I'm curious what the stats are for leaving WZs before they ever begin. I realize it happens a lot in every WZ for a variety of reasons, but I'm also curious to see if there are one or two that show a much higher rate of leaving before the WZ starts, which I think would indicate that ppl just don't like the particular map(s).

It would also be interesting to see how many ppl are ditching arenas out of hand or if it's related to the actual map.

has anything like this been done/released? I know I was away for a few years.

I've never heard of an official pole done, or report released by bioware. There was a pole done here (in the pvp forums I think) by bioware to rank arena maps among themselves - which is not the same thing, but sorta related.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=958636

I think the general consensus as to the "most abandoned from the start" maps, is probably various huttball (vandin top) and arenas. Then maybe OPG people seem to leave a lot at the start.

But that's admittedly just my impression (and also my bias - those are the ones I sometimes leave as soon as I see them - except arenas, I stay for those), and so worth every penny you paid for it.

I also think there is some of the "oh, THAT person is on my team... bye" that goes on, which might skew the results?

there are many reasons. but if there's a large separation, then I think it has to be the map itself. personally, I despise OPG b/c it's impossible to randomly pug and get around. but quesh is up there on my "really gotta be in the right mood" to start. I also see a lot of instant drops in arenas. so iunno. just think it's harmless but interesting data that BW could release.

I used to despise AHG b/c it's tilted toward ops/sins to ninja cap. but now I look forward to it b/c it usually plays like a team game whereas the above two are just hopeless in that regard. imo.

OPG I have to be in the mood for. I play a sin/shadow, and so if I'm in the mood I can often play a large role in winning a game by sneak-knockback-taking a node. People are usually so "deathmatch" focused on that map that even double-point nodes are only protected by one, sometimes two people. And if they are not quick enough, it's easy to stealth in, knock them out, and root them long enough to switch it. But then after about 0 to 1 of those max I just get tired of standing on a node and doing nothing to get us the win, while everyone else plays the game. Yeah.

And huttball. Especially quesh and yavin. Ugh. Once in a while I still get a really good one of those. I had one today, OMG, it was awesome. The game ended 1 to 0. Both teams were playing really well, with a lot of last minute stops, both going for the ball. Both paying attention to the other side trying to run ahead for a pass, and stopping that. And then bioware-random has given me about 90% various huttball maps since then. I finally gave up and quit the game for today.

There's been, floating around - I don't think it was my original idea but anyway - a way to give us some choice as to which map, without it slowing down queues at all. When a match pops, if it's for an 8-man, put up a list of the 8-man maps and let us pick. Then weighted-random-choose from the maps people pick. Same for a 16-man, but just put up the 16-man maps. Still might not get the map I want, but at least I feel like I have some say. And if NO ONE picks yavin, at least there's now a zero % chance of yavin.

But I agree, it would be interesting, if nothing else, to get a "random sample" of what maps people really don't like. I'm sure it would corroborate my own bias... right?

I doubt Bioware would ever tell us what the stats are for each match. But I would hope they look at that data themselves so they can see any patterns there. ie, the amount of people that instantly leave when they see a HB or OPG pop.

What I would like and Bioware have precedence with, is for them to run a poll on what maps people prefer. They did this for the arenas, and I think it’s long over due for 8v8 maps.

There are 9 maps. So they could set it up so people could vote from 1-9 for their favourite to least favourite maps. This would be better than just asking people to vote for their favourite map.

OPG I have to be in the mood for. I play a sin/shadow, and so if I'm in the mood I can often play a large role in winning a game by sneak-knockback-taking a node. People are usually so "deathmatch" focused on that map that even double-point nodes are only protected by one, sometimes two people. And if they are not quick enough, it's easy to stealth in, knock them out, and root them long enough to switch it. But then after about 0 to 1 of those max I just get tired of standing on a node and doing nothing to get us the win, while everyone else plays the game. Yeah.

 

And huttball. Especially quesh and yavin. Ugh. Once in a while I still get a really good one of those. I had one today, OMG, it was awesome. The game ended 1 to 0. Both teams were playing really well, with a lot of last minute stops, both going for the ball. Both paying attention to the other side trying to run ahead for a pass, and stopping that. And then bioware-random has given me about 90% various huttball maps since then. I finally gave up and quit the game for today.

 

There's been, floating around - I don't think it was my original idea but anyway - a way to give us some choice as to which map, without it slowing down queues at all. When a match pops, if it's for an 8-man, put up a list of the 8-man maps and let us pick. Then weighted-random-choose from the maps people pick. Same for a 16-man, but just put up the 16-man maps. Still might not get the map I want, but at least I feel like I have some say. And if NO ONE picks yavin, at least there's now a zero % chance of yavin.

 

But I agree, it would be interesting, if nothing else, to get a "random sample" of what maps people really don't like. I'm sure it would corroborate my own bias... right?

OPG is nearly always and instant leave for me. I probably stay for 1/50 OPG pops.

Hutt Ball depends on which map, who is in the queue (more death:match or objective pvpers), how bad the desync is that day or am I having lag spikes.

I actually like Yavin. I know a lot dont. But it’s a good balance between objective and combat pvp. The space between the nodes allows for my fluid and dynamic movement. It’s one of those maps that one or 2 good players can carry a team if they have 2 other people willing to play the objectives. It also lets those who defend have some combat (as long as your teams mates are not totally stupid or selfish).

Yavin can also be a good map to learn tactics and strategy on and some of those that don’t work in other 8v8 maps are totally viable in Yavin.

Voidstar is hit and miss for me. If I’m defending first and I can see my team have zero interest in defending the doors, then I leave. It’s a total waste of my time and extremely frustrating to see people death matching in the first room while the enemy is capping the last door.

I have had some ok HB matches of late. There are actually some good HB players around who understand more advanced tactics and strategy besides running the pit . Those constant pit runners always make me laugh because they are so easy to negate if you have half a brain. Where as if you mix it up, pass around and try a different play each time, it can really put the other team on the back foot fast. But it requires situational awareness and understanding of the plays as you see people positioning. Which is something most people don’t know (I miss ranked HB).

I won’t got into arguing the whole queue choice/pop groups thing again. I think we all beat that horse to death in 1 or 2 threads a few months ago when HB was popping too much. My opinions differ for a lot of people so I dont want to start a flame war with the same people.

Let me just say this for the record and leave it there, that I would like to see all HB type maps treated as one in the queue rotation and every other map treated individually. That way if you pop a HB map, it then rolls the dice again to choose which one it will give you. This would reduce the pops on HB type maps and the queue would be based on 7 maps and not 9.

It's anyone's guess and there are a multiple amount of reasons that may cause someone to leave, ascertaining which one was the cause for any specific instances isn't possible.

Speaking only for myself.

I leave if it's Vayden Huttball [the newest HB map that totally blows] as it has aspects that are stupid as all hell.

If the teams are noticeably off kilter with regard to amount of players [5 vs.m 8 i.e.] I'll bounce the F out of there.

For the most part, I don't do arenas in Regs because I get plenty of them in Ranked so I'd rather get some other playstyle in in a more relaxed atmosphere [speaking of toxicity] than in ranked.

I have no issues with any of the other maps other than the Hutt ball map referred to previously which pisses me the F off.

Things that make me punch my hard drive repeatedly can cause problems because I can't afford to replace my computer just because I have little to no self-control.

I'm sure other players have their little pet peeves and destructive tendencies and the like as well.

I hate all this cross-faction crap too. We shouldn't be helping each other, we should be killing each other. All pubs must die.

It's anyone's guess and there are a multiple amount of reasons that may cause someone to leave, ascertaining which one was the cause for any specific instances isn't possible.

yes and no. my hypothesis is that there will be a marked difference between some WZs. That's something that can eliminate the randomness of the myriad other reasons. If the leave rates (before first gate drop) are considerably higher in one WZ from the others, then that IS a telling sign.

while I despise OPG, I think this data will show that arenas and huttballs are ditched considerably more often than any other map. but I'm curious to see how perception matches-up with reality.

They will never publish any stats. We got some info a long long time ago, but that was mostly marketing stuff about mounts used, number of new toons created etc. Now the numbers would be bad, so rather not show them.

true. but I may have misspoke in the OP. I'm interested in the rate of /leaves WZ for each WZ. (and only before the first gate drops).

and it would have to be from a specific set of dates. I'd say since the most recent WZ was added.

yeah. the more I think about it, the more it feels like a pipe dream. /sigh it felt like a reasonable request yesterday!

Speaking as a player who has basically spent all my time in PvP since November when I first started SWTOR. There are, surely, a variety of reasons people would leave warzones. As a player competing every day, I think we can isolate the most common reasons.

1. Starting with the obvious. is Huttball.

Huttball is often a very one sided match for one team. It rarely feels even anymore, partially the fault of the way the queues are balanced - and partially due to the fact you can bring 4 players into any WZ, and a premade group in live comms is obviously going to beat puggers in most cases if they're playing objectives.

Huttball maps consist of 1/3 of all PvP maps, so it can get repetative. With or without a survey, any PvP player can tell you the most abandoned game, be it before or during the match it was abandoned, would for both categories be Huttball.

2. Turret Matches.

These provide teams with better geared players the opportunity to pin down and hold mid. A good enough group often does so effectively enough that it will break a team. This is again, mainly down to how the queue is balanced, and the presence of pre-made teams who, in their formation, unbalance games even more. Then there's "that guy" players have to deal with. The guy who refuses to guard (I'm looking at you THREAP) - and those who don't play objectives but prefer to farm kills.

3. Voidstar Warzone.

Players essentially leave this for the same reasons as Turret Matches.Voidstar matches are two round warzones and as such I believe last longer than other warzones, so the effects of balancing mismatches are felt 100x more, this being a warzone you NEED to farm kills in.

4. Hypergate

Nobody hates the Hypergate.

Its an amazing game and if you're the one person who does, delete system 32.

Its a great game and probably the least abandoned even if it suffers the same balancing issues as all the other WZ.

Outside of reasons directly related to warzones.

There are of course a lot of players, particularly ranked players, that just queue to bring a gavel they haven't earned the right to and judge you as a team that's just not worthy of them.

Nobody really minds that because it just makes the win even sweeter in the knowledge they took a loss.