Concerning HL2 and the continued popularity of ET

(TAngelo) #1

A quick topic about HL2, now that it’s out, mainly concerning ET. Due to exceeding our rather small monthly download limit I haven’t been able to play ET for the past few days now, and I’ll have to wait a few days more before the connection speed’s restored. I’m curious though, since Half-Life 2 is out – are you noticing a severe drop in players on the servers now? I was looking out for it when Doom 3 was released but it didn’t happen. Now, with both Halo 2 and HL2 released, I’m thinking maybe some regular players will be away for a while.

On the future of ET – I remember it being said (when HL2 was first announced) that HL2’s multiplayer might mean the end of ET’s popularity as large amounts of players would flock to Half-Life’s new MP modes. Now it’s known that the game has no multiplayer (aside from Counter-Strike rehashed), I guess ET’s pretty safe for a while to come, until RTCW 2 or the like is released. What’s you take on that?

(Nail) #2

only thing I have noticed is the proliferation of shrub servers now that bani has just about got rid of hacks in etpro

(blushing_bride) #3

ET is free and that makes us go weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

(ouroboro) #4

i just love games, period. i’ll be playing hl2 for the next few days (it’s the best sp game in history, btw). that doesn’t mean i’ll leave et, because i love et. hell, i love pacman and i still play it on mame.

games die because they don’t have staying power. that can’t be blamed on any other game coming out. people are still playing quakeworld competitively, cause it still owns.

if et dies there will be only et to blame, but i don’t see it happening - unless bani & company get overzealous with alterations, which i also don’t think will happen because his forums would spontaneously combust :stuck_out_tongue:

(nUllSkillZ) #5

I think W:ET/RTCW have the most attractive multiplayer part.
And W:ET is free.
And there are some great mods in development for ET.
And they are free too.
So in my opinion W:ET will stay popular.

At http://www.csports.net there’s a statistic of popularity of games.

(ouroboro) #6

the csports numbers always seemed a bit screwey to me. i think http://archive.gamespy.com/stats/ tends to be a bit more accurate. also, there are games that don’t show on these kinds of sites because they use their own login system, UBI games are like that if i recall correctly.

plus CS:S isn’t listed but you can get the Valve breakdown at http://www.steampowered.com/status/game_stats.html

basically the biggest games are:

CS
CS:CZ
CS:S
DoD
ET (tends to fluctuate with DoD depending when you check)
UT2004
BF1942
CoD:UO
Q3:A
CoD (being knocked down by the expansion pack)
AA (tends to fluctuate wildly, sometimes being WAY up there)
NwN
SoF2
…
etc

what’s sad is that RtCW seems to have virtually disappeared over the last few weeks. it was always hanging in there till recently. i often wonder why such a great game took such a downturn. it’s certainly not because it’s too hard - there are far more difficult games that are frigging massive, and actually RtCW is pretty easy considering the huge, sloppy hitboxes of the Q3 engine. the only thing it could be is that ET has absorbed it, being so similar and free.

(eRRoLfLyNN) #7

HL2 can eat my shit. ET will live forever.

(Foonr) #8

[quote=“nUllSkillZ”
At http://www.csports.net there’s a statistic of popularity of games.[/quote]

Ya, it’s poo.

(Oxygen - o2) #9

i will always make time for ET, screw HL2, its been delayed more than a *year could it be any worse?

id>valve

*not 100% sure

PS foonr and ouroboro, nice avatars :banana:

(bani) #10

is there online multiplayer hl2? i’m not talking about cs:s

(nUllSkillZ) #11

I think there’s only CS:S.

(bani) #12

then i am pretty sure hl2 wont kill ET.

cs:s has done all the damage it could.

(ouroboro) #13

actually, there is, sortof: http://halflife2.filefront.com/file/HalfLife_2_Retail_Multiplayer_Test_Maps;33049

i havn’t tried it coz i never even cared about HL1’s DM, but it does prove that the netcode is there. only a matter of time. Valve is also talking about a surprise in the works, could be official HL2 DM i suppose.

still won’t kill ET tho. way different game style. might draw some ppl away from Q3:A and the UT scene i suppose.

(ElderNewb) #14

Just checked Gamespy:

  1. Half Life 35465 servers, 91242 players
    2. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory 2717 servers, 10007 players
  2. Call of Duty 3140 servers, 6963 players
  3. Call of Duty: United Offensive 1753 servers, 5811 players
  4. Unreal Tournament 2004 3363 servers, 4716 players
  5. Battlefield 1942 1332 servers, 4075 players 7. Quake 3: Arena
    2347 servers, 3805 players
  6. Soldier of Fortune 2 1614 servers, 3803 players
  7. Americas Army: Special Forces 705 servers, 3651 players
  8. Neverwinter Nights

Trying to ignore the fact CS hasn’t been mentioned in any form

(DarkangelUK) #15

HL2 DM works fine, there just isnt maps for it yet. Would be fun playing DM with just the anti-grav gun and lots of things to throw :wink:

(Ifurita) #16

I think a lot of people will play HL2 because it’s new, but for those people who want a class-based, team game, i don’t think there is any threat from HL2 or it’s mods

(ouroboro) #17

half life encompasses all its mods. click the hl name and get a further breakdown. also check steampowered.com for the source data.

(EvilBaga) #18

HL2 can eat my shit. ET will live forever.

Oh my!

(Fusen) #19

#hl2.mp on quakenet, played on a server yesterday and its got a long way to go

(Sauron|EFG) #20

It’s still played (860 players right now), but seems to have disappeared from Gamespy’s stats because ID killed the master server.