"Do not stack by clan or ability"

[LadeeeDuke]

In my experience 2 players doesn't constitute a team stack. It constitutes two friends wanting to play together. Sure, they may be vastly better than anyone else on the server but it's hard to say, "No. You can't play with your friend. You guys are too good."

I've felt this way for a while. But then you get two players who are just good at reading each other's moves and it can be devastating to the other teams sometimes. Spam and I were very good as a heavy and medic, but one of us would definitely join the other team if we saw that the teams were unbalanced and put that over us playing as a team. I often will play on whatever team that my kiddos join just to keep tabs on them and what they are hearing/saying. It that case, it's primarily to make sure they aren't being a deficit to the team and to compensate their skill level. I would hope that whoever joined routinely to play with their friends would be mindful of team balance, but I don't think stacking a team really is just 2 players always on the same team, in general.

[Maple Man]

It'll be pretty tough getting the right balance of teams. Since this is Team Fort 2, it's a team game, and I have yet to see a guy 1v12 a team with meat shields.
As for the rules, it's only illegal is you get caught sadly.

[Boss Llama]

As for the rules, it's only illegal is you get caught sadly.

No, it's always against the rules. It's only punished if it's caught. The great thing about The Ville is that most of our regulars respect the rules and don't need the threat of punishment to get them to follow them.

[cam]

If pocketing your buddy counts as team stacking then lock me in Ville Federal Pound-You-In-The-Notfinishingthis Prison.

[Guardian]

Yep pocketing and healing a friend definitely unbalances the team, how's the other team other team going to compete when they don't even have a medic

On a serious note, again it's situational. Working with a friend to make a fun Heavy-medic combo when your both learning the game is a lot different then if your a MLG pocket soldier backed up by your MLG medic and Demo buddies blowing up everyone who comes near you.

Also if there are enough regulars on a server they can balance the team by switching teams anyways. I remember on the old customs server, a clan stacking was more of a challenge to the regulars then a problem because we could move more of us to the opposite team to even things out.

[Snidely Whiplash]

Some people will remember there used to be a dominant heavy on TV vi who ALWAYS had a pocket medic. This was good for the server in that it encouraged other skilled players to hang around more.

[YoullNeverWalkAlone]

Some people will remember there used to be a dominant heavy on TV vi who ALWAYS had a pocket medic. This was good for the server in that it encouraged other skilled players to hang around more.

Sure do, but I didn't ALWAYS have a pocket.

I'm terrible heavy, 3/4ths of my heavy minutes are mvm I think. Trackpad heavy=bad heavy






Team stacking is sometimes hard to spot. However, I can't stand folks who go to spec to circumvent the autobalance. I have had little patience for people when I see that, and have no problem returning them to the proper team.

[Cat Square]

it's not playing with friends or pocketing or stiff competition i have a problem with.

what gets my goat is when players cannot tolerate loss and are only interested in playing with one another, when players consistently join and leave together, and always spec/change back when theyre auto'd. i dont like to see good players banding together to pound less-good players.

see, i think the best possible game (it can be any game from weichi to tf2) is as close to a tie as possible, where every player has a role and all are engaged. 2 players locked into their own little world only interested in pub stomping is the antithesis of this "best possible game", and therefore it makes me sad/mad/not-glad.

it's specific players im talking about here, and theyve been doing this for months and months.

[v3xin87]

I think I can think up a few of the players (I assume they're regulars) Cat Square is talking about and personally I love switching over to the other team and making taking them out (especially the medic) my top priority. Many negative KDs have resulted from this, but it's worth it when one of them rage class switches or, better yet, rage quits altogether. If I do find myself on the same team and I cant switch then I usually just fool around with demo knight or something until there is an opening.

Those type of players do annoy/frustrate me, but for the most part the situations haven't been so bad where its insurmountable so I don't think punishment is really necessary.

[MateoTheBold!]

it's not playing with friends or pocketing or stiff competition i have a problem with.

what gets my goat is when players cannot tolerate loss and are only interested in playing with one another, when players consistently join and leave together, and always spec/change back when theyre auto'd. i dont like to see good players banding together to pound less-good players.

see, i think the best possible game (it can be any game from weichi to tf2) is as close to a tie as possible, where every player has a role and all are engaged. 2 players locked into their own little world only interested in pub stomping is the antithesis of this "best possible game", and therefore it makes me sad/mad/not-glad.

it's specific players im talking about here, and theyve been doing this for months and months.

Please call in an admin when you see this behavior, or if its too late an no one is on, just start recording demos when you see them join, and post them for us (admins).

[Cat Square]

unfortunately, i think v3x's solution is the only one for this problem: frag em.

i consider it a win for the trolls if i have to expend significant effort to counter them, so i'd hesitate to bother an admin about this.

[ADevilishPotato]

unfortunately, i think v3x's solution is the only one for this problem: frag em.

i consider it a win for the trolls if i have to expend significant effort to counter them, so i'd hesitate to bother an admin about this.

not if they no longer come back ! And I love making demo's, so you can call me in and I'll do it for you

[somedude]

As for the rules, it's only illegal is you get caught sadly.

No, it's always against the rules. It's only punished if it's caught. The great thing about The Ville is that most of our regulars respect the rules and don't need the threat of punishment to get them to follow them.

Actually at times the "regulars" can be a problem and a stack unto themselves. Just speaking from my observations on TV8, 9 out of 10 times the team with the greatest number of regulars wins, and the rate at which the win (or the beat down) comes is exasperated as the ratio of regs to non-regs grows. Some folks switch around and try to even things out, but unfortunately that is not the norm and many will just happily keep rolling right on through round after round... and then wonder why the server cleared out

[ADevilishPotato]

As for the rules, it's only illegal is you get caught sadly.

No, it's always against the rules. It's only punished if it's caught. The great thing about The Ville is that most of our regulars respect the rules and don't need the threat of punishment to get them to follow them.

Actually at times the "regulars" can be a problem and a stack unto themselves. Just speaking from my observations on TV8, 9 out of 10 times the team with the greatest number of regulars wins, and the rate at which the win (or the beat down) comes is exasperated as the ratio of regs to non-regs grows. Some folks switch around and try to even things out, but unfortunately that is not the norm and many will just happily keep rolling right on through round after round... and then wonder why the server cleared out

Which is why I try to playfully give reg's a hard time about it if I see it. But as it has been brought up before, it isn't just a one dimensional problem. Usually several issues, first being class loadouts followed by communication. If both of those are fine but I see a bunch of good regs on the other side I try to bring it up to em either publicly or over steam (or if it is the other side I'll ask them if everything is okay over there to see if it is our side).