Team Balancing Discussion

[JG52Krupi]

One multiplayer problem that has not really being discussed at any great length is the balance of teams... Take last night for example I joined the ATAG server and found that there were 24 Blues Vs 10 Red, now as you can guess I am a Blue pilot but when I see a unbalanced game I join the team that has the least players (unless they are quite balanced already). I jumped in a spit at hawkinge and predictable within 5 seconds a 110 had shot me before I could even start my engine I jumped in another and the same 110 strafed me again... Yes it was predictable so I jumped to Ramsgate only to find a few 109 are already trying to dominate the skies.

Now this is not a uncommon occurance and I have occasionally being know to strafe but as I fly red now and again I know how annoying it can be so I now only use bombs.

Anyway my point is that there is a real problem online on that when you have a server that has no team balancing and pilots not willing to jump in an a aircraft they are not accustomed to for obvious reason and the server allows strafing the team that is down on players has a big problem.

Now other games have a team balance ability but I do not believe this is a workable solution to CoDs problems as a player that is forced onto a team they are not used to flying will probably just quit and look for another server... So what's the solution lets discuss!

[SNAFU]

Without forced team-balance you have no chance to balance the numbers on public servers, visited by more than 20 players randomly.

I don´t mind unbalanced teams generally if the missions are designed well.

Strafing as result of unbalanced teams is a typical syndrom of bored players. If you do not have any objective but to shoot at other other planes wich appear randomly and you do not find any plane to shoot at, you go for the place where you can be sure you find what you are looking for - the oppfor airfields.

So, give the players an objective, a feeling for the objective and an award for achieving this objective. At the same time penalize them for not achieving their objective and doing something stupid, like strafing enemy airfields with guns. This usually works to a certain degree. But so far on the DF servers you can simply leave your plane if it has a scratch on the canopy or you just put your plane and your v-life into the next hill, without any consequenzes - it too easy to follow the temptation of the quicky-airquake and besides you mostly have nothing else to do anyway. If you stop the AI Bombers or not, if bomb the train/ship/tank or not, so what? Teamplay? What for? Any formations you meet are usually AI bombers, no fighters, so...

Therefore you simply end up with the situation of take-off, head to the next enemy airfield, if you do not find anything flying to shoot at, look on the ground, strafe a little, get shot down by the one above the airfield you didn´t see and repeat... So far I have seen, we only have this kind of dogfight servers, for CloD, maybe that will change someday...

sorry not time for a spell-check...

[MoGas]

Thats why I fly RED too now. Lot of people seems do dislike RED planes, like SpitI-Ia etc....Or the 109 lobby is just bigger I dont know. It got not interresting for me to fly with 3x109`s against a single Spitfire, now since I am RED I have the issue on my side, that you get jumbed by 3-5 109`s at the same time at 15.000ft.

And even with 4-5 109 turning around you, and you see, now its time to go, for a tactical "extend", the call you runner lol...anyway...

Thx to ATAG lol, for atleast 5x SpitII`s otherwise this heavy outnumbering of one side is getting boring. With the SpitII you can get out of it if you keep the eyes up, and not getting target fixed.

Had good fights against ALOT of enemys in the last days on the ATAG server against good (russian ) players, without a SpitII you just dont need to take off, with this poor Spitys.

Soo in this case, I try to keep the RED numbers up....

[JG52Krupi]

Agreed I now think the spit 2 is okay in small numbers and helps alleviate the problem, but now we have the problem of the Manston airfield been targeted due to the spit 2s I have done this myself got 4 sc 50 and attempted to get them but just got jumped by three spits XD, but this is why Ramsgate is no longer safe as ppl come to Manston so now all red airfields are targeted lol. Luckily the spit 2 is so good it can deal with 109s even shortly after take off.

The problem is not entirely the blues fault, reds should head out to the channel a bit more.

[335th_GRAthos]

If the team is very imbalanced, I will just take a bomber or a "heavy fighter" (ME110) and go for ground targets practice (this does not mean ground Huris/Spits, lol).

~S~

[FG28_Kodiak]

Hm strafing could be prevent via script, make a area around an airfield if a enemy plane enter it, you can destroy him or disable his weapons. You can also only enable this "shield" if the balancing is to bad. But it's not historical

[MoGas]

Originally Posted by JG52Krupi

The problem is not entirely the blues fault, reds should head out to the channel a bit more.

Thats what you want if RED, but in most cases, you get hard pushed, by BLUE numbers at RED fields already like H14. I take Ramsgate or Manston, I am not even thinking about Hawking, and after airborn, I try to climb away north or to the west and get ALT before I start to search high 109`s above H14.

Ofcourse it is not always the case, that ALL RED fields are been under fire by BLUE at the same time, but if you would get strafed ones on one field, you need to take a other one right away.

I see players getting vulched by the enemy two times in a row, and he starts to pitch via chat, sorry, this is youre own fault, I mean a good indicator that you are in danger is the mass of AAA around the base lol!

[JG52Krupi]

Yes but all airfield can be dominated if the teams are not balanced that's the problem I raised.

[JG53Frankyboy]

if there is only one base available to fly 'the' red bomber, if it takes some minutes till you can move it because you need time to warm up.......

time will tell.

[MoGas]

Originally Posted by JG52Krupi

Yes but all airfield can be dominated if the teams are not balanced that's the problem I raised.

yes sure...

I see the trend too, that BLUE covers Manston (SpitII base) more, besides the H14 zone, what means Ramsgate too...