DEVELOPERS: Please read in regards to unfair labeling of servers as "modded"
deathmonger
Join Date: 2012-07-06 Member: 153953Members
Join Date: 2012-07-06 Member: 153953Members
http://www.reddit.com/r/ns2/comments/19rnjr/are_you_deterred_by_modded_servers/
You can read through that Reddit discussion and see that the vast majority of people won't even give a modded server a try because they feel like "modded" means it alters the game play. I'm all for servers showing up as modded if they have the combat mod, resource for kills, etc, but with the current setup you've basically squashed all personalization out. The worst part is that people can actually bypass the system and run stuff like resource for kills...and the rookies don't even know it! Resources for kills is something that I know for a fact would deter me from playing the game, so I would think getting this issue under control would be towards the top of your list of things to do.
TL:DR
Mods such as NS2Stats--that do not alter the characteristics of the game--should not be grouped in with mods such as combat, res for kill, etc. Or at the very least, you should remove the ability to filter out modded servers since these harmless mods are basically guilty by association.
You can read through that Reddit discussion and see that the vast majority of people won't even give a modded server a try because they feel like "modded" means it alters the game play. I'm all for servers showing up as modded if they have the combat mod, resource for kills, etc, but with the current setup you've basically squashed all personalization out. The worst part is that people can actually bypass the system and run stuff like resource for kills...and the rookies don't even know it! Resources for kills is something that I know for a fact would deter me from playing the game, so I would think getting this issue under control would be towards the top of your list of things to do.
TL:DR
Mods such as NS2Stats--that do not alter the characteristics of the game--should not be grouped in with mods such as combat, res for kill, etc. Or at the very least, you should remove the ability to filter out modded servers since these harmless mods are basically guilty by association.
Comments
Combat, MvM and the like I would totally agree are mods and require a "modded" label.
This then prevents servers using mods that do not have anything to do with game type from being filtered. Basically remove the mod filter all together.
What would really be nice is if they game type could have a little explanation when a user hovers over it or something. This way new users can read a quick description of this gametype and not be afraid.
Example lets say dak has a version that people dl for an admin menu and I want to use different icons. Currently I would need to create my own workshop clone of DAK just to do this or another workshop mod to server the content! However if DAK is on whitelist I would then need to have my mod on whitelist so I can do what, have a custom logo!? This is why such a filtered system is a bad idea. It is not practical.
What is practical is to do what all other games do and allow servers to identify themselves as modded not the other way around. Server owners know if their content is different from the normal game. Give them away to declare how in a gametype and they will use it just as they do for other games out there.
A whitelist is a good compromise in that it allows us to distinguish between admin or map-related mods and actual gameplay modifying mods at the cost of some flexibility. Its not perfect, but I don't think you'll be able to convince UWE to open it up so that server owners have to flag their servers as modded, rather than being automatically flagged.
It would be nice to have some classification of "moddedness." Perhaps a couple more colors?
While I agree this would not wholly solve the problem, I think it would still be a nice feature. The main reason I myself don't try the yellow servers much is because I have no way of knowing how far the game is modded. A list would be helpful in that matter. Seeing that something only has more consistency checking or only NS2Stats would clarify the fogginess surrounding the yellow server.
The other thing about the yellow servers is that they can't say rookie friendly. I'm not so much of a rookie any more but I like playing with rookies in a rookie friendly environment. I also probably act like a rookie on servers with custom maps.
I wouldn't go so far as to say this is destroying NS2, it's just not helping it flourish to its full potential.
- server history tab
- lists which mods are on a server
- lists which players are on a server
- seperate favourites tab
Server browsers in general have become far too dumbed down, classic ut was a good way to show detailed information.
The only distinction for "modded" was whether or not you were using a Mutator (and thus it's hooks in the engine). The workaround was to include the actors in the map itself or to spawn them on the server and make use of regular script events. There were also whitelisted Mutators, but the list was not expanded often and basically only included security and holiday Mutators. But one hack you could pull off was to extend your Mutator from a whitelisted one to keep it whitelisted as well.
The only real problem in UT2k4 is that modded servers are filtered out by default and frankly is the button to disable that behaviour at the bottom of the screen and not in the usual server filter settings. Personally, I prefer modded servers in NS2 over vanilla ones and would actually appreciate a filter setting that shows ONLY modded servers.
This is awesome news! Any chance it will make it out with the next build?
can we get a comment on this? Just would like to know when we're likely to see this, a reasonable timeframe perhaps?