-۝- Make the Change -۝- Road Map for Success -۝-

[Warrenheil]

Poll for Server Improvements

_________________________________________________

Poll for Server Improvements
_________________________________________________

View attachment 17360

Recently we put up a poll on what kind of changes we should make for our Day of Defeat Servers.

Its been pretty evident that we have been having issues with consistently maintaining populations
for multiple servers. We have secured Avalanche as being the #1 server for Day of Defeat, but now I
think we have to get serious about how to secure a strong population in a second server.

Some people say that Day of Defeat just isn't as popular as it used to be, and perhaps to some degree
that might be true, but I also see a few of our regulars ending up on other DODS servers just for the diversity.
(including myself, guilty as charged!)

I think that is a strong message, that people still want to play DODS, but maybe they just aren't being
satisfied with our current selections.

So I think we were starting to make some progress. I seen a lot of great ideas being passed around by some of
our eGO and even some of our regulars... and I think for the most part, we all kind of had aligned some similar ideas
that i think could easily be solidified into one single concept of what we can improve, and what we can change about
our servers.

I think the poll was shut down a little prematurely out of fear some of us would get upset... and I think I can speak
for all of us when I say, our goal here is not to upset one another... our goal is to try to improve our servers, and for
lack of my imagination...... make Day of Defeat: Source great again! lol

In order to concentrate our efforts though, we need to show that.... we are committed to change.

So that's the purpose of this poll now, and the question that I have to ask.

Whenever I play the game, and I push forward and capture the flags...
and I hear the sweet sound of Victory . . . It is at that moment . . . I realize.
That its not myself alone who won the game. . . it was my entire team, working together, that made it possible.

Just like in the real World War . . . the allied powers worked together, to make a difference.

Because it's only when we work together . . . It is only together, that we will prevail !

Are you ready for a CHANGE?

 

[AliciaMc84]

(According to Warren) "That its not myself alone who won the game. . . it was my entire team, working together, that made it possible."

Fine Warren...I will let your reverse psychology work this one time...but this one time only!

I agree with Warren. Let's have some change please.

A.

 

[I SURVIVED LONDON BLITZ]

There is one change I would suggest and that is for admins to be allowed to do more as and when it is required. I try to play when we have only about 10 players on and I see them leave every few minutes because at least one player has a MG and mows down the opposition before they can do any thing . I would like to see admins remove the MG when there is a limited number of players on and perhaps we could build up the numbers of players before allowing the MG back into the game.
Yes I have tried to reason with the players not to use the MG but while it is there they continue to use it. It is then that the number of players can drop to 6 or less.

LONDON BLITZ

 

[Q-tip]

There is one change I would suggest and that is for admins to be allowed to do more as and when it is required. I try to play when we have only about 10 players on and I see them leave every few minutes because at least one player has a MG and mows down the opposition before they can do any thing . I would like to see admins remove the MG when there is a limited number of players on and perhaps we could build up the numbers of players before allowing the MG back into the game.
Yes I have tried to reason with the players not to use the MG but while it is there they continue to use it. It is then that the number of players can drop to 6 or less.

LONDON BLITZ

Hi London, I think this is a great idea. I know its not the same map, but when we tried that on Strand, it failed miserably, people complained and then left. It was attempted there, who knows if it will be successful in other servers... it sure wasnt on Charlie!

As far as this poll, I vote change. Even if its just a little one. I think we need to do SOMETHING. Anything, just to try to get our numbers up. There has to be something we havent tried. If the reason for not doing anything is, 'we've tried that before..' then maybe we try something else. I would like to see our servers populated once again. From looking around, this game is not dead... not yet anyway. Lets go down swinging!

Q

 

[Warrenheil]

There has to be something we havent tried. If the reason for not doing anything is, 'we've tried that before..' then maybe we try something else.

That is right Q-tip, if it's all been done before, trying it again another time surely can't hurt anything.

Just saying it can't be helped and going off to play other games, is NOT a solution.

 

[Pasta Lasagna]

One thing that I don't know if it will really add people or not, but what about the drop weapon mechanic of when you get shot in the arm. Now my memory is hazy and can't exactly remember if this is for DoD or DoD:S.

 

[Warrenheil]

I appreciate the ideas, but the whole idea of this thread/poll, is to make a statement, that a good majority of us want a change, something different.

At some point, you can experience something so many times, that any change, should be welcome.

Einstein once said, attempting to achieve a different result by doing the same thing over and over again, is the definition of insanity.

Its good to enjoy the game for what it is, but you can't expect the same people to keep coming back over and over again to fill
our servers, without (over time), changing some element of it. Sure a routine is nice, but is that a true test of your skills? All you
prove is that your knowledge of the map is supreme, and that you can kill people easier who have less knowledge of a map. It does
not hone your skills, it does not encourage you to strive to do better, it dulls your senses and you become a fixture to the map you
occupy.

 

[Greenlight Terror]

Hi London, I think this is a great idea. I know its not the same map, but when we tried that on Strand, it failed miserably, people complained and then left. It was attempted there, who knows if it will be successful in other servers... it sure wasnt on Charlie!
Q

Haha yeah that doesn't work for Strand at all. Because you have players like Anni who isn't that good and needs to use a MG

But on a serious note, I'd say we would need a small rotation map without votes, Like only 3-5 maps tops. The real trick is to find the right maps, which we really never did....

 

[Vo0Do0]

I agree with Greenlight on the rotation because I love variety and diversity kinda why I'm a chef but perhaps lets gather Intel/recon the server list and see what maps are really getting played and have a small rotation going I'm not gonna lie I like popping on to other servers just because I did game with the Rangers and the Marine raiders back in the day and I want to say that there used to be a 101st airborne with some sort of parachuting onto the map function but that was at least 5-6 years ago for me I feel this game is still really popular one of the best ww2 games produced besides world at war. Which is dead. So that's saying something.

 

[Warrenheil]

I also agree with greenlight terror *glances left and then right* i think a small rotation of maps, is the way to go.

I have done the research for you guys, and have played on the other popular dod:s servers.

Most of them all seem to have one theme... they all have rotation, but they are often full of the stock dods maps.
the twist, is that whenever the server fills up, an admin will ask the other players if they want to play something
special... which of course everyone opts for. lol and its hit or miss on whether they like it.

All of the top ranked servers, also have one thing in common, all-talk is on, which allows for some fun banter.

I think the differences between the servers is... 1st Marines plays some really unusual (realism) custom maps. Which can
be interesting, but i think as far as ranking goes, they're probably 3rd or so.

6th RB is pretty popular, it has some regulars people enjoy chatting with, and it really goes a long way having
one or two iconic people. Like Redbud really brings a lot to the game in that respects. As far as maps go, i
think 6th RB does do a lot of standard maps that have explosives... like jagd, i think that map can be fun and
challenging for some. plus... it might help people with their achievements, i have one or two bomb related
achievements that haven't been satisfied, because our eGO servers never have anything related to bombs.

Another popular server, probably ranked #4 or #5 is 'Adult gaming' -- a gun game server, where its vote-driven,
with some bizarre custom maps. people seem to have a lot of fun with that. Doesn't keep the really high numbers,
but it can be pretty enjoyable. All-talk on, with a parachute mod.

Bayonette (french) server, is much like 6th RB, cycles through stock dods maps, and once in a while plays a
custom realistic map. All-talk on, with a parachute mod.

I think playing the same map over and over, round after round can be unattractive.
one thing that's never been mentioned, is that... when confronted with changing a map... i think
it kind of gives people a moment to pause to consider leaving. Without something a little extra to
keep them coming back, some opt to eject. So in that respect... I wonder if there is a way we
could increase the load times of our maps.... if its just a standard map, probably isn't much we
can do in that respect.


So bottom line is.... the other servers are treating their rotation servers, much like a DJ. they're selecting the maps
like they would music, what they think people are ready to play. They listen to peoples requests, and try to
maintain a fun atmosphere. They all have all-talk on as well.

Maybe the logistics of having our admins change maps, might not be feesible at this point, but i think just sticking in
a few maps on a rotation server, turning on all-talk, would go a long way. Playing the same map over and over, means
people start adapting to your playing style... that's where mixing it up, is kind of nice.

 

[Simon]

W Warrenheil I think one thing we want to avoid is trying to copy other servers - since DoD has a smaller playerbase now, a lot of servers has established themselves already as the go-to for certain gamemodes (e.g.: realism servers). We definitely need to keep it fresh and unique if we do such changes that are not trying to 100% mimic someone else. Just a thought to add in!

 

[Warrenheil]

yeah, a valid point Simon.

on one hand, we can also see what is working.
we might come up with some amazing ideas... but unless we're committed to change something.
those ideas won't do us much good.

also keeping in mind, that each of them only has 1 server they are maintaining, where we are
trying to maintain multiple.

but i think we definitely have some room to grow, because... i often find myself going to other
servers just for the variety, and knowing there are more players.

 

[Warrenheil]

its like a laser beam, if its spread out, it doesn't really have much affect... but when its focused into a single point, it can do some damage.

that's how i feel about our extra servers right now... we have too many options, so we are scattered on what to play.
and the options we do have... are 24/7 servers, so we burn out faster on the same map.

So like i've been saying.... consolidate Donner / Kalt / +others, into 1 singular rotation.

Put the auto-join server overflow from avalanche into that rotation server.

Then the third server, we either do away with it entirely.... or turn it into something unique.
like a gun game map... i think would really do well on an ego server. maybe spruce it up with
some graphics and sound effects... make it unique to us.

This works because...
The people looking for the variety... will not get burnt out on donner and or kalt.
The people who like to play donner and or kalt, will get something out of it.
Plus... the excess of players from avalanche, will lend to the server being more
consistently full.

It also means that..... we have no wait times, people are not waiting in line to
come join our avalanche... and get some old Ava regulars to see our new setup.

For the people burnt out on playing the stock maps and looking for a good time, they
can play the gun-game, and kind of get a rowdy hang-out kind of atmosphere.

 

[Cubey]

If you want a big change that possibly can make a lot of players happy then you can reset the points every month/two/three months, while keeping the general game stats. There are DOD servers that already do this. The point and rank system reset every month (on their server) but the general stats remain.

This will greatly discourage camping as the best way to get points is to move around a lot. But the reason why the top-rankers are all camping is because they are afraid to die and just hide in spawn.

 

[Warrenheil]

So its to been a little over a month since the poll was created.
To be honest, I was hoping for a slightly more dramatic voting process with more members.

However, I send a Thank you for everyone who did vote. (Regardless of whether it was for or against).

Currently its: 20 votes / 7 votes
75% for a change, 25% against.

I think these numbers do reflect that a good portion of our members would really like to see
some change, or something out of the ordinary.

At some point, it might not even be about the numbers and trying to get more people to play,
but keeping the players we do have, happy and inspired to keep playing.

The idea is to provide an experience that makes people want to return, so if leadership agrees
with the results of the polls, I think it would be time to take it to the next step, and start
discussing what that next step will be.

 

[Megs A Tagger]

Appreciate the suggestions. We will discuss future server changes in leadership.