Spawn Delay Removed

[TMAN]

Starting with Campaign 198 we have removed the spawn delay.  We have increased the Persona Selection delay to up to three minutes to join the overpop side but once you in the game there is no SD unless switching to OP.

We will be monitoring closely the effects on game play in all time zones.  We strive not to make any game changes mid-campaign so what ever happens will play out over a campaign or two.

Remember - there is no Spawn delay - the players spawning in and out on your side are it.  Let's see if the SD hurts or helps and who and when???  But to be clear the SD is no longer "broken."

[dijpa]

is the cap timer still "broken"?

[steelhail]

did you reset the captimers so they are all the same, regardless of pop?

[jon8798]

Dude, your system doesn't work. I can log into either side with no sidelock. I've mentioned this before in forums a long time ago. I've not seen sidelock for years. Tonight playing axis felt very underpop. Going to persona select I could switch between sides instantly. Did a rough count to see how many were in missions and confirmed chunky imbalance.

I reckon it can't just be me without sidelock  - saw at least two people who'd been in axis chat 2 or 3 mins previously in allied missions. 

[jon8798]

Oh, also, why does it always say "balanced" at log in? Without SD it feels more important to know who is overpop - it changes how you approach attack and defence and some people want to go for the underpop side.

[Capco]

On 11/3/2023 at 6:07 PM, jon8798 said:

Dude, your system doesn't work. I can log into either side with no sidelock. I've mentioned this before in forums a long time ago. I've not seen sidelock for years. Tonight playing axis felt very underpop. Going to persona select I could switch between sides instantly. Did a rough count to see how many were in missions and confirmed chunky imbalance.

I reckon it can't just be me without sidelock  - saw at least two people who'd been in axis chat 2 or 3 mins previously in allied missions. 

14 hours ago, jon8798 said:

Oh, also, why does it always say "balanced" at log in? Without SD it feels more important to know who is overpop - it changes how you approach attack and defence and some people want to go for the underpop side.

I've noticed the above too, @TMAN.  I have yet to see a side lock when logging in, and the persona select screen is always saying balanced.

Which makes me wonder about steelhail's comment below.

On 11/2/2023 at 6:41 PM, steelhail said:

did you reset the captimers so they are all the same, regardless of pop?

I can't say for sure, but the cap timers don't feel the same as they did before this change.  

Edited November 4, 2023 by Capco

[delems]

I like the no SD so far.

Yes, is annoying that it never says who is over pop.

I timed captures first day or so, seemed ok if we were actually over pop.

Maybe I'll time another one now that we are usually under pop.

 

I'd like to see a number next to the over pop side.

So, if 15 allies in game world; and 10 axis in game world, the number 1.5 would show up by allied side.

Edited November 4, 2023 by delems

[jon8798]

I honestly don't understand the rationale for removing SD - particularly for doing it so badly. One quick survey on discord then boom, it's in. I had no idea when I logged in and couldn't work out why sides were balanced but we were getting steamrolled. We get constant SYSTEM messages about the Higgins boat, but nothing saying SD is gone and the population balance tracker is broken. Why? It's just so frustrating to see poor communication.

So much angst around this game has been to do with making it less crappy when you're very underpop so people don't log off while keeping it fun for the overpop team. We've already cut SD right down from what it once was so I'm not sure why a max 15 seconds to spawn in was causing so much misery that we had to turn it off alongside the balance tracker. I mean, you die, check your AAR, confirm the equipment you want to respawn with and then you've got, max, 9 or 10 seconds to wait...

[contractor]

On 11/6/2023 at 11:40 PM, jon8798 said:

I honestly don't understand the rationale for removing SD - particularly for doing it so badly. One quick survey on discord then boom, it's in. I had no idea when I logged in and couldn't work out why sides were balanced but we were getting steamrolled. We get constant SYSTEM messages about the Higgins boat, but nothing saying SD is gone and the population balance tracker is broken. Why? It's just so frustrating to see poor communication.

So much angst around this game has been to do with making it less crappy when you're very underpop so people don't log off while keeping it fun for the overpop team. We've already cut SD right down from what it once was so I'm not sure why a max 15 seconds to spawn in was causing so much misery that we had to turn it off alongside the balance tracker. I mean, you die, check your AAR, confirm the equipment you want to respawn with and then you've got, max, 9 or 10 seconds to wait...

And what exactly was the 15 seconds doing anyways ?

[jon8798]

On 11/8/2023 at 8:19 PM, contractor said:

And what exactly was the 15 seconds doing anyways ?

Giving just enough delay so that the underpop side had a a bit more of a chance in those battles where you're close the the enemy spawn point and a few seconds is what can make the difference between recapping the CP/blowing the FMS or getting killed by the person you just killed respawning. 

It made a difference. One that was just enough to help the lowpop guys sometimes and, at least, to make it feel like you had a shot. On the flip side, the personal inconvenience to the overpop side was very, very minor.

Edited November 10, 2023 by jon8798

[contractor]

5 hours ago, jon8798 said:

Giving just enough delay so that the underpop side had a a bit more of a chance in those battles where you're close the the enemy spawn point and a few seconds is what can make the difference between recapping the CP/blowing the FMS or getting killed by the person you just killed respawning. 

It made a difference. One that was just enough to help the lowpop guys sometimes and, at least, to make it feel like you had a shot. On the flip side, the personal inconvenience to the overpop side was very, very minor.

 The BIGGEST ball and chain that is strapped to the UP side or any side on the defensive is the missions tab. Spawning via the facility ALONE would kick the need for any spawn delay at all. There is more of a delay for the defender, when close like you mentioned, to get back to lets say the CP that was just captured. COUNTLESS  times there is no mission posted at the next closest CP's to the one that has been captured. So an already under pop side has to start creating all these missions. Who really has the side delay again? Players cant spawn into facilities they already have/own, that has supply. Think garrisons here. But hey can spawn out of a box in the middle of a field. Im getting older so its probably me, but doesn't any one besides me think that's a bit wonky. Getting under pop/defensive players closer, but more importantly to the fight quicker. Almost every town has capture points fairly close together and I really think letting players spawn in via the facilities they own would go a very long way. Especially the UP side.  Also REMOVE the abilty to warp and its a home run.