We are the problem with Dirty Bomb. It is our responsibility to make it better.

[CaliberJacob]

Today, I played a match that started out pretty imbalanced...I was the only level 25+ plus on the team against a team of primarily 35+. It was clear the match was going to be a stomp, so right as it began, I called the balance issue out over chat and initiated a vote shuffle. it ended about as well as you might expect: only a few "yes" votes" and enough "no" votes to cancel it even before the countdown had run it's course.

Other players on my team, sensing the same thing, also did what I did and initiated shuffles of their own. All were met with the same result, only it was clear the opposing team was getting annoyed and started chatting messages such as "omg quit ♥♥♥♥♥ing" and "dude, it's casual" and "people need to stop whining and play."

This is a scene I'm sure a lot of players have seen before. If one team is utterly demolishing the other, it will usually stay that way due to the immaturity and lack of sportsmanship on the winning side. This can apply to most FPS games on the market these days, but the biggest issue with this particular instance is that the players making these remarks were level 50 and above. LEVEL 50 AND ABOVE. Players who have poured so much time and energy into this game, who clearly possess the skill to help carry the course of a match, are the ones accusing the team they are stomping of "whining" and demanding they "stop crying or leave."

Because of what? A match that was clearly going to end in a one-sided cluster♥♥♥♥. And the fact that players saw this oncoming trainwreck and took steps to avoid it, only to see it shot down by pro users who just feel like crushing a noob team under their boot. (I won't name names, as that might be seen as witch-hunting, but I have the entire chat log in front of me and am using literal quotes to write this post.)

Now, I'm not accusing all players who fit this category of doing this. I've seen several players who are higher-leveled than the majority of the community initiate shuffles themselves or switch teams to help facilitate a more balanced contest. (Thank you so much for realizing when that's necessary and acting accordingly.) But they are extremely few and far between. You will more often than not see a merc with the aiming skills of a god who is controlled by an immature, unsportsmanlike individual who can't see that they are part of the problem.

Perhaps team balance, the game mechanic, is not the thing that's broken with this game. Maybe it's the community. We have a responsibility to the people who play this game to make it the most enjoyable experience we can for everybody involved, not just ourselves. This is a team game, not something that we can win or experience solo (I don't mean with friends, I mean with teammates). What does it say about this community if we have a whole group of level 30+ players beating the virtual ♥♥♥♥ out of noobs because they want to? Those new players won't feel like playing anymore! We have a responsibility to the entirety of Dirty Bomb's player base to take matters into our own hands and ensure that everybody can have fun. That's the whole purpose of video games to begin with: if you aren't having fun, then it isn't worth it to play.

If you feel the same, here are a few things I do to ensure that players on the opposite team don't end up getting stomped.

• Don't spawncamp. Sometimes, an attacking team doesn't understand how to push past the defenders to reach the objective. Sometimes that means the action goes back toward their spawn. Do not let it get there. And if your team partakes in the spawncamp and rapes the entire attacking team, stay back and out of the way and tell your team over your mic or through chat to back off.
  
  
• Don't incite chat arguments. Don't pick on somebody because they clearly can't kill you. Don't antagonize them because of their username. If you have a problem (unless they're CLEARLY hacking), then don't say anything at all. Not only does it encourage other players to join in, but it also means more people spend time typing and less time actually playing the game.
  
  
• Switch teams if they've got a slot open. Nothing's worse than being on a losing team and having one less teammate than they do. If you're winning against this kind of team, switch over and help drive them forward. Even if your aim isn't that good, sometimes just being that extra body is helpful.
  
  
• Don't switch teams if your team is losing. That's just abusing the system. If it's a 6v7 and your'e team is losing, but they have a slot open, switching is a cheap way to win, especially since you didn't earn it.
  
  
• Complaining in chat gets you nowhere. Reasoning might. If it's a stomp and you're on the losing side, sometimes pointing the balance issue out before initiating a vote shuffle will entourage other players to check the scoreboard to see the level or skill difference. Sometimes the best time to initiate the vote is when more than one other person acknowledges the inconsistency , meaning that you've got more people willing to try a shuffle and see if it works.
  
  
• "Play Dirty™ " doesn't refer to being an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Don't be a d*ck. Or an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. None of that makes the game fun for anybody except you.
  
  While this type of behavior is something that you see in multiple online games around the globe, with Dirty Bomb, we actually have more of a chance of turning this issue around for the good of the community. But only if everyone at least tries to play fair and use common sense when something about the match seems off.
  
  We owe this to DB players everywhere. Sportsmanship is key, regardless of if it's a casual match or not. Spread this message around.
  
  
  TL;DR? Dirty Bomb's balance issue, while caused by the less-than-adequte matchmaking system, is worsened ten-fold by the fact that highly-skilled players refuse to switch teams to balance the match out and then proceed to accuse the losing team of whining.
  We can encourage them to think outside of themselves and see the bigger picture: this is a game created for the enjoyment of all who play it, not just themselves. But if we don't at the very lest TRY to steer this community on that path, then there's no reason to play a game where it's stomp after stomp after stop. No game is worth that.

[RE:Deemer]

Thread pinned.

[Fahl Demonwing]

It was my dream to see a thread like this pinned

[Caucus Flow]

Imagine what it will be like once they implement pre-mades

[47.2gb ranni porn]

Originally posted by Caucus Flow:

Imagine what it will be like once they implement pre-mades

You clearly don't know how CMM will work, do you?

[HonourBound]

no tldr? :/ skipped

[CaliberJacob]

Originally posted by HonourBound:

no tldr? :/ skipped

You make a good point. I'll add one real fast.

[HonourBound]

even the bullet points at the end are long D:

[RE:Deemer]

Originally posted by CaliberJacob:

Originally posted by HonourBound:

no tldr? :/ skipped

You make a good point. I'll add one real fast.

Well written, OP. Be sure to go over your document for spelling/grammatical errors, just to keep it professional.

[Magia]

Why cant people have this mentality? You sir are a legend. Maybe if we had more people like you, Someone who wants to see change but instead of lashing out to the devs notices its the people. Thank you, just made my day

[anicca444]

whilst I agree with the points and we should strive to do so... it is definitely not our responsibility... SD have been neglecting good feedback from competitive (during the ranked/competitive hype period) and other good feedback since...

I love the game and love how they seem to interact with the community... but it seems to me that they're balancing for public, which will completely destroy all the potential the game has/had... balancing for competitive helps public too... of course, the map update / CMM (6-12months "ASAP") / season 2 should help... though I worry if it's too little too late to keep people coming back...

[StingerRPG]

Man, I never expected anyone would post on Reddit AND on this dead forum.
My comment still stands over at Reddit.

[RE:Deemer]

Originally posted by StingerRPG:

Man, I never expected anyone would post on Reddit AND on this dead forum.
My comment still stands over at Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dirtybomb/comments/5dbk94/we_are_the_problem_with_dirty_bomb_it_is_our/

It's a good comment, though.

[life is a simulation]

well if the devs take a look at this and make does change the balance issues

[CaliberJacob]

Originally posted by Magia:

Why cant people have this mentality? You sir are a legend. Maybe if we had more people like you, Someone who wants to see change but instead of lashing out to the devs notices its the people. Thank you, just made my day

I'm just pointing out something that I think a lot of people noticed but nobody truly took the time to articulate correctly. The comment is appreciated, though :D

Originally posted by t.tv/anicca444:

whilst I agree with the points and we should strive to do so... it is definitely not our responsibility... SD have been neglecting good feedback from competitive (during the ranked/competitive hype period) and other good feedback since...

I love the game and love how they seem to interact with the community... but it seems to me that they're balancing for public, which will completely destroy all the potential the game has/had... balancing for competitive helps public too... of course, the map update / CMM (6-12months "ASAP") / season 2 should help... though I worry if it's too little too late to keep people coming back...

I think you're right in some respects...SD and Nexon definetly did less than they could have to help fix the balance issues when they first became a real problem, and that what was gave players everywhere the mentality of "well, this is never getting fixed, so I see no more of a reason to care." It is partially their fault, but I think the community has done more to exacerbate the issue than do anything to fix it.

Originally posted by StingerRPG:

Man, I never expected anyone would post on Reddit AND on this dead forum.
My comment still stands over at Reddit.

A wise man once said "complain about something loudly enough and somebody will listen."
That was me. I made that saying. Thus the double post (lol jk)

Originally posted by your mom:

well if the devs take a look at this and make does change the balance issues

If the devs DO notice this, I hope they give an actual response rather than the horribly-scripted, vague bullcrap they have poor shoe. say in his dev videos.

[highwayman]

This is beautiful.

Originally posted by your mom:

well if the devs take a look at this and make does change the balance issues

It is supposed to talk to the players, not the devs.