Arena cap is getting out of hand

[mthrockmor]

I think we all run into odd numbers like this. There are times I have seen, say 300/300, go into another arena, check back in 15 mins and come back to see 301/300. Odd. What about allowing players to join their squad if the arena is full. Is this somehow already allowed and that accounts for the number growing by a few?

Boo

[DMGOD]

Scratching head, I don't see the problem?  Why did you not go into blue?

HiTech

Don't like map in Blue

[Lusche]

I think we all run into odd numbers like this. There are times I have seen, say 300/300, go into another arena, check back in 15 mins and come back to see 301/300. Odd.

Two ways this can happen:

- The other arena's population rose above the 75% threshold needed to raise cap on the first arena just for a moment - but that moment was enough to let 2 lucky guys in. Or
- One players left the arena dropping the number to 299/300. Two other players arrived at the login screen at the same time and each of them saw that 299/300 and thus was able to join the arena - bringing total population to 301.

[AWwrgwy]

Two ways this can happen:

- The other arena's population rose above the 75% threshold needed to raise cap on the first arena just for a moment - but that moment was enough to let 2 lucky guys in. Or
- One players left the arena dropping the number to 299/300. Two other players arrived at the login screen at the same time and each of them saw that 299/300 and thus was able to join the arena - bringing total population to 301.

I'm convinced there is a bug also. Sometimes when I first log on numbers will be 126/300-100/300. The computer will lock up or the router will burp and I'll bet a BSOD or WSOD, come back and the numbers will be 126/100-100/150. And, I don't mean hours later. Sometimes it is literally minutes, hundreds of seconds even.

IIRC one of the reasons 8-player went away was because of a bug like this where eight player rooms were having 30 or 40 people in them.

Or, maybe I'm just lucky some nights.


wrongway

[JUGgler]

TT 7 days a week is the fix 



JUGgler

[Delirium]

Scratching head, I don't see the problem?  Why did you not go into blue?

After a reset, everyone mobs into the arena that hasn't reset. The brief time the arena is resetting gives the remaining arena unlimited caps. Afterwards, you see numbers that look like this;

Orange:480 of 100
Blue: 15 of 150 

It takes forever for the other arena to populate... I'm not sure how this could be fixed other than resetting both arenas at once.

[fullmetalbullet]

Why dont they just set it at 1 set number. like off hours, it only gets at max maybe 150, and its set cap is at 850? why not the LWO LWB arenas be set to higher caps lets say 500 or so and keep it that way. it would solve this problem.

[grizz441]

Just give more perks to people flying in the under populated arena at certain times.  During the "problem times", provide incentive to filling up the arena and killing bad guys and make it apparent on the arena list at specific times that bonuses are in effect.  Problem solved.

[AWwrgwy]

After a reset, everyone mobs into the arena that hasn't reset. The brief time the arena is resetting gives the remaining arena unlimited caps. Afterwards, you see numbers that look like this;

Orange:480 of 100
Blue: 15 of 150 

It takes forever for the other arena to populate... I'm not sure how this could be fixed other than resetting both arenas at once.

They both reset.

Anyhow, the numbers in question were two apart. 100 vs 102.   


wrongway

[The Fugitive]

Why dont they just set it at 1 set number. like off hours, it only gets at max maybe 150, and its set cap is at 850? why not the LWO LWB arenas be set to higher caps lets say 500 or so and keep it that way. it would solve this problem.

Because if the arena is set to a cap of 500, and your the 505th person loggin in you get to fly in Blue with 4 other people. The way it's set now you'll be in an arena with 200+ people while the other arena will ALSO have 200+ people. Much more playable like it is now.

[fullmetalbullet]

Because if the arena is set to a cap of 500, and your the 505th person loggin in you get to fly in Blue with 4 other people. The way it's set now you'll be in an arena with 200+ people while the other arena will ALSO have 200+ people. Much more playable like it is now.

well then set it to 1 LW arena. set the cap to about 700 or 800 solves the problem no whines and pretty much everyone gets to play. no use having the LWOH server having 850 cap when you only see at max of 150 to 200 people in it and the LWB and LWO have random server caps. that no one gets to fly with their squad or with people they know.

[The Fugitive]

well then set it to 1 LW arena. set the cap to about 700 or 800 solves the problem no whines and pretty much everyone gets to play. no use having the LWOH server having 850 cap when you only see at max of 150 to 200 people in it and the LWB and LWO have random server caps. that no one gets to fly with their squad or with people they know.

HiTech has said that over 400-450 people in the arena creates a bad environment causing the game subscriptions not to grow.

WHats your next idea?

[Scotty55OEFVet]

Actually, for the last 3 weeks I have not had a problem getting into any of the Arenas whether its after-hours or the normal Blue/Orange. My only probs have been issues with rubber bullets and such. But my comp is as old as the Ten Commandments...dam u moses!

[Baine]

HiTech has said that over 400-450 people in the arena creates a bad environment causing the game subscriptions not to grow.

WHats your next idea?

But wasn't the complaint that the guy couldn't get into an arena to fly with his squad when the numbers were 250 or so? Well under the "bad environment" cap?? Cod forbid we should adjust some arcane and arbitrary rule so people can actually have fun flying with their friends in a freakin' computer game. Instead the response is, your friends should all give up having a good time to come fly with you in an empty arena. If they don't, what kind of friends are they.
The arena caps were a bad idea. They haven't improved gameplay and tend to piss people off. And the people who know how the game should be played keep moaning about hordes and the such. So man up, admit they were a mistake and fix them, then maybe people won't keep B&Ming about them on the boards.

[AWwrgwy]

One more time.

WHY CAPS?

From Pyro's post on September 14, 2006

Quote
Originally posted by Pyro
I'm going to shut down the first thread due to its size and continue here. I'll start off with a FAQ of sorts on some things that were brought up in the original thread. Keep it civil please.


Why did you make this change?

We made this change because it will allow us to support an unlimited amount of players in a much healthier online environment that gives us better long-term growth. The single MA has grown to the point of being unhealthy. This is not a subjective evaluation, it is quantifiable and they are numbers that we look at every day. It's obvious that we simply cannot keep pumping more players into a single arena without hitting a stagnation point.


Why are you doing this now?

There's a convergence of factors such as current arena health, player mass, time of year and a couple of things in the pipeline that we believe will provide an influx of players. Taken together, we believe this is the best time to make this transition.


Is this being done for technical reasons?

No. While some people on lower end machines may see some performance benefit, it's not for technical reasons that the change is being made.


This is going to fracture the community.

We disagree. Communities grow and healthy growth requires structure. Just packing in as many people as possible creates a slum, not a community. We now have multiple neighborhoods in our community, but they are all connected.


The caps need to be adjusted.

The cap numbers as well as the numbers of arenas will undergo adjustment as needed. During the transition, we feel its important not to make them too large in order to overcome habit and herding behavior. Things will change as we move through the transition period and people begin to regain their comfort level.


We need better tools to find or communicate with people across the different arenas.

We agree. We have some host side changes that will be coming out shortly that will facilitate cross arena communication and hooking up with your squad mates and we'll continue to develop more things that will help in this area.


Are you crazy?

No, we are rational and unemotional about this. We don't undertake a major change because we're masochists; we make the change because we believe that it is ultimately what's best for the game.


Why didn't you take a poll or announce it earlier?

It wouldn't be useful to us for this change. We know it's going to be controversial. The real test is not whether people think they're going to like it or dislike it, it's what happens after we make the transition and things are settled. I didn't like beer the first time I tried it but I've grown quite fond of it since then. The transition is the worst part and we have no interest in dragging that out opening up a conflict of speculation before it even starts. We ultimately have to do what we think is best for the game.

It's their income....

Of course, we all know better than they do.


wrongway