[Draft] Competitive gameplay changes

[mithrand0]

📐 Competitive Integrity Enforcement for Ranked Servers

🎯 Purpose

To ensure fair, consistent, and competitive gameplay across ranked servers by standardizing visual, network, and data parameters. This includes disabling visual enhancements, disabling modded content, enforcing strict network settings, and restructuring leaderboard visibility.

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✅ Implementation Plan

1. Pre-Join Warning

[ ] Display a clear notification before players enter a ranked server.

• Message should explain:
  [ ] Aspect ratio is locked to make level playing field equal
  [ ] Workshop content is disabled to disable unfair advantage
  [ ] Network settings are standardized
  [ ] Some display settings are standardized that affect lighting
  [ ] Leaderboards are exclusive to ranked play

2. Scope Limitation

[ ] Restrictions apply only to ranked servers.
[ ] Unranked, casual, and custom servers retain full flexibility.

3. Disable Workshop Add-ons (Server & Client)

• All Workshop content must be disabled on ranked servers.
  [ ] Server-side mods: Prevent custom scripts, assets, or gameplay tweaks.
  [ ] Client-side mods: Block UI changes, FOV overrides, or visibility-enhancing tools.

4. Anti-Cheat Integration

• Integrate detection into VAC or equivalent systems to:
  [ ] Flag attempts to bypass aspect ratio lock
  [x] Detect unauthorized config edits or third-party tools
  [x] Monitor for mod injection or network manipulation

5. Network Standardization

[x] Enforce a consistent tickrate (60Hz) across all ranked servers to avoid glitches
[ ] Lock client-side interpolation values to prevent artificial smoothing or prediction exploits.
[ ] Lock certain settings like update/command rates to the same value, to avoid glitches

6. Leaderboard Restructure

[ ] Disable leaderboards on non-ranked servers.
[ ] Wipe existing leaderboard data to ensure a clean slate under the new enforcement rules.

7. Documentation

[ ] Publish a comprehensive technical and design rationale:

• Why each restriction was implemented
• Supported aspect ratios and resolutions
• Network configuration details (tickrate, interpolation)
• Leaderboard policy and reset timeline
• Anti-cheat enforcement strategy
• Include diagrams, screenshots, and config examples for clarity.

8. Communication Strategy

• Announce changes across all major platforms:
  [ ] Steam forums
  [ ] Discord
  [ ] Patch notes
• Messaging should be proactive, transparent, and player-focused.

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🧠 Rationale

Competitive integrity depends on equal visibility, synchronized simulation, and a level playing field. Allowing ultrawide FOVs, modded enhancements that affect gameplay or brightness, network tweaks that undermines map design, spawn mechanics, and team coordination. Restructuring leaderboards ensures that rankings reflect performance under standardized conditions. These changes align with industry standards seen in games like Overwatch, StarCraft II, and CS:GO.

[mithrand0]

Note: This post is a preliminary draft and subject to change. Active discussion is ongoing in Discord, and updates will be made based on the outcomes of that conversation. Once the proposal reaches a more stable and refined state, this post will be unlocked and finalized accordingly.

The Discord link is: https://discord.com/channels/310381338538541056/1412711757679558736