Team Switching

[Christopher]

Hello everyone,

I need to address something that's been accumulating in my reports lately -- team switching. There's a lot of players who like to play honestly, and thus stick to the teams they're originally assigned. Then there's players who care more about their statistics, who want to be on the winning team whenever they can. This in general (when we're not playing competitively or doing a match) is really based on personal preference and I will not have any say what individuals do for themselves. If there's someone who chooses to switch teams to the winning team, that's their own business and per what I said above, I have no say in that. What I do have say in, however, is when it affects someone else.

A lot of reports have come in where some of the admins have switched teams before the end of the round, to the winning team and not only are they switching themselves, but they're switching others as well. That, is where I have say and this is something that needs to stop. I those of you who want to win, but you need to understand that there's others who prefer to play their way, and stay with their fellow teammates. So if you choose to switch teams on your own, you may at your own peril, but do not switch your teammates with you unless they're wanting to as well.

The procedure on team switching in general is don't affect anyone else. As if you didn't have admin privileges, you would have to wait until the server either balanced out, or had extra people on your team in order for you to switch. If you cannot switch because the teams are either unbalanced or the server is full, DO NOT SWITCH TEAMS. Wait until the opportunity arises and do so then, should you still wish to do so.

To summarize this:

You may switch teams if:

• There are more players on your team than the other
  
• The server is not full, but balanced
  

You may NOT switch teams if:

• There are more players on the other team
  
• The server is full
  

In other words, if you have to move someone else or kick someone out ("involve" someone else), then do not do it. It's unfair to kick people for such reasons and likewise, it's unfair to move someone else to the losing team simply because you want to win. As I said, what you do with yourself is beyond my control. But what you do to others is within my control. If you switch teams and your previous teammate(s) get pissed off with you, then it's something you'll have to deal with -- I will not get involved in such circumstances.

If there are any questions or concerns regarding this, please let me know. This topic will remain pinned for at least a week so it's noticeable.

Thanks.

 

[raiderfo]

I think there should also be a rule for no team-switching if the game is about half-way over, unless you're switching to balance teams. The reasoning behind this is that if we're too lenient, people will continue to edge as close to rule-breaking as possible. Leniency is one of the main reasons Battlefield 3 has so many issues, with EA constantly slapping cheaters on the wrist and letting them go. The EA online security team says, "Oh well if they abuse clipping once in a while it's not that bad." or "If they abuse their collision maps to hide inside of objects one or twice per match it's not a big deal." I say no to that. Unfair play is unfair, that is that. You don't tell a criminal, "It's okay if you sell drugs one or two times today."

 

[Christopher]

That's a good point. If everyone agrees that there should be a rule against team-switching after half-way mark, then we can implement that rule. It's a good rule to implement, but the question is, how many people will 1). Follow it and 2). Agree to it.

 

[raiderfo]

More than likely, very few people will follow the rule. Most of the people who follow the rule will be people who never bother switching teams in the first place. So it's likely that the people who are switching at the end of the match so they won't have another loss on their record will continue to do so. I honestly don't see the motivation behind that, as it's basically a different form of stat-padding. If they lose, then they lose. If they want more victories on their record, they should step up their game and play the objective.

 

[Christopher]

It is a form of stat-padding in a way. But what some people say is that it's not always their fault for losing --- that the team players weren't playing as a team. And to be frank, I can understand where they're coming from. I can't tell you how many times the enemy will take all the flags on Metro and what does everyone on our team do? Everyone gives up and starts sniping from the base. Maybe one player (other than myself) actually tries to bypass the crowd and get to the other side of the map.

 

[raiderfo]

I've had plenty of losses due to incompetent teammates, but I don't switch to the other team because of it. I don't really mind getting another loss on my record as long as I did a good job. If I was in a war, and the faction I support was losing, I can't just say, "Alright, I'm gonna go fight for the other guys since you guys suck." otherwise I'd be labeled a coward and a traitor. That's usually how I view the team-switching because of bad teammates scenario. Also, if people don't want to deal with dumb teammates, I would suggest they don't play Conquest, since that's where the majority of bad teammates seem to be. I can't play Conquest without getting a squad of three recon players, so I don't bother with it. TDM is pretty much the only thing I play now, unless the match-making system decides to put me in a game-type I didn't ask for. 

 

[Christopher]

You have a good point there.

Conquest must be where all the idiots are because your squad description nearly matches my luck most of the time I get into a squad. I should probably play TDM more often. Of course my computer lags like shit so I wind up going 12/45 in a 1000 Ticket TDM on Noshahar Canals.