I've been thinking about this for a while, and with the success of the pug we threw, the attendance at tonight's scrim, and the fact I just got invited to some US pug group, I figured I might as well make a thread about it. I don't want this thread to involve any argument over whether it would be EU/US based, that's irrelevant at the moment. The question is, would a server, with a simple password posted on here, so that anyone who knows it is at least moderately competent at Empires, be worth setting up? A simple 32,40 or 48 slot server with a cycle of official maps, but all customs added to it so that votes can be done and shit, with good vanilla settings (maybe autospot is turned off to allow better strategies and shit). Would this be worth a shot? I figure we get maybe 5 JPL, 10 consortium, 10 EPIC, 15 MEG/RAGE and a decent amount of skilled pubbers, playing over the course of a regular night. And obviously, people are more likely to join vet games. So is it worth setting up a server like this, and getting people on? It would be up to people to give out the password via word of mouth, but there wouldn't need to be any huge amount of security on it. I would assume that new/terribad players won't join it, and if they do, they'd just get kicked/banned anyway, so the security isn't an issue. Anyway, shoot away.
I'm getting quite sick of all the new players sniping me from the other side of the map and noob coms, so it'd be great to have a server on our own to at least have some fun on. I support this. As long as I get access, of course.
Recon craig.gates and I were discussing putting up a vets only server when empires was first were released on steam and recon said something I feel is important to consider. Having a vets only server could hurt the community. It would separate it into factions and cause a host of other concerns when we are trying to grow the community. Because of this we decided against it. What we did decide was to have vets only PUGS scheduled once a week as a regular event.
I'm sure it's frustrating to play, having to depend on newbies as teammates but I'm not sure the regular empries community is really big enough to afford segregation.
Given that I find vets more annoying than noobs I can't say I entirely like the idea, especially as you could kinda do with being on the noob servers and teaching them how to play. I realise that it isn't much fun, but that is sort of the point of the steam release isn't it? To get new players? It really sounds like 'oh we need new players WAIT FUCK WE HAVE NEW PLAYERS GOD I HATE THEM LET'S MAKE A SERVER THEY CAN'T JOIN SO I DON'T HAVE TO SEE THEM GOD.'
No for the simple fact that the newbs will just learn from each other (prone constantly, go scout, etc.) and integrate bad gameplay into their heads. The best thing that vets can do is lead squads (or go commander) and lead the team to victory. We need to communicate what needs to be done and how the newbs should be playing. I have played with many of these newbs and some of them have more potential/skills than some of our "vets". Mostly because long-time vets have an ego/entitlement problem and aren't willing to listen/learn. I agree, though, that we should make regular, weekly PUGs. Alternating between US/EU servers would be nice too.
didnt read based off title no We tried this before haven't we? Make a server with 38 player cap, whalaaa vet server instantly (do 42 if ur gay)
k just read it have daily pugs? tbh we need more player base then we can be even eliter than we try to be by only playing inhouses
There aren't enough veterans to seed it or keep it full, and even if there were, the server would be detrimental to the community.
The "teaching noobs" thing isn't really an argument, for the simple reason that there are, without a doubt, a LOT of vets who simply aren't playing currently, because they can't stand it. It's not as if the server would be populated 24/7, it would be a server up constantly, which ANY vets can throw up an announcement in a steamgroup to populate it. Informal pugs thrown when someone sees there's enough vets online. It's not like setting up pugs, because they're done at set time. It's a server there for whenever anyone feels the urge to get a bunch of vets together and play. Because at the end of the day, I've done my fair share of teaching the new players, but we just need a break sometimes. We don't play this game to be teachers primarily, we play it to enjoy it, and sometimes, we really just need a break from all the hassle and aggravation of playing with the newbies non-stop. Because it IS driving veteran players away, even if for a short time. The server would allow pugs any day of the week, at any time. It could go empty for 2 weeks, then be full for a week after that. It could be full one day a week, or full every day. I'm not really asking if it will be used enough, but if it would ever be used at all?
I was thinking that it wouldn't have a mapvote (although admins could start one if they ever wanted), but instead a tiered mapcycle which had officials, as well as a few select, possibly going to be made official, customs, such as Midbridge, Mesa, Atomic, Bush etc. Eastborough would be perfect but everyone seems to think that it's some joke map that empties servers, so I don't know about that one. But I'd probably pick around 5 guys to help run it, such as Simon, Fagama, etc
This "but it'll separate the community!" thingie isn't exactly true. As Trickster said, a lot of vets don't play because of noobs hanging around. Also, I highly doubt the server will have players all the time, so some vets will still play on pub servers until there's an announcement or something regarding a possible PUG.
And if you give people the option, do you suppose they will bother to play with the new players at all? Other than of course to stack against them and make the game suck for them? The 'I don't want to deal with new players' mentality is not sustainable trickster, and it is very prevalent. If you do anything to encourage it you are ruining what little chance this mod has of combating the inevitable and constant loss of players. You can either say 'no fuck new players' and continue to play with an ever decreasing number of vets while sticking your fingers in your ears and pretending it isn't happening, or you can suck it up and deal with it, and sacrifice the most xenophobic members of the community in the hopes of having a larger community further down the road. No it isn't much fun, but it is neccesary, because you lack the competence, staff, and foresight required to make the game intuitive, and not require hand holding. Unless you can produce that, this concession is neccesary.
I'd rather have weekly pugs than a vet only server. Also, what's the point of having a vet only server? Vets only spec.
