Left 4 Dead 2 Needs a Karma System

I was playing Left 4 Dead 2 last night and as I was getting settled back into some VS. gameplay, I was reminded of one of my few complaints against the L4D series: poor multiplayer matchmaking. 

The Left 4 Dead series has given rise to a new virus on the multiplayer scene: rage quitters.  All it takes is one rage quitter at the end of a bad match to trigger a nasty cycle.  Others will follow, usually leaving an empty team that is filled with random new players two minutes into the start of the next round which is often far too late for the team to recover.  The round goes badly, another rage quitter pops, and we're back at square one.

In a traditional FPS, a stronger skilled player can make up for a missing player.  Unfortunately, the problem for Left 4 Dead 2 is that the loss of a single player greatly reduces the effectiveness of the team.  The game is built for 4 vs 4, with the goal being 3 out of 4 players on the survivors team being disabled at any given time by the infected team.  That 4th player is everything!  Without a reliable 4th player, the survivors risk easily being caught and the infected have no one to harass the last survivor after a proper ambush.  When that 3rd or 4th player doesn't appear until halfway into the match, the game is all but lost (if the players even stuck it out that far).

Less bitching, more ideas on how to fix it

What L4D2 needs is a karma system that rates players.

Players would  be rewarded for finishing games, win or lose, and penalized for leaving games early.  However, only when voted on by the players that actually finish the round.  At the end of the match, a quick vote system pops up and players mark a + or - next to each name.  A negative would only be allowed on a player that left the match early and the earlier they left, the more that - hurts their karma.  A + would add karma obviously.  A blank vote is counted as a neutral, no change.  This serves as a self-policing mechanic for the community.

Those players maintaining a positive karma need to be rewarded with better match making tools that allow them to filter out low-karma bad apples. With dedicated servers hosting the L4D2 games and Steam tracking the players, this could be implemented.

Karma stats would also need to be public, without an option for hiding them. 

The beauty of this?  Anyone, at any time, could just set up a non-karma game or set the karma level to 0.  But those of us looking for a better experience, without the benefit of a steady play group, could filter to our hearts content for the caliber of player we want to play with.

Another satisifed customer...

the: hey
heartlessgamer: no
the: ?
heartlessgamer: not to be rude, but I have plans for it at some point
the: really?
the: you haven't touched it for ages..
heartlessgamer: yes, I know. I get sidetracked.
the: did i remind you of it
heartlessgamer: actually no, I had posted on twitter before you contacted me about getting it up and running. I've been a games blogger since 05, and originally when steam communities launched I was going to connect my list of contacts together from the gaming blogosphere

the: hmm
the: So ,you haven't touched since 07, but you've talked about it?
heartlessgamer: yes, and first come first serve. again, not being rude, just squatting on something I might want to use.
the: ok , if you want to use i can give back to you :D
heartlessgamer: nope
the: why?
heartlessgamer: because it would make me feel bad to tell you to stop using it
heartlessgamer: so I avoid the inevitable conundrum
heartlessgamer: by saying no now
the: haha
the: i'd be the one feeling guilty, if you told me you want it
heartlessgamer: see, saving us both the trouble now
the: haha , i don't realy mind tbh
the: i might only use it for a week
the: i set-up a clan , called [BLOG] and :S
heartlessgamer: also your profile was private, so I knew nothing about you. you wouldnt be the first that has asked for it.
the: come on man :S?
heartlessgamer: 1 billion dollars, final offer
the: i really , like it because it's an old group
the: if you want , i can make oyu agroup called BLOG gamer :)
heartlessgamer: http://twitter.com/heartless_gamer/status/8012403854
the: i want it because of it's anem and its date :s
the: nothing else :(

Allods Online Beta 4 Starts Today

Today marks the start of something very special for fans and players of Allods Online: Closed Beta Test 4. This stage of beta brings a raised level cap to 40, seven new contested zones, new instances, raids, Goblinball and Astral Ships. This all begins today (Jan 19th) at 11am PDT and runs until February 3, 2010. (Source)

Game Developers Should Play Games :The Lesson Learned From Reading George RR Martin

There's a great post over at Suvudu: The Lesson I Learned From George R. R. Martin. The author explains how they've taken lessons from exploring some of Martin's smaller works:

The lessons I learned from reading three straight George R. R. Martin novellas played into my own short story writing process, George a silent mentor whether he likes it or not.

continued...

The lesson to be learned from this: Most authors, when giving craft advice, tell hopeful writers to read almost as much as they write.

This circles back around to a debate often had among MMOG bloggers. Should game developers play other games? Often times, gamers feel developers should not as it will just lead to clones of other games. However, I don't feel that is the case. If it works for a craft such as writing, it can work for game development.

It's not whether they play, it's the games that developers choose to play that matters. As in the linked article, the author did not go for Martin's big titles. Instead they focused on his short stories, which are condensed examples of what makes his bigger works successful.

This has to be extrapolated a bit for game development as games often comprise teams of developers compared to the general rule of one author per story. We can take the comparison of World of Warcraft and Darkfall Online. If a game developer really wants to improve their craft and input to their team, what game should they play?

World of Warcraft will show them a great game, but how much knowledge will be gained? How much will a budding author learn trying to dissect the entire Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin? Unless they are the next George RR Martin or Blizzard, not much. They'll have a great experience that they want to duplicate or improve. Yet, they will be trying to duplicate or improve components which are above their immediate understanding. It will not work.

On the other hand, if they take some time to explore Darkfall Online they are going to have a different experience. Darkfall is rough around the edges, but has dug out it's niche in the market. Playing Darkfall should allow a game developer to see how staying focused and delivering on community expectations can create a successful game. At the same time, they will find core components which can be improved.

This sort of knowledge often feels missing from bigger developers. I wonder, often, how many of the bigger developers have many core designers that have even played any games outside of the few big titles that hit every year. In interviews, few developers ever mention games outside of World of Warcraft or Modern Warfare 2.

I date back to Paul Barnett of Mythic. Leading up to Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR), he spoke up in an interview about having to actively discourage team members from playing WoW. Not because WoW was a bad game, but that it gave them poor perspective. Paul Barnett understood that playing WoW lead to an experience that many designers wanted to, but could NOT duplicate.

This is not the post to debate WAR's short comings, but the game misfired somewhere and in retrospect, maybe the developers spent a little too much time playing WoW (I'm generalizing here). I've posted before where it seemed that the internal Mythic propaganda favored blaming Wrath of the Lich King instead of themselves.

There is not an exact science for being good at something. Some great game developers and book authors have come with little to no experience. However, I suspect the majority of good developers/authors spent a lot more time with The Hedge Knight than they did playing Aion.

Being a newb in Civilization 4 is hard work

I'm hopelessly addicted to Civilization 4 (Civ4). The breadth of game play and possibilities is astounding. However, being a newb means I have a lot of hard work to become a better player.

For example, reading over the Civ4 "War Academy" at CivFanatics.com is not something done over a 15-minute break at work. It requires an entire day worth of note taking and a fundamental re-working of the idea of micro-management.

However, none of the knowledge from the War Academy is needed. A player can kick back on a lower difficulty setting and enjoy the game just as much as someone going for a Space Race victory on a hard mode. I've spent my entire first two games on the default difficulty mode, but it doesn't take long to realize that I'm dominating the field.

I've had fun in Easyville, but I want a challenge, so I'm kicking it up a notch. That means a lot of reading and learning. It feels good to have a game that makes me think again without needlessly throwing barriers at me.

My Allods Online Status

After a very busy beta 2, I have taken some time off from Allods Online during beta 3.  After beta 2 my mind was set: I am going to play Allods Online at launch.  Therefore I am taking a break during beta 3 to enjoy some of my other games and prepare for the launch.  I've logged in only a couple of times.  Also, I did not have any characters even close to the new level 20+ content that beta 3 was testing.

However, Keen over at Keen and Graev's has been rolling through beta 3 and has posted an amazing level 30 PvP video.

My character is very versatile and I enjoy the role that I play in PvP.

I've embedded the video below:


Other PvP MMO developers should take note:

1. Smooth as butter combat
2. Excellent performance
3. Visible spell effects
4. No over-zealous crowd control
5. Players lasted more than two seconds in combat

Now Playing: Civilization 4 and Mass Effect

My journey through the pile of games I picked up from the Steam Holiday Sale continues.

Civilization 4
It has been years since I played a proper strategy game.  For $13.60, I grabbed the complete Civilization 4 (Civ4) collection.  I also picked up Rome: Total War, another strategy game for $2.49.  I set zero expectations for either game, knowing that one of the two would win over my strategy sessions.

I was able to complete the tutorial and start the official campaign in Rome: Total War.  After starting the campaign I became confused and defeated.  I didn't know what I should be doing and every decision I made felt like the wrong one on the next turn.

It took me about an hour to complete the tutorial in Civ4.   That was around midnight. I didn't go to sleep until 2 AM.  Civ4 is one of those games that makes players lose track of time.  While Civ4 is not an easy game by any means, its a game that allows room for mistakes and misjudgments.  Instead of making my decisions seem worthless, Civ4 presents me with another one.  Before long, I was so far into my decision making tree that the mistakes I was making weren't anything more than learning experiences.  Its a tough thing to describe, but it feels right.

I am loving Civ4.

Mass Effect
I've ignored single-player RPGs for the past few years and Mass Effect is one of the highly-rated games I missed.  At $4.99 through the Steam sale, it was a must buy.

After an hour of play, I am on the fence about the game.  It doesn't feel like the great game that the reviews and general praise make it out to be.  The main feature, the dialogue system, feels monotone and lengthy. The bland main character, Shepard, isn't helping.

However, there were a few areas that caught my attention.  The character progression and combat is solid.  The backstory and expanded universe is intriguing.  There is enough to keep me going forward and hopefully the story will pull me in at some point.

If not, I have Bioware's other RPG: Jade Empire.