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[Berath]

It seems that further changes are going to be made:

Via HLDS:

    There are some changes coming that TF2 server operators should know about.
    CHANGES TO QUICKPLAY

    The next TF2 update will make two changes to quickplay:

        "Show servers" button. This runs the ordinary quickplay search, but instead of joining the server with the highest score, it presents the user with an ordered list of about 20 servers and lets them pick. This gives players much of the convenience of quickplay by finding servers with a good ping and players on them, but also an easy way to express a preference over the map, server community, etc.
        We've added an advanced options page that allows players to opt into the most commonly-requested non-vanilla rules changes: nocrits, maxplayers, and instant respawn.

    There are no more scoring penalties for maxplayers or rule changes; your server either matches their search criteria or it doesn't.

    At this time, we are keeping the default quickplay option to Valve servers. However, note that if a player wants to find a server with any of the supported modifications, then they must land on a community server, since Valve servers do not run with these settings.

    We've updated the quickplay policy to more clearly specify what sorts of server modifications are allowed in quickplay: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2825-AFGJ-3513

The list of server modifications not allowed are:


    Friendlyfire
    Nodmgspread
    Highlander
    Trade
    Noquickplay
    Opening a MOTD window (hidden or visible) that is not requested
    Forcing clients to view the MOTD until a timer has expired
    Giving or selling gameplay advantage to players
    Kicking players to make room for reserved slots
    Modifying stock maps, models, or materials
    Running non-default game modes: prop hunt, dodgeball, etc
    Enforcing class limits
    Browser popups
    Granting or modifying economy items, or taking actions that devalue players' items, or interfering with the TF2 economy



 

[Jebus]

So no more Quickplay traffic.

[Berath]

It depends if we want to disable 'kicking' (hidden/reserved slots are ok) and class limits.

I know several people feel Quickplay is irrelevant. Certainly we don't get enough QP traffic to make the difference between a dead server and a live server.

However, playing on the server almost every Tuesday and Friday right from the start to the end, there have been many many times that the trickle of QP players has been enough to re-vitalise it, just when it's starting to die down.

We still need to build up our Community Group which relative to other communities, is very small.

There is nothing to stop us discussing removing us from Quickplay and if the consensus is to leave, then fine, I'll go with it but then I also think we need to come up with some sort of plan to help keep the server alive.

As a possible thing if we do stay on QP: it will now be possible to select nocrits. If we enable this; the odds are that the sort of person who opts in to this, might be less likely to want to be the fourth spy on a team. Mind you this isn't a problem I've noticed much anyway.

[DeadlyAvenger]

However, playing on the server almost every Tuesday and Friday right from the start to the end, there have been many many times that the trickle of QP players has been enough to re-vitalise it, just when it's starting to die down.

How do you know they are QP players? Maybe I've missed something but I don't know how to tell the difference between someone who joins through Quickplay versus someone who finds the server through the browser.

[Berath]

There is no clear way of telling.

However things I do look out for is

1)typing !premium
2) expressing surprise that there are no bots
3) expressing surprise at the server in general; a hint that maybe they have not encounted a proper community server before
4) When I'm doing my post-game review, less hours of TF2 played, not many groups a member of, small friends list

Finally other servers have provided stats that show the level of QP traffic they're getting (and not getting after the update). There is a plug-in that shows where people connect from. I'm assuming there is some similarity. 

It could be worth an experiment. A reasonably healthy small community server these days, on a typical evening, lasts around 2-2 1/2hrs at more-or-less full. I've observed this. We could take ourselves off and see what happens.

We could also carry out some random polls on the server; 1) join through browser 2)join through quickplay

[CruelCow]

> Modifying stock maps, models, or materials

The recruitment posters won't run afoul of that right?

Edit: Also, do I read that correctly, that nocrit will not filter you by default?

[Berath]

You do read that correctly.

People can opt-in to nocrits servers if they deselect official servers only

[Berath]

Well a decision will have to be made fairly promptly

I propose

1) staying on Quickplay; whether people are joining us via QP or the browser, we aren't going to loose numbers by doing this
2) Looking at going no-crit as an opt-in option. We may have to think about the number of slots here. Will the sort of people who will opt-in to no-crit also be specifying 24 slot servers? We may have to see how the new QP UI is set up.

We'll still have a reserved slot (maybe more than one?).
Class Limits - to be honest on any server where people generally know what they're doing it's not much of a problem in my experience.

We've discussed the recruitment posters and think they should be okay

Oh and if anyone has further thoughts please give them!

[DeadlyAvenger]

My thought is the opposite - I would prefer to switch off quickplay to maintain the integrity of the gameplay on the server (increased players, classlimits) and so that our members continue to enjoy their reserved slot privileges.

We have no actual idea of how many 'random' players chance upon the server through the Quickplay matching and those that use the server browser. Considering our server is not regularly full and has an increased player count (which applied a penalty) I would suspect we were getting very little traffic through quickplay matching anyway.

As for #2 - why don't we modify Server #2 to be a no-crit quickplay server? (as it's doing nothing) We can modify that so that it meets the required criteria for quickplay (24 players, no-crits, no kicking for reserved slot etc.)

We'll still have a reserved slot (maybe more than one?).

Which members will connect into, and then no-one else will be able to join. The whole benefit of how the reserved slot works at the moment is that it immediately clears up the reserved slot when the member has joined so it's free for someone else to join the server when it's full. It's like a tiny airlock for members trying to get onto the server.

[Berath]

Well if we go off Quickplay and rely only on the browser who will help me publicise and market the server to bring people in?

I want names before I support this

[Hawker]

It's a quite a tough call, but the class limits are actually quite a plus for me.
I've been on quite a few servers where there would be 10 players per team, of which 5 were snipers.

Now I know that the WDG server is usually filled with quite a few regs and the chances of this happening are pretty low, but when the server is still filling it could be a problem that discourages people from staying on the server for longer (untill the server is full enough that 4 snipers on one team don't ruin a teams chances).

I think putting server 2 to use as a quickplay server is quite an interesting idea.
That way we can get a view on how many players come in through quickplay (if we get the server started a bit) and the impact that the quickplay settings have on the gameplay in general.

Edit: just read what Berath's post and she makes a valid point.
If we want server 1 te mainly rely on the WDG community, quite a lot more players will be needed.
Might it be an idea to get a group of members together who will focus on promoting WDG though different sites, steam and forums?

[Berath]

I know I sounded quite severe (read panicked), but if we are going to go 100% browser only, we are going to have to work at it.

With the changes in quickplay especially with people now being able to opt-in to no-crits, a lot more people are going to start to use quickplay who previously wouldn't.

They'd know that by selecting QP no-crit, the odds of landing on a decent server would be pretty good.

I think putting Server 2 as a no-crit quickplay server with 24 slots is a good idea. That way we have a back-up Quickplay server for if everything goes wrong which I find reassuring. Could we even transfer our QP token (or whatever) to Server 2 to preserve our ranking?

Plus Hawker's idea; I'd love a group to get together. At the moment it seems to be only me and my half-baked ideas and it gets exhausting.


Edit: Server 1; unique selling point...no crit, no damagespread, some custom maps  (?) and yes including hydro Yonder.

[Hawker]

What you're saying does sound pretty accurate.
Putting server 2 to use seems wise at this point.

I would definately be willing to help out with a PR group!
Might be good to get a small brainstorming session with anyone who would like to help out and set up a plan for the next 2 months or so.
I'll start doing some research on server promotion

[Berath]

I've been doing quite a lot of stuff around server promotion Hawker.

We must talk 

By the way, check out the Advanced Options for Quickplay. Worth having a play. I see it replacing the server browser to be honest. So much easier to use.

[DeadlyAvenger]

Update just dropped - I have disabled quickplay matching for Server #1 as a temporary measure while we decide what to do in the longer term. Didn't want to risk the server to 'be considered malicious and banned'.