gameadmin,
I disagree. I can't tell you how many times I started a Lobby, filled it,
let the Lobby being a server search, then ended up on some random, modified
server. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I played on
an official Valve server before this recent change.
Now I'm not trying to bash every Left 4 Dead server out there, because I
ended up on more good ones than bad ones. But I know for a fact that
official servers were not the default choice of the Lobby system. Not even
from day one. On release day, as soon as the issues with Windows Left 4
Dead servers were corrected, I fired up two of them and they stayed packed
for a few days straight.
I believe that before this change, the option of "Best Available Dedicated"
was the default(and only) setting. In this case, you may still end up on a
Valve server, but definitely no guarantees. This is what I experienced
throughout all of my Left 4 Dead playtime.
Robert,
I see your point and can definitely attest to running into a lot of
undesirables out there in the random public games. The thing is, unless you
have your own server and choose to play on it through the use of a
search_key or whatever method you use to get to it, you'll run into this on
any server you go to unless you only and always play games with your
friends. You're never guaranteed to see an admin anywhere. Not in Left 4
Dead, not in TF2, not anywhere. At least we have the Vote Kick system
available by default, though this is also a well abused feature in public
servers. So it's good that you won't be in public servers because who needs
a headache like that, right? Play on your own server. That's why you have
it!
You have to start looking towards the future anyway. The SDK will be out
soon and all sorts of changes will be made to the base gameplay of Left 4
Dead without anybody ever knowing until they just run into it and declare
Left 4 Dead a horrible game. With the default being Official Dedicated, you
will at least know that you're getting into a plain old regular game instead
of possibly(most likely) an ultra-modified game. This is simply a way for
Valve to protect their investment, without really harming anybody in the
process.
Think about it...who really cares if your Left 4 Dead server sits empty? If
you got one, it's more than likely that you got it so that you and some
friends could get together and play on it. I don't know what the obsession
is with having your server packed full all the time. Yeah, I noticed it
during release, cool. But if I wanted to actually play on it, I'd have to
kick someone else that may have already invested a bunch of time into a
campaign. Or maybe they were playing with friends. Or whatever. But it
was never really empty so I could start a new game on it. I sometimes
prayed that it would empty out so I didn't have to feel bad about kicking
someone so I could join an in-progress game.
Seriously, could someone please answer the following question for me?
What is the obsession with having your server, no matter the game, packed
full all day and all night? Is this that much a measure of your
self-worth? I always thought people started servers so they had their own
place to play with their own rules. What does it matter if people come
around or not? If you don't have enough friends to have a friendly game of
whatever, why did you start one in the first place?
This is seriously something that's bugging me and I'm trying to find out why
having a full server is so important. It's been consuming me lately and I
have yet to find an answer.
Aaron,
You're going to have to explain to me where EA sits in all this. This is a
Valve game with servers hosted by Valve(and a lot of us). Could you please
provide some linkage to where EA fits into any of this besides distribution
at retail?
Steve,
I'm not sure where you got the idea that I, personally, wrote what you
quoted. That's taken directly from the news page on the Steam site. I
merely linked to it.
And as far as "better", what is your definition of that? Ping? Server
quality(fps)? Because the Valve servers run like butter. Sometimes I'll
have a bit higher ping than I'm used to, but does ping really make *that*
big a difference in Left 4 Dead? Not that I've noticed, but maybe you have
a different opinion. I'd love to hear it, so please respond if you
disagree.
And again, how is this making any of our servers "second-class"? How much
time do you have to spend administrating an empty server? When you are
ready to play, it will probably be available to you now. When you are
playing, you can do all your administration then.
Or did you mean administration in terms of setting it up? Because if that's
the case, then you set it up how YOU wanted to set it up, correct? So when
it's time for you to get a game going, the server will perform as and make
the options available to you that you desire.
It really seems like a win-win for everyone involved here. The players get
the option to first play on normal servers. I'm not saying that everyone
who runs one modifies it, but with the Lobby system, there's no way to tell
where you're going to end up. So Valve has guaranteed that players get to
play Left 4 Dead. On the flip side, my server is now empty most of the
time, so when I have time to play, I can use it. Hell, I can create a
Lobby, wait for it to fill, then bring all those random people into my
server...MY server. I can do this at will and when I want. I can then run
and administer the server as I like while I'm playing on it. I no longer
have to wait for it to free up, then hope that I'm either free or in the
mood to play.
Maybe you can answer the question as to why it's so important to have a
server full constantly. Is it because you run more than one? Ten? Why did
you get ten going? Do you have a community that plays Left 4 Dead? Was the
amount of servers you got based on how many people would play? Are the
players disappointed that your servers are always free now? Why did you get
ten going again? If they're all sitting empty now, your community must not
have been the reason you decided to run them. So what exactly is the
reason?
I don't mean to come off as a jerk, but I am seriously baffled at this
latest craze. I run servers for myself and my friends to play on. I don't
really care if anyone else plays on them. I also know that not everyone
runs servers for the same reason, but then why? Why do you run servers?
Why must they be packed full all day or you'll get rid of them?
Please...someone has to have an answer. I think I know what the real answer
is, but it hurts me to know that it's where we are at as server operators
today.
But I'm all ears.
-Richard Eid
On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 3:47 PM, <gamead...@127001.org> wrote:
> Mike, what region are you in? We are in sv_region 3 (Europe) and, while
> our
> servers were empty just after the last update (all of Friday) they picked
> up
> again on Saturday morning as normal:
>
> http://www.127001.org/mrtg/graph_93.html (The decrease in peak usage in
> the
> past couple of weeks is because we decreased the number of servers from 12
> to 8 because of other activity on the box)
>
> Also, to reply to Richard Eid:
>
> "Left 4 Dead players are now going to official servers by default."
>
> What do you mean, "now"? They always _did_ choose to go to official
> servers
> first, there's a thread in the forums about it. There's just the ability
> to
> turn this off now.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [mailto:hlds-
> > boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] On Behalf Of Mike Stiehm
> > Sent: 15 March 2009 19:28
> > To: 'Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list'
> > Subject: Re: [hlds] L4D Client Update
> >
> > Good now I can dump the piece of crap L4D servers and just add more
> > variety
> > to what I have now... (I had some of the most popular L4D servers
> > before
> > this.. Now I get 0 players... Not even one player at all..)
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com
> > [mailto:hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] On Behalf Of Richard Eid
> > Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 12:02 PM
> > To: Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list
> > Subject: Re: [hlds] L4D Client Update
> >
> > http://store.steampowered.com/news/2349/
> >
> > That's what is going on. Left 4 Dead players are now going to official
> > servers by default. Since the nature of the lobby system would allow
> > for
> > people to end up on any random server out there, the Left 4 Dead
> > experience
> > was being ruined by modded servers. If you create a lobby and look
> > under
> > Game Settings, you now have the options of Official Dedicated(default),
> > Best
> > Available Dedicated and Local Server. It's now up to the player to
> > decide
> > which type of server he or she wants to end up on.
> >
> > My guess, which can't be all that far off just by noticing what's been
> > mentioned here on HLDS, is that players are using the default of
> > Official
> > Dedicated because it guarantees them the cleanest experience possible.
> >
> > -Richard Eid
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 7:17 AM, Mark Edwards
> > <sixtysixno...@hotmail.com>wrote:
> >
> > > Zero players on our three L4D servers in the 48 hours or so since the
> > > second
> > > update. What is going on?
> > >
> > > >> > From: Admin Bob <admin_...@cox.net>
> > > >> > To: Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list
> > > >> > <hlds@list.valvesoftware.com>
> > > >> > Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 7:48:41 AM
> > > >> > Subject: Re: [hlds] L4D Client Update
> > > >> >
> > > >> > Still empty. Still getting errors:
> > > >> > A2C_print from 68.142.72.250:2701
> > > >> > Bad challenge
> > > >> >
> > > >> > -----Original Message-----
> > > >> > From: hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com
> > > >> > [mailto:hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] On Behalf Of Adam
> > > Nowacki
> > > >> > Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 2:09 AM
> > > >> > To: Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list
> > > >> > Subject: Re: [hlds] L4D Client Update
> > > >> >
> > > >> > Blood Letter wrote:
> > > >> > > So did this update fix the empty server issue for anyone?
> > > >> > > Mine is still bone dry.
> > > >> >
> > > >> > Maybe because people want to play on official servers? The
> > search
> > > works
> > > >> > now and will actually fall back to non-official servers thanks
> > to a
> > > >> > longer search timeout.
> > > >> >
> > > >> > _______________________________________________
> > > >> > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list
> > archives,
> > > >> > please visit:
> > > >> > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > please visit:
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> > >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
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>
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