Wild, Wild Server #2

[Snooki]

Server#2 at night is pretty awful. Here a half of a team can rush and not really a thing can be done aside from running to an admin for multiple bans. Why aren't there any admins on at that time? I see alot of admin friends online, not in game, not busy or the like who could supervise if they wanted to. Taking into account they don't want to play at the time, it just feels like a bother to ask an admin to stop what they are doing, get in the game and then kick and ban multiple people.

[Flitterkill]

Welcome to the forums. Feel free to give a yell to admins elsewhere; if they can spare a moment they can help easily enough.

 

With the success of #2 we're a little spread thin on admins right now unfortunately.

[PeanutButterNJelly]

We have been adding admins who are experienced L4D2 players, and we are still reviewing more applications. You are right that the 2nd server can get wild. Most of the members and regulars tend to go on server #1, where they can play with/against each other and have less to worry about with newer players that do not understand or care about the rules. I try to go on then 2nd server when I can and I always end up with 4 or 5 bans fairly quickly. When we have multiple admins playing, we are trying to make sure at least one of us is on each server or checking them both.

 

As far as your concern over bothering admins, no one should feel bad about asking their help. Anyone that has volunteered to be an admin has accepted that responsibility. Bother us as often as needed.

 

Also, everyone should remember, the !votekick option is available for members, if there is no admin present on the server. I know this can fail sometimes, if you are outnumbered by rushers, etc, but don't forget to try that.

[chick82]

I've had a few members tell me that they have used !votekick when admins aren't on for people rushing. So that's good for people to know, and good to know members are using it for good.

 

That aside, never feel bad about asking admins for help. We don't mind popping over.

[Elvis]

I can usuallly scare them straight with me Maestro Impersonation. JK (impersonation is the most sincere form of flattery)

 

Thanks for enabling !votekick. Usefull with true griefers.

[JackieChan]

I thought it was imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.

[BlackYoshi]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, impersonation is the sincerest form of identity theft. Lol

[Sky]

I am going to release a dependency-free version of the rushing guard plugin that I wrote. It simply teleports (based on config) players who are too far from their team and fully configurable. If used on the server, it should greatly help with the rushing issues.

[RadioKnight]

I am going to release a dependency-free version of the rushing guard plugin that I wrote. It simply teleports (based on config) players who are too far from their team and fully configurable. If used on the server, it should greatly help with the rushing issues.

 

 

Yeah, we went over an idea like this before. Seems like a bit too much brute force to fix the issue. Forcing people to do something generally ends up with resentment and annoyance from players. Admins already have access to a teleport/anti rush command but its rarely used.

 

Thing is, even with 100 admins there are going to be times there arent any on and people are going to misbehave. If someone is consistently being a nuisance, take a screenshot, record a demo, and post it here so we can review it and take appropriate action.

[Sky]

True, but the general precipice of a rush guard plugin is to simply teleport players back if they push too far ahead of their team; configurable to a number of players who must be human (and alive) for it to be active. The idea is it's really only there so players don't have to interrupt their play and hope they can find an admin to take care of the problem.

 

I'm still going to produce a stand-alone version of my plugin that does it, but until then, if Jackie or Crasx wants to play around with the existing version, I've modified the config files so that the main plugin (readyup) does nothing other than fire its natives and forwards when a module (like rush guard) calls them. It's there in case they want a temporary solution, or to fiddle with it and find a solution that they like.

 

Req: https://github.com/ConfoglTeam/l4d2_direct

 

Ex:

 

"infraction limit?" "3" // Punishment will occur when a player has accrued this many infractions

"survivors required?" "4" // How many survivors must be alive for infractions and teleportation to be allowed.

"ignore incapacitated?" "0" // Do we ignore players who are incapacitated?

"ignore stragglers?" "0" // Do we teleport players forward, who fall behind?

"ignore, kill, or kick?" "1" // Do we ignore (0), kill (1), or kick (2) players who have reached the infraction limit?

"c1m1_streets"

{

"distance_notice" "0.1"

"distance_warning" "0.15"

"distance_ignore" "0.16"

}

RushGuard.zip

Edited April 20, 2014 by Sky

[MurderinClony]

I agree with night, its too much brute force.

I've seen this on other servers before, and it aggravates me when servers have it.

All a player has to do is retreat to the starting saferoom and people in the front will be warned and teleported back to the furthest back guy, and since survivors can't rope other survivors and bring them along, if someone decided to stay in the saferoom, its a done game, if admins are not on that is.

Same thing can happen in the front, If you are not rushing but are blocking spawns and one of your teammates actually decides to rush, it will teleport you along with them back when you weren't doing anything wrong.

And what about the points where the team feels it's a strategic rush and the plugin knows no better and forces you back right into the lion's den eh?

What if a jockey pulls a survivor so far forward the plugin told him not to rush and teleported him back. That is a strategic position an infected put him into, and the plugin to prevent rushing will initially save the survivors from losing a teammate and may allow them to win the game.

What if infected kept chain charging players back, which happens so much in Sacrifice map 2, and the front survivors get told not to rush, and get teleported back to the player being chain charged or brought back in general. It was not their fault they got pulled back, and they did nothing wrong; only a human would know this.

To me, this plugin has too many faults, no matter how you code it. It has to think like a human in order to know if someone is rushing for situations like those I have previously stated, and that is also why I prefer admins over this plugin to take care of business.

We may have faults as humans, but we would do a better job than this plugin could and with that thought, save the person writing the plugin the trouble of making it so sophisticated.

[Sky]

Murder,

 

the version I wrote doesn't work like that. There is an option to ignore stragglers, or players who decide to straggle, i.e. "sit in the saferoom" here: "ignore stragglers?" "0" // Do we teleport players forward, who fall behind?

However, the way it functions is by considering the total distance of all of the players, to prevent the plugin from punishing the team if a single player goes backwards. However, if the majority of the team runs back and a few players remain forward and don't return, they would be teleported if the distance traveled backwards is significant, but it does take into consideration total distance already traveled to acknowledge players who may be further ahead, but aren't ahead of the last known team average.

 

The plugin does take into consideration every point you've made in your post. The better wording you should use is most plugins instead of specifically saying "this" plugin.

I myself have seen numerous anti rush plugins that punish players based entirely on distance, but that's why a weighted system that takes into consideration every scenario that I could think of was developed. You shouldn't outright dismiss something just because it performs a similar base functionality as something that you've had poor experiences with. The goal isn't to get them to throw it on the server, but to possibly look into it and see if there's something they can use when perhaps admins are sleeping or unavailable to perform a soft protection on the server.

 

I didn't make a demand for it to be used. Instead, I offered it as a potential solution to the out of control rushing that has been constantly reported since I joined the community. Plugins aren't perfect - but neither are admins.

[Elvis]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, impersonation is the sincerest form of identity theft. Lol

I stolt it!

 

I sure hope that if someone ever steals my identity they do a better job with it than I did.

[Sky]

I liked how the guy who stole 900 SIN numbers during heartbleed didn't even do anything with them. I mean, come on...

[MurderinClony]

Sky,

 

Well then, kudos to you for thinking of them all, and even more kudos if they are working flawlessly

I guess I shouldn't have said "this plugin." What I should have said was "this kind of plugin."

I just don't like the idea of being forced back.

And yes, all of those I stated have happened to me on a server, but not just once or twice, so my general consensus would be in disagreement, unless proven otherwise.

Didn't mean to try and make your plugin look like crap, I was simply stating my opinion on the matter. If I did do such a thing then allow me to apologize, because I'm sure plugins aren't easy things to make.

[PeanutButterNJelly]

I don't think its such a bad idea to put in something to automatically teleport people back, if it would work only when admins are not on (like the votekick), and if it could differentiate the scenarios posed above.

 

I did have someone mention the other day, why we don't just teleport people back when they rush, and then freeze them and explain what they are doing wrong. When people rush, and an admin is on, we normally warn them to return before taking action. If they listen and understand, they return and there is no problem (so no reason to teleport, etc). Sometimes, if they don't listen and as soon as one person is banned for it, you will see the others suddenly start listening and returning. The big problem is with the people that refuse to listen or maybe do not understand English, etc. Teleporting them back doesn't solve the problem, because they just continue rushing. They also will do it again when an admin is not on. Banning them is the only real fix for it.

[BlackYoshi]

I don't think its such a bad idea to put in something to automatically teleport people back, if it would work only when admins are not on (like the votekick), and if it could differentiate the scenarios posed above.

 

I did have someone mention the other day, why we don't just teleport people back when they rush, and then freeze them and explain what they are doing wrong. When people rush, and an admin is on, we normally warn them to return before taking action. If they listen and understand, they return and there is no problem (so no reason to teleport, etc). Sometimes, if they don't listen and as soon as one person is banned for it, you will see the others suddenly start listening and returning. The big problem is with the people that refuse to listen or maybe do not understand English, etc. Teleporting them back doesn't solve the problem, because they just continue rushing. They also will do it again when an admin is not on. Banning them is the only real fix for it.

This and teleporting players back and then attempting to set them straight can be a long process. It would probably mean the admin would have to go AFK handle the situation and then rejoin the game. Having to go AFK then rejoin as an admin can also affect the game play even more than the rusher originally did. If the player is rushing its easier to kick/ban, continue with the game, and deal with the unban later on the forums. This way it has the least negative impact on the game.

Edited April 21, 2014 by BlackYoshi

[Limi]

I wouldn't mind something in private chat to admins that it thinks someone is rushing but it itself take no action. Half the time I can't get the player name from my UI alone, I have to ask the team who it is, especially if I'm boomed or on the opposite team.

[VladPiranha]

Virtually any team will help with identifying troublemakers, so that's encouraging.

[Sky]

Generally, the plugin I wrote handles *most* situations well. Each map has a different length to it, so it takes some experimenting with the distance settings in each config file, so it's trial and error, but for the base maps, I've set base distances.

The plugin supports translations, which means you can add support for as many languages as you feel like adding. When a player moves a certain distance ahead of the teams average (again, the average is weighted differently based on settings) it will notify them that they're rushing and that they will be punished (or teleported) if they don't return to their team. I've been thinking about adding an auditory notification to compliment the message that is displayed to the player.

 

If you try it and anything doesn't seem to work, let me know and I'll patch it in.

I do run a development server that is unlisted where players can try out development versions of mods and plugins that I write, as well. It's helpful with finding out what features people would like to see, and debugging.

 

 

Also, these are the following messages that display based on criteria, currently.

 

"Phrases"
{
"Lagging Behind"
{
"#format" "{1:s},{2:s},{3:s}"
"en" "{1}Please {2}stay within an acceptable range {3}of your team."
}
"Rushing Warning"
{
"#format" "{1:s},{2:s}"
"en" "{1}Please {2}return to your team"
}
"Rushing Notice"
{
"#format" "{1:s},{2:s},{3:s},{4:s},{5:s},{6:i},{7:i}"
"en" "{1}Rushing {2}is against the server rules. {3}{6} {4}/ {5}{7}"
}
"Rushing Violation"
{
"#format" "{1:s},{2:s},{3:s},{4:s}"
"en" "{1}{4} {2}was punished {3}for rushing."
}
}

[emceeFrisson]

I am going to release a dependency-free version of the rushing guard plugin that I wrote. It simply teleports (based on config) players who are too far from their team and fully configurable. If used on the server, it should greatly help with the rushing issues.

 

Though this sounds good, it'd be highly exploitable.

 

Maps are set up so that as the survivors make their way through, they come across T2 or T3 weaponry. If I wanted to save my team in a more efficient manner, a team that's struggling to escape the spawn, say, then I'd simply sprint ahead, grab a T2 or T3 weapon, and wait for the plugin to teleport me back to my team with my new weapon in hand. I wouldn't even have to hazard the spawning special infected on the way back. The same goes for grenades and explodables.

 

If the plugin were to strip the player of his weaponry and medkit while teleporting them back, then it'd be a bit more balanced. Just a thought.

[VladPiranha]

Why not just utilize the script to issue an automatic warning to potential rushers? The admins have to do it manually when there's trouble and they don't always see them right away. At least then, when no admins are present, there would still be a very clear set of rules in place. It would also mean that starting a votekick to throw them out would be much more justifiable after a server message in addition to spoken warnings from the team.