In this thread we will be talking about:

Why we made these changes

What the new pregame system is

Some cool data showing how the new pregame system has positively affected games on the network

What we plan to do with the system in the future

Why did we make these changes? Why did we make these changes?



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What is the new system? What is the new system?

When a player joins a pregame lobby, the countdown is started at 5 or 10 minutes, allowing players to know roughly how long they will have to wait for a game to start.

Each game has a set minimum player count which must be met for the game to start. If it is not met, a message will be sent to the lobby alerting people that a game is available to join, furthermore, the timer will be extended to allow more time for the game to fill. If this minimum count is still not met, players will be sent back to the lobby.

If a game fails to start as it doesn't reach the minimum player count, the next game will boot up with a higher starting time. This will dynamically increase up to a cap to hopefully allow more time on off peak for games to start. This starting timer extension will reset once a game starts.

When the minimum count is met, the timer will be reduced allowing the game to start sooner. When the timer reaches 30 seconds an alert will be sent to the lobby alerting players that a game is starting in 30 seconds. This allows a few extra players to get into the game before it starts.

How has the new system affected games? How has the new system affected games?

For the entire Network

Arcade



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Build Battle's Guess the Build and Pro Mode

UHC

Mega Walls Standard



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Classic Games

Future plans for the new system Future plans for the new system

Continue to improve values for all games

Update Smash Heroes with the new system

Look into any games which don't have the system to see if they will benefit from the system

Improvements to lobby messaging

Possible updates to dynamic changes

Hello all,With the pregame changes finishing up, we wanted to make a summary thread on all of the changes that we have made and some of the positive changes they have made to the server. You can read the original pregame improvements update thread HERE which includes some information on some of the changes made by the new pregame framework and how they affected games.I'd also like to give a massive thank you to all players who responded with feedback and suggestions to the original pregame improvements thread - you were all a massive help!Clickto view the whole thread.We decided to make these changes for a multitude of reasons, such as reducing wait times for games, improving communication to players about when games are starting, and to encourage players to try different modes via lobby messages. We wanted to combat games that had trouble starting at lower peak times and reduce the number of games on the network which took 15+ minutes to start (e.g. UHC, Mega Walls). By doing this, we would be implementing a system which would benefit games over the entire network.Furthermore, we wanted to start collecting pregame data on what times games fail to start more often, how many games are starting at a certain time, or the average player count at the start of each game. This data would help us get an insight on the status of games and how many players are playing them, which would allow us to improve the pregame system further in the future to help these games start more often.First things first, if you haven't realized how the new system works, this is a brief summary of how the system works compared to the old system:Many games on the network have seen improvements to the average players per game and the consistency of games starting throughout the day thanks to the new pregame. Here is some data on the current status of the the pregame system over the entire network.over the last 2 week, ~games overhave started using the new pregame, and in totalof games have failed to start. On average over the entire network, a game startsof the first player joining the pregame lobby. On average about ~start with the new pregame system daily, giving us plenty of useful data to improve the system. Of all of the games which use the new pregame system,games start the quickest, with games on average starting withinof the first player joining the pregame, andgames start the most often, with peaks ofhas only recently been updated with the new pregame changes, and although Zombies is not using the new system, over the last week ~games have started with the new pregame system, withbeing the recently added Hide and Seek. Onlyof games have failed to start. Arcade games likehave seen a significant increase of games starting, withhavingstarting over the week, and the others havinggames starting over the week.has seen a rise in the consistency of games starting, with fewer-than-ever games failing to start. Of the ~games that have started using the new pregame system this week,of games have failed to start! Furthermore, Build Battle has seen a reduction in wait times for games to start, with games on average taking startingof the first player joining the pregame lobby.has seen a decrease in times spent waiting for games to start with on average games takingto start from the first player joining the pregame and at mostThis is a massive decrease from the 20+ minutes which games could take to fill before the new system was implemented. Furthermore, on average Solo games are starting withand Team of 3 games starting with. The average player count is a lot more consistent since the new system was implemented, and thanks to the lobby alerts when games are close to starting, players can sit in the lobbies browsing the shop or talking to friends and join when the alert is sent.has seen an increase in the average starting players per game frombefore the pregame changes toat the start of each game. Since we implemented the new pregame changes, ~Mega Walls games have started with the new pregame system, and in totalof these games have failed to start.have seen significant improvements across the board with the addition of the new pregame changes.has seen an increase in the number of games starting as only one game is required to be full for the game to start now. Over the past week, ~Arena Brawl matches have been played, with peaks of, and onlyof Arena Brawl games failing to start. On average, an Arena Brawl game starts withinof the first player joining the pregame lobby. Furthermore, over the last week, ~have been played, with peaks of, with onlyof TKR games failing to start. In total, of theClassic games which have started over the last week, onlyhave failed to start.We still plan on regularly updating the pregame system values to maximize player count and consistency of games starting, so expect some tweaks here and there while we perfect values for the games over the network. Here are a few plans we have for the future of the pregame system:Thank you for reading this summary, if you have suggestions or comments on the new pregame system, then feel free to reply to this thread and let us know. Thanks to all who have given feedback to improve the system and have a good day.