Lurkers of this thread: Let's Revive CS:S GFL (Show up on Friday 5 PM PST at least)

[Trap Babe 6 / 910]

Hey guys, I have been trying to show up every day at 5 PM PST (right after work). If you don't want to show up when no one is around, add me on Steam and I will tell you to come join so it can be coordinated that we're playing CS:S. I am keeping a list of people that play on the server and are willing to hop on. My Steam account is here: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198007911317

 

If you are too busy to show up on Mon/Tues/Wed/Thurs, I would at least ask if you could show up on Friday 5 PM PST. I know a couple of people who would dedicate their time on Friday to show up. Although the server could possibly survive with Source 2 killing ZE mod on CS:GO, but it's not realistic as these people will just go back to CS:GO 2 when the servers/plugins return. Also, there are other CS:S ZE servers that get populated with regulars, so their community does not suffer the problem of a "dying community". I'm sure many you are thinking that you would show up on GFL if it were more popular because it gives you a ping advantage (for NA players), so let's make the only living NA ZE server around come back to life.

 

Let's make this an open discussion. I want to know the reasons you are not showing up or reasons that would convince you to show up. Although I have no power over the server, at least the CS:S GFL ZE admins would be interested in knowing what would interest you in staying :).

[Joshy 4,368 / 44,996]

Is there anything the other communities are doing that makes their server more successful.  The ones I'm aware of are struggling a bit too.  Compared to what I'm remembering (so maybe this is anecdotal) it does look like CS:S population is very small, and so it's no surprise to me that remaining servers are struggling.  I'm really proud of how long we lasted given so many troubling circumstances.  It's not to say to just "roll over and die" at the moment things look more grim, but I'm just saying I'm proud of our past accomplishments.

 

Something I've always liked about GFL or at least what I noticed in CS:S games is that we did not offer pay-to-play advantage, and the perks were mostly cosmetic; I also felt like we had a really sweet spot on the physics settings.  The server has had some very difficult history and so I know were very fortunate for even having a ZE server at all.  A lot of trust was put into the server upon its return, and quite honestly it's something that I wouldn't have done if I were in a position to make decisions at that time.  Luckily: I was wrong (or I think I was wrong maybe there are some back stories I'm unaware of), and things worked out.  It bought the server a lot of time.

 

Do you notice anything the other servers that are holding up... what do they offer, or what are they doing differently?  Something that is so tricky about ZE is that it's a lot less exciting when there are only 5-10 players online.  It takes very committed people who have time to really jump start that server; o.w. you have 5 players and 1 person is unhappy that they got mother zombie or map has a boss that needs at least 30 people to beat it, then the house of cards falls 😞 

 

I think what you are suggesting is probably a best effort.  I commend and thank you for it.  I hope it works.  I've seen it work before, but it is definitely grueling and I know it doesn't come with any guarantees.

[Trap Babe 6 / 910]

On 6/13/2023 at 10:48 PM, Joshy said:

Do you notice anything the other servers that are holding up... what do they offer, or what are they doing differently?  Something that is so tricky about ZE is that it's a lot less exciting when there are only 5-10 players online.

I definitely agree with you. I know that CS:S players who are in the NA region and join other ZE servers in the EU despite the worse ping because of reasons like (this is not about CS:S vs CS:GO):
1. Their community belongs there

2. They just want to play the most popular server (even if playing with bad ping sucks)

 

On 6/13/2023 at 10:48 PM, Joshy said:

it does look like CS:S population is very small, and so it's no surprise to me that remaining servers are struggling

Also, I would say that there are more EU players on CS:S than NA players. My understanding is the EU players tend to not have the best specs on their PC, so they have stayed on CS:S. Another reason that I see CS:GO ZE as being more popular than CS:S is because you must pay 10 USD for CS:S, while CS:GO is free. This is why I believe there is a drastic difference in the player base.

 

I also understand people of the CS:S GFL ZE community are burnt out, have families (we're all grown up now), or they have moved on. That's just life. I'm also not against people joining the other servers, but I just wish those who still play could fill up the NA servers during NA peak hours and EU servers during EU peak hours (Of course, this is unrealistic to expect).

 

My attempt at the moment is to just tell people to jump on Friday 5 PM PST and get something going. Last week (or was it 2 weeks ago?) was a pretty good week where we had 27+ people on Monday and ~30 people on Friday. Why? Either because work was over and they had free time to get on, or the server was populated, so other people wanted to join the populated server. I just hope my efforts are not wasted :)

[MetroidSkittles 13 / 2,881]

Shit's dead yo. Always will be. The good times are over. The memes are old and moldy. It's over.

[Trap Babe 6 / 910]

8 hours ago, MetroidSkittles said:

Shit's dead yo. Always will be. The good times are over. The memes are old and moldy. It's over.

It's always worth a shot though

[Trap Babe 6 / 910]

To the people who were showing up on Friday 5 PM PST. Thanks for making it awesome.