For holding down the fort and getting The League going before I joined/remembered, and for always letting us know his intoxicant of choice: PotW is none other than piggeh.
Wed night was an absolute blast. We played until 4am. Dunigan consumed more booze than I though a man of his size could possibly endure. He woke up hungover, but when I saw him at work, he told me it was completely worth it.
And now, after all these years, he understands why we love this game so much. He is a convert.
Also, major lulz when I tried to get Eggroll to play via twitter. He tweeted this in response, and then immediately after I read that, I see "Eggroll is playing Team Fortress 2". He played all class long, with headphones in, and still managed to take notes. Then when class ended, he walked WHILE Playing to his car, then proceeded to sit in his car for nearly two hours and play in the parkinglot. He left after a security office tapped on his window.
And finally, Kingpin and I were busy listening to songs from the Tony Hawk games, and some classics from the 80's rock era:
and then I woke up the next morning, and he was still awake listening to classic tunes.
Without question, one of the most fun times I've had playing TF2.
Wednesday nights were terrible for me this quarter (hw dues thurs, or been writing a paper for the past few weeks). I should be around to play much more next quarter.
A little story about my first experience playing TF2 with Icrontians. It starts like this...I entered my home around 12am EST after working a long grueling shift. I went straight to the liquor cabinet, looking for something to take the edge off. I found the perfect thing...a quarter bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey. After a shot or two I made my way into my room and fired up DuniganPCass. It was time...after all these years I was about to step into a world I had only dreamed of...online gaming.
I died quite a bit...but that was ok...it gave me more time to enjoy my whiskey...but before I knew it...I was out! The whiskey was gone! So I made haste to the liquor cabinet again and before my eyes stood 3/4 full bottle of Makers Mark Bourbon...oh yeah...just what I needed.
I continued to play...and drink...and drink...and play...when finally it was time to break the seal. I stood up from my computer chair and thats when it hit...I probably looked like a cartoon...I went stiff legged and fell straight back onto my bed. It took everything I had to make it to the bathroom...thats when I knew it was time to call it a night.
Fast forward...3 nights later...I am at a local Pub having a drink with a few people when my neighbors walk in. They join us for a few drinks and towards the end of our conversation Christian asks, "Do any of you guys plays video games?" I immediately thought it was my roommate...he has a tendency of yelling profanities at his Xbox. He continued by saying, "We kept hearing someone yell, FIRE!!!!! AH COME ON!!! FREAKIN LAG!!!!" Thats when I realized...I have become a true gamer.
The nice thing about TF2 is it still has a good community. I stopped playing just because I was addicted to WM2 for a bit, and then I wanted to try out Shattered Horizon, and if I'm being honest, I think the last TF2 update with the Demo and the sword is dumb.
Still, TF2 is most likely going to draw me back because of its player community, though I wish Shattered Horizon would pick up a better player base. Thing about a community of gamers, once a game has been out a couple years like TF2 has, the community is mostly built of guys that have been around the block a few times, and frankly those guys tend to scare off the noobs. It would be nice to have a way to recruit some fresh blood to the IC TF2 server in a way that keeps it active for more than just a few narrow play dates that seem directly confined to the IC community.
Years ago I played frequently on two different COD2 servers. What was unique about each of them is they did a fairly good job of keeping the mods active on the server and they both recruited world wide, so at any given time, you would see a player count of at least a few guys so if you just wanted to hop on, say hello to the mods, say lets turn on a small map and just kick it in free for all for a little bit, it was there for you. On weekends from Friday 5PM till 2AM Sunday the servers were constantly packed with new guys that did just that in the middle of the week. Point being they let allot of people have mod access, they encouraged them to occupy the server even if nobody was actively playing to draw some people in that prefer a smaller, more laid back game so they were constantly drawing in fresh players. So point being, if you have a soft player count more frequently you can draw in fresh players, and new community members by rite of passage. A server that is active more often. More mods that are enthusiastic about their job can occupy it frequently to say hello to the passerby's and recruit new blood.
Doing Happy Dance for POTW. I've become rather prolific at stabbing heavy medic combos. As a spy I find it very easy to shift a games flow with just a couple stabs. Spy is balanced to the effect if he takes out a couple key players, he may not get in the top 3 but will hold off a defensive or offensive drive just long enough to allow his team to cap or defend the point (respectively).
Re: player count, it seems to me that playing KOTH maps does not attract pubs, PL (Badwater, Goldrush) and CTF (2Fort, DoubleCross) seem to bring them (maybe also Dustbowl). We may want to consider dedicating at least the first 30 min or so of league time to those maps to encourage the server population a bit. Just a thought.
A couple thoughts on attracting more group members:
Tweet!
Use Facebook page to create events each week
Use reminders/events on Steam the day before and morning of to remind players
Also I will re-request that "Waiting For Members" be modded to Melee only if possible. Currently it's simply who can spawn as Heavy first gets to piss off his team mates before the match. While I admit I do this rather often, someone does sometimes spawn as Heavy before me and it can be rather aggravating. This plays into players returning to the server. Think of the Newbs!
Comments
Quote of the night:
"The Spy is Dead, Move in!"
I blushed
-Bobby
-Bobby
And now, after all these years, he understands why we love this game so much. He is a convert.
Also, major lulz when I tried to get Eggroll to play via twitter. He tweeted this in response, and then immediately after I read that, I see "Eggroll is playing Team Fortress 2". He played all class long, with headphones in, and still managed to take notes. Then when class ended, he walked WHILE Playing to his car, then proceeded to sit in his car for nearly two hours and play in the parkinglot. He left after a security office tapped on his window.
And finally, Kingpin and I were busy listening to songs from the Tony Hawk games, and some classics from the 80's rock era:
and then I woke up the next morning, and he was still awake listening to classic tunes.
Without question, one of the most fun times I've had playing TF2.
I know man... you should like, not work so early :/
-Bobby
Time for a new game and relegate this to LAN status?
I died quite a bit...but that was ok...it gave me more time to enjoy my whiskey...but before I knew it...I was out! The whiskey was gone! So I made haste to the liquor cabinet again and before my eyes stood 3/4 full bottle of Makers Mark Bourbon...oh yeah...just what I needed.
I continued to play...and drink...and drink...and play...when finally it was time to break the seal. I stood up from my computer chair and thats when it hit...I probably looked like a cartoon...I went stiff legged and fell straight back onto my bed. It took everything I had to make it to the bathroom...thats when I knew it was time to call it a night.
Fast forward...3 nights later...I am at a local Pub having a drink with a few people when my neighbors walk in. They join us for a few drinks and towards the end of our conversation Christian asks, "Do any of you guys plays video games?" I immediately thought it was my roommate...he has a tendency of yelling profanities at his Xbox. He continued by saying, "We kept hearing someone yell, FIRE!!!!! AH COME ON!!! FREAKIN LAG!!!!" Thats when I realized...I have become a true gamer.
THE END
Hell no. I'm not playing anything online these days but TF2. With a bi-weekly schedule, there is going to be highs and lows in attendance.
Still, TF2 is most likely going to draw me back because of its player community, though I wish Shattered Horizon would pick up a better player base. Thing about a community of gamers, once a game has been out a couple years like TF2 has, the community is mostly built of guys that have been around the block a few times, and frankly those guys tend to scare off the noobs. It would be nice to have a way to recruit some fresh blood to the IC TF2 server in a way that keeps it active for more than just a few narrow play dates that seem directly confined to the IC community.
Years ago I played frequently on two different COD2 servers. What was unique about each of them is they did a fairly good job of keeping the mods active on the server and they both recruited world wide, so at any given time, you would see a player count of at least a few guys so if you just wanted to hop on, say hello to the mods, say lets turn on a small map and just kick it in free for all for a little bit, it was there for you. On weekends from Friday 5PM till 2AM Sunday the servers were constantly packed with new guys that did just that in the middle of the week. Point being they let allot of people have mod access, they encouraged them to occupy the server even if nobody was actively playing to draw some people in that prefer a smaller, more laid back game so they were constantly drawing in fresh players. So point being, if you have a soft player count more frequently you can draw in fresh players, and new community members by rite of passage. A server that is active more often. More mods that are enthusiastic about their job can occupy it frequently to say hello to the passerby's and recruit new blood.
Re: player count, it seems to me that playing KOTH maps does not attract pubs, PL (Badwater, Goldrush) and CTF (2Fort, DoubleCross) seem to bring them (maybe also Dustbowl). We may want to consider dedicating at least the first 30 min or so of league time to those maps to encourage the server population a bit. Just a thought.
A couple thoughts on attracting more group members:
Tweet!
Use Facebook page to create events each week
Use reminders/events on Steam the day before and morning of to remind players
Also I will re-request that "Waiting For Members" be modded to Melee only if possible. Currently it's simply who can spawn as Heavy first gets to piss off his team mates before the match. While I admit I do this rather often, someone does sometimes spawn as Heavy before me and it can be rather aggravating. This plays into players returning to the server. Think of the Newbs!
-Bobby
Ah, how the young ones learn!
I swear he didn't get that from me...
Added to calendar on Steam and the forum for the rest of the month.