Bring back old lobby system
This is before my time - but I hear legends of days of lore when you’d actually have proper lobbies - basically open rooms and people just drop in until full. It was possible to meet new players and ...
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EA_Aljo
Community Manager
Community ManagerI definitely remember those days. And I know people seem to remember them fondly. Personally, I'm glad they're gone. They were full of toxicity and were heavily trolled. Especially when readying up. Someone sitting in the middle and not choosing a side, someone taking a D position because that's all that was left and then playing as forward. Or, choosing goalie because that's available when they've never played it before. There was a lot of frustration with the old lobby system. I think the nostalgia of NHL 14 gets in the way of the reality of how they actually performed.
The present is no better, toxicity and trolling are still rampant. You guys choose not to moderate the community. Lobbies will probably never come back OP, they claim they're "old technology".
- EA_Aljo
The present is no better, toxicity and trolling are still rampant. You guys choose not to moderate the community. Lobbies will probably never come back OP, they claim they're "old technology".
We're probably never going to have a toxicity and troll-free game. People will always find a way to ruin the experience of others. I think we need to do a better job of minimizing it though.
Having moderators sit in the lobbies to make sure people are behaving isn't really the best solution. We probably would need to severely limit what could be said in text messages as well as force people to choose a position. Which, is pretty much what we do now. Bringing the old lobbies back wouldn't suddenly make everything better.What exactly was the benefit of the old lobbies? Sure, you had more full 6s games, but were they worth it? I probably had worse games then than I do now when it comes to drop-ins. They were trolled worse than they are now. I've played more drop-ins in 25 than I have in years and most of the time, it's been fine. Yes, I know there are still those that troll. It's just far less now than it was 10 years ago. Again, that's my personal experience.
We're probably never going to have a toxicity and troll-free game
This is true. However, I think steps can be taken to mitigate the trolls and de-incentivize their desperate cries for the attention they lack in their daily lives.
One thing for certain that EA needs to implement is a player feedback system or in-game voting system. We need to be able to rate other players on their ability to play the game without being a disruptive loser; especially in drop-ins. Entice players to achieve positive ratings from other teammates & opponents by giving players a type of public badge that indicates a generally positive feedback rating.
I don't want to hear "this will be abused". We have to stop letting hypothetical troll behaviour dictate decision-making surrounding quality of life improvements. If someone is arbitrarily handing out negative feedback to undeserving players, this kind of pattern can be recognized by an intelligent feedback system. There are player feedback systems in place today that can differentiate between salty feedback (by way of assessing a player's previous feedback habits) and quality feedback (does the feedback fit the pattern of what the player typically gets), etc etc. Overwatch's Endorsement System, League of Legends' Honor System, Rainbow 6 Siege's Reputation System or DOTA 2's Commend/Report system are a few examples of how AAA titles today are following this idea.
Shadow Lobbies - use the above rating system to put recurring troll players into lobbies with like-minded folks. Let them troll each other all day long until they can achieve a positive player-rating which would allow them back into 'normal' lobbies.
Give players certain unlocks for positive play. Cosmetics, emotes - things only available to players that have a good standing on their feedback rating.
In-game prompts: I know EA tracks team play and I'm sure it can be improved upon for more tracking of good teamplay actions. So why not prompt users who seem to be playing against those interests in-game with a message indicating they could benefit from being a better teammate? And be specific too: going offside too much, possessing the puck for too long while teammates are uncontested and open for passes, taking too many penalties, etc.
In-game cool downs: for the most egregious players who insist on getting a failing teammate grade - have their player go to the bench and swap for an AI until the next whistle. Have an in-game message informing them they've been sent to 'cool down' for time to adjust their behaviour.
You don't even need a robust player rating system for the above - a simple majority vote by the entire team would suffice. And again - I don't buy the 'this would be abused' line. It would take quite a coordinated effort for 5 randoms in a drop-in game to work against a single player in the name of 'abuse' and to what end? I know that if someone PM'd me in the middle of a game to coherce a vote out of me against someone they want to troll, I'd likely end up voting for that antagonizer to get booted. I think we need to have more faith in the community for calling out these losers rather than not provide these kinds of tools out of fear of 'offending' someone.
What exactly was the benefit of the old lobbies?
There was necessary communication to coordinate positions, etc. This instilled a sense of team play right off the bat. You also had someone in control of the lobby who could weed out players they didn't feel fit that lobby's 'vibe'. As it stands now - communication isn't required and lobbies have zero sense of coordination or comradery which incentivizes troll behaviour.
they claim they're "old technology".
They're right about that. From my understanding, every Lobby created basically created a new session on a dedicated server. So you have thousands of players potentially creating hundreds of new lobbies that may or may not evolve into a full game. So you'd have server resources being dedicated to empty lobbies - potentially having a detrimental affect on current sessions.
The way I think it runs now is that EA sets a certain number of available sessions at one time on any given server, which eliminates the uncertainty about how many resources may be needed at any given moment. It gives the network engineers a little more breathing room and ability to plan out resource allocation.
Again - I could be wrong on this but I'm almost certain this is the case. I'm sure Aljo can correct me on that.
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