Aaaargh, frankly. I posted this a while back, but have only just noticed I failed at setting the reply address to my subscription address. Most of what I said has now been said already, but I'm saying it already dammit!
----- "Classic" / "Modded" as opposed to "Internet" / "Custom" seems a rather good change, whether one tab or two. Though as a player, sometimes I just want to find a half-full server so me and my mates can join, and whether it is modded or not is secondary (hence filters / buttons seems a good idea) Browsing the steam forums, there seems to be a quite large contingent that LIKES having significant gameplay differences in servers marked out; this is not going away. Proposition 1: The contents of a server's sv_tag cvar should accurately reflect the nature of the server. I don't know anyone who has an issue with that; before the tags were implemented most game admins wanted to fling all KINDS of information in there Proposition 2: Some of the contents of sv_tags should be auto-set and not changeable. If you're alltalk, that tag goes in there. Low gravity, high gravity, anything that might be a "feature" to attract or repel players. This just means some of #1 is automated, reducing work for server admins Proposition 3: Only some specific autogenerated tags should automatically mark the server as being custom/modded. Gravity adjustments, for example. If I'm going to connect to a lowgrav server I damn well want to know it first. Tags the system does not know about are assumed to be benign (ie GSP tags) Proposition 4: Some non-autogenerated tags, or some mods whether mention in tags or not, should also result in a server being custom/modded. To that end, there should be a cvar which overrides classic listing and forces a server to be custom/modded. Proposition 5: There should be an "all" view mode (or tab if valve absolutely insist :/ ), and it should be default (The default should be player-configurable or remember their last option). In this mode, classic servers should be clearly distinguishable from custom/modded, presumably by way of colours. When a player is using the "All" mode and clicks to connect to a custom/modded server, he should get a pop-up notifying him that this server could have signigicant gameplay differences from classic TF2, which one of those "don't tell me again" checkboxes. Proposition 6: If this makes finding the servers players want easier for them, it is a success. Accordingly, Valve should aggressively de-list game servers which attempt to subvert the auto-generated portion of the system, and strongly encourage mod authors to set appropriate tags and raise the custom/modded flag when gameplay-altering aspects of their mods are enabled. Problems: Do higher player numbers count as custom? It can be argued the maps are only designed for 24 players; then do LOWER player numbers count as custom? What other cvar-derived settings might be assumed to be gameplay-altering? Alltalk should be listed as a tag (in casual play I find it much better and is an attractant, though serious players might be repelled due to the inherent loss in team coordination) but is presumably not gameplay altering? Would players play on servers marked as custom/modded? Some always will, especially on servers with strong communities, but the transient masses? If they won't, then shouldn't game admins maybe tone down the mods anyway? Would game admins cooperate? Or would they still attempt to subvert the classification system? Assuming the system is implemented as proposed, again, doesn't that imply the admins are attempting to "trap" players and lure them into servers under false pretences? Do I talk too much? (YES!) Opinions please Frymaster on behalf of games.127001.org _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds
