Imp Smash
Molon Labe.
General Tso's Alliance
770
   |
Posted - 2015.04.14 06:41:00 -
[1] - Quote
Theoretically and mathematically speaking, making squads 4 man would make it easier for Scotty to match even teams as that is 4x4 for 16.
Logically it is flawed as it assumes several conditions including but not limited to:
*All squads in Que are 4 person or divisible by 4
*A pool of solo players to pull from to fill out a team is available for that game mode
*The pool of players contains people of equal skill in numbers divisible by 4 at all skill levels
We have essentially 7 ques -- 3 public and 4 factional. So we have a split player base migrating back and forth. Sometimes 4 man squads will yield balanced teams. Sometimes 6 man squads (with a 4 man in there for kicks) and or randoms will yield balanced teams.
The perception that teams will magically be of the same level at 4 in public is based on this weird idea that Scotty doesn't have enough people to match make from. This may or may not be true -- but changing squad size does not affect number of people Scotty gets to choose from.
All it does is make it so fewer friends get to play together. And as a lot of people don't want to play unless they are with their friends -- they simply will log out. Giving less for Scotty to match with, making games more lopsided.
So, in actuality, smaller squad sizes has a better chance to make the problem of unbalanced teams worse than better.
(Also -- anyone with an ounce of brainpower will tell you -- learn from history. We used to have 4 man squads. The increase in squad size was one of the most widespread beloved changes in Dust history.) |
Imp Smash
Molon Labe.
General Tso's Alliance
772
|
Posted - 2015.04.15 01:00:00 -
[2] - Quote
I really hate buzzwords like 'force multiplier.' It's a kittening buzz word.
But I am generally against artificially limiting players that work together to help players that want to go it alone. Part of going it alone is that you don't have the advantages of a squad. That is every merc's choice.
There is a limit to the amount of hand holding we can do in Dust. If you want your hand held go play tic tac toe with a 4 year old...
The idea that this will be a lower power gap is purely speculation. The number of people in 1 squad that have good radar coverage would decrease. But the number of people with a variety of radar scanning and devices will increase. It will probably equal out to be about the same amount of scanning in the end but could also possibly increase the likelyhood of that sneaky red getting spotted.
People in chat channels will still talk across squads. Que syncing will become more of a thing.
Number of warbarge uses will actually increase creating a larger gap between solos and squads right there.
Oh, and you can't play with your friends as easily. Because, you know, social games, teamwork, tactics, community -- we should break up 33% of that. It could only help our player count...
Lastly, with 4 man squads, it may be that randoms get fit in in groups of 4 often. Or not at all as there are enough 4 man squads to fill the fight. You might increase wait time for solos.
The vast majority of the whole debate is speculation. The only non speculative support is a flawed math argument. The only non speculative refute is the history of squad size in this game.
When forming opinions I try to avoid using speculation as a foundation for my thoughts. So between the two non speculative arguments (that I have seen) about squad size change -- I'll go with the one that has historical evidence as opposed to a random math guess that still does not resolve its own variables. |