Heisters,
Thanks to everyone who has participated in the beta and the discussion so far regarding the new suggested features. The following is information regarding a voluntary beta test for part 2 of the previous beta. Continue reading if you're interested in volunteering.
Part 2 - Host Kick option
For part 2 of this open beta, we've listened to your feedback and decided to include an additional feature in this beta, titled the Host Kick option. The Host Kick option will work the same way as it's worked so far, where the host retains all power. When you host a game, you are given full control of who to kick and when to restart the heist. Choosing this option will give those who feel comfortable with the host to keep all power the opportunity to do so.
Also, when you create a heist, we've introduced a check box which auto-kicks players that are cheating. The default for this option is "ON". Players who wish to turn it off can easily do so by unchecking the box. This option can also be reached in the lobby menu.
Please remember that these are optional, just like Vote Kicking and Kicking Disabled. We want to give you more tools to be able to control your experience while playing PAYDAY 2.
Changelog for part 2
- Host Kick option re-added thanks to community feedback
- Selecting host kick option will also give you host restart
- Server option to auto-kick players that got a cheater-tag
- Fix bug where kicking a player will show two messages
- Added check box for auto-kicking cheaters
What's this?
This is an invitation to an open beta. We are introducing four new features: host kicking, vote kicking, vote restarting, and cheater autokick. By giving us your feedback on these features, we hope to add these changes to the live game as soon as possible.
Update size
The open beta update size: 29.4 MB from live, 27.3 MB från open_beta
Participate by doing the following:
1) Right click on PAYDAY 2 in your Steam library
2) Go to properties
3) Go to the "BETAS" tab
4) Switch to open_beta (there is no password)
5) Press "CLOSE"
6) Download the update
7) If the download doesn't start restart Steam
PLEASE NOTE #1:
If it crashes while you play, you can find your crash dumps (file extension .mdmp) in this folder: \Steam\steamapps\common\PAYDAY 2. Please share this with us by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. As subject, type "Open Beta Crash dump"
When you send feedback to us, please include the following:
- What heist you were playing and where you were in the heist
- What you were doing when you crashed
Do not use mods if you want to report crashes. Also, please only include the absolutely latest crash log, not all crash logs you've ever received. Thank you!
PLEASE NOTE #2:
Do this at your own risk. You might lose your save file so please back it up before you start. This is a beta so the game might crash during play.
How to back up save files
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=170416480
PLEASE NOTE #3:
If you choose to participate, please uninstall any mods you use. We can't use your feedback if you have any mods installed, as that feedback won't reflect the unmodified experience.
PLEASE NOTE #4:
When you play the open_beta, please note that you can only play with other open_beta participants.
PLEASE NOTE #5:
You keep any progress you get in the open_beta to the live, public version of the game.
How the new features work
We are introducing three new features: vote kicking, vote restarting, and cheater autokick.
The two new vote features are available from the “escape” menu during heists. The cheater autokick is automatic, and can not be controlled by the players.
Voting basics explained:
Votes can be initiated by any player during a heist or loadout, and have a 30 second timeout. There is a 50 second cooldown on all votes for each individual player.
All vote messages - when they are initiated, when they are about to end, who voted, and results - are displayed in the chat log.
To participate in a vote, just press “ESC” during an active vote, and you will be presented with a dialog box with the choices: “Yes”, “No”, or “Abstain”. You can choose to either vote or press “ESC” again to close the box without voting. Doing this counts as abstaining from the vote.
Some notes on abstaining
If you fail to vote before the 30 second timeout ends, your vote will be considered an “abstain”, and will not be counted.
Abstaining carries no penalty, it simply means that your vote will not be counted into the results. You will still be allowed to vote in all future votes.
Abstaining from a vote kick means you forfeit your vote, and the other players decide without you. The host can also abstain: during a vote kick this means that the host veto is disabled, and a kick can be successful without a “yes” vote from the host.
Feature: Vote Kicking
As PAYDAY 2 relies on a host/client architecture with no host migration, vote kicking has a slightly different set of rules than other, similar games.
The host can not be kicked, as this would be the same as ending the heist, effectively disbanding the lobby and kicking everyone.
The host has a veto on all kick votes, which means that the host needs to vote in favor of a kick for it to happen. A client player who wants to kick another player needs to convince the host to vote “yes” as well.
If the host wants to kick a player, he needs at least one other player to get a majority or the kick will not be successful.
In a two player scenario, kicks are instant. As the host cannot be kicked, and has final veto on all votes, the host can kick the single remaining client with no vote.
A successful kick needs to meet the following two conditions:
The host votes “yes” (or abstains from voting)
A majority of players vote “yes”
Kicking in the lobby
While in the lobby, vote kicking is disabled. The kick function reverts to the previous system of “host rules”, and the host can kick anyone without a vote.
Feature: Vote Restart
To restart a day, all players have to either agree (or abstain). If there are any “no” votes, the vote is not considered unanimous, and the restart vote fails (and the game continues). If all players agree, the vote is successful and the day will restart.
If you abstain from voting, your vote will not be taken into account - it will not count as a “no” vote - and the other players can still vote to restart successfully.
Vote Restart will only restart the current day - not the entire heist! You can not vote restart on a pro job.
Example: You are playing Framing Frame and failed sneaking during Day three. You can now choose to restart the third day instead of continuing the heist in loud mode. If the vote to restart is successful, there is a 5 sec countdown before the restart activates.
Bonus feature: Cheater autokick
We are also introducing a new functionality to help limit cheating and the damage it causes. If a player is tagged by the game as a cheater, this person will automatically be kicked by the game, regardless of which kick system the host has chosen.
Note that if you are joining a mission and the host is tagged as a cheater, he will still be tagged as before, and you have the opportunity to manually leave the game yourself.
If you have any feedback please tell us in the bug reporting forum thread which you'll find here:
Thanks!