Arena cap is getting out of hand

[5PointOh]

Very valid point.  Ok, back working on my spreadsheets

[grizz441]

5Point, the problem with this method is the time it takes to populate the arenas.
The point of the eject is to reach critical mass as fast as possible. If you are only depending on influx, my guess it would take 2-3 hours to get blue and orange to 100 each. VS the 20 mins it normally takes now.

2nd you run into the problem of people staying in the LWOH and then when most of the people are gone, starting to a  milk run of bases.

HiTech

Ergo, my perk incentive idea to switch arenas and super condense this time.  That is of course working under the assumption that people would switch for such an incentive. 

[Soulyss]

Hitech out of curiosity, if we can agree that each arena has stagnation points, high and low, which are a function in part due to the size of the map, why is the size of the map that is being rotated not tied into formula when the arenas are split?  Or is it?  The point is, a 150 man arena on a giant map is not the same as a 150 man arena on a small map.  The low stagnation point is much higher on a giant map, and in that particular example, 150 players on a giant map, gameplay imo is starting to degrade.

Because we haven't thought of it before.

May be a good idea,I'm going to have to digest it for a bit.

HiTech

Would it be feasible to open and close fields based on arena population?  Start out with a small nucleus of bases near the center, as these get either captured or arena population increases a system message would be broadcast and more fields would be opened up? Actually as  I sit here thinking as I type it occurs to me that my idea has some serious issues/flaws.

[grizz441]

HiTech, this graph illustrates my point.  Of course the numbers are up for debate but I took game play quality at a scale from 1-10 and called game play at "9" as the "stagnation point" (A 1 drop is deemed acceptable).  I fit the numbers the best i could as I see them with my experience in this game but nothing more behind them than that.

[Dadsguns]

What does any of this do to address the overall imbalance between sides in any arena?  Or will it help with it?

[TheDudeDVant]

Would it be feasible to open and close fields based on arena population?  Start out with a small nucleus of bases near the center, as these get either captured or arena population increases a system message would be broadcast and more fields would be opened up? Actually as  I sit here thinking as I type it occurs to me that my idea has some serious issues/flaws.

This is the way other online games handle larger maps.. I'm talking fps games that is..

[grizz441]

What does any of this do to address the overall imbalance between sides in any arena?  Or will it help with it?

From what I've seen most of the global numbers have no bearing on what is actually happening on a small scale.  So many times the "low numbers" side has no fights and green hordes and the "high numbers" side is getting ganged on both fronts.  So...

[Dadsguns]

From what I've seen most of the global numbers have no bearing on what is actually happening on a small scale.  So many times the "low numbers" side has no fights and green hordes and the "high numbers" side is getting ganged on both fronts.  So...

   Really? From what you see?   Please explain.

[hitech]

No need for a graph grizz (but thanks and I believe your estimates are in the ball park), I agreed the moment you made the point that there are different max points for different maps.

The issues are more what happens when you purposely cap 1 arena more then the other. Is the cure worst then the illness ?

HiTech

[Melvin]

For me caps suck because of this:

I logged in tonight to find the Orange arena maxed out. No biggie, I went to blue.

Blue arena had a single fight going on for me to participate in.

After trying to get into Orange a few more times I made a comment on country to the effect of,"This is why caps suck, I'm forced to take part in a fight I have no interest in." This was followed with the standard idiotic, "Go outside" and "Nobody's holding a gun to your head." comments.

So I just logged. Now I'm typing this and having a cold one. Guess I'll try again later. 

[Melvin]

For me caps suck because of this:

I logged in tonight to find the Orange arena maxed out. No biggie, I went to blue.

Blue arena had a single fight going on for me to participate in.

After trying to get into Orange a few more times I made a comment on country to the effect of,"This is why caps suck, I'm forced to take part in a fight I have no interest in." This was followed with the standard idiotic, "Go outside" and "Nobody's holding a gun to your head." comments.

So I just logged. Now I'm typing this and having a cold one. Guess I'll try again later. 

A whine has been recorded. 

[grizz441]

No need for a graph grizz (but thanks and I believe your estimates are in the ball park), I agreed the moment you made the point that there are different max points for different maps.

The issues are more what happens when you purposely cap 1 arena more then the other. Is the cure worst then the illness ?

HiTech

Yea, I don't think that would go over well.  The simplest way to utilize this would be just to make sure that the second arena that switches over at the mid day switch is made sure to be a smaller map, and the first one could be a large map or a small map.  So not only do you fill and achieve the numbers to the low stagnation point quicker, you also give the player base a constant choice of either a small or large map to play on.

Side point: I am curious how the rest of the player base views the giant maps compared to the smaller ones though, just from a gameplay perspective.  Is there even a need for giant maps other then on titanic tuesday?  Do they detract, enhance, or have no effect on game play?  Couldn't a question like this be asked in a quick online survey?  "Do you as a player prefer Larger maps, Smaller maps, Or it does not make a difference."  Just to get an idea of if there is a preference there or if it does not matter.  That would be a pretty cut and dry questionnaire, which would be difficult for a customer to not know what they are being asked.

[PFactorDave]

Side point: I am curious how the rest of the player base views the giant maps compared to the smaller ones though, just from a gameplay perspective.  Is there even a need for giant maps other then on titanic tuesday?  Do they detract, enhance, or have no effect on game play?  

Personally, I think that many of the maps in the rotation are simply poorly designed.  So many of them focus play on a very small number of hot spot points.  If the map is large or small, it really doesn't matter if the design still focuses the combat on about 3 pairs of opposing airfields.

[rpm]

I don't know what the cure is but I do not like the caps 1 bit. My 2 cents.

[Soulyss]

This is the way other online games handle larger maps.. I'm talking fps games that is..

That is where I got the idea, but things currently work a little differently here.  For one how would you deal with the "closed' bases?  The apparent answer is make them immune to damage so they couldn't be porked before they opened up, but even then any player that monitored arena numbers could figure out when they would open and set up a cap/vulch or roll GV's in there and not present any potential defenders with much of a chance. 

Most FPS that use this method have a way of preventing the players from accessing the off limits part of the map which we don't have here.