50% off on Battlefield 3 game servers

Should Fragtard host a 32 player BF3 Server?

  • Yes

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Undecided

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

Kenadian

Staff member
Site Admin
What do you guys think of this?

I can actually foot the bill for 4 months or so and see if it helps breath life into Fragtard.

If it's something that helps build our Community I can look at making a more permanent financial commitment toward keeping a full-time, 32 player, BF3 server.

I'm not looking to build IGN or anything here but admit that it would be cool if we had a somewhat active Gaming Community.

Any and all thoughts very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken
 

Wapwap

Staff member
Admin
I think it's worth the try, I know there's a lot of BF3 servers around, but still. Getting the server started might take a little effort though. And if it doesn't work in the end.. hey atleast we've tried!
 

Kenadian

Staff member
Site Admin
I think it's worth the try, I know there's a lot of BF3 servers around, but still. Getting the server started might take a little effort though. And if it doesn't work in the end.. hey atleast we've tried!
Ya I tend to agree with you on this one. I think the worst thing that can happen is that it doesn't go anywhere but I do think if we have a higher ticket server, we stand a change of getting more exposure because there's less competition in this filter.

I've also found a few other deals on BF3 Servers so what we may want to do at some point soon is hop on some test servers to see how they play.

I'll probably tackle this in January 2012 because it doesn't make much sense to start over the Holidays when everyone is busy with family stuff.
 

Kenadian

Staff member
Site Admin
Not that I'm voting, but the poll is white text on white background for me?
Ya sorry about that.

This skin is completely custom, completely made by me, and completely screwed up.

I'll fix the text issues sometime this weekend.
 

mondo

Hardcore
Couple of ideas:

Rules:
I'd actually hold off on any rules on the server, with a couple of exceptions:
No griefing, hacking, stat padding and keep things respectful.

At Wolf we had so many rules because of the intrinsic deficiencies in the BF1942/BF2 map designs. In BF3 most of it can be managed either through the anti camping measures within the map designs or server side like no friendly damage. Its actually really hard to base camp in BF3.

Maybe pick a theme. Some of the servers which I see populated all the time have a theme i.e.
1000 ticket Metro
1000/high ticket ticket Metro/Grand Bizarre/Seine Crossing.
Infantry only maps/small conquest no vehicles
Hardcore Infantry Only etc.
Fast vehicle respawn
Air only maps

Not sure what is best or if you should go down that route but its either one of many 32 player conquest servers or something a little more individual (but that might dilute the players that are attracted).

I'd also suggest getting a host on the east coast of the US so you get EU players as the pings will be only around 100. West coast servers will probably sit empty more than East coast ones because people from the EU won't play on it.
 

Kenadian

Staff member
Site Admin
The server both Wappy and I demo'd is based out of the New York/New Jersey area which we felt would be a great compromise between west and east. I'm on the same continent and Wappy actually pinged better at under 100ms (94 - 96 if I remember correctly).

We're also going with a different provider because their prices are more static in nature so we know our dues should remain pretty constant. We can also change server local up to 4 times/month if we determine another local would suit our players latency better, a terrific feature if you ask me.

I also e-mailed off a few questions to Tech. Support just to see what response time we'd get and they responded quite quickly (especially since it was Christmas lol) and informatively. They also appear to have decent forum support and all the server support in the world, all in all, Wappy and I are confident with our decision.

We're discussing rules, server config., and everything now because we should be picking up the Server and TS in the next week or so. The delay is my fault because of a mix of my computer issues and time issues (still have family in town from the Christmas Holidays).

Some things we do know about the server config., at this time:


  • It will be a higher ticket server as there is less competition in this area which should translate to higher visibility. Exact ticket count is an unknown but it won't be exorbitant where a map will last twice as long as the basic; probably 1.25 - 1.5X normal would be my guess to start.
  • Fragtard.net will be in the server title as we obviously want to try and grow the community around it.
  • We will use the ingame server message system to try and get people here and on Teamspeak 3. We won't spam it of course but there does need to be some info.
  • Rules and map rotation will all be linked to Fragtard.net and added to the forum navigation bar for ease of use.
  • Map rotation will likely rely on the Poll, best Battlefield 3 maps found on the main page and within the forum discussion.
  • Map rotation will likely be opposites loaded back to back. For example, the claustrophobic nature of Operation Metro with the next map being something open like Operation Firestorm or Caspian Border.
  • There will be at least a few B2K maps in rotation.
  • Vehicle spawn times will be adjusted because instant spawn in ridiculous. This will lead to a whole forum discussion because my thoughts here are that vehicles should have a huge delay to encourage teamwork (keeping them alive), while discouraging vehicle spawn camping, heli-whoring, etc. I'm sure some folks will think I'm nuts in this regard.
  • There MUST be a player welcome message that is somewhat personalized and hopefully informative.

Even all the above is open to discussion and will likely change over time.

We've all got tons of experience on what works and what doesn't from a player and game admin standpoint so keeping an open mind toward change is what I think will make us successful.
 

Pentarix

Casual
In continuation of the conversation over at lifesupporters, I talked to my dad and he is interested in checking out the server when it is up! He has held off doing it so far but is going to be purchasing the game this week, as some of his friends already have it.

Having a good server where people play by the rules is important to them, they have their own BF2 server that they moderate, so I think it would be a good match for them to play with guys who care about that as well. Whether they will like the tickets and settings or not, I have no idea, but I am sure that you guys can work all of that out.

The only other thing is teamspeak. I think they have their own server (or some similar method of communication), and that keeping them separate would probably be for the best. Some of them are older guys and, my dad included, can not appreciate colourful language as well as some of us, so having their own self-moderated teamspeak server/communcations method is probably for the best.

Other then that, once the server info is available, they have asked me to pass it on. I will find out what their names are, etc. so that you will know them to see them.

I will post back here when I get an update!
 

Kenadian

Staff member
Site Admin
kk

Just an FYI, we're picking up the server Friday the 13th (figures), configuring/testing, etc., and going live on Saturday Jan 14, 2012.

Server Info., and TS Server Info., will be stickied in the forums and then added to the top navigation bar shortly thereafter.
 

Pentarix

Casual
Sounds great!

I had another post after my previous one but it was moderated or something so now it is not showing up. Anyway I will pass the info on when it becomes available.
 

Kenadian

Staff member
Site Admin
Sounds great!

I had another post after my previous one but it was moderated or something so now it is not showing up. Anyway I will pass the info on when it becomes available.
I'll look into that, my bad.

I have the url filters set a bit aggressively to catch bots and keep their crap out of the forums.

Thanks for the heads up.
 

JohnnyK

Hardcore
1) That will be a lot of work, just be warned ;)
While I find the idea of such a server appealing - on Metro it will have to compete with 64 player servers which yield the best scores, so it might not even make sense to include that map.
Personally, while I definitely prefer playing with you guys - I simply dont have the time anymore to spend hours in a half full server, trying to fill it up, which would probably be needed at the start. But during the week, I often do not have more than 1 or 2 hours to play, so I want to spend that time playing :?
And for the ruleset - just make sure to make it 1 player start!

2) Pent, if you know anyone who has Sapphire hardware, they currently give out a promo code for free B2K with the purchase of BF3 on Origin. OTOH apparently there are still boxed copies of the LE to be had (and most likely cheaper).
 

Kenadian

Staff member
Site Admin
I'm pretty sure it will have a 1 player start and as for Metro, it was only used as an example as it won't be included in the rotation.

Most of us are busy these days so living on the Server is unrealistic. All we can do is plan our play times as much as possible and try to populate the server while we're all online.

I'm sure everyone here knows what it takes to run a server as most of us dedicated countless hours to server adminning at one time or another.

The worst thing that happens is the Server doesn't take off, no reason to not try though IMHO.
 

Pentarix

Casual
2) Pent, if you know anyone who has Sapphire hardware, they currently give out a promo code for free B2K with the purchase of BF3 on Origin. OTOH apparently there are still boxed copies of the LE to be had (and most likely cheaper).
Thanks JK, I will keep that in mind!
 
Last edited:

Kenadian

Staff member
Site Admin
Well, let me know if there is any way I can help.
We'll be posting a firm public launch date shortly so the best thing you can do is let everyone you know who has BF3 in on it. I hope to have Fragtard Twitter and Facebook Accounts up within the next few days so making your friends aware of them will also help spread the word.

To try and get the word out that Fragtard is here, we'll be focusing on embracing all that effective "White Hat" SEO has to offer by blogging, embracing Social Networking and all the while planning and targeting our most desired keyword and keyword phrases.

We want the Server to help populate Fragtard but at the same time we want Fragtard to help populate the Server.
 

JohnnyK

Hardcore
As an FYI, Mumble now supports positional audio in BF3; might be worth considering as an alternative to TS.

Als, TeamSync looks interesting down the road if you want to automatically put people in different channels depending on the team they are on:
http://www.tssync.net/about/
 

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