The Dedicated server

You can probably lose the BF2142 server now, That seems dead and buried.

Seems like we don’t need a server 😕 Everybody goes on other servers. The only thing that seems to be used is TS, which is not very often. Me nOm and Daz looks like the only ones on it at the mo.

we either get our act together or drop it

seems like a complete waste at present 🙁

There’s not enough interest within our own ranks to maintain the servers, despite attempts to encourage it with the server situation highlighted. XDC has to drag itself out of inactivity to be able to recruit, and only once we’ve started recruiting again can we consider supporting any servers, otherwise it’s a waste of resources. We were making progress on the TF2 front up until the end of August when unfortunately I had to stop organising things due to moving house, job, and everything that goes with that. I’ll be back on it very soon though, but perhaps the state of the servers has been my own focus for too long now and I should switch that attention to the needs of xdc itself. We’ve just turned nine years old as a clan, but we’re in a trough in terms of activity and I think it’s about time we had a look into how we’re organised. We don’t need to compromise xdc’s ethos to actually get a bit of structure about the place, and I’ve a few ideas as to how this could be done assuming we have a couple of people willing to help out with it. The idea of leaving things to whoever could be arsed to do something has only ever been effective on rare occasions over the years, and if we want to be around to make even our 10 year anniversary, a bit of effort’s going to have to made over the next few months.

I don’t mean to say here that XDC member’s participation will become an issue, but we should be looking at who our active membership is (in terms of the games being played), and keeping things fresh amongst them, and recruiting according to their needs.

So yea, dump the servers altogether is my opinion, as much as it pains me to say it, but be sure to praise the likes of Gonzo for all the help he gave us as he really pulled out a lot of stops for us, me in particular! I’d also suggest holding some resources in reserve should we reach a level of particpation again that would warrant having a server, but this is something people considerably richer than me can decide on as my own contribution to the server problem has only been time, as I’ve been able to afford little else 🙁

As for XDC, it’s back to the drawing board for us I think.

aye, me thinks you should all get consoles.. espesh xbox360 and live 🙂 GOW2 4 player co-op FTW!

I agree, drop the servers, I aint been on em for moons either, theres just nothing out there, and I dont see COD:WAW bringing them to life either.. I wont be getting it for its MP status, looks too much like COD4.. only WW2, or how about just theh one game server, Left 4 Dead is around the corner and could be a good un.. Team work appears to be the key to the whole game

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42271.html

Mind you its on Console too so might not be worth renewing server afterall

There are still more than enough of us playing on the pc, the problem is the same as why there’s no console section in xdc yet, nobody can be arsed organising stuff. At the end of August there, before I eased off on the TF2 drive, we had a time when you could get a game with another XDC member quite easily, on weekends we were beginning to fill the server for periods, and I was confident arranging friendlies for us. RL intervened for me and that’s been a setback for TF2, but we can get back to it hopefully once my computers fixed. Considering at the start of the summer we struggled to get even a couple of us together on a public, it just serves as an example of what can be done with a bit of time and effort.

The same could easily be done for COD4 and, to a lesser extent, for consoles, or for any game anyone plays. All it takes is for someone to step forward and do something about it. You’ll not get all of XDC participating but all you need is a small XDC playerbase, and together you can find new members who fit in with your own ideas and the XDC ethos etc. This is something we need to organise and discuss elsewhere though.

At present there is interest in having our own server but not enough people able to make them work, whether that be due to lack of will or lack of time, but both certainly apply. I haven’t checked the stats for a month or so but last I looked there was no activity worth talking about on any of the servers, and the TF2 one had the only significant spikes of activity since our last renewal date. We’ll have the same problem with a smaller server, and actually if we couldn’t get it to work on our current setup, where we have complete control of an entire machine and have been able to create an active server for practically any game we want, then we’re not going to do any better with restricted options on a downgraded setup.

We need to get back to playing alongside each other before anything else, get together on public servers and use our TS while we’re there, work as a team, and generally get back to enjoying games with each other again. Only once we reach the stage of having too many XDC regularly queuing to get onto the same public server(s), or when we have a team willing to organise and participate in regular matches (something which is maybe still possible with TF2), should we reconsider the server question.