Just Too Good
eaglec
Join Date: 2002-11-25 Member: 9948Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2002-11-25 Member: 9948Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">Tough Choices</div> Ok, heres a tough <b>theoretical situation </b>for you admins. I'd like to hear how you think it should be dealt with.
One day you notice a long term player on your server is doing much better than usual. In fact they seem unstopable. From that day on, seemingly out of the blue instead of being competant they are a god. They score 30:1 kill ratios on a constant basis in ns and do better in co. They single handidly ensure the victory of whatever team they join simply because they can take down anything the enemy team throws at them. they are quite litterally unstoppable.
You first thought may turn to hacking, but after many hours observation and using various anti-hack tools you have yet to catch them doing anything other than being too good.
Now your getting complaints because whenever they play the teams are stacked by this single player. Seriously its like giving that team an extra 8 players.
Now this player is a team player, friendly and an all round nice guy. Unfortunately all the games he joins are instantly ruined. What do you do? What should you do? What is the right thing to do?
One day you notice a long term player on your server is doing much better than usual. In fact they seem unstopable. From that day on, seemingly out of the blue instead of being competant they are a god. They score 30:1 kill ratios on a constant basis in ns and do better in co. They single handidly ensure the victory of whatever team they join simply because they can take down anything the enemy team throws at them. they are quite litterally unstoppable.
You first thought may turn to hacking, but after many hours observation and using various anti-hack tools you have yet to catch them doing anything other than being too good.
Now your getting complaints because whenever they play the teams are stacked by this single player. Seriously its like giving that team an extra 8 players.
Now this player is a team player, friendly and an all round nice guy. Unfortunately all the games he joins are instantly ruined. What do you do? What should you do? What is the right thing to do?
Comments
Tell him hes just to good for your server, that he needs to find a server with the same quality of players as he is. Explain how you feel.
If that dont work, use the mighty BANSTICK.
The needs of many outweigh the needs of one. And at $1200 a year, I wont let any one player destroy our server.
No, it's not perfect. But, short of Mountain Dew and HoHo's, nothing in life is perfect. Yeah, it screws up everybody's name, but guess what... get over it and go run CD. If you're too good to run CD, well.......
Run CD in optional mode. If a "No C-D" player seems "too good," insist, calmly and directly, that they return next game with CD or don't return at all. But this is key: THE REASON YOU'RE INSISTING THEY USE CD IS NOT THAT YOU THINK THEY'RE CHEATING, BUT RATHER TO SHUT UP EVERYONE ELSE WHO DOES THINK THEY'RE CHEATING.
If they get all pissy and storm off your server, so be it.... they're probably not the friend your server is looking for. If they do return, running the latest version of CD, nobody has any room to complain, and you just successfully retained a very skilled player on your server.
Good luck.
Wyzcrak
Forgive me. I misunderstood the heart of the question you were asking.
If you have a player whose individual skill outweighs the competitive power of an entire team of intelligent players working toward one strategy in a combined effort, I would say ban that player from the server. To quote Spock, and some other guy in this thread, and some old philosopher guy... "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Surely you agree with this.
What "I" find hard to believe is that this truely is the problem that you face. Were I in your shoes, I would find the best and brightest on your server and encourage them to be creative in organizing team-oriented solutions to this individual competitive force.
We have very talented regulars on our server. Players that, in most 1v1 (and in some cases 4v1) confrontations would walk away victorious with minimal damage. The strength in overpowering these guys is teamwork. If you have a server of regulars who, with their greatest combined teamwork effort, cannot overcome the skill of one player, ban that one player and send him to our server. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> I'd like to see how he fares against what we bring to the table. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Frankly, I hate my solution. But my hate, I think, is in actually forcing myself to accept your hypothetical. I've never seen an individual, in practice, who did to a server what you describe.
Wyzcrak
<!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Roo
CD is not perfect, is more a deturent becase there are hacks out to beat CD day after the new CD patches are out.
VAC does a better job at anit-hack but there is where the salt rubs in to the wounds, we was ment to have VAC support in 2.0 but didn't come then we was ment o have it in v3b didn't come.
Personally flayra needs to make VAC support priority, becasue as he's made a dilliberate attempt to attract CS players to NS with them CO maps, means we only have more hackers to deal with.
on subject on hand, banstick is in order.
zippy</span>
i didn't mention any clans and names here!
removed at the request of EagleC
Eaglec said it was a hypothetical question - it has no bearing on actual events whatsoever. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I think this is one of those questions in life that has no satisfactory answer. You could ban him, but you'd lose a good guy and a good player. You could let him stay, but risk alienating the other, less skilled, regulars on the server.
If anyone can come up with a magical solution to this, I would be impressed <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Another idea I came up with is to request said skilled player to assist in training other players on the server. Seems the most productive answer so far - assuming it would work.
/me slides into the shadows
Just ask the player to take it easy, dont go full blast all the time.
Tell that player to be aware of what is going on and use his skills as needed, not many skilled players play at their peak all the time.
Just ask the player to take it easy, dont go full blast all the time.
Tell that player to be aware of what is going on and use his skills as needed, not many skilled players play at their peak all the time.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
.. a couple thoughts...
I think eaglec asked for a way to work <i>around (or with)</i> the skill gap, not remove it or narrow it. I <i>think</i> that, for the sake of theoreticals, we're to assume the skill gap is unavoidable.
If not, and we're being asked for ideas on how to remove or shrinken the gap, I most like the idea of requiring the superior player to train other players if he is to remain a regular on the server. Nothing formal, just lots of tips and mentoring in-game.
Also, speaking ideally, I don't like the idea of asking a player to "tone it down". Life is short. Play hard. If we're gonna kill the gap, place that burden on the players presently defeated, not the player(s) presently victorious.
Wyzcrak
It's already like that, theoretically <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Well said. <!--emo&::marine::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/marine.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='marine.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Wyzcrak