Minor suggestion thoughts appreciated.

[MisterX]

Right the current game server is stopping well not stopping... pausing. on the 28th of this month. It is plain we struggled a bit to fill it. Thats ok though, its just a wee trial.

What i propose is replacing it with Section 8 prejudice for a while. Why i hear you cry?
1. Its a new title (out soon)
2. Its cheap to buy ($15 i think)
3. It has co-op and bot mode with low player number requirements so easy to get going if just a couple of folk are online.

Now i know its not going to be everyones cup-o-tea but its the kind of game thats very good fun for novices and experienced gamers alike.
Also it has robots in it. Everyone likes robots.

This is still theoretical of course, need to find out the hosting details and see if multiplay are going to do it. I'm sure i read its using dedicated servers.
Section 8: Prejudice | There Is No War Without Prejudice

[UI]

No problem on this end, hell, I don't even have a working PC at the moment so take it for what it's worth.

[DennyCrane]

Without banners and other front page announcements TELLING people we have a server, Section 8 or any other server will die out just like this CS:S server did. This site gets a lot of random traffic and back when our servers were successful, we had lots of things pointing to where the servers were. A dedicated servers page, icons on the front page with quick access to the servers, stats/ranking links, etc etc etc.

If you just throw a server out there and hope it'll get populated by just letting forum regulars know about it... it will fail. It always has and always will. Servers thrive only when there's a constant influx of new players. Eventually, you get a base of people who mesh with the atmosphere you create... whether it's a fun family oriented place or some vulgar pit of slime. Water finds it's own level.

I found sR because I was looking for solid CS:S servers with a good ping. I dragged Mr. Vega here after playing the Office shed for a few weeks. Later, we both joined the forums. That's how this is supposed to work. The servers feed the forums and the forums feed the servers. Simply putting up a server without banners pointing to the site won't bring good quality gamer members to the site... and without LOTS of things on the site talking about the servers... the servers will die of loneliness.

Right now, the base of regulars here are splintered in their gaming. The Girl and I are playing a shit-ton of games that we own individually, are buying together, getting via GameFly, etc. Some console, some PC... but there's other people here who are PC only, console only, WoW only, FPS only... yada yada yada. There's no way you'll populate a new server out of that mix and keep it populated long enough for it to be self-sustaining.

Just my 2 cents worth, but unless you're going to go all-in and really work the server and site together and stick to it for at least 6 months, I'd recommend not wasting your money on servers at all and invest it into some other area that will grow the community.

Edit: Just a week ago, the sR had almost a thousand users on at one time. If you capitalize on that kind of traffic, you'll get players for ~any server~

[MisterX]

As I have said in the past Denny, This isnt the final solution. The site redesign has a section set aside specifically for the game server, Teamspeak etc. where all the details will be public. and properly advertised.

This was about having a wee place to go and have fun together and with the bot support makes filling it not such an issue. Not as an all encompassing solution.

The consensus seems to be to make a big push once BF3 comes out. that looks to be the biggest release that everyone can get behind.

Thanks for the comments Denny, as always, valid.

[DennyCrane]

This is one of the CS:S server/sites I've been going to for a few years... their Office is always populated from late afternoon on. There's no question on what game they host and how to find it:

[MisterX]

yup, I hear what your saying and fully agree

British Sergeants Mess


My Battlefield specific community site (we are not a clan at all)

As you can see a link to every server on the left, who's on it and who's currently on ventrillo and a little shoutbox for quick and easy messages.

All stuff i want on the new site. Easy to see no trawling involved.

[VincentVega]

lol, omg. I remember asking about how to wear the sR tag. I forget who told me. JCL or Sigh or someone. so I went and registered on the site, and started using it anyway without asking Craig. then later when I saw him I asked him if it was cool. and he was all like, ya, no problem man. that was one of the first time I remember thinking, "oh, finally, a place on the net where people aren't a-holes"

this is probably not relevant to anything here

[ArmadonRK]

This was about having a wee place to go and have fun together and with the bot support makes filling it not such an issue. Not as an all encompassing solution.

If this is the case I would say sticking with CS is the best option. It's one of very few games that just about every single member of sR already has and is familiar with. I think a CS server would serve the community better than a server for an upcoming sequel I hadn't heard about to a game that was not terribly popular in the first place. I just don't expect many community members will go out of their way to pick this up just to have a "wee place to go and have fun". The greatest strength of CS is that it's already there, so it requires no forethought from us to just hop on when we feel like.

[Richardthemadmn]

If this is the case I would say sticking with CS is the best option. It's one of very few games that just about every single member of sR already has and is familiar with. I think a CS server would serve the community better than a server for an upcoming sequel I hadn't heard about to a game that was not terribly popular in the first place. I just don't expect many community members will go out of their way to pick this up just to have a "wee place to go and have fun". The greatest strength of CS is that it's already there, so it requires no forethought from us to just hop on when we feel like.

We have a cs server. That no one plays on...

[TaxiDriver]

I would say Bad Company 2 is a better choice since most people have it already. Joe, SA, Buddhist, Teck and I have all been playing it again. I know I've said it before but if you guys really want to get together to play something Teamspeak is the best way.