A recent lack of activity?

(potty200) #1

Ok, so I have been away for a few days but since getting back the servers just seem empty! It’s blockout wednesday and there is NO ONE on any server at all!

My question to everyone who is a little less active than they used to be is:

Why are you not playing as much right now?

I know there is an ongoing problem for the NA/AUS players with lack of players anyway. For the EURO players is it exams, nice weather or something about the game that is making you not play as much!

My second question to everyone that wants more activity is:

What do you want to see MORE of? Do you want more draft games, scrims, cups or just more active publics?

This is just so I have a rough idea wether we are running enough draft games for you guys. We did have the biggest turnout the other day with 17 players on teamspeak wanting to play in the draft game! If we could of got 3 more people we could of changed things up to a 4 team round robin league of some sort. For those who are un-familiure with draft games check out the draft VODs on SD’s youtube account AND me draft topics in the eSports Forum.

Enough with my jibberjabba now!

(INF3RN0) #2

  1. School takes up most of my available time. Also I become more interested by other games and many times would rather play them than DB. I play mostly to give feedback on making content better, however I find a lot of patches to be too minor. Maps for example received such incremental alterations that they became finalized and now we just have to deal with it. It’s not that I don’t like the game, but I just haven’t been able to become addicted so far.

  2. I want to see more significant experimental patches and more detailed dev threads regarding limitations and goals so that I don’t waste time wandering off on my feedback. If I understand the goals in detail then I can focus my feedback towards improving those goals instead of setting my own. I also think SD should be more open to the occasional erratic test just to test the water, as long as it isn’t too overly complex ofc.

(potty200) #3

[QUOTE=INF3RN0;452558]1. School takes up most of my available time. Also I become more interested by other games and many times would rather play them than DB. I play mostly to give feedback on making content better, however I find a lot of patches to be too minor. Maps for example received such incremental alterations that they became finalized and now we just have to deal with it. It’s not that I don’t like the game, but I just haven’t been able to become addicted so far.

  1. I want to see more significant experimental patches and more detailed dev threads regarding limitations and goals so that I don’t waste time wandering off on my feedback. If I understand the goals in detail then I can focus my feedback towards improving those goals instead of setting my own. I also think SD should be more open to the occasional erratic test just to test the water, as long as it isn’t too overly complex ofc.[/QUOTE]

Didn’t think I was going to get such a decent responce from anyone! I guess school is going to be a huge factor for many right now this time of year :frowning:

(Kendle) #4

I wonder also what impact the ET:QW GG tournament is having, seeing as so many here are active ET:QW players as well?

For me personally it’s just “RL” limiting my play time, in that I get bits and pieces of time here and there rather than being able to commit to playing for ‘x’ number of hours on a given day (hence the in-ability at present to sign up for drafts, which I’d love to do).

(Jonny_Hex) #5

Duly noted, and completely agreed-with. Hopefully you should see some more experimental changes very soon. Can’t say much more, but yes. Good post. Thank you.

(MrFunkyFunk) #6

I only bother to connect to the game & TS if I see people I know. I stopped wasting hours trying to start servers on my own and waiting for more than 3 players.

I’m not having much fun on the game right now, my issues with it are scattered in dozens or so threads in the forum with those of other players.
Some time ago we were getting small patches almost every week, for some reason it gave me a sense of “things are moving/shaping”.
Now, from what I remember (or understood) they’re busy trying to patch things up and we’re getting less as a result. I wouldn’t care so much if there was at least a little bit more communication and also efforts to bring back people and involve them more (or would that public display be at the expense of actual concrete work since it’s a small team? I don’t know).

[QUOTE=INF3RN0;452558]
I want to see more significant experimental patches and more detailed dev threads regarding limitations and goals so that I don’t waste time wandering off on my feedback. If I understand the goals in detail then I can focus my feedback towards improving those goals instead of setting my own. I also think SD should be more open to the occasional erratic test just to test the water, as long as it isn’t too overly complex ofc.[/QUOTE]

I’d like to see those experimental patches, less of “let the holy echo do its job and we’ll get back to you in one month”.
It would also help me get a grasp of where we’re going and not let me drift away with my expectations.

Regarding you other question Potty, definetely more draft & scrims.
I OD’d on public and I find organized stuff so much more enjoyable on the current version. I’d be a happy man if I was able to play a scrim each evening instead of ffa.

(RasteRayzeR) #7

I think they take risks by making such a big patch. There could be many new things yes, but many new bugs also. A two weeks patch release rate would be nicer and allow us to give more feedback before things are to far set.

I agree with the experimental packs. From what I see DB is too serious right now, I’d like more elements of the game you respond to by a positive : “WTF !” and then laugh a good time. If anything be more extravagant in the designs, bring stuff that makes us smile and laugh. Brink so way to serious and it ended up choking me everytime I played it, feeling actually sad and dull after a game session.

And for the lack of activity, well, my fellow students here made my point already, though I’ll be done by the end of the week ^^

(INF3RN0) #8

Yea also to note @ Potty. The scrims/drafts are great means of testing and showcasing the game, and surely my preferred method. That should remain their ultimate purpose for now though- stuff like cups/tournaments for alpha are very unnecessary and premature in that sense for me.

(INF3RN0) #9

[QUOTE=RasteRayzeR;452569]I think they take risks by making such a big patch. There could be many new things yes, but many new bugs also. A two weeks patch release rate would be nicer and allow us to give more feedback before things are to far set.

I agree with the experimental packs. From what I see DB is too serious right now, I’d like more elements of the game you respond to by a positive : “WTF !” and then laugh a good time. If anything be more extravagant in the designs, bring stuff that makes us smile and laugh. Brink so way to serious and it ended up choking me everytime I played it, feeling actually sad and dull after a game session.

And for the lack of activity, well, my fellow students here made my point already, though I’ll be done by the end of the week ^^[/QUOTE]

If people could respond to all the experimental stuff constructively and with the sense that it’s still alpha… I think we could definitely do it without much frustration. I don’t get why people act like alpha is all about playing a final version of the game or that whenever anything doesn’t work well right away that it needs to be dumped. I don’t like half the stuff I see or test, but I still play and try to figure out ways to make those experimental ideas develop into acceptable/working elements.

If I were SD I would be immensely turned off towards doing anything big or experimental because of how awful a lot of the testers respond to it, which is why they seem to be doing most of the major developments in-house first. Just saying we have a whole lot of really bad tester conduct that doesn’t do anything to improve our role.

(chippy) #10

Since Dirty Bomb is not my “primary” game at the moment the servers get populated at the same time as my “primary” game. Not that much I can do to avoid it as of now. :frowning:

I’m all for the pubbing as well as the competitive side to test the new things in both scenarios but right now it just the time collides unfortunately.

(Ruben0s) #11

I find dirty bomb pretty boring to play. Maybe it gets more fun if they add more things. But major reasons for me are the map design ( game feels so repetitive because of this) and the movement system. I still can’t understand why I still enjoy playing Goldrush after hundreds of times, but I don’t enjoy playing London Bridge.

Imo splashdamage made a wrong decision with implementing art on maps, as this means drastic changes are not going to happen. Well I sincerely hope that there will be map tools released. If not I doubt DB will be a game for me.

Will start up DB once a time if a patch gets released. I enjoy watching the milestones videos more than actually playing the game.

(Shiv) #12

Been starting a new job and moving around the country… after ending a degree with a ton of work on it… so its been hectic :c
Hoping to try and get on at some point, just… busy… :\

(Pytox) #13

Didn;t have much time to play yet due to other games, work but whenever i try to join a game barely few people were on.
Hopefully moer people join in soon and some more updates again like the rocket launcher ( want to try it out :smiley: )

(Seanza) #14

I too have noticed this. There was also a dip last week that I noticed. I hate to be egotistical, but I have a feeling that when Potty & I are busy with other commitments, people don’t feel much motivation to play as we aren’t pumping out content or organising nights. I certainly hope it’s just coincidence!

(BomBaKlaK) #15

1 - Most of my teammates can’t hold a 120 bucks access, like a lot of peoples. The player base is really small. growing up a bit but not so much.
Look how hard is to launch a server. Waiting for a new update to really test the loadouts ( disconnect to change… :confused: ) and waiting the 60 bucks elite pack in the game. to small payer base, but I know you prefer to wait a bit and I understand the meaning of this and I’m agree with, so I wait.

2 - Need more !! more maps, more good objective design, more stuff to test. Totally agree with the Inferno number 2 !

(sunshinefats) #16

For me there are a couple of factors…I work a full time job and then do freelance work on top of it and in addition, I’m married, so I have to spend time with my wife too. A lot of my time is gone right there.
The other factor, as others have mentioned already, is fun(or lack thereof). Alpha or not, the game should be fun to play. For me, it’s not.
So, given my situation and the lack of enjoyment I get out of it, when I find myself feeling like an online fps game, I just go back to black ops 2 or l4d2 or etqw. I have enough frustration over the course of the day after all; I don’t need any more from my games.
And lastly, being a US player, 9 times out of 10 when I do look for a game no one is on. I can’t have a fulfilling game, nor can I even test properly, all by myself.
So those are my main reasons for not playing as much.

(Volcano) #17

recently moved and didn’t have the Internet for about a month should get back into the swing again soon, but the netcode for this patch is bloody painful so much rubberbanding. What used to be playable a few patches again is now very hard

(INF3RN0) #18

It has nothing to do with that- your events were very late in the alpha tbh. Maybe the people that still play only are motivated by some sort of publicity, which would be a really bad sign either way. The game simply becomes boring after all the testing and feedback has been given. We had regular NA games in the past and noted a lot of important discoveries, but until the game can hold interest for more than a month it’s all about purely testing and not much of an enjoyment factor for a lot of people. At a certain point I felt like I had given all the feedback I could and the repetitive nature of play didn’t retain my attention until the next big patch.

Being here since the start, I really feel like its been a painfully long time to progress to where it is now. It’s much better now, but most of the successful developments were suggested as possible test patches right off the start. When there’s more to test I’ll be more motivated to play and then hopefully there will be enough to hold my interest overall; when I just want to play something for fun. Looking forward to getting some experimental stuff tossed into the mix soon, even if it’s just for VIPs since most seem to be able to handle testing without blowing an artery when stuff doesn’t start out perfect.

(BomBaKlaK) #19
  • linear maps
  • repetitive gameplay
  • lack of players

bit bored at this time. waiting some new stuff (maps adjustment, or new maps and gameplay improvement)

(Jamieson) #20

  1. I’ve never been addicted to the game like I was when I first picked up ET and ETQW so whereas in the past I made time to play those games now I’m playing when I have time, which isn’t always possible since I’m usually quite busy.

  2. Everything feels same-same and having given some detailed feedback I don’t feel like I’m contributing anything new or learning anything new by playing, and with only 4-5 maps playing gets repetitive and boring.

  3. Loading up the launcher and seeing 40+ online but 0 people on the servers in disheartening and you can spend a good hour possibly more idling on a sever before people will join up, and even when you get a game going people often leave en-mass at the end of a map, and then it’s back to square one.

  4. The weather in the UK has been very nice recently which has made me less likely to play since I’m out doing other things.

Hope it helps.