Option to opt out of tracked stats?

SvardskampeSvardskampe Join Date: 2013-01-25 Member: 182079Members
As a casual player, I really dislike the notion of having tracked stats across games. I do own NS2 since about launch, and the reason I did so, was to be free from the restrains Battlefield and such put on you by tracking your K/D, W/L ratio and such bullshit.

I can understand why people do like it, but please make the entire "skill level" thing something I can opt out of. it's plainly not fun for me to be confronted with it every time again. Kinda hard to ignore too when it's put in your face in the main menu.

If this topic is placed in the wrong section, I'm sorry. It didn't seem to fit anywhere else.
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Comments

  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    I don't like it either, but I can ignore it.
  • IronsoulIronsoul Join Date: 2011-03-12 Member: 86048Members
    I just want to be able to not be tracked when I don't feel like playing seriously.
  • 2cough2cough Rocky Mountain High Join Date: 2013-03-14 Member: 183952Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    edited December 2013
    Tip: don't take it seriously. It's not accurate anyways, don't sweat it. I currently have a higher skill than some prem. Div. comp players (you can view teams from the hive), but really it's because they play tougher opponents, as well as many servers don't transmit stats anyways. They would roll me right up. I'll have some mega rounds, then disconnect to find that server didn't transmit anyways, even on vanilla servers.

    Stay casual, don't worry about it much.
    Ironsoul wrote: »
    I just want to be able to not be tracked when I don't feel like playing seriously.

    You can just join a modded or not whitelisted server.

  • sotanahtsotanaht Join Date: 2013-01-12 Member: 179215Members
    Hopefully, eventually, the stats will be based on a metric that actually works in NS2 (wins alone, kills and deaths are meaningless). When that happens it will be necessary that everyone is tracked all the time in order for the numbers to be valid for anybody. It doesn't really need to be on the main menu like it is though.
  • RoobubbaRoobubba Who you gonna call? Join Date: 2003-01-06 Member: 11930Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    edited December 2013
    I don't like it, and I'm of an unfortunate mental trait that finds it difficult to ignore. It was the main reason that I quit bf2 back in the day and turns me off many games by its presence.
    It's all very well to say 'just ignore it' but for some people, myself included, it's not that simple.

    This may sound sad, and many of you won't understand when I say this but trust me it's true: I find that the very presence of stats ruins my enjoyment of the game.

    The only stat I want to care about is % accuracy. I would much rather have that in place of skill and level on my menu and on hive stats.

    In fact when I next get onto the computer I shall dig out some scores and the points that hive attributed which show very clearly that the only way to get high skill score is by pub stomping. Clan play actually ruins your hive score even if you win (wtf).
  • Ghosthree3Ghosthree3 Join Date: 2010-02-13 Member: 70557Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Roobubba wrote: »
    Clan play actually ruins your hive score even if you win (wtf).

    So much this lol, I had a skill rating of ~700 at one point from just playing pub (not deliberately stacking, but in my area games were easy as marine at the time). After scrimming a bunch my skill dropped to 380... What's odd though is it randomly dropped to 180 today after I played ZERO games for the last week...
  • AsranielAsraniel Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
    Just ignore it. It really is here so that in the future we can have more balanced team/servers. Its really inaccurate so dont even try to play for skill points. The whole point of it is that at some point we can make the different between 3-4 player cathegories (beginners, normal, advanced, pro, just to give some examples).
  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I can't deny that matchmaking is a nice feature. But personally, I love the "clean slate" nature of NS2, where every round is exactly what you put into it. It's much more rewarding if someone recognizes you from personal battle experience, rather than a soulless stat track. More comraderie without alienating any newcomers (all they need to do is prove themselves in battle).

    Plus, I love the minigame of mentally rating and keeping track of other players. E.g. "this guy is freaky good at skulk maneuvering," or "this commander is quick on his feet and listens to his team's suggestions," or even "this guy is new and sucks, but he is learning fast compared to most."

    Tldr: if there's an opt out function, allow us to opt out of seeing other people's ranks, too.
  • AsranielAsraniel Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
    You dont see the ranks of other players anyway, you have to actively search for them on hive
  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Asraniel wrote: »
    You dont see the ranks of other players anyway, you have to actively search for them on hive

    Good, keeping it that way would keep the statsism at a minimum.

  • xBlueXFoxxxBlueXFoxx Join Date: 2013-06-07 Member: 185497Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    edited December 2013
    Call me a downer but I really don't think this system will ever be accurate, the game is too flip sided, when you lose, you REALLY lose (IE eggs getting farmed by kills by shotgun rushed marines.) Best off ignoring it, if people are harassing you if you have a poor KDR you should honestly be laughing at them.

    A large portion, maybe a majority of servers are modded and stat tracking is disabled anyways, as a game that announces itself to have a large modding community, I have my doubts matchmaking will really be that effective, but I've been saying that since the start of all this hive nonsense. KDR is useless, feel bad for gorge players, W/L may prove something, but stacked games are sure to blow that out of the water. I've got 600+ hours of playtime but only 4 hours recorded of Hive gameplay, I doubt a lot of servers really want to delete their mods for the ability to record stats...

    I have a skill level of 264 it appears, is that even good? KDR of 1.2, W/L 3.33.

    I think the only thing that will come of this is more pub stomping for KDR, I'd like someone else's take on this.
  • JektJekt Join Date: 2012-02-05 Member: 143714Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    I think the stats and match making are both going to prove to be redundant. If a system was in place at release perhaps. I really can't see anyone opting to go the lobby route with such a small player base compared to just joining a nearly full server and playing immediately. Two 6v6 groups of similar skill levels looking for a game at the same time is a pipe dream.

    I'll probably get my house set on fire for this, but I think the game would need to go free to play to up the player base for any match making / lobbying / gather system / whatever it's going to be called, to be used by anyone. And the statistics system needs to be vastly improved and take into account the skill rating of who you are playing against and player accuracy of various weapons.

    As for the UI, or pub stomping. I don't know. Not going to think about those right now. It's Christmas, time for happy thoughts. I like the way CS:GO handles it though.

    Whatever the case, I won't deny the system won't improve NS2. Which Hugh raved about at the last thread of match making naysayers. The point is that the improvement won't change the experience for anyone. I want to be wrong about this.

    I'm not convinced at this stage that whatever funds are being thrown at this from the Reinforced donations are going to prove to be worthwhile, and I wouldn't of voted for any of the amount go towards it without a (see f2p above) drastic increase in player base.
  • AsranielAsraniel Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
    I'm more looking forward for this feature to be used in something like a vote "all random" option on the server. ns2stats does that already, but having the same thing in vanilla would be great. I doubt too that there is a playerbase big enough for real matchmaking. But having that info on the server browser (like we do right now with the skill bar) will already help to get people on servers that have more or less their skill level.
    That said, the skill system is not ready and clearly gives wrong results. The skill bar on the serverbrowser is close to useless because you dont know where your personall skill level is related to the skill bar (i would propose to use the quake live way of doing it, with icons that tell you if a certain server is at your skill level, above or under). So i hope we can work on all that over the next patches. Imho, everything that helps to make slightly more balanced games is great. NS2 can be your best or worst game experience, based on the skill difference between the teams
  • SebSeb Melbourne, AU Join Date: 2013-04-01 Member: 184576Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Retired Community Developer
    @Jekt

    I just set your house on fire.

    Otherwise I agree.
  • RoobubbaRoobubba Who you gonna call? Join Date: 2003-01-06 Member: 11930Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    @Asraniel 'just ignore it' does NOT work for people afflicted with the mentality that I also have.
    It is one among many things I hate about myself, but it is what it is and I am not alone in feeling this way. Hiding the stats completely (with an opt in system for people who do want them) really is the only way to satisfy both camps.
  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    I haven't even played NS2 yet and my skill has dropped to 115...

    Although with me, if I did start playing ns2, my skill would drop even lower...
  • JektJekt Join Date: 2012-02-05 Member: 143714Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited December 2013
    Agree with @Asraniel
    Smart skill random teams are essential and would be the largest benefit the stats system will bring.

    I don't really rate server skill rating since there's usually 1-5 good players and then everyone else who just finished learning how a keyboard works per server.
  • AsranielAsraniel Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
    Just wanted to say one thing. Having the skill value displayed on the main menu was also done to get it more into spotlight and thus get some discussion going on it. Like, does it work, how should it be used etc. I'm no dev, but quite certain that displaying in the main menu is not a final decision for example (i like it there, i does not bother me and i think for a certain amount of more casual players it will motivate them to play more). So threads like that are a great thing. Just keep in mind that its a certain type of players that does not like stats at all and would like them not to be displayed. That kind of player is probably more likely to be in the forum and voice his opinion against it.
  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    @Asraniel, that is a pretty sweeping statement to make with no back-up. I could quite easily say
    "Just keep in mind that it is a certain type of player that does like stats and would like them displayed. That kind of player is probably more likely to be in the forum and voice their opinion against it."

    There is no evidence for either mindset being prevalent, while there is definitely a prevalence of it in games, does not mean there is a prevalence in people's minds.
  • AsranielAsraniel Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
    OK, then let me rephrase by saying "keep an open mind to all opinions, as this forum might or might not be representative of all players opinions"
  • soccerguy243soccerguy243 Join Date: 2012-12-22 Member: 175920Members, WC 2013 - Supporter
    i like the accuracy stat to get tracked.
  • RaZDaZRaZDaZ Join Date: 2012-11-05 Member: 167331Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited December 2013
    I don't mind stat tracking overall but when there's a skill level indicator then you can go f*** yourself because all it does is spawn people who stack teams more and stomp noobs for stat padding. I'm seeing stacked games far more frequently since Eclipse but it could be sheer coincidence.

    I'd rather see a score indicator, win/loss, role/class played, rank, maybe K/D at MOST but nothing to do with skill. You can easily get a 5+ K/D or high skill level if you play on rookie servers or just outclass others on servers you frequently visit but you'd be lucky to get above 1 vs competitive players especially highly skilled players as an average/good pub player.

    If you're going to show K/D or skill level then show it with servers most played on because anyone can go on a ZM or UWE official server and rack up a high rank.
  • DaxxDaxx Join Date: 2002-04-16 Member: 460Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited January 2014
    Roobubba wrote: »
    @Asraniel 'just ignore it' does NOT work for people afflicted with the mentality that I also have.
    It is one among many things I hate about myself, but it is what it is and I am not alone in feeling this way. Hiding the stats completely (with an opt in system for people who do want them) really is the only way to satisfy both camps.

    Oh your depressed? Have you tried being happier?

    Edit: huh didn't think I'd have to be more obvious with the sarcasm.

  • Ghosthree3Ghosthree3 Join Date: 2010-02-13 Member: 70557Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    I tried being happy once. It was awful.
  • SiG_SiG_ Singapore Join Date: 2013-12-17 Member: 190211Members
    Does anyone have any info on how that "skill" stat is being calculated? I've been playing more closely matched games recently and despite winning, that score has been going down. I don't care much for it and would rather see more detailed stats such as % accuracy and kills with different weapons, time spent welding, etc. But if it's going to be in my face, I'd like to know how why it's behaving in such a counter-intuitive way, counter-intuitive at least from my perspective.
  • GhoulofGSG9GhoulofGSG9 Join Date: 2013-03-31 Member: 184566Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Supporter, WC 2013 - Supporter, Pistachionauts
    edited December 2013
    SiG_ wrote: »
    Does anyone have any info on how that "skill" stat is being calculated? I've been playing more closely matched games recently and despite winning, that score has been going down. I don't care much for it and would rather see more detailed stats such as % accuracy and kills with different weapons, time spent welding, etc. But if it's going to be in my face, I'd like to know how why it's behaving in such a counter-intuitive way, counter-intuitive at least from my perspective.

    Because i'm lazy atm and tired of repeating myself every time here's the last post i made about this (look at 4. / 5.):

    To give a start, i'll just list some facts about hive to clear things up:

    1. By default all servers with 1+ mods enabled are not sending any datas to hive
    2. There are mods like "[Shine] Ns2Stats" enabling Hive back again.
    2.1 [Shine] NS2Stats allow you to easily opt out of any stats logging (either add a bot or just unload the plugin)
    3. Servers get whitelisted by uwe if there are enought round datas (~50) and will then show up at hive website.

    4. LVL represent how experiment a player is as it is based on the sum of scores.
    5. Skill is the avg Skill rating reached in all rounds played . The exact current formula for the skill rating is unknown but it's based on w/l + k/d/a + score

    6. If you find a server used by players to manipulate hive stats report it, it will then get off the whitelist.

    After each round playerstats will be send to hive if player played more than 5 min of a round.
    Exact datas are printed into the server log and look like this:
    {assists = 5,nickname = "Ghoul",marineTime = 0,kills = 7,playTime = 483.76455432456,alienTime = 483.76455432456,deaths = 5,steamId = 49071975,isCommander = "false",isWinner = "true",score = 52,}

    Keep in mention that the Skill formula changed quiet often in the last month and therefore is not final.

    BTT: I totally agree that there should be a personal opt-out option.
  • Ghosthree3Ghosthree3 Join Date: 2010-02-13 Member: 70557Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Kills are a factor, each kill gives a set amount of points, but then this is divided by the K/D. So 40/2 would give a reasonable amount of skill, where 20/2 would give less. But 40/5 would give less than the 20/2 (I think, it's late, fuck you math).
    Assists give a small skill bonus each.
    Score gives a small skill bonus every 10 or something.
    The longer the round the less points you will receive. So 40/2 might give 400 skill in a 30 minute game, but in an hour game it gives 200, in 2 hours it gives 100 (one hour is the value the devisions are based off).
    Losing subtracts a fraction of your total skill after all other calculations.

    This is probably partly wrong as when I discovered this the hive was still fairly new, changes to the method of calculation have probably occurred. However I'd hazard a guess that everything I mentioned is still relevant in some way.
  • SvardskampeSvardskampe Join Date: 2013-01-25 Member: 182079Members
    Btw, I'd like to add that because of decisions like these, my fun in the game is downplayed, and it does give me a rather "nah" feeling about the reinforcement program, which I'd gladly partaken in if I believed in the company to be dealing with my personal concerns too (the "demograph" I belong too), so far all I see is that the devs really look at competitive, and it's pretty much all that matters to them.

    So it does yield monetary loss. just an fyi, as the "casual" group, and I define casual as people who play the damn game without discussing it and partaking into discussions here, but just play it for their leisure without any motivations in getting higher into competitive play, but that group is what I think somewhat larger than just the competitive group. And as I see that in all of this time, just 200K from the 550K has been reached, while many kickstarters get that in a single day, there is clearly something more going on than just problems with the "rewards".

    I'd like to stress that I'm not asking for "catering to the casual player". I'm asking to keep in mind that there is more to it than just competitive play, and with that for example, a personal opt-out of tracked stats would be very welcome.

    (Other things that hold me back is that in an update multi-monitor use was broken due to hard limit on FOV. But ye, as I'm just a minority playing with eyefinity...Ye, forget about that)

    @Roobubba Even for people without certain mental conditions it's problematic in the sense of experience. I don't like it shoved into my face when I'm starting a game. Immediately wants me to choose a different game actually to play.
  • Ghosthree3Ghosthree3 Join Date: 2010-02-13 Member: 70557Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Also, just adding that I find it hilarious that people whined for ages about there being no rank system, now that people can see it they whine about it being there.
    Never change community.
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