Holy shit.
for those of you that don't know, I hate, hate hate CTF Well. It is the worst designed map of all TF2 maps. The reason being that they pigeon holed a CTF gamestyle into a map designed for CP.
So I got in an argument last night while playing it and I was accused of bitching. So at work today the TF2 Stats are blocked. So I couldn't look it up. But I was convinced that CTF_Wel is the worst TF2 MAP Ever. Techncially even worse than Hydro which is hated because of gameplay type.
So I wrote down a number of predictions based on my understanding of the map design.
The predicitons were...
1) CTF_Well would have the lowest number of stalemates (Since the map is indefendable)
2) That it would be one of the least played maps in TF2. (Unpopularity)
3) That it will have one of the shortest game times of all the maps. (Due to it being indefendable and requiring so little skill to score. In other words, because of very minor differences in skill or player count one team can easily roll over the other team)
And guess what, each one of my predictions proved true.
1) There are less stalemates on CTF_Well than any other map that can stalemate. The only other map that comes close is Turbine. But Turbine is clearly a superior CTF map due to level design.
The reason Stalemates are low in Turbine is due to spacing. It has the least space between the flag and the capture point. It also has a small but important number of choke points. Unlike 2Fort that has tons of choke points. I'm not a huge turbine fan, because I think it's simplicity is a negative to gameplay. But it's construction is sound and I appreciate that
Well has a huge gamespace between capture points. yet stalemates are even less so on Well, further damning the map design.
2) There is only one map that's played less than CTF_Well and not an Arena Map. That's Hydro which, while technically sound, is the least popular map due to gameplay type.
The reason Arena maps are low is because they're such a different gameplay type that many servers don't play arena maps at all. But they aren't necessarily unpopular. They just feel odd in the normal map rotation. Also, they're short by nature. In fact, more rounds of arena maps have been played than any other map by far.
3) CTF_Well is by far the shortest lived map of all CTF Maps.
That may not sound like much when there are only 3 ctf maps. But let's look at all 3. 2fort, better known as turtlefort is the longest of all maps because it's the easiest to defend. I actually like 2fort because it requires the most skill to win, but many don't because they hate turtles.
I like turtles. That's a BRH joke.
Anyway, the next longest map is hydro, which is hated because of gameplay type and stalemates. I beliave because of the great level design of 2fort, the skill required to play, and nostalga factor, that explains why 2fort is still so popular. It's strengths overcome the weakness of stalemate risk.
More rounds of 2fort have been played than any other non-arena map.
Then look at Turbine. Turbine is right in the middle. 2fort averages 30+ minutes. Turbine around 23. Due to it's simplicity, spacing issues, lack of choke points. etc. But it's a solid design. I think it's the time that most maps should aspinre and it's not a suprise that it's in the top of the second quartile of all maps. it's not too long, not too short, just right.
Then there's CTF_Well. 17.5 minutes. A 30% reduction. Excluding arena maps only three other rank lower.
Gravelepit - That's due to only having to capture 3 locations unlike other CP maps. Also, Point B is the most defensible. Usually if B falls you cna take A quickly and have a good shot at C.
Steel - This suprised me. I couldn't explain ti at first. then it hit me, you really only need to capture one point. E. So because of this many game scould end rather quickly.
Badlands - This map has a design flaw. It is very, very, very hard to recapture the bridge. And very difficult to defend point 2. So usually the team that gets the bridge first eventually wins. It's a design flaw. (Note that Granary also has this flaw. The team that loses the middle can almost never take it back. But, the second point can be defended reasonably. Thus it doesn;'t have the time skew.)
Okay, so what does this all come down to? Well, Look at the difference in tiem between the four maps mentioned and the other maps. it's huge in statistical terms. There's almost a four minute difference between ctf_well and Granary.
The difference between the last four and the rest is either gameplay type (steel, gravelpit) or poor mdesign (ctf_Well, badlands)
Taking all this into account, CTF_Well is the worst designed map in TF2. Hydro is usually the map that comes to mind but the map design itself in hydro, while not great, isn't horrible. It's the gameplay type, the first of it's kind and a bit of an experiment, that's the porblem with Hydro. Turbine and 2fort definately show that there's a place for CTF in TF2. In fact, I believe we should see a couple more CTF maps.
So the gameplay style isn't the probltm with CTF Well. it's just that the style is not suitable for the map what was originally designed for CP. The fact that valve has tweaked Well twice since release seems to show that they also understand that the map design is lacking.
To see the statistics I based this Analysis on, click below.
http://www.steampowered.com/status/tf2/tf2_stats.php
I think I might write a position paper on this and go into more detail of why CTF_Well is such a shitty map.
ing play it.[/QUOTE]
