Rotation Balance Issues

[Red 5]

I'm new to forums in general, and this one specifically, so please let me know my breaches of etiquette.

I play the rotation server a lot, so here's some questions I have for other regular players and some feedback:

1) Does anyone else find the balance is slanted toward the offense on cp_dustbowl, pl_upward, and pl_goldrush particularly? I'm all for winning on offense, but it seems the defensive respawn times are so punitive, it takes some of the parity away from those map competitions. pl_thundermountain is not quite so slanted, but I'd give the defense some slightly faster respawn times on that map too to make it more sporting. I'd be interested to see the server's offense winning percentage on those maps. I like longer respawn times on cp maps usually, because those should be about skill. But on the payload maps, once the offense gets rolling, the defense has a tough time holding ground with the current respawn system.

I didn't get to vote in May, but I don't enjoy cp_gorge much, as it is currently respawn-balanced. I rarely see the defense win.

BTW, I love the addition of Gullywash. My only complaint is that it is so late in the long list of maps in rotation, that people don't get to play it usually until late into the night (for whatever reasons).

Which leads to the next issue:

2) Is there enough demand for two rotation servers? Probably not. But because the map list is so long, if someone wants to play one specific map they like, they're often not going to get to it very soon, because the list is so long. Would two servers, with half or 60-70% of the number of maps each, gather enough players? I don't know.

Finally, this is a tremendous server and a joy to play regularly

[YoullNeverWalkAlone]

Good to see you on the forum Red 5!

I can't speak to the spawn times except to say that they are now stock respawn, as opposed to the fast respawn we used to have.

As for the rotation, it is up for a vote each month to suggest one to remove and one to add. Alas, my vote last month to remove gorge didn't win enough votes (perhaps with you voting next month....), but gullywash did get on.

There is another 5cp rotation server now (tv3) that may have some of the different maps you are looking for.

[The Domer]

Hi Red 5, glad to see you made a forum account!

First, TF2 is meant to be a fast-paced, offensive oriented game. Thus, your observations are correct, there is a definite slant toward offense on the maps you listed, as well as most maps. The TV7 rotation server is currently, after much debate, running stock TF2 respawn timers. One of the primary reasons we switched it over is that with stock respawn we can take advantage of Quick Play and have our servers populated far more often than before. Also, many people (yours truly included) would rather see the game played at the faster, offensive style that stock respawns afford. Regarding your point on payload maps, it's often the case that the defense simply needs to find a point to regroup at, rather than throwing themselves into the entire blu team in ones and twos.

Second, I'm also not a fan of cp_gorge. I hope you'll be able to come out for the vote next month! I think it's great that we're switching out maps on a monthly basis now. I was one of those who championed doing something like this. Personally, I wanted even more flexibility, but I'm happy with the concessions that have been made. It adds a bit of variety and helps the server from getting stale.

Finally, you may not know this, but we've recently converted TV3 to a 5cp rotation server. So, we actually have two rotation servers now (with TV7 having a bit more variety in game modes, and TV3 catering exclusively to 5cp maps).

Thanks for your thoughts, look forward to seeing you post more

[Red 5]

Awesome. All good.

[Plinko]

I never realized you didn't have an account until now, Red 5.
Welcome!

One thing to keep in mind about the A/D and PL style maps is that they should favor the offense, otherwise it would be too easy for them to turtle their way to victory. Unless RED is just plain bad, BLU needs some coordination to win and I've seen so many BLU teams just flounder for the entire map time.

Also, you should keep an eye on TV3 and join us when we play on it. I'll be sure to spam you with invites next time we're running it. It's all 5CP so there are no offense/defense issues.

[MateoTheBold!]

Good to see you on the forums, Red!