Andy Shinn wrote: > Can someone explain to me why this is such a big topic? This is not > the first time I have seen this discussed. What is wrong with sorting > the list by the best ping or map you want to play? I don't get how > different IP address makes one server more favorable over another. > If I am missing something painfully obvious please just flame me and > maybe I will see it....
It's not the sorting on the client side, it's the way in which servers are sent to clients. It used to be done via the last octet - the lowest numbers were sent first to clients. There was a lot of discussion about how fair this was, and it was changed without notice from Valve to the current system, where servers are sent to a client based on the client's IP. This typically results in a lot of home-based servers on the same subnet as the client showing up first, while those in data centers might trickle in toward the end. It all depends on the client's IP address. You might argue whether your position in this server list has any tangible effect on your server's traffic. My own anecdotal evidence definitely shows that it does. 8 days before Valve changed to the current system, we scored ourselves an IP with a final octet of .1. Within minutes of firing up our CS server on its new IP, the thing was full and remained so until Valve changed the sorting. We went from around 1500-1700 connections a day, down to a couple hundred, mostly from people who had put us in their favorites. -- ironchef http://www.dexworld.org/ _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
