this isn't really for wbn, but more for the game. Someone yesterday when i was playing pointed out that we where arguing over teams for 15 minutes, for a 5 minute games. I think that there should be some kind of team voting borg, brain, or inbuilt system put into winbolo for the next version.
People would fight just as much about what the computer picked as they do picking themselves; plus the computer can never know skill levels, even if inputted because they change so often.
Ideally, if a new version were to come out, something like a lobby (Warcraft, AoE, etc) would be where the players gathered and discussed teams and terms of play before ever loading the map. The IRC-like chat interface is a bit better to read and would help things move a bit faster.
That being said, the system you might be talking about would have to somehow rank users in the game, probably by querying WBN (easy enough to do). However, this would be impossible if users are trolling or just starting out with a new nickname.
On the other hand, if you were just looking for a system that takes users handles as an input and displays all the possible ways to split up teams, that can easily be done too. I imagine a dialog-box script in either mIRC or as a brain would work.
what i ment is that there would be a window, and people would give there suggestions into it. It doesn't change the game in any way. its just a guide to what would be most logical. Everyone gets an input, but you dont have to suggest, or vote. It shows poeple what could work.
heres a program that i quickly threw together to show you what i ment.
http://users.nexopia.com/uploads/1539/1539836/untitled.bmp
I would suggest bypassing wbn stats and using a previously calculated peer-review method to rank players. From there you could fairly estimate where a specific player's abilities would be if you had enough reviews or votes.
Also maybe a "inconsistent ability factor" to average things out for rusty vets and such.
A lobby system I think is the best idea. When a new game is started, and people join, have an interface that allows chat and team building. Have a way to see who has requested who. Once people are ready have a "im ready" option. Once this is done and it goes to the actual game, the game should be auto-locked but with the ability for someone to unlock. In another words, start out with each client in a locked position.
Extrapolating from this concept of a lobby, the lobby should show a small image of the map with spawn points numerically listed on the map. Players click on a number on the map to spawn from. This way we will no longer have to do "..................go" as teams will be made and positions set. When the game starts, you just play. The problem then becomes how do you deal with people who start at the same spawn point since you can easily have 8 people in a map with just say 4 or 6 spawn points. When a tank spawns where another tank is, if you are lucky, it just slides in beside you. If you are not lucky, your tank and the other tank dance around for 10 seconds until they seperate. So the solution is to make all maps have more spawn points or just play maps with enough spawn points to cover the number of players.
