57 replies to this topic

[Acersecomic]

I am so sick and tired of playing four same maps over and over and over and overand over and over again...
It makes you feel like there are only those maps in the game and sht becomes very repetitive and boring real soon. Worse still WHEN YOU GET SIX STUPID CANYONS IN A ROW!!!
Map voting in itself is not bad. It's really good. The problem is how it rotates and how people keep voting for one and the same over and over again like it's the only thing in the game.

So... either rework the least votes maps, or make it so the more a map is voted for, the less it will appear in the voting rotation so that other maps get the chance too.
And for the love of god, some maps that are great are barely voted for because of their stupidly stupid large size where it takes 2 minutes to just start a fight, not because people are positioning, BUT BECAUSE IT TAKES THAT LONG TO GET INTO FIRING RANGE OF ANYTHING so people avoid voting for such maps.

PGI, plase, for the love of god do something about map rotations.
PGI doesn't really follow the player feedback on the forums, so if anyone has a Twitter and agrees with me, please send this thread their way.

It's borderline tiresome.

[Bud Crue]

You got six Canyon maps in a row!!!?

Lucky *******.

[RickySpanish]

It woupd be nice to play more matches on Therma and Viridian, and less on flipping Mining Colony.

[MrMadguy]

Some maps aren't voted for because they're terrible. Period. Voting system is perfect. It's bad maps, that should be fixed. It's latest maps mostly, except 2 most recent ones, were PGI realized their mistake. Almost all of them are revamped old maps. Maps, that were "way too small" but are stupid-open-coverless-LRM/snipe-fests now. They're unbalanced. Cover is essential part of this game. If there is no cover, you just can't do anything against snipers/LRMers, while they stay relatively effective on small maps. Yeah, it's tinfoil hat conspiracy theory, but I suspect, that PGI use such design for their so called "smart matchmaking". Simple thing. They put all LRM boats to one team and all brawlers to another and then offer open map for voting. LRMers win voting and then they have nothing more to do, then just stomp you in 12:0 fashion. Yeah, overall W/L is still ~1, but its stomp vs stomped instead of 50/50 balanced matches.

Edited by MrMadguy, 05 February 2019 - 05:31 AM.

[Acersecomic]

Bud Crue, on 05 February 2019 - 05:18 AM, said:

You got six Canyon maps in a row!!!?

Lucky *******.

I hate the everliving guts out of that map.

MrMadguy, on 05 February 2019 - 05:29 AM, said:

Some maps aren't voted for because they're terrible. Period. Voting system is perfect.

Voting system is not perfect. It perpetuates "popular maps", creating a boring festival of same few maps over and over again, making the game very tedious, repetitive and boring. It either needs tweaking or a lot of maps need to be made smaller.
Although it would be easier to just make them appear less the more a map is picked, thus balancing precentages on maps for number of picks, resulting in an equal spread of maps.

[Joshua McEvedy]

You obviously weren't around in the early days when there was NO map voting, and maps were "randomly" picked for each match by an algorithm. The current voting system was DEMANDED by the player community back then and is now a feature and not an impediment. You say you are irritated by players choosing 6 canyon maps in a row, well you should have been playing in 2013-2014 when the algorithm would select the old terra therma map 6 times in a row.

Democracy is grand! Deal with it.

[Asym]

There are no "terrible maps", just too many terrible expectations ! Meta does that. Too much of anything is bad....

Random maps make the overall game "fair" and "balanced" because the meta can't force it's way into existence...

The longest stretch I think I've had was 13 games of HP, Mining, HP, Mining.........all people wanted to vote for was brawling maps, Then came Solaris City and recently, it was SC, HP, SC, CT, SC, CT, HP over and over and over again....

Brawlers hate open terrain: they don't even use AMS or Radar Dep; so, they get eaten alive once they can be seen ! It's even funnier when, like yesterday, the brawling crew started getting a bit vocal when the NASCAR left them behind on their favorite map and they got eaten by lights !!!

To fix the game, the game itself needs to limit meta........not via the skill tree, nerf's or buff's.....there is something far more powerful: take away map voting and make it a RNG function. That way, a meta build has a high probability that it "just won't be useful" most games !!! Want to bet that that random system doesn't tame the meta's in all cases and more importantly, improve the game itself.......

[PhilTKaswahl]

Eh, and I got Tourmaline six times in a row, half of those in Conquest when I wanted to play my Kraken. It happens.

'Sides, with a limited number of maps even if they were pure RNG people would still find them stale after awhile. Voting gives the illusion of some control, at least for those who get what they vote for. Those who don't get a "I would've gotten a fun map/mode if it weren't for those meddling pugs!" blame outlet instead of (just) RNG.

EDIT: Mind, in the vastly unlikely event PGI grants players the ability to create their own lobbies with their preferred maps and modes, I would be all over that ****.

Edited by PhilTKaswahl, 05 February 2019 - 06:53 AM.

[Luminis]

Acersecomic, on 05 February 2019 - 06:20 AM, said:

equal spread of maps.

I don't think that's a particularly great solution. There are glaring issues with some maps, like covering empty space, as you said. Or unbalanced spawns on some maps in some game modes. Or bad optimisation (Solaris City gives me a headaches, sometimes, with the flickering textures and whatnot, despite having my settings cranked up to the max). Looking at and potentially reworking the less popular maps is a better course of action, as far as I am concerned, even though one would have to control for certain factors beside map layout. Like ambient temperature or visibility.

Joshua McEvedy, on 05 February 2019 - 06:20 AM, said:

You say you are irritated by players choosing 6 canyon maps in a row, well you should have been playing in 2013-2014 when the algorithm would select the old terra therma map 6 times in a row.

To add to that: Not only does an RNG system not prevent streaks from happening, the voting system doesn't guarantee certain maps to come up. I have yet to see someone accurately predict what map he's gonna get before hitting the "Quick Play" button.

Asym, on 05 February 2019 - 06:20 AM, said:

To fix the game, the game itself needs to limit meta........not via the skill tree, nerf's or buff's.....there is something far more powerful: take away map voting and make it a RNG function. That way, a meta build has a high probability that it "just won't be useful" most games !!!

We had entirely random map selection, in case you weren't around back then. There was a meta nonetheless. At best, adaptability just becomes a bigger factor when it comes to what is and is not meta - like the MCII-B, which is currently very popular and quite strong (aka. meta), largely because it can operate well on most any map. I know the ominous "meta" is a popular boogeyman around here, but there's things you can't blame on it.

Besides, you make it sound like the meta is brawl centric. It isn't. Here's two relatively recent tier lists (1 2). You'll notice that there's not an abundance of brawl Mechs populating the top tiers.

PhilTKaswahl, on 05 February 2019 - 06:40 AM, said:

EDIT: Mind, in the vastly unlikely event PGI grants players the ability to create their own lobbies with their preferred maps and modes, I would be all over that ****.

Erm... That's called a Private Lobby and has been in MWO forever.

[PhilTKaswahl]

Luminis, on 05 February 2019 - 07:41 AM, said:

Erm... That's called a Private Lobby and has been in MWO forever.

Should have clarified that I meant a public version that people start and open to anyone to join in a lobby browser. Sort of like the lobbies in Rising Storm, Counter-Strike, and the like.

Edited by PhilTKaswahl, 05 February 2019 - 07:56 AM.

[MechaBattler]

Pretty much what Asym said. Allowing people to vote allows people to meta harder. Which cuts down on build variety since everyone is gunning for the same map because they want it as easy as possible for their meta build.

I want 100% random. Because it's less stale! It was so much better before map voting! And now I just can't be bothered to drop on the same 3 or 4 maps. Just because that's all that gets voted. Against people who know they're going to get the same maps.

[Phoenix 72]

I dunno. I am happy in general with the voting process. Some of the maps I dislike the most are fairly rare and that's good. I really dislike Terra Therma and Caustic Valley. Not for the heat, but because of other considerations. Unless there is bright daylight, visibility is often really poor. Neither heat nor night vision are all that good there, either.

Add to that that one side of Terra is obviously superior to the other while Caustic usually turns into running around in circles around the cauldron. I have that same problem with Canyon Network. You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record going right round, round, round. Not a problem with the right mech, really annoying in the wrong mech.

I just wish it was possible to pick (and exclude) maps before picking the mech. Or at least being able to switch to a different mech of the same weight after map selection. That would really cut down on the frustration of being caught with your pants down. I do not play lurms at all and I try to use builds that work on any map, but that really limits your builds on some mechs.

[MechaBattler]

Sometimes you have to overcome difficulties. If everyone could swap mechs knowing the map. People would just run the meta best for that map. Which would only add to the sameness of the matches.

[Brizna]

Yes!! Burn it!! Burn map Voting!!!

[FupDup]

You people keep blaming the symptom instead of the disease. The real problem is that certain maps inherently suck to play on. Those maps being rarely voted for is a direct and inevitable consequence of their suckiness. I'm not sure why you guys act surprised when people don't want a bad gameplay experience.

[MechaBattler]

Poor visibility adds variety in my opinion. I like the idea of fighting in the mists. Issues with maps conveying advantages to the other team that I can understand as a complaint. But not if it's a matter of heat or visibility or difficult terrain. Those are supposed to be variables. I wish we had destructible environment or moving objects on maps to make things even more variable.

Edited by MechaBattler, 05 February 2019 - 01:46 PM.

[Angel of Annihilation]

I am 100% with the OP. I get so sick of playing the same 3-4 maps over and over and over. Additionally I am a victim to the "Tyranny of the Majority" because my favorite map is Caustic. I only vote for Caustic and save all my votes for Castic because it so hard to get that map. Because of this my vote multiplier is usually x8 to x12 before I manged to force the map. That means I only get to play on the map I want to play on about 1 out of every 10 times it shows up in the voting rotation.

Honestly I would prefer things to go back to random myself but like the OP, I think voting can work. However there needs to be a formula that balances out the rotation. Example make it so the more popular the map the less it shows up an an option in the voting until we have some sort of balance where all maps are getting fairly equal play time.

[Asym]

Luminis, on 05 February 2019 - 07:41 AM, said:

We had entirely random map selection, in case you weren't around back then. There was a meta nonetheless. At best, adaptability just becomes a bigger factor when it comes to what is and is not meta - like the MCII-B, which is currently very popular and quite strong (aka. meta), largely because it can operate well on most any map. I know the ominous "meta" is a popular boogeyman around here, but there's things you can't blame on it.

Besides, you make it sound like the meta is brawl centric. It isn't. Here's two relatively recent tier lists (1 2). You'll notice that there's not an abundance of brawl Mechs populating the top tiers.

No. LRM boats are the same way as energy or ballistic meta mechs.... Give them Solaris City and they suck; even with the changes... Give them Polar and they cause a lot of damage. As I said, too much of anything is bad and leads to "specialization"...... This game needs balance more than specialization to keep, to retain the populations we need to exist.... Screw the few vocal players that want it "their way all of the time..." They, alone can't carry the game ! Only average players can and we've chased most of them off..... Geeze.

[Captain Polux]

MrMadguy, on 05 February 2019 - 05:29 AM, said:

Voting system is perfect.

Yeah, predictable matches are perfect.

Not.

Bring back random map and mode please.

[CMDR Sunset Shimmer]

If I never played on another snow map in my life, I'd be happy.

That being said, I'd rather play 20 snow maps in a row randomly picked by the computer, than 1 picked by the players... why? Because at least if it's random, it's random, no one could control that outcome, and we all have the same base advantage of our heat building being practically nill... if you allow players to PICK the maps that cool you off more, of course people are going to gravitate towards those.