Guild Wars 2

The main goal should be to get proper 5v5 matches happening as much as possible. Penalizing deliberate offenders takes lower priority, the most important thing is to NOT ruin the experience for the other 9 players who are ready to go.

Since ArenaNet still haven’t implemented a solution, I can only think that they need more suggestions. Here’s mine:

If 30 seconds have passed after a match officially starts and one of the below situations occurs:
a) Someone is still missing from the scoreboard (disconnected or logged out)
OR
b) Someone hasn’t moved from the spawn point, no activity detected (AFK)

Then the following should happen:

1) The AFK person will be immediately kicked + penalized and returned to Mists, the disconncted/logged-out person will also be returned to the Mists if they reconnect.

2) The next 3-5 people sitting in Solo Queue should get a message: “Vacant slot available, accept within the next 30 seconds to join!”

3) Whichever one of those 3-5 people clicks “Accept” the fastest will join the match (the system can decide who), while the rest will be given a message “Sorry, the slot was filled. You have been placed in the queue.”

The team with missing people is guaranteed to have their slot(s) filled. Mission accomplished, match saved! Nothing too drastic happens in the first 1 minute of the match…at least it will be a fair 5v5 match for the remaining duration which is a hell of a lot better than a 4v5 (or 3v5/2v5 when people start rage-quitting).
For those worried that even 1 minute is too long a disadvantage and people won’t join a team that has been put at disadvantage, it’s just a matter of narrowing-down my suggested time windows:

Instead of 30 seconds, if 10 seconds pass after match starts and someone is detected afk/disconnected, kick them and offer the next 5 people in queue a 10-second window to join + fill the vacant slot. That means the team will be at a 20 second disadvantage at the most.

To cut that time even further, we would have to eat into the pre-match time. For example, when the final 10-second countdown starts (“The match will start soon”, “Last chance to nail down strategy…” etc), when the timer hits 0 (match starts) and someone is detected as disconnected/afk then they will be immediately kicked + replaced within the next 10 seconds.
So basically 10 secs into the match the vacant slot would already be filled.

It would be tight but it would work.

4) In addition to the above , please have a right-click reporting feature to report people who go AFK later in the match, it does happen quite a lot. If 2 or more people report someone as AFK, the offending player should get a message: “You have been reported AFK – please perform any activity within the next 60 seconds”. If they do anything (even a keypress or mouse waggle) then they should be immune to AFK-reports for the remainder of the match. If they do nothing, they will be kicked, penalized and receive no rewards.
The vacant slot should not be kept vacant however, since it’s too long into the match.

What does ArenaNet think, are these good ideas? Would it even be possible to implement?

Until a solution finally arrives, all us players can do is keep making suggestion after suggestion. Experiencing multiple 4v5’s is absolutely infuriating.

Who’s going to click Accept knowing, for a fact, that the team they’re joining was at a disadvantage for at least 30 seconds?

evilapprentice.6379:

Who’s going to click Accept knowing, for a fact, that the team they’re joining was at a disadvantage for at least 30 seconds?

Any sane player who doesn’t want to keep sitting in queue for another 4-7+ minutes in the queue. I’d certainly do it.

If 5 players are ready to go within 30-60 seconds after the match starts, the match still has a perfectly equal chance to go in ANY direction. This is Solo Queue and skill + coordination are the primary factors. That being said, the main reason 4v5’s are so bad is because of the 3-node conquest gameplay. It’s very difficult for a 4-man team to spread themselves out and hold points while doing objectives like orbs/svanir. The mere presence of the 5th person changes all that.

As long as the 5th player is there and ready to go within the first 1 minute of the match, things will be as good as fair and anyone can win.

I have a better idea… if you don’t click the ready button by the time the initial timer ends(before the 10 sec countdown) you are kicked and someone else is chosen(or accepts first).

Otherwise, why have an “I’m ready button”. This can also function where people have RL stuff to take off before the match starts, and can click not ready and they can be replaced without penalty to anyone.

In addition, if the game goes 20 seconds with someone afk or d/c, then the game should be paused (i.e no one can do anything everyone is immune) until a new person accepts to join match. However, because no one wants to join a 450-100 match on the losing team, then the points of the match should be shown before the new person accepts the queue. If no one is found within 30 seconds, the game continues and the team with 4 is sol.

Wintel.4873:

evilapprentice.6379:

Who’s going to click Accept knowing, for a fact, that the team they’re joining was at a disadvantage for at least 30 seconds?

Any sane player who doesn’t want to keep sitting in queue for another 4-7+ minutes in the queue. I’d certainly do it.

If 5 players are ready to go within 30-60 seconds after the match starts, the match still has a perfectly equal chance to go in ANY direction. This is Solo Queue and skill + coordination are the primary factors. That being said, the main reason 4v5’s are so bad is because of the 3-node conquest gameplay. It’s very difficult for a 4-man team to spread themselves out and hold points while doing objectives like orbs/svanir. The mere presence of the 5th person changes all that.

As long as the 5th player is there and ready to go within the first 1 minute of the match, things will be as good as fair and anyone can win.

Any sane player is going to want a fair matchup, a chance to discuss strategy with their teammates, etc – jumping onto a team that is almost certainly losing, with no idea what roles everyone has taken (you can guess based on class, but that’s not always accurate) seems like a kittentier proposition that waiting an extra 5 minutes for a chance at a fair match IMO.

And No, 30-60 seconds can decide the entire game between matched opponents. Take 2 equally skilled, diversely populated teams – who wins, the team with a 30-60s head start, or the other team?

evilapprentice.6379:

And No, 30-60 seconds can decide the entire game between matched opponents. Take 2 equally skilled, diversely populated teams – who wins, the team with a 30-60s head start, or the other team?

The team which isn’t 1 player short?

Wintel.4873:

evilapprentice.6379:

And No, 30-60 seconds can decide the entire game between matched opponents. Take 2 equally skilled, diversely populated teams – who wins, the team with a 30-60s head start, or the other team?

The team which isn’t 1 player short?

Which is both teams. How can we further narrow down who we think we’ll win?

Oh I know, I’m gonna bet its the team who didn’t have a disadvantage for the first 30-60s of the match. If you think that has no impact on the game, you’re kidding yourself. People are joining solo q for a chance at winning – no sane player is going to willingly handicap their chances before the game even starts for them.

I know you’re a fan of your own suggestion, but it has issues.

Great ideas! Think this one is the most important though (not the only one viable ofcourse)

Michael.9517:

I have a better idea… if you don’t click the ready button by the time the initial timer ends(before the 10 sec countdown) you are kicked and someone else is chosen(or accepts first).

Great idea. If someone accept but is too late. Give him 10 points for being kind.

oh, another addition. Total points (rank) lost or gained during a match is a factor of how many players you have for any given amount of time. So, basically, every player contribution to rank points is a factor of the time they were actually in the match and their current rank.

This way, if someone does leave, then the amount of rank lost on the team of 4 is much less(or slightly depending on when they left) and the amount of rank gained by the team of 5 is much less(or slightly less, depending on when they left).

so purposely leaving with 1 point/10 seconds remaining to try to grief the winning team won’t work because with only that little time, not much rank points will be lost by the winning team.

And if a game is on sided from the start, players leaving early is just is a factor of bad match up from the begging, and no one loses much anyway. Oh and there should be a penalty for leaving as well.

evilapprentice.6379:

Which is both teams. How can we further narrow down who we think we’ll win?

Oh I know, I’m gonna bet its the team who didn’t have a disadvantage for the first 30-60s of the match. If you think that has no impact on the game, you’re kidding yourself. People are joining solo q for a chance at winning – no sane player is going to willingly handicap their chances before the game even starts for them.

I know you’re a fan of your own suggestion, but it has issues.

Then cut my suggested time-windows down even further. Instead of 30 seconds, if 10 seconds pass after match starts and someone is afk/disconnected, kick them and offer the next 5 people in queue a 10-second window to join + fill the vacant slot.
That means the team will be at a 20 second disadvantage at the most.

The only way to cut the disadvantage further would be to start eating-into the pre-match time. For example, the moment the final 10-second countdown starts (“The match will start soon”, “Last chance to nail down strategy…” etc etc), when the timer hits 0 (match starts) and someone is detected as disconnected/afk then they will be immediately kicked + replaced within the next 10 seconds.
So basically 10 secs into the match the vacant slot would already be filled.

It would be tight but it would work. If you still want to pick at that and say “omg nobody will accept, slightest chance of losing, etc etc” then not much more can be done really.
My goal is to suggest a way to get 5v5’s happening.

Michael.9517:

I have a better idea… if you don’t click the ready button by the time the initial timer ends(before the 10 sec countdown) you are kicked and someone else is chosen(or accepts first).

Otherwise, why have an “I’m ready button”. This can also function where people have RL stuff to take off before the match starts, and can click not ready and they can be replaced without penalty to anyone.

I think this is a good idea.

The matches should always only start with full teams. I think that would be a good start to fixing the 4vs5 issue.

I still don’t see a good solution for players dropping out during a game or afk players (afkers should be reportable and penalized for repeated offenses though). However, if we can at least start the game with a full roster it would be a great first step.

evilapprentice.6379:

Who’s going to click Accept knowing, for a fact, that the team they’re joining was at a disadvantage for at least 30 seconds?

The one who thinks who can carry 4 guys and win the match,

You could just have the match reset and start from the top with your now balanced teams. I doubt people would mind waiting a few more seconds to really start.

This will allow for strategizing and get rid of the 30 seconds disadvantage.