Its like spending 2 hours working so that you can buy that MX1000 mouse,[snapback]35122[/snapback]
Funny, the MX1000 that I ordered October 16th just arrived yesterday, and I love it
Anyhow, on to my post. I'm not counted in the big-anonymous-file (I'm not on IRC all that often right now, I go through periods where I'm on IRC 24/7 for a few weeks or months, then periods where I rarely use it). I don't mind posting my comments without the veil of anonymity.
Point form, because I so love using it:
1) Overall, the server is not going downhill. There are some things that need changing, but that is by no means an indication of it going downhill
2) There have been less players playing on the server recently. One way to solve this is by re-instituting the reserved slot reccomendation forum again. This gave everybody a chance to vote on a potential RS member, instea of the current system where they're just reccomended in a thread and no real vote takes place. The forum was brought back because there were too many RS players; the server was full too often. Well, the server needs more players and more regs, and RS are a great way to build a strong community of regs. It's 10PM on saturday night and the server is only 12/17. It should be full, and more RS players will help with that
3) The administration needs to seriously re-examine their position on combat maps. Right now, it seems the reason they were removed is simply because LB or some other admins don't like them. Honestly, LB rarely plays on the server, and the admins make up only a small portion of the players that play on LM. The reason of any one admin not liking combat should have no bearing at all in any decision regarding combat.
Some of the regs don't like combat either. That's understandable. However, the proof is in the pudding that most people don't mind combat. Take this for example, every time there were, say, 4 or 6 people on the server, and an admin switched to combat,
the server filled up quickly. If combat is such a big draw to the server, obviously more people like it than not. I don't like 24/7 combat, but I also enjoy the occasional game of Combat mixed in with normal NS. Look at it this way, LM needs more regs and players, and Combat is a great way to help fill up the server and attract new potential regs.
4) We need votes back in. RS members used to be able to start new votes, to change maps and other minor things on the server.
this was working great, but was then removed because people
wanted to play Combat, and were voting for combat maps. LB or some other admins don't like combat, so voting was removed. That is frankly stupid logic. Voting helps keep the server fresh when there aren't any admins around, and is nothing but good for the server. Removing voting as it was just harms the community, and there's no reason it should be removed.
give the players what they want.
5) Here's my position on the whole script blocking thing. It's simple. I like the block, and would rather scripts were disabled, as there's no legitimate reason to have them. However, it's not a big issue, and I don't really care either way if they're blocked or not. My opinion is that they SHOULD be blocked, but if they are or aren't,
meh.
6) Friendly fire is bloody annoying. I know I'm in the minority here, but it just gets in the way and makes the game less fun. It was originally put on to counter bugged handgrenades
in combat, ironically enough, but once that bug was fixed was never removed. In fact I seem to recall there having been a poll done where at the time the majority of people wanted FF off, but the admins ignored it. At least that's how I remember it, I could be wrong and the poll could have gone the other way. I can't find it.
7) The spawncamping rules are draconian and need changing. As it stands now, every single game sees players doing something that the rules would call spawncamping, and even the admins in the server break that rule, because of how broad it is. I mean, the rule basically says you can't shoot the enemy in their own base, because you have to be shooting a structure. When nobody follows the rule because of how broad it is, that's a hint. Take the hint. Change the rule. Banning true spawncamping is OK, banning regular gameplay under an uberumbrella definition of spawncamping is NOT OK.
I'm going to sum up my entire position by saying this: the administration of the community should not be making decisions based on their personal preferences. They should instead make decisions based on what is best for the community. Things like removing combat to the extend that admins can't even switch to the maps, or removing voteing, that just hurts the community, and is frankly selfish. Admins exist to make sure the players have a good time, not to make sure they have good times themselves. If you don't want to make the sacrifices that come with being an admin, step down and become a regular player.
PS: As an afterthought, I don't give a damn if you as players don't like Combat. If more than half the players on the server at any given time want to play combat, then let them. If you're not on the server, why should you care if it's playing combat? Come to think of it re-adding player/RS initiated voting would fix this right up.
