Why Mapvoting Is A Bad Thing

You all know I dislike mapvoting, but I’ll weigh out the pros and cons before I say anything more:

Mapvoting

Pros:

– Allows players to choose which map is played next

– Ensures (mostly) that the server stays on maps the players want to play on

Cons:

– Allows players to chose the same map multiple times over the span of an hour, if they so chose. This is good for walk-in pubbers but, for anyone remotely regular with the server, it’s a negative.

Rotation

Pros:

– Ensures that the server gives every map in its list a play. Very good for regular players.

Cons:

– Can go to maps players don’t want to play on.

Okay, so that’s what we see at face value in this issue, but let’s look a bit deeper at the psychological aspects of these systems:

Mapvoting

Pros:

– Players who chose the winning map are happy

Cons:

– Players who chose a losing map (Notice I said “a” not “the.” More on this, later) are dissatisfied

– Makes players more aware of the impending switch to any map they dislike. If the server simply “swaps” they, generally, will wait it out and enjoy the next map. If they are forced to play a map they dislike, despite voting against it, they feel defeated and tend to be much more frustrated about maps they dislike.

Rotation

Pros:

– Keeps the mapswitching as low-profile as possible. Some maps players dislike are allowed to “slip under the radar.”

– Regular players are not frustrated by map repetition.

-Cons:

– Players who are used to mapvotes feel cheated.

Okay, so I’ve compared how the systems psychologically effect players, but I’m not done. Remember how I talked about players who chose “a” losing map are dissatisfied? Well, let’s take a look at how the actual voting takes place. (Please Note: Godwin’s Law is now in effect for the duration of this post. You were warned.)

It’s really quite simple. Mapvoting is “plurality” and not “majority.” What do I mean by this? Take Americas election system: It is a Majority vote system where 51% is required for a selection to be confirmed. An example of a Plurality system was post WWI Germany. In a Plurality system the winner is simply the one who got the most votes. Hitler came into power, despite the distrust of far more than 50% of his country, by winning a mere 30% of the vote in the 1932 presidential election.

So we see that this happens in our server. Players are presented with five options and they are then told to choose. In this situation, assuming a full server of 24, as few as 4 votes (assuming a tie) are required to win a mapvote. A mere 5 votes is required to win it without the random chance of a tie. This is, also, assuming everyone votes! If players don’t vote the required number drops far lower.

So, let’s take an example from what happened to me earlier today. The server was currently 9v9 and quite healthy, playing on Nuke. The players were presented with a mapvote:

– Dust2

– Office

– Militia

– Skoutsknivez

– Mill

The votes went something like:

3 Dust2

2 Office

4 Militia

2 Scoutsknivez

3 Mill

4 No Vote

Militia won and the server -absolutely cleared out.- 3v3 was the final result before, thankfully, I was there to mapvote it to Italy.

So, I propose solutions (since I’m not posting this just to whine):

1: Remove the Mapvote and set up a rotation that is favorable to the general population of the server.

2: Set up a runoff system for the Mapvote where 5 choices are presented, 2 winners are selected, and the server votes again for one of the 2 winners.

Psychologically (and therefore player count-wise) I feel that number 2 is the ideal solution. This way almost everyone is, to some degree, a winner when the mapvote is over. At least if their original choice is a loss they still get to choose the lesser of two evils. Hopefully this means more players stay and enjoy our server!!

– The One Free Man