Happy New Year folks! I hope everyone had a safe, healthy and happy holiday season. Look forward to another year of flag caps and dealing with cheating assholes lol
Over the past couple of months, I've collected a few thoughts on the balancer. I'm not sure if any of this is even possible, but based on what I've been seeing, these are just some things I would recommend that might make the game even more fair overall.
1) I love that you can no longer switch teams (except to switch to the losing team) but a person is still capable of spectating, waiting for the balancer to shift, and then popping back in. I wonder... is it possible to make it so that if a person spectates in a game, they have to either wait a period of time (say, 5 minutes) or until the next game starts before they can pop in? This would nip up the last possible opportunity for individuals to fuck the balancer on their own.
2) I think it should be impossible for the balancer to adjust anyone while either of the two flags are off the cradle. This just seems like a no brainer.
3A) I'm not totally sure exactly what math goes into the balancer, but seeing as how this is a CTF server and not a DM server, basing it purely on points seems unfair. If I strike out at the beginning of the game and get a couple of extra caps, and then I get switched, it really fucks with your motivation. I wonder if the two people who have the most caps on a team are essentially ineligible to be switched. They are the team leader at that point, after all.
3B) Given the potential impossibility of 3A, I would suggest also (again, if it's possible) that if a person gets switched during the game (maybe once? maybe twice?) then they are also ineligible to be switched for the remainder of that game. You do well on team red, get switched, do well on team blue, and then get switched again. Very hard on the heart.
I recognize that if suddenly the server goes from 10 players to 6 and switching MUST occur just to keep the teams equaled, some of what I state above would become null and void. But in a long game with 8 players on each side, and the balancer trying to keep the game going, these are just some musings I had on which players I think are most deserving to remain on a team. If anything, just a fun discussion.
Have fun out there!
