Ranked Server? Frank Discussion.

**NorCalRoach** · 08-01-2006 05:05 PM

Bare with me. This is rather long winded and my intention is to provoke a thoughtful discussion without spliting hairs about a previous item that has already been discussed at length in the early days of BF2 and the TG community. I debated on whether or not to post this on the members only discussion, but decided to post this discussion thread here instead to the extended non-supporting member community.

Last night was exceptionally surprising- I looked forward to playing on Server 1 earlier than usual but found that the server was empty at 8:30 p.m. PST. Unfortunately, I got held up and couldn’t log on till 10:30 PDT instead. But it left me w/ a disturbing thought: server 1 is in fact dying. Maybe I’ve been in denial with the hope that booster packs, vanilla nights, and Tac Mod nights will keep the server playable and enjoyable for most people. Maybe I’ve been in further denial by believing that our BF2 revival night’s/Scrim games would continue encouraging people to populate, play and stay on server 1. Plain fact is that the action on server 1 practically is non-existent now-a-days past 9 p.m. PST.

I think it’s time again to have a frank discussion about ranking the server. Am I the only one that thinks that it doesn't seem like it would be that difficult to keep one of our servers admin'd on a full time basis especially with as many people that we have who still believe in TG values. Also, would it be that difficult if you consider the fact that there's still such a large core group of supporting members that are proud of the community they help to sponsor. Is it far fetched for me to believe that these supporting members (whether monetarily or not) would help to police the server full time even if an admin is not available?

I know it’s been argued before that TG servers aren’t for everyone and that it’s not the amount of people on the server that’s important, but that it’s the type of person on the server that counts. What sucks is that us TG players are starting to have less and less people to play with on the server and are essentially forced out of playing in the server that we help financially to keep up. With server 1 being empty practically every time I log on I often wonder what’s the attraction for other people to continue supporting the TG servers? Why do people that primarily play BF2 pay to support BF2 servers when they mostly play on the public servers anyway since the server is dead?

Personally, I’m paying my $8.95 a month to continue being part of the 33rd and all the games that we play (BF2, Civ4, titan quest, so on) and support the use of Teamspeak. I know teamspeak is free, but I like the idea of being able to create channels for other games that I can play. I will also continue supporting the TG community because I consider the guys and gals that I’ve come to know over the past year to be good friends. I’m eager to meet new people and invite more to this community to share in this unique experience of having virtual friends. But these points are digressing from the main point which is to re-consider having a ranked server- I want someone to play with at my house because I’m tired of swimming in someone else’s pool. Our pool is cleaner.

People are already convinced the server will completely die once 2142 or Quake Wars comes out, but I’m not entirely sure that’s true. There will still be a core group of BF2 die hards (myself included) that won’t switch unless these games offer something entirely new and as exciting as what the original BF2 brought to the table. Only time will tell with that thought, but for now please re-consider ranking at least 1 or our BF2 servers. Perhaps even consider ranking server 2 as opposed to server 1. This might be a good trial before any plans are implemented to create a server for 2142, if any are being discussed.

**Shafik** · 08-01-2006 05:16 PM

Ranking the server would enlarge the population, but I'm not sure it would be done in a good way. You're right, I'm sure that there are enough volunteers to help police the server while admins are away, but even so, I'm seeing a full server, with kicks and bans flying every minute. I'd rather have awesome small team action then annoying full server pubbiness. I pay my SM because I support what this place is trying to do, and that's the only reason (12 others reasons, now that I think of it

). I rarely use my provided server slot because of time differences.

I'm in favor of recruiting campaigns. Bigger than the ones we've done before. Announce the server to the world, in a big way. Have open nights and announce them 2 weeks in advance. Make this server the place to come to. We can do all that while retaining all of our rules and restrictions, but without luring the wrong type of players. The in-constant-production TG movie could serve this purpose beatifully. My two cents.

**UnDeaD** · 08-01-2006 05:21 PM

I don't care for the small games anymore, got really boring to me, I prefer 64 all the way, or at least FULL maps, ie 32 player with well enough players to fill it.

**Mateo** · 08-01-2006 05:44 PM

We've done the "to rank or not to rank" discussion before. The admin team, and the officers, do not feel that putting a ranked server in place serves the needs of this community.

Frankly, the $8.95 per month has nothing to do with any specific server: it goes to the community, to the cause, as it were. The type of gameplay that Tactical Gamer stands for is not rooted to any particular game title, but is rooted in the idea that this is the way the game SHOULD be played. Those who value what we do feel that they have to do their part to keep the lights on.

We do try to incentivize supporting memberships via SM slots, prefferential server access, downloads, and all sorts of non-free but free to the subscriber goodies....again, none of which has anything to do with BF2 in particular.

That does not mean that players do not see it differently, that their money is going towards an empty server.

I think everyone needs to look at things objectively. It's summer: gaming attendance is down across the board. The forums are not as active, the servers are not as full. People are enjoying themselves. Come Fall, we will see more uptake, as people return to the indoors, and start thinking more about gaming. We probably will have a new batch of servers by then to entice new players into the fold.

What I don't think we should be doing is just saying: let's get warm bodies to shoot at, and thereby degrade our type of gameplay. It hurts our future recruiting efforts, and gives Tactical Gamer a negative perception in the larger gaming community.

**Snail88** · 08-01-2006 06:31 PM

well im with my bro Nor Cal on this one. I know i for one would be on the server a LOT more if it was ranked. You might say, well why arent you on it now? I do go on but only when we get at least 30 ppl or so. For me, the game just isnt the same with few people. Also, look at FCW. I know theyre not us but theyre pretty close when it comes to rules. I could totally see running a ranked server just like they do if not better. Plus the inherrant bonus of it being full most of the time.

I know there are scripts, etc that cant be on a ranked and someof them i really like. But i think its just because weve gotten so used to the scripts that anything out of place would feel too "wierd" for us.

Either way, i totally back my 33rd brother and please dont yell ay him or anything....he brought up legitimate points in a mature way for discussion. You say that people arent posting a lot nowadays? well this thread should help

There is nothing wrong with healthy discussion.

**Thierry** · 08-01-2006 06:37 PM

Are we all sure thats its just the fact that TG is unranked that causes the problem? I know several unranked servers that have a good population every time, although they only run vanilla and use the unlocks.
Maybe its the booster packs?
Many did not get them, and those people go to the server browser, see several unranked servers, but also see that TG runs the booster packs and thus go to another server.
We had a full night on vanilla night, maybe its not related but still.

**Snail88** · 08-01-2006 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by Thierry

Are we all sure thats its just the fact that TG is unranked that causes the problem? I know several unranked servers that have a good population every time, although they only run vanilla and use the unlocks.
Maybe its the booster packs?
Many did not get them, and those people go to the server browser, see several unranked servers, but also see that TG runs the booster packs and thus go to another server.
We had a full night on vanilla night, maybe its not related but still.

good point. I liked those 2 days we had the unlocks lol.

**NorCalRoach** · 08-01-2006 06:46 PM

Thanks for the support Snail. I’m by no means trying to open up another unproductive discussion on this subject, I just wanted another re-assessment from a TG community’s perspective. I think we all know what the admins decision is on this issue, I was hoping to get more comments from the community.

I did want to respond to your post Mateo, your response is neccessary and sticks to what needs to be said from an admin perspective. Please do not take my comments to your statements as an attack or as anything negatively implied. I’m hoping my comments will further provoke constructive comments from the community.