Ok, this isn't about the topic of getting newbies to stay, but I think this would be a huge leap forward in solving the rq/hopping issues in flag games, and would require minimal coding to implement.. Make the ?flag command accept an optional parameter of a frequency number, so either ?flag, ?flag 90, or ?flag 91 would be the proper use of the command. If you ?flag 90 or ?flag 91, either it tells you that would make teams too uneven, or you get on that freq. The common problem is that one player ?flag's, hoping to get on their desired team. Most likely, they will be put on the less powerful team which they did not want, and while they are about to spec, another hopper who has been patiently waiting, ?flag's immediately, knowing they'll get on the other team now. After the initial player ends up speccing for not hopping to the team he wanted, now the better team has +1 player, and the weaker team has -1 player, making the flag game even more stacked. This only encourages people to hop as they are handsomely rewarded when done successfully, to the dismay of a losing team that watches as the winning team grows in size, and theirs appears to rq. Lastly, if you simply type ?flag, it works as normal, and will assign a team for you. But.. If you're trying to get on ONLY one specific team, then the ?flag command as it exists today is simply inadequate. It creates massive join/spec cycles that only adds to the initial problem. It won't totally fix the problem, but its a start.
