UHC Changes

I would like to thank everyone for the feedback so far :) just had another idea to add which was when players leave the game before pvp starts, they should no longer be able to be eliminated by other players. Currently when players are logged out their armour stands can be destroyed at any point of the game and therefore they won't be able to respawn. Maybe it would be possible to grant the 10 second no-fall period at the start of the game to those who crash in the air too? So that they don't return to die instantly from fall damage when they return, ie the 10 second timer would start from the moment they rejoin.

 

Hey Lucas, thanks for all the detailed feedback! Yeah, to be honest out of all these suggestions, I think reducing the player count required to start a game is the most important so that games can actually start. I just felt like putting in other suggestions for actually improving the game in case a dev finds time to add some of them. I feel like UHC can be revived if it's reduced to 30 people.

 

Agreed, proof that games don't start anymore:



That's 1 UHC game this whole week and the game was on Sunday, even with the server gathering around 2000 players at peak times. Only 1 or 2 started last week too. The most logical way to revive the game would be by reducing the player count required to start from 40 players to 30 players since expecting 40 player games just isn't feasible and with 30 player games minimum, lobbies would fill more regularly and the game would be far more active again. Most of the community accumulated their wins between September and January, however after this period the games active player base fell apart for multiple reasons, one namely being that the server just struggles to get 40 players in a UHC lobby that only has 13 minutes to fill to 40 players from the time it opens to the time it closes by force. Whilst it can be argued that 40 player UHCs are much more enjoyable and more natural than 30 player UHCs, it's better than none starting at all. I'd like to aim to get on leaderboards for example and carry on progressing past there (which would take me 19+ more wins) but I won't be able to do that if the game stays in its current state. The ideas presented on this thread can be fairly controversial although reducing the player count is by far the most necessary in my opinion. It would be a shame if this proposal were to be completely ignored since it's essential for the games permanent revival.

It would be great if reducing the player count to 30 would be considered since the game would be played again, I don't really see a future for UHC the way it is currently.

 

It was evident that a large-scale game such as UHC would die off quickly from the onset. It just isn't feasible to expect over 40 players (or even 30, for that matter -- look at joining times for the Bridges) to join a single lobby when Mineplex's total player count doesn't exceed 1000 most of the time.

Another reason UHC is ignored is the (very) steep learning curve. I understand there's a decent-sized community, but as someone from the outside looking in, the chance of winning -- or having fun, for that matter -- is quite low. There's a very large power creep between an experienced, meta-knowledgeable player and a one/two-time casual. In my view, this acts a deterrent which lowers the amount potential recurrent players.

Therefore, I feel like most of the changes put forth here are quite self-serving. While they may satisfy players within the UHC community, they do nothing to fundamentally increase the game's popularity (which is, let's face it, the full goal of the developers).

My opinion is that UHC was doomed to fail in Mineplex's current environment. There just aren't enough players to satisfy the amount of games. This, plus the amount of closet cheaters on the server in general makes it less desirable for players such as me, which main other games but enjoy UHC once in a while.

If I were to pitch a suggestion, it would be to make UHC games more of a rarity -- maybe have only two games a day. Or, better yet, make it an end-of-the-week event. I feel like this would entice more players to play (in addition to your gameplay changes, which I don't know enough about to comment on).

 

Thanks for the feedback, those are some interesting ideas for sure. I agree that it's just not feasible to expect over 40 players to join a UHC as it stands currently. It's also definitely true that UHC is more a game for experienced players in comparison to a game like Cake Wars which can be learnt fairly easily. However, that's the whole point of it being Ultra Hardcore. That's the case on pretty much every server that UHC exists on, there's no way to really make it any easier for new players than it already is. I mean I'd consider writing some sort of guide on the forums but even then I don't see the point if UHCs aren't starting and I don't think it'd achieve much anyway.

The changes suggested on this thread aren't "self-serving" as such, a lot of them have been asked for or agreed with by a fair amount of the community. The suggestions in no way actually benefit me personally but would attract UHC players from other servers by allowing for more strategies, particularly through the potential re-introduction of horses. People who actually care about UHC and want to see the game thrive will want to see the player requirement be reduced because there's just no other way for them to start. Also, as stated above, only one UHC game has actually started this week so only having two games a day wouldn't achieve anything, unfortunately, even though there is merit in the idea. The suggestion to make it an end-of-the-week event however is definitely interesting and something to be considered, I wouldn't say no given that they don't start anyway, but I think that reducing the player count required to start a UHC would help more with starting games during the week since not everyone is available at the end of the week and there is still a community within the game, though if the player requirement wasn't going to be reduced then I would be in favour of the game becoming some sort of event throughout the week, which would hopefully bring more players into each game to make it more enjoyable and worthwhile.

 

Yes!! It's unfair to lose hearts from something you can't control, especially when you're strip mining. If this is able to be changed with the anti-xray staying in placed, it would be amazing.

Agree, 100%. While if the ore changes to something higher it can be positive, it can also be extremely annoying if, for example, a diamond changed to coal or lapis. I agree with what you suggested on this because it can still allow some sort of random fun when mining without misleading a player.

Agree. Coming on at 10am GMT there's usually not enough players to allow the game to start, but it wouldn't be unmanageable if it was 30. I've seen this suggested on other threads as well and I still agree it should happen - It isn't too big of a change and would allow people to play more games at different times.

Even though the eye of ender is unique, I'm inclined to agree. There's no choice about what team you're going for and how far they are too which are two points that a lot of people rely on in UHC. Adding a compass would be ideal, and if they wanted to keep it similar to the eye of ender they could ensure only a certain amount of uses on the compass was allowed, much like the charge on the ender.

I've seen this happen multiple times while waiting for the game to start and it can be irritating, especially if you've waited a while for the game to start. I feel like this is a small change that could make a huge difference honestly.

Seems like a good idea too. Finding saddles in spawners is relatively rare so if you are able to find one, I think you should be able to use it.

Honestly, all these ideas are great and would really benefit UHC if they were implemented.

 

Just saw this as well and thought I'd reply. As mentioned, even if there was a set time for UHC to start once a week or once or twice a day, not everyone would be available for those times and if that's your only opportunity to play UHC for a week, that can be quite disheartening. Also, if it was an end of week event and it didn't start, the same thing applies - if a lot of people have been waiting for it at the end of the week (or in the day) but it's just not enough, it's unfair that all those people will have to wait a long period for the next time to try and raise enough players again. Keeping it at every hour but slightly reducing the player count would mean there was a greater chance of it starting and allow players of all timezones to have a chance at playing it.

 

Hey Asteiph, thanks for the feedback! I agree with you that having a tracking compass that names the player you're going for in UHC would be a questionable choice since it could lead to targeting so some ideas thrown about by others were that the compass would be anonymous, instead of naming the player who you're going for it'd just say "Player" then the distance etc, so in a way, it would be a more specific eye of ender. Also, that's a fair point about adding the horses although the border closes in anyway so they wouldn't be able to run for too long. It's not an essential idea though as much as some of the others, just one that I thought would be a nice addition given that players who like using bows in UHC would stand much more of a chance in succeeding.

 

That ship has sailed unfortunately :/ the game really needs attention soon for any chance of revival and keeping the recent community around. It's my favourite game on the server so it'd be a shame to see it be neglected. I've been asking around to see if GI would consider taking the game under the Classics wing since some then at least it would have a team focused around improving the game. Otherwise, whilst it saddens me to say it, I don't really see much of a point of it remaining on the server. Thanks for the feedback!