Summer of Sand

[Caelestis]

It's not just the people who play Freddy's or Spiral Knights. This goes to everyone whether it'd be Total War Rome, Portal 2, Civ 5, PAYDAY 2, Walking Dead, ect. But a question is. Do you as leadership want the server?

I'm afraid that is not the question, for implicit in that question is the charge, "Leadership doesn't do enough to support Egypt." It is preposterous to ask three advisors and two division leaders to carry one server when we have multiple servers to manage every day, yet we'd be remembered as the ones who killed that server if it came to that. Hardly enough credit is given to the fine men and women of the FFTF who populate Egypt day in and day out and are at the mercy of QuickPlay's finicky attitude and server-clearing steamrolls. Leadership is not somehow less exhausted of the same thing.

I agree that it is a divisional effort to prevent Egypt's removal. However, if the most vociferous proponents of Egypt are off on some Skial server, they do an injustice to everyone who continues to put their time and effort into this server without notable recognition or gratitude.

 

[Maserati]

As much as I'd like to play TF2 at every opportunity, I will admit, it can get tiresome and I have seen FFTF captains, comm mgrs, and other division members showing up to help us out so its not that the effort is not there. I have even seen the the comp team show up after a long session and still have the energy to fill. The numbers sadly have not been where it should and I do agree to an extend we need everyone's help.

I'd like for everyone to please take a moment and look at the FFTF Idling Initiative Thread as the tool that is mentioned there can be used in the background with minimal resources.

Say you do want to take a "break" play some Spiral Nights or Heartstone, Borderlands, CIV 5, or even League of Legends and in my case play some xbox. Let it run if you see the servers all dead like it was till about 4-5pm ET today. You'll be helping us out and can still multi task. While we dont want a server filled with idlers either... the alternative is an empty server, so please don't be discouraged to come on in and help out, worst case you get afk checked and kicked off and you can move on or join in to play later. Hope that helps as you can still fill TF2 and have your cake.
http://www.edge-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270936

 

[Bhruic]

However, let's not pretend that we're in a better place than we were before; from the date that the Summer of Sand was announced until August 29, Egypt's ranks fell considerably. To be specific, Egypt dropped 659 ranks between June 14 and August 29. Egypt remains in a very precarious position. If you care about this server and have any interest in seeing it remain in our lineup, then forget Five Nights at Freddie's and stop sinking time in Spiral Knights. If this is the server you want, then you have to work to keep it.

I don't appreciate singling out specific games as if those are the only TF2 players who play other games. Don't you? Doesn't Kazoo?

As for having to work to keep a server, I have a job. I don't need another one, especially one that doesn't pay anything. I greatly appreciate the people who are putting in their time to fill servers, it's a boring, often thankless job. With that said, I play games for entertainment. Having someone try to guilt me into playing isn't likely to make me want to play more - in fact, it's likely to have the opposite effect.

You (and by that I mean leadership in general, rather than you personally) need to decide why we have servers in the first place. Is it simply a place for pubs to play? Or do we have eGO servers for eGO members to play on. If the former, let's put the event and competitive servers on the chopping block, they get played considerably less than Egypt. But if it's the latter, then keeping a server that a large percentage of eGO members enjoy playing on makes sense by itself, regardless of the rankings.

Perhaps you could explain why we have such a slavish devotion to rankings in the first place?

 

[Game_me Pi?ata]

I don't appreciate singling out specific games as if those are the only TF2 players who play other games. Don't you? Doesn't Kazoo?

As for having to work to keep a server, I have a job. I don't need another one, especially one that doesn't pay anything. I greatly appreciate the people who are putting in their time to fill servers, it's a boring, often thankless job. With that said, I play games for entertainment. Having someone try to guilt me into playing isn't likely to make me want to play more - in fact, it's likely to have the opposite effect.

You (and by that I mean leadership in general, rather than you personally) need to decide why we have servers in the first place. Is it simply a place for pubs to play? Or do we have eGO servers for eGO members to play on. If the former, let's put the event and competitive servers on the chopping block, they get played considerably less than Egypt. But if it's the latter, then keeping a server that a large percentage of eGO members enjoy playing on makes sense by itself, regardless of the rankings.

Perhaps you could explain why we have such a slavish devotion to rankings in the first place?

we want rankings so other people join when other people join there is advertisement for eGO and if they enjoy the server and community tf2 gets recruits if we have terrible ranks less people join the serve which means less advertisement for eGO it is called thinking for your self dingus

 

[Jon]

I don't appreciate singling out specific games as if those are the only TF2 players who play other games. Don't you? Doesn't Kazoo?

As for having to work to keep a server, I have a job. I don't need another one, especially one that doesn't pay anything. I greatly appreciate the people who are putting in their time to fill servers, it's a boring, often thankless job. With that said, I play games for entertainment. Having someone try to guilt me into playing isn't likely to make me want to play more - in fact, it's likely to have the opposite effect.

You (and by that I mean leadership in general, rather than you personally) need to decide why we have servers in the first place. Is it simply a place for pubs to play? Or do we have eGO servers for eGO members to play on. If the former, let's put the event and competitive servers on the chopping block, they get played considerably less than Egypt. But if it's the latter, then keeping a server that a large percentage of eGO members enjoy playing on makes sense by itself, regardless of the rankings.

Perhaps you could explain why we have such a slavish devotion to rankings in the first place?

Perhaps you could explain where the "large percentage" of eGO members that are absolutely devoted to the Egypt server have been?

Rankings matter because they are an indicator of how much a server is being utilized, as well as how popular it is. If our servers aren't popular, and therefore aren't being used, leadership must consider if the finite resources eGO has can be better used elsewhere.

You ask why you have an obligation to eGO to fill the servers, I ask why we have an obligation to you to provide your beloved server?

 

[Bhruic]

Perhaps you could explain where the "large percentage" of eGO members that are absolutely devoted to the Egypt server have been?

Rankings matter because they are an indicator of how much a server is being utilized, as well as how popular it is. If our servers aren't popular, and therefore aren't being used, leadership must consider if the finite resources eGO has can be better used elsewhere.

You ask why you have an obligation to eGO to fill the servers, I ask why we have an obligation to you to provide your beloved server?

If you somehow confuse "enjoy playing on" with "absolutely devoted to", that's your problem. The idea that just because we enjoy playing on it means we have to play on it all the time is, frankly, ridiculous.

As for your response regarding the rankings, apparently you are of the opinion that our servers are for pubs. If so, then by all means remove Egypt if it's not popular with pubs. I was under the assumption - and perhaps I'm wrong - that we care more about what our members want rather than pubs. Why exactly be in eGO though, if pubs matter more than members?

eGO is certainly not under any obligation to provide me with a server (and "beloved"? really?). I joined for Egypt and I'd be perfectly happy to leave if Egypt does. But if it's going to be removed, it'd be nice if people were honest about the reasons, rather than trying to slough off the blame on others.

 

[Jon]

If you somehow confuse "enjoy playing on" with "absolutely devoted to", that's your problem. The idea that just because we enjoy playing on it means we have to play on it all the time is, frankly, ridiculous.

As for your response regarding the rankings, apparently you are of the opinion that our servers are for pubs. If so, then by all means remove Egypt if it's not popular with pubs. I was under the assumption - and perhaps I'm wrong - that we care more about what our members want rather than pubs. Why exactly be in eGO though, if pubs matter more than members?

eGO is certainly not under any obligation to provide me with a server (and "beloved"? really?). I joined for Egypt and I'd be perfectly happy to leave if Egypt does. But if it's going to be removed, it'd be nice if people were honest about the reasons, rather than trying to slough off the blame on others.

Everything I've heard about the Egypt server is that we have a core group of members that are "devoted to" our Egypt server. I've heard it claimed many times that these members are the only reason the Egypt server is still around today. If you aren't part of this group, then I question why you are having an argument over the fate of the server.

On another note, the reason that the server potentially faces peril is because of it's low rankings. This has been made abundantly clear a number of times. I'm not sure which part of the issue you need clarity on.

 

[Bhruic]

Everything I've heard about the Egypt server is that we have a core group of members that are "devoted to" our Egypt server. I've heard it claimed many times that these members are the only reason the Egypt server is still around today. If you aren't part of this group, then I question why you are having an argument over the fate of the server.

On another note, the reason that the server potentially faces peril is because of it's low rankings. This has been made abundantly clear a number of times. I'm not sure which part of the issue you need clarity on.

We have a core group of members who prefer playing on Egypt. Anyone suggesting that means we are "devoted to" Egypt is either exaggerating for effect, or deluded. I certainly am in the group that prefers playing on Egypt - indeed, a simple reading of my last post would have made that clear.

With that being said, I must assume you haven't read my posts, despite quoting them, or it would be clear that the clarity I want is why eGO is, apparently, so focused on providing servers for pubs rather than members. As you aren't, to my knowledge, leadership, I suspect you can't answer the question in the first place.

 

[Jon]

We have a core group of members who prefer playing on Egypt. Anyone suggesting that means we are "devoted to" Egypt is either exaggerating for effect, or deluded. I certainly am in the group that prefers playing on Egypt - indeed, a simple reading of my last post would have made that clear.

With that being said, I must assume you haven't read my posts, despite quoting them, or it would be clear that the clarity I want is why eGO is, apparently, so focused on providing servers for pubs rather than members. As you aren't, to my knowledge, leadership, I suspect you can't answer the question in the first place.

>"You didn't read my posts"
>Doesn't read posts from Leadership

 

[Sanctified Aberration]

Can someone shut up Coolbeans and his spam?
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Casting aspersions on eGOptians is not helpful. Our servers are all suffering, and blaming us, the players, is foolish. We are not the reason our rankings are falling. That fault lies with valve.

Egypt is really the only map I care about. Y'all can get rid of it, but I am not interested in moving to Dustbowl or 2fort.

 

[Jack]

Who are you, again?

-----
Casting aspersions on eGOptians is not helpful. Our servers are all suffering, and blaming us, the players, is foolish. We are not the reason our rankings are falling. That fault lies with valve.

Egypt is really the only map I care about. Y'all can get rid of it, but I am not interested in moving to Dustbowl or 2fort.

Most other maps can hold their own weight with some help from the good old FFTF. Egypt needs more to keep running. I love egypt but I hate the fact its hard to get pubs in there.

 

[Maserati]

Thread will remain open to continue an open discussion on the matter at hand. Any posts unrelated to the topic will be subject to be deleted. Thank you for your continued input.

 

[KelpTheGreat]

Well this thread got to be SERIOUS BUSINESS all of a sudden.

On a lighter note, I really appreciate the FFTF, and I enjoy playing on Egypt. It's not my favorite map by a long shot, but it has its own atmosphere that's hard to replicate, and the atmosphere comes from the near-constant alltalk and the people that play it almost exclusively. I'd hate to see it go.

 

[Illusion[INACTIVE]]

Okay. First thing first, I'm the realest. Wait, wrong speech.

First thing first, I am NOT leadership. I love Egypt. I was recruited there and I have at least a week on that map counting all my GameME resets. These are merely deductions based off of reason that comes from facts. eGO needs money to keep things running. We run this website, the teamspeak, merchandising, and at least 20 servers across all of our games. Where does that money come from?

1. Dedicated Supporter- More recruits = More Dedicated Supporters, there is no denying that. Think about how many people that you know are DS's. Maybe 20-30? Think about all of those over all the divisions. That's gotta make at LEAST 300. 51-60$ a year off of each DS member, that's around 16000$. But if we get more recruits, there's more of a chance to get money for eGO.

2. Merchandising- We pay for our merchandise so that people can pay for our merchandise. We have to have a company that has people who ship it to us (notice how the website for our store is sponsored by someone else).

3. Server Ads- We have server advertisements. They may be turned off for you, but they do occur. Think about a television show: If more people watch it, they get paid more for their ads, which is why Superbowl commercials cost SOOOO much money. So our Popular Maps Battlefield Server, Avalanche DOD:S Server, and Dust.2 CS:S server make more money than say, Egypt. So why would we keep a low ranking TF2 server when we could have another high ranking Battlefield server?

So the server is at risk, but quite frankly, if it weren't for our AWESOME LEADERSHIP, it would be gone. They're the reason it's not a Flood Zone server for Battlefield. And also, the event/comp servers aren't going anywhere.

 

[Caelestis]

Let's take stock of a few things first before we go any further.

There are many of us who have a job and do not appreciate the thought of coming to a gaming community as a second one, me included. I think it's a plainly wrong-headed approach. Corporations are aware that work sucks and try to make work fun. There is a pervasive sense that this community has made gaming into work. I disagree fundamentally with that philosophy. Nonetheless, I have met with higher-ups who have questioned me on why Egypt is still here. I consistently argue to keep it. People above me are arguably dissatisfied about Egypt's place on GameTracker. Currently, it is in the seventy-ninth percentile; I'm personally fine with that and I bet most of everyone else is, too. So, to answer the question as to why we have such a slavish devotion to numbers, that question must be directed to my superiors. I have struggled to disabuse this division of that mentality, which was once so prevalent a few years ago and did nothing for us.

Now, why call out certain people? There are but so many ways I can wave red flags at the people who love Egypt the most. I don't want to see Egypt go. I bet there are people who feel even more strongly about that than me. The method may be harsh, but I have received many strong responses from acting as I have. In my mind, that is sufficient. I want you to be aware of how dire the matter is. Some of you may say that you already knew, that being called out thus was excessive. Well, I was overzealous.

I apologize for making anyone feel guilty, under-appreciated, or unwelcome. That mistake is mine alone and I hope to restore some modicum of your confidence in me by resolving this in an amicable, beneficial way.

As it was put to me, some people feel that the FFTF has "tryhards" who empty the server when they come to fill it or that the FFTF will give up when it isn't interested in trying. I cannot run down and chastise every person who played the game the way he wished to when we're filling servers. Similarly, I can't chase after every person who professes a love for Egypt and demand his or her presence in the server at all times. Doing the same thing on the same map every day is unnatural for most people.

My only critical observation is this: there is an entire Steam group ostensibly dedicated to Egypt. Its members are the ones I see in Egypt the most. If its members can work independently to sustain Egypt, so much the better. I'm not saying it's the eGOptians' fault that Egypt is our lowest-ranked server, but I am hoping they can be creative in their narrower window of concern than Leadership or the FFTF.

We all know that Valve did us no favors with QuickPlay. So what? Lately, all of our servers have been pushing green and we need to go with what we have until Valve undoes that unholy mess. I'm not interested in losing a server, but more importantly, I'm not interested in losing the bonds I've established with different people whom I'd not have met but for Egypt. Those bonds are what make this a community. I would guess those bonds are more important to most of you, moreso than a single, specific server. If so, we have more than enough common ground to keep Egypt, and indeed this whole division, going strong.