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| Madvillain |
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Registered Member #445
Joined: Sun Oct 01 2006, 11:42PMPosts: 2233 |
bring back timeless classics. i smell SHOTTEH NIGHT lol... [FT wrote ... CaT_PooP] rearranging the name of the server so that more people notice it might give us an easy boost in connections. most people who still play cs have a core interest; ie:a specific map they like. if we put "24/7 office" in front of fish tank classic, people are more likely to notice because they read it first. no one will come into an empty server, populating should be our primary objection but its still a good suggestion Poop why do we need an official "drunken FTc night"? If u wanna drink n play sum office, then drink n play some office lol. AMIRITEGOOSE? Edited Tue Oct 14 2008, 04:51PM |
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| NoSkill |
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Sir
Registered Member #457
Joined: Tue Oct 10 2006, 01:13PMPosts: 2628 |
What I meant was how could we reframe this "suggestion" thread away from a "bitch fest" that DEO was leading us down... However I think Goose salvaged the intention of the thread entirely and all of his suggestions are definitely considerable. Good work Goose. These 'goodies' will help us keep people once they come and play. But... BUT... I do not think any of those mods would address the initial hurdle of getting people in the server. Even if we run an "FT Drunk Night" or "Ladies Night" or "2 Dollar Draft Beer Night" it's not going to make a shits dick worth of difference to the people we are advertising to (the people reading this right now). FT members (people reading this) aren't NOT joining the server because we don't have "FT Mario Kart 64 Night" or anything else... They aren't joining for two reasons: 1) There's no one in the server. This is the main reason, playing 1v1 all the way up to 5v5 SUCKS. It's fucking boring and no one likes to do it. 2) And this is a very distant second as #1 is the major reason. But the 2nd reason is many of the "core members" of FT have moved on from 24/7 Office. Half of us are in CAL, many of us surf predominantly, many of us have migrated to different servers and a few of us even play completely different games (TF2, CoH, etc) The demographic of our "active member base" is vastly different from the days when 925 members dominated our activity. This needs to be considered. You won't ever reach the former level of prosperity with FTC, using soley the existing member base. You need an influx of new people, new members, new regulars. Literally, you need to start over, from scratch. And this time you don't have Kremit & co. who are willing to play constantly in a sever with 6 people in it. But that's it... that's the problem as I see it. No one scrolling through the Steam master server list is stopping on our server and going "WOW FUCKING COKED UP STRAP ON DILDO NIGHT!? SWEET!!!" What exists in the way of "professional" advertising? Like Populatemyserver.com or something? P.S. Don't get side tracked. Goose's input is extremely helpful & worth pursuing, I just don't think it will help fight the root cause of the lack in connections. |
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| NoSkill |
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Sir
Registered Member #457
Joined: Tue Oct 10 2006, 01:13PM Posts: 2628 |
Also be sure to give plenty of notice, days in advance of any planned "FTC Night". I don't know about you guys but I can't turn on a dime, drop what i'm doing to come play FTC because this morning it was determined that tonight will be 'FTC Night'. We're shooting for a regular day & time right? What is it right now? Thursdays at 8pm EST? |
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| b4ndito |
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b4ndito
Registered Member #958
Joined: Fri Jan 04 2008, 06:59AMPosts: 3385 |
Yes, NoSkill, Thursdays at 8 PM EST. Also, starting next week, we'll start up another one on Tuesday. The more we get the server populated on those nights the more people are going to keep joining. You've brought up very little that has not been expressed in the past, or anything that really helps. Right now, we're slowly trying to get our members back into the swing of playing FTC. Then we'll gradually populate the server more. |
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| Noname|Boom |
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That one guy...
Registered Member #250
Joined: Tue May 09 2006, 11:59PMPosts: 2603 |
I like the knife, gore, and frag contest the most out of any of those. | ||
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| NoSkill |
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Sir
Registered Member #457
Joined: Tue Oct 10 2006, 01:13PM Posts: 2628 |
b4ndito wrote ... Right now, we're slowly trying to get our members back into the swing of playing FTC. Then we'll gradually populate the server more. I just don't see a migration back to FTC from the existing FT member base as a likely scenario, is all I'm saying. What we need is an influx of NEW (ie. Green) nubs from the vast expanse known as the internetz to start calling FTC their home. But this won't happen til the server has a high average population, and that won't happen til we get new people, see it's a catch 71. (more than 3 times as difficult as a catch 22) Which leads me back to the only idea I'm going to present and am going to present it long and hard until you all accept and implement it. BOTS. If nothing else we can TRICK people into joining our server because they THINK there's people in there. ALSO you can change the names of the bots so that people don't know they're bots!!! AHAHAHA!!! AWESOME! Bots only come on when the population is say <10. In which case the bots make up the difference up until 10 slots are filled, at which point the bots leave every time someone joins. It's the only way you're going to get NEW randies to join the server without all of us being there. And it's at least 5.7 times better than the "Drunk FT Night" idea. Reasons For
Reasons Against
And I'll tell you what, we'll do this like a real orginization. You guys come up with a different plan for populating FT, figure out a metric to measure it's effectiveness (say average connections, easily viewable on the stats page). Run your plan for two weeks. Chart the effectiveness. Revert back. Run my plan for two weeks. Chart the effectiveness. $20 says my plan results in a higher average player count (not including the bot slots obviously) vs the leading competitor (do nothing? drunk night? add mods?) $20 is on the table for anyone who can do better AND PROVE IT with tangible results we can all see. |
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| Madvillain |
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Registered Member #445
Joined: Sun Oct 01 2006, 11:42PM Posts: 2233 |
oh c'mon, why do u guys choose days in the middle of the week? i saw more than one suggestion for a friday/saturday... AND if i recall weekends are the days i saw the server full, consistently than any other days. Edited Tue Oct 14 2008, 10:39PM |
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| Zero |
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I want to fuck your hand.
Registered Member #571
Joined: Thu Feb 15 2007, 09:59PMPosts: 2809 |
bots can be programmed to leave the server as soon as 2 people are in the server. OMG BOTS OMG SUX FAG!! Wrong, they would show constant activity, and wouldn't make the server boring as fuck waiting for someone to come into the server I LOVE the catch nades and nades trail stuff, aside from what the others pointed out. I'm a huge fan of nades and they seem awesome |
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| Madvillain |
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Registered Member #445
Joined: Sun Oct 01 2006, 11:42PM Posts: 2233 |
NoSkill wrote ... b4ndito wrote ... Right now, we're slowly trying to get our members back into the swing of playing FTC. Then we'll gradually populate the server more. I just don't see a migration back to FTC from the existing FT member base as a likely scenario, is all I'm saying. What we need is an influx of NEW (ie. Green) nubs from the vast expanse known as the internetz to start calling FTC their home. But this won't happen til the server has a high average population im pretty sure thats bandito's point in trying to get regular members back onto FTc. I mean, isn't that the best way to raise the average population of FTc, by asking members in the clan to play in order to attract peoples? If not the clan members then who will (maybe I'm old fashion in believing this lol). I mean, when I and a few others were looking for office servers to play on, it wasnt the amount of gimics the server had but the fact that they had players on them that where playing and having a good time talkin on the mic, trying to win. thats why i figured dead-alltalk was a good idea because once new players come, talking to/meeting other players is what keeps them around. In summary heres what im sayin... members/regs get on as much as possible ,then new players drift onto FTc since there's actual people on in the server ,then these new players, seeing how comfortable FTc is, remember to come back to the server as they develop good relations ,then the numbers grow and the process repeats If you think about it, this is probably how the server got started in the first place and is probably the reason why you all even came back to the server. If you REALLY think that office is too old and this process wont work then go ahead and add the mods you want, however i see plenty of 24/7 OFFICE servers full as we speak and I only see about 2 of these mods. Yea a couple of these servers do have 1v1 knife fights and a couple other mods but not too much. Overall if the mod being added will actually add to the amount of interaction among people, then go ahead and add it, but not to over do it. Our server was fine until dick admins decided to pull god knows what and drive regular players away. sad to see the same problem has to be addressed again so early.. but the point is we just need to get back to basics. It still works. BUT hey what do i know? i mean the only person who came close to me in hours on the server about a few months ago was kill time n maybe kever. i spent alotta time into playing office, almost studying it lol so i really do think im making sense. Edited Tue Oct 14 2008, 11:15PM |
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| BuBBLe GooSe |
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The Original MilfHunter
Registered Member #163
Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 02:24PMPosts: 1592 |
NoSkill wrote ... These 'goodies' will help us keep people once they come and play. But... BUT... I do not think any of those mods would address the initial hurdle of getting people in the server. I get where you're going. New people aren't going to join a server because they heard that the grenades on the server shoot coloured comet trails out the ass.  I made those plugin suggestions in hopes of reinvigorating the interest from within the core group to get ‘some’ of us excited about Office again and the new connections will result from ‘core members’ simply being on the server. Many of us have played on FTC for years and the only thing that has really changed are the people who play on it. This has worked well for us in the past, but considering how things have changed over the past few months and the unprecedented efforts being made to re-populate the server, I think we all recognize that now is the time to move forward with fresh ideas and Tictacs. Speaking honestly and hoping that my comments won’t ostracize me too much; for me at least, Office has become mundane, vanilla, boring. (What I will always love about FTC is the people and the familiarity.) I’m sure Trueagle and his wife put on Grimace and Hamburglar costumes once in a while because even the stuff you really enjoy becomes stale and requires some spice.I’d just like to expand on a few of the plugin suggestions and explain how (I think) a few of them can be beneficial to the current situation… There are many updated and extended versions of cs_office on FPSbanana, but that’s an extreme and risky proposition. I found a “Light Setting” plugin that is Admin controlled and it easily changes the lighting scheme for the map. (I’m pretty sure it uses stock internal Source elements so I don’t think there is anything to DL.) It just adds a different atmosphere to the map and gives it a ‘new’ feel without doing anything too extreme. There is a light scheme called ‘fluorescent flicker’ which sounds perfect for Office. Its an easy and low risk map makeover in a bottle. Given the fact that we are all gamers, it’s safe to say that we are easily amused. Gore mod, Nade comet trails, bullet impact sparks, hosties with chef hats and watermelon heads, shit even paintballs on the wall will act as visual stimulants and set the server apart from the other ‘stock’ servers. It’s different and fun to look at without interfering on gameplay and it adds some new excitement. I just think that it will add OVER 9000! Degrees of fun and coolness. I’m sure the ‘Frag Contest’ plugin can be customized to set a 16k bounty on the winner, make him glow a different color, give him 200 HP and an AWP for a round. It’s the game within the game that can add a spark or break the repetitiveness of 50 straight similar rounds. Many people already seem to be in favor of the ‘1v1 knife fights’ but that’s because it’s a popular plugin and we’ve experienced and liked it. (Adding a small Mortal Kombat clip during the fight could be jokes too,,, and a small DL.) Perhaps if we try different well-designed plugins, they might enhance the playing experience and become as integrated as deathbeam, quakesounds, etc… Specifically addressing gameplay changes would be the “Drop Money on Death” and “Catch Nades” plugins. I think that dropping X% (maybe 10%) of your money when killed will entice a more dynamic playing style. 10% isn’t enough of a hit to promote camping, yet those with low cash might opt for a rush in hopes of getting a few quick kills so that they can pick up some money for next round. It facilitates movement and can be used to bait greedy players. Who wouldn’t go after a roll of 20’s on the floor? As for the “Catch Nades” plugin, it sounds interesting. Now instead of players running from nades, players will run towards them. If the timing isn’t right or the player misses the catch, then it will make for good LoLs. Or what if a player catches a nade and throws it back only to be caught and tossed back at him again. Freakin’ WWI trench warfare nade tossing in CS sounds like fun! “Radio Spam Block” just prohibits douches from being douches and saves admins the stress of having to deal with it, or look like the bad guys for having to drop an @mute. We aren’t going to have 15 randies all join an empty server at the exact same time, we have to re-establish the base and use measures that best suit player’s needs and desires. I agree that new players will join an already semi-populated server and I think that sprucing up the server will refresh some interest from the inside out. In a supposed ‘free market’ economic culture where American Idol reigns supreme, I think that it would be advantageous to find out what people want, then give it to them. Connection counts show that something needs to be done to keep FTC relevant. Other servers have ‘/music’ and custom clan decals on the walls of the map…. Our competition has recognized and evolved with the changing CS:S Public Server trends, and as a result their Blackberries work more efficiently than our Morse Code. NoSkill wrote ... They aren't joining for two reasons: 1) There's no one in the server. This is the main reason, playing 1v1 all the way up to 5v5 SUCKS. It's fucking boring and no one likes to do it. Agreed. What sucks even more is setting up a time schedule where people take turns sitting in an empty server. No offence Bandito, but ‘scheduling specs’ sounds more like a punishment than anything else. Many people love FTC, want it to succeed, and are willing to waste time sitting in an empty server… that’s dedication. Instead of “forcing” or “scheduling interest out of a sense of duty”, what about trying to promote actual interest that is derived from sheer fun and enjoyment? Lets find out what will make FTC fun again, then do it. People will join because they want to, not because they are scheduled to. NoSkill wrote ... 2) And this is a very distant second as #1 is the major reason. But the 2nd reason is many of the "core members" of FT have moved on from 24/7 Office. Half of us are in CAL, many of us surf predominantly, many of us have migrated to different servers and a few of us even play completely different games (TF2, CoH, etc) CAL = competitive, Surf = easy going and fun, different servers/games = new and dynamic experiences. I think that FTC can stay competitive, add some plugins to increase the fun and make it a ‘new’ and dynamic experience for the core members. I agree that the demographic has shifted, and I think that it only makes sense to adapt and change with the times. Those people who want to play with strict competitive overtones will hop on mIRC and find a scrim. We have to keep in mind that FTC is a public server and the focus should be primarily on fun,,, but done tastefully. I’d like to see a few plugins added to the server, Noskill suggested adding bots, and there’s FTC night… I know that I’ve kinda been out of the loop for a while, but are there any other suggestions? Maybe we can lump some ideas together then perform a preliminary “vote” thingy to see where our interests stand, then take it from there? |
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