Post by Gele on Sept 29, 2014 14:43:39 GMT 1
Posted by Philly on our old forum:
I feel that I have a successful room and wanted to share some hints and tips with you guys for creating a good, fun and popular room:
There are 3 types of room you can arrange:
I recommend when using caps that you let the top 2 be captains or let the players who are new to the room be caps. Start out the first 3-5 games with autos to give everyone a chance and then stick to caps. Only allow auto for new players who don't know the players and therefore don't know who would be best to pick.
- State the format of the room clearly in the Room Name (ie. Spaceball - 3v3 - Caps) so that people know what to expect when they join.
- Stick to that format! Don't start messing about and doing 4v4 or changing maps or something. It generally annoys most of the room and only pleases a few.
- Be fair to all players. Give everyone a chance even if they are new. Everyone has to start somewhere! Maybe give someone a few games and if they are really bad suggest they join a lower level room.
- Try not to use bans. Use warnings for behaviour first of all (ie. if they are racing or if they are using some bad language). Then, if it continues, kick them and state the reason. If they return and carry on doing the same then feel free to ban them. I rarely kick from my room and almost never ban!
- Choose team colours for your teams - having your own team colours will look interesting and allow people to easily identify your room (the standard colours are quite bland!).
- Be polite and friendly to everyone. As a host you should try and ensure you welcome anyone who comes to the room and speak to them whilst you're spec. It can be boring waiting for your turn so have some friendly chat/banter in between.
- Ensure that your connection is 'clean'. The only thing you should have open is the Haxball page. Anything else using the internet will cause lag or spikes for those playing.
- Set one backup admin who you trust to take over if you ever need to go away from your computer. Ensure you tell the room if you are going 'afk'.
- Let people know when there are just 3 games left. This way they can be arranging something else to do after and not just randomly seeing a closed screen.
- Do something different for the final game (ie. 4v4). This allows the players to have a more relaxed game to finish on and also indicates to any regular who enters the room that they have arrived at the final game and should probably look for another game.
- If you're ever unsure if a player is using someone elses user name, just ask them to send a message in the shoutbox on the forum to confirm they are the correct person. If the player cannot or refuses to do this then ban them as they are most likely impersonating somebody.
There are 3 types of room you can arrange:
- Auto - generally allows everyone to play and have a good time. Will usually keep noobs playing as they get a random chance to play. Will create uneven teams at times which is not fun for the losing team. The bonus is there is a very short wait in between games.
- Winner stays - I feel this is probably the worst of the three formats. It is good for the winning team to be rewarded by staying on however once a good team is created it can be hard for the room to get good players to beat them so the same players play again and again while others have to wait repeatedly.
- Caps - I feel that this is the best. It will generate a good quality room as only the best players are picked on a more consistent basis meaning the poorer players get fed up of waiting and leave. Eventually, you get to a stage where most of the room is just good players. Once the room is full of good players then you can mix it up with some autos from time to time. The downside can be the longer wait time between games however once the room is used to the format then this can generally be quick as well.
I recommend when using caps that you let the top 2 be captains or let the players who are new to the room be caps. Start out the first 3-5 games with autos to give everyone a chance and then stick to caps. Only allow auto for new players who don't know the players and therefore don't know who would be best to pick.