Interview [Issue 35] Is Voting still Effective?

[Pathfinder 1,690]

Is Voting still Effective?

 

Especially at the higher ranking games, mults (players who deliberately sabotage a game) are one of the largest problems in current Tanki. They take up a valuable spot on the team, often being an alternative account to a member of the opposite team, with the aim of helping the other team win. With no kick system, players can currently only rely on the in-game voting system, which, if enough players vote in a battle, flags that battle up to moderators. When the responsible moderators see the game appear yellow, as a "yellow battle", they come to the rescue.

 

But is the voting system still effective?

 

Chat in white.

@Canadian_Eh Chat in blue.

@DEMONEKxD Chat in green.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here's Canadian, long-time player and supporter of the game, as well as an active and experienced forum user, and DemoneKxD, dedicated chat moderator. Welcome both!
 
Canadian, do you have any issues, as a player, about the current voting system?
 
Yes, the current system is ineffective and incomplete. It is also not very user friendly.

I agree.

In what way? Is it unresponsive, or difficult to use?
 
I forget how many "/votes" it takes to alert the Mods but Mods rarely come. Also many players do not even know about /vote let alone how to use it.
 
Mods probably come to your map but you don't know about it.

DemoneKxD, how many "votes" does it take to trigger a yellow battle?
 
5. I am not sure how it is in all battles. It can be different number of players.
 
Is it a blanket 5? Because that means on a small game no mods will be alerted?
 
It is too much in my opinion.
 
That is too many. Players that are known to be trusted by the mods should be given an ability to trigger yellow battles in 1 vote and all others should only take 2 or 3 votes.
 
1 is too little, but I am not sure how it is. But when 50% of players from team will vote 1 member. We will see this battle like yellow.
 
Is the amount of "yellow battles" a lot? Can the chat mods cope with it?
 
Who is supposed to take care of "yellow battles"?
 
Our priority is the chat. Voted battles are second on our priorities, because we have the Game Violators group for that. We have good helpers, but it is hard. Trust me.
 
Could you talk us through the process of what happens exactly when you see a "yellow battle"?

When we see voted battle, we CAN go to it and see what is happening. But it is really...difficult. We have paragraphs for step by step how to deal with these battles. In my opinion, it should be easier.
 
You know... We (mods) must also take evidence for proof if someone is hacker/sabotager etc. We must take at least 5minutes video for proof !... It is too much.
It will be better if the developers implemented something like:
When you click in battle at players name...
You will see:
-Copy Name
-Add Friends
-Report
If you click report...
You will see something like a table with reasons, such as Hacker, Sabotage, Chat Violations etc.
 
Then it can be more effective.
 
My "EZ Slash Vote", as I've named it, provides a table of reasons as you mentioned. They are posted in the chat.
 
Right, so would it be fair to say that the main issue is the inefficient process which the votes are dealt with? As well as difficulty in the way players use it?
 
Yes.

Yes. Unless someone explains that you can type /vote into the chat, many players don't even know they have a option to report a problem player.
 
It is very uncomfortable for players and also for us mods. We want to help all players in Tanki. But we need to have something better than only vote. It will be better if when you will click on players name then on REPORT button. You can choose report for what... (Chat Violations, Hacker,Sabotage). But devs are working on Unity version of Tanki, which is not necessary for now.
 
So a bit like working on something new without getting the current sorted?
 
Yes. In my opinion first of all should be the current game and improvements like to this system.
 
http://en.tankiforum...dpost&p=4628558 That is a perfect example of a battle that should not have been allowed to continue and would not if we had a better system of dealing with mults, saboteurs, and cheaters.
 
The whole policing of this game needs to be looked at and reworked. " /vote" is currently all we have and it is no were near close to what is needed. If we had a way to help police the game ourselves it would take some of the load off the mods. This is where my good friend AbsoluteZero's KICK2 system would work well. If we had something like that and along with a better reporting system, it would not take long to clean up this game.
 
There are a lot of trust worthy players that tanki could use to combat the current problems. "Deputies" if you like. Players could work with mods to "weed out" the battles and players that need to be dealt with. If a mod sees a report from a trusted player he/she knows they need to go to that battle ASAP.
 
Canadian, I understand that you are working on an improved system that is similar to the above thoughts of Demone? Your EZ vote system, could you explain a little more about it?
 
Well as mentioned " /vote" has issues. I like to report dishonest players and wanted something less time consuming and more helpful to the mods that do come. I started to think of my idea after a conversation with Yele where she told me that she has been after the Devs to come up with something better for a while. So I decided to make my own.
 
My system offers a more complete report against a player. When the mods come he/she can easily see why the /vote was sent.
My system has a "/vote" button on the screen. You simply click it and follow the prompts.
EZ Slash Vote has the option of posting reasons for the report, as you mentioned, as well as informing others that a video and/or screenshot is being taken.  
 
Demone, having tested it, what is your opinion on whether it would work for you as a mod?
 
I already saw your programme... And for me it is very good. I prefer also to have something like table of voted battles... Like for overwatch.

If I'm not mistaken you have a similar piece of software that you use to issue reports behind the scenes. I have seen it and I think it is written using AutoHotKey, which is what I have used.
 
Yes we have software to help us in moderating...The point of improvement is to have a better organisation of dealing with voted battles. For example, after fewer votes we must see this battle for yellow... when more then red. Your software is also good.

If all the mods are having the same issues why don't the Devs do something to help you?
 
I don't know it. Really. They must help us (mods) then we can help players. For now we sometimes can receive problems regarding voted battles. Players always say: Mods Never come to my battle. It's is not our fault.
 
One of the reasons why I wrote "EZ Slash Vote" is because Tanki won't do anything for us players or you the Mods, so I took it upon myself to do what they are unwilling to do. If Tanki comes up with something as good or better that makes my program obsolete and pointless , Great. I would not be bothered by that at all. In fact I hope that what I have demonstrated encourages them to do something about a huge problem that effects players and Mods alike. Frankly it should be a very simple fix. 
 
Is there anything about /vote that hasn't been mentioned that you think is worth saying?
 
For me, that's all. To summarize:

• We need better organisation for dealing with voted battles.
• We are doing all best for players and for this game.
• But we need to have better tools to take care of voted battles.

For me, I can't figure out why this has been allowed to continue the way it has. Lets just face it , "/vote" never worked and never will. The players know it, and so do the cheaters. They know they can pretty much get away with what ever they want because the odds of getting caught are very slim.  To be honest even my idea won't work unless Tanki is willing to make a commitment to the problem. You can have the best reporting system ever made, but if there are no Mods to enforce the rules it is pointless. It's like dialing (911 or 999) and no one answers the phone.
 
And you think Canadian's system or something similar is on the right lines?

Yes it is.
 
I do have an additional suggestion that the Mods may not like, but as a player I think is important. If you do come to a "yellow battle" acknowledge the fact you have come and thank those that reported. It will encourage more players to do the same and will also act as a  deterrent. I have noticed that just simply posting that you are reporting a player is enough to deter some players.
 
Alright. Hopefully these issues can be acknowledged and somehow dealt with in the near future. Thanks both for your time!

 

Link to try @Canadian_Eh's EZ VOTE: http://en.tankiforum...howtopic=259573

 

Link to @AbsoluteZero's KICK2 system: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=217642&page=1

Edited July 30, 2017 by Hexed

[deadtoyou 2,502]

Totally agree. +++

[Darren4Turbo 4,913]

Nice!  ^_^

[Cor7y 13,862]

Does /vote still work ? Simple question, simple answer.

 

[liverpoolaum 811]

nice

[rechargeme 79]

vote command do nothing -_- Full time waste to report using Vote command nothing happens after voting

[kmumie 17]

/vote is not woring -_-

[IronFist1944 3]

I agree with Canadian_Eh - very few players (especially young ones) know about or can even use the vote system. Mults, saboteurs, trolls, cursing - I actively avoid certain maps because of in-game issues w/ certain types of players - is that what Tanki wants?

Doubtful.

 

 

/Vote Username does NOT work.

 

These proposed additions would make a WORLD of difference to players - and I hope it doesn't get bogged down in development (if it's even tasked), and I CERTAINLY hope is is considered and in-use when Unity finally rolls out.

 

 

SgtRock61

IronFist1944

Edited June 2, 2015 by IronFist1944

[Canadian_Eh 1,354]

Article looks good. I was going to make a new demo video but I don't really see the point. I haven't played this for about a week and a half. I tried 1 game yesterday but it was a waste of time 4 or 5 mults on my side and over powered players on the other so I left. I doubt I'll be back anytime soon.

[canadarules 1,938]

wow this article couldn't be more bias :mellow:

[general_abrams 424]

Completely agree with this.
The sooner that the developers either resolve this or roll out the new Tanki (which hopefully has a better kick system implemented) the better.

 

I have thoroughly read and re-read @AbsoluteZero's KICK2 system topic, and am able to say that, even if mults weren't an issue, it is better than the system currently in the game. I really hope that the developers at least take some notice, so that the work that these players have put into coming up with these systems won't go to waste.

[blackdiamand 0]

I have not seen one single chat mod. Not a lot of people know how to vote. 

[canadarules 1,938]

chat mods are hiding they don't talk

[DEMONEKxD 418]

We want to help. But tell... What we can do???

[Canadian_Eh 1,354]

We want to help. But tell... What we can do???

I don't blame the moderators for this problem. The problem is in the management department not with the mods. Tanki head office will not give you enough help or tools to do your job effectively so we are forced to endure the all the people that don't think rules apply to them. I wanted to use another word in place of "people" but didn't want to get banned. ;)

[canadarules 1,938]

We want to help. But tell... What we can do???

A chat moderator has appeared. it is rare to see one

[Canadian_Eh 1,354]

A chat moderator has appeared. it is rare to see one

So you are correct it is very rare to see one but not because they are hiding, but because they are not even there. Face the facts /vote does not work.

1. Chat mods are not required to respond to /vote (Yellow battles) Game Violators mods are. So the number of available mods are already reduced.
2. It requires too many players to is issue a /vote command in order to even notify mods (turn battle names yellow)
3. A very high percentage players do not even know anything about /vote. 
4. Out of the total number of players that do know about /vote very few know how to use it correctly and even fewer can be bothered.

[canadarules 1,938]

 

So you are correct it is very rare to see one but not because they are hiding, but because they are not even there. Face the facts /vote does not work.

1. Chat mods are not required to respond to /vote (Yellow battles) Game Violators mods are. So the number of available mods are already reduced.
2. It requires too many players to is issue a /vote command in order to even notify mods (turn battle names yellow)
3. A very high percentage players do not even know anything about /vote. 
4. Out of the total number of players that do know about /vote very few know how to use it correctly and even fewer can be bothered.

 

you don't get a joke do you -______- clearly you never played pokemon as a child

they are more effective then the voting system

this is a bias article

next topic please

Edited June 16, 2015 by canadarules

[Pathfinder 1,690]

you don't get a joke do you -______- clearly you never played pokemon as a child

they are more effective then the voting system

this is a bias article

next topic please

Wwaiiiiit a sec. Could you please point out how this article was biased?

[canadarules 1,938]

you picked out the 2 people who made topics about the voting system

[issue 35] [interview] Is Voting still Effective?

BIAS!

get randoms from all over the game just randomly find people on game and ask them.. less bias then this

[Canadian_Eh 1,354]

I think some people are confused.

• This was about using /vote to try and have game rule violators removed from a battle. IE. mults, saboteurs, and hackers.
• Chats mods are not responsible for these types of violations. They are only responsible for "chat" violations.
• Game violator mods are the ones responsible for removing these pests. 

Chat violations do not require a /vote. They are simple enough to report. Simply take a screenshot and report it in the Chat Violators Section.

Where we need help, is with the ones ruining game play for others. There are so many dishonest players that many good and honest ones are leaving for other games. I myself, now play another game more often than Tanki for this very reason.