Ranking System and Server Lockouts

[Mots0311]

Ok here is how you do it. You have a beginner server where the physics of the game are easier to deal with and more forgiving. Like for example; no fall damage, bigger splash area, easier to move with terrain, generate speed easier, etc etc. New players can play the game and have fun while learning some basics, pros can enter the server but really it will not be much fun since a lot of the characteristics that make pros "pros" will not come out in the beginner server. Lets face it the urge for some to go into a newbie server and show off are irresistable, however the server will be kind of like an equalizer of talents and abilities. If someone thinks they are good and acquired enough skill they can take it to the regular server where skill is key to play and let the chips fall where they may.
I like the idea of a ranking system, however the pitfalls of everyone voting on one another sounds like a nightmare. I remember before IA went down they just put up a site to track your kills, caps, MAs etc. That would be a good way to rank players and its honest. If you dont get to play as much as others it doesnt matter because the rank would be based off of averages ( like average grab speed, MAs, caps, returns etc ) not just how many kills you have acquired.
I never played Tribes and came into Legions as a noobs right hand man. I kept at it because it was hard but a lot of fun. When I saw guys pull amazing grabs and crazy manouvers I wanted to do that to.

 

[Disci]

You would be surprised how many "good" players would want to play with bigger splash damage weapons and no fall damage. We got proof already what kind of retards this game have, so limiting the access for seasoned players would be a better choice.

 

[RiPTaCk]

Wait for the user-hosted servers then you can kick every douche out of your server. Yay!

And delete mortar ofcourse.

 

[Immanent]

And delete mortar ofcourse.

Except nobody's going to play, because we all know everybody loves to mortar *lady friend* intense sarcasm.

 

[57thEnryu]

A simple interim solution might be to designate the servers as beginner, intermediate and advanced. We certainly have enough servers for that. That is not to say that everyone will play along but it is a start.

I personally would go into the beginner server every once and a while and offer help to new players. Whenever I see a player who is obviously new I always ask them if they would like me to show them some things how to play the game, just try to help them. With that said, I try not to go easy on newbs because, as has been said many times, the only way to get better is to constantly face an opponent better than you.

PS Stop bitching about the mortar, its pretty easy to avoid if you move around a-lot (which you should be doing anyway)

 

[Mahidhar]

When Legions was on IA, it was a lot forgiving than it is now. If you were getting owned all the time, you'd simply make your own server, and fool around, as someone posted earlier. You were able to choose who'd stay and who wouldn't. Y'all remember the time, when you were getting kicked because you were pwning? Well, that's it. The game which provided the freedom of movement, now ironically took away the freedom to choose what/how to play.

Player-hosted servers will encourage newcomers to take their time to learn and play instead of getting frustrated for getting killed/owned by a seasoned brute. So don't worry too much.

Edit: I suggested this a while ago, which probably got ignored, but it helps us to some initiative to get things going.

Solution-1: Create a new forum. Name it, "Help Section". Create and Sticky all your guides there. Encourage all newbies to visit the Help Section and to get their questions answered. Refrain from pausing the game, and answering the questions of newbies(use the same old Public test password strategy to force them to login to the forums). Make a new tab on the www.legionsoverdrive.com and name it Help. Let it have the basic controls image and a link to the "Help Section". Make it so that the main page also has a TeamSpeak tab on it, with a damn link for easy access.

Solution-2: Create a system, so that for every new account created, a small symbol or a character will be added right next to the player's name, such as a + sign(with a colour other than yellow). This means that the person is a newbie, and doesn't know crap. So, the next time he goes llama grabbing, you'll advice him not to, instead of teaching him all your regional curse words. Set a time limit to this character(like about 3 months or so) so that it cannot be removed before the time limit expires. Again, create a sticky in the General Discussion, explaining what the symbol defines, and it's purpose. This will make the in-game guides' life much easier to identify the newcomers, from the smurfs(unless the one smurfing just wants to be an a-hole, and made a new account).

 

[Jedired1]

:/ it depends on how you play people play to ctf as a goal or people play to get the most points .... i could still have 300 points by the end of game but mabey becaswue i was helping distract the enemy players at their base therefore the ranking system wouldnt be the brilliant ...

 

[Armageddon]

TL;DR, but i see what the thread is getting too, if we rank and file players it will cause more to leave. A few games have tried this recently www.battleswarm.net notice this site and game are now gone due to that type of system because the player base was too small for a such huge change. In the future something like this could be made but for now with a small player base this type of change would be a huge blow to the game. A game like this is not really meant for the causal gamer, either you dedicate time to this or you're just another name being ran over by others.

 

[NightHawk043]

I agree that if the playerbase was larger then this would be a good system, but legions is just way too small for that. My personal opinion is we should focus more on the educating of new players than the isolation of them.

Oh and by the way disci. That's the first time I've seen a TL;DR longer than the rest of the post above it

 

[Disci]

I just rock. Changing how things work and doing it well!

 

[Mots0311]

Who the hell plays for points?? My system would be averages; grab speeds, MAs, returns,caps after grabs, etc. You could beef your averages up by playing in newblood servers but then you would get moved to a pro server where your really put to the test.
Voting on who goes where is a nightmare, especially with all the little clicky teeners that frequent here.

 

[mausgang]

I don't think giving new players a version of the game that's easier to play will give them any kind of help. By doing this, once they 'graduate' from the newblood servers, they'd just get dumped into a brand new game against experienced veterans. Then there's the question of those veterans that still don't play very well? I've played for quite a while and I'm still a terrible duelist, and most of the time can't snipe. Would that lump me, somebody who enjoys the game enough to keep coming back with a sore ass and go on playing in with the newbloods? Maybe not, hopefully not, but it just seems impractical. I would instead, propose that there be links in the game to guides and videos written and made by the community. I wrote a beginner's guide to the LR, which hopefully is enough to educate new players that are curious about that weapon to use it with at least a small amount of proficiency. I even have a bit about the strategic importance and the do's and don't's for the LR as spelled out by the community. If more of these guides get made, then there could be a 'help' button in-game, that would give a list of links for skiing videos, and written tutorials on the game and the weapons. That way, its the information, made more accessible to new players that would be more interested in playing than trying to peruse the forums and community stuff.

tl;dnr version. Don't make a ranking system, make it easier to educate the new legionnaires.

 

[Defender]

I plan on making a simple game speed mod, that will have a few game speed settings.
slow, medium, normal, ultra fast. Slow would be a nice speed for beginners.

Player jetting, skiing, running, walking, will be adjusted for each speed.
Weapon projectile speeds, and reload time will be adjusted too.

 

[Armageddon]

I plan on making a simple game speed mod, that will have a few game speed settings.
slow, medium, normal, ultra fast. Slow would be a nice speed for beginners.

Player jetting, skiing, running, walking, will be adjusted for each speed.
Weapon projectile speeds, and reload time will be adjusted too.

Thats a bad idea, if they become use to the slower speeds they will get crushed in a "normal" paced mode. One speed fits all.

 

[Defender]

Thats a bad idea, if they become use to the slower speeds they will get crushed in a "normal" paced mode. One speed fits all.

Maybe those players will only want to play on a slower game mode server, for competitions.
I Bet a lot players who are use to the fast game mode will have a harder time in a slower game mode, because the projectile speeds will be slower, making it harder to hit targets. Unreal Tournament, had a speed mutator mode, I remember using it.
Also servers running a slower speed mode will have less lag I think, the playing field will be more even for people on slower connections.
I think its a great Idea. If people don't like it they have the option to not play on a server running it.

 

[skypredator]

Wahey, and what about a speed mod that rockets you over 9,000?

 

[Libra]

new players just need to be shown the ropes if those seasoned brutes who play see new bloods trekking along give em a hand and teach em some tricks maybe then there wouldn't be a need for a slower paced game server