Yet another reason to be uncomfortable with the F2P model. Too many design decisions that don’t answer the question “How do we make this the best game possible” and instead have to consider monetization. Killed Tribes: Ascend, and unless they absolutely knock it out of the park, will kill this too.
Dedicated Servers
Florisjuh
(Floris)
#22
I guess there are some reasons why hosted dedicated servers wouldn’t work in a f2p model, like the fear of servers offering all the premium content for free. If the premium content is only superficial perhaps SD should allow hosted dedicated servers but disable their ability to offer premium content? So you don’t have your cool premium outfit, too bad! This might split up the community a bit, but I don’t think the split between “people who buy premium content and don’t want to play unless they can use it” and the rest is that bad.
Do you have any other arguments why hosted dedicated servers wouldn’t work in a f2p model?
montheponies
(montheponies)
#23
i’m not arguing, basically the only relevant game that i can think of with hosted dedicated servers would be tf2 - but then the started life as not f2p…no doubt it could be that it works - just all the talk on here is about dedicated servers, sdk’s and level editors - all of which, to me, would seem unlikely in a f2p model.
Patriotqube
(Patriotqube)
#24
Well if isnt there this game will be like a bf or cod serie, it will last for a few months and then ppl will move on, those tools you cant see in a f2p game is imo pretty important, if this game is ment to be a game we will love to play for years to come
and ofc all the other important stuff 
mitsuhiko
(mitsuhiko)
#25
Community hosted servers do not conflict with the free to play payment model, reliable stats do. 
//EDIT: standard disclaimer about the above sentence being my personal opinion on the matter and having nothing to do with plans that splash damage may or may not have with the game.
Ruben0s
(Ruben0s)
#26
Thank god, stats are useless anyway.
Edit: Hmm this comment was a response to a splashdamage employee, but his comment dissapeared.
Now I am scared that there will be no dedicated servers.
Patriotqube
(Patriotqube)
#27
This question is obviously a question many of us have.
and nomatter what is planned with the game, it should be an easy task for someone from SD to say Yah or Nay to it.
dont do the mistakes from Brink again, where the communication was on hold for the most of the time.
Its an important question to many of us, and it cant really be a problem to answer a question you already know the answer to.
No offence intended
Ruben0s
(Ruben0s)
#28
They said that 3rd party hosters are not conflicting with the F2P model, but not reliable for stats. Atleast one of their employees said something like that, but now his comment is gone.
loekino
(loekino)
#29
[QUOTE=Patriotqube;420849]This question is obviously a question many of us have.
and nomatter what is planned with the game, it should be an easy task for someone from SD to say Yah or Nay to it.
dont do the mistakes from Brink again, where the communication was on hold for the most of the time.
Its an important question to many of us, and it cant really be a problem to answer a question you already know the answer to.
No offence intended[/QUOTE]
Well if you were on crossfire.nu, Brink people came a long and asked us for feedback and tips. They promised us things and that they would work with the community.
All of that was bull**** and nothing the community said got in. It was just to make us feel good/get us interested.
So on the other hand i got my hopes up for this game. Looking back at what they actually did to other games makes me less enthusiastic and worried that they will have some major flaws which wont get patched in time.
Patriotqube
(Patriotqube)
#30
Member for 5 years, 11 months and 26 days
http://www.crossfire.nu/user/view/id/9450
and i remember that also that we were told linux server binaries would be there
SockDog
(SockDog)
#31
Don’t forget that this isn’t even in Alpha yet, footage says Pre-Alpha. There may be details they still need to work on in regards to dedicated servers, no point saying something if it’s going to change and piss people off.
Regarding Brink. Let’s not forget there is a big difference here. DB is PC exclusive and it’s being published by an SD company not Bethesda. They have nobody calling the shots but themselves and the game doesn’t need to compromise to fit consoles. There have been Community Questions posted in the SD forums for like nearly a year which I’m sure were there for more than just amusement. I expect as the game progresses to a more open Beta state then they’ll be more open in gathering feedback.
Until then it’s paying and waiting on the alpha access through the Founder’s packs if you want to shape the game earlier.
DrD3ath
(DrD3ath)
#32
[QUOTE=SockDog;420915]Don’t forget that this isn’t even in Alpha yet, footage says Pre-Alpha. There may be details they still need to work on in regards to dedicated servers, no point saying something if it’s going to change and piss people off.
Regarding Brink. Let’s not forget there is a big difference here. DB is PC exclusive and it’s being published by an SD company not Bethesda. They have nobody calling the shots but themselves and the game doesn’t need to compromise to fit consoles. There have been Community Questions posted in the SD forums for like nearly a year which I’m sure were there for more than just amusement. I expect as the game progresses to a more open Beta state then they’ll be more open in gathering feedback.
Until then it’s paying and waiting on the alpha access through the Founder’s packs if you want to shape the game earlier.[/QUOTE]
I agree somewhat, but SD are asking people to put money up front for a game in pre-alpha. The dedicated server question is more about “will this game be one around which we can build a community” and community servers are crucial to that.
SockDog
(SockDog)
#33
To be fair the payment seems to be geared towards supporting SD’s development and also gaining access to the game sooner than other methods. If you look at it like a simple retail purchase it’s very off putting.
I guess the question here is if you don’t pay then what level of influence do you have over the game’s development? If you wait for an Open Beta the game will be pretty much feature locked at that point. That said I think it’s pretty obvious to SD what the benefit of servers are without much feedback from gamers. At least this time round you don’t need to buy the game to try it and see if it and its features are enough for you to invest your time in it.
Christophicus
(Christophicus)
#34
The term “dedicated servers” can often mean different things to different people…particularly some of the people who work on the highest grossing FPS franchise out there atm… Talk of “dedicated servers” nearly always leads to ambiguity and confusion. Some people are happy with the ability to rent an installation from a certified GSP, others want the ability to set up servers on their own dedicated boxes that pretty much run from what is effectively a game install…and others still desire purpose built server files in Linux and Windows varieties.
It’s worth bearing this in mind when attempting to present a unified front to a dev/publisher. While I’m sure many people within various devs/publishers know the dream features and functionality that would be ideal for server setups, prioritisation and a lack of consistency from community requests can result in doubt being cast over what the community really wants, therefore leading to dev time being directed towards features that are more obviously visible to a higher % of the playerbase.
Starting a thread with a list of server features and functionality requests (not demands, you want to work with the dev team, not against them. Setting up an adversarial situation is beneficial to no one.) is the best way to go. Of course the thread needs to receive plenty of comments in support of the OP’s list. If any suggestions are presented in the ensuing replies that many people seem to agree with, the OP should update his/her post to reflect that.
It may seem silly to be so specific and go to such lengths in order to make your point, but devs and other community members have plenty of awesome ideas that they want to introduce to games too. They simply don’t have the time to implement right then and there. By providing a clear and concise outline of what the community wants, alongside plenty of people showing their support, it makes it quite obvious to a dev/pub that the community really wants that feature, and could just edge it above something else. If the community gets used to making their points in such a manner from early on, it can set a precedence for a great community/dev relationship that benefits all involved and makes for a better product/service in the long run :).
I’m a big fan of dedicated servers, but communities can be built around centralized server farm setups that many F2P titles have. Functionality has come a long way in the last couple of years. Broadly speaking, should a dev desire it, there’s little that can be done with public server files that can’t be done with good centralized server setups (barring mods and geographical latency points). This is particularly the case in terms of community building.
[QUOTE=SockDog;421130]
…
I guess the question here is if you don’t pay then what level of influence do you have over the game’s development? If you wait for an Open Beta the game will be pretty much feature locked at that point. That said I think it’s pretty obvious to SD what the benefit of servers are without much feedback from gamers. At least this time round you don’t need to buy the game to try it and see if it and its features are enough for you to invest your time in it.[/QUOTE]
The current assumption is that DB is going to be F2P. If this turns out to be the case, and the game does well, I’d hope to see development of the title continue for at least a couple of years after open beta/launch. Bearing that in mind, I would certainly hope that it’s NOT feature locked in OB/launch. One of the benefits of F2P is that the game is run as a service, allowing the dev team to react to community feedback and develop the game in a much more cooperative manner.
Given the level of polish that has already been seen in the gameplay footage that has been released so far, it’s looking like SD aren’t going to open the title up to the community quite as early as other F2P titles have done, but I would certainly expect to see some development and prioritisation that occurs in response to community feedback.
SockDog
(SockDog)
#35
[QUOTE=Christophicus;421542]The current assumption is that DB is going to be F2P. If this turns out to be the case, and the game does well, I’d hope to see development of the title continue for at least a couple of years after open beta/launch. Bearing that in mind, I would certainly hope that it’s NOT feature locked in OB/launch. One of the benefits of F2P is that the game is run as a service, allowing the dev team to react to community feedback and develop the game in a much more cooperative manner.
Given the level of polish that has already been seen in the gameplay footage that has been released so far, it’s looking like SD aren’t going to open the title up to the community quite as early as other F2P titles have done, but I would certainly expect to see some development and prioritisation that occurs in response to community feedback.[/QUOTE]
Good point. I should clarify that, in regards to feedback influencing design, I just mean that coming up to a full release and Open Beta I would expect SD to be solely focused on polishing and load testing. The earlier you are involved in the development process would allow access to things that aren’t quite set in stone.
Of course, after release, I would too hope they have plans to expand the game in more grand ways (maps, modes, features etc) along with the regular patch tweaks and fixes.
badman
(badman)
#36
Just wanted to jump in and say that we’re hugely aware of how important dedicated servers are to the community, and the Dirty Bomb Closed Alpha is actually running on dedicated servers right at this moment.
Kl3ppy
(Kl3ppy)
#40
Thx Badman, that are good news
Pls make Linux Servers and implement a proper Rcon, that makes it a lot easier for server admins to administrate their servers prober. 
What I have read so far sounds very promising, I hope SD listen to the alpha/beta testers and dont say, Oh interesting and ignore them. All SD games had great potential but SD was forced by some greedy publishers to release unfinished games. This time SD has the chance to create a new W:ET which will be played for years, at least I hope it
And the good thing is, that Rahdo didnt post this because it would be a lie.