End time in siege: gone but not forgotten

[Kuujis]

Today been playing some siege on EU2 as usual and then nostalgia hit me I suddenly realized, that since the coming of siege beta one of the most tense moments of siege passed away: the seconds after round time ended but the victory was not decided yet for any of the teams.

For me personally these used to be real adrenaline pushers and were THE moments of real sportsmanship. E.g. this one time such end time lasted for good 2 minutes with fortune favoring both sides multiple times and victory being at hand for both teams MORE than once, but not quite there... Eventually, after the round ended - whole screen was flooded with "GF", "Good fight", "Awesome end!" and similar expressions of joy from both sides . Because it was truly something awesome to behold and participate

Now the flag bug is gone, rounds end on time, etc and make no mistake - I appreciate that and KUDOS for improvements! Yet - the magic of these "last stands" is kind of... gone. If I had a good idea how to bring this element back in a good fashion with current flag rule-set - I would be posting in suggestions forum, but I do not have a good idea, so here are the questions:

• Do you think the "end time" was fun?
• Do you want "end time" back in the game?
• How do you propose to balance it with the current rule-set of "flag must be down before time end or attackers loose"?

[Oberyn]

I never knew the sudden death mechanic was supposed to be a bug. I always thought it was a feature. And yes those were the most hectic and fun times in siege, when a single attacker could win it by holding up the timer while the rest of his team rolled up, or defenders frantically wiped out any attackers to clear the flag and win.

[Mala]

Yeah, overtime was quite nice.
On the other hand, there were a lot of idiots who have canceled the cheer animation to get one or two easy kills.
The current system is much better for my blood presure and the attacker have 60 seconds more to pull down the flag.

[Penitent]

I want that last minute 0:00 overtime scramble for the flag clusterfucks.  That's what I live for!

[okiN]

Wait, what? I thought overtime was a feature, and the bug was that the round could end as an attacker win even if defenders were on the flag and/or no attackers were on it.

[Kuujis]

The time when fighting continues and neither team has won was not a bug. The bug was when that time was ticking, but the flag was already down and not registered properly. As soon as the last enemy at flag is killed - round ended with attacker victory.

Now that I think of it... maybe allow for a round to carry on if the flag is not at its highest possition, i.e. if capture is in progress... Then the match ends when the flag hits top or bottom?

[Prinz_Karl]

One point that brought tension to the siege server is lost. Don't change it if you don't know that it's actually fun! I think Eu 2 went a bit more boring, flags are now only won if defenders get overrun which annoys them or they are not taken at all since it's simply impossible if flag jumps up and down and attackers don't have a stable position. But what slightly annoys me is that when 30 seconds or less are left you already know, it's pointless since you have to be at flag at least 15 seconds before the end to take it.

[Haboe]

It got better for attackers. Having 10 men at the flag, and that 1 annoying enemy shielder, flag will still go down. Good compensation for the strict timer.

[Fips]

Yes, the fact that attacker can take the flag in no time balance the no-overtime out.
But it's still a lot LESS fun!

[no_rules_just_play]

yes, i totally agree. on the big maps you can even stop fighting after 10 minutes. you know that it is over.
i suggest the following: you have a certain amount of minutes to cap the first flag. if you dont succeed the map ends. if you do, the timer gets refilled to cap the next flag.

(idea comes from ghost recon online)

[Radament]

you have a certain amount of minutes to cap the first flag. if you dont succeed the map ends. if you do, the timer gets refilled to cap the next flag.

seems legit

on the other hand , in normal siege , how about prolonging the fight for 1 minute if there's at least 1 attacker near flag ?

[Kuujis]

So at least two good suggestions seems to be here, so just :

• Keep the round going, until there are no attackers at flag. Maybe a fixed time, like 1 minute? Then maybe another 30 seconds? Although from my POV - fixed time is not the best option. Being there is what counts, so a "last enemy standing" approach should be more interesting (at least for me).
• For the multi flag maps - round must end if no progress is made in given time frame. E.g. if a team is SOOOOoooo bad, that no flag is taken for the first X minutes - round ends with a loss for the attackers.

Overall thanks for the input, at least I know I'm not alone with that nostalgia of mine 

[Count_Grishnackh]

1: fuck yes
2: yes
3: no idea in the world

[Kafein]

I think this was removed in order to fix the infamous "flag bug", which was at some point assumed to simply be a delayed display bug (attackers already won, defenders take back the flag then the match ends).

But like most people I really liked those hectic and sometimes very long fights to the end.

[SirCymro_Crusader]

Overtime used to scare me, when everyone is just swinging and not blocking so you end up killing your own team and losing the round.

'Just swing, it doesn't matter who you hit, a kill is a kill' - wise words of the Kapikulu