I have to admit, that I am fairly new to this game (playing about four weeks) and am probably one of the worst players you will happen to encounter. So maybe you care to hear from someone being definitely involved in the casual part of the game.
Every time I join a server, I am somewhat worried to disturb someone's game because I know I am really bad and they will probably be better off without me. When I do play, I am killed between 20 and 40 times in a match and, if I am really lucky, I get one or two kills on my score, too. That's why I strictly join rookie friendly servers, because I presume you have to somewhat expect rookie players like me on a rookie server, don't you ?
I do not intend to start a career in pro gaming, I do not value NS2 as a competetive e-sport, and I am fine with playing the game 2 to 4 hours a week at 15 to 20 FPS. That being said, I am not feeling very confident when I get the advice 'If you are so bad, get the f### better by practicing 30h/week or get the f### out.' I simply do not have the time to dedicate that much time to a game I enjoy while working at my PhD thesis and the like.
Despite the above, I DO worry about spoiling games for others. I would'n dare to join a server seeing that its majority of players is totally above my (non existent) skill level. It's no fun for their team being screwed by someone like me, and it's no fun being instantly killed the first time you see an opposed player without knowing what hit you, too.
Therefore, I would love to have some kind of self-rating with which one could describe its own experience level (between noob and pro). Using this information, I'd like to add a histogram of player skill next to each server in the server list. So you can see at one glace if your skill level matches the skill levels of the other players on the server before joining. This additional information won't hurt anyone and wouldn't encourage griefing, rage quits, highscore whoring, wrong self rating, or all the other things you worried about in this thread.
By this voluntary self regulation, everyone can join a server which seems to suit oneself, or veteran players having fun in teaching could purposely join a dedicated rookie server to help new players getting a start in the game. The most fun games I ever had, were those in which I had a great commander actually caring for the poor performing players by communicating clear orders, giving valuable tips and not getting mad when things went wrong. ( Thank you, commander, if you ever happen to read this. )
If you really want to develop a dedicated ever-growing player community (which is needed for a rich competitive player base later on) you should start to actually care for new players and educate them instead of taking them for easy targets - which they obviously are. I've never read someone's chat message 'Hey rookies, wanna learn some alien tricks from a veteran ? Join my Explore Mode server XYZ in 5 minutes. Password is Skulk_Fun' But I guess, this would be more cumbersome than to say "Just get better by getting beaten up."
If you really care for rookie players, actually do something for them. Adding forced Matchmaking mechanics to the game or server list won't do the trick for them. If you see, that you play with some strong players agains some noobs, go join their side. And for the games sake, include an option to remove that stupid "equal numbers of players for each side" limitation. If players aren't equally skilled (which they never are), equal numbers of players won't foce a match into balance. This is something which can only be done by the ones actually playing the game.
It actually doesn't improve games. The most balanced and fun games of Dota I've ever played came with using 3rd party programs, not matchmaking.(garena, DXD League, dotalicious, etc.)
Oh yes, I guess Dota 2 players should go back to manually dealing with griefers and leavers with 3rd party kick/banlist tools, and by leaving team balance up to chance as it was in Bnet. Pitch this idea to Valve, they'll probably hire you on the spot.
Is it easier to talk to a lecture hall full of people, or a small group of people? Pretty self-explanatory.
It's actually not self-explanatory how having less players overall would make it easier to gather 11 other players at the same time. Only thing that's clear is that you're rather dim.
Matchmaking isn't even a choice, nor is it meaningful. Sounds to me like you might as well quit playing altogether.
First you explain that the devs created the game, now you tell us that there's no matchmaking in a thread asking for matchmaking, how low your opinion of others can be? Anyway, the point was that finding PUGs right now is relatively hard, while playing in pubs is easy, so it's not really the result of a meaningful choice if people play in pubs.
Clearly you've not played either game. You can win games without having to use brute force. This means there are multiple strategies, and some people are better at certain ones than others. This is deep and complex. This is not NS2.
Reaction times do play a large role in NS2, it being FPS and all, but I'm somehow led to believe that you may be too 12v12 oriented or at least not thinking about it lucidly if you see the game in such a simplified light to reduce skill differenes to "brute force". Good players in NS2 stand out not just by reaction times, but also by positioning, map awareness, various know-how etc.
I can count on one hand the amount of bad pub games I've played in. My team has almost always had a shot, and the game was pretty fun. Maybe you really should take my advice about trying a different server.
Or maybe you're just easy to entertain. It happens, some people have fun even in FarmVille.
Have you used Matchmaking in any other game? Half the time you're sent back to the "waiting room" because someone failed to validate that the game has been found. Now toss that in with a 30 minute matchmaking que. You could easily be waiting for an hour just for an NS2 game that lasts 30 minutes. I fail to see how this is an improvement.
I've played hundreds of matches in Dota 2, and being returned to queue (note the spelling) is a minor problem and is certainly better than having to search for mercs or being stuck while someone is trying to fix their game, as is wont to happen in ENSL gathers. Also, having to wait even an hour for a match would be an obvious improvement over having to wait for specific days or times of day when there are PUGs going on.
So basically you played strictly pubs in those 12 years of CS, or you just didn't understand the game fully? I'm sorry you didn't gather information which was smacking you in the forehead throughout those 12 years. Since you've played for 12 years I can elaborate for you, and you'd probably get the gist of what I'm saying. If you'd like to hear it I'll PM you. If not, it's probably best you never bring it up again. Playing for 12 years and not seeing the delicate complexity within CS???? I definitely won't be responding to you any longer on this thread until you actually post something intelligent. I'm sorry, but if I did anything for 12 years I'd know it inside and out, which you must not. I already touched on things that make CS a deeper game, and instead of debunking that you simply say: "LOL NOPE I PLAYED FOR 12 YEARS AND HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOURE SAYING." You must not want everyone to think you're trash at CS... delicate egos indeed.
You only mentioned that CS has economy and weapons, what is there to debunk? Your smack talk doesn't warrant much more than pointing out that others have just as good if not better claim to authority about CS. It's just ridiculous that you would pretend that a game so heavily based on reaction times would be deeper than a multiple genre crossover asymmetric team game like NS, and it's not because I wasn't good at either game.
NS2 is complex, and deep (though not as deep as NS1 (yet))
On topic:
as far as I can tell match making is the only way to actively promote a competitive community, with a very skill based game, while allowing every one to have fun with the game.
Good players don't whine about bad playings need to l2p. Bad players stop posting about aim bots.
They could work together with ensl.org for the searching of scrims and league matches with links to streams. There would be no need for a seperate system as there is a working one on ensl.org.
Most preferably there could be an ingame observe ability or ingame mini tournaments that would occur over a week period; problem being the lenght of the games and the huge amount of alien win draws.
Comments
No other way to put it
Every time I join a server, I am somewhat worried to disturb someone's game because I know I am really bad and they will probably be better off without me. When I do play, I am killed between 20 and 40 times in a match and, if I am really lucky, I get one or two kills on my score, too. That's why I strictly join rookie friendly servers, because I presume you have to somewhat expect rookie players like me on a rookie server, don't you ?
I do not intend to start a career in pro gaming, I do not value NS2 as a competetive e-sport, and I am fine with playing the game 2 to 4 hours a week at 15 to 20 FPS. That being said, I am not feeling very confident when I get the advice 'If you are so bad, get the f### better by practicing 30h/week or get the f### out.' I simply do not have the time to dedicate that much time to a game I enjoy while working at my PhD thesis and the like.
Despite the above, I DO worry about spoiling games for others. I would'n dare to join a server seeing that its majority of players is totally above my (non existent) skill level. It's no fun for their team being screwed by someone like me, and it's no fun being instantly killed the first time you see an opposed player without knowing what hit you, too.
Therefore, I would love to have some kind of self-rating with which one could describe its own experience level (between noob and pro). Using this information, I'd like to add a histogram of player skill next to each server in the server list. So you can see at one glace if your skill level matches the skill levels of the other players on the server before joining. This additional information won't hurt anyone and wouldn't encourage griefing, rage quits, highscore whoring, wrong self rating, or all the other things you worried about in this thread.
By this voluntary self regulation, everyone can join a server which seems to suit oneself, or veteran players having fun in teaching could purposely join a dedicated rookie server to help new players getting a start in the game. The most fun games I ever had, were those in which I had a great commander actually caring for the poor performing players by communicating clear orders, giving valuable tips and not getting mad when things went wrong. ( Thank you, commander, if you ever happen to read this. )
If you really want to develop a dedicated ever-growing player community (which is needed for a rich competitive player base later on) you should start to actually care for new players and educate them instead of taking them for easy targets - which they obviously are. I've never read someone's chat message 'Hey rookies, wanna learn some alien tricks from a veteran ? Join my Explore Mode server XYZ in 5 minutes. Password is Skulk_Fun' But I guess, this would be more cumbersome than to say "Just get better by getting beaten up."
If you really care for rookie players, actually do something for them. Adding forced Matchmaking mechanics to the game or server list won't do the trick for them. If you see, that you play with some strong players agains some noobs, go join their side. And for the games sake, include an option to remove that stupid "equal numbers of players for each side" limitation. If players aren't equally skilled (which they never are), equal numbers of players won't foce a match into balance. This is something which can only be done by the ones actually playing the game.
Oh yes, I guess Dota 2 players should go back to manually dealing with griefers and leavers with 3rd party kick/banlist tools, and by leaving team balance up to chance as it was in Bnet. Pitch this idea to Valve, they'll probably hire you on the spot.
It's actually not self-explanatory how having less players overall would make it easier to gather 11 other players at the same time. Only thing that's clear is that you're rather dim.
First you explain that the devs created the game, now you tell us that there's no matchmaking in a thread asking for matchmaking, how low your opinion of others can be? Anyway, the point was that finding PUGs right now is relatively hard, while playing in pubs is easy, so it's not really the result of a meaningful choice if people play in pubs.
Reaction times do play a large role in NS2, it being FPS and all, but I'm somehow led to believe that you may be too 12v12 oriented or at least not thinking about it lucidly if you see the game in such a simplified light to reduce skill differenes to "brute force". Good players in NS2 stand out not just by reaction times, but also by positioning, map awareness, various know-how etc.
Or maybe you're just easy to entertain. It happens, some people have fun even in FarmVille.
I've played hundreds of matches in Dota 2, and being returned to queue (note the spelling) is a minor problem and is certainly better than having to search for mercs or being stuck while someone is trying to fix their game, as is wont to happen in ENSL gathers. Also, having to wait even an hour for a match would be an obvious improvement over having to wait for specific days or times of day when there are PUGs going on.
You only mentioned that CS has economy and weapons, what is there to debunk? Your smack talk doesn't warrant much more than pointing out that others have just as good if not better claim to authority about CS. It's just ridiculous that you would pretend that a game so heavily based on reaction times would be deeper than a multiple genre crossover asymmetric team game like NS, and it's not because I wasn't good at either game.
Counter strike is deep, and simple
NS2 is complex, and deep (though not as deep as NS1 (yet))
On topic:
as far as I can tell match making is the only way to actively promote a competitive community, with a very skill based game, while allowing every one to have fun with the game.
Good players don't whine about bad playings need to l2p. Bad players stop posting about aim bots.
problem solved.
Most preferably there could be an ingame observe ability or ingame mini tournaments that would occur over a week period; problem being the lenght of the games and the huge amount of alien win draws.
ps. ensl season 2 sign ups are up