Team Choice

[tele 0]

is it possible to get a server running with stock and koth maps, where u disable the team selection or auto scramble the teams every round...its pretty gay having the same people join the same team over and over and bash round like nothing.

i really like your servers but get tired playing with people like "ONE" who constantly change to the the winning team. they even outnumber the losing team time after time by switching to spec and then rejoining the winning team.

[+Henry Spencer 117]

I'm sorry, but don't we have like, 10 other threads on the front page about this? -.-

I don't really see it as stacking... more like, playing with friends. I don't care if we win or lose; with friends, I know it doesn't really matter much at all.

[Spartan_0214 18]

Tell the specs to join

[Link2086 5]

I'm sorry, but don't we have like, 10 other threads on the front page about this? -.-

I don't really see it as stacking... more like, playing with friends. I don't care if we win or lose; with friends, I know it doesn't really matter much at all.

This please.

While it's true that some people like to be on the same team, it's because they're all friends, not because they're trying to stack the teams. It is entirely possible that teams with donators on them can lose. I've seen it happen repeatedly. A few days ago, we got thrashed pretty badly on Steel and ran into stalemates on Badwater. Of course, no one complained of stacking then, even though team makeup was the same as it usually is. It just goes to show you that if teams coordinate and actually work together, they will make much better progress than if they didn't. That's the reason the "stacked" teams do so well - a lot of the players are friends and we coordinate better because we know each other and communicate.

In my opinion, and after having played on the Lotus servers (particularly Stocks 1 and 2) for several months now as both a regular player and a donator, I think that the majority of the issues about "stacking" are actually caused by non-donators sitting in Spectator which unbalances the teams. It's true that having ten players in spec is unfair, and that's when we should all call those players out and ask them to join up. If not, starting a votekick is probably appropriate. Teams with 16 players each are not stacked, regardless of how many wins one team has. That's just a matter of communication and skill and I feel it is unreasonable to punish players for doing well. From my point of view, if there are an even number of players on each team, then teams are fine. The VoteScramble option is still there if you can get 3 people or a donator who want to mix teams up.

Because of the way the team-switch feature works, rounds are initially going to start out with one team having more players than the other. That's just how it is implemented. I am not sure if there is a way you could do an even swap (where a non-donator is immediately swapped to the other team when a donator joins), but even if there isn't, teams will quickly even out once the round gets started. As far as I know, autobalance grabs the first non-donator to die on the team with more people and puts him or her onto the team with fewer people.

tl;dr version: Teams are fine, autobalance evens things out eventually, don't punish good players for winning, people like to play with their friends.

[Rydawg 14]

I love when people complain about stacking. Reminds me of when the 'stacked' team went heavy and had a sandvich party on the point in Hydro. The other team was so horrible all points ended in stalemates.

[JonasV 9]

I don't really see it as stacking... more like, playing with friends. I don't care if we win or lose; with friends, I know it doesn't really matter much at all.

^This

It is entirely possible that teams with donators on them can lose. I've seen it happen repeatedly. A few days ago, we got thrashed pretty badly on Steel and ran into stalemates on Badwater. Of course, no one complained of stacking then, even though team makeup was the same as it usually is.

^ And this.

The Lotus people are usually on the same team because we like playing with people we know. No one bitches when the teams are even, only when there is an imbalance even though team composition is typically the same. It is more a problem of bad players flooding the other team and/or no communication than it is of stacking on the part of donators.

Edited August 28, 2009 by JonasV

[Victoreem the V of doom 30]

btw having a team full of friends who are busy fucking around with each other makes it weaker.

Example: warnipple was telling a story about geek squad. While he told his story we could not communicate effectively. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it.

also noticing really REALLY crappy players donating to get on the stack team. This is also balancing teams more.

[Spartan_0214 18]

Annoyingly true.

[Link2086 5]

I love when people complain about stacking. Reminds me of when the 'stacked' team went heavy and had a sandvich party on the point in Hydro. The other team was so horrible all points ended in stalemates.

That was my favorite round of Hydro ever. 15 or 16 heavies on the point doing nothing but eating Sandviches and they still didn't take the point. The "everyone make a cloak and dagger spy ring around the last point" was also pretty amazing.

[tele 0]

dudes im wondering if you can read....im not talking about stacking with friends, i am talking about continously joining the winning team on every map...besides its not like EVERY server should have this feature, but a SINGLE one.

i dont care if donators stack, its just annonying having the same teams for three hours while one half of the team gets replaced by random noobs...

AGAIN I AM TALKING ABOUT ONE SINGLE SERVER. You have so many running why not have one with this setup?

[Melissia 7]

That was hiarious, they took five rounds to capture it and all we did was sandvich party the whole time. A single spy with any talent could have beaten us.

Or... a sniper.

Or... a pyro.

Or a fucking ENGY WITH A WRENCH. OR ANYONE.

[Link2086 5]

dudes im wondering if you can read....im not talking about stacking with friends, i am talking about continously joining the winning team on every map...besides its not like EVERY server should have this feature, but a SINGLE one.

i dont care if donators stack, its just annonying having the same teams for three hours while one half of the team gets replaced by random noobs...

AGAIN I AM TALKING ABOUT ONE SINGLE SERVER. You have so many running why not have one with this setup?

If they sit in spec to be able to join the winning team, you can start a votekick. Otherwise, there's nothing that says you can't join whatever team you want if there are spots open. If teams are hurting, call for a votescramble.

Servers aren't cheap and tools are already in place to improve team composition if enough of the server feels it is necessary. Votekick people sitting in spec, and votescramble if things really need to be mixed up.

[Captain Planet 28]

I love when people complain about stacking. Reminds me of when the 'stacked' team went heavy and had a sandvich party on the point in Hydro. The other team was so horrible all points ended in stalemates.

I loved this I remember we were trying to have Operation: Get an enemy heavy to join our picnic. We finally got it near the end

On a related note, roflcopter and I brought the sandvich party to 24/7 dustbowl once. We actually held 2nd stage last point for 10 minutes before we got trampled (I was the team protector, lol) It actually got turned into a YouTube video...

[h3gi 5]

I love when people complain about stacking. Reminds me of when the 'stacked' team went heavy and had a sandvich party on the point in Hydro. The other team was so horrible all points ended in stalemates.

Oh man, that was amazing. Saving some of your asses with my ubercharge was most rewarding.

[Graedus 9]

There were some good sandvich parties on Stocks 1 last night. We would eat them in front of snipers and a soldier. The snipers couldn't hit us and the soldier got psyched out and ran away...

Edited August 31, 2009 by Graedus

[Link2086 5]

There were some good sandvich parties on Stocks 1 last night. We would eat them in front of snipers and a soldier. The snipers couldn't hit us and the soldier got psyched out and ran away...

I think it was the sheer audacity of two heavies charging them and then stopping right in front of them to eat sandviches.

[ScarletRose 1]

Tele, The changemyteam command as a donator has had a cooldown put on it. So you expect less rolling in that sense. We can't twist people's arms and make them join the team that's losing at the time. If there's one thing in the world you can't change it is human nature. Especially on TF2. Most people who don't have friends playing with them enjoy it more when they win. I honestly don't care as long as I'm playing with my friends and laughing, having a good time.

But most of it is as Henry and the others said. People who know each other, and are friends that just play together. A team that communicates well, and takes (good) direction well, will almost always win. Unless we decide to spy crab just so we can let the other team win and get the fuck off CTF_Sawmill.

P.S. That video made me laugh the entire 9m37s. xD

[Data 2]

Tele, The changemyteam command as a donator has had a cooldown put on it. So you expect less rolling in that sense. We can't twist people's arms and make them join the team that's losing at the time. If there's one thing in the world you can't change it is human nature. Especially on TF2. Most people who don't have friends playing with them enjoy it more when they win. I honestly don't care as long as I'm playing with my friends and laughing, having a good time.

But most of it is as Henry and the others said. People who know each other, and are friends that just play together. A team that communicates well, and takes (good) direction well, will almost always win. Unless we decide to spy crab just so we can let the other team win and get the fuck off CTF_Sawmill.

P.S. That video made me laugh the entire 9m37s. xD

That was awesome - Spy City!

[Rydawg 14]

I play on the stack team cause Phantom's balls taste yummy