ET Server Suggestion Balance in Silent#1

[Federicrit]

I'm going to share my thoughts on balance for the Silent#1 server specifically.

 

I've been playing on the =F|A= silent servers (Silent#1 and Hardcore) for many years, so I know the mod and the regular players quite well. I also played ETLegacy (on other communities) and some ETPro scrims. I used to be a level 14 =F|A= admin as well (I think it was 14 ), before I decided to leave the community. So, I know some things about team balance in general, and team balance specifically in Silent#1.

 

I'll start saying that balance is not an absolute thing. It's relative to the map, and to the stage on that map, as well as to the current amount of players, and to the skill and playstyle of those players.

 

For example, the first stage of the map Braundorf or Erdenberg is quite hard for Allies to go through, so the game could feel unbalanced in favor of Axis. But the second stage becomes very hard for Axis to defend, so the game is now unbalanced in favor of Allies. In this case I recommend helping the attacking team so they go through the first stage, and then switch back to the defending team. Also, there are some maps, like Beerrun and Goldrush (any version), that are just unplayable when the server is crowded. In these cases I suggest just stacking the attacking team.

 

Some maps are just great when it's an 8v8, but become very unbalanced if it's a 16v16. More players means more granades, more heavy weapons and less space to move. How to balance Beerrun on a 16v16, where Allies just die and die without making any progress? Again, just stack the weaker team. And by that I mean literally using !putteam and make Allies have +3 players if necessary. There's a very annoying banner that pops out when a team is +3, and I think it should be removed, since sometimes it is necessary to have a team with more players in order to achieve balance. Even teams is not necessarily balanced teams. Sometimes, a 18v15 is perfectly balanced, specially on small maps with a crowded server, and when the defending team has very skilled players.

 

How to know if a game is unbalanced? The #1 tool for this is the command /scores. This command shows you a few things in console, but the most important one you should keep an eye on is team scores. I mean the numbers highlighted in red in the image: 

 

 

Team scores are amazingly accurate in telling you which team is having the upper hand. Usually the defending team will have higher scores, and this is fine in most maps. But when there's a +50 difference it starts to be an issue, and if it's +100 the game feels very unbalanced. Check the scores at the beginning and at the end of each map, and try to act accordingly. Maps like Goldrush need to have Allies with a lead in scores in order for that map to be balanced.

 

The other tool is just experience. Knowing the maps and knowing the server regular players is a pretty solid way of telling if teams are stacked. I don't care what map and how many players are currently playing, if Phreak and Raider are on the same team, that team is stacked. So, you generally want to have the same amount of "pros" in each team. That's why having an 18v15 is okay some times, because the players that really make the difference are the pros.

 

Is !howfair useful? No, I don't think !howfair (the color choice is absolutely accidental) is useful. I mean, if it says "Fix the teams!" then the game it's probably unbalanced, but it's not reliable since it's based on KR. I'd just check the amount of pros on each team.

 

How to fix teams? Just move yourself if possible, or move others. Admins have !putteam to make this easier. And as I said, if the map is being a hell, just use !putteam and make a team at least +2. The only admin I've seen doing this is ogeazy and some times mobius.

 

There is also the infamous !shuffle (the color choice is absolutely accidental). This command is horrible, and the fact that teams are autoshuffled every 3 maps hurts my soul. The command is garbage because it shuffles on KR, and KR is almost as inflated as the Argentine coin. The values are very distorted and even if they weren't, it still wouldn't be the best thing to shuffle on. It would be way better if shuffle was done on total damage given for example. But still, /scores, experience and !putteam are your best tools. I strongly recommend removing autoshuffle, and telling admins not to use it. Autoshuffle could be replaced by autoswapteams for example.

 

Spawntimers are also something that could help in balance. The more amount of time players are dead, the less time they are actually playing. So high spawntimers makes it so the server feels less crowded. However, I feel that having low spawntimers is kinda the essence of Silent#1. In conclusion, check /scores and don't be afraid to use !putteam and making a team +2 or +3. Also don't use !shuffle or !howfair.

[Federicrit]

On 7/1/2023 at 11:08 PM, Federicrit said:

I'm going to share my thoughts on balance for the Silent#1 server specifically.

 

Good for you champ!

[Valk]

W:ET Admin Basics - Fearless Assassins Wiki (fearless-assassins.com)

 

FA already have it.