Server Filling: The Simple Truth

I may be flogging an equine that has already expired here, but from reviewing the entire thread it appears that (1) HC is very, very controversial and that (2) eGO members are not seeding the servers as often as liked. So if I can cut to the chase, where are these players going?

I don't have the depth of experience to adequately comment on anything other than an enecdotal level. I'm on BC2 Conquest for several hours every day. It is full (or nearly full) about 20 hours a day. On the other hand, HC BC2 Rush is not full, except for maybe two hours per day. I helped out the other day on HC Rush, had a terrible time of it for a little over an hour. Taking a poll and determining that the group likes HC is one thing, but the server stats for BC2 say another.

Papa
 
This is a copy of the post I recently added to our discussion regarding this issue in Leadership Private. In re-reading it, I realize there is no reason not to post it here, either:

The discussion in the forums has been very valuable. From both the members side and leaderships side, it has been for the most part, focused, driven, and bluntly honest. These are the form of discussions we need to regather the division.

The long term look at server rankings show this is not a recent issue, but one that has statistically been occurring for about 3 - 4 months, albiet slowly. There have been a few short term gains, but overall the servers have been slowly degrading long term. I stress this to make the point that no recent influences drove this downward spike.

As short took ownership of leadership dropping the ball, so do I for the same thing. To be bluntly honest, a part of my not playing recently is I have vanilla with the BtK expansion. I do not have cq or ak -- nor do I plan on getting them or future expansions. I feel they take away from the BF experience, and I prefer the vanilla gameplay. But the point is, the members are right. I need to lead by example and get in our servers as well.

I return on Monday from a pre-school starting visit to my parents and a farewell to my brother who is leaving for Japan for a year. My presence in game will be greater, and hopefully, I, along with all of you, can help turn this around.
Click to expand...
 
Papa1960 said:
I may be flogging an equine that has already expired here, but from reviewing the entire thread it appears that (1) HC is very, very controversial and that (2) eGO members are not seeding the servers as often as liked. So if I can cut to the chase, where are these players going?

I don't have the depth of experience to adequately comment on anything other than an enecdotal level. I'm on BC2 Conquest for several hours every day. It is full (or nearly full) about 20 hours a day. On the other hand, HC BC2 Rush is not full, except for maybe two hours per day. I helped out the other day on HC Rush, had a terrible time of it for a little over an hour. Taking a poll and determining that the group likes HC is one thing, but the server stats for BC2 say another.

Papa
Click to expand...

we are primarily talking about BF3, and as far as taking a poll of mode interest, i was the only one to make such a poll as i said earlier that our division is split 50/50
 
Leftenent said:
This is a copy of the post I recently added to our discussion regarding this issue in Leadership Private. In re-reading it, I realize there is no reason not to post it here, either:
The discussion in the forums has been very valuable. From both the members side and leaderships side, it has been for the most part, focused, driven, and bluntly honest. These are the form of discussions we need to regather the division.

The long term look at server rankings show this is not a recent issue, but one that has statistically been occurring for about 3 - 4 months, albiet slowly. There have been a few short term gains, but overall the servers have been slowly degrading long term. I stress this to make the point that no recent influences drove this downward spike.

As short took ownership of leadership dropping the ball, so do I for the same thing. To be bluntly honest, a part of my not playing recently is I have vanilla with the BtK expansion. I do not have cq or ak -- nor do I plan on getting them or future expansions. I feel they take away from the BF experience, and I prefer the vanilla gameplay. But the point is, the members are right. I need to lead by example and get in our servers as well.

I return on Monday from a pre-school starting visit to my parents and a farewell to my brother who is leaving for Japan for a year. My presence in game will be greater, and hopefully, I, along with all of you, can help turn this around.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Huzzah! Look forward to seeing you in-game Left =). Was nice to see Shortstuf the other day as well.

I hope this whole discussion thread will result in increased activism within our division, and even more hopefully, a revitalization of the division.
 
RandyOglestein said:
My server suggestions:

1. HC Rush, reg tickets, full rotation (including B2K and AK), non-fast vehicle respawn, non-votemap, 2 rounds per map

2. HC Conquest, 500-750 tickets, full rotation (including B2K and AK), non-fast vehicle respawn, maybe votemap, 2 rounds per map

3. Normal Conquest, 500-750 tickets, full rotation (including B2K and AK), non-fast vehicle respawn, maybe votemap, 2 rounds per map

4. Normal Rush, reg tickets, full rotation (including B2K and AK), non-fast vehicle respawn, non-votemap, 2 rounds per map
Click to expand...

I like this except for including the DLCs on all the servers. Including DLC effectivly reduces your potential player base by around 90% or so. BF3 sold 15+ millions copies and only 10% purchased premium. Even if another 10% purchased all the DLCs it would still reduce your potential player base by 80%.

Those sales numbers are quoted from EA themselves though they are a few months old. They also include all platforms, though the percent comparison should be pretty close across all platforms.
 
Papa1960 said:
I may be flogging an equine that has already expired here, but from reviewing the entire thread it appears that (1) HC is very, very controversial and that (2) eGO members are not seeding the servers as often as liked. So if I can cut to the chase, where are these players going?

I don't have the depth of experience to adequately comment on anything other than an enecdotal level. I'm on BC2 Conquest for several hours every day. It is full (or nearly full) about 20 hours a day. On the other hand, HC BC2 Rush is not full, except for maybe two hours per day. I helped out the other day on HC Rush, had a terrible time of it for a little over an hour. Taking a poll and determining that the group likes HC is one thing, but the server stats for BC2 say another.

Papa
Click to expand...

The HC rush server will easily stay full once you get it started up. It's not like Heavy Metal where it practically fills itself, but there is a dedicated crowd that will come when they see the server has some people in it.

Having said that, I do think that in the process of everyone filling servers, people who don't want to fill BC2 need to bite the bullet and just come do it. Whenever I used to ask in ventrilo for help filling HC Rush, it rarely ever came. I understand it's an older game and some of you might not want to play it, but BC2 is still an integral part of the Battlefield division and the servers we have for it shouldn't be treated as any less.
 
i gotta get my steam back up and runnin i think :D i used to love BC2 :D Will check in one of these days :D
 
AbstractFailure said:
I like this except for including the DLCs on all the servers. Including DLC effectivly reduces your potential player base by around 90% or so. BF3 sold 15+ millions copies and only 10% purchased premium. Even if another 10% purchased all the DLCs it would still reduce your potential player base by 80%.

Those sales numbers are quoted from EA themselves though they are a few months old. They also include all platforms, though the percent comparison should be pretty close across all platforms.
Click to expand...

It'll still attract more than a strictly DLC server. Those w/o the DLC can play until the DLC maps come up.

Vanilla + B2K + AK > only B2K or AK
 
I have played in eGO servers on and off in bf3 but mostly played in DODS server. Our group has a 64 man HC AK server, besides the first few days, it is rarely full. Our main server has dropped in rank somewhat because of AK but can last until 2am most nights. We run strictly hardcore, with a professional gaming environment free of trolls and disrespect. We usually have 4-9 people seed/fluff the server anytime between 6am to 10am, usually by noon the server has taken off. To be auto filled by ea your server must be in the top 450 servers. Means when a person presses play now, your server is in that group. I'm not going to speak for your group but there are very few hardcore servers, and a lot of people like to play hardcore. So I would cut at least 2 servers and leave a hard core BF3/B2K with maybe some AK squad rush maps.
 
Personally, I believe the division ran better with two or three servers. Every time we've added a fourth, we've over-extended our bounds. With my own eyes I've seen it happen two or three times...we start filling, doing well, add a server, crash.

When you try to specialize a server and nail it down, you reach a problem: only a specific playerbase will like it. Not everyone likes hardcore, or normal, yet we have to choose. Same with Conquest, Rush, and TDM. So why limit us beyond there? In just three configs, we could do this quite easily.

I agree with Randy. Votemap means a rotation of three maps over and over while the other group is never played. Here again, it only appeals to a small percentage of the audience. Maybe a certain map will make players rage, but others will join.

The inherent problem with a third server is that one must be hardcore or normal, offsetting the balance. eGO has a history of preferring hardcore, yet our hardcore BF3 servers are/were rarely, if ever, full; as I recall, the normal servers were much more successful.

So, here's my suggestion.

1. Hardcore Rush -> [normal/HC TBD] TDM (potentially a Kharg, Canals rotation?) (this has been previously supported by members and I for one would be delighted...no one seems to play rush much anyway from what I've seen)
2. B2K -> Normal Full Rotation + B2K + AK
3. HC AK -> HC Full Rotation + B2K + AK
4. potential Rush server
 
PBJ said:
Personally, I believe the division ran better with two or three servers. Every time we've added a fourth, we've over-extended our bounds. With my own eyes I've seen it happen two or three times...we start filling, doing well, add a server, crash.

When you try to specialize a server and nail it down, you reach a problem: only a specific playerbase will like it. Not everyone likes hardcore, or normal, yet we have to choose. Same with Conquest, Rush, and TDM. So why limit us beyond there? In just three configs, we could do this quite easily.

I agree with Randy. Votemap means a rotation of three maps over and over while the other group is never played. Here again, it only appeals to a small percentage of the audience. Maybe a certain map will make players rage, but others will join.

The inherent problem with a third server is that one must be hardcore or normal, offsetting the balance. eGO has a history of preferring hardcore, yet our hardcore BF3 servers are/were rarely, if ever, full; as I recall, the normal servers were much more successful.

So, here's my suggestion.

1. Hardcore Rush -> [normal/HC TBD] TDM (potentially a Kharg, Canals rotation?) (this has been previously supported by members and I for one would be delighted...no one seems to play rush much anyway from what I've seen)
2. B2K -> Normal Full Rotation + B2K + AK
3. HC AK -> HC Full Rotation + B2K + AK
4. potential Rush server
Click to expand...

The problem i see is the hardcore rush it has the lowest ranking (least used/popular)of all 4 servers. since we have a goal of growing the division through recruiting. wouldn't we want to gear our servers to garner the most attention from pubs and not strictly cater to our own needs.

I play normal (especially CQ and AK-artillary and the gunship don't work well with HC) so none of our servers cater to my needs as of right now. so i usually visit pubs.
out of the servers i search in Battlelog only 1/3 (if that of the full 64 slot servers were running hardcore. the rest running normal with usually a higher ticket count than normal some with fast vehic respawn.

maybe we can ditch one server.

have one HC/conquest/rush server. 32 slots run 3 rush maps Seine-metro-Bazaar 2 rnds each normal tickets than 3 conquest 2 rnds each (non city Kharg-dav-noshar normal tickets.

one normal original large maps+ b2k conquest - all 4 b2k + Firestorm-Caspian-Tehran 2 rnds each 1.5 to 2x the tickets. 48 slots +

one normal AK server 2x+ ticket fast vehicles 48 slots +

I dunno what provider we have, but based on gameservers prices it is only a nickel more than what our current servers are set at.

our 4 servers $166.20 (2/16 slots, 32 slot, 64 slot)

3 larger slot servers 166.25 ( 32 slot, 2/ 48 slot)

We are only having to worry about 3 servers to try and fill instead of 4. then we can focus on recruiting on 3 instead of 4.
then when next dlc is released we revisit server sets.
 
AbstractFailure said:
I like this except for including the DLCs on all the servers. Including DLC effectivly reduces your potential player base by around 90% or so. BF3 sold 15+ millions copies and only 10% purchased premium. Even if another 10% purchased all the DLCs it would still reduce your potential player base by 80%.

Those sales numbers are quoted from EA themselves though they are a few months old. They also include all platforms, though the percent comparison should be pretty close across all platforms.
Click to expand...

right now there are more than 2x the servers that are 75% or more capacity in DLC servers than in normal bf3 this was searching normal and hardcore combined.

looking at Battlelog there are about 20+ normal bf (non dlc) all modes-servers (75% + capacity)
about 11 B2k all modes (75%+ capacity)
about 15 CQ all modes (75%+ capacity)
about 18 AK all modes (75%+ capacity)

this was in north america servers.

So by ea numbers that doesn't reflect the ones that just strictly bought the dlc's

so i don't think we are cutting the player base by that much. just think how much we are cutting the player base right now have 3 HC servers right now. even though by polls 50% of us play HC. How much player base are we cutting out having 2 16 slot servers, this is BF3 not Americas Army. Most ppl play on larger slot servers.

maybe its time for us to have another Divisional server round table to rethink our server strategies.
 
CrossCheck said:
right now there are more than 2x the servers that are 75% or more capacity in DLC servers than in normal bf3 this was searching normal and hardcore combined.

looking at Battlelog there are about 20+ normal bf (non dlc) all modes-servers (75% + capacity)
about 11 B2k all modes (75%+ capacity)
about 15 CQ all modes (75%+ capacity)
about 18 AK all modes (75%+ capacity)

this was in north america servers.

So by ea numbers that doesn't reflect the ones that just strictly bought the dlc's

so i don't think we are cutting the player base by that much. just think how much we are cutting the player base right now have 3 HC servers right now. even though by polls 50% of us play HC. How much player base are we cutting out having 2 16 slot servers, this is BF3 not Americas Army. Most ppl play on larger slot servers.

maybe its time for us to have another Divisional server round table to rethink our server strategies.
Click to expand...

Don't know where you are getting your numbers. We have 3 64 slot servers and 1 32 slot server. The 16 slot on Rush is just a plugin which we tried and I'm starting to think it doesn't do anything.

Also: http://www.edge-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2210190#post2210190
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

auntdabby
  • Article Article
Specialty Team Applications Are Open
Replies
6
Views
442
Crazy
Crazy
Legend
  • Article Article
Recognizing Frio, Diamond Commendation
Replies
13
Views
498
Mikosovich
Mikosovich
ducks
  • Article Article
Minecraft Division - Looking for help!
Replies
7
Views
429
flake
flake
A
CS2 - cs2 jailbreak warmup timer
Replies
0
Views
163
Ateam
A
GardenGroveVW
  • Article Article
Honoring Those We Lost: Our In Memoriam Page, Renewed
Replies
2
Views
393
Boyle
Boyle

Latest posts

Back
Top