FC Update 8.0
One More Week!
One More Week!
The Time Is Near!
In barely a week, the Third War will be starting. On Sunday, August 18th, at 6:00 PM EST, the first battle will be underway, and then we'll all get to see how well the new armies are doing. Both sides have changed quite a bit since last war, so this war's gonna be exciting. Who is more organized? Who will have more activity? Who's going to come out on top and get an early advantage in the war?
We've been trying to get things done in the short intermission between wars that we call Peacetime, but as the days tick by we can't get quite everything perfected, but we did manage to do quite a few adjustments, and even more improvements, to a huge variety of things.
Tiebreaker Games
In previous wars, we didn't really have a specified way to handle tiebreakers, so generally the Field Marshals would make an agreement to have their best players fight it out.
Then, last war, we changed it so that the High Command would fight, with subs from the next-highest ranking members. Now, we're changing it to something that should be more fair, and fun, for everyone. And it's pretty simple too.
If a game goes to a tiebreaker in order to decide the winner, then the Field Marshal will look at their players online, and choose who's going to play. They will then do the tiebreaker, and those players will be added to a list.
The next time a tiebreaker happens, the FM will do the same, but now they cannot choose anyone who is on the list. This ensures that it's no longer the same 8 people always doing tiebreakers, and everyone can get a shot at it.
An obvious problem would be if the list gets large, and not enough people can be found to play the match. To prevent this, people who haven't played on that map yet will be able to play even if they're on the list. If more players are still needed, those at the top of the list will be allowed to play, and will be moved to the end of the list.
Setting Up Battles
Like tiebreakers, the way we've set up battles has changed quite a lot. It used to be, up until the Second Reach War, that the Field Marshals always set up the games together. Starting the Second Reach War, I went neutral and decided I could help them do that and allow them to focus on organizing their armies. That position became the War Director, and had been helping the FMs set up games for 6 wars.
Until last war, we started getting larger and more active, so we had multiple people setting up multiple games simultaneously. This allowed us to do things 3 times faster, and eliminated most of the wait times between games.
Now, we're taking it a step further. Not a single person, not 3 people, not even 5 people setting up games. We're opening it up so that we'll have as many as we need. If we're gonna have 8 matches in the rotation on a map, we'll have those 8 games be set up, each by someone else. If we have 12, we'll try getting all 12 done simultaneously as well.
This could, if it works, totally eliminate long wait times and make the battles go smoother than ever before.
We're going to be creating a list of trustworthy members. People who both FMs vouch for will be added to our organizational Battle Night Co-Op Skype group, will get Statbook editing permissions, and will be able to set up their own games without a FM or WD present. They will be told who to invite, will inform us of the chosen gametype, and then start the game, easy and quick as that.
Of course, this does open up the possibility of cheating. Just in case, if anyone in the lobby is uncomfortable with it being set up by that specific person, they can request a FM/WD be present. Also, in the event where anyone abuses their position, we've got some very harsh punishments (FMs are vouching for these people, so fingers crossed that cheating never happens, ever).
On August 18th, these guys will be able to set up their own lobbies without needing an FM/WD (unless they or someone else in the game requests one), will be added to the Battle Night Co-Op Skype chat, and given editing permissions over the statbook (to input gametypes, game results, etc.).
If you are on that list, you still need to confirm yourself. Send me a PM telling me flat out that you vow to not abuse the position we're giving you, and that you accept the responsibilities and are aware of the punishments in case you do cheat. Once I receive that PM, you'll be added to the Skype chat, where you'll be told the specific details about it.
Peacetime Questionnaire!
We have received over 60 responses to the Questionnaire, and got a lot of very good suggestions. Here are some summaries about some of the responses:
FC:Rec3 Gametypes
Judging from the Questionnaire responses above, our gametypes last war were were pretty good. We've got a few adjustments that we're going to be making to them. (Note: We could very well change these mid-war, so give us feedback) Here's the gametypes from last war:
- Conflict / H. Conflict : 120 games played (21%)
- Extraction / H. Extraction : 91 games played (16%)
- Asset / H. Asset : 88 games played (15%)
- Liberation / S. Liberation / H. Liberation / S. H. Liberation : 80 games played (14%)
- Hill 30 / H. Hill 30 : 72 games played (13%)
- Occupation / H. Occupation : 57 games played (10%)
- Executive : 33 games played (6%)
- Dominion : 28 games played (5%)
A lot of people wanted to replace Hill 30 with Lockdown (one-base Dominion), and considering the KotH glitch it seems to be the best course of action. However, since 343 has Dominion disabled on most small maps, not all maps would be able to do Hill 30. Those maps would be forced to have 1 less gametype option. This would also be replacing Dominion.
Executive: Hasn't been played often, and I haven't liked how the settings work, so we're switching it back to defend MM traits for the King. This makes the gametype easier to learn and more intuitive, rather than having traits which are very strange for newer members. Because of this, Executive will be able to be used in Heavy gametypes now.
Occupation: I like the regular variant, but the Heavy variant can be improved. Awhile ago, a multi-hill possibility was brought up, and we're going to try using it, as I think it could be quite interesting and make H. Occupation better (fewer people piled into a single area will help framerate issues also).
Ordnance: The current ordnance drops do not provide any heavy power weapons like Snipers/Rockets, which a lot of people have liked, but the Left Slot feels kind of useless right now, and getting a Sword in an 8v8 feels like a wasted ordnance. I'm considering this:
- Conflict / H. Conflict
- Extraction / H. Extraction
- Asset / H. Asset
- Liberation / S. Liberation / H. Liberation / S. H. Liberation
- Lockdown / H. Lockdown
- Occupation / H. Occupation
- Executive / H. Executive
FC:Rec3 Map Selection Ceremony
Last war, we livestreamed the Map Selection Ceremony. This war, we will be doing the same. The Map Selection Ceremony is going to be tomorrow/today (Sunday, August 11th), at 7:00 PM EST. It will be livestreamed at http://www.twitch.tv/ForerunnerConflict
Both armies will take turns selecting maps. REDD, since they won last war, will choose first, starting with their Capital, and then BLUE will choose theirs, and back and forth until all 30 maps have been chosen. We have over 80 maps listed, so we should reach 30 no problem.
Since Forge has a limit of 8 players, each army will have 3 representatives. The last two spots will be open for the WD. Since WSxPhoenix will not be able to be on XBL until Tuesday, I'll be acting as WD for the event.
So once again, at 7:00 PM EST (18 hours after this post is made), the ceremony will begin. After that, we'll announce the maps separately, and then Monday or Tuesday the first Attack Plans will be posted in time for the first Battle Night on the 18th!
Be there!
FC:Rec3 Rules of Engagement
The Rules of Engagement can be reached by clicking the image above.
I had the idea of creating a graphical RoE this war, and have spent many hours on it. Seriously, I wanted to make this Update 24 hours ago, but couldn't do it because I wasn't finished with the RoE graphics. However, I'm still not done, so I'm just gonna go ahead and release Article I & II now, with the rest released within the next few days. In the mean time, you can read the full text version.
That's all for now, so make sure you watch the livestream of the Map Selection Ceremony!
~Mythonian
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