A New Use for Tac West [HLL] - (PROPOSAL)

[Leifried.R]

Troopers of 2-7​

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I have seen many conversations in Discord about ideas for our Tac West server on HLL and have decided to make a more permanent dedicated thread here on the forums as Discord messages are easily buried. Please utilize this thread to respond to my message below or voice your own thoughts.​

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Tac West has long since lacked utilization and a player base for 2nd Battalion, with less than 10 days over the past 4 months having enough people to be considered 'populated'. By our definition and the nature of the game - HLL servers are considered "popped" at 40 or more players in-game - 20 per side. Below you'll find a picture from Battlemetrics showing a heatmap of the days the server had players. Dark Blue is zero players. The "heat' increases as more players are using the server on a daily average.

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This is largely due to the fact we mostly have US Central, Eastern, or European time-zone-based troopers and that's OK. Nothing wrong with that. But seeing as we have a server that we not only pay for the hosting on - but Battlemetrics as well ( quite expensive for such a clunky beast - you'd be surprised ), what is there to lose in trying something different with a server that has sat idle for over 90% of its paid time over the last 100 days?

I - among other tenured troopers and/or Hell Let Loose players - would very much enjoy a level threshold on a server. This game is long past being "new" but is still the only tactical shooter that functions within the WW2 theatre. That being said, we have many troopers who have played this game from the start so they are not interested in herding cats every time they want to casually hop in a game. Level threshold on a server would require us to utilize CRCON - a community version of Battlemetrics RCON tool. Before you respond with "Well the man hours it would take, or the training it would require, etc." regarding something like that - we have the numbers willing to step up to make this happen - including myself. I will run a CRCON admin course, for an hour, every week for two months if we implemented this since this seems to be a concern. CRCON is also cheaper than Battlemetrics (with a hell of an easier time to read dashboard for the less technologically inclined)

I often see "Our servers are open to all - so we can recruit"- which is extremely valid and I do not disagree. That is currently only happening on Tac East - and very successfully so seeing that 2-7 just surpassed 300 troopers. Leave it as is, no need to fix what isn't broken there. But there is a massive opportunity to actually make an effort on quality of life and retainment efforts to the long-time troopers that desire just that little 'bump up' in playstyle where they don't have to gamble with half of their team only having 5 or less matches under their belt. Having personally played on various level 50+ and level 75+ threshold servers - the difference is immense and akin to a breath of fresh air for those of us with more than a few hundred hours in the game.

I have no problem hopping in Tac East, as it is currently configured, to assist with recruiting for the Cav whether it be through TnT or additional days throughout the week. No one has an issue with that. But we have a very strong and experienced player base within 2-7 that would likely continue coming back to the game more if we had an environment of our own that fostered experienced levels of play. By taking the opportunity with what is essentially a vegetable of a server in Tac West currently - we have the ability to cater to our own while also opening up even more unique recruitment opportunities.

Wrapping it up, I'm putting this out there because I believe that the higher you go in the Cav - simply more troopers are yours to care for by means of servant leadership. I endeavor in all of my efforts to make a better environment for the men and women around me since they have given me so much during my tenure here in terms of memories, camaraderie & fraternity. This seems like a slam dunk to atleast give it a whirl and I would appreciate any troopers voicing their support by a reaction or by leaving a reply below.

For the love of the game
For the Cav
For the boys,

 

[Parton.D]

MY WHOLE HEART IS BEHIND THIS LEIF.

 

[Ellison.C]

Love this! S3 Public is fully behind this! Will help however needed.

 

[Munch.R]

I can state that this would make me interested in joining pub matches again.

I would also implore that if this progressed beyond a PoC/tryout period to a more permanent setup, it be considered to move this server location from west coast to east coast/somewhere more inline with player base (understanding this would need to align with any contract terms, etc...)

 

[Koalafied.C]

I can get behind something like that!

 

[Winter.A]

100% on board with this, get 'er done!

 

[Noriega.D]

Love this idea!

 

[Maines.Z]

Having just barely reached level 80 in HLL, I am interested in seeing what the difference would be in these servers.

 

[Dupree.N]

I would personally endorse this endeavor, especially as to have incentive to grow with the experienced and the new. Let's do it Leifried.

 

[Webber.R]

I would love to see this experiment happen! Echo the sentiment above though, I usually steer clear of West due to performance issues.

 

[Houser.J]

This is great - what level are we considering? 50, 75?

Also, for comp-minded troopers, this would be much better practice environment outside of "official" comp stuff. Great idea!

 

[Scarselli.T]

"All soldiers are entitled to outstanding leadership; I will provide that leadership."

Good on you Leifried.R, never let the AO stagnate with indecision. I would have had a harder time leaving 2-7 if this was done last year.

 

[Bonderant.F]

Hail to the Yeah!! I'm all for a 50+ level server. I hate level 12 etc.. SLs not communicating, never dropping an OP and bailing from the squad after 15 min. 07

 

[Button.J]

Make West Playable Again

Grand idea Leif.

 

[OCulien.M]

This is our next evolution. This is the way. Wanting This very badly.

 

[Hazen.D]

I believe that the base idea of trying to make a veteran server is good in theory, but I dont think it will work for West.

1. West hardly pops as is. To put it from a business standpoint, do we really want to limit our clientele, when we are already having a hard time bringing in customers?

2. When it does get popped, its a big recruiting ground for late night units in particular. New troopers come, find they want camaraderie, cause they find the game massively overwhelming sometimes, and really appreciate when they run into people like us, who show them how things are done. I have a trooper who is with us, because we took the time, when they got on server, as a brand new player, to teach them the ropes. That Trooper is now one of my SL's.

3. That leaves East as the big recruiting ground for low level players. But its consistently popped and full. So when its full, and west is the only place for the new players to go, well, they cant go to west, cause its level locked. They're gonna go somewhere else. I would, if I were a new player. I'd be just skimming the servers. I did skim the servers. That's how I initially found the cav, at around level 25. Most brand new players fall into the 7cav by chance. We're limiting that chance.

You are correct that this game is no longer new. But we have been hit by several free pass events in the near past, that gave us a big bolster in level 1 players. I would propose, that if we really want to pursue this, East would be better to level lock, if you're gonna level lock it 50-75, IMO. That gives West a breath of life that it probably needs, as it will catch the new player overflow. You wanna catch more of the veterans on EST, not PST. Saying that because the number of people that play on EST, is vastly more, than the number of people that play on PST. East is the net that catches the most, West catches the least. But if we can force a path to west, cause its free for all, while catching the VAST majority of veterans, I think that would be ideal. If you level lock West, I doubt its ability to pop with any sense of regularity, but I believe it will pop regularly, if we make East the level locked server.

 

[Slagg.J]

I like the idea, as you say West is largely unused and taking up funds etc. We would be retaining our primary recruiting/gaming server in East and gaining hopefully a higher level play server which will see more frequent use.

High level players are likely dying to have places free from the CoD larper spam of recent weeks as well as it'll provide us with opponents that have a more challenging skillset which imo can only be a benefit overall to our own abilities and skills.

One question. Would we retain West in its current location [with the attendant higher pings] or migrate the location to a more central US server location instead ?

 

[Rasmus.M]

Like i've said somewhere else, multiple things to tackle and brainstorm here :

Server location : Are we keeping it on a Western location ;
CRCON : Pros and Cons, which setting could we implement on East, and on West. Because there is more than only level restrictions to this tool ;
Level restrictions ; how it would affect our servers attraction and the effect that elitism put on our openness toward teaching newer troopers.

 

[Barnes.D]

ESPT has 1 server, Garrisons and Whiskey. It's been level locked at 50+ since the game came out on Gamepass for PC. And it is ALWAYS full. I know firsthand of numerous vets of the game that quit playing simply because of the huge influx of noobs that knew nothing about the game and had no interest in learning the game mechanics. They just want to go off and do their own thing, and to hell with the team. Other communities are hesitant to level lock their servers, with the main argument being "noobs are the future of the game and we need to teach them." Except they have no interest in learning and get pretty toxic when you try to teach them. This usually results in quick steamroll games.
However, the opposite can be said with level locking the server. Due to servers like Bob the Builder, level means nothing. I played with a level 300 player that didn't know how to build a garrison. I know of another person that literally went from level 350 to 500 in just 10 days. Unfortunately, level does not equal game knowledge and experience.
That being said, I'm all in favor of trying out a 50+ level lock. Try it for a month or two and see what the results are. See how well it pops. Maybe even throw up a survey to judge what people think about the game experience. Were they the meat grinder sweaty games we are hoping for? Or were they 30 minute steamrolls?

 

[Bean.P]

I believe that the base idea of trying to make a veteran server is good in theory, but I dont think it will work for West.

1. West hardly pops as is. To put it from a business standpoint, do we really want to limit our clientele, when we are already having a hard time bringing in customers?

2. When it does get popped, its a big recruiting ground for late night units in particular. New troopers come, find they want camaraderie, cause they find the game massively overwhelming sometimes, and really appreciate when they run into people like us, who show them how things are done. I have a trooper who is with us, because we took the time, when they got on server, as a brand new player, to teach them the ropes. That Trooper is now one of my SL's.

3. That leaves East as the big recruiting ground for low level players. But its consistently popped and full. So when its full, and west is the only place for the new players to go, well, they cant go to west, cause its level locked. They're gonna go somewhere else. I would, if I were a new player. I'd be just skimming the servers. I did skim the servers. That's how I initially found the cav, at around level 25. Most brand new players fall into the 7cav by chance. We're limiting that chance.

You are correct that this game is no longer new. But we have been hit by several free pass events in the near past, that gave us a big bolster in level 1 players. I would propose, that if we really want to pursue this, East would be better to level lock, if you're gonna level lock it 50-75, IMO. That gives West a breath of life that it probably needs, as it will catch the new player overflow. You wanna catch more of the veterans on EST, not PST. Saying that because the number of people that play on EST, is vastly more, than the number of people that play on PST. East is the net that catches the most, West catches the least. But if we can force a path to west, cause its free for all, while catching the VAST majority of veterans, I think that would be ideal. If you level lock West, I doubt its ability to pop with any sense of regularity, but I believe it will pop regularly, if we make East the level locked server.

In the words of my economics professor you go with the flow. You bring up several valid points but I would like to take the time to reply to several of your concerns.

First and foremost the server does not need to be capped at level 50 it could be capped at 25 or even level 15. The point is we encourage people to level up to play on that server. It gives the sense to these players that they have earned their achievements and level ups. In the current status of West, to put it bluntly, it's a waste of time and money and we should right the course to find a higher level of players that would be down to join the cav.

Secondly, on the rare occasions that we do have overflow being able to pull a few troopers on these specific occasions does not sound like an investment that is paying off in the long run. If troopers and players aren't using these servers on a regular basis we need to find a better use for the servers. This use would cater to existing troopers helping to retain them as well as higher skilled players in the community we could recruit to the cav.

You mention the word chance, I call it low use. We aren't using the server to it's maximum potential. My personal thoughts on this are this. Move the server to a central server. Make a maximum level like 10-15 and see how it goes because I can bet it will be just as populated as East. Give players a reason to push and get better. We already have East that is open to all. It's time to have a server that takes it up a notch.

This is all with respect, Hazen, you bring up several points but the pros of having this type of server out weigh the cons.