11 replies to this topic

[Strelok7]

Some multiplayer games I've come across over the years have :

• chat > type !Balance
  
• press ~ (brings up command line) > type !Balance

This is an in-game voting system. Available at any time during the match. If over 50% of the players agree, It will reshuffle all of the players for the next round.

Can we get that going in MWO? We really need that...


PS. Maybe it is also time to say goodbye to the Tier system; although, not the primary objective here.

Edited by Strelok7, 02 February 2025 - 08:57 AM.

[Davegt27]

what games I am curious ??

[TercieI]

So long as it's Soup Queue, this won't really help. (Nor will much of anything else)

[sycocys]

95% of the time (outside of very low pop hours) the teams for the next round are re-shuffled AND almost completely different.

[LordNothing]

this seems like a legacy way to do things, back when everything was user controlled with user operated servers. vote systems were everywhere. this wouldnt have been out of place in q3a or unreal tournament. since all matches are curated by the match making algorithm, and because they dont want people gaming vote systems (eg using social engineering to boot players you dont like), this just doesnt happen much anymore. not so long as game companies nanny their users.

[Moadebe]

Sadly it wont happen. This would take a lot of actual software engineer time, and MWO just doesn't have access to that.

Besides it changes the next round anyway. The only reason you come across the same people is because of population at that time and matchmaker.

[Void Angel]

Personally, I haven't seen a vote system like that since Counterstrike - the original Counterstrike. Doesn't mean it's not still around, of course, but it's the kind of thing you get on server-based, continuous-match FPS games like that. Players are randomly sorted into teams on the basis of when they joined, sometimes with the option to switch if the other team isn't full, and the vote command instructs the server to balance players across the teams. There are problems to using this in MWO.

First, the players in server-based FPS games only know who the high-performing players are because matches go for multiple iterations with the same teams - often on the same map. The !balance chatvote command simply goes down the list from best stats to worst, alternating player assignments between teams. But MWO shuffles the teams and the match every time, and contains premade groups that must be kept together. That makes a vote command like !balance much less useful, even just mechanically. The match is already built by the time you load in - because of this, MWO's structure doesn't allow for players to change sides like it does in Counterstrike, Tribes, or Unreal Tournament - and, I presume, newer twitch shooters as well . The only reason in MWO to use a balance vote command is that you see a player on the other team who's well-known, or from a well-known unit - and that is just begging for toxic behaviors when the balance vote fails. Even if it was mechanically possible with the current code, it's also unfair to those known players, because they have to deal with the hassle of waiting for the command to swap people around every time they load into a drop.

Edited by Void Angel, 03 February 2025 - 10:02 AM.

[Ekson Valdez]

This thread was moved to Feature Suggestions

[pbiggz]

Strelok7, on 02 February 2025 - 08:50 AM, said:

Some multiplayer games I've come across over the years have :

• chat > type !Balance
  
• press ~ (brings up command line) > type !Balance

This is an in-game voting system. Available at any time during the match. If over 50% of the players agree, It will reshuffle all of the players for the next round.


Can we get that going in MWO? We really need that...


PS. Maybe it is also time to say goodbye to the Tier system; although, not the primary objective here.

As long as lobbies only last one match this is literally meaningless. Your lobbies get reshuffled every match anyway. Also, what would you replace PSR with? Because im betting you don't have any replacement for it.

[Strelok7]

Quote

As long as lobbies only last one match this is literally meaningless. Your lobbies get reshuffled every match anyway. Also, what would you replace PSR with? Because im betting you don't have any replacement for it.

PSR - as in Player System Ranking? Confirm.
Nothing. This is about a new tool, not replacement.

[Strelok7]

I am definitely yet to see a copy paste team. But I also see, statistically, waaay too many instances of a RED/WHITE steam-roll finales +/-..

Bottom line: It is simply not working. Names of players change, results remain the same.

I wonder if they could force the system to use a different *random roll model".
Example: If enough player "!Balance" input is received in the past 1/2 hour, then it would force geo-region wide override and use of a different skill roll shuffle program model for then next set amount of time.

Edited by Strelok7, 07 February 2025 - 06:00 PM.

[Void Angel]

About one-sided match results:

• Often, they're not as one-sided as they appear. A 'mech with 15% armor left is just as damaging as a 'mech with 100% armor, And a 'mech with one leg and no side torsos can still be very much alive. So, the number of people who get merked on either side does not tell the whole story.
  
• When these matches do happen, it's partly just how the game works.

MWO (pretty much all BattleTech, for that matter,) is a game of skilled attrition. Generally, 'mechs are going to take damage; a lot of player skill consists of making sure that you deal enough damage to make your armor loss worth it, and in positioning to avoid counter-attacks if possible. What this means is that if someone screws up and gets crippled or destroyed, this affects the weight of fire available to the team. Sometimes, your team can make up the deficit and kill or cripple enemy players to restore the balance, but if players don't realize what's happening, or can't produce enough counter-fire, the winning team will start to snowball. Teams can prevent this to a certain extent by employing good fundamental skills, like trading well, exposing their 'mech intelligently, and maneuvering to put down fires, - or just merk some enemies with your Fafnir when they get too eager because of that first kill - but it's not always possible.Both of those preventable snowball conditions (bad positioning, inadequate team response) are going to happen in lower skill tiers more. It's not because the matchmaker is broken or anything; it's just how the game mechanics and player tactics intersect.

So, taken all together, these factors lead to end-of-match screens that look one-sided, but are not - 'mechs which survive and absorb damage without being destroyed will show up as a live 'mech. And, normal stomps which happen in every pvp game under the sun. MWO may be a bit more prone, but it's not that terrible - even if you feel stomped, your teammates may have done a lot of damage to enemy 'mechs without being able to close out a kill, and that makes your real match performance better than the end screen might seem to indicate.