I wonder if perhaps an easier solution (and one which would give the player's mroe input/control) would be to include check box/settings in the quickplay interface that allowed a player to set what kind of servers they would be willing to be placed in, For example:
[X] Stock and Modified [ ] Stock Only [ ] Modified Only Have those settings stay persistent until changed by the player. As someone who both operates servers AND has in excess of 2000 hours in the game, I personally think the default setting should be "Stock & Modified", so as to allow players to be exposed to as many game types/variations as possible. As traffic to TF2 continues to slide, it gets hard and harder to fill servers consistently (even servers that have built a ton of "regulars" over the years). Frankly, what I would like to see most from Valve is the number of Valve's "official" server to be drastically reduced (simply taking the number of average number of new TF2 accounts registered should provide you with an adequate idea of how many servers you really need for new players), as well as taking action against the kinds of servers you listed above (fake clients, redirects, etc.) One thing I DO think needs to be changed is the penalty against servers that exceed 24 slots. I know the game/original maps were designed around 24 slots, and I can see Valve's point of view regarding servers that exceed that number. However, as someone who has been running TF2 servers for 4 years now, I can say without reservation that 24 slot servers are exceedingly difficult to get and keep full, even with an army of regulars. On a 32 slot server, at the end of a long match, when 12 people leave the server, you're still looking at a nice 10 v 10, and the population will usually recover. With a 24 slot server, when a dozen people jump ship after a long round, now you're down to 6 v 6, and the server will most likely die. Hardware has improved vastly since our first TF2 server (we run dual quad core boxes with plenty of juice), and handle 32 players without any issues. I love that you guys are doing what you can to help us get players to the servers, I really do....but as it stands, you're telling us that the only way you're willing to do it is if we strip out everything that make our community servers unique to our players, and give them the same experience they can get everywhere else....when the decision as to the quality/experience on our servers should always (IMHO) be left up to the players (which I think the scoring system currently in place is a great indicator of). TF2's traffic is dwindling....one need look no further than Steam stats to see that. I'm sure it will reach a base of "hardcore" players similar to how CSS did - but those of us who have supported TF2 and Valve for years should be given a better choice of "be vanilla, or get left out in the cold". If the vast majority of the player base wanted vanilla, that's what most servers would already be. Thanks. On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 4:07 PM, T Marler <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Fletcher, > > Does this change in stance mean we will some day see quick > matching/quickplay for nocrits/disable damage spread/disable weapon spread > servers? Competitive people like fresh blood too. > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Fletcher Dunn <[email protected]> > Date: Thursday, December 8, 2011 2:00 pm > Subject: [hlds] Let's be honest > To: "Half-Life dedicated Linux server mailing list ( > [email protected])" <[email protected]>, > "Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list ( > [email protected])" <[email protected]> > > > We all know that some server operators run mods specifically > > designed to falsify information sent to the Valve backend and to > > their players. These mods inaccurately report the player > > count and whether players are human or not. They conceal > > that significant modifications to gameplay have been made. > > This is detrimental to players' experience. > > > > Perhaps some server operators would actually prefer to not run > > these mods, but feel that it is necessary to compete and > > maintain their community. For this reason, Valve has made > > the decision not to take any action against any server operators > > at this time. > > > > We will be directly contacting some of the "institutional > > offenders" who are using these mods on multiple servers. > > However, whether we contact you directly or not, this email > > serves as warning to all server operators that we do have the > > ability to detect this class of behavior, and, going forward, we > > are going to be more aggressive at policing it. If we > > determine that you are modifying the network stream or otherwise > > circumventing basic security measures, we will take the actions > > needed to maintain a positive environment for our players. > > > > To be perfectly clear, here are some examples of the > > modifications and behaviours which we consider especially > > harmful to our community: > > > > * Forging or > > modifying network communications used to describe server > > properties to the backend or directly to clients. > > > > * Concealing the > > fact that bots are bots, and making them appear as human > > players. (Running bots is OK, as long as no modifications > > are made that make it difficult for players to identify which > > players are bots and which are humans.) > > > > * Interfering > > with the mechanisms that advertise modifications to gameplay > > rules in the server browser. (For example, nocrits, > > gravity, respawn times, etc.) Experimenting with gameplay > > modifications is encouraged, but any mechanisms in the engine > > designed to alert players to those modifications must be allowed > > to function. > > > > * Listing the > > same game server multiple times in the master server. > > > > Thank you, > > Fletcher Dunn > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > please visit: > https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds > >
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