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 ...
Forum Discussion
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
Community Manager
Community ManagerThe 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.
- EA_Aljo
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.
I mentioned that before. I agree we could do more and I absolutely hope we do.
Like you mentioned, a system where they show a pattern of downvoting someone unfairly could be used against them. I also would like see us detect trolling better and then use that to score everyone. Matchmaking can look at this and only group them with other players that have a similar score. Like your shadow lobbies. They could also take an RP hit. Maybe not let you get above a certain rank without having a high enough player grade. Maybe even force them to use the on-ice trainer for off-sides and positioning.
I definitely like the idea of unlocks behind a reputation system. Maybe the crowd even boos you more and commentators mention something about your bad rep. You could be more likely to get in an auto-fight.
The grading system we have could be used for those prompts you mentioned as well.
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.
Sure, this would be great if you don't have someone blasting music over the lobby or just making some kind of noise. It's easy enough to mute those players of course, but that doesn't stop them from being a jerk about choosing a position. I think choosing a position before getting in the lobby is best. If you meet up with a team that you vibe with, you can easily enough group up with them and keep playing. I really don't see how the old lobby system is going to generate a better experience. We can agree to disagree here though.
So far, in my experience with trolls in 25 is that when most everyone is working well together and that one guy wants to ruin it for everyone, they tend to not last too long. They either get kicked for poor teamplay or get bored since we're doing all we can to not give them the puck and they quit. Regardless, I've seen a substantially smaller amount of trolls today versus 10 years ago.
I think we all can agree that the current system needs to improve. I'd absolutely love to see that happen. It's good for the community which is good for the game.
