Premium-Only Plugin?

[Lemon Jelly 26]

This would allow only people who have either bought the game or paid for something in the store to join the server. I think it would be kinda nice to maybe cut down on the number of griefing and hacking accounts. what do you think?

[Krash 1,040]

Definetly.

[aoCazzo 0]

yes, please. aside from all of the people who will gripe about free players and noobs, lemon jelly raises a good point about accounts used expressly for hacking and griefing.

[Bombz 31]

If we get the options to more appropriately handle hackers by way of votebans, then I don't care. If not, then yes.

I'll hold off voting for now.

[DrkEagle 15]

I think there's a plug in already out to auto kick free players.

[Lemon Jelly 26]

I think there's a plug in already out to auto kick free players.

https://forums.alliedmods.net/showthread.php?t=160049

[Mana 3,867]

I could make a server like this, but it would be empty.

[DrkEagle 15]

So.

Many.

Bad.

Players.

Makes.

It.

Unplayable.

[Mana 3,867]

At this time, the master server is broken.

For some people completely, for some it just returns a couple hundred servers.

Blocking free players will leave the servers empty as they are mostly filled by quickplay now and a little bit by favorites.

[Lemon Jelly 26]

so maybe possible in the future? or do you not want to block potential customers from seeing your servers?

[Mana 3,867]

so maybe possible in the future? or do you not want to block potential customers from seeing your servers?

Free players aren't very likely to donate when they didn't even buy the game.

There's other considerations here. Mostly the way the whole system works.

Let others block free players first, then lets see what happens (I already know).

[Tappy 8]

It's starting to get unbearable with all the free to play people on 24/7 2fort. UGH.

[DreamLord 3]

I take a slight degree of offense to the idea that free players are unlikely to donate. My wife is a free player and as her interest peaks in the game I could quite easily see her donating to the server. As she has donated to previous clans she has been in before.

I can also name a dozen other people that lean towards the idea of donating to a server when they don't have to pay for the game simply because they want some kind of stable place to play. That's why I donated in the first place. That and for what I thought was reserved slotting which doesn't make an ounce of difference with the insane influx of players.

I agree with a Premium server idea. However, I also know that even before FtP, the 2Fort and Arena servers were already near capacity fairly consistently so I don't think this will completely solve anything, but it is progressive and intelligent and rewards people for buying Team Fortr... I mean... Half-Life 2.

[Mana 3,867]

That's why I donated in the first place. That and for what I thought was reserved slotting which doesn't make an ounce of difference with the insane influx of players.

What do you mean it doesn't make a difference? Are you using the console to connect?

[Crovax 3]

I would kill for a premium only plug-in. All this "Why can't i backstab while cloaked?", "How does Heavy eat Sandvich?", "How come the Engineer's 'shooty robot' does so much damage?" is ridiculous as shit. I like donating to Lotus, but damn, playing with noobs all day is depressing. A lot of regulars on West Coast are M.I.A because these terrible F2P players are taking up slots. As for Mana saying the servers would be vacant.....I doubt it. Before the F2P update Lotus' servers were full or nearly full every time I join one.

[Mana 3,867]

I would kill for a premium only plug-in. All this "Why can't i backstab while cloaked?", "How does Heavy eat Sandvich?", "How come the Engineer's 'shooty robot' does so much damage?" is ridiculous as shit. I like donating to Lotus, but damn, playing with noobs all day is depressing. A lot of regulars on West Coast are M.I.A because these terrible F2P players are taking up slots. As for Mana saying the servers would be vacant.....I doubt it. Before the F2P update Lotus' servers were full or nearly full every time I join one.

That a seriously bad comparison. It doesn't even remotely make sense now.

You can't buy the game anymore. So all new players will be free ones. Old players will get bored of the game and there will be even less of a playerbase. And you know what the biggest problem is? Kind of hard to fill a server when it's delisted from the server list and not eligible for quickplay.

Then neither free nor premium players will join it.

Valve explains how automatic delisting works here:

http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=2338

Kicking the masses known as free players will result in so many negative points that it will get banned from the master server.

I could make a new passworded server that only the regulars would know about it (and could share the pass with other OK players), but it would turn out to be empty. But if there's enough interest that can be done.

[DreamLord 3]

The current excess amount of players on the server push it to max capacity and that means that reserved slots or not, I can't get on the server because it is full. I sincerely think that if more people thought of FPS games the way they should (as an MMO with the ability to better limit whom you have to play with through proper server choice and privated or PWed servers) the PC FPS community would not be struggling as hard as it is. It is in a clans best interest to have a few public servers for the masses to play on and enjoy, but for a player who enjoys playing the game and getting better at it, getting spammed killed when you get lucky on the join into Granary is enough to make you want to rage quit. I mean, who the heck votes granary when there are 16 people to a team?

What do you mean it doesn't make a difference? Are you using the console to connect?

[Bombz 31]

That a seriously bad comparison. It doesn't even remotely make sense now.

You can't buy the game anymore. So all new players will be free ones. Old players will get bored of the game and there will be even less of a playerbase. And you know what the biggest problem is? Kind of hard to fill a server when it's delisted from the server list and not eligible for quickplay.

Then neither free nor premium players will join it.

Valve explains how automatic delisting works here:

http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=2338

Kicking the masses known as free players will result in so many negative points that it will get banned from the master server.

I could make a new passworded server that only the regulars would know about it (and could share the pass with other OK players), but it would turn out to be empty. But if there's enough interest that can be done.

I kind of see the point, though I thought I read somewhere Valve has yet to truly delist servers for low scores. Either way, some tweaks to votebans would be nice. I admit though I haven't actually played much lately due to the F2P crap and overall decrease in teamwork.

[Mana 3,867]

The current excess amount of players on the server push it to max capacity and that means that reserved slots or not, I can't get on the server because it is full.

You can't? You probably didn't try using the reserved slot.

Just type connect ip:port in console and it will either put you in the hidden slots that only donors can join or kick a player if other donors used them up.

This thread explains how to enable the console and use the reserved slot in more detail:

(as an MMO with the ability to better limit whom you have to play with through proper server choice and privated or PWed servers)

We'll be having regular clan gatherings again soon. So suppose the password to that server can be posted on the forums afterwards. I still doubt it will be popular, but since there will be an extra server might as well share the pass.

I kind of see the point, though I thought I read somewhere Valve has yet to truly delist servers for low scores. Either way, some tweaks to votebans would be nice. I admit though I haven't actually played much lately due to the F2P crap and overall decrease in teamwork.

They did delist servers before. They even had to adjust the system because people running those bball maps had theirs get delisted (most games there last under 15 mins apparently). And the best part about reading those delist complaints was when Valve said the delists are per IP. So all other servers on the same IP (different port) get delisted too and not just TF2 any source valve game. Lots of server providers share ips to save money.

[DreamLord 3]

Ok, thanks. I am not used to having to take special measures. I was formerly a UT2K4 player. I'll console in from now on, until things hopefully change.

You can't? You probably didn't try using the reserved slot.

Just type connect ip:port in console and it will either put you in the hidden slots that only donors can join or kick a player if other donors used them up.

This thread explains how to enable the console and use the reserved slot in more detail: http://forums.gaming...nator-features/

We'll be having regular clan gatherings again soon. So suppose the password to that server can be posted on the forums afterwards. I still doubt it will be popular, but since there will be an extra server might as well share the pass.

They did delist servers before. They even had to adjust the system because people running those bball maps had theirs get delisted (most games there last under 15 mins apparently). And the best part about reading those delist complaints was when Valve said the delists are per IP. So all other servers on the same IP (different port) get delisted too and not just TF2 any source valve game. Lots of server providers share ips to save money.

[N-camon 8]

Considering I have paid for the game around October, and recently purchased something from the store, I do not mind. But I think it would be something different then just blocking players. Not sure what can be done, as I lack the know how for proper programming for this stuff.

[Genny Justice 1]

I'd like a server set to premium only not because of some sort of elitism...but all the games I've recently played go one of two ways:

1. I'm stuck on a team filled with F2P against a vastly superior team. I refuse to use my donor benefits to be on the winning team.

2. I'm playing against a team filled with F2P and can go 60:1 with an off class. It's not because I'm really that great but because the teams are so lopsided and it's not fun that way either.

There's also the aspect that a good portion of F2P are cheats and trolls and it's nearly impossible to ban these days with a majority of the players being F2P rather than regulars. The griefing engy that likes to send his entire team back to the start of the map is only funny the first three or four dozen times you see it.

[DreamLord 3]

<bump>

I just wanted to push this up since Mana seems to be against the idea of having a server that isn't on quick play and there are at least 19 people that said they would be interested.

I didn't start playing on Lotus because of Quick Play. I started playing on Lotus because I wanted to find a solid arena server with regular players and a good overall challenge level. I feel that overall when you take out the terrible FNG's you get a more rewarding experience.

One of my favorite responses to a comment I made was "You Can't Heal Stupid." Truer words were never spoken. I want a meat and potatoes server, not a Meat or Spam server.

[DreamLord 3]

I was unaware though that being a clan was about exposure though. Last I checked, branding only matters in the tournament circuits, not so much in the paying for your own stuff business. If people enjoy your servers, and then find out you have a private server, they are even more inclined to pay to join a server where they don't end up on a team full of players who can't figure out how to call for medic.

[Mana 3,867]

I just wanted to push this up since Mana seems to be against the idea of having a server that isn't on quick play and there are at least 19 people that said they would be interested.

Our 32 player servers are not on quickplay. Most of our servers are 32 players.

Every kick would lead to -45 points, and it would take 2 people playing 37.5 minutes to recoup the point loss. If there isn't already then soon there will be more free players than actual players thus making it impossible to run a server that kicks free players.

I just don't see how getting our servers delisted would be good for ANYONE. Even those 19 people would stop playing when the servers are invisible on the server browser AND not seen on quickplay.

The only way this would happen is via a private server. If there's enough interest in one it could be put up. I don't need to see the future to know that it won't be popular. Running servers for Valve's games for the last 7+ years is enough.

So before I waste time setting up a server that won't be popular, show me there's interest.