Great game, but seriously discouraged from playing...

[Jasmin]

Hello all!

I recently started playing Defcon and basically I think it's a great game and fun to play!

But!

I find myself more and more disappointed and frustrated, not wanting to play anymore...why?

Well, the reason is there are lots of people disconnecting before the end of the game (or even shutting down the server), for various reasons:

- they lose
- they think others are playing unfair (4 vs 2 alliances, backstabbing etc.)
- they get bored when someone uses realtime for micromanaging.
- ...

Actually I have had more games ending prematurely due to disconnects than good games (with people playing till the end) so far...

The one thing I see an easy fix for is the shutting down the server issue: A dedicated server would solve that problem. It would also solve the problem of people not being able to setup their network correctly for hosting a game btw, which is another issue that leads to some frustration... (I realize it's the player's fault, but there will always be some people who are not knowledgeable enough and/or don't read forums with guides to fix that. These people tend to blame the game thereby ending up angry and also frustrate others who try to connect and can't...)

But that alone wouldn't solve the problem of frequent disconnects for various reasons. It is really not fun, when while playing more and more people are replaced by CPU players.

So what can be done? I thought about that for some time and came up with no real answers...

Playing communities with dedicated players who regularly play together can be set up. Probably some already exist. This sounds like the best solution, but doesn't help the more casual players or people who spontaneously want a good game.

In game mechanics I didn't find anything to discourage disconnects. People tend to accept a game with deception allowed, with realtime allowed etc. and still seem to want to enforce their own rules and in the end disconnect.

Next thing that came to mind was kind of a feature in game to block certain people (authkey based, not username based). You can simply block people who frequently disconnect or shut down the server. While I think it might be a worthwhile addition (also for other reasons like blocking players who harass you etc.), it will only leave you with even less people to play in an already small community(?) of players.

Another idea I had was: What if the game had some global ranking system? To discourage disconnects one could make it that disconnectors automatically lose or are just defenseless (not being taken over by CPU) and thereby lose points on some ranking table...maybe that would help a bit.

There will probably always be players that think the game should be played by some artificial rules they made up in their head. And in the end, there's no means to stop them from disconnecting by game mechanics, but maybe a few of the things suggested above might make a difference.

At the moment, I frequently think: "Hey, let's play a nice round of Defcon!" ... "Hmm, well, nah, don't feel like getting frustrated again by disconnects..."

I can easily imagine not being the only one concerned about and frustrated by this. I have seen games start like: "Hey, but you are not a quitter, are you?" etc. So they had kind of a heated atmosphere instead of a friendly one right from the start, because people seem to be frustrated just like me.

I can even imagine this frustration ultimately breaking the game's neck (people turning to other games), which would be truly sad, since it's a fun game, which I always wanted to see created since War Games (like many other people around here it seems).

Any of you have some more ideas? Some encouraging thoughts?

[Nutter]

Yeah it is a problem with people disconnecting, but I'd much rather have a sort of in game "friends system". At the moment I might play against a great person and have a blast only never to run into them again. So if you could track players you could build up a list with people you know don't disconnect and you like playing with. That would make me come back more than any ranking system.

[KingAl]

MadSeven has set up the community defconmatch.com which allows people to play against like-minded players. They've also got a chess-style rating system.

[Darksun]

Encourage your real life friends to get the game and play, it's so much more fun nuking people you know rather than random people on the internet. I play with my housemates on a LAN, it's lots of fun. Before I got them to play I'd grown pretty bored with the game, partly for the reasons you described.

[Jasmin]

An ingame friends system sounds like a nice addition to the game. It might not solve all problems, but still help a bit

defconmatch.com looks (on first glance) like the playing communities I suggested. Although I still think it would ultimately help more, if there was an official ranking system, combined with an official site like defconmatch.com. More people will find it and use it and it also prevents possible splitting of the community into more than one unofficial rankings, but defconmatch seems a good start

And about real life friends...would love to, but I am in a position where none of my rl friends is into computer games at all

BTW I personally don't need a ranking system that much...I don't have to show off like that, although maybe it's fun. The main reason for suggesting it was as a means to encourage people not to disconnect.

[MIKES]

Check out,

http://forums.introversion.co.uk/defcon ... php?t=3568

WWW.ELECTRONIC-UNION.COM

MIKES

[Ace Rimmer]

I know exactly what you are saying. However, I have played at least 6 or 8 six player games over the last couple of days and only a couple of them ended up with multiple disconnects. heh, one guys router reset itself and he was the host! What I've seen happen though is that the other players will re-converge under a new host server, usually one of players who wants to play through the whole game.

I guess my real point is... it seems there are more people willing to stick around and play than there are those who are too immature or inconsiderate to do so.

I typically ask what kind of connection and what speed its being hosted on at first. Never had any hostilities before game either.

[Jasmin]

I guess my real point is... it seems there are more people willing to stick around and play than there are those who are too immature or inconsiderate to do so.

I hope you are right Will gather some more experiences...

EDIT: Bah, another game played for about an hour, people started arguing about "speed up"...server was shut down during victory timer...another waste of time!

[Jasmin]

Check out,

http://forums.introversion.co.uk/defcon ... php?t=3568

WWW.ELECTRONIC-UNION.COM

MIKES

Nice

[MadSeven]

An ingame friends system sounds like a nice addition to the game. It might not solve all problems, but still help a bit

defconmatch.com looks (on first glance) like the playing communities I suggested. Although I still think it would ultimately help more, if there was an official ranking system, combined with an official site like defconmatch.com. More people will find it and use it and it also prevents possible splitting of the community into more than one unofficial rankings, but defconmatch seems a good start

And about real life friends...would love to, but I am in a position where none of my rl friends is into computer games at all

BTW I personally don't need a ranking system that much...I don't have to show off like that, although maybe it's fun. The main reason for suggesting it was as a means to encourage people not to disconnect.

Thank you both for mentioning it, allow me to elaborate a little...Defconmatch.com currently has over 190 registered accounts, so we should pass 200 before the turning of the year (though the Xmas season seems to slow down activity). I believe we are by far the largest Defcon community at the moment. Though we started out as a community oriented on a specific game-type we are now slowly moving away from that, simply because our community has grown so much and demands have changed....
We are currently working on the third release of our rating system (DCMr), which should allow all gamemodes and scoring types! DCMr is indeed based on the ELO rating system, which in short "gains you more if you beat a strong player (and v.v.)"
The system offers detailed information about rankings and played matches, and a players history. Please note that credits for the current ratingsystem go to Rippedcap and Siberian Hamster...

Also planned in the near future is a league management module, which will allow members to create and start and leagues without interference. This will allow for the setup for e.g. a New Years Tournament or monthly recurring leagues with just a few mouseclicks. Please note that this is a bit more adavnced than some forum where people call out games they "will" play.

With the growth of our community, we are currently facing a considerable "workload". We are currently looking for additional .Net developers and a graphics wizard. If you have time and skills in either of these, please leave us a PM or message on our forums. Let it be noted that we do not wish to compete with THESE forums!

The strength of our community is partly the registration factor; dropping from matches or other forms of griefplay are rather easily detected and weeded out. If you are looking for those who will stich out a match to the end, if you are looking for regular matches and if you are interested in having some comparable and measurable rating for your play; please visit us sometime!

As for the showing off your ranking; the image above is my own "report", which clearly shows I have...nothing to show off

Thank you all for allowing this shameless plug, Merry Xmas, and a Happy Nukeyear (in the Defcon sense, that is...)!

MadSeven,
Defconmatch.com, 190+ members and counting...

[Ace Rimmer]

As for the showing off your ranking; the image above is my own "report", which clearly shows I have...nothing to show off

Not true. That image clearly shows IE being used. What's up with that?

[gerph]

As for the showing off your ranking; the image above is my own "report", which clearly shows I have...nothing to show off

Not true. That image clearly shows IE being used. What's up with that?

Oh for Pete's sake... Look, he's using Windows. Look, he's using Windows XP. Look, he's allowing Adverts through. Look, he speaks English. Look, he has a PDF plugin installed... Anyone actually think that any of the above, or the browser issue, bares any relationship to the fact that it's a Defcon website ? Or that it's at all relevant what particular choices MadSeven happens to have made with respect to the software that they run ? You don't have to look like a raving zealot every time someone posts something you don't happen to like. You can let some go. Particularly when they have no relation to the topic in hand.

[Ace Rimmer]

As for the showing off your ranking; the image above is my own "report", which clearly shows I have...nothing to show off

Not true. That image clearly shows IE being used. What's up with that?

Oh for Pete's sake... Look, he's using Windows. Look, he's using Windows XP. Look, he's allowing Adverts through. Look, he speaks English. Look, he has a PDF plugin installed... Anyone actually think that any of the above, or the browser issue, bares any relationship to the fact that it's a Defcon website ? Or that it's at all relevant what particular choices MadSeven happens to have made with respect to the software that they run ? You don't have to look like a raving zealot every time someone posts something you don't happen to like. You can let some go. Particularly when they have no relation to the topic in hand.

In all fairness, I was hardly being serious to the point of raving zealot. I apologize if my comments appeared as such, I use sarcastic humor much too often. In that vain... *smiles sarcastically* isn't your post just as pointless as the one you're complaining about in the first place?

btw I am a big fan of the Home of Defconmatch, the site for defcon games, leagues and persistent scoring! and have plugged that website many times in defcon matches and am also a registered member of said website myself.

[MadSeven]

As for the showing off your ranking; the image above is my own "report", which clearly shows I have...nothing to show off

Not true. That image clearly shows IE being used. What's up with that?

Oh for Pete's sake... Look, he's using Windows. Look, he's using Windows XP. Look, he's allowing Adverts through. Look, he speaks English. Look, he has a PDF plugin installed... Anyone actually think that any of the above, or the browser issue, bares any relationship to the fact that it's a Defcon website ? Or that it's at all relevant what particular choices MadSeven happens to have made with respect to the software that they run ? You don't have to look like a raving zealot every time someone posts something you don't happen to like. You can let some go. Particularly when they have no relation to the topic in hand.

In all fairness, I was hardly being serious to the point of raving zealot. I apologize if my comments appeared as such, I use sarcastic humor much too often. In that vain... *smiles sarcastically* isn't your post just as pointless as the one you're complaining about in the first place?

btw I am a big fan of the Home of Defconmatch, the site for defcon games, leagues and persistent scoring! and have plugged that website many times in defcon matches and am also a registered member of said website myself.

Peace and cookies for everyone; the site gets tested with IE (which I use), Firefox (which I use), and Opera (which I hardly use and which has the most "problems")
It does NOT get tested for CCS, HTML, DHTML or XML standards compliance, because frankly I don't care if it complies, as long as it works..
And Ace; thanks for the plugs; it has not gone by unnoticed...

Merry XMAS everyone!

p.s. 200+ members, and counting...

[parrot of doom]

And yet, while using FF2, I am constantly required to log in every time I visit....