Suggestion Box

[Tricks]

[quote author=Tricks link=topic=206.msg127439#msg127439 date=1261105937]

Time for a yellow server imo....

We had one in Europe once upon a time, what to pay for it? 
[/quote]

Slight derail, but at what point would we consider putting up another server? This could has been brought up on in a different thread, so my apologies if I missed something. I see both servers with 20+ players the majority on the time, but I admit there could be some new update/winter break correlation factors I am not considering. As mind-numbing as it is, 24/7 2fort typically stay packed in a variety of different gaming groups, and can attract a different kind of player and market. I very much respect our autonomous nature and culture, but I do want to see brb grow as well.

[Scary Womanizing Pig Mask]

[quote author=Caffeine link=topic=206.msg127440#msg127440 date=1261105998]
[quote author=Tricks link=topic=206.msg127439#msg127439 date=1261105937]

Time for a yellow server imo....

We had one in Europe once upon a time, what to pay for it? 
[/quote]

Slight derail, but at what point would we consider putting up another server? This could has been brought up on in a different thread, so my apologies if I missed something. I see both servers with 20+ players the majority on the time, but I admit there could be some new update/winter break correlation factors I am not considering. As mind-numbing as it is, 24/7 2fort typically stay packed in a variety of different gaming groups, and can attract a different kind of player and market. I very much respect our autonomous nature and culture, but I do want to see brb grow as well.
[/quote]

Red is usually full, but Blue is almost never :X

[CaffeinePowered]

[quote author=Tricks link=topic=206.msg127894#msg127894 date=1261407473]
[quote author=Caffeine link=topic=206.msg127440#msg127440 date=1261105998]
[quote author=Tricks link=topic=206.msg127439#msg127439 date=1261105937]

Time for a yellow server imo....

We had one in Europe once upon a time, what to pay for it? 
[/quote]

Slight derail, but at what point would we consider putting up another server? This could has been brought up on in a different thread, so my apologies if I missed something. I see both servers with 20+ players the majority on the time, but I admit there could be some new update/winter break correlation factors I am not considering. As mind-numbing as it is, 24/7 2fort typically stay packed in a variety of different gaming groups, and can attract a different kind of player and market. I very much respect our autonomous nature and culture, but I do want to see brb grow as well.
[/quote]

Red is usually full, but Blue is almost never :X
[/quote]

Its been on an "as needed" basis, before Ainmosni provided a European one at no cost, and it was usually hard(er) to get a game going there. I think the contest + update + winter break have finally been getting blue a following, before it was usually Red is full and no one ever played in Blue.

The main problem is building a group of people that have the server on their favorites list, since Red has been around almost since TF2's inception at the same IP, that list is quite large, and getting a game going is easy. Blue on the other hand, requires a bit more work....

[Neonie]

It should be noted that Blue refuses to go on a lot of peoples Favorites list including my own. That being said it's usually in my history, and if half the people playing are in Blue and Half are in Red, I'll go into the server with the people I want to play with more, for instance, last night it was pretty split and I went into blue because I saw Surf in there and Surfs a pretty cool guy.

[Tricks]

It should be noted that Blue refuses to go on a lot of peoples Favorites list including my own. That being said it's usually in my history, and if half the people playing are in Blue and Half are in Red, I'll go into the server with the people I want to play with more, for instance, last night it was pretty split and I went into blue because I saw Surf in there and Surfs a pretty cool guy.

I certainly understand what you are saying; Surf is a pretty cool guy.

I think your approach is pretty standard for a lot of players. They watch their friend’s list, and hop on the servers when XYZ player gets on a certain server. That’s cool and fun, and I totally respect that.

I take a little different approach. I think actually trying to start up games is a lot more fun then just hanging out with the same couple people. True, it leads to plenty of times where it is just me and another scout on blue, which gets boring, but I think feeling the momentum on a server starting up is more exciting then joining one in progress. Seeding servers is something that all successful gaming communities have to do, even ones with thousands of members. It just means you think about how you can help out, rather than “it’s all about me, more points, pub stomping, etc”. I’m closer to 75%/25% Blue/Red, and I think it’s more fun that way. It’s great to check the servers and see them both close to full.

My comments came more from the fact that there has been almost no need to seed since I joined. True, Caff still spasm invites to get things going every so often, but that is typically early in the evening when most people aren’t even online yet. Pig Mask, I understand that traditionally blue has more or less been an empty server, but that hasn’t necessarily been true in the few weeks I’ve been here.

If it’s not an idea that holds merit for anybody, I’m completely fine with that. Just wanted to know what your thoughts were.

[Scary Womanizing Pig Mask]

[quote author=Kneeoni link=topic=206.msg127898#msg127898 date=1261411184]
It should be noted that Blue refuses to go on a lot of peoples Favorites list including my own. That being said it's usually in my history, and if half the people playing are in Blue and Half are in Red, I'll go into the server with the people I want to play with more, for instance, last night it was pretty split and I went into blue because I saw Surf in there and Surfs a pretty cool guy.

My comments came more from the fact that there has been almost no need to seed since I joined. True, Caff still spasm invites to get things going every so often, but that is typically early in the evening when most people aren’t even online yet. Pig Mask, I understand that traditionally blue has more or less been an empty server, but that hasn’t necessarily been true in the few weeks I’ve been here.
[/quote]

Maybe I'm just playing at odd times, but Blue's still been vacant pretty often as of late. I do agree with you though,  in the past few weeks it's without a doubt been getting better, and hopefully the update should breed some new regulars, but I think we still have a ways to go in terms of solidifying it's player base before we can start thinking about Yellow

[Tricks]

[quote author=Tricks link=topic=206.msg127900#msg127900 date=1261412304]
[quote author=Kneeoni link=topic=206.msg127898#msg127898 date=1261411184]
It should be noted that Blue refuses to go on a lot of peoples Favorites list including my own. That being said it's usually in my history, and if half the people playing are in Blue and Half are in Red, I'll go into the server with the people I want to play with more, for instance, last night it was pretty split and I went into blue because I saw Surf in there and Surfs a pretty cool guy.

My comments came more from the fact that there has been almost no need to seed since I joined. True, Caff still spasm invites to get things going every so often, but that is typically early in the evening when most people aren’t even online yet. Pig Mask, I understand that traditionally blue has more or less been an empty server, but that hasn’t necessarily been true in the few weeks I’ve been here.
[/quote]

All I needed to hear, thank you. I will bump this in a couple months.

Maybe I'm just playing at odd times, but Blue's still been vacant pretty often as of late. I do agree with you though,  in the past few weeks it's without a doubt been getting better, and hopefully the update should breed some new regulars, but I think we still have a ways to go in terms of solidifying it's player base before we can start thinking about Yellow
[/quote]

[Surf314]

[quote author=Kneeoni link=topic=206.msg127898#msg127898 date=1261411184]
It should be noted that Blue refuses to go on a lot of peoples Favorites list including my own. That being said it's usually in my history, and if half the people playing are in Blue and Half are in Red, I'll go into the server with the people I want to play with more, for instance, last night it was pretty split and I went into blue because I saw Surf in there and Surfs a pretty cool guy.

I certainly understand what you are saying; Surf is a pretty cool guy.

I think your approach is pretty standard for a lot of players. They watch their friend’s list, and hop on the servers when XYZ player gets on a certain server. That’s cool and fun, and I totally respect that.

I take a little different approach. I think actually trying to start up games is a lot more fun then just hanging out with the same couple people. True, it leads to plenty of times where it is just me and another scout on blue, which gets boring, but I think feeling the momentum on a server starting up is more exciting then joining one in progress. Seeding servers is something that all successful gaming communities have to do, even ones with thousands of members. It just means you think about how you can help out, rather than “it’s all about me, more points, pub stomping, etc”. I’m closer to 75%/25% Blue/Red, and I think it’s more fun that way. It’s great to check the servers and see them both close to full.

My comments came more from the fact that there has been almost no need to seed since I joined. True, Caff still spasm invites to get things going every so often, but that is typically early in the evening when most people aren’t even online yet. Pig Mask, I understand that traditionally blue has more or less been an empty server, but that hasn’t necessarily been true in the few weeks I’ve been here.

If it’s not an idea that holds merit for anybody, I’m completely fine with that. Just wanted to know what your thoughts were.

[/quote]

It's also a funding and infrastructure issue, I think we are dropping our L4D server because there is zero incentive for that the way Valve set that up. But we are still primarily funded by Caff (with some help) and he doesn't like asking the broad community for help. Beyond that it's the admin infrastructure to actually seed them.

I had worked out a plan to seed without the boring part but it took a lot of organization and I ran out of time, but we can bring it back. Basically we'd schedule semi-competitive playtimes daily about an hour or two before pubs start picking up. We'd lock it down and practice/scrim with all talk off and then when we unlock it those people are the seeders. If we can get the support to do this again it may make a Yellow viable assuming we can work out funding. I know a lot of people are interested in semi-serious competitive play, but I'd suggest we'd roll it out on Blue first until we know that server will get good population consistently.

[zaneyard]

seeding is fun surf, what are you talking about?

[Tricks]

Some different ideas I’ve been kicking around:

1. Fucked Up Fridays-True, we already have FNF. But, if you haven’t noticed, the Eyelander and the Demo class have been incredibly popular on the BrB servers recently. One hour, and one hour only, of demo-man only play on a locked server with Scotland the Brave, Flogging Molly, and other blaring Irish music blasting across the speakers. RL libations encouraged. Fraps it, edit it, put it on You Tube.
2. Ready to Rumble-I’ve seen a couple maps that are more or less just a boxing ring. All heavies, all boxing gloves, one hour, locked server, first come, first serve, bragging rights aplenty. Play Queen-We are the Champions, Eye of the Tiger, and other fight night music. Fraps it, edit it, put it on You Tube.

Dumb or not, I think having events like this are fun, and having the videos really promote the community is important. Plus, after events like this are done, people tend to stick around. I don’t think this equals Yellow server right away, but trying to do more and attract more players on the servers we already have isn’t a bad idea. It’s about more than just seeding; it’s about building on our already awesome foundation.

[Surf314]

seeding is fun surf, what are you talking about?

It's more fun when you know who is available or have a group of regulars you know will come. Maybe I should have worded it differently.

[Tricks]

Some different ideas I’ve been kicking around:

1. Fucked Up Fridays-True, we already have FNF. But, if you haven’t noticed, the Eyelander and the Demo class have been incredibly popular on the BrB servers recently. One hour, and one hour only, of demo-man only play on a locked server with Scotland the Brave, Flogging Molly, and other blaring Irish music blasting across the speakers. RL libations encouraged. Fraps it, edit it, put it on You Tube.
2. Ready to Rumble-I’ve seen a couple maps that are more or less just a boxing ring. All heavies, all boxing gloves, one hour, locked server, first come, first serve, bragging rights aplenty. Play Queen-We are the Champions, Eye of the Tiger, and other fight night music. Fraps it, edit it, put it on You Tube.

Dumb or not, I think having events like this are fun, and having the videos really promote the community is important. Plus, after events like this are done, people tend to stick around. I don’t think this equals Yellow server right away, but trying to do more and attract more players on the servers we already have isn’t a bad idea. It’s about more than just seeding; it’s about building on our already awesome foundation.

A guy on EJ posted a video of his server during the demo vs. soilder fight, it's pretty cool. The last kill is epic. Really good PR for the server.

TF2 - Soldier vs. Demo War

[CaffeinePowered]

Old, and relevent

http://www.wegame.com/watch/TF2_Bot_Madness_Part_1/

[Scary Womanizing Pig Mask]

Some different ideas I’ve been kicking around:

1. Fucked Up Fridays-True, we already have FNF. But, if you haven’t noticed, the Eyelander and the Demo class have been incredibly popular on the BrB servers recently. One hour, and one hour only, of demo-man only play on a locked server with Scotland the Brave, Flogging Molly, and other blaring Irish music blasting across the speakers. RL libations encouraged. Fraps it, edit it, put it on You Tube.
2. Ready to Rumble-I’ve seen a couple maps that are more or less just a boxing ring. All heavies, all boxing gloves, one hour, locked server, first come, first serve, bragging rights aplenty. Play Queen-We are the Champions, Eye of the Tiger, and other fight night music. Fraps it, edit it, put it on You Tube.

Dumb or not, I think having events like this are fun, and having the videos really promote the community is important. Plus, after events like this are done, people tend to stick around. I don’t think this equals Yellow server right away, but trying to do more and attract more players on the servers we already have isn’t a bad idea. It’s about more than just seeding; it’s about building on our already awesome foundation.

Sounds fun, but we don't necessarily need to do a whole separate event for these. The whole point of FNF is just to dick around, so this would fit perfectly into it's curriculum

[Surf314]

In case you were wondering, this became a convo worthy of it's own thread.

With our current pops we could possibly spin out the FNF into 2 different "themes." On Blue we could do RPS, Smooth Criminal (it lives?), and what Tricks suggested. On Red we could do Pick-ups and highlander (+3?). This could appeal to both sides of our community. But we'd have 2 locked servers at once, which we usually do not like to do. A Yellow could fix this but again is it needed and funding?

[Tricks]

Another, different idea:

With Stats coming back, a lot of players like be able to show off their points and rank. Would be it possible to integrate play points or rank into the forum profile directly? Next to the +/- Karma for example. If you have somebody new to the server, a pull to get them to come in and sign up on the forums would be checking out and displaying their rank.

For example, I just pulled Karth’s out of the HL stats thread:

http://www.brbuninstalling.com/hlstats/h...player=300


Points: 19,441
Rank: 46


19,441 points, rank 46. That’s pretty cool. A lot of players love grinding rank and points, and trying to be better than anybody else. How we can incorporate that into the forums and the servers to keep people grinding? 

I play medic most of the time, so I really don’t care about my point total or headshots. A lot of players do however.

[Surf314]

That is actually a good idea, I know everyone loved it when they did that with the eusforums.

[Neonie]

Spoilers about points and rank: Caffeine wins.

[CaffeinePowered]

I like the stats thing, we'll have to wait to get everything in order before we start messing with it

[KarthXLR]

Another, different idea:

With Stats coming back, a lot of players like be able to show off their points and rank. Would be it possible to integrate play points or rank into the forum profile directly? Next to the +/- Karma for example. If you have somebody new to the server, a pull to get them to come in and sign up on the forums would be checking out and displaying their rank.

For example, I just pulled Karth’s out of the HL stats thread:

http://www.brbuninstalling.com/hlstats/h...player=300


Points: 19,441
Rank: 46


19,441 points, rank 46. That’s pretty cool. A lot of players love grinding rank and points, and trying to be better than anybody else. How we can incorporate that into the forums and the servers to keep people grinding? 

I play medic most of the time, so I really don’t care about my point total or headshots. A lot of players do however.

<3