REALLY need a way to scramble server

[ADevilishPotato]

The problem is that it's hard to tell if teams are genuinely stacked, or if one team just has a bad composition.

Another problem is that people really like to spam the votescramble function. Lost one round? Votescramble.

...And this is why we don't let people votescramble, terribly abused in the past

But yes, next time you think there is an issue, try to take a deep breath and pull back a bit from the situation. If you see some regs on, try to reach out to them to see if some shuffling is in order. Try to double check class comps are good and if they are whacky, let people know with a "hey it would be awesome if we could get someone to go [insert class here]" or "it might be better if we could lose one of the [inser....okay it is gonna be scout, sniper, or spy here]". People on the ville tend to follow when one or a few people start kindly taking charge.

[Scorch]

Fly, you just need to play for like 3 or 4 hours, by then the teams should get switched up

There are times when the players are just bad and you're stuck on their team. I've been through my fair share of rolls on this server. I've also watched the server die because of completely unbalanced teams. Usually that happens at odd-hours when it's mostly just random players and few regulars. If being a good citizen is important to the ville, then I would think most of us should be willing to switch teams for the sake of better balance.

[kkpyro]

I like to play on Dustbowl sometimes on Saturday mornings. This has two effects.

1. I feel like an unstoppable God who...can't....be......... stopped?
2. It makes you appreciate the level of skill and teamwork displayed on any random night on the server.

Seriously thou, go play the lowest skill random pub type servers you can find for a bit and you will appreciate our servers more.

Perhaps even more seriously, the problem is on a semi regular basis you get a very high level of play on the Dustbowl server, only to be disappointed on a more regular basis that the skill level doesn't remain high.

And this is coming from a Warpath snob who remembers the good old days of a full Warpath server every single night.

^This^

I was there as well, Fly. I heard you (saw in chat as well) call for a scramble. I hit Tab and saw that the score was 7-6 and that there were no more than 2 or 3 ppl with the same tag. (They were VC tags, therefore temporary.)
**I hope I have my day correct...maybe you call for scrambles often. I honestly don't know. But, I remember a situation resembling this one.


Sorry this was a bad experience for you, as well, but I think it's a matter of perspective, friend.
We also like to encourage new players. Frustrating as that might be for a seasoned veteran as yourself, patience may be required.

I sometimes server hop with friends and I have experienced exactly what Bluntspoon describes here. It always leads me to appreciate our servers here at The Ville.


Also, welcome back to the forums.

[Kujako]

Fly, you just need to play for like 3 or 4 hours, by then the teams should get switched up

and then a given sub-section of the players will "randomly" end up on the same team. Again. Really nothing much you can do about it.

[trilobite]

The frustrations you voiced are legitimate and reflect my ongoing experiences too. So, totally justified, bro.

btw, let me take this opportunity to say that you are a grand presence on the servers when you show up. I really enjoy playing with you. Always a challenging opponent, or an inspiring team mate. Always of good cheer and respectful – if frustrated.

I share your complaints. They are among the main reasons I now stress “quality of personal experience” as more valuable than team victory. It is more attainable. As others have said, the composition of teams varies through the session, sometimes coming together, often not. Stacking continues to be a problem. I just accept it now. It’s not going to change. When I am on a team getting rolled, I just work on my skills and try to stay alive, ping willing. I discovered years ago that if I want to consistently win, I have to go medic. I noticed you do the same thing. I got tired of that. Now I play any class I want anonymously. I still try to win, but it’s not my main focus anymore.

[Cat Square]

I couldn't disagree more with needing scramble.
The problem I have with it is the diagnosis of a bad team as having weaker players - far too often it isn't the players, but the classes. Other times it's not the skill level, but the morale - I've seen players/teams crumble because someone with a bad attitude planted a seed (like "this team sucks") and a slippery slope of doubt/failure set in.
My favorite tf2 moments usually involve winning a match as the underdog at the end of a long hard fight - when players pull themselves up by their bootstraps, embrace a little hope, channel some inspired effort, and come home with the W. I think people are more willing to dig deep when they have no other choice, scramble is a crutch that prevents this.

[l3eeron]

If I'm on and I see something truly stacked, I'll change the map to indirectly scramble the teams... positive responses from a straight up scramble are rare.

[TheCarpe]

Take 24 quarters and see how long it takes you to throw them in the air and end up with 12 heads and 12 tails.

A scramble option is not an automatic balance-maker, sometimes it just makes things worse. I think people just like the 50/50 shot at ending up on what becomes (or stays) the winning team.

[The_Fly]

Really? I thought they got the ability to call for scrambles, kicks, bans, etc. I know I was there when Pimp called for a ban for someone who was acting out. I guess they don't get scrambles but kick/ban?

[The Domer]

Really? I thought they got the ability to call for scrambles, kicks, bans, etc. I know I was there when Pimp called for a ban for someone who was acting out. I guess they don't get scrambles but kick/ban?

Gold supporters gain the ability to call for votekicks and votebans, though those are never permanent. Any offending case is recorded in the Llama Pen and the admins review it to see if any further action is needed.

[Kujako]

Seriously thou, go play the lowest skill random pub type servers you can find for a bit and you will appreciate our servers more.

That's part of why it's disappointing to see skilled players huddled together on a team simply so they can get easy wins rather then have a challenging game.

[Cat Square]

Seriously thou, go play the lowest skill random pub type servers you can find for a bit and you will appreciate our servers more.

That's part of why it's disappointing to see skilled players huddled together on a team simply so they can get easy wins rather then have a challenging game.

multiple skilled players on a team doesn't necessarily mean they want to stomp and score easy wins. I don't team switch when things look stacked because who am I to make that assessment? If you're getting beat, try harder. If trying harder doesn't work, well, lose gracefully and try again. Trying to impose "balance" is utter folly.

[Kujako]

Seriously thou, go play the lowest skill random pub type servers you can find for a bit and you will appreciate our servers more.

That's part of why it's disappointing to see skilled players huddled together on a team simply so they can get easy wins rather then have a challenging game.

multiple skilled players on a team doesn't necessarily mean they want to stomp and score easy wins.

When its the same people, time and again while the other team is down 50% of it's players it is what it is.

[ADevilishPotato]

Well that is why there is an autobalance, and if people start switching sides after being autobalanced to "stack a team" then they are in clear violations of the rules.

[Kujako]

Well that is why there is an autobalance, and if people start switching sides after being autobalanced to "stack a team" then they are in clear violations of the rules.

Auto-balance often doesn't kick in until it's a moot point (I've seen it take till the last minute or two of a round that started unbalanced as bad as 2v1) and when it does it almost never rebalances the teams since it doesn't take into account player ability. What I see most often, is someone gets auto-balanced and then just goes back out into the lobby rather then be on the receiving end of a steamroll. Not saying it's not in violation of the rules, but the rules are next to impossible to enforce so I fear we must learn to live with it.

The most annoying effect is that it "kills" the servers for awhile as people start to quit.