Server balance

[SJ_Butcher]

I don't know if this is the right place to put it, but since I think this is related to the server client I think is the right place.

Have you noticed guys that it's impossible to play this game online with the constant imbalance of players in both teams? The other day I was logged in WOL server and from 80 players 50 were blue and 30 red... This should not happen, in battlefield for example there is a difference of 5 Max, if that's true you can't join to the team with more players.... we need a system like that, is not fun to face this situation and encourage me to just disconect from server and go to play other game, sure you have more targets and all, but it's not fun to face superior planes and even superior number... Please address this devs

Edited January 15, 2018 by SJ_Butcher

[coconut]

There is a system like that already. It’s up to server owners to configure it and use it

[Finkeren]

There IS a system like that. It all depends on server settings. If there is an imbalance you won’t be able to spawn for one of the sides until balance has been restored. It’s like that on the official servers and many others.

[SJ_Butcher]

Ohh nice, I thought this was not posible, so WOL admins dont know how to adress that....

[FTC_Etherlight]

From what I've seen such an option is already implemented, unfortunately it is just not used on a lot of the populated servers right now. People get rather prickly with this issue, since there are quite a lot of them who will only fly a certain side/certain planes for varying reasons. Some reasonable, others rather funny or even creepy. ^^ I also don't agree that the individuals preference should take priority over the overall gameplay experience on the server, but well...It is like it is. It's an issue that has been discussed over and over and the majority vote seems to be that 2:1 and higher team ratios are acceptable. If you want that changed you have to petition the server owners on the servers you like to see it implemented. Coconut's server already uses it IIRC.

 

Edit: Damn, you guys are fast. ^^

Edited January 15, 2018 by JG4_Etherlight

[SJ_Butcher]

I like to fly german planes to death, I have more than 12123123131231 hours in the old il-2 flying focke wulf, but this situation forced me to just drop the online game or try to fly russian planes, but red side don't have any superior aircraft, I hope with the LA5FN the situation change

[Lensman]

I like the multi-player experience very much, getting a kill is a hundred times more satisfying than in single player but trying to fight off a swarm of 15(ish) other players all at once is no fun and happens all the time.

[LLv34_Temuri]

There is a system like that already. It’s up to server owners to configure it and use it

The system is quite lacking though

[SJ_Butcher]

should be enabled by default

[Tomsk]

I like to fly german planes to death, I have more than 12123123131231 hours in the old il-2 flying focke wulf, but this situation forced me to just drop the online game or try to fly russian planes, but red side don't have any superior aircraft, I hope with the LA5FN the situation change

 

As someone who loves the FW 190 I also find it a little frustrating sometimes, one of the main reasons I've been doing a lot of SP recently. I've tried some of the Russian aircraft but they just don't "click" for me, I like my boom-and-zoomers. Looking forward to Bodenplatte as I'll have choices on both sides (FW190 A8 & D9 vs P-51, P-47 & P-38)

 

Note: it's also worth noting this topic has been discussed quite extensively in the past, including the fact that this is just a server setting. A quick search for "balance" found these:

 

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/29516-unbalanced-servers/

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/30268-do-we-need-autobalancing

Edited January 15, 2018 by Tomsk

[Ribbon]

I'm always RED on WoL!

Nothing better than shoot down enemy which is in far superior fighter and in greater numbers.

Funny thing axis lose most of the time, either by objectives or aircraft loss.

[56RAF_Roblex]

 

 

this situation forced me to just drop the online game or try to fly russian planes, but red side don't have any superior aircraft

 

There we see the difference between 'LW Only' pilots and  'VVS Only' pilots        I will admit I have a preference for VVS when I am in a particular server where one side is trying to win the whole map over several days but even then I am willing to fly LW when they are backed into a corner and all their usual pilots are refusing to fight because it is harder now 

[Dutchvdm]

Although i understand the balance feature, there is absolutely no way this can be compared to battlefield. In my experience in BF the only difference is the side of the map you start and the objectives you play. Everything else is very generic and 100 % the same. In Il-2 there the differences are quite big. Switching sides means learning new aircraft and weapons. Someone might not always want to do this at that given time. I think a balance system is perfect for single mission and dogfight servers, but for a RE+ or TAW campaign a lot of people might not want to switch during a campaign. 

 

Grt M 

[=FSB=Man-Yac]

I'm always RED on WoL!s

Nothing better than shoot down enemy which is in far superior fighter and in greater numbers.

Funny thing axis lose most of the time, either by objectives or aircraft loss.

I fly both side, I usually join the side with less players and that statement regarding the quality of the aircraft is kinda wrong. 109s are quite fragile and if you have more energy than them you will usually end up on top ( depends in pilot skills), also the control stiffening makes it hard to bounce player that are aware of their surroundings, you can reduce gas to follow their turn but its very dangerous. I think both sides have advantages and weaknesses and overall its quite a fair game. 

[KG200_Volker]

Anyone knows the correct setup for CBALANCER.CFG ?

 

I want to set it so only half of players in server can be VVS or OKL.

 

I have set it up like this but I don't know if its working since the server never filled up.

 

 

[Planes]
MinActivePlayers = 25
PowerDiff = 2.0
PowerRatio = 1.25


script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/LaGG3s29.txt", 0.6
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Yak1s69.txt", 0.8
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Yak1s127.txt", 0.8
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/La5s8.txt", 0.9
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Il2m42.txt", 1.2
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Pe2s87.txt", 1.4
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109F4.txt", 1.0
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109G2.txt", 0.9
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109G4.txt", 0.9
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Fw190A3.txt", 0.9
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Ju87D3.txt", 1.0
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/He111H6.txt", 1.6

script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/I16t24.txt", 0.5
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/MiG3s24.txt", 0.7
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/P40E1.txt", 0.7
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Il2m41.txt", 1.2
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Pe2s35.txt", 1.4
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109E7.txt", 0.7
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109F2.txt", 0.8
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/MC202s8.txt", 0.7
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf110E2.txt", 1.1
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Ju88A4.txt", 1.5
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Ju523mg4e.txt", 1.0
[end]


// lock coalitions, that matches
for ( char c = (C_NEUTRAL+1); c <= C_LAST_COALITION; ++c )
if ( activePlayers[ c ] > m_iMinActivePlayers )
lockedCoalitions[c] = true;
// MinActivePlayers - minimal amount of aircraft and tank players in a coalition for spawn lock to occur
// PowerDiff - absolute difference between my coalition and minimal power coalition for spawn lock for my coalition to occur
// PowerRatio - ratio between two coalition powers for spawn lock for my coalition to occur
// Power of a coalition is a sum of all aircraft and tanks coefficients active at any given moment

 

 

The only thing I changed is the minactiveplayers to 25 and removed the double slashes from the lines in italic.

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

For our server, the "Finnish VirtualPilots - Dynamic War", the system isn't enabled because it limits player choices and the ways they want to play the game. As already said, some people, and whole squads, are dedicated to flying only one side. Or even when they aren't, squads mostly want to fly on the same side. The autobalancer would basically deny them to play when the whole squad enters the server. And we see every day many squads with 5+ players each playing on our server. This also applies to the squad I'm in also. We won't willfully limit our way of playing the game on our own server.

 

Also, the scenario running on our server isn't your typical 2h one off mission. It runs 24/7, and weeks in one go. The fastest we have seen a victory occur, has taken several days. So, momentary inbalance on one side or the other has no meaning on the whole mission. And for me personally, when there is an overwhelming amount of adversaries, I call it a "target rich enviroment" .. One just has to change tactics, mostly defend, but when the balance changes, then adjust tactics again for the offensive.

[SYN_Mike77]

This past Sunday me and a handfull of my Syndicate mates jumped into the Finish server expecting to fly for the Soviet side as usual. We were stunned to find that the Germans were outnumbered 2 to 1! Then we discovered why. The Soviets had nearly won the map and no fighters were available for the Germans. We gamely tried to fly in the resupply and repair aircraft to the lone remaining air base. It was quite satisfying to even dodge through and land one1 But when we noticed that landing them wasn't resupplying we quit.

[delta64]

how do you guys think bodenplate will look? i have a feeling allies will be the majority with so many iconic birds to fly and the new players that they will bring it. me262 might bring a few but typhoon, p51, p47 and p38 will attract a lot of new blood - but i hope in such a case there is no default balancing, as being outnumbered is historic

[-SF-Disarray]

The problem, as it stands now Immortan, at least as it stands with historically being outnumbered is the side that, more often than not, has the number advantage is the side that was historically outnumbered.

 

Aside from that it becomes tiresome to always fight outnumbered in a game, where the objective is to have fun. 2 to 1 isn't so bad, it isn't good but it can be managed. When things get strange and you are looking at 46 to 16, it is enough to make people want to quit. The sad thing is that this strangeness isn't so uncommon, though just lately I haven't run into that so often; in fact things have started shifting towards sanity on a lot of the servers. I get the whole we don't want to force people to play one way or the other logic but when things get bad, 46 to 16 bad, something should be done and those among the 46 often times don't want to be the ones to do whatever that something is.

[=FSB=Man-Yac]

Since the max population on a server is 84 there should be a limit on how many players a side can have, lets say 50, it then becomes locked. I know this can get annoying especially for squads wanting to get everyone playing on the same team. But since people are so keen to join the server with the most population it might encourage them to join a more empty server so they can fly their desired team. And thus more people will join that empty server making it not so empty anymore. I think that would be a great way to solver two issues at once. The frustration of not being able to join a server with 84 players in it, or having servers with a ratio of 3:1 for a particular side.

[Guest deleted@83466]

The problem, as it stands now Immortan, at least as it stands with historically being outnumbered is the side that, more often than not, has the number advantage is the side that was historically outnumbered.

 

Aside from that it becomes tiresome to always fight outnumbered in a game, where the objective is to have fun. 2 to 1 isn't so bad, it isn't good but it can be managed. When things get strange and you are looking at 46 to 16, it is enough to make people want to quit. The sad thing is that this strangeness isn't so uncommon, though just lately I haven't run into that so often; in fact things have started shifting towards sanity on a lot of the servers. I get the whole we don't want to force people to play one way or the other logic but when things get bad, 46 to 16 bad, something should be done and those among the 46 often times don't want to be the ones to do whatever that something is.

 

I'm half joking about this, but only half:  I actually think that when it gets to something like 3 to 1, the players on the outnumbered side (vvs) should take the opportunity to watch a movie, take the dog for a walk, or spend time with the wife.  let it go from 46 to 16 down to 46 to 2.  Being outnumbered is a challenge and is not at all unmanageable, but at some point you are just cannon fodder, and pad for somebody else's stats, and I don't see the point of it.  Thankfully, this size of imbalance is rare, and does indeed seem to be getting better.  It will probably get better still when we get P-39s, A-20s, and La-5FNs.

[-SF-Disarray]

Iceworm, I don't think that the new planes will help the balance at all. I've seen these claims time and again. Every time a new Soviet plane was on the horizon we see people come out of the woodwork to say that once plane X drops people will flock to the Soviet side and everything will be fine. And plane X drops and we keep on keeping on, by in large, and we see the same numbers on each side and the same names on the player lists. The problem, in so far as I can see, is the people on the majority side are comfortable for one reason or another and intransigent. We can't make them change sides and those who have the power to make them are unwilling to use that power, for understandable reasons. The problem can only be solved by those who are creating the problem and they have no interest in doing so.

[coconut]

Anyone knows the correct setup for CBALANCER.CFG ?

 

I want to set it so only half of players in server can be VVS or OKL.

 

I have set it up like this but I don't know if its working since the server never filled up.

 

[Planes]

MinActivePlayers = 25

PowerDiff = 2.0

PowerRatio = 1.25

 

That's the only thing you need to edit. The stuff at the end was documentation, not actual code. I don't think you are supposed to change it.

I have set my server to something like PowerDiff = 6, because at most 2 planes difference when you have 20+ planes is too strict IMHO.

I have also raised PowerRatio to 2. A ratio of 2:1 isn't too bad, it's normally manageable. You want enough room to let 5 people join a side once, and keep excessive imbalance away.

[KG200_Volker]

Thank you coconut.

 

But now even more questions arise. With my very-very small knowledge of code if you don't remove the \\ in front of the code lines it doesn't work. If it does then unless the file is deleted all servers use it right now.

 

I asked to see if its right like this because I don't want "PowerDiff"  and  "PowerRatio" to play a role, only max number of players for one side. That is why I deleted the lines that calculate "PowerDiff"  and  "PowerRatio".

 

I will try to test and see.

Edited January 18, 2018 by KG200_Volker

[Aap]

 

 

I have also raised PowerRatio to 2. A ratio of 2:1 isn't too bad, it's normally manageable.

 

Would that setting have any effect in practice? If the restictions start to take effect, when there are 25 people on the server (I guess MinActivePlayers means that) then the PowerDiff=6 would always be met before PowerRatio gets to 2. For example, 26 players on the map, max difference is 10 vs 16 (PowerDiff=6), which would mean PowerRatio 1.6. The higher the player amount gets from there, the lower the PowerRatio would get due to the PowerDiff=6.

[coconut]

Indeed, which is why you should set the min player value to something lower.

[KG200_Volker]

I just saw in the Dserver setting that you need to check the balance box for it to work.

 

My question what should I set in order to have a lock for a coalition for half of the servers capacity. Lets say for 50 pilots.

 

I don't want PowerRatio and PowerDiff  calculated, only number of pilots.

 

Thats thel original balancer.cfg file:

 

 

[Planes]
MinActivePlayers = 2
PowerDiff = 2.0
PowerRatio = 1.25


script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/LaGG3s29.txt", 0.6
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Yak1s69.txt", 0.8
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Yak1s127.txt", 0.8
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/La5s8.txt", 0.9
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Il2m42.txt", 1.2
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Pe2s87.txt", 1.4
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109F4.txt", 1.0
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109G2.txt", 0.9
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109G4.txt", 0.9
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Fw190A3.txt", 0.9
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Ju87D3.txt", 1.0
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/He111H6.txt", 1.6

script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/I16t24.txt", 0.5
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/MiG3s24.txt", 0.7
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/P40E1.txt", 0.7
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Il2m41.txt", 1.2
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Pe2s35.txt", 1.4
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109E7.txt", 0.7
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf109F2.txt", 0.8
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/MC202s8.txt", 0.7
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Bf110E2.txt", 1.1
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Ju88A4.txt", 1.5
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/planes/Ju523mg4e.txt", 1.0
[end]

[Tanks]
MinActivePlayers = 2
PowerDiff = 2.0
PowerRatio = 1.25


script = "luascripts/worldobjects/vehicles/_T34-76STZ.txt", 1.0
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/vehicles/_PzIII-L.txt", 0.5
script = "luascripts/worldobjects/vehicles/_BA64.txt", 0.05
[end]


// lock coalitions, that matches
// for ( char c = (C_NEUTRAL+1); c <= C_LAST_COALITION; ++c )
// if ( activePlayers[ c ] > m_iMinActivePlayers )
// if ( (cPower[c] - MinCoalitionPower > m_fPowerDiff) || ( cPower[c] / (MinCoalitionPower+1.0f) > m_fPowerRatio ) )
// lockedCoalitions[c] = true;
// MinActivePlayers - minimal amount of aircraft and tank players in a coalition for spawn lock to occur
// PowerDiff - absolute difference between my coalition and minimal power coalition for spawn lock for my coalition to occur
// PowerRatio - ratio between two coalition powers for spawn lock for my coalition to occur
// Power of a coalition is a sum of all aircraft and tanks coefficients active at any given moment

 

[1/JSpan_Wind75]

This theme bores me already. The day that I'm forced to fly some planes that I do not like, because I'll just stop flying on those servers. I flew in my Bf-109, Bf-110, or in the FW-190 since the time of Oleg. Why do I have to fly in planes that I do not like and that I do not enjoy, just to please the weepers of the VVS. More VVS pilots are ready and that will be more. I would not like the blue ones to be less and lose the maps. In fact, the solution is to remove the sign of ALLIED WON and AXIS WON, the maps do not change, nothing is always the same and it is always the same: Some throwing bombs on their own where there are no dogfights and fighters all about a sector to the purest Berlonga.

 

This is an air warfare simulator, and as far as I know, there is always an imbalance in wars. And then there is the issue that the VVS aircraft are worse .... hummm ... I do not believe it, I have more deaths from my pilot than VSS aircraft deaths. Mig1 in height there is no one who can with him, if you find yourself with a Yak 1B you are lost. If you attack a Pe2 you are dead. We would like the LUFT to have the Pe-2 gunners, and so I can continue and follow ..

[56RAF_Roblex]

I do not believe it, I have more deaths from my pilot than VSS aircraft deaths.

   

 

That is normal for most of us whatever side we play for :-)  It just means you are not as good a pilot as the people who killed you. 

 

 

 

  Mig1 in height there is no one who can with him, if you find yourself with a Yak 1B you are lost. If you attack a Pe2 you are dead. We would like the LUFT to have the Pe-2 gunners, and so I can continue and follow ..

 

 

The Mig-3 is inferior to almost every LW fighter at altitude.  The only LW fighter slower than the Mig-3 at 6000m is the 109 E7.   It is just good "...for a Russian fighter..." at 6K

The Yak-1b is the closest thing the VVS has to something that can win a turnfight but a 190 or 109 will still beat it if they don't try to turnfight.

The PE2 gunners use exactly the same code as the JU88 & Bf110 & Heinkel 111 & Ju87 gunners. Ask anyone who flies both sides equally and they will tell you that they get killed or disabled by LW bombers just as often. 

Edited January 19, 2018 by 56RAF_Roblex

[Haza]

 

This theme bores me already. The day that I'm forced to fly some planes that I do not like, because I'll just stop flying on those servers. I flew in my Bf-109, Bf-110, or in the FW-190 since the time of Oleg. Why do I have to fly in planes that I do not like and that I do not enjoy, just to please the weepers of the VVS. More VVS pilots are ready and that will be more. I would not like the blue ones to be less and lose the maps. In fact, the solution is to remove the sign of ALLIED WON and AXIS WON, the maps do not change, nothing is always the same and it is always the same: Some throwing bombs on their own where there are no dogfights and fighters all about a sector to the purest Berlonga.

 

This is an air warfare simulator, and as far as I know, there is always an imbalance in wars. And then there is the issue that the VVS aircraft are worse .... hummm ... I do not believe it, I have more deaths from my pilot than VSS aircraft deaths. Mig1 in height there is no one who can with him, if you find yourself with a Yak 1B you are lost. If you attack a Pe2 you are dead. We would like the LUFT to have the Pe-2 gunners, and so I can continue and follow ..

 

 

The irony is that on your own website (I apologise if it is not your webpage)  you profess to be "A lover of aviation in general and a great fan of aerial combat simulation" , yet you appear to be bored and have a narrow minded attitude to other aircraft and more importantly to other fellow players.  Perhaps you are not a real aviation fan and more of a "I will only play the best aircraft to look good!  Personally, your attitude bores me and not this thread as it appears to bore you, and I take my hat off to anybody that contributes in a positive way to keep the game alive, rather than your dismissive selfish tone(s)!

 

In addition, I will be interested to see if your Blue alliance or your little '1JSpan" gang will carry on when BOBP is released or whether the new shiny planes will attract you away, because  you are such a fan of aerial combat, LOL!! .  Perhaps time will tell!

 

 

Regards

 

 

 

https://1jspan.blogspot.com.au/

https://pilotodecombate.blogspot.com.au/

Edited January 28, 2018 by Haza

[ACG_Smokejumper]

I like to fly german planes to death, I have more than 12123123131231 hours in the old il-2 flying focke wulf, but this situation forced me to just drop the online game or try to fly russian planes, but red side don't have any superior aircraft, I hope with the LA5FN the situation change

Lies!!!!

 

 

P40 is all win.

[Blackhawk_FR]

 

 

As already said, some people, and whole squads, are dedicated to flying only one side. Or even when they aren't, squads mostly want to fly on the same side. The autobalancer would basically deny them to play when the whole squad enters the server.

 

 

Nothing more to say. 

[=TBAS=Sshadow14]

LOL

Or just ignore the odds

I would rather win on a team down 20 players than even teams.

[JG7_X-Man]

Everyone has made very good points - However, in my opinion - what we are witnessing is "personal preference" when given the freedom of choice. Marketing 101 (Consumer Behavior) - OK this maybe for a graduate class.

 

The key here is simple: Since we see the imbalance on servers favor the Luftwaffe, one can extrapolate the obvious:

 

When given a choice to fly Russian aircraft online or German aircraft online, most will chose German aircraft.

 

If we ignore any bias from geopolitical or technological views - the only reason we have server imbalance is that more people would rather fly German aircraft than Russian aircraft - given the current plane set.

 

Now that we have got that out of the way - from a VP of Sales perspective, I am pushing for no more Eastern Theater Maps, maybe a final 1944 map which encompass (East Prussia, Western portions of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, All of Austria and Germany. This would go well with Eastern France, Belgium and Holland which are going to be in Battle of Bodenplatte - as an expansion, single map!

 

The date could be 1944 - 1945, with late model Russian aircraft (Yak-3s,Yak-9s and La-5FNs and La-7s etc... (Including the Spitfire LF IXe's of 26th GvIAP)   and the German aircraft that will be in Bodenplatte plus a few others.

 

Do not look at the server imbalance as anything more that what it really is - a manifestation of fact that given the current plane-set, more people will prefer to fly AXIS than ALLIED, so the question is what can we do about it - the answer is nothing! 

[JG7_X-Man]

That's the only thing you need to edit. The stuff at the end was documentation, not actual code. I don't think you are supposed to change it.

I have set my server to something like PowerDiff = 6, because at most 2 planes difference when you have 20+ planes is too strict IMHO.

I have also raised PowerRatio to 2. A ratio of 2:1 isn't too bad, it's normally manageable. You want enough room to let 5 people join a side once, and keep excessive imbalance away.

 

So what will happen here is those of us that "choose" to fly only German aircraft will have to spend hours looking for servers to fly - if every server did this, we would simple be pushed offline. The ramification here is the community will split on online and offline players and dwindle. We don't have the numbers yet like we did after IL-2 FB came out to afford to be picky about what side people choose. Multiplayer server host will literally be the cause of the demise of the game. It's bad enough that 1C totally didn't see the value of HyperLobby and considered co-op servers and afterthought and not important  - never for the life of me have I ever seen 1000+ people online at once. Server hosts, don't be too harsh or you guys will drive more people away from online play - like cutting your nose off to teach your face a lesson LOL!

Edited February 4, 2018 by JG7_X_Man

[-=PHX=-SuperEtendard]

I agree that the Western scenario would bring more players since it's a better known theater for the general public.

 

 

But I wouldn't think that Bodenplatte will see balanced numbers from the get go... at least when I played IL-2 1946 around 4-5 years ago generally there was imbalance in favor of Germany wether it was Eastern or Western front. In the Pacific it was a bit more balanced, since some of the "main German" playerbase switched to the Allies in that setting. I remember one server I played, if there was an admin online and there were unbalanced numbers, he would first ask kindly if anyone would volunteer to even the teams, if after some minutes this didn't happen, he would start kicking players out in order of who joined last until the teams were even xD A bit harsh but effective I guess lol.  German aircraft are just more popular among air combat enthusiasts.


A couple screenshots from back then:

 

 

 

[JG7_X-Man]

I agree that the Western scenario would bring more players since it's a better known theater for the general public.

 

 

But I wouldn't think that Bodenplatte will see balanced numbers from the get go... at least when I played IL-2 1946 around 4-5 years ago generally there was imbalance in favor of Germany wether it was Eastern or Western front. In the Pacific it was a bit more balanced, since some of the "main German" playerbase switched to the Allies in that setting. I remember one server I played, if there was an admin online and there were unbalanced numbers, he would first ask kindly if anyone would volunteer to even the teams, if after some minutes this didn't happen, he would start kicking players out in order of who joined last until the teams were even xD A bit harsh but effective I guess lol.  German aircraft are just more popular among air combat enthusiasts.

 

 

A couple screenshots from back then:

Dude! Where did you pull those from? Awesome!

 

I agree with you that Bodenplatte will not solve the unbalance server issue. Also, you are very insightful on servers being more balanced running PTO missions. I am one of those Luftwaffe pilots that switch to Allied when flying Pacific campaigns. As for my reason, As a former US Marine, I can't bring myself to be an aggressor of the US Navy let alone US Marine Corps even in virtual reality Uh Rah!

 

I wonder what percentage of Axis pilots that switch to Allied in the PTO were American?

 

Those were some fun times!

Edited February 4, 2018 by JG7_X_Man

[-=PHX=-SuperEtendard]

Dude! Where did you pull those from? Awesome!

 

From my 1946 Screenshots folder, it's still there :biggrin:

 

Lots of memories inside   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[coconut]

 

 

So what will happen here is those of us that "choose" to fly only German aircraft

Honestly, I don't worry too much about that. It's up to you, really. I'm sure you'll find a place to play.

 

 

 

if every server did this

But every server doesn't do this, so what's your point? Moreover, even if all server had balancing on, nothing would stop you from starting your own server and having it your way.

 

 

 

The ramification here is the community will split on online and offline players and dwindle

It's already split, largely in favour of the offline players, it seems. And that's not a problem as far as the overall player base is concerned.

 

 

 

Multiplayer server host will literally be the cause of the demise of the game

Now, that's just a bizarre statement. The various server hosts existing today, with their diversity of setups and missions, contribute to a healthy MP population.

[Nocke]

I am really indebted to Coconut for running the balancer on his server.

Still, as the current campaign is running, 251 hours have been flown by axis pilots, 174 by VVS.

How much more would you like to have?

Imagine how this would look like without the balancer.

You LW only guys are really getting ... boring ?