DC's, Leavers, AFK's - what are we doing about it?

Hi folks



I've seen a lot of feedback on this so wanted to kick off a thread to discuss it more fully.



We think Leavers, AFK's and DC's are definitely our biggest problem and really make the game less fun, and more frustrating.



Block is a team based and team orientated, competitive tactical shooter. Although (we hope and think) it's a lot of fun for just having a blast, it's also loads better when it's a fair fight. This is where a bit of our MOBA influence come's in, those games aren't drop in/drop out for a reason, and we are the same.



So this is our top, top thing to focus on. We had a big meeting with senior design, development and production on Tuesday and this was a big part of it.



There are 6 main things we are going to do:-



1) We will be bringing in systems to re-queue any games that are not going to start with ten players.



2) We will detect AFK's, warn them after a short period and then kick them after a period. If you get kicked you will get automatic reports. if you come back these reports will be reduced depending on how long you take to come back (some times real stuff happens that has to be dealt with or you get DC'd for no fault of your own, we are sensitive that, things like this happen). However repeated and blatant AFK behavior will put a player into the graveyard queue.



3) If people leave a session (alt F4 or DC) we will give them a warning that they have DC'd and that there are consequences. We will then give them a grace period to reconnect. If they do not reconnect they will get a automatic reports as above and will be given a time penalty before they join the next game.



4) We will investigate a team buff for teams with a man down. This will need experimentation and testing, and i won't guarantee we will do this long term, but we will explore and likely try it.



5) We are going to go heavy with messaging in the client encouraging people to play full games, and not let their teammates down.



6) We will launch the game and it will have a price tag. Hopefully people who buy the game will care a little more about the game it is trying to be, and will be more considerate of their team mates.



All the work from the summit meeting needs to be costed and scheduled so I can't tell you exactly when all these different things will be coming in, but they will definitely be coming in before we launch.



We are interested in further ideas, discussion and debate on this topic.



Thanks for your input.



Venger

