Duel Server Rework?

[plush umbra]

(purpose of this post is not to start a petition or something like that, i just want to know whether my way of thinking is unrealisitic and what your ideas for possible alternatives are)

Ever since i played Chivalry 2, i wondered and asked myself the question: Why are Duel Servers in Chivalry 2 how they are?

With the increasingly big problem of hackers on European duel servers (post by fellow Bubblesaur here: https://discord.com/channels/209841695850889226/1093882675770708029), there is even more trouble other than the usual FFAers. Playing on Duel Servers in Chivalry 2 gives you a headache instead of joy.

I don't believe the developers seriously thought that using the Deathmatch gamemode for Duel Servers would work out as long as they added the information "Flourish to initiate a duel". Instead it just feels like they did it out of laziness.

Other combat games found solutions that are far better, for example it could work like this:

• Duel Servers run on their own gamemode "Duel"

• factions are only "FFA"

• damage is set to off by default

• people can interact with each other to initiate a duel, for example like this:

1. If you stand next to another player and look at him, you can press the "interact button", like it works on picking up weapons or reviving teammates.
2. By interacting with another player, a duel invitation is sent to him.
3. On his point of view, a "poll" will open up like the usual polls for the votekicks. He can either accept or decline.
   4a) By declining the duel, the whole process will reset and you go back to 1)
   4b) By accepting the duel, a countdown starts that will enable the damage between only those two players.
4. At the end of the duel the winner will be healed and the loser will be sent into the epic respawn screen. Go back to 1)

I'm not a programmer, so my question: Is it possible to rework Duel Servers like this? Or is it asked too much because at this stage of development changes like this are impossible?

[nocturne dirge]

While I do like systems like this (being familiar with them from the Jedi Knight games) There's a few other considerations that would need to be accounted for that increase the scope of a suggestion like this;

1. Buildables. These would need special considerations. If they are left as-is they can be used by players not currently engaging in duels to grief by blocking movement, swings, etc. For a system like this they will need to be disabled completely or only be visible/interactable for people currently engaged in a duel with each other.

2. You say "Damage is set to off by default" but what you'll likely need is "weapon collision is set to off by default" for the same reason as above. If you can't damage me but your hits still connect with me this leads to me being able to interrupt your duel by simply standing nearby and absorbing the hits from your blunt weapons, performing counters to stop your attacks, etc. Which can now be done indefinitely since you are not able to damage/kill me.

2A. In a similar vein to the above; Collision in general. People you are not currently dueling would need to be phased out (maybe appearing as transparent outlines) and have no body collision with anyone engaged in a duel. This prevents people from bodyblocking each other (whether accidental or otherwise) and ensures duels cannot be interrupted.

The official CMW duel system would completely solve this, but players generally prefer to walk around and interact/goof about rather than stare at a menu waiting for their next opponent.

[plush umbra]

Thank you for the answer, you really got some good points that i didn't think about! I'm not familiar with the Jedi Knight games so i need to check that out. My suggestion is mainly based on the Mount & Blade series, where the duel server experience was fine for the most part as far as i remember.

Especially the weapon collision is a very important point - i guess a possible solution would be to make it so that if a FFAer tries to hit the duelists, the weapon would act like it hit the ground / a wall or whatever. And of course the interaction with counters would need to be solved.

I can also agree on your comment regarding the buildables. Body collision is a very tough problem however. From my Mount & Blade experience i can tell that such a case usually disturbs both of the duelists and they would move onto a separate location. This doesn't stop the FFAer however, i know. Right now i don't really have a better solution in mind other than some kind of aura around the duelists which stops others from entering their combat area. 🤔 Yeah, doesn't sound like a perfect idea, because it would probably lead to other problems ...

[ebon iron]

The problems this creates are probably not as disruptive as the current problems though so I would love to see something like this.

[nocturne dirge]

Definitely, right now an inordinate amount of moderator time is spent on managing the duel servers assisting with duel tournaments, etc. This change means a lot less manpower needs to be focused on this comparatively small subsection of the game.

[potent lion]

Or maybe 1v1 arena could just have skill based matchmaking 👀

[nocturne dirge]

Not an effective solution sadly since the community (by far) prefers duelyards to arena.

We saw this in CMW as well where the duel gamemode was rarely used compared to FFA duel servers.

[ebon iron]

Yeah, even with the addition of ranked (which I would also love to see) people much prefer the FFA servers for duels as you can duel a wide variety of players in quick succession.

[charred anchor]

Downtime in this economy?

[tame wagon]

I know a lot of people who would also enjoy a ranked system for 1v1 duels