NS2 Supporter Perks

[Spiritwind]

Hey Guys,
I was wondering if you have looked into ns2 supporter perks?  I love your server, but I can hardly ever seem to get on, so it'd be completely awesome if you offered Reserved Slots!

[Wolfpup]

They do offer reserved slots, just donate. I'm not sure, but VM (Verified Members) may also get them, but again, not sure.

[Plasma]

Hey Spiritwind,

You're right, we currently do not offer any in-game benefits for donating on our NS2 server. It's definitely something we want to change. If possible, I'd like to extend all the current TF2 in-game benefits to our NS2 players as well. That means access to reserved slots, in-game immunity to the AFK kicker and team balance (maybe). And finally a special badge on the scoreboard. NS2 is currently quite limited compared to TF2 in admin tools, but there are ways to achieve the same benefits.

The idea would be the same: By donating $5/mo, you'd receive the forums benefits and in-game benefits for both our TF2 and NS2 servers.

The NS2 dev team has been asking for feedback from us server ops about the best way to implement official reserved slots. I'm hoping that means they're currently working on that feature and maybe we'll see it sometime soon. I would prefer to use an official solution to reserved slot than using a mod. I'm not sure when that feature will be coming though.

I'm not sure how to best implement the reserved slots as well. There are several ways to do it with mods right now, and the best system seems to be to always reserve 2 slots for Donors/Admins. Meaning the server would become 18/20 and be password-locked to only allow Donors/Admins in. Password is removed once total players go back down to 17 for example. I don't really like having 2 slots locked most of the time though, that's not very efficient for me, as the server admin. I'd rather have 20/22 slots instead... but then I don't think our current server would be very stable.

As you can see it's little difficult, and why I would rather wait for an official solution to this problem. I just want you guys to know that we are thinking about such benefits and we will have them in the future. I just can't tell you when and how right now.

We're always open to suggestions and feedback though! If you've been on other servers that have Donor benefits and liked the way they handled things, please let us know!

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Wolfpup, we do offer in-game Donor benefits for our TF2 servers, not for NS2 right now. These are two different games (NS2 is a great game, you should try it!). As for Verified Members, no, they do not have access to reserved slots. VMs receive an in-game * in chat and can use sprays; it's just a simple way to indicate that player is a regular I hope that clears up the confusion!

[Wolfpup]

Sorry, my bad. Seems I need to improve my reading skillz. I swear I saw TF2 in my haste to be helpful I just clicked the 'New' link. *embarrassment blush*

Apologies for misinformation.

[Plasma]

Hah! Don't worry about it Wolpup.
Soon enough (*I hope*), Donor benefits will be somewhat similar in TF2 and in NS2. We'll let you guys know when that happens.

[Spiritwind]

Awesome to see you guys are looking into it.

Personally, the best Reserved Slot system I've seen for Natural Selection 2 is pretty much like you said without the password, 20 slot server with 2 slots for supporters/admins.  The server kicks them if there is over 18 people and their not in the supporter list.

I'm personally not familiar with the server side of Natural Selection, I've only worked on Source Game and Minecraft Servers, so I coulden't exactly tell yo what there is that can be offered.

For the NS2 devs, I would recommend the regular official reserved slot system I've seen on other games; The server says there are only 18 players allowed, but at 18 supporters can still join (Up to 20).  So it'll say 20/18 instead of having it at 18/20 and people getitng pissed because they get booted after waiting for the game to load.

I know right now I'd love to be playing on your server, but sadly its full .

[Plasma]

Yes, from the discussion I've read with the devs, this is most likely the way they're going to do reserved slots.

The main issue right now (and you're entirely correct above, I'm just explaining the situation to everybody else reading this thread) is that if the server doesn't have any open slots available, it will show 18/20 (if 2 reserved slots) in the browser. A non-donor/admin will then try to connect, and instead of disconnecting that player immediately (like Source games do), the player will load the map assets and will only be kicked for "Server Full" afterwards.

The way Source games handle reserved slots is far better. It checks if the player has reserved slot flags and if so, lets her/him in. In NS2, that flag check happens just right before the player gets into the ready room. That's really really annoying, hence the password solution.

There is another way to prevent this problem. There's a workshop plugin that shows servers with reserved slots in the server browser. It will display servers like so 18/18 (20) for 2 reserved slots. 18/19 (20) etc... That way non-donors/admins know it's no use connecting right now.

So yes, there are ways around the problem, I just don't like having 2 slots completely locked out except when donors/admins are playing. It's not efficient. In TF2, we simply kick a player randomly (except Verified Members, Donors, Admins, etc...), that way all our server slots are always being used by someone. Obviously, it sucks getting kicked, but simply registering on our forums for free makes you immune, so it's not too bad for regulars.

In NS2, I really don't want to kick someone to make room for an admin or donor (except if they're AFK or Spectating in Ready Room, but we have AFK kicker plugin for that). NS2 is a lot more like DOTA, and requires good teamwork to win a game (long games sometimes). Kicking a random player, that's been saving res to go Onos, or someone in an Exo can just completely kill the game for everybody.

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TLDR version:
You're absolutely right SpiritWind. The best current way is to use the 18/18 (20) solution and lock 2 slots for Donors and Admins. It will depend on how many donors we'll have as well. We currently have 77 Donors, but don't worry, most are only playing TF2 (which is a shame! You guys need to try NS2!).

I would really prefer to use an official reserved slot solution, and I hope to see it released in the next patch. But UWE is not the fastest developers out there, so we'll most likely use our own system soon.

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If you would like to see new features added, settings modified, new maps, etc... please let us know. Feedback is always very important for us.

[Spiritwind]

Awesome, good to hear that you guys are working on it, as well as knowing what your doing.

For new features and whatnot, I think things are good just the way they are.  So far the only real problem is just getting a slot on your server, which is really good for you guys .

Edit:
As far as maps go, I find that when a server has a custom map, it hardly ever gets played.  This is quite sad, as I know the NS2 dev team spent a lot of time making it so people could get creative with their mapper.

Stuck trying to join the server now .  Have you guys thought of whether it would be profitable or within reason to create a second Hyperion NS2 server?  If you don't mind my asking; do you know the cpu and ram usage for an active ns2 server?

[Twisted_Shadow]

Stuck trying to join the server now .  Have you guys thought of whether it would be profitable or within reason to create a second Hyperion NS2 server?  If you don't mind my asking; do you know the cpu and ram usage for an active ns2 server?

When It comes to 2nd Server, Idk How well It would get Filled up. The Current Server already has the Times when Its off and nobody, then its Full throughout the Entire Day/Nights.

But a Second server could work

[Spiritwind]

In my experiance you just need a couple individuals that will get on for 20-30 minutes when they see it empty.  Once it has a couple people in it, usually it kicks right off from there (Thus the reason you hardly ever see servers with only 1-5 players, and when you do it usually fills up quickly.

[Twisted_Shadow]

Ya, I Suppose So.. I pop on Time to time when servers empty

[Plasma]

Our current setup would not be able to run a 2nd NS2 server. We're already pretty much at maximum capacity if all 3 servers are full at the same time.

NS2 is unfortunately one of the worst games to run as a server op. It requires a lot of resources and recent hardware, compared to Source games that can run on almost anything (obviously, not anything if you want good performance).

The only way right now to add another NS2 server without sacrificing performance would be to invest in a real dedicated machine, not a VDS like we're using now. That means increasing our monthly costs by at least x3. We've received a lot of donations, a lot more than is needed to run our current servers, but it's only been recent and during the summer holidays. I can't predict how donations will look 3 months from now.
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Then, I'm also not entirely sure where NS2 is heading. I don't see much growth, except during massive steam sales. Number of online players during weekend is very low, and statistics show a decline. I want the game to succeed, I really do, but I don't see myself investing more money into NS2 right now, at least not that much more.
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Now, it's also true there's currently no reason to donate to this community if you're a NS2 player only, since there are no Donor benefits. And that's something I want to add; but looks like server performance is higher priority right now. If donations from NS2 players are good (when benefits are added in), and we can see growth AND a demand for an additional server, then we can definitely look into it.

This is a very small community, and we have to manage our funds closely. I also really don't like running empty servers; if we can afford it, if we can run it (good performance in-game) and if there's a demand for it, then yes, we could decide to add a new server.

This is also actually true for our TF2 servers, though since it requires a far less costly investment, it's an easier decision. Still, I don't want to run an empty server, and our 2nd TF2 server is struggling at times.