Dustbowl | United Kingdom [v] | 95.154.193.27:27015 - very unbalanced teams

[Sir Nils Olav 6]

Just spent the last 30 minutes playing on this server - one team (mine) had largely poor quality players and several who (from watching them) were either new or just not very bright..... the other team however seemed to gel together much better and the overall quality of their individual players was clearly quite a bit higher. The result (predictably) was the other team consistently steam-rolling ours. 

 

I don't think the server auto balanced at all and the maps, when we defended, were lasting just 3 or 4 minutes at most - frequently the first point was lost in less than 60 seconds. 

 

The issue I had was that as the server wasn't balancing the teams out, we were trying to votescramble but the other team just all vote against it and then hurl abuse at our team for wanting a fairer game.

 

I've played on some other servers (I think it was Skial?) where the balance seemed much fairer and as a result you more consistently get an even game. Is this something that could possibly be looked into?

 

 

On an unrelated note; penguin humour. 

 

[Nirrox 358]

[...]

 

The issue I had was that as the server wasn't balancing the teams out, we were trying to votescramble but the other team just all vote against it and then hurl abuse at our team for wanting a fairer game.

 

I've played on some other servers (I think it was Skial?) where the balance seemed much fairer and as a result you more consistently get an even game. Is this something that could possibly be looked into?

 

[...]

 

Servers autobalance ≠ balanced teams. It just balancing the amount of players (for example: 16 vs 14 -> 15 vs 15), not looking for "skill" etc.

Maybe Skial is using some "K/D"-Autobalance to really balance the teams? not sure if something like that even exists tho

[Minia 1,211]

Dustbowl UK... been playing on that server for years and from a first hand report I can tell you all the regulars there will join their buddies Dustbowl is never fair, that is why you need your own team.

[Sir Nils Olav 6]

Is it possible to drop the numbers needed to vote for the scramble on 'votescramble' ? What kept happening was the other team voted en masse against the scramble, and if just one player on our side hit the wrong button, or didn't vote at all - the notion was rejected. If votescramble was dropped from 50% to say, 40% it would perhaps be easier to shake up the teams without needing to install new mods etc?

[Minia 1,211]

Is it possible to drop the numbers needed to vote for the scramble on 'votescramble' ? What kept happening was the other team voted en masse against the scramble, and if just one player on our side hit the wrong button, or didn't vote at all - the notion was rejected. If votescramble was dropped from 50% to say, 40% it would perhaps be easier to shake up the teams without needing to install new mods etc?

The vote needs to be at a minimum of 50% to represent a majority, that is why it is called a fair vote. 

[Sir Nils Olav 6]

Yes but the problem then arises when you have a group of people who are really enjoying steam rolling the other side and all vote against the scramble - then you literally just need one of your own team to hit the wrong key or not bother to vote - and the steam rolling continues. 

[Minia 1,211]

Yes but the problem then arises when you have a group of people who are really enjoying steam rolling the other side and all vote against the scramble - then you literally just need one of your own team to hit the wrong key or not bother to vote - and the steam rolling continues. 

Not exactly a reason. If the majority of the people enjoy the game and do not want to change it then nothing should be done, other people chose to spend time and for some, money as well to play on the servers. Why should we suddenly make it unfair for them in this situation? In the end, if you do not enjoy the server but the other players do then it is your own responsibility to leave the game if you do not enjoy it.

[Mana 3,867]

Yes but the problem then arises when you have a group of people who are really enjoying steam rolling the other side and all vote against the scramble - then you literally just need one of your own team to hit the wrong key or not bother to vote - and the steam rolling continues. 

It's already the lowest vote percentage of all the votes that we have. Needing just half. Lowering it even more would mean that the majority (including your own team) could be against it and yet the scramble would pass anyway. 

 

In regards to the autobalance itself. We use valve's own. So whenever valve makes changes to it we get those as well. Only difference is that we sometimes force autobalanced players to stay on the other team (atleast for a few minutes). So as to make sure they don't instantly re-stack the team or go to spectate and then go back to stacking it (and making some players ragequit in the process).

[- Mike - 2,728]

I was just playing on Badwater texas 24/7 and the teams never got autobalanced I don't think. It is kinda late so maybe the auto balance didn't kick in quick enough, but it was at several points 5v10, 12v7 and such.

[Se7en 10,762]

Visual representation of no one in particular that happens to love and play a lot of dustbowl while reading OP's pleas.

 

 

[Emma 1,798]

Please. 

[Steve the Vogon 5]

Just go to another server. It's not worth trying to change the minds of the "we're all friends and want to play together" crowd. Personally, I have just as much fun splattering my friends across the map than to play with them. Balanced teams (defined as equal amounts of skilled and non-skilled players on both sides) are fun, steamrolling over and over, no matter what side you're on, isn't so much.

[fever 9,884]

If I see an unbalanced server and I call a vote to balance the teams, more often than not the people who are getting a shoeing don't want the teams balanced.  Some people see it as a problem, others see it as a challenge.

[Sphagnum Peat Moss 748]

Yes but the problem then arises when you have a group of people who are really enjoying steam rolling the other side and all vote against the scramble - then you literally just need one of your own team to hit the wrong key or not bother to vote - and the steam rolling continues. 

That's not a problem.  The teams are balanced.  There are the same number of brains, keyboards, mice, hands, fingers, etc. on each team.  The way a competitive video game such as an FPS works is by seeing which side utilizes those resources better and rewarding them with a win.  What you're describing is exactly that.  It sounds more like you have a problem making competent friends, not like we have a problem with our 50% voting threshold.

[Cola Kid 230]

Ok i saw this thread here before and even though i didn't agree I let it be. So here I come with a nice picture to demonstrate. This is dustbowl nearing round end. as you can see blue is basically all people and red is bots with 1 person. another person joined red making it even including bots. at the rounds end no auto balance. I tried to join red team but was unable to for some reason and was actually forced to join blue and then use my donor menu to change team. Is this due to there being fewer people on so the server is still in warmup? Either way I cant think of anyone who is going to want to be 1v5, I know bots can sometimes be good but not enough to push back against people.