Easy respawn cheat

[RoKenn]

<RoKenn {X}> cheating_guy, why do you always go to spec mode? ^^
<parasti> maybe because it's a long fall down
<parasti> spec->join is faster
<.TheSmasher42.> so he chooses the winning team pfff
<cheating_guy> nope i dont
<RoKenn {X}> no, he doesn't switch
<cheating_guy> its just faster then dying
<RoKenn {X}> but more annoying
<cheating_guy> who cares?
<RoKenn {X}> i do
<cheating_guy> pity

So, people cut down the respawn time for falling into space by doing a spec/join cycle.

I consider this clearly as a cheat. I have seen 2 people doing this already.

(I anonymized the name of the cheater in the log above)

[parasti]

I do this a lot, too, especially on maps like dance or facing worlds where it can easily take several seconds to die after falling off the map (which is sometimes longer than the time I managed to survive since spawning). The only serious problem I see with this is that the kill is not counted for the opponent (if any). It's probably worth mentioning that the same "cheat" is often used to change the team quickly (usually moving the player to the losing team).

[RoKenn]

especially on maps like dance or facing worlds where it can easily take several seconds to die after falling off the map

That time belongs to the gameplay and avoiding it with using an administrative feature is clearly cheating.

Using it for switching to the loosing/smaller team is ok, imho, because that is an administrative action too. And switching to the loosing team should be encouraged, if there is a strong imbalance.

[Sepelio]

I agree with Rokenn on this one. Its fair enough if say you have lasered yourself off the edge by accident, but if someone else has shot you off the edge you have just stolen a kill from them.

[PinkRobot]

Damn, that's silly. I don't think it's ever fair, even if you fall off yourself. Just ride it out or fall less :}

Five second countdown before going to spec mode then, as with the kill delay?

[Ronan]

To respawn faster going through spec mode is clearly abusing the gameplay : one can take more risk without negative impact on his personal score and without losing time. If you are pushed in the void by someone, the attacker doesn't get the frag, but still loses ammos and hp in the combat, and has even less time to pickup items to refuel. etc.

I suppose a simple delay before joining back the game or the same team again will prevent that and the spam message in the notify area. I always keep an eye on it, particularly the join game message in ctf because too many players switch to the winning team during a game... The time I take to figure out what exactly happened advantage the opposite team. I prefer to not imagine dozens of people causing "join game" message.

[parasti]

Fair or unfair, going into spectator mode or disconnecting should count as a death in any case, attributing the kill as usual.

[FruitieX]

Five second countdown before going to spec mode then, as with the kill delay?

Yeah that would probably work...

[Mr. Bougo]

Fair or unfair, going into spectator mode or disconnecting should count as a death in any case, attributing the kill as usual.

If you're shot and disconnect 10 seconds after, it would still count as a kill then... Doesn't sound like a good solution to me.

[RoKenn]

Five second countdown before going to spec mode then, as with the kill delay?

Yeah that would probably work...

Except that it would discourage people from switching in case of imbalance...

A 5-second delay, as it exists for f5 now, has the disadvantages that it:

* discourages people from switching
* makes several people switch simultaneously, because players #3 and #7 will both use f5 and see only 5 seconds later that the other one also switched

An ideal solution would only enforce a 5-second delay for rejoining the same team.