Hi Sapphired,
AWESOME screenshots!!
I do agree that when games are restarted multiple times, the final game should be shorter:
After 1 restart the timelimit should be 52.
After 2 restarts the timelimit should be 42.
After 3 restarts the timelimit should be 32.
So I'll put this in asap.
There are a number of reasons why games at the Weekly AGR Sessions are (usually) 62 minutes:
1. Often the players only get 'into the zone' at around 40 minutes - and as you know matches are often extended to 72, and even 82 minutes if the gameplay is amazing. Otoh, occasionally some games just will NOT GET into the zone, I recall a 2fort5r about a month ago which was just pathetic, and felt like a waste of time... BUT:
2. Wth these 'failed games', it's almost always because there are specific things that Blue is doing wrong, and often, Blue has (eventually) organized itself and a GG happens.
3. All the scheduled maps are carefully selected, they are (usually) 'tried and tested' maps, proven to be able to provide Great Games. If the game sucks (ie Blue can't stop the caps) it's not the maps fault, it's because players are not playing it properly.
4. If a player genuinely just doesn't like a map, they can always sit out a game.
5. The beauty of 'Customizable' TF is that if players are 'bored', they can change class, change sides. Playing as an eng vs spy, vs tanky attacker are all totally different experiences.
6. Maps are often specially requested by players, so if you get your fav map scheduled, I guarantee you that you will get your hours worth. Maps are not played more than once a month.
7. I think the 5 - 7 minute Intermissions every hour of play are just about right now.
8. If games were shorter, it would encourage some players to not bother playing properly. As soon as they encountered some difficulty - they'd just start messing around, knowing that the map would change soon anyway. A longer game 'forces' newbie/lazy players to take the game seriously, and make an effort to get D happening, or to cap. Many AMAZING games started as pretty crap - ie Blue 00 Red 50, and Blue comes back to win!
9. Matches used to be LONGER - 90 minutes on JGs server back in the Golden Era of CustomTF (2000). Later on at phoenixlabs they were 52 minutes.
Ocassionally, games are cut short, but that's usualy because they were a special request, and as I recall, the person who requested the 'unpopular' map wasnt even there
Personally, I've never been bored during an AGR game; frustrated, pissed off, dizzy, and exhausted, but never bored.
One hour gives plenty of time for people to get *into* the map, to try different things. Lots of smaller games would diminish the importance of each game, and the AGR Sessions have always been about BIG, DEEP and INTENSE games.
OneManClan
ps. Coming up next month is 2fortflooded, one of the least popular maps - we haven't played it for 6 months (?), maybe it should be scheduled for 52 minutes or less, based on the hostile reaction it got last time - still, I do want 2fortflooded fans get their hours worth of flooding, and in any case - some maps I wasn't sure about, I ended up loving.
