Autobalance: How Does it Work?

[Professor_Frink]

Maybe it is just my imagination, but I swear I get auto-balanced far more often than other players. Is there any way to get some stats on this from the server logs?

Here is how I think the auto-balance currently works:
1. Teams are imbalanced
2. Player from team with more people is "selected" for auto-balance
3. Upon death, that player is immediately moved to the other team

So it comes down to how that person is "selected" to be balanced. Is it just who last joined? (I don't think it is). Is it random? Is it just the next person to die? (I don't think it is, but I do die quite a bit, so who knows). Does anyone know for sure how people are selected?

I would suggest the following in selecting a player to be auto-balanced:
- Pick the player that last joined
- Don't pick an engineer or a medic. Ever.

I have seen many games turn completely around because a medic or an engineer was auto-balanced. It cripples a team.

[Zork Nemesis]

It's not a server-side command/option about who gets picked. It's based on scores. Autobalance attempts to even out the scores when choosing a player, and it favors players with 0 points because there's no score difference when it occurs.

[Supreveio]

Auto-balance doesn't really work. At all. At least, not in the middle of a round.

And it definitely is not the first to die. The game chooses a player to auto-balance and waits it out until they die so they can be auto-balanced. Even if the player in question is in a position where it would be incredibly difficult for him to die.

In addition, auto-balance won't trigger if there are less than 60 seconds on the round timer. It does not, however, check if the round would imminently end any other way, such as cap time on a final point. Leading into a problem where you could lead a charge into the enemy base, destroy all their sentries, kill a bunch of dudes, only to be backstabbed and immediately auto-balanced literally the second your old team captures the last point.

Other than that, it appears nobody knows exactly how auto-balance works. The Wiki page for auto-balance is a quarter of a page long and doesn't really describe anything other than how it works on a basic level.

[M's]

I have been auto'd as the only team engie, full nest and BAM headshot from a sniper. Moved to the other team. Lost my buildings and the other team I was moved to won the point I was just killed at.

[ADevilishPotato]

It is an enigma sometimes to be sure...

Now the real mystery is how the reserve slot decides who it kicks! Because it sure ain't the "latest" one to join...

[Gizanked]

magnets

[Professor_Frink]

Haha, I just led an uber to the point on offense and died right as I took out a sentry only to be auto'd to the other team seconds before they lost the point.

So it sounds like nobody really knows how it works!

[BlueInGreen]

On defense, I took the tunnel on Dustbowl level 1 held it almost to the end of the round only to die and be auto-balanced to the losing team. It seems to always work that way.

[The Domer]

The autobalance algorithm is self-aware, and it's very spiteful.

[Boss Llama]

So it sounds like nobody really knows how it works!

I think that's probably deliberate. I don't like getting balanced any more than anybody else, but I would guess it's meant so that people can't really figure out how it works, and therefore can't avoid it and force less-aware players to take the hit. I agree that medics and engies should never be subject to it, but it's better to have it as is than not have it at all.

[Plinko]

So it sounds like nobody really knows how it works!

I think that's probably deliberate. I don't like getting balanced any more than anybody else, but I would guess it's meant so that people can't really figure out how it works, and therefore can't avoid it and force less-aware players to take the hit. I agree that medics and engies should never be subject to it, but it's better to have it as is than not have it at all.

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[Guardian]

I think this video sums it up well at 1:12: