Unexplained kicking/banning (what's going on?)

[BlackMilk]

After taking another long break from KF (not so much on purpose as much as just not getting around to playing it) I've gotten back into the game a few weeks back and started playing HoE again, trying to get the last map achievements I'm still missing.

The past weeks I've noticed a weird and rather annoying trend on a bunch of random servers. Which is people (myself included, hence the thread) getting kicked for seemingly no (good?) reason at all!

I'll join a server, usually as spectator. I'll see what wave the group is on, what perks they have and such so I can adapt and maybe join in. Occasionally I'll ASK them if I can jump in. About half an hour ago that's exactly what I did. A russian server, HoE difficulty, on Filth's Cross. Happens to be a map I haven't done yet. There's three guys, of which one level six and two at level four. I ask if they have a use for a fourth in the game, the level six player (initially responding with ~~~~ so I take it he's russian) then says no. I get a kick vote against me and seconds later, banned.

Similar situations have occurred before. Sometimes I'm barely in the game at all and I get the kick/ban message already.
I can think of a few reasons why people would kick others, even if the "victims" aren't being jerks. And these are, top of my head;
-The player's perk level is considered too low. (but mine are all six)
-The player joins too late during trader time. (I always avoid that)
-The spectator is immediately suspected of leeching for so-called "spectator achievements. (I keep a list of maps I've beaten before on my steam profile, and obviously, there are dates on my achievements)

Personally I think that if you don't want random people to join your server, you should put a password on it. And if you think ALL spectators are leechers, don't enable spectator slots, it's that simple!

The one time I believe I was kicked for somewhat of a fair reason was when I accidentally killed a teammate on a friendly-fire enabled server while trying to save him from a Bloat. The admin assumed it was intentional and I was removed long before the wave was over. But none of these other times I have done or said anything that could have provoked any sensible human being.

This illogical and unfriendly behaviour is making the pool of HoE servers to choose from even smaller than it already was. Who does this, and why?

Surely it's not too much to ask to at least talk about it?

Thanks for taking the time to read and possibly respond.

[jorgamun]

I've found that spectating takes up the slot that another player would use to join if you're in there before the server has filled. Is there a fix for this, by the way?

[EpharGy]

Originally Posted by jorgamun

I've found that spectating takes up the slot that another player would use to join if you're in there before the server has filled. Is there a fix for this, by the way?

A spectator doesn't fill the slot, they are seperate, if you have your spectator slots set to 0, then noone can go spectator or join as spectator at all.

[CandleJack]

Originally Posted by EpharGy

A spectator doesn't fill the slot, they are seperate, if you have your spectator slots set to 0, then noone can go spectator or join as spectator at all.

Joining via steam (not in KF proper) the spectators count towards the limit, so when you have the maximum number of people in/watching the game then you cannot join via steam; you must join the server in KF.

[Mariu5]

I only kick players when I'm going for map achievements with my friends because we've been effed over by 'randoms' too many times. We will usually check how much playing time the player got, sometimes his achievements. Also spawning as certain classes or as medic when there is one already is a no-go.

[EpharGy]

Originally Posted by CandleJack

Joining via steam (not in KF proper) the spectators count towards the limit, so when you have the maximum number of people in/watching the game then you cannot join via steam; you must join the server in KF.

Ah, I've never joined through steam, cheers for that!

[CandleJack]

Originally Posted by EpharGy

Ah, I've never joined through steam, cheers for that!

I do it quite a bit, my clan server has 24 slots, and 2 spectators by default (webadmin is one of them) so only 22 people can join via steam. That's on top of actual spectators.

[nutterbutter]

It happens for a myriad of reasons. Stop worrying about it.

[karsey22]

Originally Posted by nutterbutter

It happens for a myriad of reasons. Stop worrying about it.

This right here. It could be because of anything. I've kicked lots of people off of my server before. It's never personal or done out of malice, but I don't always take the time to politely explain the situation.

There are tons of other kf servers to play on. Don't let it ruin your day.

[Undedd Jester]

I can't believe the number of times lately I've been banned from a server while I'm still connecting because people want to play a private game and don't know how. It isn't hard to put a password on the server, yet some people prefer to just ban anyone who joins instead.

Just laugh at their inferior intellect and move on to the next one