R.I.P BlackMesa

[? Frisky Dingo ?]

Im not mad mesa is gone, im mad at the new server we have with bad maps. Im tired of the same bad maps over and over, valve maps server has dustbowl on almost 24/7 and now we have another 24/7 dustbowl *facedesk*. What decisions are these, do we have people flipping a coin and coming up with these decisions? Makes no sense, I will not join a server that has bad maps anymore. Our community suggests other maps and they get ignored by leadership or shut down all together. We are asking for a custom maps or different server to give a variety to our servers and nothing is done. I hate to say it because I loved the variety that eGO once had in our servers and now we are left with this. My time will be spent on other clan servers until things change. For those who like playing with me, just look me up on steam and join where im at if you want.

 

[Jubei]

Oh and berating us about fast fill...

Sometimes it is the equivalent of me calling all my friends and asking them to hang out at the bar that's priced too high, has warm, watered down beer, is too far away, brightly lit and smells like the county dump. Most people would rightfully turn it down.

 

[newb]

I find it funny that one bad decision that leadership makes people are up in arms about it.
If you didnt think that mesa was going to be taken down after siting empty for a month (If you didnt see that coming your blind). so when the leadership takes the map off they look at HLx stats. By doing so the saw that Dustbowl was one of the top ranking maps, and since the tf2 division needs recruits that was the best decision that they could make. (for the tf2 division).

we keep complaining about maps that we want (within my time it was convoy) they had convoy up on the servers are it would have about 5 people on it. while i loved the map and tried to keep it full, people lost interest in it. The server was empty and sat there costing us money. This happened about 4 times.

 

[Slash]

Wow, very surprised to hear this. This map/server is what brought me to eGO! 1st time I played it, I was hooked.

 

[Nik :D]

This same stuff happened with Valve Maps when it was up. I remember being there in the summer with Super88, Dalsia, Jozy Altidore, and myself filling it up. It goes away due to it being empty, and people come in, who we haven't seen help fill this server or play on it at all, being annoyed over it being gone.

When it comes to this, you need to think about things you've done in the past. For example, those names I listed above, we had a reason to be pissed off that VM was gone before. This was because we actually spent time on the server. To the people who have left because of this, guess what? They actually played on the server as well. They were usually the people who would be on first and ask some of us to get on and help fill the server. Most of you, like what Newb said, I have barely seen you on, yet you get angry about it.

If you like something and you know it was in trouble, you should have helped as much as possible, even if it meant idling on the server just to try and get people on.

/rant

 

[Sequel Sentry]

This same stuff happened with Valve Maps when it was up. I remember being there in the summer with Super88, Dalsia, Jozy Altidore, and myself filling it up. It goes away due to it being empty, and people come in, who we haven't seen help fill this server or play on it at all, being annoyed over it being gone.

When it comes to this, you need to think about things you've done in the past. For example, those names I listed above, we had a reason to be pissed off that VM was gone before. This was because we actually spent time on the server. To the people who have left because of this, guess what? They actually played on the server as well. They were usually the people who would be on first and ask some of us to get on and help fill the server. Most of you, like what Newb said, I have barely seen you on, yet you get angry about it.

If you like something and you know it was in trouble, you should have helped as much as possible, even if it meant idling on the server just to try and get people on.

/rant

Keep in mind, both servers had separate issues which slowly took them down in the rankings and killed the servers. The lag, for example, killed VMaps and did the same thing to Mesa.

 

[WyrmMage]

I just feel like now its a chore to play on the servers. Don't get me wrong I love VM, but I am one of those noobs who likes Fast respawn and the such, so it was sad seeing all the servers have to go to default respawn. I still go and admin/recruit on our servers whenever I see theres no other eG or eGO on the server and I try to fill all the servers, but I would always have fun going to mesa at the end of the day. I realize why it needed to be done, and I have no harsh feelings about it, but what I dislike is how they changed the server to dustbowl. A 32 slot server already recieves a penalty to itself when using quickplay, so unless we get tons of people on at once, the normal 8 people we use to start up quick play on other servers wont cut it. The more slots the bigger the penalty applied, with the server being unable to use quickplay once it is over 32 slots large. I do not see a large enough player base that likes dustbowl that could possibly help start it up early in the morning at all. I dont know the exact scoring system they use, but I am pretty sure that we would need at least around 10-12 if not more active players before quickplay really starts doing anything on a 32 slot server. So if anything the server should have been changed to something that our members could enjoy so they could help fill it up and not feel like its work for them. I remember hearing that you first are here to play, secondly to admin. Recently I feel like it has been only to admin, and while that would normally cause people to just leave, I feel like staying because I know things can change. As long as I have people I can talk, play and laugh with, this division will always be in my heart and I will always work towards making it better. So while I think this was not the smartest idea on leaderships behalf, I realize they had to do what they did. I encourage you people not to get discouraged or leave, this division has been through worse and we can make it through this if we band together, not fall apart.

 

[? Frisky Dingo ?]

I have yet to see the new server fill once...just sayin.

 

[WyrmMage]

Probably because of its overlap with valve maps, it already low rank, the penalty caused by being 32 slots and the fact that its only just changed and there are no regulars. Of course its going to be slow to fill at first, Its a new server and because of its size it requires more people to really get quickplay going. The community isnt actively trying to fill it either because everyone is mad, and some people have boycotted the server. It could probably fill if we got enough people on, but its always going to be more difficult to fill a 32 slot then a 24 slot server, regardless of the map, because valve penalizes servers with more then 24 slots in the quickplay formula.

 

[MSK Impostr]

Unfortunately, there have been multiple bad decisions on the part of the leadership. First off was the server location change. Second was the changing of 2fort from Fast Respawn to standard respawn. Third was Black Mesa. The body, heart, and soul were removed systematically.

Additionally, I realize that this is a thread initially about Black Mesa, but the discussion has evolved into one about the division as a whole, which includes 2fort. I've spent 2000+ hours on that server, and I dare you to say I haven't been dedicated to keeping it going. As a matter of fact, every night when I got on, it was full. If you look at our statistics (do it soon before they reset) you'll see that I am ranked 7th for amount of time connected to our servers. The majority of our leadership aren't even in the top 50. The people who are up there with me are the ones who are the most effected by these changes, and they are the regulars. These are the people who should be deciding the direction of the community, not the ones who aren't a part of it.

I find it funny that one bad decision that leadership makes people are up in arms about it.
If you didnt think that mesa was going to be taken down after siting empty for a month (If you didnt see that coming your blind). so when the leadership takes the map off they look at HLx stats. By doing so the saw that Dustbowl was one of the top ranking maps, and since the tf2 division needs recruits that was the best decision that they could make. (for the tf2 division).

we keep complaining about maps that we want (within my time it was convoy) they had convoy up on the servers are it would have about 5 people on it. while i loved the map and tried to keep it full, people lost interest in it. The server was empty and sat there costing us money. This happened about 4 times.

-MSK-

 

[Zeream]

Another thing I'd like to point out. Our community really isn't... there anymore. I look at our servers, most of which are 32 person quickplays, and even though they are full most of the time I see maybe 2-4 eGO members at any given time on each during one day, the rest are just quickplayers; not even regulars. Where I saw all the eGO members when they were playing was... blackmesa when it had people and the event server.

Maybe I'm wrong and I'm conveniently playing at the wrong times, but... makes you wonder where our community even went. Food for thought.

 

[Aneruen]

Sad to see this map go, as I know a lot of members, old and new, were recruited straight from it. Bills must be paid, and hard decisions must be made. However, it seems you guys have missed the point of being leadership - informing and guiding the members in order to make sure they have the best time possible.

Perhaps you've been given a gag order, or there was simply something lost between Advisor Private and Division Discussion. Whatever the situation, you clearly have, at best, a loud minority of people who are (rightly) pissed off at the way the situation was handled.

I realize that it's been a while since I've been involved in anything eGO, but I was in a leadership position for a significant portion of time, and some of that time was spent in turmoil over server changes. We made it through, with the support of our community. Sometimes I wonder if the division every truly recovered, though. If you want it to bounce back from a loss like this, you're going to need the support of your community to prop it up. I urge you to learn from the lessons of the past in your considerations on server and map choices; if you look closely, you may find that your current problems have been experienced by others before you.

People wait in line for Mesa, trust me. I remember way back during Mesa's best days that I would have to wait up to 15 minutes each day when I got home from school to get a spot on the server. I used to love the map.

I'd also like to point something out to everyone, Sloppie, CrazyWolf, and Razor's favorite map/server is and was Blackmesa. Now if you've ever spoken to me about Mesa I won't deny that I have come to despise the map because it isn't very well balanced and has some things in it that just really annoy me. Even so, it was still a very tough decision for all of us to make to change Mesa. None of us really wanted to see it go, but we simply can't be having servers that are empty constantly. Those servers all cost money and potential, and an empty server is one that is sucking up our Donator's money but not giving us anything in return.

As Noise has said they will be hosting weekly events for Blackmesa, we are also currently discussing among Leadership other ways to help you guys get your Blackmesa 'fix'.

Here, I'll give you a goal for getting the Blackmesa Server back. This is not a promise because I have not discussed it with any other Leadership member yet, but if you meet all of the following goals then I will personally see what we can do about another one.

1. All non Events servers are full the majority of the day, preferably rank 500 or below.
2. Blackmesa events are consistently full
3. We meet or exceed our recruiting goal regularly

Once again, I'm not saying if you meet those 3 goals that you definitely will get Mesa back, I'm saying that I will personally try to get another Mesa server if you do.

If you meet points 1 and 3 then that is grounds for us to try to get a new Server from Council in general, and if you're not meeting point 2 also then there is no reason for us to consider Mesa for the possible new server. If you do not meet all three goals then there is nothing I can do for you, help me help you. But if you are meeting or exceeding all 3 then that will be something I can work with.

Any other Leadership member who also would be willing to discuss another Mesa server if these goals are met can feel free to post that they would also.

Feel free to PM me with any questions, comments, or concerns!

-Kevi

Run this place like a community and you'll get a communal effort; run it like a dictatorship and you'll get a minimum effort.

I'll end my post with a quote from Sam Walton, founder of Walmart and Sam's Club:

?There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.?

 

[Flippy the Squirrel]

I am looking through this thread and seeing ALL these names that I havent seen in who knows how long, months, maybe years. And all of them are fighting the map change, disagreeing with the leadership's choice.

I can only speak for myself, but the reason I took the time to weigh in on this discussion is because, despite my best attempts at not giving a crap, I care. Those things that made it fun to be in eGO started to disappear a long time ago, and they continue to vanish at a steady rate.

I recognize that this is my opinion and my opinion only, and that my voice should probably have less weight because I'm not posting constantly in the forums. I'm 40 years old and spend my day paying attention to my job, like I should be.

I neither agree nor disagree with the choice of the leadership of this clan. I miss the fun I used to have, and the leadership had nothing, at an individual level, to do with it. It was the non-blessed, non-council, non-profit-sharing people. I am weighing in because, with each post, I get closer and closer to dropping my silly-assed eGO tags once and for all and never playing on these damn servers again. The community I loved is vanishing, and I'm fading away with it. Forget ad click-through rates, forget dedicated supporter. I'm vapor.

Now, you may say, "that's only 1 person, and he's not very active in the community." You'd be right. What you might be missing are the people who don't say anything, but just leave. You might also be missing the people who like what I brought to the servers, what others brought to the servers, and who will now not join this clan because the people who care about community over click-through are gone.

Scoff if you will. I may or may not be back to read it.

 

[GreatNate]

I am sad to see this go, it was always full when I was on! I guess I have been gone from tf2 so long, they changed it so much! I remember when this first came out! Here is a few lolz i dug up off my old computer:

SPIDEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[OzytheNerfer]

Well then, cheers.

If anybody cares to find me, the tags might change but the name remains the same.

 

[Power]

Okay, apparently it's not an April fools joke...

Just thought I would put some thought into this...

It was certainly a great server and the first server I've ever played on Team Fortress 2. It was also the reason why I got HOOKED to TF2 and joined the TF2 division for a few months. I always compared it to Highschool on CS:S because both were custom made and seemed to be very well populated.

Anyways, I'm really really sad to see it go. In addition to that, seeing that it being switched to dustbowl is kind of worse since there are already 100+ different dustbowl servers. I know I haven't played any TF2 for the past few months and I swear I didn't even know why, how, or what happened to Mesa. I remember my first day back, Mesa had 2/32 and I was thinking it might be a little people today but over a week, I see it was always like that.

TBH, I really think Mesa can go back up again and just saying, 3/4 of my recruits in TF2 came from Mesa because they actually enjoyed the map because no other server/community has it.

 

[Adam]

All of you are complaining about it being gone or being turned into Dustbowl, why dont you ask yourselves this: What did you do to stop it? Did you take time to fill the server and keep it active? Or did you sit by hoping it would just fill itself? If you were the latter, do yourself a favor and shut up. A server can sit empty for so long before something must be done about it. If the community isn't going to make an effort to keep it active, then it must be re-tooled so it gets the traffic. Pure and simple.

Honestly, I saw this coming. I hadn't noticed it being full in about a month.

 

[Zeream]

All of you are complaining about it being gone or being turned into Dustbowl, why dont you ask yourselves this: What did you do to stop it? Did you take time to fill the server and keep it active? Or did you sit by hoping it would just fill itself? If you were the latter, do yourself a favor and shut up. A server can sit empty for so long before something must be done about it. If the community isn't going to make an effort to keep it active, then it must be re-tooled so it gets the traffic. Pure and simple.

Honestly, I've been waiting for this to happen for about a month now. And you know what, good riddance. Every time I checked, it was empty, a server slot sitting there being wasted. A server slot that could be turned into something else. I was hoping for Turbine, Gravelpit or Payload, but Dustbowl is fine. You know why? Because it fills Valve Maps when the map changes to it.

Not to target this poor fellow, but this, my fellow eGOmates, is called assuming and generalizing. Nobody likes assuming and generalizing. Specifically, this here person is assuming and generalizing that nobody was trying to fill the server. Let us please try to avoid assuming and generalizing in the future. Many others and I on this thread were desperately trying to get it filled when we could, but we can't play 24/7 now can we. Fastfills don't always work either. We're only human, and in case you didn't notice the majority of us do other things beside eGO. We tried and we failed. I just love it how people like this guy come from out of nowhere to reprimand us for "doing nothing" when actually DID attempt something, and are doing something right now; we are getting on the forums trying to get leadership to realize the deep schism between our leadership and community. Apparently we are failing in that department as well.

I think, like I said before... there isn't enough eGO left willing to fill our servers... so I ask, what is even the point anymore? I already contacted the whole of leadership with questions about this whole ordeal trying to get their attention and their logic behind all this and the only guy that even acted like I existed did it to complain to me about "respect" and asked me to leave him alone. I don't even know what to think anymore.

tl;dr: Everything has gone to hell. :glare:

 

[Raul Tha Monk]

Mesa was a great map even tho people stop playing it

 

[Wilson!!]

Hahaha, I love people who have no respect. "This guy" happened to be a former Advisor for eGO in the past, and knows a hell of a lot more than any of you do about filling servers. When he was here, TF2 ran with 12 servers that were always full. There was no generalizing or assuming in his post whatsoever, he was merely stating facts which I will back 100%.