Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer

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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 28/04/2016 at 21:28 #82019
WinsfordSaltMine
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A generalised system needs to be established for that people don't end up waiting 70-90 minutes in a queue to be given half a panel. When more people than the sim can cope with join a roster should be put in place where people play a panel for a time set by host (say 45-60) then everyone moves one panel to the left, therefore people from the queue get to play, If more people in queue then you move two the left ect. That way everyone gets a go, instead of waiting for over an hour to be given not even a panel to play with.
Last edited: 28/04/2016 at 21:31 by WinsfordSaltMine
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 28/04/2016 at 23:36 #82025
Roadrunner
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Copied from below the hosting notice:

11 players were connected to the Saltley session. As people know, I do not normally rotate panels. This means that you keep your panel until you decide to leave the session. Players like that ownership. Normally, with the coming and going of players, anyone in the queue does not usually have to wait too long. However, tonight there was a long gap where no-one left the game and together with the queue of 5 players, this meant that wait times were longer than usual. Unfortunately, WSM was at the end of the queue and had to wait a long time.

WSM is welcome to join any of my sessions in the future in the understanding that the host, that is myself, will allocate players to panels/areas. I will try to accommodate players requests, where possible. It is also important to read the hosting notice. Tonight's hosting notice gave warning that panels may be split in two to fit more players into the session.

Other hosts use different systems, but the one I outlined above has worked well for a number of years. The art of hosting and keeping all players happy is much more difficult than it seems and unfortunately it went wrong tonight.

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As for rotation systems, AndG suggested a rotation system that works well. One panel changes ownership every 20 mins, a different one each time.
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 29/04/2016 at 01:36 #82026
Aurora
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While we all understand everyone's desire to participate, I agree with RR - it's up to the host on how they wish to operate their game. Some will rotate panels while others will employ RR's way, including myself. A host may also decide to switch to another sim with more panels if the demand is there. People are also more than welcome to host their own games at the same time.
Nil.
Last edited: 29/04/2016 at 01:37 by Aurora
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 29/04/2016 at 08:47 #82030
kbarber
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Which suggests a feature request: the ability to chain in another sim mid-session (or, conversely, to drop a sim out of a chain mid-session) so that operator movements can be accommodated.
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 29/04/2016 at 09:26 #82032
JamesN
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" said:
Which suggests a feature request: the ability to chain in another sim mid-session (or, conversely, to drop a sim out of a chain mid-session) so that operator movements can be accommodated.
Physically it's already possible, and indeed disconnecting a sim out of a chain is fairly commonplace with no or few side effects. The issues arise in connecting a sim into the chain once a game is underway. Yes, it's physically possible but it's not necessarily practical and unfortunately it's not going to be easy to program around that issue.

The Difficulties are:

1) It's an increased workload for the host, with 2 sims to manage as opposed to one.
2) Synchronisation. Let's say you're hosting Saltley, between sim times 0600 and 0700. Your session gets busy, and thankfully you have an 0700 save of New Street from another game you played the other day. You can load up the save on New Street, connect the sims together - but that save won't take into account any late running you've had on Saltley, your existing Saltley game won't take account of any late running on New Street... Trains will go missing in the ensuing confusion and it'll ultimately detract from the overall game experience and make the host look like a bit of a lemon.

****

" said:
A generalised system needs to be established for that people don't end up waiting 70-90 minutes in a queue to be given half a panel. When more people than the sim can cope with join a roster should be put in place where people play a panel for a time set by host (say 45-60) then everyone moves one panel to the left, therefore people from the queue get to play, If more people in queue then you move two the left ect. That way everyone gets a go, instead of waiting for over an hour to be given not even a panel to play with.
The issue at hand comes down not only to supply and demand, but also expectations. The "big" panels aren't always going to be available. I've often been in multiplayer games where someone has connected and immediately demanded the busiest panel on the sim, and thrown their toys out of the pram when they haven't gotten their way. Refusing an offer of "half a panel" after 70 minutes on the grounds of it not being busy enough isn't exactly great form, given that that means somebody else has had to give up what they are doing and enjoying to accommodate. If you're not prepared to wait disconnect when told the sim is full - RoadRunner does usually do a good job of filling the shoutbox with regular status updates from his hosts (some might say too good a job )

Last edited: 29/04/2016 at 09:27 by JamesN
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 29/04/2016 at 09:32 #82033
John 23
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If I discover that there is a queue on trying to join a multi-player sim, I almost invariably leave at once, having told the host that I might look back later: it's a lot less frustrating!
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 29/04/2016 at 13:41 #82039
chrisdmadd
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People host to allow others to enjoy themselves and join in on a multiplayer session. When that session is full its full! I for one wont be rotating people as its first come first served. I also like to have a panel to myself which people find selfish but im the host. Its not nice but to be blunt if you dont like the way someone operates their host then leave.

Why dont more people host when theres a long wait?

If your going to get stroppy when you dont get a panel the best way to guarentee a panel is host yourself!

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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 29/04/2016 at 18:47 #82047
WinsfordSaltMine
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I didn't want a big panel, i wanted a panel to myself not spilt in half where I had control of phone calls and train list and all signals, it was having half which was problem, I. Would of took a quieter panel over half of one. Also if there was a simpler way to host rather than port forwarding I would
Last edited: 29/04/2016 at 18:48 by WinsfordSaltMine
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The following user said thank you: LMK
Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 29/04/2016 at 18:55 #82048
headshot119
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" said:
I didn't want a big panel, i wanted a panel to myself not spilt in half where I had control of phone calls and train list and all signals, it was having half which was problem, I. Would of took a quieter panel over half of one. Also if there was a simpler way to host rather than port forwarding I would
Unfortunately if you don't like how a host runs his / her session you don't have a lot of choice but to go elsewhere. At the end of the day someone hosting a public session is doing so in there own time, and they have the right to choose how to run that session, without people coming on the forum dictating how they should do it.

Port forwarding is simple, there is plenty of information on the WIKI, and on Portforward.com on how to set it up.

"Passengers for New Lane, should be seated in the rear coach of the train " - Opinions are my own and not those of my employer
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 29/04/2016 at 21:33 #82056
Dick
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Why do I have this vision in my head of kids running round the playground shouting 'please miss he won't let me play'
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 30/04/2016 at 06:32 #82063
Giantray
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The experience I have had with individuals arguing, throwing their toys out the pram, even playing around with the sim on areas they are not allocated, has lead me to decide not to host. I have full respect for those that host. And those that do host have full control on how they host, it is not for others to tell a host what to do. Keep it simple, once a hosted game is full, it is full. Why should a host have to rotate individuals? If that is the way individuals want it run, set up your own hosted game. There are few people that host at the moment, don't give them any hassle else you might have even fewer people willing to host. I for one was looking at hosting, but it isn't worth the hassle over a game.
Retired Professional Railwayman (1981-2023); Pway & S&T (1981-88); Former Signalman/Signaller/ Signalling Trainer (1989-2023) [AB, TCB, Mechanical, NX, WestCad, Hitachi SARS]; Railway Historian (esp.SER, LCDR); Member of The Permanent Way Institution..
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 30/04/2016 at 07:58 #82064
Peter Bennet
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Don't think there's a lot more that can be said on this subject, perhaps time to let it go?

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 30/04/2016 at 19:21 #82071
Stephen Fulcher
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It is this sort of aggravation that causes less people to host. There will likely be as many different opinions on how to host a sim as there are players who play them, but at the end of the day it is down to the host to dictate how he runs his sim.

A few weeks back I had about six sims chained together and had enough players to fill them all without too much difficulty as the session was advertised a day in advance, but in order to do that I was using four monitors to see everything, and would in no way have had any time to work a panel myself. AndyG produced a spreadsheet if I remember correctly to control a rotation system, and the system does work, but at the same time it makes life a lot more difficult and a lot less enjoyable for the host as a lot of micromanagement is required, and on some sims the time it takes for one player to hand over to another is not insignificant, only for that player to have to give up the panel half an hour later and go through the process all over again. It gets more players in, but takes a lot of time out of the game.

Hosting myself, I will always prefer to have one operator stick to a panel for as long as they want it, it simply makes for a better game. I remember years ago it was a fairly common practice on Kings Cross to split off the Hertford Loop for a separate operator even though it is not technically a panel in its own right and it never caused a problem, but it did get an extra person working the sim.

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The following users said thank you: KymriskaDraken, 007JamesBond, LMK, JamesN, tjfrancis
Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 01/05/2016 at 09:17 #82080
WinsfordSaltMine
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Some points I'd like to clarify.

1. I'd like to apologise to Aron (Roadrunner) for how I behaved in his host.
2. I still stick by my point that I'd rather play a smaller panel and have it to my self rather than half another one.
3. I'm not bothered about hosts allocating panels, all I wanted to swap so I asked another player if I could, if Aron had said no I would of left the game.
4. No need for to be sarcastic in the multiplayer sessions details as someone did last night.
5. I now agree that a roster doesn't work to well and that people like might to keep there panel, but I also think people should think about other players (say if they have had the panel for more than a couple of hours) as how would they like to wait 70-90 minutes for a panel.

Last edited: 01/05/2016 at 09:17 by WinsfordSaltMine
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The following users said thank you: LMK, Vortexhaha, KymriskaDraken
Making sure everyone gets a go on a panel in multiplayer 01/05/2016 at 10:08 #82081
LMK
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WSM has now apologized, so let's just continue with our lives and pretend that this never happened. For the sake of the forum!!!
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The following users said thank you: WinsfordSaltMine, Vortexhaha