Server Name:
For:
Implementation:
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TTT / Any other game server.
That's complicated. I would suggest for it too be a new feature in the discord and/or forums.
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Suggestion Title:
"Reviving a server" Version 2 MK II
- A formal system for dedication agreements.
How would it benefit the server:
Arbitrary measurable growth. For all parties involved. In all
by-proxy ways possible.
[SUGGESTION* STARTS HERE]
- This is suggestion v2, because the former, never posted, v1 also focused on issues of the server. -
- This suggestion is only focusing on the player count / server rank """"issues"""". -
- I'm going to quote past me from version 1. I don't care. I can do what i want. -
- HITTING HARD FROM THE START! -
"The servers rank has become too low for you to expect that players are gonna be around at the normal peak hours of the day. Because no one wants to join an empty server."
Why is the server dying/dead? - Why is the server empty all the time?
- It's a shame that not more data has been archived regarding player count and server rank. This is what i could find. -
Well, clearly the server isn't doing as well as it used too.
But i can tell you that:
It's not that GMOD players have stopped playing.
It's just that GMOD, or rather, TTT players have gone elsewhere. On other servers. Just like the former staff members. I know that is a controversial thing to say, but the former staff i have talked with that still, sometimes, show up on the server once in awhile. Agree that: Yes, they play on other servers now. Because this server, they used to play on, is just empty, compared to the ones they play on now.
Now, i haven't gone looking for them, i don't know where, if even at all, you can find where they play. But this isn't the point of this suggestion.
So, lets get back on track!
Preliminary conclusion
We need a system to boost the player count of the server.
I suggest that there shall be made a formal agreement system that allows players to "queue" up to play at an agreed time.
Why? - and how is this meant to work?:
The concepts are easy to understand.
- "The big only get bigger"
1) Server rank
- Server rank is based on how many players the server has around the clock.
- If the server has no one playing on the server ever. Assuming it has a high rank, over time, it will slowly fall towards the lowest possible rank.
- If the server is maxed out at, lets say, 47 players around the clock it will, over time, creep towards rank 1 (the highest possible rank)
2) Player influx
- When a server is empty, no matter the rank, It gets put below the other public servers that has players online, no matter their rank.
- When a server has just 1 player on the server and it's rank 1. It gets put first, on top of, all the other servers, in the public server listing, even if the lower rank servers have way more players online on their servers.
This means that:
Any server, no matter what server rank it has. If you max-out the player count on that server (by whatever means) that server will go up in rank, and become rank 1. Once it is rank 1 it will stay rank 1 for as long as the average server count does not fall below the rank 2 server's average player count.
...So, if we take ZARP's dead TTT server and coordinate times that people are gonna join at.
Then instead of the server always being on 0-1 players. It will get a big jump to, lets say, 5 players.
Once at 5 players, and those players stay on the server for atleast a few dozen minutes. The server will only grow in player count.
As version 1 of my draft would have put it:
And congrats! You have succesfully done the equivalent of a pump-and-dump.
But everyone walks away happy, and it only cost you the time of doing it. - And the server is left
alive.
Some of us sorta already do this, but on a smaller and less coordinated scale.
You know, the: "Lets repopulate the server guys"-posts.
I mean, this method could probably just not work out, because the server rank has fallen too low now(?)
- But i think that is, realistically, wayyyy too unlikely too not try it!
Aswell..
I'M PRETTY SURE THE 2V2 EVENT PROVED THAT THIS WORKS, SO I WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS SUGGESTION SHOULDN'T WORK ASWELL.
- Returning to the idea that server rank is prioritized over server population by default sorting filter. -
Example of low-population servers (marked in red) beating high-population servers, because the low-population servers have a higher server rank:
I think we all understand the idea that I/you probably, most of the time, click the first link in the google search results.
Likewise, the average random TTT player, probably just clickes on whichever servers happends to be in the top of their screen.
Disclaimer:
- Sometimes an empty server with a high rank can be listed above a very popluated server with a comparible bad rank
- In conjunction with the former, Sometimes a very populated server with a very bad rank can be listed way below (nearly at the bottom of) all the other servers on the public server listing.
- A theory as to why this is. I would have to say the public server listing (When sorting by rank (Default*)) it also takes into count the ping and population of the server, but rank is mostly the priority-factor.
It could also be that otherwise highly ranked servers could have been reported (for whatever reason) and is automatically being placed near the bottom of the public server listing because of that.
- And then those poorly ranked, but highly populated servers, are only surviving because its on top of the public server listing, when sorting servers by player count.
With the server (ZARP 24/7 TTT) basicly never being on more than 1 player (*always 0 players - empty*) no one is gonna be the first to join the server.
Therefore, in recent times, I, have been the first player to join the server. Lifting the server up from the bottom of the public server listing, and up along with the other servers, with players online.
- Fun fact i did this today for about 2 hours... I love staffing an empty server
,,,no one joined.
My experience doing this so far has been that:
[12am - 4pm] I sit alone on average about 30 min. (Sometimes almost a hour but then i give up and leave) Before some random or long time player from the community joins.
Then, most times, they leave after we play some rounds. - without anyone joining in the meantime.
Then i sit alone again for an average of about 15-20 min.
Then someone joins.
And then this time, on average, someone joins aswell. And we are now 3 players on the server.
Then, most of the time, this is when more people join over about a hour and a half. We reach about 6-8 players.
After reaching 7-8 players the server typicly reaches a standstill and the player count doesn't change for more than a hour, before people slowly leave and the server dies. THE END.
,,,But sometimes, when we have reached a standstill at 7-8 players, we get lucky and more people join, then we reach up to an average of 12 players, and a peak 14 players.
About a hour passes. And then slowly the player count goes down to 7, and then 3. Typicly it does not recover, and dies at this point. [4pm-8pm]
There are a lot of 'Sometimes', 'most of the time', 'on average', 'typicly' ect. In these anecdotes.
- This is because there is
no guaranty that the server is suddenly gonna come alive.
When i sit alone and wait for players to join. I could sit forever and wait. Or someone could join and then leave before someone else joined.
And forever be in a cycle of waiting for players, 1 player joins, we play a few round, they comment on the emptyness of the server, they leave, i wait for players, someone joins, we play, they comment on the emptyness of the server, they leave...
I mean the events does do something in solving this.
But 24/7 TTT minecraft isn't really 24/7 if people are "
incentivized" to only play during events; that are held once a week.
But too many events, and it just becomes another way to farm diamonds(?)
Conclusion - The actual suggestion to be consideret - What you probably just wanted to read on its own.
My suggestion for you is to make a formal, official, system that allows players (users and staff) to collectively pick a time that they would all agree to join the server on. Thereby instead of randomly joining. Or what i think most do: wait and occasionally check if there are anyone on the server. - But if no ones on the server, why join?
They pick this time. They join at the time. And who would have known, now there are a significantly more amount of players on the server at the same time.
And supposably, they are all gonna have a better time now, in comparison too just playing with 1 or 2 other players, or more realistically, alone.
How to make such a system? I don't know. - well, maybe i do. I'm thinking of
something like a calendar of some sort. I'm thinking of an
UI on the forums and/or discord - for those who apparently mainly use that.
That makes this easy, but most important: Possible.
I mean, i say 'agree' in the way that: It is an agreement. If that means that they sign up with
steamID* and stuff, and when the time comes the website/discord asks for them to open steam-app Garry's mod with the 'Connect IP' preset-thing. That's up to you
- It would atleast be an easy way to streamline and alert the player that the to join the server, is now.
Of course this whole thing is somewhat hard to pull off, because it takes effort from a lot of people to come together and do this thing.
But you have to put in effort somewhere, to get results don't you?
Potential Issues/Exploits:
The fact that it takes human effort, dedication and passion.
But... If you have passion, you also have dedication, and the will to put in effort???!?
Additional notes:
This is getting boring
[Q&A]
Question: WHY?
Answer:
(i talk to myself when i staff the empty server)
my head hurts. i hope it isnt because of my writing lol
have at it. i hope it makes sense for you.
i followed the format but it wasnt clear were i should put all my text at. @the people that makes the templates