Free Porn!

[JAD 0]

I should be posting this in the dev forum. The general consenus is that unless things change the zone may no longer be around (these are just rumors mackie has no intentions to pull the plug that I am aware of). As with most others swz'ers no other zone really does it for me. I mean sure most of us that actually play ss have found other places to go but its not SWZ and nothing else quite feels right. Well SWZ in its current state dosnt feel like SWZ.

 

Why dont those that are still around play? The settings are too far away from the basic swz formula. We can all debate the time that swz was in its "prime" but I think the majority of vets would agree it was G2 map pub teams, caps no bots mods enforcing ship rules at that time.

 

Bot are not a bad thing but an inactive staff that to be honest dont "seem" to do much is. Not accusing or pointing fingers at any staff, but this is what ppl are saying (truth or not dosnt matter). My opinion is that I know they care but are trying to hard to fix what isnt broke. Staff dont want to staff an empty zone. It's only logical that non-staff is going to blame staff for the decline in population.

 

NEWS-FLASH: Swz dont need "fixed" it needs put back together. Put the settings back to normal. For now dont allow priv freqs. Allow the bot to set caps just in case population would allow it. Enable ship rules 1-3 4-6 7-8 caps. Thats SWZ. Even if we didnt have enough for caps its something to shoot for (come on you guys in spec 2 more and we get caps!)...

 

Now on to my specialty Maps. The current tileset is pure ownage but making a small map is just self-fullfilling prophacy. Saying that we will never have enough people for a decent size map and all of a sudden we dont. Plan for a rebirth not the end... Would it matter if we made a normal sized map with the expectation that it will one day be in use. I say shoot for the big time instead of trying to mould the zone around our current population.

 

We should have prac bot running 24/7. SWZL should run non stop with 2 week breaks in between seasons like AML. This is a no brainer. START A NEW SWZL SEASON IMEDIATLY. Even if its 6 squads dont matter this is the single most important thing we can do is show an active zone even if the flag games blow.

 

We should have and elim bot, old elim bot and a duel bot running 24/7 for the low times 2-4 ppl can have a blast in an elim or duel arena. Events 10 mil games zombie old elim mini tk fos maze races etc should run when ever a mod see 10+ ppl in zone (after flag games is the perfect time to keep ppl in the zone once the flag game is over they tend to leave).

 

I have more to add tired of typing though.

 

/JAD

 

(too lazy to spell/grammer check this)

[No_Remorse 0]

You have some good points. We must be more helpful and try to ease up on the newbies that come to check out the zone. Because, if a newbie enters zone and gets blown away 20 times in a row they will probably be a little turned off. Staff needs to become apparent, I don't even think I've seen a staff member yet... A new map would be nice. I am willing to contribute with any mapmaking. Also, stop whining about swz's state, invite buddies from other zones or maybe try something other then sitting in spec rambling on about god knows what. I wouldn't mind seeing swz back in it's true glory, but what can I do?

[JAD 0]

I too have eased up on the noobs some sorta like letting my kid beat me in chess every now and then Playing and not sitting in spec is huge I am so guilty of this. We worked well on maps before Nr im sure we could get something together in a reasonable time. I just want some staff imput before i commit to a full blown project. I would like to a suggest an in-game meeting with all active staff and players log i0,t brain storm and see what we can do. Mackie needs all the help he can get and I know he listens although some would say otherwise. It's actually quite lonely at times at the top and I know how much he cares but he needs support. We all need to get invloved on any level that our free time allows.

 

The website is another area I havnt touched on. Great layout need more news posted. Lets pretend we have an active zone Then it will become a reality... Post reset winners and award top places with some sorta prize...most kills/deaths flag points higest ratio etc..

 

/JAD

 

 

[TC Dark Reign 0]

QUOTE (JAD @ Nov 13 2005, 12:01 AM)

The website is another area I havnt touched on. Great layout need more news posted.

If anyone is interested in becoming a newsposter, contact me at tcdr@jfsquad.com and show my why you're interested and what kind of news you want to post.

[fox-1 0]

A new map would be nice .. maybe make a christmas themed map .. and make it so fancy that people from other zones will come check it out ..

 

I dont think we need mods enforcing ship rules, but we definetly need some new events, and mods to host em. Start hosting events regularly, just some small events doesn't need to be anything big .. and form up a nice event hosting team to host events. Make it every friday, saturday and sunday, and make it REGULARLY. I dont think it wouldn't be too hard. That way we could maybe get some people to show up heh

[senti 0]

Hey jad,

 

it's cool to see you still care and all about the zone. Even when you're not much around anymore. After reading the 2 first sentences i already knew where it was going to though.

 

You said that swz doesnt feel like swz anymore. There is one big and most likely the only problem... That's people. Get people, and swz will be back.

 

You pointed out alot of things that has been pointed out many times before. So there is nothing new in that. If mackie or someone else on staff knew what to do to improve it, then they would have already i hope.

 

About "vet's" staying away. You can't blame the settings for them to stay away. The old good time was with privs, and G2 map. A time when alot of people started to play, so all those experienced that map has GOOD. Those people don't play anymore because they have lives nowadays or if they still play somewhere else, it's because the zone is ded.

SWZ has to attract new players and not the "vets". If swz gets alive and kickin, the "vets" still playing will return.

 

removing ship rules was a good change. Don't change that back. And caps is something that wont work with a low population.

 

running a prac bot 24/7 is a good way of killing main. I said that MANY times.

 

having event bots is a good idea. But a better idea would be to host events in main arena. Pointman once told me how he revived eg back in the day. And a reason was by hosting events in main. That way you kept people playing in the main arena, which leads to people who come in and stay.

 

QUOTE

It's actually quite lonely at times at the top and I know how much he cares but he needs support.

If only he would let us know what he wants, and if he needs help with anything. a sysop has to communicate with everyone. No idea if hes doing it enough.

 

Back in the day when i was in staff. I've considered with other people to get rid of the star wars theme. When captain harloch created the zone, he had a nice and cool theme... star wars was hot back then, and it attracted people. Now, star wars isn't so hot anymore. And it's time that swz creates his own theme. a theme that can last till the end of subspace. star wars theme has always been a pain in the ass. I remember how miew didn't like it first to remove ship rules because of the bloody theme. But fack the theme

 

SWZ needs to get NEW people instead of vets. SWZ needs young people instead of gramps.

Make everything look tough and nice and shit. Also, look how redstar got all those people, and learn from that.

 

Situation with staff is something i can't judge on since i'm not on enough for that. So i will leave it at that. But my experience in the past is that the mods don't know what it's like to be a real mod. And that sucks. I remember when i started... how much mods were involved. Would be cool to see that back.

[garath 0]

Lots of interesting stuff being discussed. I think there are some high-level issues that need to be discussed/agreed to before we start worrying about more granular details.

 

In a nutshell the problem with SWZ as I see it breaks down into 2 sub-problems.

 

1) How to get we people in the zone?

There is some issue around how do we get people who do not play swz, who have never played swz, or who have stopped playing swz to come back and give the zone a shot.

 

2) How to we keep said people in the zone?

After we get them here, how to we keep them? How to we prevent them from saying fuck this blows and leaving (as I did 5-6x times this past weekend)

 

I think the solutions around 1 are more marketing/event driven. How do we build awareness of swz and how do we attract people. And it's a tough nut to crack. I have some ideas but I'll hold off for now.

 

I think the solutions around 2 are more settings/zone policies/zone staff driven.

What are the ideal settings to keep people around?

What is the right set of policies to make swz fun and friendly?

What is the right staffing level, roles and responsibilities, and involvement for staff?

 

I also think there is some disconnect on what we want SWZ to BE, what swz IS, and what we think it has to be to rebuild itself. And all these competing viewpoints need to be blended into a vision that people are, at the least, comfortable with, and at the most, happy with.

 

I'll write my thoughts on solutions in a following post to keep this stuff bite-sized

 

I hope everyone can agree on the PROBLEMS and QUESTIONS that need to be addressed so everyone can talk about addressing the same stuff.

 

-garath

[garath 0]

Okay, so solutions:

 

On problem 1:

I think our best bet for bringing people into the zone is SWZL. It brings back a lot of old people who know SWZ and like SWZ, and it gives them a reason to spend time in the zone. Seasons past have had varying levels of success in bringing other squads into SWZL but regardless any new blood at this point is pretty decent. While I doubt we'll have a high conversion ratio on squads from other zones even a handful of people is a vast improvement. At the very least, it'll get some subset of the SS community talking about what's going on in SWZ.

 

I also think we need a comprehensive and defined calendar of events. Throw up a series of 10 million point games, staff v player, squad v squad, tourney, anything that people enjoy playing. And throw it up consistently. So people know that every other week at 3 pm est on Saturday (for example) is a 10 mil point game. Every sunday at 6 pm est there will be a series of either rabbit, zombie, old elim, whatever. Every 3rd week there is a mini tourney run on monday and tuesday. Whatever the hell it is, set it up and keep it going.

 

On problem 2:

What are the ideal settings?

I am not a settings dude. I like the g2 map settings from 4-5 years ago (or whatever it was). But i'm flexible. The one thing I think about settings is we NEED TO KEEP THEM CONSISTENT. Changing the settings (unless it's very very minor incremental tweaks) frequently makes it hard for people (even old dudes like me) to know whats going on.

 

I am running out of steam and actually am being asked to do some work. But hopefully this is somewhat helpful. At the very least, if people agree with the framing of the conversation, we're a bit further than before.

 

[Circle 0]

To attract new players, you need to make it easier. You need to give newbies a chance. I suggest trying old settings.

 

That's the one-bomb kill settings. Is that the setting the zone was at the very begining when SWZ was trying to grow and attract players as a new zone? It's the setting I first started playing SWZ. It gives newbies some lucky shots. Or at least the ones that don't have flying skills but still have some aiming skills, some chance of wining.

 

Newbify it. That's the wining formula for fast kill (death) zones like trench. It doesn't have to be something that changes weapons/ships settings. Pball's small map attracts newbies because smaller maps means faster scoring, less thinking ahead, and more instant satisfaction.

 

Even long running commercial multiplayer games were newbified to help attract and keep new players. Counter-strike's hitboxes used to be much smaller. After it went retail and v1.5, the hitbox were enlarged and headshots became much easier so newer players can hit the head almost just as often as seasoned vets.

 

Day of Defeat's BAR used to be much harder to use because it kicked a lot. After the retail release, they made that gun easier to use. And probably some other changes I don't remember.

 

Natural-selection used to be just regular base-building ns-style maps. But its learning curve is pretty steep so the creators introduced combat mode where you don't need to build bases and just kill enemies to level up to buy new equipment and weapons. Combat maps for ns is like War3's Defense of the Ancients for a first person shooter. Much easier with more action.

 

The return of old settings would probably see mostly center killing. To encourage more flagging, you can try making the map really small with only 3 bases and no center. Those variable maps are really cool.

 

The incoming newbies would probably just be a trickle, there's no saying how long they'll stay when there are larger populations to play with in other zones. But if the settings are easy enough at least they won't be turned off as quickly.

 

Once your ready for the new debut, you can always "crash" the other servers for a couple of days to divert players here.

[senti 0]

maddok and miew once tried out a weekend with old settings. After day 1, they had to change back because population had dropped low to a record at that time.

 

No idea how it would work in the long run... But it's almost like making a whole new zone.

And the swz settings we have for years now are considered to be the best by many people. Also from outside swz. So why get whole other settings?

[SoM 0]

1 day? Good try.

1 day isnt good enough, maybe a month and you will know.

 

Change back to ship settings we had 1-5 years ago or just use the old 1-bomb-hit-kill settings and get rid of the ?buy crap.

[syx 0]

Yeah, and who even knows what SWZ used to be like in the good ol days before the bots...

 

OMG ME!

 

Damn, I downloaded continuum to come and say hi to my friends and I can't even find the damn server anymore...someone gimme the IP!

[senti 0]

QUOTE (syx @ Nov 15 2005, 09:14 PM)

Yeah, and who even knows what SWZ used to be like in the good ol days before the bots... OMG ME! Damn, I downloaded continuum to come and say hi to my friends and I can't even find the damn server anymore...someone gimme the IP!

216.34.65.183

port: 6000

 

Might work if you copy next line of text into your Directory Server Adress List...

 

sscentral.sscuservers.net sscentral.subspacehq.com sscentral.subspace.net

[No_Remorse 0]

WTH? Is that the original Syx from D'squad??!! If so what's up buddy, it's Pop Korn (ew old name), that's if you dont remember this name.

 

Kraken still alive?

[TC Dark Reign 0]

I remember running in D'kraken a little over a year ago. Last I saw of him.

[syx 0]

Yeah...syx..the same.

 

Kraken is still and probably always will be my best friend in the world. We hang out all the time still, talk about subspace now and then though we've played a whole bunch of games together. I just got back in and downloaded continuum. He was like WTF you're playing subspace?.

 

Pretty sucky that swz is dead now....but yeah. I'll be around here and there.