I don't think I'm avoiding the KK server, in fact I'm trying to play on it. But there are so many servers (
) and so little time, so the server I play on depends on the day and my mood. But as a general rule it goes as follows:
I look first of all at all the servers and see how many players are playing on each server/map; There are then 3 possibilities:
1) a server/map is full. In general I will not join it because I want to try to help to make our unfilled servers full(er) -- I'm not needed on a full server. But there are exceptions. Sometimes, no in fact quite often, I'm determined to play a particular map because I want to try out some new tactics there, or try to recreate some of the great game play moments we had with the same players the day before on that map. This is often the case for the strand and donner server (and the avalanche server, but for some reason I have not played on it yet I think)
2) a 32 slot server has say 17+ players on. This is often the case for kalt and flash. I will then join it, enjoy it (
) and help to fill the server
3) a server is essentially empty. For example, strand is empty from when I wake up till about 4pm (GMT+1) here in Western Europe. Now, of course an empty server is boring, so few people join an empty server. What I did a few days ago was to join the empty server and test some admin commands. Surprisingly a few people started to join, and we started to play the game (with announced cap order, otherwise the map is too big), and at 1pm we had about 20 players on! So I think from now on I will deliberately join an empty server more often and try to reproduce what happened on that day.(FYI, the number of players decreased back to almost 0 quickly after I joined specs to have lunch, so I guess it's important to actually be there on axis or allies and animate the game, not just to be in specs).
So you can understand why the KK server get's not picked as often as the others:
- * It's almost impossible to "continue" a game the next day because the same map will not be on on the same time, or not long enough (mapchange after 45 mins or so?)
* After dropzone and kolsch were announced, I was all excited about it, and wanted to try these new maps that I had never played. So I went to the KK server. But there I found other maps on, not kolsch or dropzone. So after playing 1 or 2 other maps through the rotation cycle, I left with a frustration of not having played the maps I was looking for (according to my mood of the day).
* People like to choose the map they play on before joining the server, or like to be able to vote for the map they like once in the server. It's like ordering what you want to eat from a menu when you go to a restaurant. First you choose whether you want to eat Italian, Indian, Chinese, Mexican, etc. Then you go to such a restaurant, where you would like to choose something from a menu. I don't think many people choose the "meal of the day" without first knowing what it is.
Note that this is unrelated to the quality of each map in the rotation on KK.
So what suggestions can we draw from this?
First, a map vote after each map when players are on.
Second, to make it easier for people to pick the custom map they like, you could
do for example: dod_kolsch on mondays, dod_dropzone on tuesdays, etc,
or: dod_kolsch each day at 4pm, 8pm, 2am; dod_dropzone each day at 5pm, 9pm; etc.
It s a bit like scheduling radio programs at fixed days and hours, so people will know when to tune in for their
favorite programs. You can then publish a radio guide (play list) for each day:
for example:
Monday (GMT):
1am: dod_kolsch
2am: dod_dropzone
3am: santos
4am: dod_carentanfield_v1 - fun open field map
5am: dod_battlebridge - village map with a....guess......bridge
6am: dod_pier_b2 - dock fighting at it's best.....enjoy it Crazy Canadian!
7am: dod_cherbourg - a Source version of the classic dod_cherbourg from pre Source DoD
8am: dod_bleakhill - ALL HAIL the BLEAK'NESS.........best map ever in DoD...well arguably.....whats the saying, "opinions are like __holes, everyone's got one"
9am: dod_napoli_b1 - kinda similar to an Anzio but with rooftop access like in dod_isernia
10am: dod_fuel_b3 - Source version of the old official map dod_kraftsoff from DoD 1.3.....fun map
11am: dod_hameau_rc1
noon: dod_rommel_b1
1pm: 1am: dod_kolsch
2pm: dod_dropzone
3pm: santos
...
11pm: dod_rommel_b1
midnight: dod_bleakhill
Tuesday
1am: ...
...
11pm: ...
midnight: ...
etc.
Just like you would read a radio or TV guide.
If you do it like that you can also allow people to reserve a particular map for a particular time slot on a first come first served basis (with the exception may be of certain days and hours during the week).
These were just some ideas that came to my mind. Colonel, I hope you find them of some interest.
-Dev.
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