Custom Server Resurrection

[LadeeeDuke]

One of the more current issues that customs has is it's lag issue. Quite a few people have left, recently, because the lag is so bad. I love customs because it has alot of varitey and unusual maps. I also love it because of the hilarity that occurs when the regulars get on. I have to agree with Infy about the people sitting in spectate. I also have to agree with Masakari, I love the fun we have.

[Reipin]

PREFACE: Yes I see Dog said the ops are looking at all things I just wanted to give my view

Hey all,

I haven't played in over a month. You might remember me from such servers as TV4, pre-switch .

I'm going to be brutally honest here because, well because I don't play anymore even though I want to . This isn't a demands post. I'm just giving my view.

First, I found and stayed at TheVille because of the people and rules. What this means is, the servers were well adminned, the people behaved like adults and were friendly, and the competition was great. All three of these were equal factors.

I came from Everquest and WoW and so I was used to having a close knit group of online friends to always game with, it is part of what makes a game enticing. In EQ and WoW I was always part of top tier guilds which meant we were highly competitive but yet also highly stupid. I can deal with fun and wackiness but I need the seriousness in gameplay as well.

Anyway, at TheVille, after making some friends, but especially after TheVille Cup (Boobs, Boobs, Boobs 4ever!!!!), I became very wrapped up in TF2 and TV4.

TV4 for me, gave me everything I needed. It brought in serious gameplay with teamwork when full and ever changing content (new maps). I stopped playing on all other servers for the most part and became dedicated to just this server and as most of the regulars who are on my friends list can attest to, i would invite people almost nightly to this server. I would always try to fill it because the games were a fun serious and always had teamwork.

In short I loved TV4, the teamwork there, the constant change of maps, annoying Dog and Silver , and the regulars of the server.

TV4 started to lose its luster for me though back when the change in timers happened. I know most people might not have seen a difference, but to me the spawn times became too fast on TV4 and lots of maps that were previously winnable became impossible. Things went out of whack.

Previously, this server had been on a fast respawn but with the introduction of new timers it became faster or more accurate, I don't know what exactly happened, I only know that maps became almost impossible to win on offense no matter what tactics were used or how disorganized the defense was. In response to this the server was then set up to be full respawn and only THEN did I see what I was truly missing, teamwork on DEFENSE. But it was not to last...

People preferred spawning fast and playing deathmatches over using tactics and teamwork on BOTH DEFENSE and offense and the server was basically set back to the fast respawn and with it the server lost the appeal it once held for me, teamwork. I know some of you will say hey go to another server but there is no other server. Servers with 50% pubbers don't do teamwork and warpath never changes maps.

I'm getting sidetracked here. After TV4 died for me I tried to get TV1, the almost completely dead full respawn server to become the "new" TV4 with default respawns and a mix of the most popular customs and stocks (I really don't like stock maps but it felt like a great solution). A couple weeks after trying that the servers all switched around to what they are now and I went on vacation.

With my lost interest in TV4 and TV1 not remotely becoming what I had hoped for along with a two week vacation I just haven't played since.

I'm with Infusions and Nick in terms of what kind of server the custom server should be.

As Nick said: The ones I still rant with are all after a custom / stock rotation with default spawn times. If such a server existed, I would also frequent it. Until such a time, TV1 it is.

I'm not sure why customs has all of a sudden become equated with goofing around.

KRG: In it's simplest terms, (though it may seem harsh) if you do not like the server, don't play there. There is an option for everyone here, many servers to choose from.

Not being harsh in reply, but there is not an option for everyone. I no longer play here because of it. I don't play at all because this is the only place I want to play. TV4 thrived at night with the regulars. I've not played TVX since the switch but it seems like it is all goofing off and fun nights on the server now according to all these posts. We did have a community of dedicated people on TV4 in the past.

If TV1 is a "dead" server aside from regulars seeding it and inviting people, why not give the regulars a server that is playable for pubbers and enjoyable for the regulars who fill it. I'd be back in a moment if TV1 went to default spawns with stocks and customs with about a ten map max voting system. I'm aware voting fractures players, but since the maps are at a minimum and theoretically should all be good, people will not leave even if they don't get the map of their choice.

One last thing, I'm not sure if this is possible, but this would help any serious customs server... A dedicated Op for the server in regards to uploading maps and changing the rotation. Dog and Silver can both do it but Silver is a busy man IRL, and I would never expect RL to come first, and Dog is... just busy busy busy. I always felt guilty bothering him for maps and such as my childlike anxiousness to test a new map grew while at the same time trying to temper it with the reality that Dog is very busy and no matter how cheery and friendly a person is they are capable of being annoyed I also want to take this opportunity to thank Dog and Silver for listening to all my suggestions in the past and uploading all those maps for me. My thanks are sincere.

TLDR version:
1) I am a billion percent for a default spawn stock/customs mix with teamwork and competitive games (in the sense of gameplay not in attitude)
2) Many sincere thanks to Dog and Silver for their work and listening skills

[Bakuryu]

Look at how popular Warpath is. And the reason it's so populated by the Regulars isn't because it's crazy and random because (I'M STRUGGLING SO HARD TO TYPE THIS RIGHT NOW BUT I'M STILL DOING IT!!!) it has teamwork and it's competitive.

Warpath is rarely that competitive or interesting to play. Let me breakdown one of the two possibilities on warpath:
1) Team A captures middle and spends entire map sieging team B, team B might recapture middle, but never makes it past the second point.
2) Team A or B captures all points within 10 minutes

My problem with cp maps that aren't dustbowl is that "competetive" games usually end in stalemates and nobody wins. /end schtick

As far as the customs map goes, claiming that it's prone to wackiness and suggesting fallout as a serious map is absurd. Many custom maps on the TF2 server are not geared for competition or super serious play. Heck, most TF2 maps aren't geared for competition or serious play. There's a reason almost all league competition was played on CTF maps in TFC (save for solly v solly and sniper stuff).

I like almost every map on the customs server because you never know how hard the game is going to be. I've played games of cashworks where I've rolled, and I've played games where I could have rolled my face on the keyboard and done better. It's the inconsistency that makes the customs map server interesting for me.

Somebody has to win in a real competition, people don't tie for first place in a two man race, there is always a way to determine the winner. In casual or regular season games (insert sport here other than hockey) end in ties all the time, but come serious playoff time, no game ends in a tie, even if it takes six overtimes.

[Reipin]

Oh and Fallout is crappy.

And Nick, answer my PM from like two weeks ago

[Devastator]

TVX and TV1 give bad pings

[Stevo]

I will say that I don't like low gravity, rockets, and other BS constantly during games. Also, alltalk is definitely something that should be voted when the server is somewhat full. When I said I didn't want it to be too serious, I was referring to the player attitudes, not admin commands. I just wanted to clear that up.

Reipin, I think the spawn timers were fixed a while ago.

[KRG]

Spawn timers, map rotations, too fun, not enough fun, too easy, too hard.

Sheesh some of you are terribly picky.

Limit fun nights??? Since 2001, that is the first time I can recall ever hearing such a request, it's blasphemy! I'm still blown away by such a request. We are trying to INCREASE fun nights.

Opinions from the community are always welcome so by all means, keep them coming. I'm just saying. . .lol

[Stevo]

They are referring to the ones that aren't planned and just happen every day. I'm sure they have no issues with the planned, semi-private fun nights.

[Nick Mame]

A lot of us left TVX when all-talk votes started happening on full servers immediately after changing maps and you could be sure you'd find a melee fight if you joined when there was less than a full server. We had a bunch of spies implanted in the server just to send out messages, "We're shooting now" to figure out when it was safe to join.

Small things like that can really, really hurt a server. And that's what most people mean with 'fun nights'.

[Rigges]

I like to have fun every Nite hehehehehe

[Guardian]

Alright from what I gather these are the problems we have:

1. The server is on TVX rather then TV4 we should switch them so most of us get a better ping.

2. There are far too many maps. We need to remove a couple maps. which ones? I'm not sure, all I know is we need less crappy ones so we can play on the favorites more often.

3. We need to refrain from melee matchs a bit faster and turn off all-talk when the server fills up. Those who sneek funness then should join the server early before seriousness begins.

4. Perhaps maybe somehow if there was some way to make sure one of either Freight, Desert Fortress, Observatory, or Hoodoo pop up on the vote list every time (I have no idea if you can or how hard it would be to program this). I remember a time where it was rare for these maps to lose a vote in if they popped up, now they sometimes.

5. Hold off adding new maps and only update the ones we have. We nearly doubled the count of the server. It's hard to play serious when no one knows what the map is like. Not to meantion a lot of them are really big.

[abiscuit]

[quote="Guardian";p="142546"]Alright from what I gather these are the problems we have:

1. The server is on TVX rather then TV4 we should switch them so most of us get a better ping.[/quote]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I get a better ping on TV10.

2. There are far too many maps. We need to remove a couple maps. which ones? I'm not sure, all I know is we need less crappy ones so we can play on the favorites more often.

Part of the fun I have with the customs server is playing a variety of maps. I like having a lot of choice in my maps. Granted some do need to be removed due to poor quality or being unfinished.

3. We need to refrain from melee matchs a bit faster and turn off all-talk when the server fills up. Those who sneek funness then should join the server early before seriousness begins.

That really depends on the people who joined the server. You can't control when people will stop meleeing. As far as all-talk goes, I enjoy it. I know admins can put up a vote to turn on alltalk and I think that's a good solution.

4. Perhaps maybe somehow if there was some way to make sure one of either Freight, Desert Fortress, Observatory, or Hoodoo pop up on the vote list every time (I have no idea if you can or how hard it would be to program this). I remember a time where it was rare for these maps to lose a vote in if they popped up, now they sometimes.

If they pop up every time on the vote list then only those will be picked most of the time. I was ecstatic when I saw Castle running the other day because I haven't had a chance to try version 4 ever since it was released. If those same customs show up on the vote map every time I may have never gotten a chance to play it on The Ville. Perhaps Freight or whatever should show up on the vote map every two votes, but I don't want those maps to take away an opportunity to try something new.

5. Hold off adding new maps and only update the ones we have. We nearly doubled the count of the server. It's hard to play serious when no one knows what the map is like. Not to meantion a lot of them are really big.

The map numbers wouldn't be an issue if the low quality/unfinished maps were taken off the server, such as Lazytown or DogBlu.

[spm97]

Ok - I've sat quiet on this one for a while....time to add my 2 cents.

I prefer to play new maps, as I get rather bored with the stock maps, but play the new maps with friends in a competitive manner. Right now, I have no place to get that. TVX is a playground most of the time, and its the only server with customs on it. I'm SOMETIMES in the mood for a fun game, completely weird antics, low gravity, etc. Most times, I'm not. I'd like a server to have customs that is basically for serious, fun play. Right now, warpath has been filling that role for me, so I haven't been playing a lot besides warpath.

As per the alltalk issue: I think alltalk is set perfectly with the new alltalk manager. With less than 8 people (i think 8-10 is the number of people you need to have a real game...), alltalk on doesn't really hurt, makes seeding servers fun, etc. But once a server fills up, if you have alltalk on, you're basically killing the chances of having a real match on the server and it becomes a fun night.

I like the idea of take 1 server, and put a team of people committed to filling that server, and let them choose how to configure it. Any changes would require a vote. Have another server be "the playground" with alltalk, admin hacking, etc. Having them both be the same server (TVX) can't work; those 2 things are in almost direct contradiction with each other.

We have several different camps of people who want different things out of the customs servers, and right now, I don't think anyone is really getting what they want, and the server is empty far too often.

Spam

[ShiftyDevil]

Wow, maybe I should be playing less left 4 dead..... Things seem to have changed a bit.

The custom server was almost all I ever played on, every once in a while I would play regular rotation, but only if I say Hydro. I loved the custom server because that's where all the regs were. Playing on that server I knew I'd always get a good competitive match. Maybe it's time I hung around there more.

Screw it, I'm heading there now.

[Yahoo!!]

To save it? The custom server has always been on and off, but there are a few tweaks.


I am guessing stability. Stability is key to the server. Now, we do not need to go very far with it. However, maps need to stay in the rotation for awhile. Why is Broma gone? Why are maps like that suddenly disappearing?

-Maps that are coming out do not need to be selected just because they are new. Only a few maps, like Observatory can suddenly topple the maps. Unfortunately, some maps just need to die. This will also reduce downloads. I I think we need to enforce very strict community standards on maps and have them play tested thoroughly before we start throwing them in.
-Fun nights are fun nights. I am not sure what it is we are aiming at... Formal fun nights (if you can call it formal) and informal fun nights?
-Keep all-talk to just 6 people. All-talk at 24 people isn't useful and I often ask for it to be turned off.
-Standard spawn times. If you want instant spawns, then warpath exists for you.

Otherwise, it is superbly ran. It is a tough nut to keep filled, but it is a gift to the community. I haven't been able to play all that much lately, but otherwise I greatly enjoy it on TV10. TV10 is way better than TV4 for me. Sorry silver, but TV4 has caused many nightmares for me.