Arena balancing

[mrsid2]

Ok, this thing with the unbalanced arena is getting really old.

AH needs some kind of a device which will put new accounts automatically to start with the country with the least players. Right now the players go to bish, who already have too many players (at the moment 82:72:28 for example.)

If the new players would be signed to the least big country, there's a chance they'd also stay there. Now they dont even know how to change countries and when they do, they'll think twice before going to the side of the banged.

This constant teaming up and gangbanging in the arena really benefits nobody. I'm really tired to it and had to log off in disgust just now.

It's pointless really to continue the 3 country system if the standard will be that there are 2 big countries that bully the one with the small numbers. It's downright lame.
However judging from the huge success within the bish, there are a huge amount of players who want nothing but fast easy points with the security of 20 teammates around them.

[Vortex]

This makes a lot of sense. One would think it pretty easy to do that as well. It would be a simple parsing of the database at first login and then based on that value have it override the FE's setting. You'd only want to have that "run once" though so as to allow folks to change countries after the fact if they choose to.

Do squads change country's much to help maintain balance? Or do folks typically stick with one country and leave it at that?

Vortex

[Lephturn]

It's just a fact of life in a mega-player game like this guys.  There is no way around it.

Now granted, NDISLES seems to be bad for this as the bottom right is always "in the bucket" for some reason.  It's just how the map is designed I guess.

I believe that new players are RANDOMLY joined to different countries.  They don't all get piled into the same country anymore, HT learned his lesson with RED back in WB on that one if I remember right.    (New players always joined red, so it was always the "newbie" country and always got beat on a lot.)

And when it comes to how many countries there are... well HT and Pyro have tried 2, 3, and 4 in various games they've run.  They came back to 3 for a reason.  The reason is that the other options turned out WORSE.  Trust them, they've been doing this a LONG time and have a lot of experience to make these decisions on.  They make their living doing this, so they take it very seriously.

The bottom line is that numbers rule.  Therefore folks will always tend to "gang up" on the weaker side because they simply win more fights that way.  I can tell you I have a heck of a lot more respect for the guys that organize a small strike against the more powerful energy than I do for the folks that organize a 50 plane attack on the losing side.

There are some things that could be done to help balance things out, but the arena is designed to encourage your team to win the war and gain perk point bonuses.  That means most folks go after the weaker opponent every time.  Maybe HTC will try giving the out-numbered side some type of perk-point bonus based on country numbers at some point.  It would be interesting to see what affect, if any, that would have on the arena dynamics.

[sling322]

So what makes you think that sending all new players to the side with less people will make things better?  All you end up with then is a country full of new guys asking "how do i bomb?"  "how do i bail?" etc...

It would seem to me that you would want the new guys to go to a different country because they wont be very effective for your country if they dont know what they are doing.  Seriously, which would you rather have 50 guys on your side that know what they are doing or 80 guys but only half of them have been here longer than the 2 week trial?  I think I know which I would pick.

Gang bangs happen.  There is no way to prevent it.  Each country gets their turn.  I do notice however that it seems to get worse the longer we are stuck on a map.  After a week or so it gets to where it seems that everybody is ganging just to get rid of the map.

[Pongo]

There are things that could be changed in the game to discourage the gangbang but honestly, I havent seen a long one in quite a while. They used to go on for a month or more. Now it seems to be a day or two at most.
Dont tie the new player to the worst off side. They are on thier two week free trial and we want them to enjoy it. They will not help the side they are on.. take my word for it. They will just be victimized and hear the squeaking on channel 2 and quit after two weeks.

[Vortex]

I think the point was if country X, based on the dbase info, has a membership of 500 (just to use a number), and countries Y and Z each have twice that number registered, then the influx of new players to country X helps over the long run.

That having been said I noticed since the map changed that the rooks now have seen a significant increase in numbers. As Lephturn elluded upthread folks will typically follow the path of least resitance. AH obviously is no different; the majority typically run from the tough fights and flock to the low risk situations. Accordingly upon further reflection a randomizer on first login to determine country is probably sufficient. Folks will shuffle around following that based on odds, squads, boredom, etc anyway.

Vortex

[mrsid2]

Part of the problem seems to be that the country domination changes also with the timezones. I see people complaining about bishrook alliance all the time, yet I have never seen it happen during my months of gameplay. I see quite the opposite of that, with rooks 1/3 downhand in numbers.

The people who are saying 'you all get your turn in the bucket' or whatever, are dead wrong. If the 'turn' comes during the wee hours of european players, it benefits only the US players but nobody from europe. At least the ones with jobs. So the reality for the european players is that they get banged over and over at rook side.

Mindanao map was played for a total of one hour and rooks had lost already 10 fields to both knits and bish. One hour.. Numbers were a BIT jilted with bish at 107, knits at 80'ish and rooks around 28-40.

However its my choice to play on the banged side, and I kinda like doing it too. I get a lot more to shoot at. Sometimes seeing the unstoppable influx of an attack from both fronts just makes you wonder if there is any sense in continuing the fight.

And even more, why players won't change country to balance the sides because more even fights are more fun for all. At current state all bish do basically is storm a field and vulch, storm a field and vulch.

Probably it's just better to live with it because the basic problem comes with the players, not the game. I have to punish the bish and knits for thier ignorance and enjoy while doing it  

[Virage]

I wonder if removing the "# of players/team list" on the clipboard would help balance the arena?  Hmm... bar dar seems to work as a bug light too though....

Virage (thinking aloud)

[eddiek]

It gets frustrating at times, seeing your country getting nailed by both sides....been seeing it for 2 years now.
What is MORE frustrating is seeing the two countries who are winning the war hold back, or at least seem to hold back, when you are down to 2 or 3 bases.  They have you in a kill box, and that's when you see who the gangers are, the ones who only want to see their kill total go up.  It is somewhat true that every country takes it turn getting hammered.  Last night, the rooks were running wild when I was online, taking bases seemingly by the minute.
What I would rather see in the arena, instead of a #'s balancing deal, is something that would make the guys who are winning go ahead and go for the reset.  Something like........when a country is down to 3 bases, a timer starts.....the other 2 countries have 30 minutes to complete the reset, or it goes back to square one.  I think it would help curb the gangbang mentality seen in some people lately, i.e., no intent to capture a field, only wanting a fish-in-the-barrel situation where they can rack up kills in a hurry.  You can bet your butt those guys will either get with the program and at least try to capture the field, or risk getting their tulips shot off when the automatic reset kicks in and the fields they thought were "safe" while they did the vulch act suddenly come to life and they have to start over.........

[sling322]

I dont think its really that they hold back and dont go for the reset Eddie...its more that once you have the enemy squeezed into such a small area, it gets harder and harder to capture a base.  Then you add in country C trying to keep country A from getting the reset and spoiling any captures on country B's bases and it makes it even harder.  

Just my thoughts...

[Flossy]

I don't think much can be done about the imbalance of numbers sometimes.  I think it's just a case of one country "having the numbers" at any one time, and in this respect AH is no different from what AW used to be.

I fly for Bishops, and am in the UK, usually coming online at some time between about 5 and 8 pm Eastern time each day.  I have seen the countries with the numbers change several times each time I come on - sometimes we Bishops have the numbers, other times its the Knights, and on other occasions its the Rooks.  These numbers can vary from minute to minute/hour to hour/day to day - best thing is keep an eye on the roster for when your country has the numbers, then make sure everyone knows and take advantage by working together.... yeah, well, easier said than done, I know....    

I usually try to suss out the situation when I come online, which helps me decide whether I go on the offensive and take a bomber up, or defensive and take out an Ostwind or a PT Boat - and whether or not the Bishops "have the numbers", I make the best of the situation, and always have FUN    

[MugZ]

LOL....Bish have the numbers most of the time. Prolly 90% or better and thats a FACT!
As for the current game setup
it is excellent. The reset feature and the added feature of there being 1 Winning country is very challenging and makes for some interesting stratagey when 1 country gits down to 4 or 5 Bases.  WTG  HITECHCREATIONS.  <<S>>
MugZ!   ps.  im a KNIGHT and i for one like to stay in 1 place.  

[ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: MugZ ]

[Blue Mako]

Hey Flossy, O/T of the thread but have you ever tried flying fighters?  Much more fun than those big buses with bombs that you usually seem to fly...  

[Flossy]

Originally posted by Blue Mako:
Hey Flossy, O/T of the thread but have you ever tried flying fighters?  Much more fun than those big buses with bombs that you usually seem to fly...  

Yeah, many times in AW, and a few times here... with very little success.    I decided a long time ago I just didn't have the skills for flying fighters, which is when I started specialising in bombing and gunning bombers... and I do have a lot of fun in bombers...  

I may have a go at fighters again some time, and try to avoid spinning into the ground!    I really need someone with infinite patience to train me... LOL