I know everyone's excited about getting any sort of response from Valve, but the devil's in the details.
What if a server is full of public players, or partially full, and a lobby of preferred players wants to join? How are mutliple preferred groups handled? I suggest something like the following (you may want to sit down for this one): This system assumes lobby leaders get to see a server browser and pick (and reserve if not empty/not enough slots/friends only) a preferred server, or pick any server that they like, or use the automatic server matching. sv_preferred_group_reserve 0 - the server doesn't reserve itself for preferred groups 1 - the server reserves itself for preferred groups sv_preferred groups List the Steam groups (similar for Live! ?) you want to give preferred access to (in order of preference) and allow the server to reserve space for. Simple enough. sv_preferred_group_private_override 0 - if a lobby set to "friends only" is on the server, members of the preferred group cannot join until the current group leaves even if the lobby leader is a friend of one of the current players 1 - if a lobby set to "friends only" is on the server, members of the preferred group cannot join until the current group leaves unless the lobby leader is a friend of one of the current players, in which it functions as if it were set to 2 2 - if a lobby set to "friends only" is on the server, members of the preferred group can join and fill any open slots (manually individually, or via lobby if there are enough slots for the whole lobby). Details, details. sv_preferred_group_takeover 0 - if a preferred lobby leader tries to join the lobby to a server that has people playing, the current players are given a notice, but are allowed to finish and leave at their own pace. The lobby then gets a reserve (and no new players may join the current game), overriding other reserves of less preferred groups, and possibly being overridden by a more preferred group (see sv_preferred groups). When the server is empty, the lobby currently holding a reserve is joined to the server, if it still exists and has not joined a different server. Otherwise, the reserve is cleared. 1 - if a preferred lobby leader tries to join the lobby to a server that has people playing, the current players are given a notice, and given count downs notifying them of how much time or how many attempts they have left or both (see sv_preferred_group_takeover_wipes and sv_preferred_group_takeover_time). When either reaches 0, the current players are kicked and the reserved lobby is allowed to join. If the lobby with the reserve disbands or joins another server, the reserve is cleared. 2 - if a preferred lobby leader tries to join the lobby to a server that has people playing, the current players are given a notice, and given count downs notifying them of how much time or how many attempts they have left or both (see sv_preferred_group_takeover_wipes and sv_preferred_group_takeover_time). When either reaches 0, the current players are kicked and the reserved lobby is allowed to join. If the lobby with the reserve disbands, the reserve is cleared. If the lobby with the reserve joins another server, the reserve is kept, and they are given the option of joining the server (by vote). 3 - if a preferred lobby leader tries to join the lobby to a server that has people playing, the current players are given a notice, and immediately kicked out. The lobby is allowed to join immediately. sv_preferred_group_takeover_wipes The number of group wipes (after a takeover is initiated) to wait for until clearing the server and letting the preferred lobby join (0 to disable) sv_preferred_group_takeover_time The number of minutes (after a takeover is initiated) to wait for until clearing the server and letting the preferred lobby join (0 to disable) Getting tricky. sv_preferred_group_lobby_reserve_method (assumes that when a lobby leader leaves a lobby, a new lobby leader is chosen if the lobby is not empty) 0 - if a preferred lobby leader joins a server and gets a reserve for the lobby, then leaves, the reserve stays. 1- if a preferred lobby leader joins a server and gets a reserve for the lobby, then leaves, the reserve stays, but can later be overriden by any preferred group's reserve. A notice is given to the lobby when the reserve is demoted or lost. The lobby leader has the choice of waiting on the current reserve (demoted or not), or placing joining another server (via matchmaking or the browser). 2 - if a preferred lobby leader joins a server and gets a reserve for the lobby, then leaves, the reserve is wiped (a notice is given to the lobby), and the lobby will use standard matchmaking, or preferred matchmaking (via the current lobby leader) when Getting complicated. You can get really complicated with the last one, but I decided to keep it simple. (You can prefer the new lobby leader be someone in one of your preferred groups if in the lobby, someone not in one of your preferred groups if in the lobby, or someone randomly chosen. You can then decide which of your preferred groups to give them a reserve as - the original or their highest, whichever is highest, OR their highest, if lower than the original) Just my input after trying to figure out how the system works and how it's intended to work. We've got what basically amounts to a black box, so any comments from Valve (like below) as to how stuff works and what they're aiming for is very helpful, and helps us give good feedback and make coherent suggestions. > Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:48:28 -0600 > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: hlds@list.valvesoftware.com > Subject: Re: [hlds] Status > > You sir, make me very happy with this post. > > On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 1:35 PM, Erik Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > > > In what we're building, this should be pretty straight-forward. > > > > Our thinking is that you'll tie a Steam group directly to your game server, > > and then allowing people inside of that group to browse and connect to it. > > The server would be able to pull people from this method, and from > > matchmaking at the same time. > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Alex Smith > > Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 11:20 AM > > To: Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list > > Subject: Re: [hlds] Status > > > > Would it be possible to add a feature, so that we could select our own > > server in the match making system? Rather than using someone else's > > server. > > That way some of us that like matchmaking can still use the matchmaking > > system with our own server. > > > > > > > > The sv_search_key feature is already in place. Why not add an option to > > the > > matchmaking lobby, so the lobby leader can select a server based on its > > sv_search_key setting. > > > > > > > > That alone would give me a lot more incentive to keep my dedicated servers > > up after the game is released. Its nice to be able to use our own servers. > > > > > > On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 2:08 PM, Erik Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >wrote: > > > > > First off, thanks to everyone for running servers for the demo. We knew > > > going into the release that we were going to need to figure out some ways > > to > > > make it worth it for server administrators, and now we have a ton of > > > feedback to work with. > > > > > > Right now we're looking at ways that server administrators can both build > > a > > > community around their game server (by subscribing to matchmaking) as > > well > > > as service their group of "regulars" that play on their server. Hooking > > game > > > servers into Steam Community is going to be our first step, and we're > > > working on that now. > > > > > > There is a key difference between Left 4 Dead and games like > > Counter-Strike > > > and Team Fortress in terms of matchmaking that we wanted to solve, and > > > didn't think the server browser could accomplish. In CS and TF2, you can > > > have 2 or 3 players leave in the middle of a game, have their slots > > filled > > > by new people, and everyone else's experience doesn't completely suffer. > > > When a player or two leaves Left 4 Dead the game suffers quite a bit, and > > we > > > were worried that the server browser model wasn't the right one for this > > > game. In hindsight, there are a number of cases where the server browser > > > does a better job than the new matchmaking system does, so it is highly > > > likely that we'll be adding it back in soon. It isn't trivially easy to > > turn > > > back on, but there is overlap between it and the Steam Community work > > we'd > > > like to do. > > > > > > Right now we're working toward getting that release out within a week or > > > so. > > > > > > There are a number of Valve employees reading all of the posts on this > > > list, and while we can't reply to every question that comes across, the > > > discussions here are ones we reference commonly when talking about what > > to > > > do next internally. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > > > please visit: > > > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > > please visit: > > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds > > > > _______________________________________________ > > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > > please visit: > > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds > > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please > visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds _________________________________________________________________ See how Windows® connects the people, information, and fun that are part of your life http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/119463819/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds
