Thread: Forswear TeamSwitching

Originally Posted by DiscoJedi

Ok, I'm going to just put a stop to my initiative right here. It seems clear to me by the rather immediate blowback from my very simple proposition, that no one on this forum is actually prepared to do anything to fight team stacking, assuming anyone even believes such a thing exists.

All that I said here was that I personally, would forswear my ability to change teams and that I offered anyone else with the desire to do the same a place where we could show support for one another. I clearly noted that this was my own personal decision and not a policy, a purely volunteer endeavor. Even then, it was quickly suggested that these kinds of discussions belong in Admin hands.

I challenge that line of thinking. If we want to stop team-stacking then letting Admin's do it for us is the last course of action we should take. This is not to say that the Admins are in any way bad at what they do; I think our admins are some of the best on the net. What I am saying is that using admins to stop teamstacking is like driving a nail with a screwdriver: its the wrong tool for the job.

Team-stacking can only be prevented at the base player level, by each and every one of us recognizing the problem and taking steps to solve it. It won't be easy, it won't be fast, and it definately won't be something that everyone is going to like. Nardini said above that he would not agree with my proposition because he "likes his devils" and wants to play with them. I argue that it is precisely this sentiment that is the base foundation for what team-stacking is. A member from the an IHS joins team 1, he's alone, another IHS member from the same unit joins the server and they decide to play together. Then another joins, and another, and another. We are a small community and we are all connected. I know more than a dozen players in TG now, and they each know a dozen more. At any given time I can join our server and find at least one person on the opposite team that I know of and would like to squad with.

Other threads have suggested that we need to realize that to stop team-stacking we can't play with our friends every time. That's true but it doesn't go far enough. We have to realize that we can't play with our friends half the time. Every single time you make the decision to join team A or team B because so'n'so is there and you want to be with them, you are promoting the kind of behavior that leads to team-stacking, yes, even when you switch to the loosing side. Is sacrificing your ability to team-switch really such a huge burden? You will still be playing with the same people you know and like to squad with. Is it necessary that everyone from a given IHS be on the same team? Where is the rule that says all XV must fight beside one another and never against? The scariest part is that what I'm suggesting doesn't even force us to willfully part ourselves. Most of the other suggestions begin with ideas for voluntarily switching sides to even out teams. All I wanted was for people to let fate decide. Statistically speaking you will be just as likely to end up on the team with your friend as the other team, and if you have two friends playing, and they too are committed to not switching then your odds improve considerably. If they're on opposing teams then now you're guaranteed to get a good squadmate.

I apologize for the fierceness of this response, but the way in which my simple and voluntary suggestion was so quickly and brutally attacked has really gotten my blood up. I've seen this server stacked to the brim some times, and I've also seen it so evenly matched that the game timer nearly decided the winner. I know which kind of game I'd rather play, and I'm going to take steps to make it happen. For those of you brave enough to join me, I congratulate you on your courage and conviction to stand up and act instead of debating endlessly.

As Han Solo said: "We don't have time to discuss this in a committee."

First off I apologize if it seemed that i attacked you in public, this was not the case.

There are many of us who do want to see how we can figure how some options to this issue of teamstacking but having a public pledge especially if you haven't let the admins or PM'ed them about this is not the way I would have gone about it.

that is all. Don't apologize your intentions are good, but.....why make people feel they have to publicly state something and if they don't want to forswear in regards to this topic in turn they can/will be looked down upon or even talked about as a "teamstacker" or "teamswitcher."

You are on the right track disco don't get me wrong, but just saying that you won't teamswitch doesn't solve the supposed "team stacking problem" that people think exists.

Personally I don't think there really is an issue, maybe at times there can be but i don't see it as an issue that is so detrimental that it will be the down fall of PR at TG. And I am tired of seeing people say that IHS and TG tag wearers are the reason of teamstacking. It's complete BS, and doesn't mean anything whatsoever. Rounds go in moderation, and if the admins see it being a problem they will switch people to other sides. I don't feel we have to micromanage the server so severely. People shouldn't be worried that if they play with this player on this round or that round that they will be looked down upon as a teamstacker.

I play PR because i enjoy the complexity and the strategy that goes into it. I enjoy that it is a FPS and there are up to 64 people total on the server playing as a team.

I personally don't want to come into a game of PR after work and have to put up with complainers who feel "that because their side doesn't have this asset, or because there are x number of people with a IHS or TG tag on that side and only x number of people with a IHS or TG tag on their side and therefore the teams are stacked and its unfair and will further complain in global and team chat and try to instigate others in doing the same."
It is disrespectful to the people on your team who are trying to play as a team and have to put up with those who are only interested in being on a team with IHS or TG tags or certain assets because its an automatic win if there are lots of players with IHS or TG tags on your side.

Disco when you saw a team stacked "to the brim" did you ever go on TS and ask to speak to an admin, or suggest something? Or did you ever PM an admin in regards to that or those rounds that you played on?