Fill the server?

[exodus]

Over the weekend, I played on a server that was running one map continually with the idea of filling the server. It worked.

The map was 2fort_desert.Now before all the 2fort haters chime in, you might want to try out desert. It is by far the best 'new' version of 2fort I have played, as it adds a subterranean path below the sewers, another exit/entrance to intel, tiers of balconies for snipers, and a much more open middle/bridge section.

Here's the significant part - this server constantly had 10+ players in it, all weekend long and it is a brand new server.

Perhaps we should make more of an effort to run the maps that will fill the server? I know this can be somewhat of a sensitive topic because we all have different ideas on this, and we all have different maps we love/hate but it seems like whatever we are doing currently could be more effective.

With the competition team taking a break, it makes sense to determine if there was a way to figure out which maps are being played by the majority of TF2 players, or maybe which maps are the current FoTM. Then, we run those maps to get players used to coming to ToJ so we can use this more effectively as the ministry tool it was intended to be.

This is not intended to be inflammatory, or to be a slam on the guys currently making these decisions. Everyone is busy, Gerbil has computer issues, and TF2 is not top priority for any of us. I'll volunteer to research this or to help brainstorm other ideas fill the server.

 

[Plankeye]

Not a bad idea. At one point on our CS 1.6 server I had dust maps in the map rotation twice as often as other maps as they tended to fill the server with players.

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

This is not intended to be inflammatory, or to be a slam on the guys currently making these decisions. Everyone is busy, Gerbil has computer issues, and TF2 is not top priority for any of us. I'll volunteer to research this or to help brainstorm other ideas fill the server.

No worries ^^. I'm the only guy working on it so if I were less lazy I could probably get a few more people in. What would probably help our attendance is getting a web page up but I haven't done that yet XD. I've done custom map nights in the past but decent maps are getting harder to find and even the ones people seem to like don't draw in the people. At the moment I've been trying to finish one of my own (steam says for the past 2 weeks I have 64 hours on source SDK and that's the way it's been for half a year... working on one map XD).

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

Over the weekend, I played on a server that was running one map continually with the idea of filling the server. It worked.

I'm open to putting any maps you guys request on the server. Just pm me a link and I'll put it on. In fact I was looking for new ones the other day and did not find much that sparked my interest. (my googles did not yield the map you spoke of so I'll either need the exact name or a link).

However changing the rotation is another matter. While I'm open to the possibility of putting a single map in the rotation it becomes a question of which. I look at what maps are being played on full servers and it's 2_fort (or variants), Badwater, Goldrush and inexplicably Orange XD. I've already tried the "all payload rotation" to no avail and while I will play Orange (if it passes a vote) I know some people will be turned away by it >.< .

As far as customs go Fish's custom map server is packed a lot but their stock server is vacant. Many of Fish's custom maps are already on our server btw. Fish tends to clear out in the middle of the night too so it may just be a question of the number of members they have.

I'm all up for ideas from anyone but you all should know up front...

I won't take Christian out of the server name. I've had hostile reproaches to even mentioning Christianity on other servers. Ours will not be a server that can't mention Christ it will be a declaration of love. Also I've had a few people say they would be bookmarking the server specifically because it is a Christian server to so I know we'd be losing people because of that.

I won't allow language on the server. I've compromised on a word with Toj members but no farther.

I already feel like we are hiding in a hole. Our server is one of the very few Christian places around we can go for a tiny bit of rest and I aim to keep it that way. If we become just like all the other servers there is no point in running one. That doesn't mean I'm not willing to learn from them though in fact I'm actively looking.

 

[Whon]

I guess I look at it like the L4D server... and this is my opinion not ToJ's or CGA's. I/We don't put up a server for everyone in the world to come play and pack it all the time... what good to us is a server that we pay for if we can't even get on to enjoy it. I do like having known to the public game nights were everyone we know is welcome to come and enjoy our times together. I like knowing that if a group of players want to work on some practice that the server is usually open and they can use it at will. I suppose I would like to see the server used more, but not to the extent that ToJ members have to wait 30 mins just to log in.

 

[Tek7]

while I will play Orange (if it passes a vote) I know some people will be turned away by it >.< .

Count me among the "some people." cp_orange has its place--on some other clan's server, with instant respawn, 32 player slots, and whatever other silly add-ons they can tack on. If I wanted to go play vanilla deathmatch, I'd go play Quake Live more often than not. (I can actually score kills with the rocket launcher in QL.) If I want to play a team-based game, I fire up TF2.

Again, the map can be fun, if you're in the right mood. When I used to play TFC, I indulged in the occasional round of murderball. I'll play cp_orange once in a long while. I just don't want it in our server's rotation.

Fish tends to clear out in the middle of the night too so it may just be a question of the number of members they have.

I think that's common to many servers. Servers tend to clear out on map changes between 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Central.

EDIT: It comes to down to one simple fact: People don't want to join an empty server. If we had a small group of players committed to joining the server in the evening and sending out invites to others, we'd see a lot more activity on the server. I did that (hop on the server when it's empty and send out invites) for a while, but I eventually burned out after I didn't see many people making the same effort.

I've asked for players to volunteer to join the server when it's empty, but haven't seen much response. Leadership can only do so much to stoke activity, then it's up to the members of a community to get active.

 

[vibrokatana]

I've asked for players to volunteer to join the server when it's empty, but haven't seen much response. Leadership can only do so much to stoke activity, then it's up to the members of a community to get active.

Ironically the server seems to like defaulting to 2fort.

If the server could shuffle maps a bit more it might attract people. It seems to stick on the same map when nobody plays. Also there is no way to change the map outside of an admin, and the server LOVES to empty the server by going to an annoying map.

 

[Keero]

I've asked for players to volunteer to join the server when it's empty, but haven't seen much response. Leadership can only do so much to stoke activity, then it's up to the members of a community to get active.

Just need to set up steam reminders. I see two other Christian clans doing the same when they want to see some activity.

Us with ADHD have a lot of ideas bouncing around so I forget now and then. xD

There's also another thing of not stifling the other TOJ group days. :X

Also there is no way to change the map outside of an admin, and the server LOVES to empty the server by going to an annoying map.

You can always message me to change it. I'm on steam probably 90% of the day anyways. I have to manually log into TF2 to do it, but it's no biggie. ^__^

 

[Tek7]

Also there is no way to change the map outside of an admin

Is there a plugin that allows rockthevote (or a similar function) when the player count is greater than or equal to x (say, 6)?

 

[vibrokatana]

Is there a plugin that allows rockthevote (or a similar function) when the player count is greater than or equal to x (say, 6)?

The CC servers use one that requires a majority vote of people to initiate a map vote. I think you can trigger it with just 2 or 3 people. I think it switches at the end of the round instead of just ending the map.