JDC 16 General Discussion Thread

[EvilMike]

http://www.jazz2online.com/jdc

With Season 16 starting in less than a week, I thought I'd make this thread to serve as a place to discuss the season, and also report any problems, comments or suggestions. Also, this thread will help get the word out about the new season and allow me to talk about some of the changes we've made.

Overall, this season will be fairly similar to the previous season, but we have made a couple of key changes. The biggest is that we are planning on making it so each round is worth more points than the previous one. At the moment, it is set so it increases by 45 points per round, starting at 180 in round on and increasing all the way to 450 points in round 7. In every round except the first, opponent quality will be worth 1/3 of the points, while roast:fall will determine the rest.

The reason for this change is twofold. The first is to simply make the season more interesting, by "raising the stakes" as the season progresses. The second reason is we have observe that activity often usually off towards the end of the season, and by raising the point value like this we hope to reward players who play all the way through to the end. The first few rounds will probably still be the busiest, but at least this way we are encouraging people to keep playing.

To balance this change of awarding more points for rounds, events will also be worth a little bit more. In the past, big events would be worth 25-30 points. In this season, big events will be worth 40-50 points (mostly depending on size and length).

Another change we have made is remove the "quality exponent" part of the score calculations. This part of the formula was really experimental, and didn't really do much in the end aside from making things more complicated. We have removed it in the interest of making the system a bit simpler. What does this mean to you, in the end? Pretty much absolutely nothing.

I'd like to know what you think of these changes, particularly the first one. Do you think 45 is too much? Too little? Think it's a bad idea alltogether? 45 is a fairly arbitrary number: any multiple of 3 will work.



Also of note, is that we have added two new event types: domination and team LRS. Expect to see both this season.

Finally, I'd like to say congratulations to n00b for having his logo (modified a bit) picked for this season. Nothing says "dueling" quite like CliffyB holding up a blaster.

As for the opening event, it will be hosted on Friday or Saturday, and will consist mostly of CTF. In terms of levels, expect to see at least a few old staples of JDC CTF events. If you have any suggestions for other levels that should be played in the event, go ahead and post them here. Big levels are preferred over smaller ones.

[Nonomu198]

What about small events? Admins spammed them with friends when they had time, while non admins couldn't get into more than like one per round. I think that's important to balance it without killing it.

[Troglobite]

I'm having troubles with my router, and can only join without a CTO through Hamachi. Will this be a problem?

[Vegito]

If anything we can make a hamachi channel/several channels just for JDC...

[CelL]

If anything we can make a hamachi channel/several channels just for JDC...

Sounds like a good plan, particularly considering the fact I'm having similar problems joining servers (I can host just fine tho' so I must've done something right when messing around with my ports).

[DarkSonic]

If anything we can make a hamachi channel/several channels just for JDC...
Good idea. I can only join servers with Hamachi, so the host of an event should have Hamachi so that I can join. Otherwise I can't play because of router problems.

[EvilMike]

What about small events? Admins spammed them with friends when they had time, while non admins couldn't get into more than like one per round. I think that's important to balance it without killing it.

Small events are limited to 5 points max, and you can only do 1 a day. Just like every other season. Most small events will be 3vs3 and 4vs4 ctf games.

Your comment about admins is a bit strange. There are only 4 admins: Bobby, Me, BlurredD, and FireSword. None of us are allowed to win the tournament or even intend to, due to the amount of control we have over the scoring. Were you thinking about officials instead?

As for officials "spamming them", note that you do not even need an official to organize an event. <b>Small events can be completely run by users</b>. It helps to have an official present (or hosting), but isn't necessary. Just record the scores and send them to an official, and make sure they are accurate. Including a screenshot is a good idea. We'll take your word for it and add the event.



Were you talking about spontaneous events instead? These are unplanned events which are organized by officials or admins, and are worth more points, and generally are open to more players. There's also no limit on them. Obviously, this does give a bit of an advantage to officials, since they can host events whenever they want.

My opinion on spontaneous events is that there should be no limit on them, but <i>officials should also be encouraged to post events at least 24 hr in advance (making them normal events, rather than spontaneous).</i> The way I see it, the more events there are, the better, and so there will be as few restrictions on them as possible. Planned events are encouraged over spontaneous events because they can be worth more points.

If officials wind up getting tons and tons of points because of this, we MIGHT make a restriction that says something like "the host of a spontaneous event gets 1/2 the points for it" or something like that. I'd rather not put in something like this unless it's absolutely critical though, because people need to be encouraged to host events, not discouraged.

If you think this is unfair, well it sorta is. On the other hand, it does allow for more events, and JDC has always gone by the philosophy that fun is more important than fairness. Besdies, if you are someone who is helpful, good at english, and generally friendly, it's not hard to become an official yourself.

[EvilMike]

For those of you that want to use hamachi to duel or whatever, go ahead. As for events though, the best thing would be if you could figure out what your router problems are and fix them. J2O has a good page that can help you with this.

Hamachi might be used sometimes for events if say, the listserver is down, but most event hosts probably won't bother to start it up unless they are asked. That's why fixing your router is probably a better option.

[Vegito]

Hamachi will also cause lag. Anyway, I will make a hamachi channel just for the people who need hamachi to join an event then. I will have it on whenever I host an event, but I won't be hosting many probably. It is up to the host (and to the people who're in the server) to decide yes/no. As said, hamachi causes a lot of lag.

[EvilMike]

I've posted the official start time for the season, as well as the time for the opening event. The levels for it have also been uploaded.

[Nonomu198]

I meant officials, my bad. And I didn't know normal users can orginize small events, thanks.
And if an official abuses his power and makes tons of events just for points, shouldn't he, like, not be an official? ;p


Also, how do you become an official? I might be interested. Are there any responsibilities?

[Vegito]

Basically you can only play 1 small event per day. The other(s) you get to play in you will not gain points for anymore. Read the rules :(.

[Nonomu198]

Cooba the hater >:F


Are you talking to me Veg? I know that you can only get points for one per day.

[Vegito]

So how is an official able to abuse his power? We stick to rules too o.O.
And anybody can play a 3v3 per day basically, you just have to organize one and tell the score(s)/teams/levels to an official, he'll submit it. But that is basically what EvilMike said o.O

[Nonomu198]

Officials allways get one per day.
Most players don't.
Or so I thought before I knew you can make small events yourself.

[EvilMike]

So how is an official able to abuse his power? We stick to rules too o.O.
<strike>That certainly wasn't the case before you were an official</strike>


But yeah, we've never really had a problem with officials or admins abusing their power. None of the officials we have are interested in cheating or otherwise abusing their powers, and they have to follow the same rules as everybody else. Even administrators have to follow the rules.

It's not something to worry about.

[EvilMike]

Also, how do you become an official? I might be interested. Are there any responsibilities?

First meet these requirements:

1. Be somebody who is active in JDC and well-liked.
2. Have basic knowledge of how the system works.
3. Be willing to put in the time and effort it takes to be an official.
4. You have know English (people have to understand you).

The following also helps a lot:

1. Have a good internet connection.
2. Be willing to host events or do scoring for events.
3. Know how to use a spreadsheet.
4. Know how to use FTP.
5. Have lots of free time.

The second list is for hosting events, obviously. This is perhaps the most important duty officials have, or at least the most time consuming one. Hosting events, and doing scoring for events, is more work than it seems. After a while you get used to it and it becomes easier, but it still takes time.

Officials are also responsible for adding small events, as well as generally keeping things running by monitoring duels and 2vs2s, and when they are not hosting events, helping the host keep things going smoothly.

Finally, officials are responsible for posting news whenever it's relevant, and sometimes certain officials have more specific duties.

So yes, there are a number of responsibilities. If you would like to become an official, just ask next time we put out a call that we are looking for new officials. If we do look for new officials this season, it will be after the season starts, when we know how much extra help we need (if we need any).

[Vegito]

If you organize an event it may take up to 5 hours to arrange the event, do the scores and host the event. o.O

[Quickz]

If you organize an event it may take up to 5 hours to arrange the event, do the scores and host the event. o.O

Well, I can do the scores for you and for any other Official if he/she hates doing them, since.. I like doing stuff like that ^.^ weird, uh? :D

[cooba]

Well, I can do the scores for you and for any other Official if he/she hates doing themThat's my job, sorry.

[Ragnarok!]

That's my job, sorry.

Someone's stealing my job... >_>

[Vegito]

K, if I host an event I know who to search for when the scores need to be done ^_^

[Grytolle]

Really? I'm confused :(!

[plunK]

What is FTP? just for future reference

[Vegito]

Really? I'm confused :(!

Ya cause Im lazy. ;(

[Hitch]

What is FTP? just for future reference

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a network protocol used to transfer data from one computer to another through a network, such as the Internet. FTP is a file transfer protocol for exchanging and manipulating files over any TCP-based computer network.

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[EvilMike]

The season has started.

[Grytolle]

correct

[Sucer]

I started duelling Valmango today and was losing 6-1! I have tons of excuses why so, but Valmango is a good pplayer. I really got interested in semi duels again:D I used to do them a lot at one point. I had to go, but I wanna finish the duel.

[EvilMike]

Valmango did win the last season, I believe, so he's quite good.

[Grytolle]

he's gotten better since too

[Sucer]

I am very disappointed. I've noticed that the community is full of people who QUIT JDC games if they are losing or refuse to verify them. Emperor was losing a fair duel againts me 3-0 on sweets server when he quit because of "lag" and a "fly in his room". Then he refused to verify the 3-0 duel. THen once Checzh quit a 2vs2 because of "lag" when his team was losing 1-0. Then DarkBunny refuses to verify a 2vs2 which he lost 5-0. What should I do with all these guys who have terrible sportsmanship?

[Ragnarok!]

Report to admins/refuse to duel them/report to admins/taunt them till they don't refuse/report to admins/kick them in the eye/report to admins

[cooba]

Submit the matches, and let an administrator force verify.

[Raven aka StL]

Or don't organize duels where your opponent is heavily lagged, while you are not and claim that it was fair when it wasn't in the least. :P

[Vegito]

Chances however are, if you just leave, is that the other player gets mad. In which this is the case and he's got the right to submit the duel then if you just leave. Rather just agree on a new host instead x). If he doesn't, your problem.

That is however what you told me when I played at Sperry's computer when I was so heavily lagged. Remember? Woah, you're such a hypocrite here. Just verify.

[Raven aka StL]

In that one you scored twice, meaning you at least had some chance. As for me in this game against Sucer, no matter how many times I hit him, he just bounced without losing h. And it was 3-0 by the time I realized that.

[EvilMike]

A lot of people get whiny when they lose duels and refuse to verify. There are a number of ways to handle it.

First, you should submit the duel to JDC. Then, the best way is to be polite and take it up with them, talk about it, and nicely ask them to verify it. Talk to them first. If they are unreasonable or something along those lines, then talk to an admin (I'm probably the most available one this season). Use IRC or private messaging. I will hear your side of the story, and then ask to hear the other side of the story. The ultimate goal will be to talk both parties into being reasonable, so they either agree to verify the duel, or agree to delete it. If one side is unreasonable, then I will side with whoever is being reasonable and do what they say. If both sides are unreasonable and generally just won't get along, then I will simply ignore their complaints and any future complaints they may have, because I see no point in wasting my time with people like that.

In the future, if you have a problem, follow this advice and it should work out fine. Try not to post any angry callouts in this thread too, since it will just make other people fight back. The best way to deal with this is in private, not in public.

[Nonomu198]

List of highly problematic people when it comes to verifying:

Emp
Hitch ;)

[Raven aka StL]

This is the first duel in 136 jdc duels that I don't verify (because I never had a chance to win, no matter how well I would've played), so you might want to exclude me. Especially when you used to belong in that list.

[Vegito]

In that one you scored twice, meaning you at least had some chance. As for me in this game against Sucer, no matter how many times I hit him, he just bounced without losing h. And it was 3-0 by the time I realized that.

No, I stood no chance it is just that you're lower skilled which made me able to kill you at least twice. Sucer is generally higher skilled than you so for you scoring twice in a not laggy game would be uhm, normal already.

And IconGuy ;|.

[Nonomu198]

I don't verify because I never had a chance to win.

Now what the hell is this.

[Grytolle]

How the hell can you expect Sucer to be able to arrange a fair duel? You live in the same town... Unless your connection has massive problems or your family is downloading pr0n, there's just no way lag can be that unfair, or atleast: there's no way you can claim that Sucer purposely arranged an unfair duel. If you don't enjoy losing because of lag, do what I do: be selective about hosts, or ask to test the server for a few minutes so you can know beforehand if it's good enough.

[Sucer]

I don't have mirc so let me just say it here. Warrior lost one 2vs2 which he now apparently refuses to verify. I told him on msn to do it but he ignored me. Instead he went to play some new 2vs2's and verified those, but not the one he played erlier with me. So could you please force verify?

[Raven aka StL]

Iconguy: Quit sticking your nose into other people's business and replying to everything on a whim.
Veg: It's not that I expected Sweet to lag me. It was 63 ms and felt fine, disregarding the fact that it took me 5 seconds to connect. I thought it might've been hamachi or something, but seems that it wasn't.
Gry: Lag can be real random at times, but you're right, I should've been selective and my lack of judgment was the reason for all this, but it's not like Sucer couldn't learn some sportsmanship and respect.
Sucer: JCF is not the place for those announcements. You should contact a JDC admin about problems regarding JDC.

[EvilMike]

I'm looking for a good level to use in the upcoming pit fight event. This should be a CTF level good for duels, and known for fast paced gameplay. Since most of this event will be watching other people play and betting on them, it should be a level guaranteed to make for interesting matches. Small, fast paced, pits, lots of powerups, are all things I'm looking for.

Any suggestions? Otherwise I'll probably just pick any level that's currently popular for dueling. Each duel in this event will be on a fairly short time limit (5-7 minutes or so), so levels known for long stalemates must be avoided.

[PurpleJazz]

Something like Swingin Jazz maybe?
That level is small, easy to learn, and very fun in duels.

[Raven aka StL]

Yeah, Swinging Jazz would be fitting, unless you need a real small level.

[Vegito]

KMC, lol.

[Grytolle]

minidw