Bring ?go base into PUB.

[apt]

Much like HZ has done by creating two maps in its public arena.

One is a pub map for use by any player, the second one is for scrimmage.

Let's face it, ?go base is dead, simply because no one can muster the energy to type the keys to get there, and stay there.

In Hockey Zone you get to play in the scrimmage arena by typing the next command, and you are then placed into a queue.

That some workflow wouldn't be adaptable to Trench Wars, but we could have the base bot work in a similar manner that it works now via pub, without staff interference.
Players will have the option to disable base game commands, so they are not flooded with messages of when a base game is starting or ending, while playing pub, or hanging out in spec.

[kyler]

At the very least, basebot shouldn't require staff in my opinion. Too many base games dying because either the staffer there went afk, left, or whoever responded to the call didn't get to it in time.
Just run it like Javduel/WBduel..
When I asked around why we aren't already doing this, I was told that it's to "give the <ZH>s something to do." Yeah ok I get that <ZH>s don't get a lot of action, but we're talking about the lively hood of a core part of our zone vs newbie staff members getting an imaginary point.

Come on..

[apt]

At the very least, basebot shouldn't require staff in my opinion. Too many base games dying because either the staffer there went afk, left, or whoever responded to the call didn't get to it in time.
Just run it like Javduel/WBduel..
When I asked around why we aren't already doing this, I was told that it's to "give the <ZH>s something to do." Yeah ok I get that <ZH>s don't get a lot of action, but we're talking about the lively hood of a core part of our zone vs newbie staff members getting an imaginary point.

Come on..

If that's the reason Kyler, that is unfortunate.

Base dies quite often because the staff member appoints 1 captain, and then basically says "better luck next time kid," as people flow in and out of the arena and just give up on it. You let players set themselves as captain, the most tenacious of players will wait in that arena 5-10 even 15 minutes and eventually at the least get a 5v5 going with players who want to play.

[Ephemeral]

Apt,
Surely the theory here is not ‘even if ?go base is run half ass nothing bad will happen’? If the percentage of failed games in ?go base goes up then the arena, and the zone, can be negatively affected. At some point players might not even respond to the zoner since they might think ‘oh just another false start or shit game’ if it is allowed to be started/run by those who are clueless.

If we agree that starting a bunch of bad ?go base games is not a good thing then we are left with discussing the requirements. The things required for a good ?go base game are 12 players and 2 knowledgeable captains who pick fair teams. A bot can certainly handle the minimum number of players but I don’t know how picking decent captains can be automated. Any ideas?
eph

[Wormhole Surfer]

A bot can certainly handle the minimum number of players but I don’t know how picking decent captains can be automated. Any ideas?

I would recommend the bot picking the 2 players with the most usage. Obviously having the most hours logged doesn't make someone necessarily know who to pick for balanced teams, but it certainly increases the likelihood they do.

If one (or even both) of the captains chosen were to purposely make the teams unbalanced, people will naturally alert staff and the perpetrator will be handled like any other offense. The major difference here, however, is that the perpetrator would not be able to circumvent staff by aliasing (How many trolls actually have multiple aliases with thousands of hours on each?).

[kyler]

If that's the reason Kyler, that is unfortunate.

Base dies quite often because the staff member appoints 1 captain, and then basically says "better luck next time kid," as people flow in and out of the arena and just give up on it. You let players set themselves as captain, the most tenacious of players will wait in that arena 5-10 even 15 minutes and eventually at the least get a 5v5 going with players who want to play.

While that is definitely true in some cases, I've also found that it can be extremely difficult to find people willing to be captain, even if there's a decent amount of people in the arena, let alone when there's very few. Just throwing this out there but maybe if we provided some kind of incentive to be captain (assuming the game starts, and finishes) we could have better results?
Just a thought, haven't hashed out any details yet.

As far as what Eph said (forgive me as I'm not sure how to multi-quote): "At some point players might not even respond to the zoner since they might think ‘oh just another false start or shit game’ if it is allowed to be started/run by those who are clueless."
Unfortunately I believe we have already hit this point, where most players are reading the base zoner and assuming it will fail without bothering to even show up.

[apt]

While that is definitely true in some cases, I've also found that it can be extremely difficult to find people willing to be captain, even if there's a decent amount of people in the arena, let alone when there's very few. Just throwing this out there but maybe if we provided some kind of incentive to be captain (assuming the game starts, and finishes) we could have better results?
Just a thought, haven't hashed out any details yet.

As far as what Eph said (forgive me as I'm not sure how to multi-quote): "At some point players might not even respond to the zoner since they might think ‘oh just another false start or shit game’ if it is allowed to be started/run by those who are clueless."
Unfortunately I believe we have already hit this point, where most players are reading the base zoner and assuming it will fail without bothering to even show up.

this tru

[Tone]