pbrank - Introduction - Post your questions here!

[JMR]

I just launched the project page for pbrank!

pbrank is an auto-matchmaking and ranking system for Paintball2!

I am currently working on the project. I completed the prototype a few months ago. But I started coding it again from the ground up recently so I can support mixed-server location matches. (So EU can play vs NA with the match tracked.)

There are so many small features involved in making this system work well. Hoping I have the time to get the beta version out within a month or two.

If you'd like to find out more about the project, please visit http://pbrank.org/!

Please post any questions to this thread and I will try to answer them as soon as I can.

[JeongWa]

This is actually the best project anybody had the past years concerning paintball.

Question is: How much time will it take you to release it and How stable will be determinant for its usability.

I do appreciate the project! Hopefully, you will make it happen because I'm curious how well it would work!

[JMR]

How do you match 5 people total? And 5 people is pretty optimistic...

Good question, the server would wait for there to be an even number of players on each team before initiating a match.

While I think you have great ideas, execution is usually less well-thought and result is terrible. Don't get me wrong, I like what you are doing, but I personally would have given up a looong time ago and instead focus on other things. This is why I ultimately did programs that can undermine almost any security in DP, because this is only thing fun to do and rewarding in being well-known and above everyone else...

The main reasons why I am doing this are:

• - I have already said that I am doing it last year, so I want to be a man of my word and finish what I started.
• - I want to see the competitive scene in DP thriving again
• - Learning experience - it is a fun challenge and I am practising using my new knowledge.

Since I was younger I really wanted to do something really beneficial for the community, just for the sake of seeing this game in a new era of "good days."

There is a chance that there would be holes in my system that I miss and I know that you're skilled in finding them. I just request that you disclose them privately to me if you do.

This is actually the best project anybody had the past years concerning paintball.

Question is: How much time will it take you to release it and How stable will be determinant for its usability.

I do appreciate the project! Hopefully, you will make it happen because I'm curious how well it would work!

It is really difficult to determine how much time it will take. All the extras really add to the development time. I need to focus on getting an alpha version done so that the base system is in place, then I could add the convenience features as time progresses.

I am potentially starting a new job soon so I will be super busy. But, during evenings and weekends I hope to work on this.

To be honest, even if only 4 teams use it, it will still be fun to see such a system in place and working, before I finally move on from this game.

[Minerva]

Do we get an official maplist for this ?

[JMR]

Do we get an official maplist for this ?

I have not decided on this yet. I would like to hear people's thoughts on this.

Some benefits of an official maplist:
 - Prevents teams from choosing maps which have "secrets"
 - Allows teams to prepare for matches by learning all of the official maps, which helps make it more competetive
 - More friendly to new players

Some of the downsides:
 - Map discovery would not occur within matches, which may remove some of the fun around playing an unknown map
 - Requires time to organise
 - Potential division among the community about what maps should be on the list

[Minerva]

If we ever get an official map list it would be nice to replace maps on it from time to time so it doens't get "boring" to play the same maps over and over and over.
My idea is the 2 or 3 least played maps gets replaced in a period of time (maybe a month, dont know.). Then we do a vote with 10? maps on it and the top 3 gets into the official maplist. just an thought

[JMR]

If we ever get an official map list it would be nice to replace maps on it from time to time so it doens't get "boring" to play the same maps over and over and over.
My idea is the 2 or 3 least played maps gets replaced in a period of time (maybe a month, dont know.). Then we do a vote with 10? maps on it and the top 3 gets into the official maplist. just an thought

I did something similar to this for the #sPec# weekly tournament seasons. http://paintball.jordanmrichards.com/?maps

I had a global maplist and a local maplist. The local maplist is what players could select from, which would rotate maps in and out from the global maplist. People would vote to decide what maps should be on the global maplist and then the local maplist was selected randomly every tournament to make it fair. Maybe a similar system would work well for this. Although, the maplists would have to be much larger. (Around 15 maps for the current maplist and then around 30-40 for global, I'd say.)

[JeongWa]

Having it random is a bad idea IMO.

I personally enjoy playing different maps, I would easily get bored of being restricted on my map choices for the long term.

What about doing what you guys suggested but for the tie maps only?

[JMR]

...
I personally enjoy playing different maps, I would easily get bored of being restricted on my map choices for the long term.

This is the definitely the biggest downside.

Ideally the map pool would be inclusive enough so you wouldn't feel really restricted, but given that everyone has different preferences on maps, it would be important to have enough variety of type of maps in there. Tricky for sure.

What about doing what you guys suggested but for the tie maps only?

I do not see much point to that, considering that both teams have to be in agreement over the tie map anyway.

[Zenit]

First of all, thank you very much for all the effort you put in this game JMR! You are helping alot, keep up the great work!

A maplist would be easier for new players, since they know what they can expect in a match. Other competitive games like CS:GO have a limited pool of maps too. Some maps like pfo, pp1, wob etc are played in almost every match anyways, so an official maplist wouldn't hurt too much as long as it's big enough (at least 20, 30+ maps) and changes a bit over time. I think a randomly picked "local maplist" would restrict too much though. Maybe you can give teams/players the opportunity to add 3-5 "homemaps" (less popular maps) to the global list, to not limit their preferrences. Every other team/player could pick these maps in their matches aswell. Later, the team could change their list of "homemaps" after each month for example, to keep up the variety.

[JMR]

I think a randomly picked "local maplist" would restrict too much though.

Ah yes. I realise that JeongWa was also referring to the "random local maplist idea" when he was writing his post. (Somehow I'd missed that! Oops.)

Maybe you can give teams/players the opportunity to add 3-5 "homemaps" (less popular maps) to the global list, to not limit their preferrences. Every other team/player could pick these maps in their matches aswell. Later, the team could change their list of "homemaps" after each month for example, to keep up the variety.

That is a really cool idea! It is a good way for clans to be able to play their own custom maps, or less popular maps, whilst still adding some accountability. A clan's homemaps could be displayed online on their profile.
 (If a clan's homemaps list history is filled with unfair it's not going to look good on that clan)

I think three home maps per month are enough.

So the entire maplist would be made up of the collection of the communities home maps? That would keep the maplist dynamic (since new clans would join in and add to the list, and other clans would be updating their list monthly.)

I like the idea a lot. Does anyone have any thoughts against this idea?

[Minerva]

So the entire maplist would be made up of the collection of the communities home maps? That would keep the maplist dynamic (since new clans would join in and add to the list, and other clans would be updating their list monthly.)

I like the idea a lot. Does anyone have any thoughts against this idea?

If theres going to be a standart number of maps in the maplist and the maplist being composed of the collection of the teams maps, what would happen if multiple teams chose the same map to be in their homemap list?

[Zenit]

So the entire maplist would be made up of the collection of the communities home maps? That would keep the maplist dynamic (since new clans would join in and add to the list, and other clans would be updating their list monthly.)

Not only the homemaps, but also a list of popular maps everyone plays, such as pfo, wob, pp1, carp airtime etc. The homemaps are additional to the "fixed" list, to add variety to it.

It doesn't matter if a team picks the same homemap as another team, since the map will be available for everyone in the full list (that consists of main-maps (pfo, wob...) and the variable homemaps), so everyone can pick it anyways. The homemaps are not supposed to be bound to the team that picked it for themselves, but to add varity to the maplist.