[OmegaZero_Alpha]

Make it so you can't join the opposite team after being in spectate for less than 10 minutes.

[innovacious]

You don't get banned for joining spec. You get banned for switching teams (including spec) after getting balanced.

What about the situation where you are autobalanced, and pretty quickly, your team gets up to 16, where your old team is up to 15? I've actually had that happen a few times before and swapped back to my old team.

This, i dont really see whats wrong with switching back if the other team has less players and you didnt switch to spec to acheive it. I do it, and the vast majority of the time its because i enjoy the company of the team i was on. Pretty much anyone who has seen me play can tell you i dont really give a crap about winning or losing, so its not really stacking. But i guess the wants of one player dosnt stand up against all people who dont like stackers...

TBH, i dont really care about stackers. Kind of counter-intuitive to say "no, sorry, you guys cannot work as a team with your friends in this team game". Thats one of the few things that actually works with matchmaking style games, you can play as a team with friends. But lets not go into that right now.

[Hawkens85]

I'd like to voice a flaw I see in this system, considering what just happened with me in the server. While this banning to avoid stacking helps weed out those who would abuse the auto-balancing system, it fails with those who legitimately seek to create a balance due to the shortcomings of the auto-balanced system.

For instance, I joined the server, and auto assigned to a team that was losing. I don't mind joining a losing team, I enjoy the challenge and although I'm not a great player, I'd like to think I can create a little balance and at least be a little bit of a challenge to the other team.

After one round, I died and was automatically balanced to the winning team, which at this point, was winning very easily. Seeing that I really wasn't needed there to further roll the losing team, I joined spectator to try to go back and help even things out, and got kicked.

I want to be clear that I'm not angry, this isn't a "oh my god, you guys suck!" kind of post. I just wanted to let you know Drunken that this is a problem with the system that could possibly be rectified. Maybe the auto-balance detection system could look at variables such as which team is winning, how much they're winning by, etc. Let's say if Blue team is losing and has 16 players, but Red is rolling Blue with only 14 players. Is it really necessary to switch a potentially good player that Blue needs over to Red, where he would just be one more good player to continue the roll?

I agree that spectating to stack is a problem that can be fixed, but it could use a little bit of work. Hopefully I was able to help with a suggestion or two!

[Half-Duplex]

Hrm, I don't like the idea of a ban when switching teams. Sometimes I'll get a good run going with some friends/clan members/regulars. And in one death I'll get switched over to a team who doesn't communicate. And that's bull shit. It makes the game far less enjoyable.

Well, from now on if I get auto balanced to a shitty team. I just won't help them. I won't even try to.

[Kia]

While some good points are raised i think a lot of you are forgetting and missing something crucial.

The problem with specing and then forcing the game to auto balance is it effects OTHER PEOPLE. Somebody else is moved to another team due to yours or another person's actions. Even if your trying to "unstack" one team and help another your still making someone else join another team that might of just been as happy on the one they were originally on.

The same goes for if you like to play with friends or regulars. I have tons of regs on my friends list and plenty of people i like to play with who i end against. I don't auto balance the teams for the very reason said above.

Just stop doing it. Its really simple and not that hard to understand. Don't do it for your own benefits and don't do it for the "preconceived" benefits of the other team. Let the algorithm do its job. Maybe a few minor tweaks may be needed but in general the mechanic is DEFINITELY needed.

In the end its either a mechanic that DF puts in that does it, or its the admins that do. I promise you, you'd rather have an impartial set of code do it then me. I will not be as kind. I'm tired of having to deal with it and I'm tired of the often selfish attitude that accompanies it.

As an extra note: forcing people to wait in spec will just waste room. Most of the servers have a queue of people trying to get in and don't need people who are supposedly being punished taking up perfectly good spots.

[Drunken F00l]

I've changed it so that if a spot opens up on your original team, you can switch back. This is not on all servers yet, but it is coming. Switching to spec or reconnecting after being autobalanced will still be punished.

[Half-Duplex]

I've changed it so that if a spot opens up on your original team, you can switch back.

Much better. I'll usually switch if there is a spot that opens up. I rarely disconnect/retry to avoid it. Taking the +1 death against my 43624662:0 KDR doesn't phase me too much.

[glouch]

I've changed it so that if a spot opens up on your original team, you can switch back.

Much better. I'll usually switch if there is a spot that opens up. I rarely disconnect/retry to avoid it. Taking the +1 death against my 43624662:0 KDR doesn't phase me too much.

actually it cuts your kdr down from infinity to a value. Pretty big drop imo

[Squirrelygod]

Res slot players are going to find a way around it. Hell I already came up with one that you can't fix while sitting here and my head is killing me. Stacking is a problem and yes it effects everyone, but so does this.

You know how much bullshit it is when you get the last cap then get autoed when the next round starts? Is it my fault that I want to be on red when blu is full of loudmouth griefing assholes?

There are more reasons to want to get off a team than just to go stack.

[CueBee]

People are starting to preemptively join spec in order to avoid being balanced. Someone else gets balanced and then they rejoin their original team, penalty free.