I thought it would be a good idea to put all my thoughts into one thread and let everyone voice their opinions on it after having made my case. There are a lot of things I think our server could use to improve its quality, and I'd like to address some of those things without coming off as too elitist or snobby (Just for the record though; I know best, I'm always right, and I know more about TF2 than anybody else, so don't question me.)
I'm aware this is very similar to my last thread, but expanded. Last thread was locked though, and it's just neater and cleaner to make a new one for this stuff.
The Ideal Server:
I believe that a server should create a gameplay experience in sync with what the designers originally had in mind for it. I believe it's our responsibility to uphold the level of balance, enjoyability, and gameplay experience that Valve created when they created TF2. There are a few things that implies though that some of you may not agree with, like all-talk, or a lack there of. That said, I hope you all consider the points I'm making from a serious standpoint and put the integrity of the game at a higher priority than, say, social conversation.
So here are some things that I'd like everyone to consider implementing or changing:
1. Disable random crits:I'm normally very purist when it comes to the game mechanics. "Valve put respawn times there for a reason." This is the one exception. I have no idea what Valve was thinking when they decided it would be a good idea to create a system where a random factor will reward random and undeserving players for no reason. If you've ever been killed by one hit because of a random crit, I'm sure you felt cheated, and rightfully so. Random crits reward players with kills
they didn't earn. They shouldn't be in the game, even if you're a casual player, it still feels shitty to get killed unjustly because of a dice-roll.
So I'd like to suggest we disable random crits on our server. I've never heard an argument that's pro-random crits that makes sense. It's a bad thing that drags down the enjoyability of an otherwise polished and fun game.
2. Respawn time:I complained about this in the other thread and it went unconsidered. Now that some time has passed, I've heard more and more people agree with me and complain about how short respawn times negatively affect the flow of the game. I'm willing to push for default respawn times for the CG server.
3. Disable All-talk completely:Maybe it's just me. I've heard a few other complaints, but none as vocal about respawn time, but when we've got a 10v10 game going and most players have a mic, it becomes an extremely abrasive and unpleasant experience. It's worth noting that I'm typically okay with all-talk (As long as team-talk is default, so no mistakes are made.) but in this situation I honestly couldn't get a word in edge-wise. It was non-stop mic-use by 3+ users at a time. It was loud, chaotic, and very unpleasant.
Wholegrain firmly believes that people want to have all-talk turned on so they can socialize with TF2. Considering the default for TF2 is non-all-talk, I think that's an unreasonable conclusion. People know what the norm is when they boot up TF2. Even without all-talk, players can still socialize with their team mates and talk to enemy players by using the non-team chat function.
My proposal for this is to disable the all-talk function that we currently have once 18 or more players are on the server except during the humiliation phase and the set-up phase.
I believe this will still allow an abundance of talking and socialization in a full server without making it such a crowded and loud experience, and when there are fewer players on the server (8v8, for example) we can use all-talk the same as we currently are.
4. Map rotation instead of map voting every round:This one will probably be a bit controversial. I remember bringing the concept of map rotation up on the TTT server and everybody was pretty adamant about CG being the type of community that "lets the community decide" on things. That works well for TTT since the gameplay experience will be the same regardless of map, but with TF2 the experience changes drastically depending on the type of map being played. Payload and CTF maps will give you very different experiences. In the last week or two, I've noticed that our server plays a lot more Payload than anything else. Were we to create a map rotation, we could sprinkle variety into the gameplay schedule and make it more tolerable for some people. I'm sure you're thinking "But if that's what "the people" want, then that's what they should get." That's great for the 60% of the players that want to play Payload all the time, but what about the 40% that prefer CP or CTF? Make everybody happy by giving the server a dependable variety of gameplay experiences in the form of a map rotation.
If it's that big of a concern, we can work it out so rtv still works if initiated, rather than having to vote EVERY map.
5. Humiliation round:Right now the humiliation round (The short time period after the round is over where the winning team gets to gloat, invade the other team's locker room, and taunt) is so short you barely have time to taunt. I can't imagine why this is, as the default is longer, so someone had to have made a decision to shorten the time. We need to fix this right away. It's annoying, nobody likes it, etc. Right now it's probably around five seconds. We need 15-20 seconds for the proper humiliation round.
6. Fix the ranking system:Right now killing someone as a heavy with your minigun will score you one point per kill, while prancing around like a retard and killing someone on accident with the flamethrower as a Pyro will score THREE points. Headshots, arguably one of the most difficult types of kills in the game, gets you one point.
I propose a new system. It's rough around the edges, but I feel like it bases the reward on the amount of risk and skill involved in getting a kill:
Top Tier (Awards 5+ points)
- Taunt kills (5 points)
- Headshot by deflected arrow (10 points)
High Tier (Awards 4 points)
- Backstabs
- Deflection kills
- Headshots
- Contribution to stage hazards (Airblasted, stunned, etc.)
Mid-high Tier (Awards 3 points)
- Melee kills
- Most other weapons (Shotguns, pistols, revolvers, etc.)
- Destroyed Sentry
- Sentry kills
Normal Tier (Awards 2 points)
- Minigun
- Flamethrower
- Rockets
- Grenades
- Destroyed Dispenser
- Destroyed Teleporter
7. Rank-rival systemI know it might be difficult to impliment, but it's worth bringing up. It would add some depth and fun to the rank system. Most of us already have our rivals that we're constantly comparing ourselves to. This system would allow you to assign a person the title of your rival, and it would allow you to bring up a comparison window (!rival) that would show your stats side-by-side.
8. Display rank number on scoreboardSelf explanatory. It would be great to just glance at the scoreboard and look at the ranks of everybody playing the game with you. It would feel good to dominate a guy only to look at the scoreboard and see that he's the number one player on the server.
It might not be easy to code. I really don't know, but again, it's worth bringing up.