Jun 15, 2013, 01:08 PM
Well, I'm late to the party. I'm going to go against the grain of most of the regulars, because I think their solutions are designed to entice the old regulars to play on the Valve 1 server again. The problem to me isn't the old timers not playing, the problem is that the server doesn't entice new players to come and stay there. Adding new admins isn't going to help, the majority of the players right now are the people who have been here and know the rules. You'll need new admins if and when an influx of new players start to join the server.
So to that point, I'm against the idea of custom maps being added to the rotation. That's a solution designed for the regulars who are tired of the same maps. I don't think new players want to join a server or change maps and start downloading. I may be wrong about this, but that's just something I've seen from personal experience when a full server drops to around half full when it switched to a custom map.
I like some of Fusion's ideas, but those seem like they can only be done by someone in control of the server. With DF busy at Valve, who is the admin of the server who configures the server? Wasn't it supposed to be someone from the Nemu servers, or did that not work out? The lack of an active person in charge of the server is what seems to hurt it the most. If that is what people are nominating Enforcer for, well good luck with that.
If there was someone who could make changes to the server, then here are some suggestions:
1. Dynamic map rotation - I don't even know if this is possible, but a rotation that would have separate pools of maps that changed based on the amount of people on the server. So if the server gets low on population, the server would switch to maps that tend to attract random new people to the server ie dustbowl, badwater, goldrush. Then as more people joined, the server rotation would increase to include more advanced maps like 5cp maps or steel.
2. More robust map voting - Already been suggested multiple times. RTV, nominations, increasing the amount of maps to vote for. As far as more maps to choose from, something I liked on another server is that each choice was a type of map. So you'd have a CP A/D map, a PL map, a 5CP map, a KOTH map, and a CTF map to choose from. Because if a new person joins because it's on a type of map, he's more likely to stay if the server changes to another map of the same type. Also, limit nominations so you can't nominate a map that was recently played.
3. Adjust time limits/win round conditions/autoscramble - Shorten the time limit on maps to 20-25 minutes and add an option in the vote to extend the map if people want to stay on it. Fusion already mentioned cutting down the number of wins needed to change maps. I'd also like the idea of autoscramble based on how fast a team wins or if there's a significant point differential in the round between teams. The autoscramble could also be a vote that pops up if the conditions are met that asks if the players want one.
Lastly, this one is for the community that is still around. I'll be blunt, we suck as a community at welcoming new players. This is pretty much self evidenced by the fact that the server is dying or already dead. Maybe I'm just seeing this through rose colored glasses, but I remember when the server had people who were playing to have fun, regardless of winning or losing. Now it feels like the mentality has adjusted over time to winning at all costs and working on getting more stat points. This mentality creates scenarios where people join the team that has more regulars on it or the team with a friend that will pocket medic them or vice versa and then steam roll their way to points. New players join, get rolled constantly and say 'screw this' and leave for a more friendly server. This is something we could correct, but we choose not to and that is why we now have a server mainly filled with regulars and not enough new people to sustain it for more than a few hours.
There are other perks and status symbol type things that could be added that other servers do that would also attract new people, but I can't speak to those since I never cared about that type of stuff.
Note, this applies to the Valve 1 server, I don't play on the other servers. I will say that the other servers also need a more active person in charge of the server who can respond to community feedback in a timely fashion.
(Wow this post went long.)
So to that point, I'm against the idea of custom maps being added to the rotation. That's a solution designed for the regulars who are tired of the same maps. I don't think new players want to join a server or change maps and start downloading. I may be wrong about this, but that's just something I've seen from personal experience when a full server drops to around half full when it switched to a custom map.
I like some of Fusion's ideas, but those seem like they can only be done by someone in control of the server. With DF busy at Valve, who is the admin of the server who configures the server? Wasn't it supposed to be someone from the Nemu servers, or did that not work out? The lack of an active person in charge of the server is what seems to hurt it the most. If that is what people are nominating Enforcer for, well good luck with that.
If there was someone who could make changes to the server, then here are some suggestions:
1. Dynamic map rotation - I don't even know if this is possible, but a rotation that would have separate pools of maps that changed based on the amount of people on the server. So if the server gets low on population, the server would switch to maps that tend to attract random new people to the server ie dustbowl, badwater, goldrush. Then as more people joined, the server rotation would increase to include more advanced maps like 5cp maps or steel.
2. More robust map voting - Already been suggested multiple times. RTV, nominations, increasing the amount of maps to vote for. As far as more maps to choose from, something I liked on another server is that each choice was a type of map. So you'd have a CP A/D map, a PL map, a 5CP map, a KOTH map, and a CTF map to choose from. Because if a new person joins because it's on a type of map, he's more likely to stay if the server changes to another map of the same type. Also, limit nominations so you can't nominate a map that was recently played.
3. Adjust time limits/win round conditions/autoscramble - Shorten the time limit on maps to 20-25 minutes and add an option in the vote to extend the map if people want to stay on it. Fusion already mentioned cutting down the number of wins needed to change maps. I'd also like the idea of autoscramble based on how fast a team wins or if there's a significant point differential in the round between teams. The autoscramble could also be a vote that pops up if the conditions are met that asks if the players want one.
Lastly, this one is for the community that is still around. I'll be blunt, we suck as a community at welcoming new players. This is pretty much self evidenced by the fact that the server is dying or already dead. Maybe I'm just seeing this through rose colored glasses, but I remember when the server had people who were playing to have fun, regardless of winning or losing. Now it feels like the mentality has adjusted over time to winning at all costs and working on getting more stat points. This mentality creates scenarios where people join the team that has more regulars on it or the team with a friend that will pocket medic them or vice versa and then steam roll their way to points. New players join, get rolled constantly and say 'screw this' and leave for a more friendly server. This is something we could correct, but we choose not to and that is why we now have a server mainly filled with regulars and not enough new people to sustain it for more than a few hours.
There are other perks and status symbol type things that could be added that other servers do that would also attract new people, but I can't speak to those since I never cared about that type of stuff.
Note, this applies to the Valve 1 server, I don't play on the other servers. I will say that the other servers also need a more active person in charge of the server who can respond to community feedback in a timely fashion.
(Wow this post went long.)