Quickplay is now Valve-only, unless you opt out

[PrincessScoot_]

Curious to see what this means for Critsandvich. I can't imagine anyone opting out of valve-only.

If quickplay is no longer an efficient source of traffic, will we start using options like nocrit? Hopefully regulars and word of mouth alone will offer enough traffic to keep Critsandvich going, but losing a huge chunk is a frightening thought.

On the bright side, Saigns is screwed.

In other news, this is my first post. Hello~

[Fencerboy]

Welcome to the forums!

[CR33D]

If quickplay is no longer an efficient source of traffic, will we start using options like nocrit? ~

OMG YES

[NBC011795]

We were able to pop Slaybox 1 early this morning pretty easily once we got 10 people, don't think its going to change that much.

[psyk]

We were able to pop Slaybox 1 early this morning pretty easily once we got 10 people, don't think its going to change that much.

Yes, It was a hair slower than I am used to, but it still did happen.

[Maringue]

Honestly, this might be a good thing. Anyone who gives a shit about what kind of server they are going to play on will opt-out. The 12 year olds that are just screwing around won't bother, so there will fewer of them laming up the place.

[PrincessScoot_]

I dunno, Valve servers are pretty great. No bs, and nothing to worry about, and I can backburn people through the door on steel without being banned. I'm confident that I'll never opt out, and can't imagine anyone else opting out either.

All of the nasty server chains are screwed, however, so opting out might actually be safe. Players who wish to play specific maps will use a much cleaner browser as well, so more traffic will come from there.

In other news, the player quality seems to have increased. Perhaps the lack of quickplay traffic will improve community servers instead of hurting them.

[Maringue]

In other news, the player quality seems to have increased. Perhaps the lack of quickplay traffic will improve community servers instead of hurting them.

This is what I think the net affect is going to be. Also, playing on Valve servers is boring as shit since there's no real competition. I'm an above average player here, but if I go to a valve server I'm the best person there by a LOT.

I hopped onto a Valve server once to see how they were. I went 48-4 as a gunslinger engie on Hightower, and I'm not even that good at engie. Zero competition is only fun for a map, maybe two tops.

[PrincessScoot_]

The player quality is community servers, I mean.

Player quality in valve servers is toxic/stupid as ever. It's essentially like being in an empty server with 1 other person.

Regardless, the fact that I can play attack/defense, 5cp, and koth maps that aren't the "major-super-ultra popular" maps is great. I want koth? Boom koth.

[Ron Swansons Stache]

The community does a great job of popping by themselves that I don't think this'll really have much of an effect. I haven't been playing too much TF2 lately, but can anyone speak to how it was over the weekend?

That said, on the bright side we'll most likely get better competition than just the random person that doesn't know how to play who clicked PLAY NOW!

[Captain Bravery]

I haven't been playing too much TF2 lately, but can anyone speak to how it was over the weekend?

Weekend was still pretty full from what I remember. 20-22 people generally when I hopped on here and there. I don't think this'll be too much of an issue. We have enough regulars that we can usually get a good amount of people on most of the time.

(And who doesn't like when there's only 3 people on for the fun demoknight or scout battle on the cart?)

[Ron Swansons Stache]

I haven't been playing too much TF2 lately, but can anyone speak to how it was over the weekend?

Weekend was still pretty full from what I remember. 20-22 people generally when I hopped on here and there. I don't think this'll be too much of an issue. We have enough regulars that we can usually get a good amount of people on most of the time.

(And who doesn't like when there's only 3 people on for the fun demoknight or scout battle on the cart?)

It's all about Call of Duty mode. SMG only snipers.

[Captain Bravery]

I haven't been playing too much TF2 lately, but can anyone speak to how it was over the weekend?

Weekend was still pretty full from what I remember. 20-22 people generally when I hopped on here and there. I don't think this'll be too much of an issue. We have enough regulars that we can usually get a good amount of people on most of the time.

(And who doesn't like when there's only 3 people on for the fun demoknight or scout battle on the cart?)

It's all about Call of Duty mode. SMG only snipers.

Just thinking about that made me a little sad.

[PrincessScoot_]

Aaaaaaand they're changing it again: http://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/1x ... from_hlds/

If we are going to keep using quickplay, our class limits will have to go (unfortunately). On the bright side, quickplay might be an actual source of traffic again, and we could probably snag a lot of people if we enabled nocrits, as that is now going to be an option.

[Fencerboy]

Aaaaaaand they're changing it again: http://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/1x ... from_hlds/

If we are going to keep using quickplay, our class limits will have to go (unfortunately). On the bright side, quickplay might be an actual source of traffic again, and we could probably snag a lot of people if we enabled nocrits, as that is now going to be an option.

Nice catch

looks like there are still restrictions to what servers can be on the Quickplay search and players can report servers too

[Sanic-X]

Aaaaaaand they're changing it again: http://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/1x ... from_hlds/

If we are going to keep using quickplay, our class limits will have to go (unfortunately). On the bright side, quickplay might be an actual source of traffic again, and we could probably snag a lot of people if we enabled nocrits, as that is now going to be an option.

I'm personally a little nervous at [potentially] losing class limits. I feel they really help keep things balanced most of the time. But if this update is really coming tomorrow, will the Strongbox update be shipped too? (I hope so!)

[PrincessScoot_]

I'm really not looking forward to no class limits. Class limits mean I can go sniper or spy without 3 others joining those classes, and I never have to deal with 6 soldiers, 4 engies, or 3 god-tier snipers.

Do we really even need quickplay? Critsandvich has a ton of regulars. Perhaps slaybox 1 could stay as-is, and slaybox 2 could pander to quickplay.

If we're lucky, valve will add the class limits tag to the new search function.

[Sanic-X]

Do we really even need quickplay? Critsandvich has a ton of regulars. Perhaps slaybox 1 could stay as-is, and slaybox 2 could pander to quickplay.

If we're lucky, valve will add the class limits tag to the new search function.

I actually really like that idea, Scoot. Most of the time the slayboxes are full of regulars/admins, so we probably could afford to have one server off quickplay and still keep class limits. I really hope they add a class limits option to quickplay, too. They really do help keep things balanced.

[Ron Swansons Stache]

Aaaaaaand they're changing it again: http://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/1x ... from_hlds/

If we are going to keep using quickplay, our class limits will have to go (unfortunately). On the bright side, quickplay might be an actual source of traffic again, and we could probably snag a lot of people if we enabled nocrits, as that is now going to be an option.

Man I love the class limits on the CSN servers, but I have to admit there are situations where I wish they were gone. For example, you're defending with 1 terrible engi who grabbed the class before anyone else and you're unable to switch and be a competent engi. That said, those are pretty rare and I really wish they wouldn't have to go.

[xalde]

No class limits make me a sad medic. It's very annoying trying to medic a team with 4 snipers, 4 spies, and 2 scouts or something of the sort. However since I don't have time for TF2 or anything else besides quantum mechanics & lab and multivariable calculus until May I really could care less.

Also last I recall the current class limits only applied to non-donors, but my memory is fuzzy on that.

[PrincessScoot_]

I'm pretty sure donors and admins can bypass the class limits, which isn't an issue since they tend to know what they're doing. Except for 1 time when the donors used extra engies to turtle on foundry, but that was an isolated event.

I sure as hell wouldn't stop nicewithit from being a fourth sniper. Can you imagine playing against a team with nicewithit, tagg, carolina, and sideways all on sniper? My vaccinator wouldn't be enough ;-;

[Sanic-X]

I sure as hell wouldn't stop nicewithit from being a fourth sniper. Can you imagine playing against a team with nicewithit, tagg, carolina, and sideways all on sniper? My vaccinator wouldn't be enough ;-;

I can already feel the bullets in my head now.

[Maringue]

The two biggest things that keep maps on our servers from not sucking as much as they do elsewhere are class limits and standard spawn times. We shouldn't change those at all.

"There are no more scoring penalties for maxplayers or rule changes; your server either matches their search criteria or it doesn't."
So if they are going to put in a quickplay search option for no crits, then this might change our calculus on that topic.

And it's fucking annoying that Valve is basically endorsing the worst mod ever created for TF2: instant respawn
Instant respawn is why almost no one plays 5CP maps anymore. It's also the reason why payload is so damn popular, because instant respawn breaks payload maps the least.

[PrincessScoot_]

Instant respawn is a nightmare, but it is amusing getting 200+ teleports. Might as well be its own game mode. I think putting nocrits and no class limits alone on slaybox 2, then leaving slaybox 1 off of quickplay is the best solution. I'm really fond of the way slaybox 1 is currently operated, and we might even be able to use the leeway to do stuff that quickplay has always forbidden anyways.

From my understanding, everyone gets valve servers by default, but checking nocrits is guaranteed to list community servers. We might actually get an entirely new community going on slaybox 2 if that worked out.

In other news, reserve shooter buff. Targe knights everywhere, I will teach you the meaning of suffering.

[Maringue]

Instant respawn is a nightmare, but it is amusing getting 200+ teleports. Might as well be its own game mode. I think putting nocrits and no class limits alone on slaybox 2, then leaving slaybox 1 off of quickplay is the best solution. I'm really fond of the way slaybox 1 is currently operated, and we might even be able to use the leeway to do stuff that quickplay has always forbidden anyways.

From my understanding, everyone gets valve servers by default, but checking nocrits is guaranteed to list community servers. We might actually get an entirely new community going on slaybox 2 if that worked out.

In other news, reserve shooter buff. Targe knights everywhere, I will teach you the meaning of suffering.

I agree with the majority of that, but we're never going to get rid of class limits. The reason we can keep the server popped when quickplay kicks in is that all the 12 year olds can't all play sniper and spy. If we got rid of the class limits, the game play here would suffer so much that we'd loose regulars fast.

Yeah, there are the occasional incidents where class limits cause some kind of annoyance like Balubish said, but the other 99.9% of the time they are a benefit. How long would you play Upward on attack if your team had 5 or 6 spies/snipers? I already think it sucks when we have 2 spies and 2 snipers on attack because it usually means an automatic loss and a shitty round on top of that.

[Sanic-X]

Update shipped! Let's see how this plays out.

[Beartato]

I like to play Instant Respawn Dustbowl servers sometimes because it's like playing a DM server with less tryhards.

[Sanic-X]

Sometimes I'll go to a 32-person, 24/7 Dustbowl server just to play mindlessly and get kills on my stranges. Then I remember that I'm on a 25/7 Dustbowl server with 100+ points and disconnect in shame.

[Sk8dcenjoi]

I already think it sucks when we have 2 spies and 2 snipers on attack because it usually means an automatic loss and a shitty round on top of that.

Sideways/Nicewithit-Snipers
Panda/Deadcake-Spies
You are right.....it would be shitty for the opposite team...

[Ron Swansons Stache]

I already think it sucks when we have 2 spies and 2 snipers on attack because it usually means an automatic loss and a shitty round on top of that.

Sideways/Nicewithit-Snipers
Panda/Deadcake-Spies
You are right.....it would be shitty for the opposite team...

Let's be real here though, how often does something like that happen? More often it's maybe 1 or 2 of those elite players total and then like a huntsman who's trying to taunt kill and a C&D spy who hasn't moved in 20 minutes.

[Balubish]

I already think it sucks when we have 2 spies and 2 snipers on attack because it usually means an automatic loss and a shitty round on top of that.

Sideways/Nicewithit-Snipers
Panda/Deadcake-Spies
You are right.....it would be shitty for the opposite team...

Let's be real here though, how often does something like that happen? More often it's maybe 1 or 2 of those elite players total and then like a huntsman who's trying to taunt kill and a C&D spy who hasn't moved in 20 minutes.

I really dont see the problem, I've played medic alot of times and the team is a bunch of noobs, yeah even more noob than me hehe but I dont mind, you cant win every fight and it happens. And more fun having a pro in the team fo sho but still, when playing pub you cant expect to win. Thats why I have fun on CSn, sometimes you gotta try hard to win or even lose when u do your best. It's like lottery. Hell I even uber spies and snipers for the fun of it.
Most fun is too uber some new guy and see what he does. Sometimes good, mostly bad but still fun. Maybe its just me that feel like that. mmm beer, takes that edge off right away lol

[Ron Swansons Stache]

I really dont see the problem, I've played medic alot of times and the team is a bunch of noobs, yeah even more noob than me hehe but I dont mind, you cant win every fight and it happens. And more fun having a pro in the team fo sho but still, when playing pub you cant expect to win. Thats why I have fun on CSn, sometimes you gotta try hard to win or even lose when u do your best. It's like lottery. Hell I even uber spies and snipers for the fun of it.
Most fun is too uber some new guy and see what he does. Sometimes good, mostly bad but still fun. Maybe its just me that feel like that. mmm beer, takes that edge off right away lol

Yeah I've lost enough rounds on a CSN server that I really don't mind if we lose but it tends to be more fun when it's a tight and evenly matched game, like those Payloads that come down to the last second.

[Balubish]

I really dont see the problem, I've played medic alot of times and the team is a bunch of noobs, yeah even more noob than me hehe but I dont mind, you cant win every fight and it happens. And more fun having a pro in the team fo sho but still, when playing pub you cant expect to win. Thats why I have fun on CSn, sometimes you gotta try hard to win or even lose when u do your best. It's like lottery. Hell I even uber spies and snipers for the fun of it.
Most fun is too uber some new guy and see what he does. Sometimes good, mostly bad but still fun. Maybe its just me that feel like that. mmm beer, takes that edge off right away lol

Yeah I've lost enough rounds on a CSN server that I really don't mind if we lose but it tends to be more fun when it's a tight and evenly matched game, like those Payloads that come down to the last second.

So true, last minute action.

[Maringue]

Honestly, I don't mind if people who come in are not that great, as long as they are actually trying. But as someone who mains medic, it does get frustrating when you literally have no one on your team worth giving an uber to. I've had those moments where I think, "Now, should I uber one of those scouts, snipers, spies, or demoknights?"

For instance, I had this happen:
"Hey medic, stop being a battle medic and heal me!"
"I'm battle medicing because I'm up where the other team is and no one on my team is there with me. So where are you that you need to be healed so badly?"
"Back here sniping (very poorly I might add)"

And don't ask me why, but I tend to get way less tryhard when there are a bunch of regulars in the server. Like when I was trying to mess with the Huntsman snipers playing their drinking game last night with my crossbow. But now that I think about it, I think I'm a little more tryhard when there are more random people in the server because I think that's what keeps people coming back here. Fun atmosphere and a much higher level of play than your average pub.

[Ron Swansons Stache]

Honestly, I don't mind if people who come in are not that great, as long as they are actually trying. But as someone who mains medic, it does get frustrating when you literally have no one on your team worth giving an uber to. I've had those moments where I think, "Now, should I uber one of those scouts, snipers, spies, or demoknights?"

For instance, I had this happen:
"Hey medic, stop being a battle medic and heal me!"
"I'm battle medicing because I'm up where the other team is and no one on my team is there with me. So where are you that you need to be healed so badly?"
"Back here sniping (very poorly I might add)"

And don't ask me why, but I tend to get way less tryhard when there are a bunch of regulars in the server. Like when I was trying to mess with the Huntsman snipers playing their drinking game last night with my crossbow. But now that I think about it, I think I'm a little more tryhard when there are more random people in the server because I think that's what keeps people coming back here. Fun atmosphere and a much higher level of play than your average pub.

It's weird for me re:regulars. Usually I tend to get a bit more tryhard because the regulars are much better players than the randoms that come in. Also, it's more fun to be competitive against people you know. Then again, I know a lot of regulars who join just to mess around so it's kind of whatever the mood is. Plus, with people like you and Psyk I know I'm getting an actual medic who knows what he's doing which is always incentive to actually play.


FWIW your comment on keeping people around, I joined CSN a WHILE ago but I think what made me favorite the server was 1) someone was casting the game which I thought was awesome, original and pretty funny and 2) the level of play for a pub..so you definitely have a point there.