How to solve the problem of XP leaches? Players who do nothing all match!

[abercromb]

I wanted to post something on these forums to see if other people have noticed the trend of XP leaches in Star fighter and if there is anything we can do about it?

 

To be honest I only noticed it a couple of days ago. As it was so obvious and extreme it stuck out for me.

I was in an 8 vs 8 match and was losing badly. I couldn't work out how the other team seemed to have all the points and we had none. Then I noticed we had 3 of our team sitting just outside the start point. Now I understand that new players may have trouble working out directions and how to play the game. But these guys did nothing, just moved a little, parked and sat there. If they got killed by a Gunship as no other class can get close without the base ship killing them, they respawned and parked again. Of course we lost the match, you can't win with those odds. For the record they had no kills, do damage, no medals and one death. But when started another match two of the players were on our team again and did exactly the same thing, parked all match. The only thing I can work out these guys are doing is completing the dailies with two losses. But as you can understand this type of thing cripples the team they are in.

 

So my question is has any one else seen this? I have added them to my ignore list but no idea if this will stop me getting them in a star fighter match again? If they doesn't work any ideas of what if anything players can do? Suggestions welcome.

[SBR_QuorTek]

Would suggest to say remove all XP gain from PvP completely, would solve some of the issues out there.

 

For the daily/weekly only grant req. no coins or XP.

 

You will only get coins from the GSF area if you have 4 medals and above, and maybe a bunch of XP as well if you get to have 10 medals or more.

 

Mentioned suggestions would eliminate freeloaders in general, would benefit both the Dirt side and space PvP in general with some more quality time.

 

It would also remove the exploit of people pvping to level 55 creating more life on the quite abandoned planets we already have by now as it is.

Edited December 24, 2013 by SBR_QuorTek

[abercromb]

It is difficult to think of a way to prevent this without penalising players that have lagged out or simply have yet to master how to fly. But you should not be able to complete a daily by sitting at the base ship all match.

 

I did think of a minimum damage requirement to complete a daily? But that would penalise those players who defend the sat's and may not do much damage in a match. Of course those players do get medals. So what about a minimum damage or medals to complete dailies? Just an idea.

[mr_sim]

Would suggest to say remove all XP gain from PvP completely, would solve some of the issues out there.

 

For the daily/weekly only grant req. no coins or XP.

 

You will only get coins from the GSF area if you have 4 medals and above, and maybe a bunch of XP as well if you get to have 10 medals or more.

 

Mentioned suggestions would eliminate freeloaders in general, would benefit both the Dirt side and space PvP in general with some more quality time.

 

It would also remove the exploit of people pvping to level 55 creating more life on the quite abandoned planets we already have by now as it is.

 

Don't say "coins" coins are for the cartel market. Seriously the in game currency is "credits" the most generic term already and not all that long or hard to spell, also SW lore refers to credit "chits" not credit "coins." rant over(Also I"m aware I i said long and hard).

 

As to the leeches, the most popular term I've heard was "A.F.K.ers" and yes they are the scum of the earth. here is what you should do.

 

- mention them in /ops but not by name, if they see they are noticed they will quickly log out when match ends and you won't find them unless you make it personal and periodically search them down.

- if anyone asks who /wisper them back, I know it's a fighter match and you have other things on your mind but this on of those greater good things.

- when you get out of the match immediately /ignore that person(s) at that point you will have their name saved on your /ignore list for future use

- look through the /report options too all this is data points that Bioware will see.

 

Unfortunately these people will always get the credit on their daily because the daily gives credit still when you auto defeat for lack of players.

 

that said Bioware should issue no REQ, Credits, or XP if you do no recieve any numbers.

 

a succesfull defender will get or 2 defence medals, an unsuccesful one will record deaths, both will receive objective points, so really it should be based on objective points and/or damage dealing as only an active player can receive either and would receive is they are even slightly competent.

 

I"m sure Bioware does see the stats that obviously show an AFKer but they won't drop the ban hammer too easy, which is why you should /ignore, as that is an active vote against them.

[Mdgshorty]

In warzones, if a player does not get past the barrier in a certain amount of time, they get removed from that warzones. Couldn't they do something similar like that in GFS?

[abercromb]

Well another day. Another leach.

 

This one was pretty chatty. Let's call him Neil. Neil sat at the beginning not because he wanted to gain his daily by doing nothing. But because we were a poor group as he said. Players asked him to join in but all he would say is shhh. Obviously a big loss there.

 

So welcome to the ignore list Neil. Problem was match two even though Neil is now ignored. Guess what, he is in the group. This time I can't see any replies he may post but I do ask in the op chat if he is going to join in this time. As if by miracle he does at some stage. It could be simply that we are winning by a good margin and he thinks lets get some glory at the end. But hey any help, however late is always wanted. So Neil thank you for your 3k damage, 4 assists, no kills, 2 medals (I think, so not defending). That wasn't to bad was it, you could even get to like it.

Edited December 24, 2013 by abercromb

[willfarlow]

Well another day. Another leach.

 

This one was pretty chatty. Let's call him Neil. Neil sat at the beginning not because he wanted to gain his daily by doing nothing. But because we were a poor group as he said. Players asked him to join in but he would say shhh. Obviously a big loss there.

 

So welcome to the ignore list Neil. Problem was match two even though Neil is now ignored. Guess what, he is in the group. This time I can't see any replies he may post but I do ask in the op chat if he is going to join in this time. As if by miracle he does at some stage. It could be simply that we are winning by a good margin and he thinks lets get some glory at the end. But hey any help, however late is always wanted. So Neil thank you for your 3k damage, 4 assists, no kills, 2 medals (I think, so not defending). That wasn't to bad was it, you could even get to like it.

 

WOW. I am SO glad that I haven't seen this in a match yet...it would be enough to make me want to shoot them down myself.

[abercromb]

WOW. I am SO glad that I haven't seen this in a match yet...it would be enough to make me want to shoot them down myself.

 

I bet you have but not picked up on it. When your flying around doing your thing, it's not easy to pick up on players sitting at the start. To be honest it is only when you die and respawn that you get the time to click on the map and see who the green dots are at the start. But I am seeing more and more of them. Get more than one and it's game over for an 8 man, very difficult to win while carrying those in your team. Still most (all) give up after two matches, they appear to be there for the daily not the fun of playing. Still I wish I could kill them too.

 

As I play both sides there is always the bonus I will see a familiar name against me. Grab a gunship and it's free XP time. Going to ask Santa for that

[renegadeimp]

Just give us a vote kick system and let the game continue. It really isnt hard. Copy the ground game one to GSF. Done.

[willfarlow]

Just give us a vote kick system and let the game continue. It really isnt hard. Copy the ground game one to GSF. Done.

 

Now THIS is a good idea.

[Mystry]

Or you could just implement what was already put in Warzones - they don't get credit towards the daily/weekly or any Xp or requisition unless they get at least 3 or 4 medals.

[renegadeimp]

Or you could just implement what was already put in Warzones - they don't get credit towards the daily/weekly or any Xp or requisition unless they get at least 3 or 4 medals.

 

Thats too easy to get though. 2-3 mins playtime max. Then afk it. Much easier to implement the vote kick system and add a few conditions to it. Remember, medals mean nothing. You cant really take them as an indicator of someone not playing. For instance, i could drag 3-4 scouts around the battle, easing the pressure off my team, while surviving witht hem chasing me. I wont get many medals at all, but it causes the enemy to lose 3-4 ships at an objective.

Edited December 24, 2013 by renegadeimp

[Thranta]

I have seen this a number of times as well.

 

Problem is it usually after an easy win. I am curious as to why the other team only had 150 points. I look at the bottom of the enemy list and see three ships with all zeros. That’s great, we won, but it was 8 on 5. Feel bad for other side.

 

I have actually never check after a bad defeat but I probably will now.

[abercromb]

I have seen this a number of times as well.

 

Problem is it usually after an easy win. I am curious as to why the other team only had 150 points. I look at the bottom of the enemy list and see three ships with all zeros. That’s great, we won, but it was 8 on 5. Feel bad for other side.

 

I have actually never check after a bad defeat but I probably will now.

 

I used to think it was just new players. People who did not know how to fly yet. But it's not.

New players in most matches I have seen end up dying a lot. They tend not to do much damage or kill much but they do something. Then you have your cappers. Players who fly to the Sat's and glue themselves underneath it preventing it being taken until they are dead. But in both these cases the scores at the end will show a contribution. No contribution and it's probably a leach.

[Yorumi]

Personally I'd like to see it set up so that if you don't do a certain amount of damage in the match you get 0 req, 0 exp, and no credit for the match for your daily/weekly. Something low enough that even bad players could do it but afks can't, so like 3k damage or something. If you do 0 damage you lose req.

 

That would keep people from leeching in matches.

[TUXs]

Interesting...I have chalked it up to terrible players, but...I believe I was mistaken in that assumption.

[GooseGrims]

when i rise to power these ppl will be sterilized...

[renegadeimp]

Personally I'd like to see it set up so that if you don't do a certain amount of damage in the match you get 0 req, 0 exp, and no credit for the match for your daily/weekly. Something low enough that even bad players could do it but afks can't, so like 3k damage or something. If you do 0 damage you lose req.

 

That would keep people from leeching in matches.

 

That wont work. It takes 1-2 mins to get that damage. Then they just self destruct or get killed, then go afk behind the capital ship.

[Yorumi]

That wont work. It takes 1-2 mins to get that damage. Then they just self destruct or get killed, then go afk behind the capital ship.

 

Then just change it so you have to do that damage per minute or something, or base it on dps or something. While being able to kick players would be nice, players who do this stuff need to be punished. Really it should be a bannable offense.

[GooseGrims]

Then just change it so you have to do that damage per minute or something, or base it on dps or something. While being able to kick players would be nice, players who do this stuff need to be punished. Really it should be a bannable offense.

 

that still wouldnt work, theres times i do pretty good and get 20k+ dmg, but there are also times i do as little as 3k dmg when i either A) join a games thats in progress or B) when im on the run dragging ppl away from nodes, im not doing dmg durning those times but im keeping there teams members from capping and giving my team an opening.

 

honestly the vote kick would be the best solution but could easily be abused, a group of players see someone thats obviously new and they kick them to try and get someone with more exp which ive seen in every game that has a vote kick option.

[Yorumi]

that still wouldnt work, theres times i do pretty good and get 20k+ dmg, but there are also times i do as little as 3k dmg when i either A) join a games thats in progress or B) when im on the run dragging ppl away from nodes, im not doing dmg durning those times but im keeping there teams members from capping and giving my team an opening.

 

We're getting too bogged down in the minor details, I'm just throwing a quick relatively easy system to detect afkers. It's not hard to monitor a number of factors like time spent within x distance of the cap ship, kill, assists, damage, dps, objective points, or even overall distance traveled in the match. You set off a number of flags and you're punished for it.

 

The problem with kicking is not everyone bothers, so the afker just keeps going until he gets through a match and it won't offer any real deterrent. If you start punishing people for afking(let req go negative) that will put an end to afking real quick.

[silvershadows]

Personally I'd like to see it set up so that if you don't do a certain amount of damage in the match you get 0 req, 0 exp, and no credit for the match for your daily/weekly. Something low enough that even bad players could do it but afks can't, so like 3k damage or something. If you do 0 damage you lose req.

 

That would keep people from leeching in matches.

 

That would annoy me - one game I was the only person willing to defend the C satellite, which was also the only satellite we owned. Everyone else flew off to fight and never capped another, and I was too afraid to leave because I'll be damned if we're gonna get 3 capped when I'm in the game, so I stayed the entire match.

 

Got my 8 minute defense medal and 0 damage/kills/assists because nobody ever came to attack the satellite, but you can be sure that if I had left, they WOULD have.

[GooseGrims]

We're getting too bogged down in the minor details, I'm just throwing a quick relatively easy system to detect afkers.

 

it may sound easy but thats alot of coding and they may not be able to program a feature like that with the game engine. and going by dmg per minute wouldnt be an easy solution as i just pointed out a couple posts ago. also if it was that easy they would have added it pre release or atleast mentioned trying to get in in the game which they didnt and havnt.

 

and us discussing these minor details will give the devs a starting point for what the community wants, or atleast those of use stating our opinions.

[Yorumi]

it may sound easy but thats alot of coding and they may not be able to program a feature like that with the game engine. and going by dmg per minute wouldnt be an easy solution as i just pointed out a couple posts ago. also if it was that easy they would have added it pre release or atleast mentioned trying to get in in the game which they didnt and havnt.

 

and us discussing these minor details will give the devs a starting point for what the community wants, or atleast those of use stating our opinions.

 

It's actually quite easy to code, I could do it in a few hours or less. It's just collecting data and running a bunch of boolean comparisons on it, if(damage < x), if(assists < y), etc. Then you just need to decide on what the flags are such that even the worst legitimate player will never trip them, but afkers will. The purpose it not to design some award winning system but a quick deterrent from afking.

 

That would annoy me - one game I was the only person willing to defend the C satellite, which was also the only satellite we owned. Everyone else flew off to fight and never capped another, and I was too afraid to leave because I'll be damned if we're gonna get 3 capped when I'm in the game, so I stayed the entire match.

 

Got my 8 minute defense medal and 0 damage/kills/assists because nobody ever came to attack the satellite, but you can be sure that if I had left, they WOULD have.

 

To be quite frank, you're kind of leeching. It doesn't take an overwhelming force to chase one fighter off a satellite, and turrets buy you a lot of time on an undefended satellite. It would only take a single gunship or decent fighter to chase someone off a satellite. Coming in with 2 fighters to your 1 would ensure you didn't have a chance to defend it. The enemy showed no interest in the satellite and your team had to play handicapped because of you. There is no reason anyone should leave any match(that they didn't join midway or something) with zero damage and zero assists.

[abercromb]

That would annoy me - one game I was the only person willing to defend the C satellite, which was also the only satellite we owned. Everyone else flew off to fight and never capped another, and I was too afraid to leave because I'll be damned if we're gonna get 3 capped when I'm in the game, so I stayed the entire match.

 

Got my 8 minute defense medal and 0 damage/kills/assists because nobody ever came to attack the satellite, but you can be sure that if I had left, they WOULD have.

 

But you get medals for your contribution. You clearly played a part in the match. May be you didn't do any damage but anyone who knows can work out your role.

 

As for the kick button others have mentioned, not sure I like that. It is hard to chat in a match and you can't click on the map to see player names unless your dead. So how would it work?

 

For me the only solution is not make the daily a little harder to obtain. Even in a loss you need to have done say 1000 damage or obtained 2 medals. That would allow even the newest players away to do the dailies but would stop people parking at the start and using it as a way to complete dailies at the expense of the team.