CS:S Division Changes Part 2

[Roy 10,832 / 0]

Hey everyone,

 

I know it has been a while since I posted an update on the CS:S Division. I apologize for that, I've been really busy with other things and life recently.

 

Anyways, I just wanted to introduce some further changes to our CS:S division.

 

CS:S MiniGames

After seeing the success of CS:S Dust2 on our Anycast network, I decided we should try to setup a CS:S MG server again. This is a server I've long missed and I even had a test CS:S MG server setup at one point just to play with friends on, etc. I know this was requested years ago, but at the time, I didn't see CS:S MG having any future in GFL. In fact, at the moment, the game mode is pretty much completely dead, at least in the US.

 

However, with the recent spike of players from COVID-19 along with the combination of the server being on our Anycast network and CS:S Dust2's success, I believe the server stands a decent chance this time. It really can't hurt to try at this point, anyways.

 

I've started talking to @Jekyll and I believe he would be a good fit for the server! I will be helping him any way I can with the server as well.

 

Moving Surf RPG DM To Anycast Network

@Dreae and I agreed we should move the CS:S Surf RPG DM server to our Anycast network. This is because game servers on our NFO machine appear to suffer from lag spikes regardless of the server/configuration. I believe this has to do with hyper-threading being disabled some time ago due to security holes within Windows. Moving the server from Windows to Linux will also help debugging crashes since Valve hasn't stripped debugging symbols in their CS:S Linux server builds (non-like Windows and CS:GO). Plus Linux generally comes with better system resource consumption and better performance in most cases.

 

Possibly Move BHop

I haven't talked to the staff on the CS:S BHop server, @Khel, and @Reeve about this yet. But just like CS:S Surf RPG DM, I would like to move CS:S BHop. This is because I've noticed the server suffering from the same lag spikes as we see on CS:S Surf RPG DM and it messes up runs, etc. This would probably be a more complicated change since we'd need to make sure the extensions all have Linux support and so on. I will get with everybody to discuss this before making any decisions.

 

These moves would result in an IP change as well. But with the GSLT feature (moving favorites from one IP to another) and the server being on the network, I believe it'll sustain their population. The servers wouldn't change IPs after this since we have our own IPv4 block.

 

That's all for now!

 

Thank you.

[JGuary55 707 / 14,712]

OOMGGG you actually opened the MG server, might have to hop on to smack you again like the test server

[Joshy 4,364 / 44,940]

I wish them the best.  It's a great server.  It's one of those servers where its success cannot be measured by direct activity; yet: the few glorious moments of joy are difficult to capture and understand its value without experiencing it for yourself.

 

 

One strategy that I think would be worthy of exploring is a pseudo "global operator" suggestion that was made by Coolest Cat, which I cannot find anymore.  The pseudo part is the beauty of what I'm about to suggest.  In my past community where MG had some activity there was no such thing as Division Leaders or Server Manager; they only had a few servers and their Server Admins were admins on all of those servers.  Once in a blue moon and when the stars aligned just right a player or two might hop onto MG, but it was even more scarce that it would spark more activity.  What would bring the crowds is admins that were a bit bored of their server or dissatisfied with their current map, and they were willing to host an impromptu event and call over a few of their friends.  Soon enough 5-10 people would join and the activity would catch the attention of other players growing to 15-20+.  These admins who hardly played MG were the ones who would give it life.  It was hardly sustainable, but it would bring about those mentioned moments and make investments into the server worth it.

There is more greatness to this word "pseudo", that I don't even think it would truly require a full global type of role or leadership blessing beyond the Server Manager.  It's very partial and flexible; a proof of concept.  I would create a Group and add a handful of trustworthy enough Server Admins or reputable players (of course you should ask or let them know without being forceful); quite honestly I would suggest this for many low population servers at the Managers total discretion.  You wouldn't want any Joe to hop onto to the server and have the capabilities of switching the map or banning players, but you would want a large handful of players with limited commands such as changing the map and handling manageable situations like spammers (no need to kick or ban, neither any other punitive or high impact commands!).  MG is very map dependent and some maps might be a killer.  I believe to increase the likelihood of it doing well, that you will need more hands involved, and those talented hands will likely come from players in our other servers.

 

 

Really.  Best of luck.  At the very least: Enjoy it.

Edited July 1, 2020 by Joshy

[Meramipop 5 / 368]

MG IS BACK LET'S GO