Basic functions still needed: Proper mapvote, kickvote, autokick
musicpete
Join Date: 2002-05-23 Member: 660Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2002-05-23 Member: 660Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">Please don't release without addressing these big annoyances</div>Hi!
Disclaimer: I tried the search function but it idiotically blocks all searches less that 3 characters (e.g. "map vote", "afk kick", "fov"...) so I created this topic. Sorry for waffling so long about this topic. I'll try to keep it short!
Since the beginning IMHO this game lacked some basic functionality to enhance the user experience:
<u>1) Proper map voting menu:</u>
Why not pop up a map voting screen for every user after [X] rounds or [Y] played minutes on a every map with a voting threshold of [Z]% for every choice (X, Y and Z being serverside config variables)? The screen could offer e.g. these options:
- Continue playing this map?
- Change map to X
- Change map to Y
- etc.
<u>2) Proper voting menu for disruptive and antisocial players:</u>
Why is there no proper player menu for that yet? Why are antisocial or disruptive players allowed to ruin other peoples gaming experience without being able to do something about it? Yes, I know - you can always switch servers but this is not CS where every game and server is basically the same... NS makes players invest more of their energy in the current game (making it more frustrating not being able to do anything about it).
Please add a simple menu with the options e.g.:
- Kick player -> Choose player to kick [Player will be reported to server admin automatically with screenshots and logs]
- Eject commander
- Request an admin to join and help [admin will be notified via customizable channels]
<u>3) AFK autokick:</u>
Seriously, how hard can it be to implement this? If a player doesn't move for [X] seconds, kick him. Let the server operator configure X to his liking. Done. This alone will take out a lot of frustration from games which end up unbalanced because of AFKs AND/OR commanders with a crashed game.
Sorry for the long ramblings, but I always thought these basic user experience thingies would be the first to be implemented - since they make the whole testing experience more enjoyable. But now the release approaches and these annoyances are still present. Is there anyone else who would love to see this implemented? Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I tried the search function but it idiotically blocks all searches less that 3 characters (e.g. "map vote", "afk kick", "fov"...) so I created this topic. Sorry for waffling so long about this topic. I'll try to keep it short!
Since the beginning IMHO this game lacked some basic functionality to enhance the user experience:
<u>1) Proper map voting menu:</u>
Why not pop up a map voting screen for every user after [X] rounds or [Y] played minutes on a every map with a voting threshold of [Z]% for every choice (X, Y and Z being serverside config variables)? The screen could offer e.g. these options:
- Continue playing this map?
- Change map to X
- Change map to Y
- etc.
<u>2) Proper voting menu for disruptive and antisocial players:</u>
Why is there no proper player menu for that yet? Why are antisocial or disruptive players allowed to ruin other peoples gaming experience without being able to do something about it? Yes, I know - you can always switch servers but this is not CS where every game and server is basically the same... NS makes players invest more of their energy in the current game (making it more frustrating not being able to do anything about it).
Please add a simple menu with the options e.g.:
- Kick player -> Choose player to kick [Player will be reported to server admin automatically with screenshots and logs]
- Eject commander
- Request an admin to join and help [admin will be notified via customizable channels]
<u>3) AFK autokick:</u>
Seriously, how hard can it be to implement this? If a player doesn't move for [X] seconds, kick him. Let the server operator configure X to his liking. Done. This alone will take out a lot of frustration from games which end up unbalanced because of AFKs AND/OR commanders with a crashed game.
Sorry for the long ramblings, but I always thought these basic user experience thingies would be the first to be implemented - since they make the whole testing experience more enjoyable. But now the release approaches and these annoyances are still present. Is there anyone else who would love to see this implemented? Thanks for reading!
Comments
Even some games which have been released and are widely popular only have those features as server addons (sourcemod/mani for TF2/CSS source games)
as for this:
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->- Kick player -> Choose player to kick [Player will be reported to server admin automatically with screenshots and logs]
- Eject commander
- Request an admin to join and help [admin will be notified via customizable channels]<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
eject commander vote is native in the game (i think p is the default but i'm not sure).
i'm also highly in favor for a contact-admin-command, it could be very useful against potential cheaters or technical server difficulties.
kick-vote is often a double-edged sword imo, but it would be fine with me if the threshold is really high (~80%) to prevent people from kicking others simply for their KDR.
i also belive the they will come up with a more elaborate ingame menu for voice commands etc. so chances are they will include some of these things.
Heck, if you are already on it you could even implement a vote system (aka Ready-Up-Button) for starting the round earlier and in exchange increase the pre-round time. (Like in MvM by TF2.)
basic things like calling a vote for new map or kicking someone should be there, maybe a menu option
shouldnt need to get a mod for basic features
still this thread might be a bit premature
This exists through Steam friends AND ... you guessed it: through a mod. <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=113246" target="_blank">Fsfod's menumod</a> can queue to multiple servers.
The servers that I frequent the most already have the admin-mods mentioned installed, but I feel that we (the players) or servers shouldn't need to download and install a mod for such basic funtionality.
Xarius: Changes to the server browser was mentioned in the Q&A yesterday, so I'm happy. I don't know what it'll entail, but hopefully some decent browser functionality.
Mestaritonttu: Bans should not be in the hands of players on a server, since it can possibly be abused to get rid of players that you for one reason or another don't want to play with. If the person in question is a suspected cheater, take screenshots, and let admins/whoever look into it.
EDIT: A couple people have mentioned peeps abusing a kick system to get rid of unwanted people. I don't see the problem - if the majority of the server wants you gone even though you're not being a d*ck, for an example, just for having a high KDR, then they can do it. They aren't having fun playing with you and doubt you're having fun when the whole server is dissing you. But personally, I've NEVER seen this happen. Sometimes in Quake when someone has 50/7 kills and don't understand to play on their own level they've been kicked. That's about the only time. Generally it's really hard to get even an outright troll kicked.
Thank you all for the considerate and thoughtful feedback! To prevent this thread going off on a tangent, I preventively and kindly ask you to stay on the (arguably broad) core topic of how to improve user experience in the standard unmodded game.
<!--quoteo(post=1989165:date=Oct 10 2012, 09:26 AM:name=Laosh'Ra)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Laosh'Ra @ Oct 10 2012, 09:26 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1989165"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->1) and 3) are already provided by mods on several servers.
[...]
kick-vote is often a double-edged sword imo, but it would be fine with me if the threshold is really high (~80%) to prevent people from kicking others simply for their KDR.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You brought up two important points that I disagree with:
1) I do NOT think that it should be up to modders to include basic interface functionality. I also think that we are no longer in 1995 when it was acceptable to bother players with console commands in order to achieve mapchanges/kicks/etc. Basic stuff like this needs to be part of the integrated onscreen menu.
2) As long as thresholds and options are customizable I can live with it. 80% seems excessive, though - I vividly remember many games when people desperately tried to get the last 1-2 persons to vote in order to prevent a ruined game or FINALLY achieve a mapswitch. Make it customizable and we can both agree... :)
<!--quoteo(post=1989179:date=Oct 10 2012, 10:33 AM:name=_Necro_)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (_Necro_ @ Oct 10 2012, 10:33 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1989179"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I absolutely agree. Mods are fine. But this needs to be officially in the game. The vote-menu for com-ejects already exists. But it lacks a way to inform other players that a vote is running.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's a great idea! There should be an informative message to the whole team! I often find myself so engrossed in the game that I stop reading the console/chat - and often I missed people desperately trying to eject a bad/crashed commander.
<!--quoteo(post=1989180:date=Oct 10 2012, 10:37 AM:name=Perestroika)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Perestroika @ Oct 10 2012, 10:37 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1989180"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->still this thread might be a bit premature<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why would you think that? It might be only my way of doing things... But getting basic ground-level user frustration out of the way would be the main priority from the start for me. After that is fixed, you can tweak and add stuff to your hearts content - The users will always have a way to control the playing experience.
<!--quoteo(post=1989192:date=Oct 10 2012, 11:32 AM:name=Xarius)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Xarius @ Oct 10 2012, 11:32 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1989192"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->What about queueing when a server is full? Spamming the retry command gets pretty boring.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sounds great! But I always used the nonflash menumod which has auto-retry (I also loved this in TF2). The standard menu seems clumsy, flashy, slow and useless to me personally. More focussed on looks that on providing a useful interface IMHO.
<!--quoteo(post=1989224:date=Oct 10 2012, 01:03 PM:name=LarsVarulv)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (LarsVarulv @ Oct 10 2012, 01:03 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1989224"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Mestaritonttu: Bans should not be in the hands of players on a server, since it can possibly be abused to get rid of players that you for one reason or another don't want to play with. If the person in question is a suspected cheater, take screenshots, and let admins/whoever look into it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's an age-old discussion.... I know it back from the days of TFC and CS. Basically, it boils down to wether you as a server owner want your users to be able to fix the problem right away or having to go the long way via IRC/forums/etc. in a "he said/she said" manner. Back in the old days of voogru's and later VH1 NS1 servers (where I had the honor of being admin for a while) it worked well to let the community kick/ban! There was always the option of a fair appeal through the forums. I all the time I NEVER experienced players ganging up on an innocent to ban him/her. Some trolling with the kicking function happened occasionally, though it never was a serious problem.
On the other hand, player mods controlling votekick/voteban allow servers to decide if they want active admin staff to have that power, or if they want the players to have access to it.
Seriously, Counter-Strike never had official methods to do this, and it's only one of the top FPS games of all time. Relaaaax, people :P
Sorry for the necrophilia, but yesterday I was playing the game again and found the interface still lacking. There is a small improvement with the new command menu, but still:
* We get no notice that people voted to eject to commander, how many people voted, how many are necessary, how long the vote will be running.
* Still no vote map.
* Still no vote kick.
Any ideas on how to get the developers attention to this? After conducting my own "research" by asking around a few servers, quit ea few players were interested in these features.
But delaying the release on such an important date isn't that good either, so please implement this within the first week after release.
I am pretty sure the developers read this topic. I could never imagine anything less about UWE and NS2...