always tell them the same thing: "PGI."

Edited by Jep Jorgensson, 04 February 2017 - 10:06 AM.

[Wintersdark]

It's a graduated system. If you just got dropped once, then the penalty is (if anything) a couple seconds. You'll survive that.

And no, the game server cannot tell the difference between a hiccup downstream from them and you. There are numerous reasons, but no, there's no good way to know. If it was actually the dedicated server itself (extremely unlikely, but certainly possible) then it's not working correctly and again cannot be relied on to communicate what happened reliably with the main game server.

Note that they are different. Dedicated servers run matches, the main server does everything else.

So, that's why things are as they are. Get dropped once or twice due to random internet hiccupage, and you may unfortunately get stuck with a sub 1 minute penalty. You're not "in trouble" and there's no reason to get upset about it. That system exists though to catch the people who KEEP disconnecting or being disconnected. Either way, in that case you're ruining other people's matches.

It's unlikely YOUR fault, just as it's unlikely the server's fault. But there are likely dozens of other systems these packets are being routed through, and a problem with any of them or the interconnects between them can result in you getting DC'd.

"But my whole team got dropped at once!"

No more likely it's the server than just you getting dropped. It happens frequently that a major routing point will have troubles, and this results in everyone communicating through that point being disconnected. This happens a lot more frequently than you'd think, it's just invisible for most applications as they don't need to maintain a continuous connection.

[Peace2U]

Thank you, Wintersdark, for your detailed response.
I fully understand the complexity of keeping track of these disconnects, and the source of them.
However, my concern was more of frustration that the frequent disconnects which have been happening as of two patches ago, have not been addressed, even though there are numerous topics (some tagged as HOT) about the issue.
It is these disconnects which are causing the 'phantom penalty' to be triggered.

Look, we all love the game, and appreciate the hard work it takes to keep it going.
That is the reason you might be getting some frustrated players complaining about certain issues.
When you have a problem this big, not being addressed by the programmers, It gets to be annoying to the point of creating complaints.

Please address the frequent disconnect issue and many of these sour apples will sweeten up.

Happy Mech'ing

[MenkoSar]

I just got a 10 min ban for 225 damage on a team mate who decided to run in and jump up on to a platform where I had dropped arty on to the enemy who were camped up there.
So because of some stupid Pug player, I get the ban. How is that fair? He could clearly see the smoke, the other 10 players held back..
This system needs fixing, or removed altogether.

Edited by MenkoSar, 08 July 2017 - 07:09 AM.

[Vidarion]

MenkoSar, on 07 July 2017 - 10:15 AM, said:

I just got a 10 min ban for 225 damage on a team mate who decided to run in and jump up on to a platefore where i had dropped arty on to the enemy who were camped up there.
So because of some stupid Puc player, I get the ban. How is that fair? He could clearly see the smoke, the other 10 players held back..
This system needs fixing, or removed altogether.

Wow. 10 minutes for just 225 damage? That's pretty harsh. I think the worst I had was a minute for a couple of hundred TD. Did they die from the arty strike too? Definitely sucks though, but it happens. Heck, I feel bad because I didn't realize a teammate was targeting the same enemy that I was and I chased the squirrel right into his alpha strike. Punched out my CT before I knew what happened. I feel bad because he ended up with the penalty for my stupid move.

And while I don't disagree that the system is a little broken, how would you propose to "fix" it without making it too easy to TK? Ignoring arty / air strikes isn't the answer though, because I can just as easily drop those on my team on purpose. "Accounting for movement" doesn't work either because I can just as easily say "I didn't see the smoke because I was looking in one direction and moving in another".

So it comes down to what is easiest...and that happens to be penalizing the player that dealt the damage.

One might argue that you could have used comms or chat to communicate that it was your arty there so that someone who didn't see the smoke would still 'know', but then you run into language barriers, etc.

One possible fix would be to put an audible or visible signal in friendly mechs if they are in the AoE of arty or air strikes, just not sure how that would be implemented seamlessly.

[MenkoSar]

Vidarion, on 07 July 2017 - 10:34 AM, said:

One possible fix would be to put an audible or visible signal in friendly mechs if they are in the AoE of arty or air strikes, just not sure how that would be implemented seamlessly.

That would be great.
I did use coms but alas the sod did not listen or care I guess. Not sure if he died, as the lrms and other stuff coming down on me, I got out of that area pretty dam quick.

Edited by MenkoSar, 08 July 2017 - 07:13 AM.