Me and my friends usage pattern is, "We have a dedicated server, so we will play on it", and for us the traditional server browser / passworded server system suits us. But the use-case of 4 mates who don't have a server is more problematic, and I can understand why the matchmaking system was introduced. However, especially from the client point of view, there are some issues:
- There are some servers advertising publically that I think are badly executed attempts to create private servers, in that people complain that the lobby connection never completes. I don't know if this is already in the matchmaking algorithm, but perhaps it needs to move to the bottom of the list servers that people consistently have errors with. - Similarly, there's apparently a cvar that limits the search for servers to only those below a certain ping. This could do with being gui-fied for the lobby leader, as people are complaining of being matchmaked to very high latency servers. However, the thought occurs that possibly the matchmaking system is already trying to do this behind the scenes, yet due to a shortage of servers it is forced to connect people to the laggy/unreliable ones. One minor complaint, the fact that your banner (host.txt file) is a url to a webpage makes it more than necessarily difficult to stick a simple image there. That aside, we're loving the game, and loving the speed improvements under Linux :) Phil on behalf of localhost > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:hlds- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kitteny Berk > Sent: 10 November 2008 19:18 > To: Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list > Subject: Re: [hlds] Status > > It's true! Valve does love us! :D > > Erik Johnson 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 > > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 3600 (20081110) __________ > > > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > > > http://www.eset.com > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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
