Points and how they are gained

[MRTINK]

At what point are the game points given to the player? At the end of the round? If a player drops do they still receive points for that game? The reason I ask is there are a lot of people that get killed and will not wait for the other player to respawn them. They just disconnect. Can we add some sort of punishment for this behavior? Like No points for the next win if you drop from a game before the reinforcements are called? People are so impatient. They rush out on their own, get killed and cry when we don't get them back immediately. Then they drop forcing us to finish with only 3 people.

[Moysturizer]

Those quitters get nothing. I've noticed I get nothing if I leave early.

[AmperCamper]

XP is only rewarded upon mission complete, and quitters not only leave without XP but they also waste a significant amount of their time. This also applies to secondary objectives and weapon caches - if they don't stick around for mission complete, they walk away with zero.

[MRTINK]

XP is only rewarded upon mission complete, and quitters not only leave without XP but they also waste a significant amount of their time. This also applies to secondary objectives and weapon caches - if they don't stick around for mission complete, they walk away with zero.

So what about the second part? "Can we add some sort of punishment for this behavior? Like No points for the next win if you drop from a game before the reinforcements are called? People are so impatient. They rush out on their own, get killed and cry when we don't get them back immediately. Then they drop forcing us to finish with only 3 people."

Ok great, they don't get points, but we need to do something to prevent this behavior.

[Kean_1]

So what about the second part? "Can we add some sort of punishment for this behavior? Like No points for the next win if you drop from a game before the reinforcements are called? People are so impatient. They rush out on their own, get killed and cry when we don't get them back immediately. Then they drop forcing us to finish with only 3 people."

Ok great, they don't get points, but we need to do something to prevent this behavior.

IMO, there is a balance to be struck with penalties like this. What about those instances where someone is inadvertently disconnected or drops out as a result of others who may be acting up, trolling, etc.? Making it too unforgiving could put some people off the game entirely. .....and not just those who drop out due to impatience.

Personally, I have had more bad experiences with randoms than good in tactical games. Those that don't work well with others including "going Rambo", throwing fits, trolling, using others as fodder, refusing to assist, etc. IMO / IME, while playing with randoms can be hit or miss, playing with friends is always a better overall experience.

The fact is that people are going to drop out. Maybe a ranking system that reflects "drops", friendly fire, etc. could at least tell others what they may be in for with a stranger? .....and could serve as a deterrent for such behavior as I doubt most folks would want that sort of thing advertised if they are the type to do it regularly. For someone who drops a match on accident or for legitimate reasons, this would be a blip on their stats. .....nothing to worry about.

Rewards vs. penalties is another route. Provide more incentives for folks to stick with a match.

[MRTINK]

Kean_1 I agree with all of that. I am just saying that something needs to be done. Something more than nothing. Maybe after 5 drops a punishment kicks in. Or like you said a drop/toxicity rating so we don't have to take the player in to begin with.

[AmperCamper]

Kean_1 I agree with all of that. I am just saying that something needs to be done. Something more than nothing. Maybe after 5 drops a punishment kicks in. Or like you said a drop/toxicity rating so we don't have to take the player in to begin with.

We have plans to improve our retention systems over time, and perhaps this includes taking another look at quitters and blue-on-blue. Thanks for this!

[Kean_1]

Kean_1 I agree with all of that. I am just saying that something needs to be done. Something more than nothing. Maybe after 5 drops a punishment kicks in. Or like you said a drop/toxicity rating so we don't have to take the player in to begin with.

I get it. My point was that there may be more to consider than simply levying penalties. This is also not something unique to SDiF as I have encountered toxic behavior, lack of team play, rage quitters, etc., etc. in other co-op / MP games.

Sandstorm co-op was among one of the worst IMO as the game would not allow teams any smaller than maximum (8 IIRC). ....that would mean if you only had 3 other friends that could join in, the remaining 4 spots would be automatically populated with randoms. .....randoms who would either not speak, didn't care about teamwork, go "lone wolf", TK, troll, etc. Yes, sometimes you would run into someone who really wanted to play as a team which IME was less often than the other examples. In those relatively few cases sometimes you even come out of a match with a new friend willing to play with your group regularly. In fact, that's always been my strategy. .....make a bunch of new friends so I don't have to deal with randoms as much or at all (sort of a vetting process). I'm glad the SDiF team decided not to force matchmaking and allow friends to play in smaller teams if they want.

I wish there was a good solution to all the pitfalls of random interaction. I have yet to play a game that does address the problem well but yes, I agree that something is better than nothing.

[xxinfurnoxx]

One way that would not impact play, but give people in the lobby a heads up, is if there was a penalty badge or reprimand by the players name where the rank is displayed. This should be incorporated with vote to kick system imo, that way if someone repeatedly has blue on blue offenses it shows up as a badge of shame, same for early leavers or kia deserters, they should receive the deserters badge of shame idk just a stoned thought