[Multiplayer Suggestion] Filters/restrictions

[Azure_Kytia]

At present, when one tries to enter a game, they have no idea what they are in for. They may be placed in a group with three level 30 everything frames which sweeps everything before they have a chance to fire a bullet. They may feel the lack of punch that their level 15 un-potatoed boltor provides. You may wish to play with people at a similar equipment level.

Introducing two rather generic proposals for a rather generic substructure in multiplayer gaming. Filters and Restrictions.

Filters (Also known as the let-me-tell-you-what-it-is-I'm-searching-for system) are a common facet of multiplayer shenanigans. I have a few filters in mind that would have their uses within the WarFrame game.

Let's start with some simple ideas. For example,

- Filter groups by Average Mastery Ranking (Lowest/Highest/Yours)

This would be useful for a number of reasons. Late-game players could help out new players. Late game players could play with players of the highest available tier. Heck, you could even play with players around your average mastery ranking. There would be some skewing of player skill/play time with this, as we couldn't possibly know who's been levelling their stuff to 30 or just getting 20 different objects to level 5, but as a quick, rough-around-the-edges yet moderately accurate indicator of play-time/experience, it would work well enough.

- Filter groups by Average Equipment Level (0-9/10-19/20-30/30/Yours)

This filter would be appropriate for a few different groups of players. Players may feel that their weapons are too weak compared to their level 30 supercharged compatriots. Look no further (Well, you can if you want, I have a few other ideas) than this filter. This baby gives each player a level based on an average of their equipment rounded to the closest whole number. So a player with a level 25 Warframe, a level 20 Rifle, a level 23 Pistol and a level 15 Melee weapon would have an average level of 21.

(25 + 20 + 23 + 15) / 4

= 20.75 (Rounded to closest whole)

= 21

This particular function would be performed for each player in the group, then that itself would be averaged out, the result of which is what is compared with this filter itself. The weakness in this filter is that mod strength itself is not implicitly filtered, however I think that as the mod strength vs. levels issues are gradually filtered out, this will become a non-issue in and of itself.

- Filter groups by (Close/Lower/Higher) ranking

This one is rather non-essential and kinda potentially irrelevant, however allow players the ability to play with players of a similar Player Ranking to you.

- Filter groups by Restrictions (WarFrame ..., Rifle ..., Pistol ..., Melee ..., Mods ..., Level (0-9/10-19/20-30/30), Mastery Level)

This ties in with the second part of my proposal - Group Restrictions. When hosting an online match, players could specify the parameters or types of players that they wish to interact with. For example, players may decide that playing with Lokis just ain't no fun, so they can restrict players that only have a Loki from entering the game. As an alternative, reverse example, players could specify that they only want to play with one type of WarFrame. Maybe the host doesn't want to play with supercharged/non-supercharged players.

If a player tried to enter such a hosted game without an unrestricted WarFrame, they would be notified that they do not meet the requirements of the match, and cannot enter (Alternatively, the match just never exists to their eyes in the first place). If the player had a supercharged WarFrame and tried to enter a Non-Supercharged Restricted Match, the WarFrame's supercharged abilities could be temporarily nullified while the participate in that match.

Weapon Restrictions would follow a similar path. You could specify whether or not certain weapons are allowed, the levels at which weapons are allowed, as well as whether they have been supercharged or not.

Mod restrictions would follow a similar yet slightly different approach. Hosts could specify which mod types are restricted (e.g. Melee Damage, Puncture, Ammo Max, Freeze Damage) as well as a Mod's individual level. If a Mod is restricted, the mod would be transparent on the skill tree in much the same way as Mods with a higher level than the weapon appear in the inventory bar at the bottom of the screen.

Mastery and equipment level restrictions would work similarly to their filtering counterparts; The key difference between Filters and Restrictions in this proposal is that Filters are done on the Client's side; They are searching for games that fit the parameters they specify. Restrictions are imposed on the Host's side. They are specifying the players that can or cannot enter their hosted matches.

Bear in mind that in this long wall of text, The two proposals are similar yet do not need to be paired together. A player can search for matches that fit into his criteria, and the Host may not have specified any restrictions. Although players could come and go in unrestricted matches and change the average group level below/above a certain bracket, if the match ended the player could be moved into another group that still fits their criteria.

Whew. That was a long write-up.

TL;DR version 1.0:

- Implement the ability to Filter matches on the client's side, and allow hosts to impose Restrictions on their client players.

- Filters could include: (Mastery, Average Level, Restrictions, Ping, Connected Players, etc)

- Restrictions could include: (WarFrame/Rifle/Pistol/Melee Type/Level/Supercharge Status, Mastery Level, Average Level)

I thank you all for your time in reading this proposal. Good day to you all.

Edited February 16, 2013 by Azure_Kyte

[Kliko]

Nice idea.

+ Host ping filter.

[Arklight]

Agreed. Dedicated server is a must in any proper multiplayer PC game, but until that become a reality, multiplayer interaction needs some love.