Well, it's happened...

[stewie574]

The Event Server has a higher ranking than our Anzio server. RANT TIME!!

Alright. How did we let this happen? I'm going to tell you my observations, and I'm probably going to get a lot of negative responses from this, but I feel it needs to be addressed. Honestly, I don't think we care about Anzio. Period.

I know the purpose of the Rangers is to fill the servers based on their rankings. Okay, fair enough. However, Kalt will get to 32/32 players, and will stay that way for a few hours, which is great! But, how many of you who help fill Kalt realize their are other servers needing to be filled, namely Anzio? Out of curiosity, I'll check who all is in the Kalt server when it's full, and surprise! It's half full of just eGO members. This is bad. Half of those players can be helping out Anzio. Half of those players are taking server slots that could be filled by pubs, which can help boost our division if they get recruited. Kalt needs maybe 3 people max to get started, not 13. At the time of writing this (6:05 EST), Kalt is 12/32, with 2 people being in eGO. That's what I'm talking about. We don't need a ton of members in one server. They can help out our other servers, namely Anzio, or other servers in other divisions.

My main concern is that it seems like no one is willing to help out the server. I've sent out numerous server chat messages asking people to come to Anzio, and I get no response. I'm not the most talkative person, but I've asked people in Ventrilo if they want to come to Anzio, and get either no response, or people are busy. Now, I don't know if people can't hear me or they aren't getting the messages, but I think it's that members don't care.

Bottom line, the server isn't the issue. It's not the friendly fire. It's not the assault class. It's not a lack of interest from pubbers. It's a lack of interest from eGO.

/rant.

 

[Dr.Compton]

The problem with Anzio is the fact that it takes 20 eGO members to get it filled, and after we leave after two hours of playing, it dies again

 

[Joe_The_Plumber]

I've recently been playing the few realism servers that are out there.... where it's just a normal server until an admin comes along and gets a realism game going. They'll have a steam group and everything and the servers get started pretty quickly once an admin gets in. For it being mostly pub players it still remains largely playable. I know that option would make a lot of the realism fans here in the division happy as well Since all the servers are password protected (mostly just "realism" as their password) it also has the potential to bring in more traffic to the site if advertised wisely on our other servers. I know this subject has been beat to death recently and I hate to add to it, but even a map rotation with a map vote at the end with Anzio on it may be better at this point.

 

[StaticDoom]

I have gone into Anzio numerous times in order to get it going but I won't sit in a dead server for a prolonged period of time IN HOPES that it fills. I'm all for doing things to better the servers and more so better the clan, but sitting in Anzio waiting seems like a waste of time. Our other more popular servers are slipping, so I think that attention is needed there to keep the DOD:S division alive and well.

 

[whoflungpoo]

What I think is: We should make sure that our other four servers are filled before we go to Anzio. Or, we should look at the rankings. Before we try and fill Kalt and Anzio, we should make sure that first, Ava is full, then Donner, next Strand, etc. Not that Anzio shouldnt be a priority to be filled, but our other higher ranking servers should be made sure there filled first.

Also, when you mentioned that there are usually 13 members of eGO on Kalt, that's cause a lot of eGO members love Kalt.

 

[whoflungpoo]

Our other more popular servers are slipping, so I think that attention is needed there to keep the DOD:S division alive and well.

And I 100% agree with you on this.

 

[PureMusic]

Hi,

I have been here only for a short while and I've been playing DoD only for a short while.
But for now I've only been playing Avalanche. But that server seems rather (too) full for me.

Wouldn't it be a great idea to remove one of the other maps and create another Avalanche? I have no idea about what the effects might be.

 

[Dr.Compton]

We dont really need to focus on the other servers in terms of them filling, During peak gaming hours (I consider 4-12 EST to be "peak gaming hours") Ava, Charlie, and Donner stay completely full. Kalt gets full and stays full from about 6-8 or 9 EST depending on events.

Anzio is just dead. The only time Anzio gets attention is if the Rangers ask for help and we get 10+ members in there just to start it. As soon as we leave due to it being full, it empties out completely. Personally, I think its time to drop Anzio and either vote for a new map, or do a rotation.

Every time a rotation server is brought up I hear, "Oh DoDS has tried that before and it didnt work out." In my 4 1/2 years of being in eGO I have never seen a rotation server. and DoDS not re-trying things because they didnt work out is silly, because we dropped Kalt for a long time, and now its back and its almost in the top 50.

 

[Mini]

Wait, didn't we just have a HUGE discussion about anzio? Sighhhh.

 

[SomeDude]

Hi,

I have been here only for a short while and I've been playing DoD only for a short while.
But for now I've only been playing Avalanche. But that server seems rather (too) full for me.

Wouldn't it be a great idea to remove one of the other maps and create another Avalanche? I have no idea about what the effects might be.

While that's a good idea! There's a risk that a 2nd avalanche server might take away players/attention from the original Avalanche server.


On the Anzio issue, i will hold whatever comments i have.

 

[BlackBird.]

What's the link to this discussion? I'm wondering what the leadership input is on this matter. To me it just seems anzio is a unpopular map for public players. Why not choose for a more popular map?

 

[Megs A Tagger]

What's the link to this discussion? I'm wondering what the leadership input is on this matter. To me it just seems anzio is a unpopular map for public players. Why not choose for a more popular map?

http://www.edge-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=241260

 

[MoistTowelette]

I'm a big fan of the Anzio server. Aside from playing Kalt occasionally, if I'm playing DOD, I'm on Anzio.

With that being said and after reading through our Anzio Assault Limit thread, I'm really starting to agree with Cubey and a few others that say it's because of how quickly the rounds can go.

I saw numerous occasions last night with around a 10v10 or more that the rounds ended within 2 mins or less. I can see ppl not wanting to play if the rounds go that quickly. The things I love about the map (numerous routes, open spaces, confined spaces) lead exactly to that quick capping. You rarely, if ever, see that happen on Kalt, Donner, or Avalanche. Those maps typically turn in to a stalemate or bottle neck. With Anzio you're constantly having to watch your back because ppl can come from just about everywhere.

I'm not sure if there is an answer or fix to make this map more popular. Maybe make the 2 caps take 3 ppl. I don't know.

 

[wewo]

If we give Anzio attention it is at the expense of Kalt. At this point we do not have enough rangers, members and pubs to keep both Kalt and Anzio filled. Without Anzio Kalt would be ranked much higher. How about a gungame server?

 

[S!ck]

I agree partially with what Wewo has stated. I don't see a problem with the way Anzio is set up. That being said, Kalt does suffer because of anzio needing rangers to help fill. Then when there are enough players on anzio and rangers start to leave to let's say fill kalt, pubs take off too leaving the server empty once again.

I think Donner, Avalanche, strand and kalt are the lifeblood of our division and I think we should be trying to concentrate on making them the top 4 servers.... once that's done and kalt becomes steady with pubs then maybe look at the server rankings worldwide. See wich other server is always full and take on that map..


For now I think we should dump Anzio(not add another map) so that we can make sure our 4 servers are the best they can be. Some may say.. yeah but Avalanche is always full, donner is always full.. To that I say yes, and always trying to get on a full server is annoying BUT it will keep the rankings flying upwards! all 4 of our servers can ALWAYS be full with the amount of pubs and eGO members we have. Just my 2 cents! Sorry if I am out of line but sometimes more is not better.. thanks for reading.

 

[Joe_The_Plumber]

If we give Anzio attention it is at the expense of Kalt. At this point we do not have enough rangers, members and pubs to keep both Kalt and Anzio filled.

Yes, and winter is coming..

 

[Lungbuster]

We will not be getting rid of Anzio at this time, that is always a last resort and we are not there yet. In the other thread we offered a suggestion on a change and you guys gave us more than enough evidence to look even further into the problems with Anzio. We are working to get some changes made to Anzio as soon as possible, that we feel would help in the long run. Assault classes will not be touched, once again the help you all gave us has shown that the amount of assaults on the map is not the problem. At this very moment we are discussing the options we have that will make the rounds last longer on Anzio, and some of the FF problems. We are fairly confident that these changes will give the map a much needed push.

Please do not let this post deter any of you from posting further opinions about Anzio, we are taking all the advice we can get. All we ask is that you guys continue to do what you have been, and be as supportive as possible. It is after all, you guys that make this community what it is, and the last thing leadership wants is for that to change.

 

[S!ck]

It is great to know that our voices are not going unheard and that Leadership does take everyones advice into consideration. It is a wonderful thing to see. I understand that ditching a server is a last resort and a somewhat drastic approach.. I just want to see all of our servers succeed without having to flip from server to server to keep them up. In any event, I cannot wait to see what you guys will do with Anzio with regards to changes!

 

[Cushiony]

I like anzio since there is usually a lot of good players that come on that map when its full. However, for me one map can get boring after playing it for a while and I love variety.

However I feel having a custom map rotation server for eGO might have pro's and cons. One, there is already an American server that has a well run one, so most might end up going well since it's real hard to keep a custom map server going anyways (well from my experience when I ran a custom map server for a hl2 mod). Two, we already have events that is kind of like our custom map server, and having those custom maps being played too many times might just make events less interesting for me.

For now I think eGO serves a good purpose by having 24/7 maps and bringing in new friends through full servers (like avalanche for sure) whether they become a member or not (like redbud, tone deaf, savage, lonewolf). Then I love how we all get together to attend events such as realisms.

As for kalt I think its great we have a group of non members dedicated to that server (lonewolf, broken window, carnage, savage, tone deaf, buggy, nun, etc.). Although it wont stay full forever, I see that these guys come on around evening and it fills up quite well.

All in all, despite our statistics, I feel eGO is still going strong and is doing a great job keeping a really old game alive. I played this all the way when it first came out and quit since I never got to see a well run community with friendly members like eGO. Playing in other servers really makes me appreciate eGO, since I usually feel really annoyed or disturbed when I play on other servers that have lots of griefers.

As long as eGO sticks with their good community values, I think over time we will have full servers for a long period of time, or we will have times when servers are slow due to not many American players being on or simply because eGO members are busy with life or busy with other games, or perhaps even want to play on different servers for a little while.

 

[wewo]

I suggested GG or even orange maps, so we can get new players into the servers. There are some members and pubs who only play these maps/mods, so it would help expand our player base and help us get new members. Something to consider.

Lung, thanks for encouraging us to comment, it is refreshing