The only reason that I would support having bots on the server, it that it makes the server appear to be active, even when it isn't. Bots turn me off too. I understood why there were bot servers back in the day, but at this point, it's become a last resort of a failing server - We watched it happen to B1.

IOW still has a pretty good following and I suspect that summer isn't helping. We all want to get out and do shit that we haven't been able to do for the last year Covid and all.

Nail on the head with not running off current and new players. That's another discussion that probably needs to be had behind the scenes.

Already tried out bots on the server years back the first time around when games slowed down, it was awful and we removed them shortly after. I don't recommend turning those braindead aimbots on.

Not a fan of pinball xp numbers either. Maybe a few weeks so that it'd reset if not playing a while, yet still a bit longer to get people coming back if they keep xp from playing the prior month.

neurosis wrote (View Post): › Nobody has bitched at me for being worse than - I won't name any names. :D

I want names asshole

It will pass

I think this started even before the summer so I'm not sure summer has much to do with it this time. We've had slow summers before but I feel this has been going for longer than that.

Personally I've been checking the server too late these days and games are done when I'm ready to join. even at 10 pm CST sometimes

Changing settings

I'd prefer xp reset every map and no bots myself but I also trust more active people to make the right recommendations. After all I was against custom packs too at some point.

what about 6 bots who can randomly use any !taunt and !rage bits? that'd be funny. Is it possible?

giving the ability to people to vote off bots would be great. but we would need a way to automatically turn them back on the next map (unless it's built-in)

Bots can help players spend time if there is only 1 or 2 guys. I know I don't feel like waiting in spec when no one is around.

That's all I would change though.

Random thoughts

I think new players are going to be very rare in 2021 and on. not much we can do about that.

I think we have been pretty welcoming in general (though I lose patience quickly with random aussies who abuse antilag... and Kelvin)

Could be due to the summer. Could be more people are out doing things in real life since covid restrictions have been peeled back. Could be people having other issues preventing them from playing. Could be people have to work on Fridays. Could be people are bored of ET.

But the fact of the matter is that ET is a dead game. When people takes breaks there just isn't a big enough pool of people to keep the server populated.

XP save would be a nice quality of life change but it's not going to drive people to the server.

I would just enjoy the ride. I'm sure numbers will tick back up at some point.

A wise man once said:

Quote: › et is dead is kinda like, poking a dead horse, you can still fuck it right?

I'll always vote no on bots, and I'm not a fan of extending XP save. The server settings are what kept me playing at IoW. F|A has multiple servers and a larger player base. How do they do it? There will likely not be anymore new players, so we have what we have unless we can poach some players from other servers.

As for me I play when I can, and it's not always every Friday, but if we can consistently get 3v3 at a minimum (at least with 3s we can play objective) I'll continue to show up.

I think it’s funny how everyone seized on my recruiting new players comment and ignored the be a responsible IoW member that appears regularly on the server comment. I can count on less than 10 fingers the number of IoW members that frequent the server regularly.

For the record, I don't think all of us ignored that part of your post. Winnie said she can't play right now, Sin says he's having network issues, neuro says he hasn't been playing for "obvious reasons" (don't know what he's talking about but I'm also not in the loop so it might be obvious to everyone else), Bak3d mentioned that he will keep showing up, Sir says he's been checking in too late, and I said I don't show up.

Well JayD, just to clarify. Winnie, Neuro, Baked, Allagor and Sux are on my 10 finger list of regulars. Even though Winnie can’t play and Neuro rarely plays, they are usually on the server and in Discord supporting our effort. And I thoroughly understand not being able to show if there are technical issues that need to be resolved or if you have a new baby in your life that needs attention. That said, there are several IoW members that fail to show on the ET server even though they seem to be participating weekly in Steam and other games.

Jayd wrote (View Post): › neuro says he hasn't been playing for "obvious reasons" (don't know what he's talking about but I'm also not in the loop so it might be obvious to everyone else

I've had some eye sight issues and since keeping your eye on the cross hair is a big part of the game I haven't been playing a lot.

I mean hasn't that been going on for years though? You definitely had eyesight issues when I was still playin'

Jayd wrote (View Post): › I mean hasn't that been going on for years though? You definitely had eyesight issues when I was still playin'

I can't remember. It's been so long since I've seen you on here.

I think part of the frustration is that some members just disappeared without notice. With W:ET being on its last leg, a heads up for other members out of courtesy seems like the right thing to do.

Quote: › Could be people having other issues preventing them from playing. Could be people have to work on Fridays. Could be people are bored of ET.

are all valid reasons but people. if you need to take a break (1 week, 2 weeks, 6 months), maybe let other people know on the forum? that takes 2 minutes

whoever is left available can organize and maybe join another server in order to salvage a Friday night of ET. that's clearly not my preference but I'm trying to think of other options.

Sin wrote (View Post): › Not sure what we would even ask. Its like clockwork, about 4 mins after I connect I go full zombie and never re-establish a connection until I reconnect. This has persisted through multiple routers and modems, 2 windows reinstalls, et legacy and vanilla clients and I even booted up my old pc with the same exact thing. Is there old subnet bans that are being enforced at all? I can't think of anything else

I've asked the host to look into things, I don't know what could be done. There were several subnet bans on our server side that I removed, last one from 2015 so not really worried about them at this point.

@everyone else
Appreciate the discussion here. I think summer and a 20 year old game are contributing to the overall problem indeed. I was really just dis-spirited when I started this thread, even though I know all of the things people mentioned here are contributing to this. As I and others have said, only thing those of us who still care about this game and server can do is show up and play, can't really ask for more.

I think for now I want to hold on any settings changes (bots and xp). I've always felt that one of the reasons we've endured is actually due to our settings, our unique "flavor". I am interested in some of the limits that Gatorhead proposed, and they're probably due to "sensible" hardware limits from 2003.

ET is a great game, and most other FPS are either death match or capture point. The unique objective play and team work required is why I keep playing.