Flags: Fix or Not to Fix, That is the question

[Horns_Archive]

So recently I have seen a couple rounds where a team would have won if the flags weren't glitched. When I lose in this way it is a pain in the ass, but it is always fun to watch a decent player clutch the round with a good 1 v 5 victory. This makes me split on whether the flags should be fixed or not. If they fix the flags the sweet clutches are going to be few and far between, but on the other hand it is annoying as hell when you have to find the last guy who is afk in the corner in order to finish out a round. That is why I decided to make this thread, to see what the community thinks about the flag glitches and what the devs should do about. Attached is a poll that will not affect shit but show what you guys want. (For reference, a flag glitch is when a master of the field flag gets to the top and a team doesn't win.)

[San]

Flags should get fixed and killing the enemy team outside of the flag's radius of influence should halt flag progress for a short time if the enemy has control over it. This would encourage the team not to split up when flags pop up.

[Testicleez]

Fixing the flags is long overdue. It should be Priority #1 for the next patch.

[Artyem]

I'm going to agree with San and Testi, flags should definitely be fixed, and soon.

[Eugen]

Flags should get fixed and killing the enemy team outside of the flag's radius of influence should halt flag progress for a short time if the enemy has control over it. This would encourage the team not to split up when flags pop up.

I dont think this is a good idea. It means even more restriction and forced player behaviour from the system.

Now we can decide: do we go hunting stray units in the field or do we want to hold the flag for victory. This is good and a valid option to go with imo.

Why would you want to force a team to go to the flag. It should be teams decision. Decisions are good and necessery. They make us feel less like bots.

Me wants to be able to decide at least some basic options. If I decide to go hunting the HX or the remainig leeching players its my decission. If flag is going up, while I fight I have to live with it. Its still victory for the team. No need to continue my fight far off somewhere.

So let it be. Its fine as it is.

[Grumbs]

Flags should get fixed and killing the enemy team outside of the flag's radius of influence should halt flag progress for a short time if the enemy has control over it. This would encourage the team not to split up when flags pop up.

Don't think you should restrict players in how they respond to the flags spawning. If team mates can delay the enemy from getting to the flags that is good team work and tactics and shouldn't be punished

[Johammeth]

Flags were a great change, and I'd love to see them fixed.

Tweak idea:
Killing an enemy on the flag control zone knocks their capture back a small amount (5%? 10%?).

This way players can earn themselves (and their team) a little breathing room by playing aggressively under the flags (buy extra time for allies to show up after you die, knock the cap below 100% so stepping off the flags doesn't autolose, etc.)

This would give a team's last surviving heroes a better chance at contesting the round via combat rather than just losing due to capture, while still maintaining the overall goals of the flag system (you still have to go to the designated last stand area and not be a delaying fuck, plus you have to earn via kills any breaks you get.)

[Thomek]

I like that they sometimes bug out.. makes for variation. Not too often but say 5-10% of the time would be ok.

[San]

Don't think you should restrict players in how they respond to the flags spawning. If team mates can delay the enemy from getting to the flags that is good team work and tactics and shouldn't be punished

You're probably right. Sometimes, it's also random chance that the flag spawns in an unfavorable position, especially for maps where the flag may spawn near the center (expected) or at a corner (unexpected). Right now, the optimal strategy is to just have 1-2 players on the flag and the rest of the team prevent others from getting close, and was mostly thinking of a small detriment to that. I was thinking that with what I wrote above, there would be a larger force to defend the flag and those who leave the flag to pursue enemies will clump into larger groups in order to avoid losses while preventing the other team from getting close instead of simply scattering.

[Grumbs]

Might be worth trying different settings to see what tactics crop up. Think it should be kept in mind what flags are for though - to end the round sooner in stalemates or when you can't kill the last guys. Delaying the flag from going up because of random fights anywhere on the map might counteract that

[UnholyRolyPoly]

Flags should get fixed and killing the enemy team outside of the flag's radius of influence should halt flag progress for a short time if the enemy has control over it. This would encourage the team not to split up when flags pop up.

At the very least they should expand the radius around the flags to allow agi players the ability to crutch.  As it stands you have to fight very close to them (Maybe 20 ft.)  I think they should triple it to accommodate both epic crutches and afk/runners.  Obviously it sucks to see a guy who could kill the remaining players unable to do so because of flags.  But it also sucks to see some asshole run without fighting and delay the round 2-3 minutes.  I know that's a "bannable" offense but it still happens.  A greatly expanded radius might solve both problems and be a lot simpler to code.  It's a quick fix anyway. 

I like your idea as well.  It's probably better but a little more complicated to code and balance.  In the meantime they could change the radius by expanding the values and make it a lot more fun. 

[San]

I believe the radius was increased at some point, but I never really noticed anything personally. A little more could help when there are larger forces involved.

[StonedSteel]

Fix the flags, fuck the "clutchers". Ya its funny \ interesting to see a nice clutch everynow and then, but the flags imo have created a style of play i kinda find disgusting.

The "clutchers" as i call them. People that imo could help their team to victory much more then they do. Instead of actually helping, they sit around till the end, pretty much avoiding combat, then they spring out of their hiding place and pick off the wounded scraps everyone else already worked on.

Still, id much rather have clutchers, than delayers, keep the flags, fix the flags.

[UnholyRolyPoly]

Fix the flags, fuck the "clutchers". Ya its funny \ interesting to see a nice clutch everynow and then, but the flags imo have created a style of play i kinda find disgusting.

The "clutchers" as i call them. People that imo could help their team to victory much more then they do. Instead of actually helping, they sit around till the end, pretty much avoiding combat, then they spring out of their hiding place and pick off the wounded scraps everyone else already worked on.

Still, id much rather have clutchers, than delayers, keep the flags, fix the flags.

I agree with that.  There is an upside to the flags.  I like the fact that people can't hide etc.  I like the fact that combat tends to be localized at the end of the round instead of spread out.  But they should find a way to make it better.  There should be a sense of urgency but not a mad dash. 

[Jona]

It would be great if the flags could be triggered once the number of hits per minute dropped down to a certain number. This would of course be difficult to implement, simply because finding that sweet spot would be hard, but imo flags shouldn't pop up even if it is a 6v6 so long as each side is still going at it. It would be nice if flags could only pop up once one team has started to "search and destroy," where the majority of the players on the larger team spread out to find the last pocket of resistance of the losing side. Heck, even if there is only 1 guy vs 10, so long as he is actively fighting, flags shouldn't pop up to ruin any chances he might have. If he is off hiding in a corner, intentionally doing nothing just so he can ambush the other team in an attempt to clutch, then that is when the flags should appear.