Missile War League??

[applecake]

Hey! I came up with an idea today.. Why not make a league for Missile War 2.3?
I think I can say that its one of the (if not THE) most popular server around today, so why couldnt you make a more professional league for it?
The one thing I miss in BZFlag is leagues.
Sure, you can play unlimited as of today, but its kinda boring in the end. Most servers haven't got any time or point limit, right? So then you just play until you get tired..kinda. I think it'd be a huge difference if you'd have a limit on like 5 captures..

Maybe it's not suitable with any "limits" at the "official, everyday" server??
I think there could be some people interested in a league on that server. What do you think?
And how much work does it take to make a league? If we decide to make a league, you could ask (registered) people on the server to go to some site and write something, so we could know how many people who are interested.
Another idea, if people doesnt have enough time and such, could be that you just had a server for registered tanks only, with "limits, but no "pre-decided" teams..

//applecake

[joevano]

Not a new idea, and to be effective the teams would need to be large. Large teams are really not conducive to league play, as it is nearly impossible to get everyone scheduled at the same time.

[applecake]

So teams with 15 would be hard to fix?

Couldn't we, I or someone put up and make a version of MW with the "limits", e.g. that the game "is over" after one team gets 5 caps?? I dont know if it would matter, but the "limitless" is a "limit" for me As in for example counter-strike or such games... I know thats a much bigger game, with lotsa more ppl..

You could also have "loose teams". You dont have a "team" with a name, you get automatically assigned to a team like in the normal MW2 server, but there are still "limits/a game over". And when its game over, perhaps it could be that you must rejoin, and thus the teams "scramble" and differ some from game to game..

[joevano]

Well your other problem is that the MissleWar map has never been "released" and the creator retains full control. He allowed Winny and now Blast to host the map, but he has given no permission.

What you are now proposing is not a "league" (which keeps rankings and stats on teams/players) but just some different server settings. Still I don't think it would fly. You would be splitting the dwindling (slowly dwindling, but that is the same cycle LaserMania took as well) number of players on MissleWar between two versions of the map, effectively killing both.

[slime]

So teams with 15 would be hard to fix?

Extremely. For the current active leagues, GU and Ducati, most matches are played with 2 players per team, or 2vs2. 3vs3 happens some of the time, but any more than that is a rarity. If a MissleWar league was created, it would be the same concept, and the idea of 2vs2 on MissleWar doesn't sound very appealing. Creating the teams wouldn't be the hard part; the hard part is getting the team members online at the same time as other team's players for a match.

I understand your thinking with the 'limits' on the server. I suggest pm'ing the server owner and discussing it with him.

[applecake]

I know understand that a league, or two servers, would probably not work.
But do you think the idea of "limits" would work? Do you think it'd change the gameplay? Is it worth PM'ing blast? I dont know if he'll change such an thing.

(Just an small thing: I wrote this thread since I'd like another league besides GU, that had jumping, super flags etc.. I haven't played on GU many times, and Im bad at it (dodge,shooting good shots))

((Another thing (off-topic) is a solution to spawnkilling on MW, and that'd be letting tanks and teamflag spawn on ground..simply..))

[dexter]

First off, MW was designed as a map for public game play. Big teams with people leaving and going all the time. But, I wouldn't mind seeing a 30 or 60 minute timer running, which might improve the CTF play, which is non-existent on that map, most of the time. As donny pointed out though, it's the server owners and map makers decision, not ours.
It's just not possible turning a map like MissileWar into a league. If you're looking for tactics and 'limits' sign up here: gu.bzleague.com or league.bzflag.net
And let me also say: Starting a successful league is *very* difficult and time consuming.

[applecake]

Ok. Tanks for the answers.

[blast]

I don't think a "league" would be a good idea for the MW2 map. If anything, it would be a tournament.

[applecake]

Tournament could be a lot of fun as well.. But maybe that's also very hard to fix. I just feel that it could be fun with a league/"limited" server/tournament on any other map but these GU/HIX/Pillbox. Do you not agree that it could be fun with such an thing?

Once when I was on a ducati style server, there was like 6 people, and they just asked each other if they wanted to match. Then they just started, and did a match. Kinda easy..

[blast]

Again, the issue is that MW2 requires a lot more players for it to be fun. Having 2 to 6 players on MW2 wouldn't make any sense.

[joevano]

You are mixing all kinds of ideas here that are kind of mutually exclusive.

Your ducati example is limited to 6 players (and I am assuming it was a "fun" match and not an official match, which requires teams). Now try asking 20 players if they want to match and keep all 20 of them there throughout the match.. it ain't going to happen. Heck, it is hard enough to organize a /poll, how will you get everyone to agree to a "fun" match.

As for a tournament, I see the issue as being how big the teams in the tourney are. For a really good game on missile war you need at least 8 on a side IMHO, and that is again pretty hard to coordinate. Not saying it can't be done, but I see it as a great recipe for FAIL.

The success of tournaments and leagues really have a lot to do with the map used. Another factor is the ability to coordinate and as the number of users/players the difficulty of coordinating raises exponentially. Planning and being successful at doing something like this requires the correct map and the correct options (map setup, players per team, time line, etc..). Good luck.

[meeba]

The Missile War maps have always been great and fun maps. For open play, that is. They just require so much action full-time to stay fun, though. As has been said, this essentially requires a high number of players per team to make a match interesting. Based on my experience with the old OpenLeague and GU, I would have to say this is a very unfeasable idea.

However, I won't deny that it does seem like a remarkably fun one.

I'd love to see it if someone could make it work.

[tobylane]

It hasn't been perfected anyway, all the other league maps are simpler. Also, it's quite overpowered compared to league games, laser camping can be too successful, as can most flags in too different ways.

[applecake]

Is there any league server that has got superflags? And how many leagues are there? 2-3?
I do understand how difficult it could be with a league for this map. If there would have been more people it would have been easier to do, right?
Have you got any suggestions on a CTF map (with superflags) that could suit for a league?
Maybe this can be done in a few years, when BZFlag got at least 10000 players..
I hope I'm not annoying you with these ideas and suggestions..

[slime]

I believe Planet Mofo had a league at one point. If they did, I think it was fairly short-lived.