Not being able to find standard server settings is getting silly

(Smokeskin) #1

I am getting really sick of joining servers with friendly fire on, and ESPECIALLY sick of joining servers where you have all abilities unlocked.

The lack of filters are greatly annoying, and it seems that server admins have access to WAY too many settings. I really don’t hope this ends like TF2 where you can hardly join a server without the local admin having changed all sorts of stuff to suit his pet peeves.

I really, really like BRINK. BRINK. Not “BRINK as the local admin thinks it should be”.

And yes, I know about the Standard game type, unfortunately so does lots of other people - getting spots on them is really hard.

When it comes to server settings, more is less.

(fprovost) #2

I understand where you’re coming from but never complain about too many commands or too much flexibility. Find servers you like and favourite them.

(McAfee) #3

This was the reason I stopped playing Wolf:ET

(Smokeskin) #4

When it ruins the game, sure I’ll complain about it.

I am cool with competitive settings, but for pub play, we should expect a consistent experience. There is no fun in every server having its own rules, especially when you don’t have any way of finding out what those rules are without actually going on the server and trying.

One solution could be the server browser should as standard only look for servers that hadn’t messed with core mechanics like friendly fire, abilities, spawn timers, team sizes etc. If players want to play a tweaked game of Brink, they should take active steps to look for them. This would also mean that the bulk of the players who just want to play Brink wouldn’t have to sift through all the tweaked servers, and admins wanting to tap into this player pool would have to provide a normal Brink game, rather than as it is now where we get lured on to these servers. If server admins would at least have the decency to describe just the major changes they implemented in the server title…

(Conq) #5

People actually play with Friendly Fire off? What a bore.

Our server (THE MURDER ROOM) is pretty vanilla aside from friendly fire enabled and enemy tint disabled.

(Smokeskin) #6

[QUOTE=Conq;324833]People actually play with Friendly Fire off? What a bore.
[/QUOTE]

I don’t mind FF when playing with mature and smart people, but mostly FF games seem to entail lots of getting knocked over, shot or blown up by your teammates, not all of it unintentional, plus people running in front of while you are shooting. It really makes for sucky experience on pubs.

(Kendle) #7

Rent your own server, set it to standard settins, sorted.

(riptide) #8

Pretty much this. I expected to see more competitive server settings rather than pub standard settings based on the game play alone.

I also expected to see more stopwatch servers but :-/

(fprovost) #9

[QUOTE=Smokeskin;324819]When it ruins the game, sure I’ll complain about it.

I am cool with competitive settings, but for pub play, we should expect a consistent experience. There is no fun in every server having its own rules, especially when you don’t have any way of finding out what those rules are without actually going on the server and trying.

One solution could be the server browser should as standard only look for servers that hadn’t messed with core mechanics like friendly fire, abilities, spawn timers, team sizes etc. If players want to play a tweaked game of Brink, they should take active steps to look for them. This would also mean that the bulk of the players who just want to play Brink wouldn’t have to sift through all the tweaked servers, and admins wanting to tap into this player pool would have to provide a normal Brink game, rather than as it is now where we get lured on to these servers. If server admins would at least have the decency to describe just the major changes they implemented in the server title…[/QUOTE]

It ruins the game FOR YOU and not for the others who are playing on the server you just joined. Don’t assume your personnal preferences are everyone’s favourite settings. You say it’s a problem in TF2 yet it’s still really crowded. That’s because you can mess around and have fun with the server you’re paying for.

Like I said, I can understand why people seek constant experience, but when you OWN and PAY for a server, you want that much amount of control.

(Smokeskin) #10

[QUOTE=fprovost;324921]It ruins the game FOR YOU and not for the others who are playing on the server you just joined. Don’t assume your personnal preferences are everyone’s favourite settings. You say it’s a problem in TF2 yet it’s still really crowded. That’s because you can mess around and have fun with the server you’re paying for.

Like I said, I can understand why people seek constant experience, but when you OWN and PAY for a server, you want that much amount of control.[/QUOTE]

Straw man argument.

I did not say “no server tweaking allowed”. I complained about not being able to find standard server settings.

I have little problem with people tweaking their servers. I have a big problem with joining an all-abilities-unlocked server. Most FF on servers also provide terrible gameplay because lots of people TK and knock you over (on servers with mature and skille players, it is fine).

The core of the problem is that I can’t identify the type of server I would like to play on. I have to go by trial and error to a large extent. Even more problematic, I’m not even told FF is on when I join the server, the way I find out about FF is typically by shooting a team mate.

I don’t see what SD gains from me often being irritated that I can’t find standard games and then have to join and leave several Custom servers before I find something I want to play. I don’t see what good it does server admins that I join their server when I don’t like the settings on it, and vice versa that if I liked tweaked settings I can’t find servers that have these either!

The issues are:

  • Standard servers can’t have map voting or team VOIP, so they’re flagged as Custom (which could be anything), even though core game play is unchanged.
  • The server browse can’t tell me the server settings so I can find and avoid servers according to my preferences.
  • Most server admins show bad etiquette by not describing tweaked settings in their server title.
(Smokeskin) #11

[QUOTE=fprovost;324921]You say it’s a problem in TF2 yet it’s still really crowded. That’s because you can mess around and have fun with the server you’re paying for.
[/QUOTE]

TF2 is full of people who complain about not being able to find servers that don’t have premium content for paying subscribers (who can build 4 turrets and shoot homing missiles and see through spy disguises and whatnot), have players rather than bots, and are limited to the standard 24 size.

TF2 is still hugely successful, but on this account there are a lot of dissatisfied and lost customers. TF2 isn’t perfect, and copying the mistakes of a winner doesn’t make you a winner.

[QUOTE=fprovost;324921]
Like I said, I can understand why people seek constant experience, but when you OWN and PAY for a server, you want that much amount of control.[/QUOTE]

Let’s be real here. The amount of control admins have is completely arbitrary and decided by SD. You can tweak what they let you, no more, no less.

I expect that many more settings will be opened in the future, and I’m not against this per se. But it needs to be matched by strong server browser functionality that allows players to find games to their liking, and I also believe that it has to funnel the majority of players into standard-like games unless they take active steps to seek out tweaked servers.

(McAfee) #12

The true problem is not having filters that are up to par with server customizations.
Even on Wolf:ET and ETQW, which had better browsers, there were still a few customizations not covered by filters.

When I stopped playing Wolf:ET, maybe there were still some servers left with the parameters I liked to play with. I spent more time looking for them then playing.

Some 3rd party browsers helped, but some disappeared overtime (ACE?). And also, some settings were never exposed by the serverinfo command as changes got deeper and deeper.

The “standard” preset itself is proving to be unpopular. Admins want to change at least once thing. And 1 change is all that is needed to be custom.

And btw, hosting a server yourself is not really a solution. Cause how do people who do want to play there filter out all the crud?