Suggestion

Hey guys, gals, and bulldogs.

I just wanted to pop in and suggest (beg) that you tone it down a bit with the increasing, and overwhelming, customization on Ndition's. When Willow's mod just fixed the problems with 1.127's duel mode it was the perfect duel server to me: no random killing, no running through duels, and a good customization of a well optimized map (ruins). Since then three more custom maps have been added, two of which are utterly unplayable on low-end hardware meaning I have to leave the server for an hour. I joined today and there's a new buggy warning if you try to swing too early that spams your chat box and leaves you in the duel anyway half the time, and Trainer bots strategically placed around the map so you can't upward block in any direction without a Belligerent Drunk wanting a fight. That is unless greeting from right under someone's nose which kind of puts you back to pressing F to start the duel anyway!

Obviously what you do with your server is only your business but to me at least it seems you're getting a bit carried away. Keep it simple and wonderful!

Sorry if this isn't in the right place, couldn't see a specific board for suggestions.

Regards,
IG_Knt_M

Hi M,

thanks for your suggestion We will think about a few things. Some things we are still testing and a new small map is added to the rotation which shouldnt lagg to anyone.
If you have any ideas, feel free to post them.

Regards,
BULLDOG

Im can understand this guy about the greeting that you block upwards, I cant come up with a reason to why that was added so I personally think that it would be better with just the F key (as you also sometimes just are doing some blocking to get the feeling so it will be eaiser to train or if your trying a new weapon that your not familliar with so you want to get the feeling, you do a upwards block and happens to get in to a duel)

LiasTheBeast wrote:Im can understand this guy about the greeting that you block upwards, I cant come up with a reason to why that was added so I personally think that it would be better with just the F key (as you also sometimes just are doing some blocking to get the feeling so it will be eaiser to train or if your trying a new weapon that your not familliar with so you want to get the feeling, you do a upwards block and happens to get in to a duel)

I actually like the upwards block greet for the range and the fact I'm used to it. It's ust that the weird new training bots are everywhere so I have to be precise with where I'm pointing it.

thanks for your suggestion We will think about a few things. Some things we are still testing and a new small map is added to the rotation which shouldnt lagg to anyone.

Sounds good! The new map which is just a fenced-off flat area is nice. Just a simple area for dueling as it should be in my opinion. I've also seen people complaining about it though, presumably those who want to fly about on flying saucers more than they want to duel The ruins modification is still definitely your best map I think.

The main issue on the maps "Duel" and "Rhudkan castle" or whatever they are is that they're so needlessly big. Outside of the main dueling area where 95% of players will spend 95% of their time on the server, there's a bunch of extra buildings and props and stuff hardly anyone will see. Beyond those is empty map area that will never be used either. I know your map designers probably aren't interested in optimizing for the likes of my old computer but it would be awesome to be able to hop on and have some duels like I used to without organising myself around the map rotation!

I know I'm probably not representative of all your regulars though, so thanks for reading the suggestion anyway even if nothing comes of it.
M

Would it be possible to make it so you couldn't start a duel with a bot without pressing "f", but you could still up block to start duels with human players?
As to the lag issues - Ive played with a laptop - I know your pain
I think the larger maps are supposed to come up less often - but I could be wrong.

They come up just as often as the optimized ones.

Anyways - as for lag, I kinda agree. I love doing detailed maps, but when Ramses suggested a map with no useless stuff on it, I thought that he was right and made the new small map with not much more than a fence. Maybe the other maps should be a little more optimized, too. I know how much it hurts a mapper to have to remove stuff for performance, but ya, has to be done sometimes...

As for the bots - they are not supposed to spawn when there's more than 3 players anyway. Someone changed the setting though. Still, I agree only F should be useable to greet them.

As for the messages coming up when duelling too soon: I didn't get to test that yet, but as swiftly as Willow came up with that, I'm sure it won't take long for it to work better.

I've been thinking the same thing about the larger maps. I made the one called Rhudkhan Castle, but honestly a lot of it is wasted and I'll probably take it off rotation. The one called Duel wasn't made by me, but a lot of people have complained about lag etc. so perhaps we should consider removing it until it's toned down a little.

Regarding the swinging too early thing, it is supposed to stop people attacking at duel start, which I think would be a useful addition. However if it isn't working properly, then I suppose it needs to be changed.

The trainers should be set so that they aren't there if the server has more than about 3 people on, so I'm not sure what's happening there.

Thank you for making the suggestions, they are always welcome.

Hi M,

Thanks for the suggestions. I fixed the chatspam from swinging too early and it's now only possible to challenge the bots by pressing 'F'.
I haven't experienced much lag on the maps, but I've heard more complaints about it. I think it's a good idea to tone the maps down a little.

I have commented on this as well, but at the time people really was all over the new beautiful detailed maps and the deep immersion blablabla... but for some reason I got extreme lag on many of these which isn't shown in my ping (this is still around 23-24).

Like Rudkhan castle, we have a LOT of underground tunnels and secret entrences in hay stacks. The archery range is HUGE, especially considering the amount of archers actually using it. And what's with the spikes around the whole duel ground? It's a deathtrap for horse duels and seems like just unnecessary lag enhancers. A beautiful map none the less!

About the other stuff willow has implemented, I think we're moving in the right direction. But as with all testing there is bound to be bugs and glitches at first.

Willow wrote:I fixed the chatspam from swinging too early and it's now only possible to challenge the bots by pressing 'F'.

I noticed the bots thing, you faster worker you

Thanks again for taking these suggestions into consideration. I'm sure you'll see it for yourself soon enough but the new map "Arena" added in patch 1.130 looks really nice for dueling at first glance. It has some stairs lifting you above the rest of the scenery for ranged duels and a small enclosure in the centre with multiple entrances which could be used for similar things to the cage on your ruins modification or the pit on that lagmap.

The links aren't updated on taleworlds yet but if you want to check it out: http://download.taleworlds.com/mb_warband_upgrade_1100_to_1130.exe

And the server files: http://download.taleworlds.com/mb_warband_dedicated_1130.zip

Cheers,
M

There's another change to do with duel mode. Duel timer counting down from 3 at duel start.

I've been frapsing some duels lately, and noticed that most of the duels last around 5-10secs, one or doubleshot kills tend to last only ~2-3secs or so. Of course a lot depends on style, and the longest duels tend to be against either a "dancer" (those that stay a lot of the time away from your range) or "a turtle who knows how to turtle" (no offence meant). Those can easily last minutes, but they tend to be rare. That's not to say you can't have a long intensive fight between two "aggressive" players, but it's just really rare. Adding 3seconds (the timer) to every duel is a bad idea imho. I understand the idea behind it, but it's already completely fixed by Willow's mod where you start the duel with better range. If it would be possible to add the timer to only duels that are started by pressing "F" (short range), then that would be the best solution. I fear it doesn't work like that. :/

Also, it's broken. Some people randomly stay invincible after the end of the timer.

Minutus wrote:If it would be possible to add the timer to only duels that are started by pressing "F" (short range), then that would be the best solution.

That was my thought too. I think it will be possible to make duels initiated by pressing 'F' use a countdown and duels started with an upper block would start immediately.

God, how complicated I´m thinking already to go back to the roots. The good old Deathmatch with randomer hunting inclusive... How much I miss this sometimes

Didn't you get the new changelog? The timerbug is fixed, and accepting a duel with greeting results in no unnecessary "traffic light" timers. Whiff, you did it again :]

Now when do we get an actual working duel server (nditions) for 1130? And yes, I think Arena map will fit nicely to rotation.

Edit: It seems 1131 quickfix is ready. Willow, you need to repair another one

i agree with m, please keep the maps to the smaller maps =); i also get massive lag on the flying carpet map, and it makes it impossible for me to duel .. i haven't seen the good old classic mod'ed ruins map in ages !

Yeah, that was awesome, but it was lost I'm afraid :/

kekn wrote:Yeah, that was awesome, but it was lost I'm afraid :/

The ruins modification got lost? That sucks! Definitely the best map ndition's had.

Seems like most times I join the server now (when it's not on one of the laggy maps), some joker admin comes along and puts random weapons on so I can get really good with a katana I'll never use in a clan match, duel tourney or even single player :/ I want to PRACTICE dammit!

I don't want to be melodramatic but I'm probably just going to ditch ndition's and start playing a less populated duel server. I like the community here with the regulars and getting high quality duels with Saint and Phyrex etc but finding the tiny windows in the map rotation I can play on a decent dueling map with native weapons is just getting too hard

Thanks for the comments.

Hmmm, I never put on random weapons unless it's a small bunch of friends making the request. If the server is highly populated, then the chances are it will piss people off instead. I really believe things have changed drastically the last couple of weeks... regarding the points you have about the random weapons. Many things have changed on nditions. You feel this is still a problem? At what times of day do you usually play?

About the maps, feel free to visit the custom maps section of the forum. We have some good discussions there where you can post your suggestions. I know spec and co. have taken many of these into consideration and new maps have been or are in development. So that's one place where you can make a difference to the better.

M wrote:
Seems like most times I join the server now (when it's not on one of the laggy maps), some joker admin comes along and puts random weapons on so I can get really good with a katana I'll never use in a clan match, duel tourney or even single player :/ I want to PRACTICE dammit!

Hmm... this does seem to be on far too often for my liking also. Also, when it is on, I've seen server population drop from around 20 to around 5 in about 10 minutes.

I think I´ll go a bit more back to the roots. A simple custom map but with great features for all types (Inf, Cav and Archers)as the modded Ruin map was. Main factions Nords and Swadia (the other factions can be still polled). And you can choose full armor again 10000 starting gold.

Random weapons only on special times 2-3 times per week and on special server events.

Also, I´m sorting out the inactive Admins. I´ll open the Admin application section soon again. Especially regulars are welcome to apply.

Bulldog, most people actually like the royale armor. It makes it easier to find someone at your own level, good or relatively new to the game. In fact, this is one of the strongest features the nditions duel server has. Would be a shame to change that IMO.

kekn wrote:Bulldog, most people actually like the royale armor. It makes it easier to find someone at your own level, good or relatively new to the game. In fact, this is one of the strongest features the nditions duel server has. Would be a shame to change that IMO.

I second that! The colourcode is a fine addition to ndition! (sorry for poor joke! )

And wearing white shirt hides my (not so) occasional poor k/d!

If we change back, would it be possible for admins to have some unique and easy to recognize piece of armour or clothing? A badass heavy armour would be nice to see, but rather unfair towards the non-admins. A kick-ass helmet would be also cool, but it would hide our beutiful faces. The staw hat is easy to recognize, but not that awesome in visuals...

A gloria around our heads would serve well! Or or or

Or the unique asschest texture with decent armour rating?

Before my internetz problems, which started last week, I practically never saw royale mode put on without a poll. It did made it in some polls though (polls that "kick admin", so regular wouldn't push 1 accidentally), so the random weapons does have supporters who like to have it on occasionally. There's no such thing in M&B which isn't both hated and loved.

And I could say the same for factions. I would hate to see Nords and Swadians at some sort of basic all-the-time classes. It doesn't suit practice purpouses at all, since they aren't the only factions played in other servers. I also disagree that it's the best setup from duellist point of view. I love variation, and I know I'm not alone in this one. In my normal "duel day" i play around 2-6maps (1h-3h) and I normally like to change the type of weaponry after each map. If restricted to only two factions, I'd have to find other factions from other duel servers. And while I do know that "all-the-time-swadian" duellers are quite loud, the polls to turn factions into swadians don't really go through that often. The only exception in the faction rotation are Khergits, which 1) aren't that popular in pub games and 2) aren't favoured in duels, not because of weaponry (they have some awesome weapons) but because their infantry skills are worse than the troops of other factions.

Armour, another matter of taste really. There's no "one perfect balance" between weapons in this game really. Royale armour isn't btw. just clothes, it's a bit better armour, and gives certain type of "balance" to duels. Just for an example, the lack of helmets means that headshot are more valued than in normal battle situation. I could argue that for practicing purpouses armours are really needed, it's not like people run in light armour all the time in battles. Armours do, of course, have huge impact on weapon balances in duels - not necessarily a bad thing, they just change the system. For example, a spear is pretty devastating against a hammer when no armours are used, but that setup changes completely when both have armours on - one bounce from the spearguy and he's dead. Even though bounces aren't exactly random (moderate-high ping can make them pretty random though, but it can make many things quite random) but more a result of a playstyle that doesn't work with armours, I do see why they can be quite frustrating. Royale armour is nice as a default, but I do wish some armoured duels would be possible as well, occasionally.

In the end, all of these things can be polled once per map (more than once is pollspamming really), and the system works fine.