Yeah would it be possible if some hh tf2 players were given access to announcements using the main hh steam group in order to fill up the server

ty ty

The TF2 Hampshire Heavies group (~16,000) or the HH Regs group (~2,000)?

I don't think it's necessary unless the HH server filler group is having zero success.

Tbh it's a very usefull tool, they use it all the time on THG and it works great even at late times.
When trying to fill up HH today Lazarus realized that most admins of the HH main group are not even playing anymore, besides i don't think he even has acces to the "server filler" steam group which he, imo, deserves

Btw, using the main HH group could actually bring back or remind old timers that they are welcome to play or relaunch TF2 (?)

Come on Sam, say yes !!!!!

THG group has 800 people in it.

I cannot imagine how quickly the group would shrink if we started spamming 15,000 people with:



I can maybe see some leeway with the regs group but as far as I am concerned posting to the main group should be limited.

Mnghhhh alright Laz changed my mind on chat. Keb you should know that it doesn't matter very much what I think. But I will try and put a case forward. Please everyone chime in with your thoughts if you have a serious idea that might get the server going again.

I firmly believe that without a TF2 server, there is no Hampshire Heavies. At our core we are about providing a place TF2 players can go to for a decent level of play on reliable stock and custom maps with some friendly conversation. Our number one priority needs to be getting the TF2 server played on every evening.

HH2 is painful to fill even with announcements on the serverfiller group (219 members). On a good day you'll get three joining. I have made attempts that failed in previous weeks. Steam group announcements are not obvious, they are a noiseless popup in the corner that fades after two seconds. No different from the hundreds of 'Barry Whosthat is playing game you don't care about' messages we see every day. Most members do not notice them and so no-one joins the person attempting to fill. It's a cycle that discourages our most loyal players from trying again. This is how you kill a server.

The 16k group is a valuable resource. Yet it gets no use. No-one was able to post events. Nothing posted except sometimes if the server is down or it's our birthday. If we could post a single server fill notice a day it would be enough to kickstart the server instantly. Only a small % of people need to have their interest piqued for it to be a success. In time people will again trust that HH2 can fill, and more will actively join to fill it. This is why people go to other servers - many want to come home, but we don't bother because so many attempts have failed and we become disheartened. Consistency is so important.

Perhaps we should not alienate our group members with announcements they are not interested in. It is better to keep the numbers up than to do anything useful with them. However, few will be irritated by one or two daily popups. Steam announcements do not get in anyone's way and often pass unnoticed. Those that would be most irritated will be the ones we don't benefit from keeping.

Please, if you disagree, try and put forward a serious alternative. Because we have tried filling with the smaller focused group, and inviting our Steam friends, and advertising on other forums, and it is not working. If you feel this idea would cause harm, then please state why having so many members is important when we have done nothing to reach out to them.

TL;DR - we need to throw everything we can at keeping our TF2 server alive and at this point we can't justify not using our largest Steam group to do it.

just seen Ked's post.

There needs to be a set format for the posts. That particular one was made in desperation several weeks ago to a very small group directed largely at people the poster was familiar with. It is not representative of the majority of the posts. Ideally we would have trusted individuals who are told to copy and paste a particular message, with posting rights revoked when there is misconduct. In contrast, the current server fill group allows anyone who joins to post with no approval or guidance given.

I agree it might be worth a try, to see if it helps with filling the HH2 server. After a few tries it should be clear whether it's helping or not. If it works then we could think of how to manage it in the future, if it doesn't then don't use the group anymore for that cause.

Noone is going to leave the group because of a few test tries imo. Some people in the group might get annoyed though, I agree, if the announcements go on for a longer time (and especially when there is lots of announcement spam, so it should be used conservatively) and therefore might leave.
But in my opinion it's a worthy compromise, as now the server is almost always empty.

I used to start up the HH2 server a lot in the past. I was the first to join, made an announcement in the "Server filler" group, sent out some invites and the server was full quite fast (maybe twenty minutes) but nowadays noone joins anymore. You'd have to wait for an hour or even longer and it still might not fill. It has just become too tedious. Almost noone is even bothering to fill the server anymore, as it rarely is successful.

Yes.
I don't believe that regs are bored with the maps, or that too many regs have quit TF2. I see many people on THG that have always been on HH2 before. I can't speak for them, but I can give you my reason for playing on THG instead of trying to fill HH2. When I'm home in the evening I'm usually in a mood for TF2. But after 1 hour (or 1.5 hours max) I'm satisfied. That's 2 or 3 maps, and I'd like to spend that time on a full server with some action. Not with 5 people building conga towers for 30 minutes, and then playing one map 8vs8.

Hi...
I'm not used to TF2 server, especially... HH 1 /2 or 3 ...
Actually i don't even see the point to have 3 nearly same empty serv like that!
(i always thought a PropHunt HH serv to replace one would be more productive)

What are the stuff that make the difference from other servers
or really between them?
I'm asking (i have no idea, cause i'm only playing FF2 HH4)

FF2 players, that are really active, fill every nights FF2 serv...
We even have to sometime wait to get a place on the server!
We could be also interested in regular TF2 serv...
Like for the Fight Night Event or Hearthstone Hootenanny!
(there were a lot of FF2 players in it)

But nothing is really told to draw their interest...
We nearly think that TF2 regular servs are just dead,
a remainder of olds active servers...
And that's FF2 that bring new players and regulars!
(me and some HH friends that i had talk)!

But because nothing is told to the community,
the prob is also, it's not so much look like a community [anymore] maybe,
It's not even on the forum or steam general groups...
that you get some feedbacks from TF2 regular server, idea or anything!
The stuff is that TF2 community doesn't share so much anymore!
When you see old posts, it's amazing to see how much there is!

We have no way to get interested when there is no one,
most of the time on the TF2 regular server,
(even more for FF2 when FF2 is more interesting and with full server)
or trying to tease us with anything on the forum (for example),
with screens, interesting IG stuffs... talking/sharing!

Right now, most of the post are relative to FF2 server,
but it's a bit because that people have droped interest in TF2 server!


So... I'm not against a bit advertising on main HH group, far from it!
Even if i'm a FF2 player... Cause we are (or should be) the same community!
Some ponctual remind of what are HH TF2 regular servers, should not be so bad...
But by the same way, increasing your activity on the forum could help too!
Also i'm asking what is actually make the difference on these servs?

So sorry,
if you've seen that i had no right to talk and ignorant about TF2 regular servers,
but i think it was a bit usefull!

Good Day!

I agree with using the base HH group for server filling.

The base group has over 16'000 members.
Server Fillers, only 200.

There would be no problem if 'Fillers had the same members as the HH group itself.
But it doesn't.

After reading multiple walls of text, If the tf2 servers are not getting filled up i would agree with using the main steam group to get people to join. In my opinion there just isn't enough people on the server fillers group to justify using it and yes there would have to be some moderation on the main server to stop the spam.

There's my opinion.