The only way to truly "move" is keeping the old servers for a while, and point
those to the new servers so they can connect and favorite them. having a
turnover time without paralel, would give no incentive to the players to add
those IP's.
I do agree a solution would really be nice to keep your playerbase of a server.
I even proposed various workings for that (via steam group memberships to have
a specific tab / option to show them in favs). But its been on deaf ears for
years now.
Also, I never hear anybody about having a chat with the hoster / datacenter to
move the IP's to the new machines.
>________________________________
> From: Jason Tango <[email protected]>
>To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
>Sent: Thursday, 26 September 2013, 22:11
>Subject: [hlds] Problems caused by connecting server favorites to IP address
>
>
>
>
>Hello,
>
>
>I know this has been brought up many, many times....but it would seem that
>with the maturity of the server registration system that Valve is now in a
>perfect position to fix this issue which both negatively impacts
>long-established servers, AND prevents server operators from moving to
>better/improved hardware.
>
>
>I'm talking about the way server favorites work in the server browser.
>Specifically, the fact that if - for any reason - a server operator needs to
>change their server's IP address, it disappears from all the users clients who
>have added it to their favorites over the years.
>
>
>That may not seem like a big deal, but it absolutely IS. It takes months and
>years to build up a strong base of server regulars, and that base is virtually
>destroyed if you change that server's IP address.
>
>
>For example....we recently had the opportunity to acquire hardware at a
>significant discount at another server provider that was a significant upgrade
>from our current hardware (from a Q9400 to a E3-1270v3 with a samsung Pro SSD)
>for the same price we were currently paying per month. Wanting to give our
>players the best possible experience, so we decided to make the move.
>
>
>To prepare, we ran a message for 30 days on the current servers informing the
>players the servers were moving (and the new address). After that 30 day
>period, we flipped the switch, and shutdown the old server, bringing the new
>ones online (the 1270v3 is ridiculously powerful, BTW).
>
>
>Now, these are servers which had previously stayed full for 18+ hours per day
>on a regular basis, with a 24-hour average population (according to HlStats)
>of 21 players.
>
>
>After the first 30 days, the 24-hour average is now down to 6 players, and
>they only fill up roughly 4-6 hours per day.
>
>
>And therein lies the problem. We did (we believe) what was absolutely the
>right thing in that we chose to upgrade our hardware solely for the purpose of
>giving our players a better, smoother, more state of the art gaming
>experience. The server runs wonderfully (3 full servers uses less than 7%
>CPU!), and the players who ARE playing on them regularly comment on the
>improvement to frame rate, stability, and map load times.
>
>
>The only thing on our end that changed as far as server configuration was the
>IP - and it has essentially KILLED the traffic to those servers, forcing us to
>basically start over from scratch trying to build our server traffic back up
>(and no, we don't run any of those atrocious MOTD ads or anything - our
>servers are supported by donations only).
>
>
>The fix, it would seem, would be relatively easy. Why not tie the server
>favorites to the server registration information instead?
>
>
>Connecting the favorites to IP address does nothing but prevent server
>operators from upgrading/moving to better equipment and/or datacenters, and
>severely limits the options we have to improve the gaming environments for our
>players. I, for one, won't be upgrading/moving anything else if it means I
>have to change IP addresses. It's simply not worth the traffic loss you incur
>as a result.
>
>
>Please make this a priority, Valve. The time has come.
>
>
>Thanks.
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>
>
>
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