@Psions said in M&M Map Vault Plans for Fall 2020 and On:
@FtXCommando If the majority of people prefer a map over another, it doesn't make it an objectively bad map, it just makes you a bad judge of what a good map is when it comes to the general playerbase.
Let’s get something out of the way here; the only people trying to correlate that “the map is bad” because “the people play it” are people trying to defend Astro crater.
The map is not bad because people play it.
Astro crater is objectively, a bad map.
It has nothing to do with playcount.
As is with all art, there is still objective qualities that can be judged.
- the quality and consistency of your terrain
- the application of your textures and how believable they are in creating a setting
- the quality and application of your decals to improve the appearance of the map
- the application of your props (reclaim) and how they’re tied into your world
- the lighting of your scene and how it conveys your setting
- the placement of your mex points, which despite being a game mechanic are still natural ore deposits.
And so on, and so forth.
Astro doesn’t meet a minimum standard of quality for, or in some cases even has, any of these criteria. Everybody in this conversation knows this part and if you don’t, you’re either deluding yourself to keep a defensive, or you’re so inept at judging maps that you’re not worth having a discussion with.
People can make an “objectively better Astro” at any time.
It doesn’t have anything to do with playcount.
Maps can be popular and be “objectively good,”
The original gap map is still good, even though it is one of the most played maps on the client.
Moving on, I’m not sure what changing the metrics to judge playcount actually solves. Why move the metric away from the quality of your work, to who can inflate their epeen the most? I wasn’t aware that people still cared about playcount on their maps until bad mappers started writing 2000 word forum posts to justify why they spent 2 minutes on their map.
Is there a reason why playcount should be a metric, or even considered to one? Is there a problem with the current (ladder) system of rating maps? Why should Astro be in a 2v2 matchmaker? Why should any map be in a matchmaker because it’s “popular?” Why should objectively good maps not be in the matchmaker if they’re not “popular?”
It’s okay to think people can play what they want, but don’t delude yourself in the process.