Detect & Deter Teaming Behaviour in FFA Matches

[Mavirk]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Teaming in Free-For-All (FFA) matches undermines the core principle of OpenFront.io’s solo competition. Currently, there’s no system to detect or discourage informal teaming—players can coordinate externally or simply choose not to attack each other. This creates an unfair advantage, frustrates solo players, and reduces the competitive integrity of matches.

Describe the solution you'd like

Implement an automatic teaming detection system that monitors gameplay for suspicious patterns and assigns a "suspicion score" to player pairs. Examples of suspicious behavior include:

• Consistent non-aggression — Players repeatedly encounter each other without attacking, despite clear opportunities.
• Coordinated movement or proximity — Players move in sync or remain close over long periods.
• Shared targeting behavior — Players disproportionately attack the same opponents while ignoring each other.
• Kill/death anomalies — One player allows repeated kills by another without retaliation.
• Mutual avoidance — Players never engage each other in a match, while interacting normally with others.

When a pair’s suspicion score exceeds a threshold:

• Flag the match for review or automated moderation.
• Optionally suppress XP/rewards for those players.
• Optionally issue warnings or temporary penalties for repeat offenses.

Describe alternatives you've considered

• Hiding player names or clan tags during FFA to reduce visual cues for informal team recognition.
• Relying on manual player reports (slow and often inconclusive).
• Disabling chat/voice for FFA matches to reduce coordination outside the game (not always enforceable).

Additional context

While occasional non-engagement may be coincidental, persistent and patterned avoidance is often indicative of unfair team behavior. A detection system—especially when combined with other solutions like tag verification—would help uphold competitive integrity and discourage casual teaming in FFA.