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Auto-Joining/Starting Games

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:17 pm
by Paddyohale
Suggestion Idea:
To "join" players to games that are already awaiting players if the settings are identical in the two games.

Details:
Say two people want to play a Standard Sequential Escalating No Fog Casual game on Classic. They both start a game with these settings. Both games go up on the board, and both appear if you search for them. Since both players are effectively awaiting the same game, it would cut down massively on the sheer number of games awaiting players at any one time (and cut down on the time before players start a game after joining) by combining these two "waiting for players" games into one game and letting it start.

Obviously this is not limited to just 2 player games, if N players have created the same N player game and are all waiting, you could join all N together into one game and it would start immediately.

Why Needed:
This will cut down massively on the number of games awaiting players by joining a player to an already existing game with the same specifics. There are 15 pages of games waiting for players at the moment, ones on the 15th page have no chance of being joined unless someone specifically searches for that game.

Other Notable Points:
I think this should only apply to Public games, so players can still create games for themself and their friends and not worry about random people being placed in that game.. I also think that once a game has a second player joining it, that game should not be considered for "auto-combining" with other games.

Discuss.

Pad.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:38 pm
by Hotdoggie
Sounds like a solid idea - ofc ignore lists will have to be considered in this process, but imo it would make a lot of sence.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:59 pm
by Herakilla
some players, like me, prefer being red

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:34 pm
by TaCktiX
That would be a coding nightmare. And then once it's coded, testing every time a game is created to see if it matches another one of the 1000's of games going will create a hefty server load.

Another thing I've noticed in my short tenure on CC is that a number of Premium people start 3-4 games with identical settings, and end up with completely different teams in most of them. You'd ALSO have to check to make sure the game creator wasn't the same one merging them, or that would defeat the purpose of the person making multiple identical games in the first place.

Cutting down on the number of games that never get joined is a good thing, but the number of double-checks, amount of coding, etc. would make it extremely difficult to add and moderate properly.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:16 pm
by lackattack
Hmm.. I think this would actually be doable from a coding standpoint.

When you attempt to create a game, it will query for a public game with matching settings and instead join you into that game provided you are not already in it.

This will still allow premiums to continue making multiple similar games.

As Herakilla pointed out people won't be able to insist on being red, but I'm okay with that.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:33 pm
by tenio
good idea !


but because some people get very made about stupid things... there should be a setting in your profile that allows you to disable this "finder thing"

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:37 am
by Herakilla
lackattack wrote:Hmm.. I think this would actually be doable from a coding standpoint.

When you attempt to create a game, it will query for a public game with matching settings and instead join you into that game provided you are not already in it.

This will still allow premiums to continue making multiple similar games.

As Herakilla pointed out people won't be able to insist on being red, but I'm okay with that.


you can fix that with prefered colors!

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:33 pm
by Paddyohale
It was only an idea I had as to how to reduce the number of "waiting for players" games, feel free to add slight improvements to it! I had indeed forgotten about ignoring players who start multiple games with the same settings, thanks TaC.

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:41 pm
by lozzini
lackattack wrote:Hmm.. I think this would actually be doable from a coding standpoint.

When you attempt to create a game, it will query for a public game with matching settings and instead join you into that game provided you are not already in it.

This will still allow premiums to continue making multiple similar games.

As Herakilla pointed out people won't be able to insist on being red, but I'm okay with that.


how about when you create the new game it gives you an option of joining one of the ready available ones so if you do want to be a certain colour or something that is still an option

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 2:06 pm
by demon7896
the salvation of the 2 players....

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:30 pm
by wrightfan123
Personally, I think this is the dumbest idea in the world. What if I'm a Private 1st Class on a winning streak looking to up my rank, and the player with the identical game is SkyT? Or what if they have a thousand negative feedback and they're either going to just abuse me or deadbeat. Or what if I simply don't want to play them because I did a little research before joining the game and that person is the one on the winning streak. Or what if I'm a non-premium and I set this game up for me and a friend? The possibilities for reasons this is a dumb idea are endless. I think that, like the "updated" Classic map, this feature would cause disruption, confusion, and would be taken off almost immediately. So, personally, I hate this idea and would fight it tooth and nail. And if you're so angry about the long list of Join A Games, why not just use Game Finder like I do?

-W123

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:23 pm
by lackattack
nice idea lozzini,

giving the option would be less effective in minimizing the # of open games but it would let you check out your opponents beforehand.

it could look like this:

hey dude, there are already games out there like the one you want to start! why don't you join one of these instead:

..... game listing .....

button: no thanks, i really want to start another game

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:04 pm
by insomniacdude
lackattack wrote:nice idea lozzini,

giving the option would be less effective in minimizing the # of open games but it would let you check out your opponents beforehand.

it could look like this:

hey dude, there are already games out there like the one you want to start! why don't you join one of these instead:

..... game listing .....

button: no thanks, i really want to start another game


In that case, I'd fully support the option. If it were mandatory, then we'd get the problem wright outlines right above your post.