I will have to agree with Dan. I believe even the quickplay system is having a negative effect on TF2. Quickplay is good for getting into a game quickly, but it is featured prominently as the first button on the screen so everyone clicks on it and never learns there are unique servers that aren't on there.
Most people probably never stop using it because they probably assume the browser is just a manual way to pick the same servers available in quickplay. I am seeing swaths of 24 slot servers with default maps and respawn times filled all the time while some of my favorite servers that don't fit the quickplay standard (maps, slightly faster respawn times, larger slots) that used to be full at midnight now empty out 4 hours earlier. Some of them are shutting down, and I find myself playing less and less TF2. It becomes very difficult to find servers that aren't a cookie cutter quickplay build because: 1. Players who have been weaned on quickplay probably never figure out alternative settings exist. 2. If they search through the browser, not only are there 4,000+ servers to choose from, but these custom servers have to compete with the quickplay servers that are filled with even more players already. 3. More and more cookie-cutter quickplay servers are popping up because they are the only ones getting filled like before. No players = no donations. It is my humble opinion that quickplay is creating an unhealthy homogeneous selection of servers and players. The average player can only be entertained so much by the standard settings before they get bored of them, and instead of finding a customized server that suits their tastes, they quit the game without knowing about the alternatives. I believe this is why the number of TF2 players have dropped below CS:S and continued to decline until this recent update and impending winter break. On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 10:45 PM, dan <needa...@ntlworld.com> wrote: > On 15/12/2011 23:51, Fletcher Dunn wrote: >> >> We are working on something like this. The ability to "level" your game >> server account. Certain benefits would only be given to servers with >> level>= N, etc. Show the level in the server browser and give preferential >> treatment, etc. Get caught breaking the rules, and you lose your level, >> etc. > > > With respect. Even without details, this sounds like a really, really bad > idea tm. > > (Although I suppose if you collect 500 genius game polymaths in a building > they'll soon see the solution to every problem is to create a game. You > probably can't get a coke from your canteen without solving a puzzle? :) ) > > You only have to read the angst in the threads that the current server > reputation causes to see that. > > -- > Dan. > > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > please visit: > https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
