(YES! The same map problem over and over again )

So the problem is that when there are 2 custom maps in a row (even 1 is sometimes enough), the server empties (due to not receiving quickplay players) and the server dies. I've been playing for like an hour and a half trying to bear through the pain of almost none players and the server did not revive back. Everytime there is a stock (quickplay eligible) map and the server is going, the server stays full even in the early morning (even got server filled up @ 8:30 a.m. our time = 7:30 a.m. British time once) but when custom maps kick in, the server is being slowly but surely headed to being empty.

There are almost no dedicated players willing to go to #2 once the HH1 is up and going.

What are your opinions on this matter?

P.S.: And why the hell is pl_barnblitz set as a default map? I don't know if it is good filling map (let alone a good map (my opinion)).

I appreciate your answers.

Now, for example, gorge, fastlane, granary - full server and it's midnight. But 4 hours ago, there was an empty server purely because of those custom maps.

(I don't have a thing against custom maps, just the fact they are not quickplay friendly)

Custom maps won't be removed from HH2.

There is an peak and off-peak config for HH2.

Off-peak includes only stock maps and runs from 23:00 until 11:00.

When HH2 empties it switches itself back to a stock map, which has been pl_barnblitz, since pl_barnblitz was released sometime ago, in a break from the pl_badwater that came before that.

HH2 has been a very busy server for some months with it's current config, busier than HH1. A good range of stock and non-stock maps have been getting played. Previously HH2 was often empty entirely. More often it's HH1 that has needed support.

Your recent observations are appreciated, but perhaps don't take into account that it has been Halloween season in TF2, which brings about a host of temporary changes, including temporary changes to the quickplay system and Valves own servers.

There are always stock maps available in every vote that appears.

Hmm, I haven't taken the Halloween item hunting into account.

Could the off peak range be widened to like from 22:00 to 14:00?

Regarding the pl_barnblitz, what I wanted to say was, that it isn't that great map (my opinion) and I don't know if some cp map wouldn't be better (open to discussion). Because when there is a pl map, the game can end rapidly and another map can come up and the person that wasn't interested in getting the server going, instead being interested in the map being played can leave...

I know that HH2 has been getting much much love thanks to quickplay, and I am happy for that.

Same today @ 12:45, obscure_remake gets voted and if it hadn't been for Kifter, the server would die (he changed it to badlands and 10 minutes later the server was full )

I don't want to argue, I'm just presenting facts.

I was waiting for you to post this.

There were still 13 people on the server and then you personally requested a map change. "will you change the map to something better, please? ...like granary"

It's early on Saturday, actually a quieter time, so this is no surprise. (Also as previously mentioned it's still Halloween season, see HH5 at this time.)

Yes, I know how Quickplay works. There is another thread that documents the changes to HH1, HH2 & HH3, since its introduction. HH2 is not intended to be a pure Quickplay server, and yes, when it changes to a map, that has been voted for, that isn't a Quickplay supported map, then the server will lose flow from the Quickplay system. However, the Hampshire Heavies is more than 4 years old, has a lot of regulars and undoubtedly a considerable number of people still join via favourites or the server browser, rather than the Quickplay option.

As much as you might prefer one map to another, there are going to be a multitude of other opinions held by everyone else on the server. This is the point of the map vote. All the players on the server get the opportunity to select the next map.

There are always stock maps available in every vote that appears.

The current peak and off-peak time settings are set based on observation and population logging from long before the Halloween season began.

Singular observations are not, by their nature, comprehensive or thorough enough to from the basis of a particular general configuration. Neither are observations made during an update, the arrival of a new stock map, or some kind of seasonal event instigated by Valve.

No, I was there, you weren't, there were like 7 players playing and I kindly asked for a map change, but I won't argue with you, I just wanted for HH to have full servers and for players having to wait for the slot rather than having to wait for some masochist players joining empty servers. I've been playing for one and a half hour before the server got its players from quickplay (That's playing in like four players for the majority of the time.). And I didn't want my effort to go wasted because of some unpopular map. I was NOT doing it for my pleasure, I was doing it for the community. I could always go play elsewhere but I don't want to...

You say that next map is based on a majority of the players, but what if that majority leaves the server because they don't want to play (here) anymore and the other players are stuck with some map they don't like?

Sorry, but I was there. What you are forgetting is that some people were connected and still downloading the map. At no point did the total amount of people connected to the server drop below 13. You can see this for yourself in HLStatsX:CE.



If the server empties out, then it resets back to a stock map. It's impossible to create a perfect configuration/system that offers choice while still taking into account and managing the whole human factor, i.e. voting for a map that you don't want to play, or suddenly deciding you don't want to play TF2 any more, or not wanting to wait for the map to download, or not wanting to wait for others to finish downloading the map, etc. etc.

Perhaps this is why 24/7 <insert map here> servers are consistently popular.

Yes, that's what I was trying to say, instead of relying on some impossible configuration I asked to take current game state into consideration, nothing else.

Don't get me wrong, please, but I've seen players connecting a couple of times and then not joining, maybe downloading custom files for the bulletin board (and then disconnecting), etc.

Thanks for your concern in keeping ours server populated, I, for one, do appreciate it, but I think you will agree that when a server appears to empty out because of a map change, there is the possibility that a fair number of people are actually still connect to the server and in the process of downloading the map. If I have time I'll try and come up with the server command that will report how many players are still connected.

Ok, I've just done that. Use !pop or /pop to see the total number of connected players and a breakdown of those that are in game and those that are still connecting/downloading.

As much as it's frustrating for you to see HH2 drop in population, it could be equally frustrating for those that have got a good way through downloading a new map for the server to then suddenly change map before it had played out.

As you may well already know, the HH community has been a supporter of custom maps for a long time. We've received a token of recognition of this by way of a stock poster.

There is a fundamental difference between Quickplay joining players and server browser joining players (Let's call them community players). Quickplay players don't care whose server they join, they just want to play some TF2 regardless of anything else. Whereas community players have some loyalty, or preference, to 1 or more TF2 communities and their servers.

Quickplay players can be seen as prospective community players, if, through a Quickplay join, they enjoy the time that they have had on the server then they may well favourite it and get more involved. However, until that happens they perhaps don't have much interest or involvement in the community side of TF2.

In terms of the |H|H| community, I believe it's more important to cater for the community players than the Quickplay players, but by offering custom maps on a transient Quickplay server we create the opportunity for Quickplay players to try something different and promote custom maps to a wider audience.