Conquest Server: Temporary reduction to 32 players

[sc1ence]

The Conquest server player count will be reduced Thursday-Sunday to assess the effects of player limit on gameplay. The server has been running at 50 people for some time. This high player count has served our needs well so far.

However, more and more people seem frustrated by how crowded some of the maps are. Forcing so many players into so little space reduces the tactical options available and often results in a stalemate.

We are going to see if the quality of gameplay can improve with fewer people on the server. We hope this change will lead to more interesting and tactically varied engagements. We will be reducing the player count to 32 for a weekend test starting today.

We will keep the supporting member kick script in place during this test. If you are unable to get in, consider playing our titan server.

This is a play test, so a thoughtful and mature discussion of the effects of player limit on game play is appreciated. This is also a great opportunity to change things up a little just for varieties sake. This test is expected to run through Sunday.

[Bravery]

Will the maps be changed to 32 player maps? If not maps like Suez Canal will be extremely empty.

[machowner]

I believe most of them are, except for ones that the 32 and 64 are the same.

[LordMeatwad]

For "armor maps" - verdun, suez, etc. maps maybe they could go 16 player? altough more crowded which is not the purpose I understand. they will be much more tactical regardless. (nevermind more fun)

[Anospa]

To the best of my knowledge, we aren't running any 64 player maps at the moment. All 32, even the armor maps. There are no 64 versions of Tunis, Berlin, Camp G, Belgrade, or Cerbere, we've been playing the 32 versions, the largest "infantry," ones available. As for the armor ones, the 64 versions usually start the UCBs back further away from the main fight and add two more flags, except for Shuhia, which just pushes the UCBs back.

I can truly see this as being a very positive experience. Players will need to come up with new tactics and movement paths to use their limited numbers effectively. Also, this'll hopefully bring more TG onto the Titan server and show them how dynamic the game mode really can be.

[Razcsak]

If I recall correctly, the 16 player versions of Verdun and Suez limit almost all forms of maneuvering. Verdun is contained almost wholly within the "church" region, while Suez encompasses only the EU base and bridge area. 16p Shuhia doesn't look that bad, though. It basically moves the uncaps to the two flags near the central mountain, leaving only the three flags along the ridgeline. Here, for those interested

Anyway, I guess that kills the chance of me getting a good shot at playing this weekend. We'll see.

Originally Posted by Anospa

Also, this'll hopefully bring more TG onto the Titan server and show them how dynamic the game mode really can be.

Not sure how you'd call it dynamic when the titan movement is locked, but alright. I can see myself checking out Titan this weekend.

[sc1ence]

Right now the maplist is unchanged.
verdun, sid, and shuhia are really cramped in their 16 player versions and we already play the 32 player version of those.

16 player Suez we may consider. Lets give what he have a try and then make decisions on actual play rather than thought experiments.

[Syntonic]

It might serve better to run the titan server on some sort of rotation (with or without NS) instead of limiting the conquest server since the titan server seems empty more often than not. That's my personal opinion however since it seems like many of the supporting members actually prefer the lower count on the conquest server.

[sc1ence]

Originally Posted by Syntonic

it seems like many of the supporting members actually prefer the lower count on the conquest server.

While we do listen to the entire community, we would be foolish to ignore those who pay our bills.

Besides, this is only for a weekend.

[Hydride]

I am all for a lower count, that means a higher TG to Pub ratio, and to me the best games I've played are the ones when each team has a couple TG squads to field.

This isn't to say pubbies are not welcome, we were all pubbies once after all, but a higher ratio of TG'rs is always welcome in my books. Not only that, but it would probably make a few non-supporting members join our ranks and contribute to our community.

[draeh]

See here how fast Hydride can put his foot into his mouth...

Originally Posted by Hydride

I am all for a lower count, that means a higher TG to Pub ratio...

...and then yank it back out again almost as fast.

Originally Posted by Hydride

This isn't to say pubbies are not welcome, we were all pubbies once after all, but a higher ratio of TG'rs is always welcome in my books. Not only that, but it would probably make a few non-supporting members join our ranks and contribute to our community.

Just yankin' yer chain a little.

[Bommando]

Personally, I'd run any experiments on the second, barely populated server. All we are doing by lowering the player count on our main conquest server is exposing less people to our gameplay. I argued in favour of a lower player count, but I only believe it would work well with infantry maps and not on our already highly populated primary server.

We'll wait and see.

[Birdman1011395]

Well, would anyone be game for a 16p Minsk? I think its better than other incarnations. Behold! The Power of Paint!


Basic Minsk map image from: http://bf2142.totalgamingnetwork.com

Here's a little table for the break down of Armour that appears, which is, for the most part, not changed by taking control points.

Minsk

     PAC Camp (PAC UCB)
          PAC
          2 APC's
          1 Tank
          2 FAV's
(Sorry, nothing for you flyboys)

          Front Lines
     EU               PAC
     1 Walker         1 Walker
     2 FAV's          2 FAV's

          South Outpost
     EU               PAC
     2 FAV's          2 FAV's

     Monument Compound (EU's Main Base)
     EU               PAC
     1 Walker         1 Walker
     2 FAV's          2 FAV's
     1 APC            1 APC
     1 Tank (!)

[Lorax74]

Originally Posted by Bommando

Personally, I'd run any experiments on the second, barely populated server. All we are doing by lowering the player count on our main conquest server is exposing less people to our gameplay. I argued in favour of a lower player count, but I only believe it would work well with infantry maps and not on our already highly populated primary server.

We'll wait and see.

I believe hosting this on our primary Conquest server is at the very least a step in the right direction. But ultimately, I am of the opinion that the conquest server should be left as is since it is the front door to TG for so many people.

I am not advocating the removal of Titan. On the contrary, I believe it should have a home here at TG, but it should be on a scheduled basis, much like Frosty Friday. Then, on the days between Titan and Forsty Friday the 32 player could fill the gaps. My rationale for this is titan is only fun when you have two somewhat coordinated teams, anything else to me is simply a drawn out game of whack-a-mole.

Originally Posted by Birdman1011395

Well, would anyone be game for a 16p Minsk? I think its better than other incarnations.

It might be fun from a sh*ts and giggles perspective, but I'd have to say no. That is still a LOT of armor and one hell of a bottle neck. Do you know what the bleed is like?

[sc1ence]

Originally Posted by Bommando

All we are doing by lowering the player count on our main conquest server is exposing less people to our gameplay.

While this may be a negative side effect, it is not the only thing we are doing. Many people feel that more area for people to move around in would make for a better game. We could very well accomplish that. If we hosted this on the other server, we would need to discontinue hosting titan (which is full at the time of this posting). We would also have a very difficult time getting all TGers on the 2nd server for an experiment.

Give this a shot, lets see if we can really improve the gameplay on our server.