Idea CTFpixel

This is essentially a more in-depth description of how CTF should ideally function outside of the competitive scene. Please note that this is all theoretical and subject to change, which you are more than welcome to suggest by replying.

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Server Capacity​

I know I'm quoting myself, but I'll say it here just for clarity: It has been evidently proven through PPMs that larger matches function far worse than smaller ones, let alone with a randomized mix of players with varying skill levels and/or knowledge of the game. To combat this, I believe reducing each server's capacity to 24 Players would be most optimal, as a 13v13 is typically the largest roster limit you'll see for a PPM (26 is just an ugly number ). In addition, I believe the game startup (and the credit earning trigger in tow) should be increased to 18 or 20 players, so that we don't have the currently asinine 44 player gap possible for starting games; Credit earning would therefore always be "on" when a match starts, instead of the current imbalance which I still can't find any reasoning behind.

Class Limits​

I want everyone to read this very carefully; I know the idea alone sounds idiotic to some of you, but just bear with me here. The following list is just what came to my mind while making this thread; Feel free to constructively modify it as you see fit if/when you reply.
• Heavy, Soldier: 5
• Medic, Ninja, Elf: 3
• Archer, Mage, Assassin, Pyro, Dwarf, Engineer: 2
• Fashionista can just be unlimited for the memes
This list ensures that, under most circumstances, you will always be able to play the class you want. Will there be times when you join a match with your desired class slots filled? Yes, but this list is also designed to minimize the amount of IQ exterminating class piles that can occur in the current casual servers. As far as selecting classes goes, I think keeping the current style works just fine.

Map Rotations​

If you thought I was going to try to change this, shame on you. The current system is fine, and it really isn't the end of the word when back to back maps occur from switching servers. Implicating any sort of voting system will inevitably lead to abusive behavior if people get bored enough.

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Once again, this is just what came to mind when I was typing this out. You are welcome to offer any input you like, but please keep it civil for the sake of everyone's brains.

 

Ideally it would be coded to prevent that from happening. If possible, you could still set your default, but if the slot is taken, it will set your class to the next available one (which idk how that would work yet exactly). Like if all the free classes are taken and you don't own any premiums, I guess technically it would allow you to play a class you don't own if it redirects you to it. With smaller servers, you're going to have more of them active, so it with the average of 50-70 people playing at peak hours, you should be able to find a game where you can play what you want, unless there's some exceptionally scummy trolling going on.

 

This is going to slightly counter what I've been saying about new players, but imo playing 1 class every second you're on CTF is a path to boredom and eventually quitting, as we've seen with Proterozoic. And quite frankly, I'd take any opportunity to minimize the amount of players that downloaded the game literal minutes before logging on that play archer or chemist and just spam right click without even moving. It forces people to adapt, but still offers the freedom most of the time; It's not like I'm trying to eliminate every annoying player on the server. People have different playstyles that are effective in their own ways, but sometimes it's better for the rest of us to not have to deal with some clueless kid getting in the way of objective gameplay simply because the class they play has an annoying feature. Would you honestly say you advocate Engineers that do nothing but run & tnt spam? Mages that only run & freeze/lightning? Ninjas that spend multiple minutes waiting for you to go afk just for that free kill? You can't stop them all, but this at least prevents some of it. If you want casual to function better, then maybe it is optimal to discourage people with those annoying playstyles from returning, as half the time that's the only thing they can do effectively.

Like I said before, 13v13 is already pushing it with fully coordinated & experienced teams. Having anything more becomes utter chaos, and as Ivan said above, you get the infamous class piles where you can find literally 5-7 Archers on a single team that make gameplay an actual nightmare. Reducing server sizes is necessary to prevent this from happening, and while it alone works fairly well, you will still always have the potential threat of people doing intentional class piles like Color's Mage army. Also, as I said in the post itself, if you want to, you can modify the limits to what you see fit.

 

Obviously doesn't sound appealing to the people that want the most player friendly server, but with how much toxicity and infighting this server has experienced already, there isn't much else to do except find ways to make it harder for scums & ****ters to continue being effective in casual. The people that target new players do it for two reasons: being really bad or being really annoying. If the machine gun Archers aren't around to begin with, then that at least solves half the problem; Handling skill gap targeting is up to the player's team, as staff aren't always able to jump in and stop it from happening.

 

If you don't feel like coming back to a 100 player server because you can't play a certain class I'm not really gonna be surprised... js. Yes, people can & have played the same class straight for years at a time, but it ultimately creates an unhealthy environment where the regs capitalize on the key weakness(es) of that class every time they fight you, and more often than not intentionally target you briefly to try to make you stop playing entirely. That's just what this server is like, so if you weren't aware of that somehow, that's the crude explanation for it.

My original thought for reduced server sizes was 15v15; still too small? Your thoughts?