I think they should put more maps in the team game map pool. There are just 9 maps and about 4 (arena, black forest, hill fort, lombardia) are kind of maps where everyone is locked in walls and it takes a long time to get things going.
For me, right now, the only maps that feel like playing the old aoe2 are Scandinavia and Arabia. Why don’t they put all the available maps in the pool?
Applause to everyone that doesn’t let a game decide what they have to play.
However an arabia only queue is not a good solution, because not only arabia players should have the right to full controll over maps. Remember there are whole communities formed around nomad, arena ect.
The obvious fix is an opt in map pool, where everyone can select their favorite maps. One or many, it doesn’t matter.
I’m tired of hearing these limited suggestions.
People that defend the current system because they enjoy it are suffering from;
Agree with others that Arabia and Scandinavia (also maybe lombardia) are only fun maps to play. First time i hear about the alt+f4 in this context, will start using it in the future. The number of bans is just way too limited, and I don’t want to play maps I don’t enjoy.
I have 3 children under 3 years old. I have a full time job. I have played this game for 20 years. I have enjoyed playing it at a competitive level over the last 6 to 7.
Many long time fans of this game are probably of similar demographic. They get maybe 5-10 games per week. That’s it. They have too little time to waste on maps they simply don’t enjoy playing. They have too little time to waste to search HD lobbies or deal with voobly support patchwork (still can’t get WK patch to work 11). We don’t have time for 12 hour streams of watching pros. Can’t afford 30 minutes of searching for a good game in the unranked DE lobby.
We simply want to play competitive games on the map that has stood the test of time at the competitive level for DECADES. ARABIA.
The irony is that by the time I finally get an arabia game, I get an opponent substantially weaker. This is a terribly relatable cycle for us silverbacks.
For our children’s sake, please just make an arabia-only ladder or allow unlimited bans.
Thanks for reading.
In the latest update released today they have reduced the map pool and kept the number of bans the same, so hopefully Arabia has a higher chance of showing up now.
I understand the people saying that they dont have the time to play a map they dont want to play, but also look at it from the other player’s perspective who also might not have the time to spend on the game, and once he finds a game he finds that his opponent or teammate has used Alt-F4 and left. I think reducing disruptive behavior overall can save time for more people.
Looks like the devs are responding given the latest update, so lets hope more Arabia happens organically.
Haha talk about lack of self-awareness. Its quite ironic that you would suggest the term egocentrism since its the exact term that should apply to people who ruin the game for others just because they dont like the map (I am talking about those who choose to Alt-F4). Its a blatant disregard for your teammates and opponents while valuing only your personal preferences. Hence, Egocentrism.
Nice assumption that players should accept whatever a dev team decides to do to their game, instead of the devs understanding the needs of an existing community. They simply had to maintain what was already possible in a game for 20 years…
Looks like the devs are responding given the latest update, so lets hope more Arabia happens organically.
Imagine using the term “organically” in regards to our current MM system, you’re kidding right?
If you support an organic system, vote opt in.
I understand the people saying that they dont have the time to play a map they dont want to play, but also look at it from the other player’s perspective who also might not have the time to spend on the game, and once he finds a game he finds that his opponent or teammate has used Alt-F4 and left.
You seem confused on the matter. Your argument doesn’t make any sense.
Alt-F4 is a new behavior since DE as a result of the current bad mm system. An opt in system would make it go away since people only play what they want.
I hope we can be open minded and think beyond the current system.
Honestly, being competitive means to be good on a selection of maps, not only one.
Using Alt-F4 is just a jerk move. If you just want to play Arabia, just create an unranked lobby.
Now we have it all, a SP player telling MP players what it means to be competitive! Total insanity.
Using Alt-F4 is just a jerk move.
Yeah they are total meanies! Always out to ruin your day.
Somehow you just ignore what I wrote above, that the current MM system caused this behavior by not respecting player preference.
If you just want to play Arabia, just create an unranked lobby.
Anyone that suggests the lobby is just showing how uninformed they are. The lobby only shows MM elo, so you can’t rank soley from there.
Also it relies on the idea that the most popular mode should be banished to a seperate place…
I do enjoy Arabia quite a lot but I have to agree to everybody saying it’s bland or boring. It is. It’s a very generic land map. To me the fun of AoE2 is in its more weird maps that are unpredictable. I’ve stopped following a lot of pro players in the past because they’d just stream generic maps and honestly it’s so boring. With such a variety of interesting maps in the game, people always tend to flock to the same arena/Arabia/black forest. There are so many other maps that are so much cooler and unique and people don’t even give them a chance because they really out there using alt+f4 like a spoiled kid who doesn’t want to play with some toys and would rather have a specific toy to play with. Not only is it boring it’s also disrespectful to the person you were matched with.
Also if you’re not playing anything other than the generic land maps, are you even really playing AoE2? might as well quit.
The matter is not being good or bad in a particular type of map, the matter is that people just don’t want to play that map. People are doing alt f4 not because they fear losing the game, but because they don’t enjoy playing that map. I think it would be much worse if the player waits for the game to start to quit.
In the interest of moving the discussion forward what I do suggest is that we have ranked lobbies. If devs want to keep their matchmaking system they can, but a ranked lobby system (like Voobly) would solve all these issues. I am frankly surprised the devs havent implemented this yet. And we must push them to do so.
which map, specifically, do you think is more cool and unique? I think arabia and arena are objectively the least repetitive maps in terms of viable strategies and random map generation. Only megarandom (which technically is a map pack) has less constraints, but most of the time, a very predictable map is generated.
The prior post brings up an interesting point. It seems we are all stuck with essentially a megarandom pool–MR, as decided by devs. Just give those players enjoying the DE status quo a MR MM queue and add a ranked lobby tab. Then when there’s freedom of choice will things happen organically, as they say.
Also, competitive means to play people at an equivalent level with a strong desire to win. A 400m sprinter is still “competitive” even if he doesn’t run the mile event.
Like I’ve pointed out many times on this forum, fixing ranked in a meaningful way will reduce people using alt-F4 in a positive way. Because I don’t alt-F4, I just don’t play anymore and won’t until there is some meaningful change, but I understand the people who still want to play even though they aren’t happy with the system.
Arabia only would be the end of the game… Don’t do it!
Current 1v1 map pool is fine now. Only “Golden Rush” is kinda bad.
I had no real time to post my extensive opinion about this subject. I think it wont matter even more. The devs announced some changes for the july patch. My suggestion is just what they just implement into the ranked queue.
I hope the cry for a 1v1 Arabia queue now will stop. I think the new system is great to have and more control about the maps you play, but still having variance in the maps you can play.
Imo there is no such thing as a bad map, there are only bad players. If you cant adapt to different types of maps why are you playing random map. Make your game and decide that it will be the map you want. Problem solved. One map only will take the fun out of this game rapidly.
Arabia was the standard on Voobly for years and the game didn’t die.
I agree that adapting is important, but in general closed maps such as Black Forest are not as fun and much less popular than open maps like Arabia. Also the new system isn’t Arabia only, if you want you can set another preferred map or ban Arabia if you hate it so much.
Dude. 4 out of 9 maps were bannable. Just ban them.