Round Time Discussion

[Phoenix_]

In relation to what @TheZZL said here in a different thread:

  

On 5/28/2021 at 6:23 PM, TheZZL said:

This feels like we should open up a discussion on how the community likes the extended round times. Clouds itself can be a detriment and a benefit to the server at different times, so I encourage you all to express your thoughts on the map below while I coordinate with Jailbreak staff on the extended round times. It should also be noted, from our last Jailbreak Community Meeting, we floated the idea  of locking larger maps such as clouds to a player requirement so it doesn't kill the server sub 20. 

 

I am making this thread to be a home for discussion about the state of round times on the Jailbreak server. Please share your thoughts below on how you feel about the state of round times (some maps having 7 minute times and some being the classic 5 minute time) and how they should or shouldn't be changed in the future.

 

Everything following this will be my own opinion:

 

I think the state of round times should be returned to how it was for years and years since I first started playing. I think there are heavy benefits to keeping all the maps at 5 minutes long per round. It keeps the game exciting, fresh, and fast paced (for all of us ADHD heads out there :P) . While the argument of longer round times on larger maps so there can be a larger pool of games being played is a very valid argument, I feel like it just doesn't apply as heavily anymore. Love it or hate it, the server just doesn't hit the same pops that it used to. In the summer if we hit the 35-45 pop of days past on a daily basis, the argument for longer round times on larger maps makes a genuine return. But, with population peaking in the mid-high 20s now, I think a return to the 5 minute round time is the best way to retain even that population and build back up to the numbers of days past (hopefully). 

 

On top of this, I feel like the maps that give 7 minute rounds just kind of drag because CTs kind of give generally repetitive orders and that can lead to major boredom on large maps where it's just 2 minutes of 2 Ts hunting down 1 CT. 

 

I think the idea of a lockout of maps based on pop is an intriguing idea. There are clear ups and downs of it. Some ups include keeping smaller pops confined to smaller maps for quick and fun rounds and keeping the game fresh. But, some drawbacks include good maps from being played in the case x pop is never hit. Perhaps a workaround of this could be not allowing the maps to come up via normal vote but through admin nomination like on ZE? 

[oatmilk]

2 minutes ago, phoenix_ said:

I think there are heavy benefits to keeping all the maps at 5 minutes long per round. It keeps the game exciting, fresh, and fast paced (for all of us ADHD heads out there :P)...I think a return to the 5 minute round time is the best way to retain even that population and build back up to the numbers of days past (hopefully). 

I completely agree with this. I wasn't very active on JB at the time when the new round time system was established, so when I attempted to start being more active on the servers again I was very lost. I never really took the time to look into the rules on the forums (mainly because I prefer to just learn from experience) but I was super confused about the set time you were allowed to LR. Among other reasons, this is why I started to shy away from jailbreak again. 

[The Real Slim Jim]

7 hours ago, phoenix_ said:

In the summer if we hit the 35-45 pop of days past on a daily basis, the argument for longer round times on larger maps makes a genuine return. But, with population peaking in the mid-high 20s now, I think a return to the 5 minute round time is the best way to retain even that population

I was going into this thinking I wouldn't find anything to agree with you on, but this got me thinking. 

increasing the time based on server pop is a great idea that doesn't sound too hard to implement. You just need a plugin that updates the server by setting time limit per player.

 

7 hours ago, phoenix_ said:

I think the idea of a lockout of maps based on pop is an intriguing idea. There are clear ups and downs of it. Some ups include keeping smaller pops confined to smaller maps for quick and fun rounds and keeping the game fresh. But, some drawbacks include good maps from being played in the case x pop is never hit. Perhaps a workaround of this could be not allowing the maps to come up via normal vote but through admin nomination like on ZE? 

no. all 5 mins all playable without an admin present. you could limit the amount of times a large map is nominated/can be played again, like how we already have a wait time to repeat a  map. this way it takes 5 or 6 smaller maps before a large map can be played again. (clouds isnt a large map it would do fine from 5:00)

[lorax]

Huge fan of this idea, clouds being too long, and frankly boring CTs

[Bacon]

On 6/4/2021 at 11:32 AM, phoenix_ said:

While the argument of longer round times on larger maps so there can be a larger pool of games being played is a very valid argument, I feel like it just doesn't apply as heavily anymore. Love it or hate it, the server just doesn't hit the same pops that it used to. In the summer if we hit the 35-45 pop of days past on a daily basis, the argument for longer round times on larger maps makes a genuine return. But, with population peaking in the mid-high 20s now, I think a return to the 5 minute round time is the best way to retain even that population and build back up to the numbers of days past (hopefully). 

Phoenix pretty much hit this right on the dot. The server just isn't getting the pop it needs to have 7 minute round on these big maps. Most of the time when we do play these maps the rounds only last like 2 - 3 minutes anyway and a good chunk of that is because of the ct's playing. I also think that some maps are longer because you can do a lot more in a round than just run around and kill ct's. I always used to love to rebel and kill ct's immediately and still sometimes do but I also like to chill out and play some minigames or death games and not have to worry about the time running out. 

 

On 6/4/2021 at 11:32 AM, phoenix_ said:

On top of this, I feel like the maps that give 7 minute rounds just kind of drag because CTs kind of give generally repetitive orders and that can lead to major boredom on large maps where it's just 2 minutes of 2 Ts hunting down 1 CT. 

I 100% agree with this because a lot of the time that we are on bigger maps even maps like clouds where there is a lot to do but the ct's just send you to the same places every round. I think that if ct's were to send the t's to different places every round and not give roughly the same orders then we could potentially keep the 7 minute round times on these maps but I think in this current state it just doesn't work.

[Dom]

Applied recently in this changelog. Thanks for the suggestion @Phoenix_!