Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
Discuss anything related to Team Fortress 2.
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Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
[quote=Huwajux post_id=50946]
I agree that we are indeed a community filled with wonderful people. Even now, with those I argue against, I still consider them my friends.[/quote]
You are dead to me...or at least, you will be once I get you in range of the flames...
On a more serious note: DaV - can you up the timeout for the crit vote again please? It still is regularly reporting a total of ~20 votes when there are 28 players on the server.
The closest comparison to the crit vote that currently exists on the server is the map vote. There has always been a map vote while I've been playing on the server although I've not been around long enough to know if it always existed. I haven't ever heard anybody complain about the map vote itself (although naturally plenty of complaints about the outcome of said votes) and that has the same sort of impact (i.e. ~10 players decide for 28).
There is also another point that I haven't seen raised yet - what is "the community"? Is it those active on the forum, those playing on the server, both or other? There seems to be a large majority on the forum that is against the vote option yet a slim majority playing on the server is either for the vote or against crits in general (can't tell). How do you balance this? [note I don't expect an answer as I don't think there is one]
I suspect that the lack of notice around the vote being implemented (outside adminland) didn't help things go smoothly either.
Personally, I don't mind random crits (and reflecting a crocket is extremely fun) and think the vote is the fairest method of allowing those actively playing on the server to decide.
P.S My girlfriend just suggested we toss a coin to decide crits on or off at the start of each map. I'm not sure he would like being thrown quite so much.
I agree that we are indeed a community filled with wonderful people. Even now, with those I argue against, I still consider them my friends.[/quote]
You are dead to me...or at least, you will be once I get you in range of the flames...
On a more serious note: DaV - can you up the timeout for the crit vote again please? It still is regularly reporting a total of ~20 votes when there are 28 players on the server.
The closest comparison to the crit vote that currently exists on the server is the map vote. There has always been a map vote while I've been playing on the server although I've not been around long enough to know if it always existed. I haven't ever heard anybody complain about the map vote itself (although naturally plenty of complaints about the outcome of said votes) and that has the same sort of impact (i.e. ~10 players decide for 28).
There is also another point that I haven't seen raised yet - what is "the community"? Is it those active on the forum, those playing on the server, both or other? There seems to be a large majority on the forum that is against the vote option yet a slim majority playing on the server is either for the vote or against crits in general (can't tell). How do you balance this? [note I don't expect an answer as I don't think there is one]
I suspect that the lack of notice around the vote being implemented (outside adminland) didn't help things go smoothly either.
Personally, I don't mind random crits (and reflecting a crocket is extremely fun) and think the vote is the fairest method of allowing those actively playing on the server to decide.
P.S My girlfriend just suggested we toss a coin to decide crits on or off at the start of each map. I'm not sure he would like being thrown quite so much.
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
Hallo hallo.
It should come to no surprise that I'm quite happy with the votecrit being available; it is something I had previously inquired about, at multiple times. Moreover, the trial has clearly been quite successul: the preference distribution shows that many regulars wish for crits to be off, even if they are not necessarily eager to talk the matter over. In this regard, adding the votecrit granted a small wish to many of our players.
Nevertheless, I appreciate that the dissatisfaction expressed here is legitimate, and the subject thorny. Years ago we would play on B2B, HH, THG, and maybe GOG. (Sometimes all in the same evening.) Nowadays, THG is in the rather thankless situation of being the only European community server left, and must deal with that somehow. We know that, we know taste varies, we know players come and go; it's no use getting our knickers in a twist over the history of how things came to be.
No doubt, we can debate our keyboards off over the votecrit itself, but I feel that we should also consider the larger issue, in that the vote system currently active on the server, while straightforward, does a bit of a disservice to THG as a community. Always honoring the absolute majority is reasonable enough, but it is unpleasant among friends and playfellows — and THG is all about friends and playfellows.
When PL maps edge out CP maps by three or four votes (or vice versa) for two hours and several mapvotes, it means that nearly half the players are not enjoying themselves as much as they could. When there is no critvote, many players are frustrated and feel unheard; when there is a critvote, other people are unhappy because crits are, in practice, always off, as we've seen this week. I cherish crits off; they make the game significantly more enjoyable for me. Yet the gracious thing to do, in such circumstances, is to give a courtesy round to the losers. It's why, with few exceptions, I like to nominate a PL map after two consecutive CP maps, and a CP map after two consecutive PL maps — regardless of what I would rather play. A small nicety goes a long way.
I'm not sure how a balance could be struck that's predictable and works well for everyone. We could look for a way to keep crits on for a few maps every night, or encourage players to turn them on every now and then, in the same way that exceptionally one-sided rounds trigger a scramble. Any improvement in this direction would, alas, require work from our kind admins.
Ultimately, I'd like to see us try to find a practical solution that makes our cherished regulars happier, even for just a few maps at a time, rather than leave half the community permanently disgruntled by this or that irreconcilable difference. We already had a nice bit on compromise: we turned melee crits back on after the first day, which I thought was a nice touch. (I may be a tad biased here; after all, I practically main mittens heavy. :) )
It should come to no surprise that I'm quite happy with the votecrit being available; it is something I had previously inquired about, at multiple times. Moreover, the trial has clearly been quite successul: the preference distribution shows that many regulars wish for crits to be off, even if they are not necessarily eager to talk the matter over. In this regard, adding the votecrit granted a small wish to many of our players.
Nevertheless, I appreciate that the dissatisfaction expressed here is legitimate, and the subject thorny. Years ago we would play on B2B, HH, THG, and maybe GOG. (Sometimes all in the same evening.) Nowadays, THG is in the rather thankless situation of being the only European community server left, and must deal with that somehow. We know that, we know taste varies, we know players come and go; it's no use getting our knickers in a twist over the history of how things came to be.
No doubt, we can debate our keyboards off over the votecrit itself, but I feel that we should also consider the larger issue, in that the vote system currently active on the server, while straightforward, does a bit of a disservice to THG as a community. Always honoring the absolute majority is reasonable enough, but it is unpleasant among friends and playfellows — and THG is all about friends and playfellows.
When PL maps edge out CP maps by three or four votes (or vice versa) for two hours and several mapvotes, it means that nearly half the players are not enjoying themselves as much as they could. When there is no critvote, many players are frustrated and feel unheard; when there is a critvote, other people are unhappy because crits are, in practice, always off, as we've seen this week. I cherish crits off; they make the game significantly more enjoyable for me. Yet the gracious thing to do, in such circumstances, is to give a courtesy round to the losers. It's why, with few exceptions, I like to nominate a PL map after two consecutive CP maps, and a CP map after two consecutive PL maps — regardless of what I would rather play. A small nicety goes a long way.
I'm not sure how a balance could be struck that's predictable and works well for everyone. We could look for a way to keep crits on for a few maps every night, or encourage players to turn them on every now and then, in the same way that exceptionally one-sided rounds trigger a scramble. Any improvement in this direction would, alas, require work from our kind admins.
Ultimately, I'd like to see us try to find a practical solution that makes our cherished regulars happier, even for just a few maps at a time, rather than leave half the community permanently disgruntled by this or that irreconcilable difference. We already had a nice bit on compromise: we turned melee crits back on after the first day, which I thought was a nice touch. (I may be a tad biased here; after all, I practically main mittens heavy. :) )
Last edited by Zero-Sum on Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
Post by TheKnigget »
The problem currently is that the crit vote has been permanently in the non-crit favor. In a direct democracy, this alienates the minority.
Map voting is different in the sense that the vote is able to swing between different maps and game modes.
What you said about voting CP's to PL's basically describes you as a swing voter.
Swing voters are key as when voting there will always be people who will permanently vote for or against. Basically Swing voters are king makers, they have the power to decide which camp wins.
However I have yet to see the crit vote swing to the crit favor nor have I actually seen anyone from either side decide to modify their vote. Which means we are in a permanent state of non-crits.
Perhaps another viable solution to satisfy both camps is to get rid of the crit-vote. (Screw democracy, it doesn't work here)
Push the responsibility of crit vote to the server level instead of the player level and allow the server to have crits for Mondays-Thursday and have Fridays-Sundays as non-crits. (Or vice versa as long as the days are grouped up and it doesn't alternate every day since people hate constant change)
Modify the HTML server notification to mention that Mondays-Thursday are crit days and Fridays-Sundays are non-crit days.
Map voting is different in the sense that the vote is able to swing between different maps and game modes.
What you said about voting CP's to PL's basically describes you as a swing voter.
Swing voters are key as when voting there will always be people who will permanently vote for or against. Basically Swing voters are king makers, they have the power to decide which camp wins.
However I have yet to see the crit vote swing to the crit favor nor have I actually seen anyone from either side decide to modify their vote. Which means we are in a permanent state of non-crits.
Perhaps another viable solution to satisfy both camps is to get rid of the crit-vote. (Screw democracy, it doesn't work here)
Push the responsibility of crit vote to the server level instead of the player level and allow the server to have crits for Mondays-Thursday and have Fridays-Sundays as non-crits. (Or vice versa as long as the days are grouped up and it doesn't alternate every day since people hate constant change)
Modify the HTML server notification to mention that Mondays-Thursday are crit days and Fridays-Sundays are non-crit days.
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
Hi guys
I've deliberately not responded to this thread so far as I wanted to let others have their say; I have read it all however.
What I would like to say is that I'm sorry for the sudden-nature of the plugin's appearance, as I realise that its addition to the server came as a shock to some members of the community. I've already mentioned this privately to some, but I wanted to post it here also. More consideration and dialogue should have taken place before the plugin was added to #1.
Although I realise that there is a majority vote on the server for the disablement of crits, it saddens me at the unrest and stress this whole situation has created within the community. I feel responsible and in all honesty a bit bummed out by the whole thing.
One mechanic within the game shouldn't be the be-all and end-all and I think it's important to keep that in mind.
What I would ask though is that can we please keep the discussion civil and on-topic as I realise that with most discussions, especially when there's passion on either side, that there's a potential for the thread to take on a different tone. In addition (and I'll also mention this on the server when I'm next on), this thread is the place for discussion of crits/non-crits. The server chat isn't the place for it (or for debating any other matter) . The server should be for playing and having fun which is what THG is about.
Huwujux, I disagree with your assertion that crits are being 'forced on the community'. Crits are a core (and noticeable) game-mechanic implemented by Valve. Given that their disablement actually penalises the server regarding players directed to the server via quick-play, it can be used to infer what Valve believe the default crits setting should be. Crits have been present on THG since its inception and pre-dates the community in its current form by quite some margin. Your use of the word forced implies that THG waited for a core player community to build up and then flicked a switch to enable crits, which just isn't the case at all.
THG is supposed to be a fun TF2 community that welcomes new members of all abilities. Having a server without crits (effectively, given the current voting trends), means it will likely be more difficult to attract and retain players with a lower skill-rating. Some members within the community already feel that the level of play on #1 at times is above their skill-ceiling. This can be very discouraging to some and will eventually lead them to either play less, or stop playing on THG completely. In my opinion, players leaving the community because they feel they're not good enough at the game is a very bad thing. Since its inception, this is not what THG has strived to be.
My point, is although on the surface this is a relatively straight-forward decision of keep the crit-vote plugin or not, as with most things in life, it isn't that simple. The decision is actually bigger than that and is about whether THG is currently in the place it should be, what direction it's heading in and whether this is the direction THG should be moving.
Finally as I'm sure all of you can appreciate, the admins have an impossible decision to make. Regardless of the decision made and how THG moves forward, unfortunately, one guarantee from all of this is that not everyone will be 100% happy. What I can say though is that all views however have been taken into consideration.
Finally finally, it was intended that this plugin would be trialed on the server for a period of approximately one week. This was felt to be a reasonable period of time with which to evaluate its use. Therefore, the trial will end this coming Wednesday and at which point, the plugin will be removed while a decision is made. Doing so provides a contrast to the previous week and may provide useful additional feedback.
DaV
I've deliberately not responded to this thread so far as I wanted to let others have their say; I have read it all however.
What I would like to say is that I'm sorry for the sudden-nature of the plugin's appearance, as I realise that its addition to the server came as a shock to some members of the community. I've already mentioned this privately to some, but I wanted to post it here also. More consideration and dialogue should have taken place before the plugin was added to #1.
Although I realise that there is a majority vote on the server for the disablement of crits, it saddens me at the unrest and stress this whole situation has created within the community. I feel responsible and in all honesty a bit bummed out by the whole thing.
One mechanic within the game shouldn't be the be-all and end-all and I think it's important to keep that in mind.
What I would ask though is that can we please keep the discussion civil and on-topic as I realise that with most discussions, especially when there's passion on either side, that there's a potential for the thread to take on a different tone. In addition (and I'll also mention this on the server when I'm next on), this thread is the place for discussion of crits/non-crits. The server chat isn't the place for it (or for debating any other matter) . The server should be for playing and having fun which is what THG is about.
Huwujux, I disagree with your assertion that crits are being 'forced on the community'. Crits are a core (and noticeable) game-mechanic implemented by Valve. Given that their disablement actually penalises the server regarding players directed to the server via quick-play, it can be used to infer what Valve believe the default crits setting should be. Crits have been present on THG since its inception and pre-dates the community in its current form by quite some margin. Your use of the word forced implies that THG waited for a core player community to build up and then flicked a switch to enable crits, which just isn't the case at all.
THG is supposed to be a fun TF2 community that welcomes new members of all abilities. Having a server without crits (effectively, given the current voting trends), means it will likely be more difficult to attract and retain players with a lower skill-rating. Some members within the community already feel that the level of play on #1 at times is above their skill-ceiling. This can be very discouraging to some and will eventually lead them to either play less, or stop playing on THG completely. In my opinion, players leaving the community because they feel they're not good enough at the game is a very bad thing. Since its inception, this is not what THG has strived to be.
My point, is although on the surface this is a relatively straight-forward decision of keep the crit-vote plugin or not, as with most things in life, it isn't that simple. The decision is actually bigger than that and is about whether THG is currently in the place it should be, what direction it's heading in and whether this is the direction THG should be moving.
Finally as I'm sure all of you can appreciate, the admins have an impossible decision to make. Regardless of the decision made and how THG moves forward, unfortunately, one guarantee from all of this is that not everyone will be 100% happy. What I can say though is that all views however have been taken into consideration.
Finally finally, it was intended that this plugin would be trialed on the server for a period of approximately one week. This was felt to be a reasonable period of time with which to evaluate its use. Therefore, the trial will end this coming Wednesday and at which point, the plugin will be removed while a decision is made. Doing so provides a contrast to the previous week and may provide useful additional feedback.
DaV
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
[quote=Derfy post_id=50965]On a more serious note: DaV - can you up the timeout for the crit vote again please? It still is regularly reporting a total of ~20 votes when there are 28 players on the server.[/quote]
This is definitely an issue, and one that DaV has mentioned to me. I suggested upping the timer to 60 seconds or so, since most maps are payload and there is always a setup time. It will mess up CP maps slightly but 60 seconds isn't really a big deal there; although I have no idea what it defaults to before the vote has taken place.
[quote=TheKnigget post_id=50969]The problem currently is that the crit vote has been permanently in the non-crit favor. In a direct democracy, this alienates the minority.[/quote]
I'm not exactly sure what peoples' obsession with random crits is based on, nor why it matters so much that they feel alienated from the critvote, but I acknowledge that this...devotion exists. The issue is that random crits being enabled will always affect those who dislike them far more than those who like them. Without them, the game is still TF2. You still have all the classes, all the weapons and all the game mechanics that arise from that. With crits on however, you have all that plus sometimes you get screwed over by no fault of your own nor the enemy's. It raises a number of issues for people of varying playstyles and is seen as somewhat of a stain on an otherwise enjoyable game. There are those who feel bad when they die to a random crit, and who also feel bad when getting kills with them. This isn't a matter of "just embrace the randomness", since people can't help wanting fairness if that's what they desire, and thus they feel guilty when they screw over other people by effectively rolling a dice.
Take for example a kritzkrieg medic. He has spent the better part of his time building up a charge with which to push back the enemy team. He gets a heavy and they jump around a corner to surprise the enemy team and mow them down. Suddenly, the enemy heavy who is already revved up rolls the dice and gets random crits just as the charge is popped, and he kills both the enemy medic and other heavy before they have a chance to get anything off. This has already ruined the fun for at least two players. This has nothing to do with 'tryharding' or 'being competitive', but rather being denied an enjoyable feeling purely because the server wanted to. I'm sure everyone can appreciate the dopamine rush of being kritzed (either as the medic or patient) and watching the killfeed explode with enemy players. The people involved don't even have to care about winning or not, but it is undeniable that something has been taken away from their experience. This is not to mention the gameplay flow, where the medic's downtime spent dedicated to building the actual charge has now been replaced with even more downtime in the respawn screen; rather than the high he should be feeling from finally being able to pop the kritz. What's worse is if the enemy heavy who got the random crits was one of the people who feels bad about it. This means it has detracted from the experience for everyone involved.
Moving on, random crits also force players to assume every attack is going to deal 3x the normal amount of damage. Many classes are built around knowing your limits, from knowing how much health is safe to rocket jump into a fight with as soldier, to simply not wanting to die as a medic or frontline heavy. There are even a considerable number of weapons where the downsides involve a decreased health pool, making the attempt to gauge your limits an even tighter matter. If a player correctly assesses a situation and determines that his health pool is enough to sustain the risked damage output from the enemy team, then that is a part of the gameplay and this player should be rewarded for their forethought by presumably not dying. This is particularly noticeable on medics, since a lot of time is spent building up ubercharge for a push. Dying with full charge because a random crit decided to completely invalidate the last 40-60 seconds of your gameplay, regardless of how well you thought you'd survive the normal damage numbers, is extremely demotivating.
I've gone off on a bit of a tangent here by talking about crits themselves rather than the vote, but it was in an effort to hopefully give some perspective on the matter from those who dislike them. It's unfair to strawman it as people wanting to tryhard or play competitively, when it's simply a desire and preference to play the game fairly, without being denied an enjoyable experience on a consistent basis.
[quote=TheKnigget post_id=50969]Screw democracy, it doesn't work here[/quote]
Please stop saying this. I know you may be saying it more tongue-in-cheek since it was in small text, but the vote is working exactly as it is supposed to. You simply aren't being given your desired choice of play by unfair means anymore, and are instead subject to a fairer system whereby the majority decides what it wants.
[quote=DaV post_id=50972]Huwujux, I disagree with your assertion that crits are being 'forced on the community'. Crits are a core (and noticeable) game-mechanic implemented by Valve. Given that their disablement actually penalises the server regarding players directed to the server via quick-play, it can be used to infer what Valve believe the default crits setting should be. Crits have been present on THG since its inception and pre-dates the community in its current form by quite some margin. Your use of the word forced implies that THG waited for a core player community to build up and then flicked a switch to enable crits, which just isn't the case at all.[/quote]
Quickplay no longer exists, and even back when it did there are critvote plugins that bypass this lockout (I'm not sure if the one currently in use would have done that). As for Valve, I'm not sure how their opinion factors into the situation whatsoever. They created and the game and implemented random crits, but they also provided the option to disable them. If the option is available and the playerbase concerned with this option prefers it off, then I don't see how Valve's stance should be the basis for a decision on the matter.
[quote=DaV post_id=50972]THG is supposed to be a fun TF2 community that welcomes new members of all abilities. Having a server without crits (effectively, given the current voting trends), means it will likely be more difficult to attract and retain players with a lower skill-rating. Some members within the community already feel that the level of play on #1 at times is above their skill-ceiling. This can be very discouraging to some and will eventually lead them to either play less, or stop playing on THG completely. In my opinion, players leaving the community because they feel they're not good enough at the game is a very bad thing. Since its inception, this is not what THG has strived to be.[/quote]
This is an issue I actually do worry for too, but I feel that random crits are a very ugly way to go about alleviating it. With quickplay gone community servers have also been left absolutely nothing to help get new blood in. Other than those dissatisfied with the new casual system stumbling across us out of sheer chance, Valve have left us with nothing more than the ancient server browser for people to use. If things remain this way then the playerbase may begin stagnating as it is. Without new players coming in and mixing up the playerbase with their varying skill levels, it remains to be seen how this will affect things like skill-ceilings. Sadly, there isn't a way to see into the future here and know whether Valve is going to help community servers as a whole. They are notorious for their lack of communication with the community but there are glimpses of that potentially improving, sadly there is still nothing substantial as of yet though.
This is definitely an issue, and one that DaV has mentioned to me. I suggested upping the timer to 60 seconds or so, since most maps are payload and there is always a setup time. It will mess up CP maps slightly but 60 seconds isn't really a big deal there; although I have no idea what it defaults to before the vote has taken place.
[quote=TheKnigget post_id=50969]The problem currently is that the crit vote has been permanently in the non-crit favor. In a direct democracy, this alienates the minority.[/quote]
I'm not exactly sure what peoples' obsession with random crits is based on, nor why it matters so much that they feel alienated from the critvote, but I acknowledge that this...devotion exists. The issue is that random crits being enabled will always affect those who dislike them far more than those who like them. Without them, the game is still TF2. You still have all the classes, all the weapons and all the game mechanics that arise from that. With crits on however, you have all that plus sometimes you get screwed over by no fault of your own nor the enemy's. It raises a number of issues for people of varying playstyles and is seen as somewhat of a stain on an otherwise enjoyable game. There are those who feel bad when they die to a random crit, and who also feel bad when getting kills with them. This isn't a matter of "just embrace the randomness", since people can't help wanting fairness if that's what they desire, and thus they feel guilty when they screw over other people by effectively rolling a dice.
Take for example a kritzkrieg medic. He has spent the better part of his time building up a charge with which to push back the enemy team. He gets a heavy and they jump around a corner to surprise the enemy team and mow them down. Suddenly, the enemy heavy who is already revved up rolls the dice and gets random crits just as the charge is popped, and he kills both the enemy medic and other heavy before they have a chance to get anything off. This has already ruined the fun for at least two players. This has nothing to do with 'tryharding' or 'being competitive', but rather being denied an enjoyable feeling purely because the server wanted to. I'm sure everyone can appreciate the dopamine rush of being kritzed (either as the medic or patient) and watching the killfeed explode with enemy players. The people involved don't even have to care about winning or not, but it is undeniable that something has been taken away from their experience. This is not to mention the gameplay flow, where the medic's downtime spent dedicated to building the actual charge has now been replaced with even more downtime in the respawn screen; rather than the high he should be feeling from finally being able to pop the kritz. What's worse is if the enemy heavy who got the random crits was one of the people who feels bad about it. This means it has detracted from the experience for everyone involved.
Moving on, random crits also force players to assume every attack is going to deal 3x the normal amount of damage. Many classes are built around knowing your limits, from knowing how much health is safe to rocket jump into a fight with as soldier, to simply not wanting to die as a medic or frontline heavy. There are even a considerable number of weapons where the downsides involve a decreased health pool, making the attempt to gauge your limits an even tighter matter. If a player correctly assesses a situation and determines that his health pool is enough to sustain the risked damage output from the enemy team, then that is a part of the gameplay and this player should be rewarded for their forethought by presumably not dying. This is particularly noticeable on medics, since a lot of time is spent building up ubercharge for a push. Dying with full charge because a random crit decided to completely invalidate the last 40-60 seconds of your gameplay, regardless of how well you thought you'd survive the normal damage numbers, is extremely demotivating.
I've gone off on a bit of a tangent here by talking about crits themselves rather than the vote, but it was in an effort to hopefully give some perspective on the matter from those who dislike them. It's unfair to strawman it as people wanting to tryhard or play competitively, when it's simply a desire and preference to play the game fairly, without being denied an enjoyable experience on a consistent basis.
[quote=TheKnigget post_id=50969]Screw democracy, it doesn't work here[/quote]
Please stop saying this. I know you may be saying it more tongue-in-cheek since it was in small text, but the vote is working exactly as it is supposed to. You simply aren't being given your desired choice of play by unfair means anymore, and are instead subject to a fairer system whereby the majority decides what it wants.
[quote=DaV post_id=50972]Huwujux, I disagree with your assertion that crits are being 'forced on the community'. Crits are a core (and noticeable) game-mechanic implemented by Valve. Given that their disablement actually penalises the server regarding players directed to the server via quick-play, it can be used to infer what Valve believe the default crits setting should be. Crits have been present on THG since its inception and pre-dates the community in its current form by quite some margin. Your use of the word forced implies that THG waited for a core player community to build up and then flicked a switch to enable crits, which just isn't the case at all.[/quote]
Quickplay no longer exists, and even back when it did there are critvote plugins that bypass this lockout (I'm not sure if the one currently in use would have done that). As for Valve, I'm not sure how their opinion factors into the situation whatsoever. They created and the game and implemented random crits, but they also provided the option to disable them. If the option is available and the playerbase concerned with this option prefers it off, then I don't see how Valve's stance should be the basis for a decision on the matter.
[quote=DaV post_id=50972]THG is supposed to be a fun TF2 community that welcomes new members of all abilities. Having a server without crits (effectively, given the current voting trends), means it will likely be more difficult to attract and retain players with a lower skill-rating. Some members within the community already feel that the level of play on #1 at times is above their skill-ceiling. This can be very discouraging to some and will eventually lead them to either play less, or stop playing on THG completely. In my opinion, players leaving the community because they feel they're not good enough at the game is a very bad thing. Since its inception, this is not what THG has strived to be.[/quote]
This is an issue I actually do worry for too, but I feel that random crits are a very ugly way to go about alleviating it. With quickplay gone community servers have also been left absolutely nothing to help get new blood in. Other than those dissatisfied with the new casual system stumbling across us out of sheer chance, Valve have left us with nothing more than the ancient server browser for people to use. If things remain this way then the playerbase may begin stagnating as it is. Without new players coming in and mixing up the playerbase with their varying skill levels, it remains to be seen how this will affect things like skill-ceilings. Sadly, there isn't a way to see into the future here and know whether Valve is going to help community servers as a whole. They are notorious for their lack of communication with the community but there are glimpses of that potentially improving, sadly there is still nothing substantial as of yet though.
Last edited by Huwajux on Sun Jul 24, 2016 5:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
[quote=TheKnigget post_id=50969]Map voting is different in the sense that the vote is able to swing between different maps and game modes. [/quote]
You're confusing the outcome of the vote with the vote itself here. The outcome may be different in that we get different results on any given night/map compared to the semi-permanent disabled crits. The actual implementation and mechanics of the map vote and crit vote are the same so therefore can be a direct comparison.
[quote=DaV post_id=50972] Given that their disablement actually penalises the server regarding players directed to the server via quick-play,[/quote] With the change in the last patch, this isn't true any more. People doing quick play are sent to casual mode which doesn't include any community servers. Those who would join a community server have to do it manually via the server browser now, which doesn't have a crit/no crit option. This may change as valve have stated that casual play will change in an upcomming patch.
You're confusing the outcome of the vote with the vote itself here. The outcome may be different in that we get different results on any given night/map compared to the semi-permanent disabled crits. The actual implementation and mechanics of the map vote and crit vote are the same so therefore can be a direct comparison.
[quote=DaV post_id=50972] Given that their disablement actually penalises the server regarding players directed to the server via quick-play,[/quote] With the change in the last patch, this isn't true any more. People doing quick play are sent to casual mode which doesn't include any community servers. Those who would join a community server have to do it manually via the server browser now, which doesn't have a crit/no crit option. This may change as valve have stated that casual play will change in an upcomming patch.
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
Even though I do not play on THG tirelessly every night as I used to do. I want to give my 2 cents
(I do aim to come back to THG when my Overwatch passion is up. Thus wanting you guys to still be there waiting me
Anyway, crits does not make or break the game.
Critting someone, and thus getting a kill, does not feel THAT satisfying and I refuse to believe, that even a new person (Poor skills)
Is playing any better, knowing crits is on the server. No one relys on them, and winning a skirmish due to a crit, makes the moment pretty forgetable.
Since crits is just absurdly unfair, when it comes to classes like: Spies/Medics/Snipers/Engineer
I think many of the THG Pro-Crit voters is either not taking into account, how bitter it is to play with a handicap.
Everyone, tryhard or not, plays to feel good. Not just good in the regard of skilled, but having a good time.
I personly often sat pretty sad when my killstreak got ruined by a random crit, that maybe wasn't even intended to hit me: e.g random soldier rocket on a wall near me, or pipe.
There is no way that person who fired the rocket, got super happy or in any way felt good about it. But I sure as hell felt bad :l
Most people want this discussion to be about the "new players" vs "Skilled tryhards". I think this is wrong, everyone plays together on THG.
- Yes, as a new player, I looked up to people like Zero-Sum and such, those who always killed me. And it was pretty exciting to get him or olshi, or whoever was dominating me, with a random crocket. But it felt NOWHERE near as good, as to dominate them after months of improving!
Im just saying, that the THG experience is REALLY good for most players. That is why people stick around. We are talking averagely a 9/10 evening guaranteed.
Getting your gameplay ruined by crit reduces this experience, and your evening might only be a 5/10 (I have quitted some nights, when I felt really cheated.)
And here is the point, even despite getting a lot of random crits, and kills that way. - My evening would not be any better!
The THG game experience is great, and crits does not make it any better. However, it can make an evening slightly worse.
I just highly doubt anyone really liked getting killed my random crits, and I doubt aswell, that anyone gets super excited about getting random kills.
Its the up front and personal kills on your friends that really makes a night memorable!
I for one, have plenty of memories of great skirmishes with SteelRat for instance. Many of my best moments had NOTHING to do with Crits.
That's why I just want people to remember, that regardless of crits or not, it really isn't what makes the THG experience that awesome, it is the people!
Just vote your preference on the server and maybe just enjoy each other, instead of getting demoralized by something that really is that worth getting all that upset about :/
Love from Fnif <3
(I do aim to come back to THG when my Overwatch passion is up. Thus wanting you guys to still be there waiting me
Anyway, crits does not make or break the game.
Critting someone, and thus getting a kill, does not feel THAT satisfying and I refuse to believe, that even a new person (Poor skills)
Is playing any better, knowing crits is on the server. No one relys on them, and winning a skirmish due to a crit, makes the moment pretty forgetable.
Since crits is just absurdly unfair, when it comes to classes like: Spies/Medics/Snipers/Engineer
I think many of the THG Pro-Crit voters is either not taking into account, how bitter it is to play with a handicap.
Everyone, tryhard or not, plays to feel good. Not just good in the regard of skilled, but having a good time.
I personly often sat pretty sad when my killstreak got ruined by a random crit, that maybe wasn't even intended to hit me: e.g random soldier rocket on a wall near me, or pipe.
There is no way that person who fired the rocket, got super happy or in any way felt good about it. But I sure as hell felt bad :l
Most people want this discussion to be about the "new players" vs "Skilled tryhards". I think this is wrong, everyone plays together on THG.
- Yes, as a new player, I looked up to people like Zero-Sum and such, those who always killed me. And it was pretty exciting to get him or olshi, or whoever was dominating me, with a random crocket. But it felt NOWHERE near as good, as to dominate them after months of improving!
Im just saying, that the THG experience is REALLY good for most players. That is why people stick around. We are talking averagely a 9/10 evening guaranteed.
Getting your gameplay ruined by crit reduces this experience, and your evening might only be a 5/10 (I have quitted some nights, when I felt really cheated.)
And here is the point, even despite getting a lot of random crits, and kills that way. - My evening would not be any better!
The THG game experience is great, and crits does not make it any better. However, it can make an evening slightly worse.
I just highly doubt anyone really liked getting killed my random crits, and I doubt aswell, that anyone gets super excited about getting random kills.
Its the up front and personal kills on your friends that really makes a night memorable!
I for one, have plenty of memories of great skirmishes with SteelRat for instance. Many of my best moments had NOTHING to do with Crits.
That's why I just want people to remember, that regardless of crits or not, it really isn't what makes the THG experience that awesome, it is the people!
Just vote your preference on the server and maybe just enjoy each other, instead of getting demoralized by something that really is that worth getting all that upset about :/
Love from Fnif <3
-
- Regular@THG
- Posts: 72
- Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:00 am
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
Post by TheKnigget »
@Derfy, yeah outcome is different that's what I'm trying to point that out, the outcome however for the crit vote has been in a permanent state of no-crit.
Mechanically the voting system is the same I agree.
@Huw, Im pointing out the flaw of direct democracy and it is a flaw. Not so in any other form of democracy but the crit vote is a form of direct democracy.
Btw when I say screw democracy, I do mean it towards direct democracy and Im not joking because I don't think this is working at all nor do I believe it works in real life.
(Yes sometimes an executive decision is better than direct democracy)
Staying on topic
I have always believed the issue isn't merely about crit voting even though this thread basically says discuss the crit vote
Crit voting does make sense by itself. It does make the game fair by removing the random element (though you can manipulate it to your advantage) known as random crits.
However the issue is a lot deeper than just crit voting. One cannot simply abstract away all the historical context and then funnel what remains into a simple yes/no question. Every issue, including this one, doesn't just suddenly appear out of no where, instead a chain of historical events causes the issue to arise.
I think carlos mentioned earlier to take a look at the previous crit discussions, maybe that will help everyone and I see the events/past reasons that have caused this issue to keep on arising.
Finally on Dav statement, I think that is true. THG has and always been stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to crit/no-crit. No admin wants to make the final executive decision. But I do feel given the direction Valve is moving, perhaps this issue can be resolved in the near future.
Off-topic
@Huw
"I'm not exactly sure what peoples' obsession with random crits is based on, nor why it matters so much that they feel alienated from the critvote, but I acknowledge that this...devotion exists."
That statement brought a smile to my face, reminds me back in the good old days when I was looking into a Mao's China
Mechanically the voting system is the same I agree.
@Huw, Im pointing out the flaw of direct democracy and it is a flaw. Not so in any other form of democracy but the crit vote is a form of direct democracy.
Btw when I say screw democracy, I do mean it towards direct democracy and Im not joking because I don't think this is working at all nor do I believe it works in real life.
(Yes sometimes an executive decision is better than direct democracy)
Staying on topic
I have always believed the issue isn't merely about crit voting even though this thread basically says discuss the crit vote
Crit voting does make sense by itself. It does make the game fair by removing the random element (though you can manipulate it to your advantage) known as random crits.
However the issue is a lot deeper than just crit voting. One cannot simply abstract away all the historical context and then funnel what remains into a simple yes/no question. Every issue, including this one, doesn't just suddenly appear out of no where, instead a chain of historical events causes the issue to arise.
I think carlos mentioned earlier to take a look at the previous crit discussions, maybe that will help everyone and I see the events/past reasons that have caused this issue to keep on arising.
Finally on Dav statement, I think that is true. THG has and always been stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to crit/no-crit. No admin wants to make the final executive decision. But I do feel given the direction Valve is moving, perhaps this issue can be resolved in the near future.
Off-topic
@Huw
"I'm not exactly sure what peoples' obsession with random crits is based on, nor why it matters so much that they feel alienated from the critvote, but I acknowledge that this...devotion exists."
That statement brought a smile to my face, reminds me back in the good old days when I was looking into a Mao's China
Last edited by TheKnigget on Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
Quality post coming, my opinion on the matter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ussCHoQttyQ
you guys should write a book or something =D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ussCHoQttyQ
you guys should write a book or something =D
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
Hi everyone,
As someone who strongly dislike crits, this was a very much welcomed change for me. I am sad to see the community is so divided on the issue.
Although some things have been said already I feel there are some important issues worth addressing.
Server traffic / Casual vs competitive
There seems to be quite widespread worry that implemetation of critvote will decrease the number of players / newcomers and thus subsequently lead to the death of the server.I am not sure I agree with that. The critvote has been implemented for merely a few days, so as of now its effect on the server traffic is impossible to ascertain, let alone if its such a controversial issue which make people argue too emotionally about it. That never helps anything.
It can be argued, that the critvote will in fact attract more players to the server, especially with the advent of matchmaking and fact that no-crit / vote-crit servers are horribly lacking these days. I see the worry here is that it will ONLY attract more skilled, competitively minded players which will in turn shift THG towards much more serious side than it currently is and in turn drive away the more casually minded members of the community.
The thing is - we cannot know if it goes like this. First of all, I feel the barrier for the less skilled players is already in place - large percentage of thg's current playerbase is highly skilled and competitively minded and the gameplay is more or less organised with large number of people using microphones etc. I'd say this is not a bad thing, quite to the contrary. I cannot speak for other people, but what me personally attracted to THG, was aside from the fact thg has possibly the best community I have ever encountered online, that it has an unique balance of screwing around fun (demopan brigades, taunting after kills, etc..) and serious play. Especially the latter, since when I found about THG, it was either full-time comp or Valve pubs, which were absolutely horrible (and even though I visited them often, I'd argue they were the thing which was killing TF2 as a game in the long term, but I don't want to sidetrack too much).
I understand that people are worried the critvote will upset this delicate balance of casual/competitive play and transform the server into some minor 12v12 league, but I disagree. Putting aside melee crits, which are always on and I think they should stay on, since they players a reason to use melee weapons more and are oftentimes hilarious (e.g. the glorious pan-crits) I really don't think the crits are in any way prerequisite for having a fun casual gameplay. They are, as far as I am concerned, irrelevant to the casual side and horribly detrimental to the serious side. For me, the fun-side of THG comes up with people going on demopan rushes with taunts after each kill (and I always gladly join these), or playing as fist hoovy and stuff like that. None of this has any connection to random crits, you can only have your shenanigans interrupted by them and that only turns the crits into an annoyance for screwing around. Once again, I am not discussing melee crits here, which are often integral part of these shenanigans.
Also, the feared barrier for the less skilled newcomers is already in place and won't be much changed by either absence or presence of random crits, I'd say. It stems from the current composition of THG playerbase (which consist from a lot of former/current comp players) and the general nature the game is played in the server. I myself had a pretty hard time my first times on the server and I believe many of those who didn't come straight from the leagues had it the same way. Furthermore, there is a repeated mistake that the crits serve as some kind of equalizer between more and less skilled players. That is simply not the case, since Valve itself confirmed the crits were implemented as a way to reward more skilled players for the damage dealt. The fact that crit chances are scaled with damage dealt only only furthers the imbalance against lesser skilled players. For this and other reasons, I don't think the absence of crits could possibly make a difference for a newcomer.
The democracy
While I see the critvote as a fair method, I see that there is a problem if the server is somewhat evenly split on the issue with small majority against the crit and a significant proportion of
playerbase feels left out, which is not good if the server tries to make the most of people happy. However, this is a double-edged sword which cannot be used to argue for returning to previous status quo, since it suffers from the very same issue this time with even bigger percentage of playerbase being let down.
Also as Derfy said, it is unclear what community means here. I observed that many regulars on the server were quite happy with this change, while the forums are in flames. If it is not too much pain to implement I think it would be useful to track the statistics of the votes to see how many players favour whichever options and perhaps how the ratio changes through the evening (IIRC, it was 11/9 in the early hours and 21/5 in the late evening yesterday). This would give clear figures to operate with - i.e. to see what percentage of players actually dislike crits and whether or not are cirts actually never enabled, and then possibly adjust the solution to that - e.g. crits could be enabled during the early hours and disabled during the later ones, assuming that more pro-crit people play in earlier hours and vice versa.
Conclusion
First and foremost, I think we really need longer testing period if we want to make any firm conclusions about it's impacts on the server. The issue is now hot and in the longer run, cooler heads can prevail. Also, longer testing period would yield more data on server traffic and possibly regs and randoms crit preferences ratios and its dynamics with time.
Second, while I favour the current implementation I feel for the result to satisfy the most of the community a compromise should be made, the alternatives already being outlined by some. This would include no-crit days, or no-crit hours (perhaps as I said, making later hours no-crit and earlier yes-crit), or transfering the initiation of vote to admins so it would be handled int the same manner as the all-talk vote. I just don't think it would be advisable to go all the way back since it would left the issue completely unresolved. Also, no matter the outcome, the melee crits should stay permanently on, the reasons being said before (as a spy main I will just have to clench my teeth and endure the crit-wrenches).
So that would be my few cents, see you all in the game .
EDIT: Just a heads up - tonight, preferences resulted in crits being turned on some maps.
As someone who strongly dislike crits, this was a very much welcomed change for me. I am sad to see the community is so divided on the issue.
Although some things have been said already I feel there are some important issues worth addressing.
Server traffic / Casual vs competitive
There seems to be quite widespread worry that implemetation of critvote will decrease the number of players / newcomers and thus subsequently lead to the death of the server.I am not sure I agree with that. The critvote has been implemented for merely a few days, so as of now its effect on the server traffic is impossible to ascertain, let alone if its such a controversial issue which make people argue too emotionally about it. That never helps anything.
It can be argued, that the critvote will in fact attract more players to the server, especially with the advent of matchmaking and fact that no-crit / vote-crit servers are horribly lacking these days. I see the worry here is that it will ONLY attract more skilled, competitively minded players which will in turn shift THG towards much more serious side than it currently is and in turn drive away the more casually minded members of the community.
The thing is - we cannot know if it goes like this. First of all, I feel the barrier for the less skilled players is already in place - large percentage of thg's current playerbase is highly skilled and competitively minded and the gameplay is more or less organised with large number of people using microphones etc. I'd say this is not a bad thing, quite to the contrary. I cannot speak for other people, but what me personally attracted to THG, was aside from the fact thg has possibly the best community I have ever encountered online, that it has an unique balance of screwing around fun (demopan brigades, taunting after kills, etc..) and serious play. Especially the latter, since when I found about THG, it was either full-time comp or Valve pubs, which were absolutely horrible (and even though I visited them often, I'd argue they were the thing which was killing TF2 as a game in the long term, but I don't want to sidetrack too much).
I understand that people are worried the critvote will upset this delicate balance of casual/competitive play and transform the server into some minor 12v12 league, but I disagree. Putting aside melee crits, which are always on and I think they should stay on, since they players a reason to use melee weapons more and are oftentimes hilarious (e.g. the glorious pan-crits) I really don't think the crits are in any way prerequisite for having a fun casual gameplay. They are, as far as I am concerned, irrelevant to the casual side and horribly detrimental to the serious side. For me, the fun-side of THG comes up with people going on demopan rushes with taunts after each kill (and I always gladly join these), or playing as fist hoovy and stuff like that. None of this has any connection to random crits, you can only have your shenanigans interrupted by them and that only turns the crits into an annoyance for screwing around. Once again, I am not discussing melee crits here, which are often integral part of these shenanigans.
Also, the feared barrier for the less skilled newcomers is already in place and won't be much changed by either absence or presence of random crits, I'd say. It stems from the current composition of THG playerbase (which consist from a lot of former/current comp players) and the general nature the game is played in the server. I myself had a pretty hard time my first times on the server and I believe many of those who didn't come straight from the leagues had it the same way. Furthermore, there is a repeated mistake that the crits serve as some kind of equalizer between more and less skilled players. That is simply not the case, since Valve itself confirmed the crits were implemented as a way to reward more skilled players for the damage dealt. The fact that crit chances are scaled with damage dealt only only furthers the imbalance against lesser skilled players. For this and other reasons, I don't think the absence of crits could possibly make a difference for a newcomer.
The democracy
While I see the critvote as a fair method, I see that there is a problem if the server is somewhat evenly split on the issue with small majority against the crit and a significant proportion of
playerbase feels left out, which is not good if the server tries to make the most of people happy. However, this is a double-edged sword which cannot be used to argue for returning to previous status quo, since it suffers from the very same issue this time with even bigger percentage of playerbase being let down.
Also as Derfy said, it is unclear what community means here. I observed that many regulars on the server were quite happy with this change, while the forums are in flames. If it is not too much pain to implement I think it would be useful to track the statistics of the votes to see how many players favour whichever options and perhaps how the ratio changes through the evening (IIRC, it was 11/9 in the early hours and 21/5 in the late evening yesterday). This would give clear figures to operate with - i.e. to see what percentage of players actually dislike crits and whether or not are cirts actually never enabled, and then possibly adjust the solution to that - e.g. crits could be enabled during the early hours and disabled during the later ones, assuming that more pro-crit people play in earlier hours and vice versa.
Conclusion
First and foremost, I think we really need longer testing period if we want to make any firm conclusions about it's impacts on the server. The issue is now hot and in the longer run, cooler heads can prevail. Also, longer testing period would yield more data on server traffic and possibly regs and randoms crit preferences ratios and its dynamics with time.
Second, while I favour the current implementation I feel for the result to satisfy the most of the community a compromise should be made, the alternatives already being outlined by some. This would include no-crit days, or no-crit hours (perhaps as I said, making later hours no-crit and earlier yes-crit), or transfering the initiation of vote to admins so it would be handled int the same manner as the all-talk vote. I just don't think it would be advisable to go all the way back since it would left the issue completely unresolved. Also, no matter the outcome, the melee crits should stay permanently on, the reasons being said before (as a spy main I will just have to clench my teeth and endure the crit-wrenches).
So that would be my few cents, see you all in the game .
EDIT: Just a heads up - tonight, preferences resulted in crits being turned on some maps.
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
I absolutely hate being killed by random crits. Still, I think random crits should stay on. Even more so now that Valve removed Valve servers so players who don't enjoy casual matchmaking can find truly vanilla servers to play on. And this obviously helps THG to get more regs etc.
Also, as has probably been mentioned, some people might help seed the server because there are crits. Now if bunch of people join and change the server for these people after they've done the hard work of seeding it might put them off from doing so.
Also, as has probably been mentioned, some people might help seed the server because there are crits. Now if bunch of people join and change the server for these people after they've done the hard work of seeding it might put them off from doing so.
- Lophophora
- THG Member
- Posts: 79
- Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 12:00 am
- Location: Cambs
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
Post by Lophophora »
Ah, no random crits is boring! I miss dying to them :lol:
Most of the times I die, I laugh. It is part of the fun! And if the opposing team just got a random crit that took a few of us out and swung things their way, so be it, the moment passes in an instant, the next encounter is up, whilst I'm still laughing!
But now some of that fun has been removed.. almost feels as dull as HH server got to be, lets all be super cereal.. :roll:
Most of the times I die, I laugh. It is part of the fun! And if the opposing team just got a random crit that took a few of us out and swung things their way, so be it, the moment passes in an instant, the next encounter is up, whilst I'm still laughing!
But now some of that fun has been removed.. almost feels as dull as HH server got to be, lets all be super cereal.. :roll:
Re: Votecrit has been implemented! (discussion)
As the trial is now over and is being actively discussed by the Admins, this topic is being locked for now as it appears to have run its course.
If you really feel that you would like to post something else that adds to the disuccsion, let me know.
If you really feel that you would like to post something else that adds to the disuccsion, let me know.