Clanners!, thoughts on the Match Set-up feature

[Wowbagger]

Epic has hinted in several interviews that there will be more community integration (Xbox live has been used as an example).

How should the Match Set-up feature be made so its useful for YOU?


Assuming Epic adds Clan support ingame (as "promised") with Clanpages etc we would have Clannames, Tags, members and maybe a Clan ID?

If the Match Setup was supported by the Vote system two clans could just add the two ClanID:s ,automatically get Clanname,Tags, Members (approved) vote Yes, the server would sort players by Tags and off you go.

Also it should have some additional settings like,

Maps
Warmup On/Off Time
No Superweapons On/Off
No Adrenaline On/Off

Edit: i made a jpg to illustrate my mad thoughts

 

[Zur]

Match Set-up ? You mean on servers ? I'd love to see a feature that allows you to save server settings and have them available in a neat list of profiles. It would make settin up a server so much easier.

 

[Wowbagger]

I have always thought it to be more a setup between two clans that wants a game.
But yea youre right it would require some server setup too.

Edit: i have added some stuff to the first post.

 

[Zur]

I say have some sort of virtual billboard where clans can describe themselves, post recruitment announcements and also challenges. The challenge part would be the most interesting one because it's sometimes hard to find a clan to play against. All of the announcements will expire after something like 2-3 weeks to make sure the information stays fresh.

 

[Wowbagger]

Yea it can be a problem sometimes.

Thats why i would like to see some integration between this Match Setup feature and the MapVote, Server Administration we have in UT2004 now.
How nice wouldnt it be to be able to have an official Match on any server (allowing it) without having to have an Admin?

It would be ideal if a restart of the server werent needed for settings like No Superweapons etc.

 

[edhe]

Sounds perfect.

Player ID's will have to be added and removed by some sort of checked process though, you'd have to register the clan under one captain who would have to make sure that that control got passed on to another person.

Maybe there'd need to be some sort of better system to avoid the 'stagnant' clan situation that can happen on www.clanbase.com when the captain pisses oaf.

And how would you go about registering for the in-game clanning ? Would you need to be able to provide a website? Would you be constatly re-activating your clan's status by having to play games? Or would you be able to just knock together a clan and pass out a number to peeps to join, with a password, and volunteer a secondary if the primary isn't about for a while?

Some big Qs to ask.

 

[JaFO]

Map-list and other server/game-related settings can stay were they are.
There's no need to invent a separate GUI, because the server-admin can handle those things. All you really need is an intermediate security-level for 'referees' so they can do whatever is needed (ie : kick/ban players, force map-changes, pauses & restart the game).

In fact I'd say the only things you'd need would be :
- a feature that allows the game to assign both teams to their side based on their clantags, without 'player-balance' messing things up

- a feature that can deal with referees so they can join the server without having to worry about player-limits for the server

- clan-Id's so clans can register themselves at a central location

- a separate tag-field per player that's only active if he's a member of an official clan

- support for team-captains so instead of voting the two teamleaders + referee can select the maps & other server-settings they want

- you'd probably would want something that would allow 'recruiters' to add new clanmembers without having to leave the game as well

 

[Wowbagger]

Yea i have no idea how Epic will do it but with Quake4 coming soon (and theyre out for the #1 spot when it comes to this sort of competetive playing) they need to make it shine.

Some very nice ideas there JaFO :tup:

 

[JaFO]

IMHO UT should aim at the casual and semi-competitive gamers.
ie : not the ones that already are in clans, but the kind of player that isn't too sure if it would be fun. These players would be able to have a lot of fun with some sort of semi-formal clan-feature in the game. Live! is pretty much the baseline reference.
The clans are more likely to be 'groups of friends' instead of ultra-competitive no-lifers.

So the main thing for Epic to do is to concentrate on something that is simple, easy to configure and above all as much in-game as possible.

I'd imagine something like an extra item in the voice-menu that says "invite player in my clan" / "start clan".
Expanding the 'friends'-list to include a simple 'favourite/friendly' clans list as well.
And on top of that I really hope that players can set their on-line status to 'invisible' / not interested in joining clans ... (of course the latter would automagically be active once you're in a clan)

 

[Wowbagger]

Hmm yea Guild Wars has exactly that system.
I dont agree to neglect the Clans that play this game every week and provide lots of servers tho.
OTOH if its more visible ingame AND easier more people might discover the joy of Clan gaming.

 

[Taleweaver]

My ideas...

-official brightskin support; no need to download extra mutators just to be able to get into the match (possible exception for an extra-security anticheat mutator)
-a community page on which important matches (UTV), scrims and PUG's can be advertised, with weblinks and IP addresses. Oh, and automatic conversion of mentioned times to your local timezone, of course
-the singleplayer campaign to resemble the real-life ladders as much as possible (time&frag limit, matches to be played by your team & matches between other teams, victory points to gather from matches, etc.). EDIT: original idea by JaFO
-a clear indication which maps are used in matches and which aren't.

and not really a game feature, but still a request:
-allow a couple top clans and ladder organisators to get an internal beta test of the game; allowing them to give feedback directly to Epic

 

[edhe]

Sound ideas up there :tup:

Wowbagger - if you make a great game, clans will come! 2k3/2k4 shoved hundreds of clans out the door. Many more came in because the game is appreciated to a degree. But if you make the new great game then people will come, those that are already playing will adapt like they have before, or move on.

I think the ability to access the whole 'scene' through the game would be a very powerful tool, allowing many people to get in without having to worry about forums / irc etc. A Personal Calender that's linked to your ID and clan ID's arranged events that shows upcoming clan matches and arranged games that you could 'schedule' against would be vital.

 

[JaFO]

My ideas...

-official brightskin support; no need to download extra mutators just to be able to get into the match (possible exception for an extra-security anticheat mutator)

For <insert favourite deity>'s sake no.
People (and especially 'clanners') should learn to deal with the graphics as they are. That includes learning to see players in high-detail environments without the aid of neon-glow paintbuckets for skins.

No absurd brightskins. ever.
I'd rather have a decent set of normal skins. Not too bright and not too dark.

-a community page on which important matches (UTV), scrims and PUG's can be advertised, with weblinks and IP addresses. Oh, and automatic conversion of mentioned times to your local timezone, of course

definitely a good feature to have

-the singleplayer campaign to resemble the real-life ladders as much as possible (time&frag limit, matches to be played by your team & matches between other teams, victory points to gather from matches, etc.)

been requesting that kind of singleplayer-campaign since first UT2k3-shots were shown

 

[Persefone]

My ideas...

-official brightskin support; no need to download extra mutators just to be able to get into the match (possible exception for an extra-security anticheat mutator)

Camouflage is part of combat since prehistory. Those who call themselves "pros" should learn to deal with it.

 

[Zur]

and not really a game feature, but still a request:
-allow a couple top clans and ladder organisators to get an internal beta test of the game; allowing them to give feedback directly to Epic

Not too sure about that :/ . Remember how pros used to complain about the bio being too powerful on UT2003 ?

 

[Taleweaver]

For <insert favourite deity>'s sake no.
People (and especially 'clanners') should learn to deal with the graphics as they are. That includes learning to see players in high-detail environments without the aid of neon-glow paintbuckets for skins.

Ookaay...pretty good argument. However, it completely disregards UT2003 and UT2004 (maybe even UT99, I'm not sure). These didn't have brightskin support, and guess what: not a single one of them pro-1vs1 players plays without brightskins. If not for brightskins, they either hax their way around it (forcing models), or buy that one gamecard that gives them the best contrast. How is that for evening out things?
I'm willing to bet €100 that within 2 months of official release, UT2007 will have brightskin support (especially if the contrast between players and environment is as low as it is now). If it isn't included in the game by Epic, the pro community will simply make it themself.
If you've got a solution at hand, bring it up. But the idea that the pro community will simply adapt to the game is naïve.

been requesting that kind of singleplayer-campaign since first UT2k3-shots were shown

Sorry. I wasn't aware of that. Edited my prev. post

Not too sure about that :/ . Remember how pros used to complain about the bio being too powerful on UT2003 ?

I wasn't talking about the gameplay aspect, but rather on the features this 'community integration' should contain.

 

[Zur]

Ah ok . Just one thing to take into consideration. Any features that require registering should be open to third party support. This avoids the feature becoming obsolete as the game gets older and the developper moves on to supporting later products.

 

[JaFO]

Ookaay...pretty good argument. However, it completely disregards UT2003 and UT2004 (maybe even UT99, I'm not sure). These didn't have brightskin support, and guess what: not a single one of them pro-1vs1 players plays without brightskins. If not for brightskins, they either hax their way around it (forcing models), or buy that one gamecard that gives them the best contrast. How is that for evening out things?

Meanwhile the BF-players are playing games without having to rely on ultra-neonglow skins. The default skins make even the darkest UT-skin look bright ...

You might say 'but BF isn't a high-speed fragging-game' as UT, but I'd beg to differ. The attitude towards speed (or rather the perceived lack of it) is the same ...

I'm not sure how their leagues and tournaments handle this stuff though. But the demo did prove that casual players could manage IFF pretty quick.

As for $ buying you an advantage in pc-games. That's been so for as long as pc-games have existed and it won't change until we've switched to consoles.
However ... in (sponsored) lan-games there will be systems powerful enough to run everything at high-detail. And I'm pretty sure that the tournaments that enforce such settings will be the only ones that end up getting the 'official' Epic support.

That may not mean much to 'pro-community', but if that means that those 'official' tournaments end up being available in the 'normal' game, while the unofficial ones have to rely on mere websites for promotion ... well you won't need me to tell you what the endresult will be.

I'm willing to bet €100 that within 2 months of official release, UT2007 will have brightskin support (especially if the contrast between players and environment is as low as it is now). If it isn't included in the game by Epic, the pro community will simply make it themself.

I've always said : if you don't like it / mutate it ... the 'pro'-community has been pretty loud considering that (almost) anything they wanted to have for their little niche could be modded into the game.

The fact that they've finally have done so is proof that they have finally realised that Epic is never going to give them their perfect game because they (Epic) just don't believe in their game-style (Mark Rein recently said as much recently).

If you've got a solution at hand, bring it up. But the idea that the pro community will simply adapt to the game is naïve.

If Epic does 'clan-support' right then the "pro" community will have to adapt to the fact that 'regular' players are having fun in tournaments without their help. They're already a mere percentage of the total number of players for this game.

I seriously believe that the semi-casual 'clan'-community has the potential to be bigger and more important for Epic and on-line games than all the 'pro'-players in the world. And that community is the one that Epic will (be able to) target thanks to in-game 'clan'-support provided they manage something semi-decent in a pc-game.

Sorry. I wasn't aware of that. Edited my prev. post
..

lol ... the real credit should go to Epic themselves. As a virtual ladder was part of one of the very early movies from UT2k3. IIRC there are even a few icons/textures for a 'galactic league' left.

 

[1337]

I bet the competitive community will end up making a mutator for ut2007, regardless. It doesn't have to be perfectly set up for clan play on-release.

 

[Wowbagger]

Well the better they do it the more will try it.

In Guild Wars you need to get 1000Gold (i think), go to the registrar to register your Guild and then start challenge other Guilds.

I swear half of them doesnt know wth theyre doing but it doesnt matter theyre trying competetive play for the first time and are not scared doing it