Yeah. Ok. Lets get past the preliminaries.

1. Something like this has most likely been suggested.
2. it's elitism
3. it's stupid and could probably be hacked.


Now consider this. You're playing on your favourite dedicated server, but you just can't enjoy the game like you should because all your team are noobs, and the enemy aren't. You're getting whooped, even if the teams are equal in numbers. People in your team just walk around without jumping or using jets. They stay still right on top of the flag repeatedly. They camp tunnels and spam it with minigun fire in the name of defence. They ask questions like "where do I find cheats" and "how do I zoom?" ...Does this sound familiar?


Here's an idea: It goes along of frequently heard fancy words like "ranking system" and so on. Basically, your soldat would record (and encrypt) among the following various suggestable options.

the amount of kills, deaths, variety of weapon choice,total play time, average play time, flag steals, etc etc

Everytime you join a server, it checks these variables. If you haven't met the requirements, you simply don't get in. Simple as that. People new to the game would have an easier time in servers with like-experienced players, while the more advanced could secure themselves elsewhere with people garanteed to give them a challenge.



A little far-fetched, I know. But we've just had bullet time, ricochet, bink effect and a few other unexpected fancies so anything is conceivable.

Yeah, it does sound a little far-fetched, complicated and could probably be hacked, but I think that's a good idea... It would give a sort of a league effect... You join a server with a good, well configured limit and you would be sure you'd be playing with professionals.


I'm even getting excited thinking about that. XD

Your avatar is strangely hypnotizing, Chakra.

I support this 110%. It's a great idea, if you ask me.

We could have elite servers, new-player servers, and there'd still be the regular public server.

By the way, don't just say "password it you nubs!". That isn't even a legit response to this sort of thing.

Me likes! Tired of 4 noobs+ME vs 5 Great players. Happens often in U13

Edit: Not to say U13 is a noob server, ABSOLUTLY not. But sometime at a moment in the day, it seems there is more noobs in it.

Yes for the love of god!! Implement this A.S.A.P!

Meh, I wont be able to join anything, then. Inactivity = death. :
I do support this to some extent, though. It has its drawbacks, like containment of the game's growth. I suppose most servers would want to seem "1337" to the community and set a mid-high/poser-high kill requirement for joining in. New people would just be banned from most of the game. It would greatly affect the chance of them giving the game a chance after they wont be able to play on most of the servers list.

I suppose this comes from the lack of an 'elitist server' of a sort, something like the old DNA server hasn't been around for too long. I guess that untill theres a good high-speed, international, and passworded server, this problem wont truly be solved.

It's too easy to cheat the system. I already came up with a method upon reading the suggestion. Zombie servers and kill maps.

It would be nice I guess. Passworded servers are where it's at though. I agree with TFS though, inactivity = death, and that sucks.

who cares if it cheats the system: at least the people who cheat it have basic knowledge of soldat, so they won't be asking stupid questions like "how 2 fire rocker launchet?"

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.

That'd seperate the community bigtime.Even thou I can see your point, but here's some imagination:

Soldier starts to play the game, and he learns fast, quickly being powerful enough to dominate in his class.He has his favourite servers he plays on, and he owns.One day, he seeks more challange, and enters a game with higher requirements.(note: he hasn't noticed anything about the requirement system so far, because he started playin on 1 or 2 servers.)He enters a game filled with elite war dogs, who have much more experience than he has.He'd be basically a noob there, because he trained among noobs.

In short:
You learn when fighting tougher players, and this would probably wreck the road to veterannes for the newbs.

DeMonIc if you would want to teach newbies you could join to the n00b servers.

That would be rich and poor. 2 separate communities.

*Agreeing with TFS*

If this was a petition, I would sign it.

ROFL, so every1 would be ratio players? kills and deaths means quite little

TFS proved some good points... But not every server would have these 'elitist settings'... Right?


quote:Originally posted by Palloco ROFL, so every1 would be ratio players? kills and deaths means quite little
quote:Originally posted by Psyl3ntShad0w It's too easy to cheat the system. I already came up with a method upon reading the suggestion. Zombie servers and kill maps.

quote:Originally posted by Chakrathe amount of kills, deaths, variety of weapon choice,total play time, average play time, flag steals, etc etc

It wouldn't JUST be kills and deaths, you know... kills/online play time would be enough.

nah

(^ Spam?)

I don't know about you. But there is more stuff than deaths and kills. Captures, Returns, time played ( Like lazeh said ). If you wanted to go deeper you could even do this for how many kills you've had with a certain weapon.

Hell no! Then you'd be forced to play for stats and that would suck the fun out of Soldat.

And what if you were a superior fighter who only played against the toughest of clans like sv, unpure, nbk, cns etc? If your K:D ratio was 1.2 you couldn't join these "leet" server, even though you were one of the best there was.

This could encourage camping on noob servers so there kd was good enough to 'own' the leet server ;\.

Nice idea but.. too complicated and it could ruin the game badly.

take for example SN's server.. it has statistics and each player who's playing there is getting into the statistics for his kills, deaths and for each kill some points etc.

now, when ppl saw that as many as they kill the higher their rank is so they have just decided to stop playing for the fun and started playing for the statistic - for their rank :\..

if u haven't got my point yet, they were just defending, when a bit of their health was low just running to the medics, not attacking even if they'r losing..

that's just not fun :(and noop, i haven't talked about anyone personly, just about most of the ppl that were playing.)

However, lately ppl started playing normaly there and i'm glad of it they understood that stats just sux :)

Nice idea, but it would probably give us only the next extra question in publics... "how can i change my variables ???!?".

I suggested a 'ranking' system a while back... didn't go as far with it as you though Chakra.. This can all be achieved though witha password.. Invite people only.. most 'irc people' know what they're doing. Sure not everyone's a pro, but nobody on irc is a super noob that's for sure.. I often advertise passworded survers... they tend to fill up quite easily, and i have a pretty good game most of the time :Q

What about a veteran lobby server?
So newbs/noobs cant join the vets servers because they are not in their lobby server list.

omg, and how would you do that new lobby server thing?

Anyway, i don't like this idea.. altough it is annoying to play against/with noobs most of the time, but not always! And what about if a so-called "pro" enters a "noob" sever? Will it be possible? That would also be annoying.

The other thing, as mentioned above, this stat-thing would run the whole game, the "spirit" of soldat. I don't really like leagues and things like that, cos some players just get sad, and say good bye to soldat when they see their bad statistics. and there will always be lasts and firsts, regardless of the skills of the players. Uhm, this was a bit off-topic, sorry about that (and don't get me wrong, i started the hungarian soldat league)
And don't forget: everyone was a noob, no one started to play soldat as a high-skill master killer!

One more thing: K/D ratio is realy nothing. The most skilled players can have low k/d ratios too. Don't flame me, i know that not only this would count.

quote:the amount of kills, deaths, variety of weapon choice,total play time, average play time, flag steals, etc etc
Ah, yeah, variety of weapon choice.. that's a nice thing.. how can you measure this thing?
Total play time, along with avarage play time is not really authoritive.. i know some people who are playing since 1 or 2 years, and i think they are just play bad, even if they play quite often.. I think it is too hard to measure one's skill with some statistics. There would always be people who benefit from the system ("noob" players who are called "pro" by the statistics system and "pros" called "noobs".. )

Consider these.

But the most important is, that this system would totally ruin Soldat's fun. Soldat is a simple shooter game, you always said. Why to make it so complex?!

And what if there were "pro" servers with passwords?

Nah, this just ain't gonna happen.. i hope.

quote:Originally posted by LazehBoiquote:Originally posted by Chakrathe amount of kills, deaths, variety of weapon choice,total play time, average play time, flag steals, etc etc

It wouldn't JUST be kills and deaths, you know... kills/online play time would be enough.


oh, sure! so you need to play a lot in order to join a server. And how can you start playing in that server if you need to have played a time? Oh you mean the account system like in big games? I think we have discussed enough about it. And we all know it is rejected because of several reasons, like the need of a server with the accounts and that would make soldat pay to play.

but along with the rankning system i think there should be like, a place where you can get 'instant vet status' for all servers. there's those of us who dont play much, but have been around for years and when we do play, kick ass. what about us?
maaayyybe like, a commity to check how long someone's been playing by contacting other vets and looking at like, forum records and whatnot.
would help alot for a bunch of us...but just a suggestion

I suggested this stuff too...

And i personaly think that to make a server noob-less you just have to put it a password and post that password here on the forums...only advanced players are here in the forums, i guess. Just look at LauhingLlama´s CTF server (when it was pwrded).

Sounds nice But I think the servers you speak of Chakra would be empty most of the time. If I wanted to play a good game in one of those servers, I would still have to invite people to join and play. Just like I currently do in todays many passworded empty servers. Much like Kn0t said.

if somehow a good ranking system would be made, i would very much enjoy this.

I think the only solution for this is to play on passworded servers, as one said above.

On the other hand, the noobs have to learn to play themselves. And how the f* could they if there were only "noob" and "vet" servers?!

This whole idea sucks, still this is my opinion.

I really don't understand why most suggestions are capable of 'ruining' the spirit or splitting the community of soldat. That is nonsense.

Otherwise, theres some good criticism here.

quote:Sounds nice But I think the servers you speak of Chakra would be empty most of the time. If I wanted to play a good game in one of those servers, I would still have to invite people to join and play.

...no they wouldn't. Experienced players would gather there for real games. See?


quote:And what about if a so-called "pro" enters a "noob" sever?

Then the noobs would get a feeling of whats to come if they care to really get into soldat, like we have.



quote:now, when ppl saw that as many as they kill the higher their rank is so they have just decided to stop playing for the fun and started playing for the statistic - for their rank :\..

Of course, but this isn't a bad thing. There'd be no such thing as a 'rank', just a status that allows you into certain servers, depending on what limits the servers provide. In the end, it just means people would want to play more, perhaps for this goal. It's up to the individual.




quote:That would be rich and poor. 2 separate communities.


The only communities I see being split, are good players who invest the time to talk among each other, from new players who aren't even aware theres irc channels and forums for the game. In a sense, these two are already split.



quote:You learn when fighting tougher players, and this would probably wreck the road to veterannes for the newbs.

Not really. Only good new players would get better stats, and thus be able to join experienced servers. Plus, vets can still join noob-friendly servers and most likely will. Where better for clanny's to go recruiting?



quote:I think the only solution for this is to play on passworded servers, as one said above.

A good pw'd server is excellent. However, you'd be hard pushed to find a popular pw server with more than 6 players.


Otherwise, if such a mad thing were to be implemented, a kill/death ratio would definitely be unwise as some of you suggested. Just kills and overall play time would probably suffice. And who'd care for the odd person 'upping his stats' by killing boogie men? it's still experience.

Havent read the whole topic but [IMAGE] it, I love the idea!

I agree with a lot of things Kefear said. Stats don't measure a person's skill. Sure, they do to some extent, but everone has good or bad days. Hard to get stats with everyone auto-ing around. Stats make people feel bad. And what would happen if a lot of people get to a good KD ratio? Sounds kinda like a money system. YOu do good = credits, used to buy your way into good servers. You do Bad= no credits, no joining good servers.

Well, would anyone care creating a good ranking system? If one was created and seemed fair, this would be great! We could start off with with something that we believe would work, and if it doesn't we find the flaws and improve it. It could get ugly. It just depends on if we're willing to risk our already-screwed-up community. It's a make-or-break sort of thing, isn't it?

seems to me like it would encourage a lot of spawn killing to raise stats

I'm fine with teaming with newer players as I can teach them a thing or two.
Good idea none-the-less, but as an *drumroll* option?

I am currently stuck in indesicion between wanting the challenge the experienced servers would provide, and my consideration for the newer players.

When i initially read the first post, a red flag went up in my mind heralding the downfall of soldat. I immediately became worried for the good of the community, for the split that would occur. Picture this: Experienced players are in selected servers that are either too full, or completely empty, while newbies are struggling to enjoy the game in a server filled with other less skillfull players that are more prone to "screwing off" instead of concentrating on tactical gameplay. These servers would become out of control, overrun, (though i hate to use that term), by less serious players. They would ruin gameplay for those starting players who are actually serious about working as a team. These upcoming, newer players need an example to follow to learn proper etiquette, game tactics, and playing styles.

After considering this, though, while easily pwning a public CTF server, i realized that i was not enjoying the game as much as i used to. When i was a less experienced player, i enjoyed the challenge presented by these human opponents.

Now, being a more skilled player, i am often finding myself bored with a team full of dimwitted JERKS who cant seem to figure out what the problem is when they blow the team flag out of the base with their minigun down into the hands of the enemy waiting below in "CTF Death."

I think that the best solution is more pwded private international servers that are FAST. if we had a some fast CTF servers that were advertised on irc or forums, then it would be a perfect solution to our problems. The ranking system is a BAD idea, as it would not be even close to representing actual skill level of players.

In response to Chakra's "There'd be no such thing as a 'rank', just a status that allows you into certain servers, depending on what limits the servers provide." -- Different status levels for different server "levels" sounds wonderful, but the problem is how to assign these status levels?

Anyway, sry for the long reply, just my 2 cents...

Very good reply Maluno. Ideally, a little topic somewhere on this forum would exist for a few of our dedicated servers to update passwords to us. Ultimate 13's, Llama's, maybe seb's pub ... This would be great. hint

Still, I don't think my idea is too bad. Alot of people new to the game don't really want us experienced players around, as more often than not, we beat the crap out of them and put them off. I think people would be capable of progressing their skill despite being around noobs also.

And as for the 'rating system', the best I can imagine right now is simply a count of online kills you've made and overall online play time.

It needn't be excessive to gain access to most servers; say, 100 kills and 4-5 hours playtime as default. That's a good few days experience, enough to understand what you're doing. These would end up the majority most likely, along side a few dedicated high-demand ones and public 'no-cost' servers.

I don't see how passwording servers would segregate the newbies from the veterans more than a time-based allow system. Think about it...if people want to allow only professionals to their server, they would set like a 5 day minimum timelimit. They could just as easily password it, which they do now since setting a time minimum isn't available. This option just makes it easier and doesn't require people to know passwords..

quote:Originally posted by Chakra
And as for the 'rating system', the best I can imagine right now is simply a count of online kills you've made and overall online play time.


Alright, I never said it was a bad idea. It's actually a good idea and IMO would work real well with alot more vets.

And maybe if your playing against high rated players your rating would dramatically increase if at the end of rounds you pwned them. :)

I suggested something similar to this in another thread, but basically it was a series of dedicated servers, where the passwords are posted here on the forums. Therefore, less new players can get in, maybe none at all.

well, the best idea till now is Knot's idea.. just password the server and invite ppl or advertize the password in the irc + forums..
i don't think "newbis" would join such a server ( like DNA Games ) had been a "pros" server.

quote:Originally posted by pallocoquote:Originally posted by LazehBoiquote:Originally posted by Chakrathe amount of kills, deaths, variety of weapon choice,total play time, average play time, flag steals, etc etc

It wouldn't JUST be kills and deaths, you know... kills/online play time would be enough.


oh, sure! so you need to play a lot in order to join a server. And how can you start playing in that server if you need to have played a time? Oh you mean the account system like in big games? I think we have discussed enough about it. And we all know it is rejected because of several reasons, like the need of a server with the accounts and that would make soldat pay to play.



Erm... I guess... Sort of a 'maybe' reply here, but do you honestly think all servers would want this?
Anyway, Chakra's newer idea is much better.

One thing about this idea I don't like, you said that Soldat would record the data of all the kills, time-played, captures, returns, etc. What about when you need to delete all of the Soldat folders because of some sort of glitch, or files missing, or a virus.

That might be annoying for some people who have to re-install Soldat constantly. It wouldn't be a major problem, and I wouldn't have to worry about it, but it's just something I thought I'd point out.

Anyways I like the concept of making it time-played based, since I play about four hours a day.

Maybe your stats could go to an individual file you can back up.

good idea chakra, but then i could be hacked more easy. if it was intergrated into soldat data files it cant be hacked. cus of the anti hack/cheat thing.

Did you play America's Army? There's exactly the same idea going on there. I hate it.
It's hard to find a server to play on (if you're a noob you can only play on a few noob servers and if you're elite you're supposed to play on elite servers but it's hard to find a server that fits you with good ping). It splits the whole community and takes out all the fun of the game. Miner on Windows is more fun than America's Army, it's just frustrating.
I played like a couple of days to get on some good level and then I killed two times a friend when it was dark and the system degraded me to a level that I couldn't play at any server at all :).

If you said "I created soldat omg, I wont be treated like this !" they woulda unbanned you :D.

Oh well..

At least we know Michal's out there in other games :D

we need a sever where the passwords on the forum... that would help... like dna

sorry but i think that would be very stupid.
1) People would start to think that ratio is an important thing.
as u people might have see, in u13, because of the ranking system on the site, people are playing it really lame. Ive seen many skilled players camping with barret (and spooge with ruger) just to get some extra ratio and get on the top players. I think that would add to the overall gayness of soldat community, and no offense all ;).

2) It is also to know that they are already private servers that prevent the noobs from getting in. In west we have: llama and r7 most of time opened for players.

3) And if, for exemple, a mid skilled player starts playing in these previous servers, he would probably have very bad stats since he would lose most of his 1 on 1 fights.
What then? he would have to go play on barret frenzies to get his ratio back up? No thats just really a bad bad bad BAD idea chakra.

Heyyyy ...read the details luv. No one said ratio was the way to go.

And besides, Llama's is always full of noobs :|

kkazican always uses the same gun, is he noob?

I'm really glad Michal turned this idea down. Soldat has just too small a community to make this effective. Also, inactive players like me and TFS would be screwed.