Forum Member Server Kick Ability

[Telorn]

This thread here made me come up with this idea.

Many people say we have an issue with our 'pubbie' ratio to TG member ratio (SM or forum member), and the suggestion in the linked thread was to create a password nearly every night and, instead, have a couple nights we unlock it for the public to join.

My idea is to give forum members the ability to kick public people from the server, just as Support Members can have a spot made if the server is full.

Now, I don't mean give forum members the ability to contact an admin and request a spot..the admins life would be hell! This suggestion is for when the automatic kick script is put in place. With this script in place, as I'm going to describe, we would never have to place a password on any of our public servers, even on event nights. Read on to find out why.

Here is how it works.

Say on Tuesday night Server #1 is at 64 players. A forum member, Tarpan, for example (first one to pop in my head...guess that's a compliment?) goes to log in. Kick script recognizes that Tarpan is a forum member and searches the 64 player server for 'public' players or people who are not registered on the forum (or do not have their BF2 ID in their forum profile). The script would then randomly kick one of those 'public' people and let Tarpan in.

So, the script would work exactly the same as for supporting members, but, if no public members are on the server (they've all been kicked off) then Tarpan cannot get on. Obviously if a supporting member ran the script, it would kick a forum member if no public member existed to kick first.


A script running this way would:

A) Ensure that TG is at its best gameplay possible at that moment. If 50 TG members are currently online and able to play, the server will be able to fit all 50 people. TG members will not be turned away because the server is full of 'public' people.

B) Allow public people to play on our TG servers and get a real feel for what we are, while at the same time having them degrade our gameplay less, since if we have enough TG members to fill the server, the public people will be kicked (unless they were to register in the forum themselves).

C) Negate the need of a password night, because if 64 TG members log on, 64 TG members will get a spot and all public people will be removed. We'd still hold events so as to gather together, but a password would not be needed.

What do you guys think?


*Edit: Fixed some grammar

[birdie_in_Texas]

that is a Striking good idea...but..can it be done..?

[Telorn]

that is a Striking good idea...but..can it be done..?

If the admins can get the Supporting Member script to run, then yes!

This is because they are trying to do exactly this with the Supporting Member script. I'm just suggesting to add a second layer to the script for forum members.

[Wyzcrak]

The NS server allows for multi-layer reservation logic. I'll discuss the idea with the other admins.

[Telorn]

Another point I thought of:

D) Removing the password on our event nights would give some pubbies (if TG members don't fill the server..which we don't at all times) a real taste of what TG can be. I know if I were able to get in on 10-20 mins of that action before a TG member kicked me that I'd be watering at the mouth for more and coming to the forums to find out more.

[Fdlu]

I am not really qualified to judge on this issue as I had played only 3 (nice) times, but from my point of view it sounds as a good idea. I am not up on the technical issues, passwords and the like but if it possible it would be nice to know why I would be kicked or am unable to connect. Would it be technically possible to implement some kind of easily recognicable message (bold letters, bright colour ingame, message if connect failed)?

[SmokingTarpan]

Although it certainly is a good form of crowd control, I am personally against it. If it goes into effect, I'd like the admins to make sure my name stays off of the list.

I have never, ever liked the idea of reserved or preferential spots on a public server. Either the server is a place for all to come and play (provided they follow the rules), or it's a place for only "special" people to play. There is no mix and match.

I don't believe I have any more of a right to be on a public server than John Doe. If there are no spots for me to play, then I will patiently wait my turn until one becomes available. Hell, I never even kicked people off of the CS:S server that I admin so that I could get in, and our admin fees were once $15/mo.

[Sabre Six]

Seems like a quality idea. I don't see that it would negatively impact the community or its reputation.

IMO.

[Obi]

I think this is a great idea Telorn.

[Telorn]

Although it certainly is a good form of crowd control, I am personally against it. If it goes into effect, I'd like the admins to make sure my name stays off of the list.

I have never, ever liked the idea of reserved or preferential spots on a public server. Either the server is a place for all to come and play (provided they follow the rules), or it's a place for only "special" people to play. There is no mix and match.

I don't believe I have any more of a right to be on a public server than John Doe. If there are no spots for me to play, then I will patiently wait my turn until one becomes available. Hell, I never even kicked people off of the CS:S server that I admin so that I could get in, and our admin fees were once $15/mo.

The idea really isn't to give you a spot over joe blow. It is to make TG the best gaming community possible, while still allowing public people to find us *and* join our forums. In no way would this hamper public people from playing. If they want to play, then they can register on our forums.

I believe it little to ask of the community if they want to play on a TG server. It isn't like we are preventing anyone from being able to play, if they really want to play.

And if you are one that doesn't agree with the script, all you have to do is not place your BF2 ID in your forum ID. The script would see you as a 'public' person then.

[=Sarc=]

I don't know if Poker has found a good solution for reserving slots. The problem is that a player cannot attempt to connect to a full server. It would not give the script a chance to check the player's member status and kick a pubbie. And, as we all should know, the kick messages are generic and vague.

The only idea I have is to write a script that keeps a 64 player server at 63 players and kicks a pubbie when a member joins to keep a free slot for another player to join. Maybe the server settings can be set to allow 65 players so a script can be written to allow 64 players but the 65th player will always be kicked.

[Telorn]

I'm letting them figure that one out. I just knew they were creating a supporting member script that would kick non-supporting members by means of their BF2 ID located under their forum profile. IF they can get that working, in whatever way that they do, they can get this working too.

[Fdlu]

The idea really isn't to give you a spot over joe blow. It is to make TG the best gaming community possible, while still allowing public people to find us *and* join our forums. In no way would this hamper public people from playing. If they want to play, then they can register on our forums.

I believe it little to ask of the community if they want to play on a TG server. It isn't like we are preventing anyone from being able to play, if they really want to play.

And if you are one that doesn't agree with the script, all you have to do is not place your BF2 ID in your forum ID. The script would see you as a 'public' person then.

As I am not really into the technical aspect...

Forum ID (nickname) has to be the exact same as my BF2 Ingame nickname, down to capital letters and such ?
If they do not compare do I have the ability to change the forum ID to make them match?

[Telorn]

Go to this thread to find out how to add your BF2 ID to your forum username so BF2 can be linked to your forum account.

Your BF2 username and your forum username *do not* have to be the same.

[Ol'Smoke]

When getting kicked you should see a message somewhat like this:

You have been kicked from the server to make room for a tacticalgamer forum member.
Visit us at wvw.tacticalgamer.com, get your nose in the forums and we garantee it won't happen again!
wvw.tacticalgamer.com

Besides that, how about letting the kicking go in to effect at 40 or 50 players instead of when the server is full? I think it would help to bring the balance in favour of teamplayers and ensure those teamplayers stay on the server when they just joined.

Off course that should be tested first. I think one shouldn't waste time speculating about the effect of these kind of measures, but just test them out in real life to see how they work.