So admins ban stackers now?

[Kltplzyxm]

End the stacking and I'm sure you will find more ppl playing Allegiance than ever before.

[takingarms1]

I agree that stacking is a problem. I'm not sure anyone would say it's the worst problem alleg ever faced, but I do think it's a serious problem. I don't know if it's the chief reason we don't have tons of people flocking to the community though. This is a very complex game and that alone scares a lot of people away. The audience for this kind of game isn't exactly huge to begin with.

What stacking does do is make the games a lot less fun, and I suspect that makes people less interested in playing. I know it makes people less interested in commanding, because when pook asked for commanders to tell them why they don't command as much, the number one response was stacking.

But I'm not sure I'd support bannination for stacking. I agree that it is a bit subjective. I try to antistack but even myself, I sometimes just don't want to fly for a particular commander and so end up stacking.

Still, I imagine it wouldn't be terribly difficult to analyze the data to determine who is stacking. All you've got to do is look for patterns of people being on the stacked side. Cut down the data to only those games that are pretty lopsided according to HELO. And calculate who is on the HELO imabl side most often. Perhaps we could create a wall of shame to name the top stackers? That'd be pretty fun.

[DrBeginner]

Why don't we use AutoBalance to prevent this?

[takingarms1]

QUOTE (DrBeginner @ Mar 23 2008, 11:51 AM) Why don't we use AutoBalance to prevent this?

Because HELO doesn't really provide accurate ranks, so it doesn't really work to use it on a game by game basis. But, I do think it can probably be used to figure out who is stacking over a long range of games.

[Weylin]

-streches- well, that was some game, wouldn't have won if we didnt all jump on blue at the same time to stack it 14(94) v 9(33)

gg all

[Fragtzack]

QUOTE (Picobozo @ Mar 22 2008, 10:04 PM) I'd like to see how this pans out. So far the conditions under which the guys were banned seemed fair to me. Maybe I think there should have been a warning given to the player. Maybe just the higher ranked guys like vet 2/3 and up since those players should know better.

In the end I think maybe those of you who are complaining now about the bans are possibly over-reacting. Unless BV and TE go on a massive tear and ban huge portions of our active population like Caligula in burning Rome, I think maybe those of us who value fair game play should see how this pans out.

It's not like they are getting drunk, pointing a random player they don't like and banning them for 12 weeks.

They donate time and resources so that we can have our sandbox. I know there are those of us who like to play stupid and act like they don't know what constitutes stacking, but guess what, the people in charge aren't buying it anymore.

Cheers, and heres to everybody losing their fair share of games now. Tip one for my homies that are about to go to Vet1/Int7 /mrgreen.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="mrgreen.gif" />

Damn Pico, that was very wise statements.

Vets that anti-stack and at least try to keep the team evens will have no worries. Vets posting here defending the right to have no balls (stack) is simply funny as hell to me. Everyone of these defending my "right" posts is like a banner being waved = I wanna stack and don't have balls for even matchs.

This is going to be the best drama in Allegiance history. We need T-Shirts and bumber stickers printed:

The evil action of BV and TE in 2008..


/wub.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":iluv:" border="0" alt="wub.gif" /> for BV and TE for having the balls to make these hard decisions!!

Bravo Allegiance admins!

Admins, don't cave in to the whinners. For every stacking vet that leaves this community over this issue, we will get x2 noobs who actually decides to stick around this community. Stacking vets is the #1 reason by far that noobs do not stick around Allegiance.

[Fragtzack]

QUOTE (Bacon @ Mar 23 2008, 12:50 AM) Grow up, guys. Stacking isn't a bannable offense. Annoying? Yes. Ruins the game? Not so much. Just deal with it like we've all dealt with it for 8 years and try to enjoy yourselves.

Stacking does ruin the game, stacking causes more people to leave Allegiance then anything else.

[quackdamnyou]

QUOTE (CronoDroid @ Mar 23 2008, 06:43 AM) ...so are you saying that stacking isn't a huge problem after all? Because I was in NOAT for all those games, and this was definitely the case. Stacking, in my opinion, is not a huge major problem comparable to cheating or even lagjumping. That is to say, the community isn't dying because of it. Been playing for two years and it's only getting stronger. AllegSkill? HiRes graphics? New factions and cores? New servers? There is so much being done to improve Allegiance.

I play both US primetime and late night almost everyday and even latenight games are often equal, I would say 5 or 6/10 games. US primetime, definitely 7/10 games. The main problem are voob commanders against pro commanders, but in terms of team balance, there are a great many antistackers that help keep games even I've seen.

Crono, I love you. You are one of the best antistackers.

I resist the urge to jump on the discussion of any specific events that I was not party to.

However as to the question of whether stacking hurts the game or not: I've said it over and over but it does. It really ruins the game for players at a certain delicate stage: they do not have strong skills or community ties, but they understand what is going on well enough to know they're being abused.

Stacking is abuse. Deliberate stacking is abhorrent.

I would not be part of this community if a certain person had not provided some encouraging words one night when I was in that stage. I realized that there were a lot of guys with tags on their names and big numbers, who'd been playing this game for years and who were apparently respected by the community, ganging up and kicking the @#(! out of some poor commander because he was a 'voob'. Ever since then, I have wondered how many fine players with a strong sense of fair play have simply closed the game and walked away because of one bad night. I think for those of you who have been playing for years, it can be hard to see the game from the perspective of a new player.

The smarter players, the ones who value fair play and will bust their asses flying for you, who might make good commanders some day, those are the ones who are driven away by stacking the quickest. Except for the lucky ones who fall in love with the game before that point, and the stubborn ones like me who accept the challenge of a broken ideology which would actually rather play the game with no newbs and no voobs.

Rock on TigerEye. Rock on BV. Take the constructive input from this thread but do not give in to idle threats. Persist. You can teach an old dog new tricks, and you can change the habits of a community tempered by uncertainty and bonded by one damn fine game.

Edit: Typo

[Grimmwolf_GB]

QUOTE (Fragtzack @ Mar 23 2008, 05:08 PM) Everyone of these defending my "right" posts is like a banner being waved = I wanna stack and don't have balls for even matchs.

If you read my post to advocate or excuse stacking, you are wrong. I don't like the way it is handled, I don't see how a subjective matter like stacking can be dealt with in a just way. For me a rule has to be applicable to everyone, no matter what time zone they are in. At the moment it is not and I have yet to read a real guide on how to identify a stacker beyond a doubt.

[pkk]

I really missing the WE in our community, and TE and BV just proof my thoughts. /doh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":doh:" border="0" alt="doh.gif" />

Histroy: Players on the wheel

The senate, in some degree, represented that WE, even it was not perfect, but much better than this drama.