128 player tests: Feedback and Observations

[KingKong.CCCP]

The DEV's have been working on other things until this randomly came up.

DEVs were trying to improve windmill efficiency, when they randomly invented cold fusion.

I have no problem with either, however, the issues must FIRST be fixed.

What issues?
Squad bug, sound bug, building placement team killing, FoB eating kits, markers not placeable on long range, legs sticking through the wall, foxholes going through floors down, mortars capable of firing through the ceiling, Mumble unlinking when flying high, helicopters flying upside down, technicals driving over mines, sounds of a dying guy on the .50, ghost bodies of dead guys on weapons used, mines not visible for players who joined after they were placed, drying ammo box without any result, wounded body rendered away from the actual body, wounded bodies stuck in the texture, wrecked vehicles jumping around, weird texture black effects on long range, markers placed left-right from the actual direction of view, tank shell trajectory rendered differently for driver and gunner... or you mean the tag bug?

And let's just wait until the DEV's announce something?

It's easy for you to say, you don't find 64 to be a demo of the real PR.

[AfterDune]

indeed. IGI as well. No one cried (well maybe they did internally ) when they died out.

You make it sound as if the admins were abusing their powers... Get the facts straight: .:iGi:. died because most of the clan weren't interested in PR anymore and were playing other games. That left the server with only a handful of admins, if any. As you can understand, gameplay suffered from that and soon after, the server died.

[UK_Force]

Let me make this clear here guys, and this will be all I will say on the subject.

The team, will continue to run certain events on a >64 server, as it will be classed as testing.

A lot of you seem to just want it now as its "cool" and really great, which it WILL be, like all major changes, this takes time.

If we rushed our development like you all want this to be rushed, do you think Project Reality would be what it is now ?

A 128p server has Project Reality Gameplay written all over it ........ We know that, hence are working hard on it.


This is a big move for Project Reality, and the initial guys are now on the team so we can assist in getting this RIGHT.


To that end we need to make sure we do get this right 100%, if not and we release a buggy build of this it will have a negative impact on OUR game.

We agreed to run with this "officially", and to that end things need doing as such and correctly. We will run more Test Sessions yes, thats not an issue.

In the future once we are happy with it and its released "officially" people can do what they want, and I am sure the BF2 Community will look at this ........ but at least PR and its team will put out a "quality product" for the whole BF2 Community.

At the moment people are suggesting & demanding we just get it out there ......... which is a bad approach and something we don't do.

It is also unfair for us to allow a free for all with something thats not 100% tested, and unavailable to other servers who have been fantastic server admins for PR over the years.


There are reasons for management to make decisions at times, and this is one of those times.


I don't see what the huge issue is here ......... this needs fully testing before we put the PR Stamp on it ......... its really quite simple.

There is a possibility if we release it too early, that it will go straight onto everyones servers (Admins fighting for players) with no fore thought and end up crashing and ruining the whole of the PR MP environment ......... I am not prepared to sacrifice this for the sake of getting it right first time round, BF2 is already dated, and it will not take much to tip it over the edge and lose our community.



PR will also be the ones taking the hit if it screws up peoples servers, or some legal issue - there is no doubt that all fingers will point to us, and not at you guys "demanding it now to play on it" !!

the people have spoken, the rabble are united behind one banner.. this issue is the most controversial yet.

put simply, we appreciate the hardwork from the devs in making this game what it is;

however we the people demand, no we need this..

64 players is simply put; not enough..

we must go forward, DEVS must demand this.. we the players demand this..

UNITE under one banner or you will force the hand of the layman PR player, and make no mistake we intend to play 128 players as minimum..

The Community over the years have always been at the fore front of ALL PR Development, and do so in this case too, we listen to our Community of course, but also are the only Game Company / Mod team, who take an active role with our Server Admins ......... as its these guys we trust to ensure the game is played how it should be ..... and over the years they have done a fantastic job - your now suggesting we ignore them totally after years of providing great PR Servers - because you "DEMAND" 128p servers now.

The Developers DO NOT listen to demands, and posts like that are not appreciated or productive here for any of the team, its a MOD we give you free of charge - not a game you have paid good money for.

EA could not provide 128p Servers, and you paid for that game ........ did you demand it from them whilst "uniting under one banner", and if you did how did that go ?


Lets be totally honest .... at the moment it is way to buggy, and is not yet fully stable - far from it.

So to that end we need to make sure we are as bulletproof as possible - or we will be in a world of pain potentially

Its called protecting our assets as a Team, and is common practice.




Hope that makes it clear to everyone.


UKF



.

[pfhatoa]

Great and clarifying post. Quality is PRs trademark.

[cyberzomby]

You make it sound as if the admins were abusing their powers... Get the facts straight: .:iGi:. died because most of the clan weren't interested in PR anymore and were playing other games. That left the server with only a handful of admins, if any. As you can understand, gameplay suffered from that and soon after, the server died.

Sorry this was not my intention as I knew why they died out. Same reason T&T moved on. Changed text. I didnt realise people would read it as an answer on that quote. I was a bit hurrier when I typed it.

[sparks50]

I'm very impatient to get some good 128 games going again, but I trust the PR team to make the right call as to when this tech is ready.
Thanks to everyone involved!

[Robskie]

Thank you UK_Force,

you couldn't of summarized it better.

Now everyone, calm down, the DEV's are on our side, and they've made an epic game so far. I will find out where you live if anyone complains again about it not being released anyway.

You heard it, QUALITY PRODUCT. Something PR has always and will continue to be!

Robskie.

[AfterDune]

Sorry this was not my intention as I knew why they died out. Same reason T&T moved on. Changed text. I didnt realise people would read it as an answer on that quote. I was a bit hurrier when I typed it.

Good ol' internet... No tone of voice at all, it can make things sound completely different . All is good .

[Arc_Shielder]

Playing on it equals testing though, since whenever the server is up and people are playing on it it might crash. The crash logs that get generated when that happens may contain more information as to what's wrong, so the code can be updated accordingly and tested again. You can't create all the different situations that can occur during normal playand may cause a crash in a relatively short test. So testing and having fun can happen at the same time (until it crashes).

Ok, let's assume then that filling it up daily speeds up the process of getting the final version.

The only option I could ever foresee is if the server doesn't show up in the servers list. There's a Mumble channel solely for it instead of being included in the PR servers list. And a password to be renewed every 3 days or every week in the forum.

This way it filters out non veteran players, occasional bumpers and all non-mumble friendlies. If all these measures are good enough to make the server fill, I doubt it, but it seems like the only scenario in my mind that doesn't enter in conflict with other servers.

But honestly, I'm indifferent. If I have to wait longer then so be it.

[Tartantyco]

I love the smell of e-drama in the morning.

[101 bassdrive]

DEVs were trying to improve windmill efficiency, when they randomly invented cold fusion.



What issues?
Squad bug, sound bug, building placement team killing, FoB eating kits, markers not placeable on long range, legs sticking through the wall, foxholes going through floors down, mortars capable of firing through the ceiling, Mumble unlinking when flying high, helicopters flying upside down, technicals driving over mines, sounds of a dying guy on the .50, ghost bodies of dead guys on weapons used, mines not visible for players who joined after they were placed, drying ammo box without any result, wounded body rendered away from the actual body, wounded bodies stuck in the texture, wrecked vehicles jumping around, weird texture black effects on long range, markers placed left-right from the actual direction of view, tank shell trajectory rendered differently for driver and gunner... or you mean the tag bug?



It's easy for you to say, you don't find 64 to be a demo of the real PR.

I lol'd, best post I've read on these forums so far

[Lugi]

To that end we need to make sure we do get this right 100%, if not and we release a buggy build of this it will have a negative impact on OUR game.

(...)

I don't see what the huge issue is here ......... this needs fully testing before we put the PR Stamp on it ......... its really quite simple.

There is a possibility if we release it too early, that it will go straight onto everyones servers (Admins fighting for players) with no fore thought and end up crashing and ruining the whole of the PR MP environment ......... I am not prepared to sacrifice this for the sake of getting it right first time round, BF2 is already dated, and it will not take much to tip it over the edge and lose our community.

(...)

Lets be totally honest .... at the moment it is way to buggy, and is not yet fully stable - far from it.

So to that end we need to make sure we are as bulletproof as possible - or we will be in a world of pain potentially

You gotta be shittin' me.
Do I have to remind you about what happened when the 0.957 version was released? You sure it was tested properly?

We don't request something we completely don't know. We have played on the 128p server, and the game quality there was far above regular servers. No one wants to speed things up, we just want the 128p server come back, just as it was.

[Saobh]

You gotta be shittin' me.
Do I have to remind you about what happened when the 0.957 version was released? You sure it was tested properly?

We don't request something we completely don't know. We have played on the 128p server, and the game quality there was far above regular servers. No one wants to speed things up, we just want the 128p server come back, just as it was.

1/ Watch your tone
2/ Its a testing server it'll be up when testing is needed to be done, period. Normally this would be done only with testers on rather then open to the public, but obviously the sheer size needed brought the team to go at it differently this time, so you should be happy of even being able take part in testing.
Testing phases are done to get useful data to have a proper build ready when the server version will be out, people having fun while testing is only a by product and in no way the objective. Not happy with it ? don't go on a test server then, period.

And to be very clear to everyone, these kinds of selfish attitudes tend to have the DEVs get fed up with these petty e-dramas rather then help them stay exited and slaving away to get the next build out.

So a bit more constructive criticism and attitudes please, the rest is only wasting everyone's time.

[KingKong.CCCP]

Lugi, you can't force a volunteer developer to do something that he doesn't want to.

[Wicca]

I thought the whole idea was that. a few server owners complained to the devs, devs shut the server down. But the majority of server owners and players had no issue with the server at all?

Thats why i am abit annoyed, if not very disappointed. I understand its a test, but the only reason it was shut down to my knowledge was not because "not finished PR product" but because someone pointed out, "Hey! My server isnt filled".

I understand the dev team wants to have quality, but prestige is probably an important part aswell? Imagine being the first mod in PR to exeed 64 players, that is a milestone in its self. Imagine being the first gameplay mod to reach 300. That is also part of it.

If one or two server admins can decide over everyone else, as it seems here. Then that is quite rude, and that is why people are annoyed. Not because the server is down because of "quality" issues. As far as i am concerned the 128 server tests were always epic. And never had gameplay that dragged PR down the drain.

The community wish to have clearity, why was the server shut down? is there a connection with dunems posts, his ban, and the resulting "managment team" responce ?

Cause i dont belive it was because of the quality, as is stated in a mild tone here.

[L4gi]

99% of the posts are just useless blablabla. DEVs decide what they do, you guys complaining, whining and threatening wont help. Only thing it might do is make the situation worse. U mad?

[BloodyDeed]

Imagine the DEVs would have shown you FLIR/Thermal Sight before 0.95 and you would have been able to test it.
I think everybody would say: "we need it asap, cant play without it anymore...its so great" etc.
New features take time to get it into the game, the same goes for 128p.
Bugs need to be fixed, maps need to be changed.

I know 128p will be important for PR but they stated that they ARE WORKING on it so people should just have patience...the DEVs wont dissappoint us.

[Lugi]

You missed one little detail: the 128p is not a minor feature, its the biggest milestone in the PR development so far (it's my point of view). Sisu 128 was more stable than any server running 0.957a version of PR (which was obviously tested all over by the devteam). So that kind of reason for taking down the 128 is just funny.

[AfterDune]

Lugi, you're talking **** now. Your attitude is not making things any better really...

[Jigsaw]

The community wish to have clearity, why was the server shut down? is there a connection with dunems posts, his ban, and the resulting "managment team" responce ?

Cause i dont belive it was because of the quality, as is stated in a mild tone here.

Yes and no, if you actually read UK_F's post you should understand. The server is a testing server and testing should be conducted in a controlled environment, which was not the case before. It being uncontrolled had a knock on effect on other servers and their populations, but this is not the ultimate factor in reducing the "up" time of the 128p server.

It has nothing to do with the quality of the gameplay.