Filling Servers

[Legend]

Filling servers is important. We pay for dedicated boxes to host our game servers on, and there is always a demand for space to host various games on those boxes. When servers sit empty - the rank goes down. When the rank goes down - leadership has to make the tough decision of whether the server stays or goes.

We just saw it happen with Snowplow. Unfortunately the community response for the map wasn't there and the server was ultimately shut down due to inactivity. In that announcement, Wilson stated that Egypt is our next lowest rank server and may face a similar fate if the server activity doesn't pick up.

As many of you can probably imagine, with the lack of interest in the 24/7 Snowplow server we will be removing it from our listing. But it will not be changed to something else at this time, rather the server will be completely removed for the time being.

Along with this news, I would like to remind everyone that Egypt is currently at risk of following suit with the Snowplow server, but as of late I have all faith in this division to keep it an active server and continually rise in its popularity.

Don't worry though, if we can continue to grow our division for the future there is no limit on how many servers we support! With that being said, I hope we have 100 servers one day, and get playing!

I hate seeing servers turned off, especially Team Fortress 2 ones. I love playing the game and having a blast with our fellow eGO members. I jumped in Egypt tonight to get some players in it. When I joined the server there were only two people gaming which left shortly after my arrival (). I was accompanied by A Nudist Colony who responded to my STEAM message to help fill up the server - and he was the only one who ever joined.

I examined the other servers and saw other players in various other servers who were wearing our tags. I also took a glance at TeamSpeak to find quite a bunch of TF2 players hanging out. I couldn't understand why no one joined to help fill the server up. Do they not like the map? Do they not like me? Do they not like A Nudist Colony? I don't know the answer to any of those. I do know that if the server doesn't get a jolt of life something will have to happen to it - it is how eGO works.

Essentially what I am getting at is that we need to come together and fill our empty servers. I LOVE playing Dustbowl. It is one of my favorite maps to play, but if I see an empty server, I want to make sure that it gets filled up to keep our division and community running strong. If you see a message go out about a server needing assistance, pop out of your game to hang with a few eGO members and get the server started. Invite your friend to play with you and have some fun.

If you're bored, read my "GUIDE TO SEEING YOUR FAVORITE SERVER NOT SHUT DOWN". It's a good read. While you are at it purchase my latest book "Wilson In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" it is a tragic story on how a boy struggles to succeed in a game without hats.

Love a certain server? Want to see it stick around eGO forever? You have some work ahead of you then. To ensure that your favorite server doesnt disappear, you need to put in the effort to keep it here. These servers are for you guys, so if you want to see them stick around then you need to do the work to keep it alive.

Why servers are taken offline / changed

When a server is empty through most of the day, and its rank on GameTracker is falling through the floor, leadership will consider a map change or just take the server offline.


How to ensure your favorite server doesn't disappear

There are a few things that need to be done to keep your server online / keep your favorite map on the server.

#1: Fill
The server needs to be continually populated with members and pubs. If you notice that your favorite server is empty, don't ignore it and assume someone else will fill it. If YOU want that server, YOU get in there and fill it up. Message all of your friends on your Steam friends list and get them to join and play with you. You could also hop in Ventrilo and gather a group to come into the server with you.

#2: Seed
Seeding servers is another method of populating a server while not actually playing. By sitting in spectator, you are essentially adding another player to the player count. Boosting the player count draws pubs who want to play in a full server. Seeding could be a negative thing if you have a full server of spectators and no one playing. A good balance of both is always good.

#3: Recruit
Recruit the pubs you see playing on the server! By recruiting those pubs, it encourages them to come back and play on the server. The more people you recruit, the more potential players you have to help fill the server.

#4: Play
The easiest one yet, PLAY. If you love the server, play it and support it. Easy as that. Build a relationship with the people who play on that server, get to know them, and become their friends. Having a good community relationship on the server is something that will bring pubs back to the server to play again.

If you follow these guidelines then you should never see your favorite server or map taken down by Leadership.

 

[Insomnia Princess]

Legend, I told you to shower regularly if you want people to play with you.

I actually had to AFK after the back-to-back recruiting event and TF2 event. I had family matters to attend to. That being said, I'm sure everyone has an "excuse" as to why they didn't help fill when they saw the call.

The bottom line is: we all have times that we are too busy to do it but there are times when we're not. If we each took the personal responsibility of doing it when we can, we spread the responsibility evenly. Our FFTF work INCREDIBLY hard. They should not be working alone to save our servers.

 

[Mister36]

When was this? at about 7pm CST Egpyt was full. Guess it drops fast.

 

[Insomnia Princess]

When was this? at about 7pm CST Egpyt was full. Guess it drops fast.

You're correct, it was. We were doing the recruiting drive then at 7-8pm and it started to drop off, so some of the recruiters went in there to fill it back up. Then we had the Around the World event at 8-9pm and shortly after that I took my break, which is around the time they were trying to fill Egypt once more.

 

[Adam]

Egypt has definitely been one of our longest running maps. I would hate to see it go.
I tried playing earlier today, it was 3v3 for awhile before people bailed.

 

[Gerbil]

Not trying to make excuses, but this evening there was filling, recruitment drive and filling, then an event, generally by that time people are burned out :< and Egypt as we know needs constant love from members and we have very active captains, (you did get a whole Nudist Colony), one of the more straightforward and to the point guides Ive seen in all seriousness. Losing a server is always a downer especially with well loved ones.

Id buy the book.

 

[Maserati]

I hate seeing servers turned off, especially Team Fortress 2 ones. I love playing the game and having a blast with our fellow eGO members. I jumped in Egypt tonight to get some players in it. When I joined the server there were only two people gaming which left shortly after my arrival (). I was accompanied by A Nudist Colony who responded to my STEAM message to help fill up the server - and he was the only one who ever joined.

I examined the other servers and saw other players in various other servers who were wearing our tags. I also took a glance at TeamSpeak to find quite a bunch of TF2 players hanging out. I couldn't understand why no one joined to help fill the server up. Do they not like the map? Do they not like me? Do they not like A Nudist Colony? I don't know the answer to any of those. I do know that if the server doesn't get a jolt of life something will have to happen to it - it is how eGO works.

Essentially what I am getting at is that we need to come together and fill our empty servers. I LOVE playing Dustbowl. It is one of my favorite maps to play, but if I see an empty server, I want to make sure that it gets filled up to keep our division and community running strong. If you see a message go out about a server needing assistance, pop out of your game to hang with a few eGO members and get the server started. Invite your friend to play with you and have some fun.

ooh noooo! Poor Colony, he is actually really well liked and Legend I've personally enjoyed filling with you and the other leadership members from all over eGO these past few days. I get to kill Hammer with my newly renamed Powerjack named in his honor :3 OH I forgot! and listen to Wize's shenanigans

I think what may have happen is a number of things, there were numerous events tonight from a PSC Invasion to a Recruitment Drive to an Around the World event, our Comp team had a scrim and there may have been a few that maybe took a break and did other things...I personally was dead and woke up for the event late haha, today was a busy day in RL Job Interview and School. It could have just been that. I know that around 4PM ET (my time) the FFTF captains were filling everything and only Egypt was left to fill at about 6pm? I forget, but I remember being able to launch Gmod for a bit since we looked good on our end and a buddy of mine, Magus wanted help over there. Any who I joined Dark, Jack, Jonny, Goz and a few others for a bit when I finally got home and settled in from school, so there was activity in TF2 and members actively helping.

 

[Rawburt]

Not trying to make excuses, but this evening there was filling, recruitment drive and filling, then an event, generally by that time people are burned out :< and Egypt as we know needs constant love from members and we have very active captains, (you did get a whole Nudist Colony), one of the more straightforward and to the point guides Ive seen in all seriousness. Losing a server is always a downer especially with well loved ones.

Id buy the book.

This is true.

Also, the problem with Egypt is that it has its good days and bad days, unfortunately... I suppose that may have been a bad day. I'd have been there in a heartbeat if I'd been online

Thanks for the guide, though, I don't want to see anything else go
please

 

[Maserati]

rawburt is always there witha a sniper rifle on hand and a smile. lol he loves my pan. Egypt did go up 29 points and we only had Hightower go red by 1 point and 2fort by 20 points. It was all good, all things considered.

 

[Wubstep]

hey look a link ---> http://www.edge-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259897

 

[Maserati]

lol Dark, i remember that thread I was on my mini sentry phase. Good thread to read yo!

 

[Insomnia Princess]

hey look a link ---> http://www.edge-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259897

Yup, that is a good one. Those of you who listen to my rambles about community building know that I say time and time again that good server filling is about more than just showing up and putting your character in the server. Our attitudes to the pubs also go a long way to getting and keeping the servers full.

When filling, if you're a good sport, talk to the pubs, make them feel included in gameplay, etc. they are more likely to stay during a fill and also more likely to favorite the server and return again.

They can play Dustbowl/Egypt/2Fort/etc anywhere. Why should they play with us?

^ We should be answering that question every fill and just every time we play. Give people a reason to want to come back to eGO.

 

[Legend]

Insomnia Princess wrote an awesome news article on server filling -

http://www.edge-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271530

Article: Insomnia Princess / Edited: Leftenent / Image: Legend

What is your favorite eGO server to play on? What would you do if you suddenly didn't have that server anymore and you had to find someplace else to play? What about when you go to play, only to find the server doesn't have very many players on it at all?

This is the premise behind server filling. We do it because we want to kick-start our servers and get more people playing on them.

I asked =(eGO)= Gerbil this question, as she leads the FFTF (Fast Fill Task Force Server Filling Team) for TF2 Division.

She says, “Server filling is important because it keeps our servers full and happy and it gives people a chance to be together, from pubs to almighty Council so we can all bond over virtual murder together and make sure we don't lose servers. Quite a relaxing job if I do say so myself.”

Why We Lose Servers?

As you may have seen from your time in EdgeGamers, sometimes a server is taken offline or has its maps changed. If a server remains empty for most of the day, it’s rank will drop on GameTracker. When this happens consistently for a period of time, leadership will determine whether or not a map change is order or if it’s best to just take the server offline.

If you want to see your favorite servers remain, then take the time to play on them often, invite your friends and help keep them filled.

There’s a simple 4-step process to prevent server loss in any game:

1. Fill – Help keep your favorite servers full. Don’t just wait for someone else to do it.
2. Seed – Look for your division guidelines on seeding to see if it’s effective in your game.
3. Recruit – Invite those pubs on the servers to become members and watch our community grow.
4. Play – It’s that simple; just come on and enjoy some fun on the servers you like.​

Server filling is one of the most important things you can do for our community and it doesn’t require a specific rank, or special skills or abilities. All you have to do is play!

 

[Gerbil]

I'm in that article

 

[Nix]

As soon as those rankings go up, we're good to go.

However, it's very, very hard to get over the hump. We don't have enough people available to keep the server populated 24/7, and that's kinda what it would take to bring it back up. We're stuck in a cycle here. New people don't come in because rankings are too low, and rankings are too low because people don't come in.

 

[Insomnia Princess]

We're stuck in a cycle here. New people don't come in because rankings are too low, and rankings are too low because people don't come in.

I agree.

This is why I have been thinking of some ideas for how we can get new people in, aside from ranking. I'm working on some ideas and then I'll share to see what the rest of the community thinks of it. I know we have QuickPlay working against us but there are still other ways to draw in the players.

 

[shaPOW!]

Yup, that is a good one. Those of you who listen to my rambles about community building know that I say time and time again that good server filling is about more than just showing up and putting your character in the server. Our attitudes to the pubs also go a long way to getting and keeping the servers full.

When filling, if you're a good sport, talk to the pubs, make them feel included in gameplay, etc. they are more likely to stay during a fill and also more likely to favorite the server and return again.

They can play Dustbowl/Egypt/2Fort/etc anywhere. Why should they play with us?

^ We should be answering that question every fill and just every time we play. Give people a reason to want to come back to eGO.

this is why i love you insomnia

 

[Sanctified Aberration]

They can play Dustbowl/Egypt/2Fort/etc anywhere. Why should they play with us?

So I can k̶i̶l̶l̶ befriend them?