Yet another anti-hopping thread :)

[TomKesi 25]

DISCLAIMER: 

I used the search function for the word "hopping", to check if this idea hasn't been discussed before... the filtering doesn't seem to be working. Only a couple of threads were relevant and I failed to find this particular idea. Maybe it's my fault, in which case, mods, please move or merge my thread.

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Hi everybody!

My first post in a looong time, so let's get started :)

 

Definition of a problem: 

Server-hoppers. They visit a military area, pick it clean; move to a different server and loot the same area again. All of this happens in a relatively short time. This leaves me with little to no loot, which is sad, to say at least :)

 

My solution:

-Let's put an invisible border around military areas. It can be a circle, or it can copy the existing walls (where available). 

-The game would count each time you visited such an area, as well as the ID of the server you are currently on. It would also remember the name of said area (Veresnik base, NWAF, Myshkino base, etc).

-There would be an 1 hour long timer (or maybe more), which would be counting down from the moment you entered your first military area on the server. If you entered the same area on a different server during this time period, the game would notice.

 

How would it work? (Example):

-The player visits NWAF on server A.

-He logs off and joins server B, where he visits NWAF again.

-He does the same with server C, with no restrictions or penalty.

-He then joins a new server (server D) and crosses the border of the NWAF area. This is when: 

     1) He gets an on-screen message ("too many servers visited", or "you are too greedy", or something along those lines).

     2)All the loot in said area (NWAF in this example) becomes invisible for him. He is unable to pick it up.

-That is all. I think it's really simple.

*in this example, the dirty hopper always joins a new server in the shortest possible time

 

A couple of things to add:

-The timer I mentioned earlier - after passing the time limit (let's say 1 hour), you can join a new server and the same area with no penalties.

-You are not restricted in the number of server you join.

-You can visit the same area on the same server as many times as you want (with no restrictions or penalties).

-Even if penalized (you can't see any loot in the area), you are still able to hunt for players or do whatever you like. 

 

Things to discuss:

-is this suggestion stupid, or has it been mentioned before?

-only military areas or hot-zones as well?

-the lenght of the timer?

-the size of the area (the radius of the circle)?

-different forms of penalties or restrictions?

-give the player a message, or leave him clueless (could be really frustrating for him :) )

-does the OP deserve some beans? :)

 

 

 

[gannon46 788]

its a lot easier to just find a private hive thats what i did. i just use public to pew pew on and private for my try hard toon.

 and instead of fancy timers why not just make it when you switch servers you start over you shouldn't be able to join a server get to the mil area and say oh this place has jack shit and just hop to another one and loot its silly to me and ruins the experience for everyone som of us stick to a server for a long time then asshat clan mcgee comes along and strips it of all loot. i understand your timers and i wouldn't care if they were implemented honestly as i stick to 2 servers one private one public but folks will never go for it they would cry but something needs to be done i think and restarting toons when switching servers is less rules.

Edited September 15, 2015 by gannon46

[TomKesi 25]

its a lot easier to just find a private hive thats what i did. i just use public to pew pew on and private for my try hard toon.

 and instead of fancy timers why not just make it when you switch servers you start over you shouldn't be able to join a server get to the mil area and say oh this place has jack shit and just hop to another one and loot its silly to me and ruins the experience for everyone som of us stick to a server for a long time then asshat clan mcgee comes along and strips it of all loot. i understand your timers and i wouldn't care if they were implemented honestly as i stick to 2 servers one private one public but folks will never go for it they would cry but something needs to be done i think and restarting toons when switching servers is less rules.

Honestly, I fully agree with everything you said. I have three servers in my favorite list, which I stick to. In the mod days, I was an active medic on my (private hive) server :)

On the other hand, i like the freedom and possibility to switch between servers with no setback. Maybe my favorite server is empty or down, or for whatever reason. 

And lastly... I wanted to be a bit more constructive than that :)

[odin_lowe 3686]

Interesting ideas. Although I do the same as Gannon, this could be a solution to the problem, as it is a problem in itself. In my opinion, the same should be apply to "ghosting" as well, as it's all part of the server hopping issue.

[Evil Minion 943]

I find this suggestion a little too specific as you specifically target loot hoppers in military areas. The penalty is little too much magic for my taste but might prove effective.

Still I would like it more if server hopping was discouraged overall (my favorite is "long switich timer or start a new character"*) maybe with some side-effects towards ghosting as well.

*There are more applications of this concept that can have impact on taking prisoners, combat logging etc. - for example if other players are near your survivor or he/she is restrained the body does not despawn and you cannot log into a different server. However, you can always join another server instantly if you decide to start a new survivor, killing/wiping the old one in the process. Otherwise server switching timers should be significant (but tick down after leaving the old one).

[Parazight 1599]

I want to put an 'invisible border' around this idea, let the idea run around inside of it for a while until it gets tired or bored, then snipe it at 700 meters.

 

The real solution lies with private shards and the central loot economy.

[Evil Minion 943]

If only those two things would solve anything. Which they don't - at least not directly as their existence does have positive effects on gameplay.

 

Private shards come with all the disadvantages of being bound to one or a few servers forever and having a fairly small world to play in. However, there mere existence makes it possible to tax server switching or even dying on public servers much more. You neither want to wait nor start a new character (the latter option is pretty important as you want to prevent the characters from hopping not necessarily the players from switching) - go on a private shard for the meantime and come back when your timer expired.

 

The loot economy does not affect server switching more than on-server looting. So the low risk, high reward, easy but less enjoyable way will still be server hopping as its viability compared to the alternatives remains unchanged. Now the CLE might cause on-server looting to be more enjoyable and rewarding so it might keep some players from hopping but the "fast and easy" route is still there and still warps game dynamics.

 

In short: No solutions but important infrastructures to use for an actual solution.

[Bigbadchuck 97]

Best way to eliminate hopping is to make every server it's own hive. Would be nice to increase the max players to 100 or more.

[OnionOfShame 138]

Best way to eliminate hopping is to make every server it's own hive. Would be nice to increase the max players to 100 or more.

That's called private servers and they're already implemented. The increase in server capacity is also coming, eventually.

[sausagekingofchicago 4711]

Seems overly complicated when we had an almost complete system when the SA was released.  10 minute timer.  The issue, getting kicked by assholes, connection issues, servers going down.  That kind of thing.  A refinement on the timer with the hive knowing how you were disconnected seems a little easier than the hive having to track how often you entered a high loot area and invisible spawn walls.

 

Long live the ten minute timer.