Hello there. Rolyatkcinmai here. I'm the server guy.

In support of our PC gaming community on this site (go join the Steam group), we'll be activating a Counterstrike: GO server on Tuesday (hosted by the same people who host our Battlefield 3 server, and others). It's a 16 player server, which I chose to facilitate larger player numbers without going past the squad sizes that make CS fun. I can't remember if I chose New York or Chicago (I ordered the server when I entered the CSGO beta about four months ago), but it's an eastern based US server.

I won't know the IP until Tuesday, so don't ask yet. Admin privileges will go to our PC community leaders (you know who they are if you play PC games with duders).

What I'm looking for here is general input on what you think we should focus on mode and map wise. We have a lot of CS veterans on hand and I'm sure you all have opinions.

Are there special settings you'd like? Modes? Maps? Now is your time to be heard for the OFFICIAL GIANT BOMB SERVER WOOOOO. Yeah.

Edit: If you're not part of the PC Gaming Group already, go here: http://www.giantbomb.com/pc/60-94/pc-gaming-hub-lets-play-games-together/35-554129/#57

Can we get season?

Well, it's been years since I've played an FPS on PC, so expect me to be the guy every loves to see on the other team, because I suck! My personal favorite game mode is, and have always been Gun Game (arms race now, right?) but I'm up for whatever, I'm sure experienced players would love the original stuff.

is there a link to the steam group?

The best thing you could do to this server is set it to Classic Casual with all maps on rotation. Nobody likes 24/7 Dust2, in which case, maybe disable user map voting. Other than that, you're set.

@Tranman409 said:

is there a link to the steam group?

I edited the original post.

Can you set the server to classic competitive because there isn't much of a difference between casual and competitive except you have to buy armor and a defuse and you get less cash. Also can you import css maps?

@scarace360: Would only really make sense for Classic Comp. to be 5v5. Any more than that should be Casual. This is my opinion, of course - but there's a reason they put that mode in there.

@scarace360 said:

Can you set the server to classic competitive because there isn't much of a difference between casual and competitive except you have to buy armor and a defuse and you get less cash. Also can you import css maps?

No idea if it's going to be possible to import CSS maps. I haven't heard anything. I also prefer competitive, due to the armour buying and lower cash. We'll see what the consensus is.

@JoeMarsden said:

@scarace360: Would only really make sense for Classic Comp. to be 5v5. Any more than that should be Casual. This is my opinion, of course - but there's a reason they put that mode in there.

I think it depends how many new-to-CS players we get. As a vet, I definitely prefer competitive. We'll see.

Posting so i can keep track of this when it goes live :)

Aint played cs properly since my 3 year binge on source as it came out, quite enjoying GO atm.

Wouldn't mind seeing some of the lesser used maps in rotation (estate, assault etc) And yeah, just a general full map rotation would be great!

Just a damned shame Finalbattleground aint around anymore, damn well loved that plugin!

is this F2P?

@OmegaPirate: Estate and Assault aren't in the game...yet? Just the 'big' ones in GO at the moment e.g. Dust, Dust2, Nuke, Train, Italy, Inferno, and Office.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

is this F2P?

$15

@Rolyatkcinmai said:

@scarace360 said:

Can you set the server to classic competitive because there isn't much of a difference between casual and competitive except you have to buy armor and a defuse and you get less cash. Also can you import css maps?

No idea if it's going to be possible to import CSS maps. I haven't heard anything. I also prefer competitive, due to the armour buying and lower cash. We'll see what the consensus is.

@JoeMarsden said:

@scarace360: Would only really make sense for Classic Comp. to be 5v5. Any more than that should be Casual. This is my opinion, of course - but there's a reason they put that mode in there.

I think it depends how many new-to-CS players we get. As a vet, I definitely prefer competitive. We'll see.

You should be able to it still the source engine. Should be easy enough i guess.

I imagine this still being source engine means this will be unplayable for anyone non-American :(

Oh well, I guess Noob will have to buy the game then to continue running CS event night things.

@JoeMarsden: Awww, i just assumed that was a beta limitation :( sad-face.

That being said im sure assault wasn't even added to source til later in its life, so it'll come round eventually ^_^

Definitely Competitive!

I haven't had the time to put as many hours into CS:GO as I've wanted, but what I did find was that you die super freaking fast. Like, way faster then you would in CSS or CS1.6. But I'm sure that's just because I've become a terrible player.

@OmegaPirate said:

@JoeMarsden: Awww, i just assumed that was a beta limitation :( sad-face.

That being said im sure assault wasn't even added to source til later in its life, so it'll come round eventually ^_^

I think they'll be in at release. Remember it's still technically in beta. The game launches this coming Tuesday.

@Rolyatkcinmai: The launch is merely a formality. As far as I'm aware, the game is launching pretty much as-is. The biggest content update they've ever done only just hit.

I'd personally prefer casual, but that's just because i haven't played too much CS, and I suck.

@wh1terav3n said:

I'd personally prefer casual, but that's just because i haven't played too much CS, and I suck.

Casual doesn't really make anything simpler or easier, it just takes away some of your buying options (and thus some of the strategy).

@Rolyatkcinmai said:

@wh1terav3n said:

I'd personally prefer casual, but that's just because i haven't played too much CS, and I suck.

Casual doesn't really make anything simpler or easier, it just takes away some of your buying options (and thus some of the strategy).

Yes, but it is easier when you dont have to worry about rationing money to buy armor and defuse kits.

I'd prefer a classic casual with all the default maps in, and maybe some exceptional custom maps. I say casual because then we can all socialize while dead, which I feel is one of the best things about the game. Plus, as Barackbar said, we wouldn't need to worry about armor/defuse kits.

Is zombie still a mode, I have only played for a little while, but that was a fun mode in CSS. Also i vote for Classic Casual.

@President_Barackbar: Rationing your money and having to buy kits and armor is half the fun of the game. It's the reward for doing well each round. Personally, CS just doesn't feel right without friendly fire or player-collision, either.

Also, I have a 24 slot server, so if the decision is to go casual on the current 16 man server, I can just set this secondary server accordingly (ie, traditional) for those that prefer it. The size of the server may be adjusted over time, too, as GO necessitates. I tend to bend toward the fairly old-school CS from my early days of hosting a killer CS server out of OSU in the early years of the game. :)

@Branthog said:

@President_Barackbar: Rationing your money and having to buy kits and armor is half the fun of the game. It's the reward for doing well each round. Personally, CS just doesn't feel right without friendly fire or player-collision, either.

Opinions man

@President_Barackbar said:

@Branthog said:

@President_Barackbar: Rationing your money and having to buy kits and armor is half the fun of the game. It's the reward for doing well each round. Personally, CS just doesn't feel right without friendly fire or player-collision, either.

Opinions man

Yeah, that would seem to go without saying.

I just don't see the appeal of CS if not for the things which make it unique and casual (in my experience so far, with it) feels like it strips those unique elements out.

@Branthog said:

@President_Barackbar said:

@Branthog said:

@President_Barackbar: Rationing your money and having to buy kits and armor is half the fun of the game. It's the reward for doing well each round. Personally, CS just doesn't feel right without friendly fire or player-collision, either.

Opinions man

Yeah, that would seem to go without saying.

I just don't see the appeal of CS if not for the things which make it unique and casual (in my experience so far, with it) feels like it strips those unique elements out.

CS for me is all about the shooting and the slower paced gameplay. Not being able to afford good weapons/equipment because you're getting stomped on by the other team to me is one of the more annoying aspects that casual takes out.

@Rolyatkcinmai: Please make it competitive. It's not like we're gonna start swearing and being dicks to each other whether its competitive or casual.

Just remember the more unique something is the more people will stick with it. Counter Strike is a goddamn hardcore shooter that's tough to get into. The learning curve on shooting guys is still there whether it's competitive or casual, but you're showing the real gold of the buying system and making sure you're playing with your team rather than on a team.

If we're gonna do a giantbomb CS GO server, let's make it as CS as possible.

@Doctorchimp said:

@Rolyatkcinmai: Please make it competitive. It's not like we're gonna start swearing and being dicks to each other whether its competitive or casual.

Just remember the more unique something is the more people will stick with it. Counter Strike is a goddamn hardcore shooter that's tough to get into. The learning curve on shooting guys is still there whether it's competitive or casual, but you're showing the real gold of the buying system and making sure you're playing with your team rather than on a team.

If we're gonna do a giantbomb CS GO server, let's make it as CS as possible.

I kinda agree with this - it's the insta (and for that round) perma death feel of cs that sets the pace and playstyle for CS. Friendly fire and rationing resources is also a great part of that, and that doesnt just mean saving up enough rounds to by an awp then dying immediately after and hating life.

In my opinion giving people a decent amount of cash just amounts to everyone buying power weapons all the time and rushing like madmen because there is no penalty for doing so, some of the best 'counter strike moments' i've witnessed have been when somebody pulled off something ridiculous with an unorthodox weapon that they were lumbered with due to funds/ammo.

Hell, even last night i as CT on a normal server, couldnt afford anything other than the p208 pistol and a flashbang, and a HE. Ended up taking out all 5 in the exit to apartments with just the pistol and banger at various ranges due to some improvisation, luck and a lot of screaming.

On a casual server i'd likely have bought a sniper, ran to apts. got spooned by 3 guys with p90's. and if i made it through there somehow, ended up in an awp war with the one T that DOESNT abandon hossies when he's got a ton of cash, and sets up shop at apt exit.

Casual games can be fun every now and then, but i've never added a casual server to my favourites list in all my cs history - the ones i repeatedly come back to and make 'home' are the ones with no bullshit, decent map rotation, and that play the game as it is, with a decent set of admins and a friendly community. Imho that's what the GB one would be awesome as, but hell if it ends up as a casual/ escape/zombie/ server then no big deal, will still be great to jump on and play with you duders :) x

@Doctorchimp said:

If we're gonna do a giantbomb CS GO server, let's make it as CS as possible.

I agree as well, I'd really like to see it competitive. Let's play the counter strike we all know and love.

*Arms Race is good for new players, since it gets rid of the downtime from being dead. I do kinda wish there was a straight-up TDM mode, even though it's about as anti-CS as you can get.

Fun fact: the mobile page doesn't let you edit comments, and makes the submit button a bit too easy to press.

Glad to see there's a sever going up... Add one more vote to the 'competitive' tally!

I would definitely prefer it to be competitive. On casual there is no player collision, what ends up happening is new players will use this for easy bait kills instead of learning proper tactics. Of course, casual has its place for quick fun times but in my opinion, the fun of Counter-Strike always came from the tactics employed by either side to counter each other.

I'll check the server out sometime, but being from the NL I probably won't be a regular because of the latency. Also, 'casual' and 'competitive' are not black and white... it'll still be counterstrike with only some minor differences. It should not be a very big deal either way. Casual might be a wee bit more forgiving in terms of money earned and the free armor/helmet, so since the new players might need the little help that's probably the way to go at first.

@Rolyatkcinmai: So glad this is being done. Any chance you could post the server's IP address here when it is available?

@Akeldama said:

@Rolyatkcinmai: So glad this is being done. Any chance you could post the server's IP address here when it is available?

Yeah, I'll post a thread later today once it's up.

So anyone know what time the game is gonna come out?

I've never played a CS game. Should I get in on this? Im bored of BF3 right now.

@scarace360 said:

So anyone know what time the game is gonna come out?

In a few minutes. Valve tends to launch things and put up new sales at 10:00AM PT / 5:00PM GMT.

@clush said:

I'll check the server out sometime, but being from the NL I probably won't be a regular because of the latency. Also, 'casual' and 'competitive' are not black and white... it'll still be counterstrike with only some minor differences. It should not be a very big deal either way. Casual might be a wee bit more forgiving in terms of money earned and the free armor/helmet, so since the new players might need the little help that's probably the way to go at first.

Having to be thoughtful about your money is a huge element of CS. The only real negative I see to competitive is that 5v5 is a little light. That might be fine for *true* competition. But for a fun time with more "competitive" settings, I think you need a few more people and I always felt that 8v8 was more traditional (though I could be wrong).

Also, I think collision and friendly-fire are absolutely necessary to keep people from playing it like it was damned COD. At least, from what I've witnessed so far.

So the game is out but i still cant instal it whats up?

I have CS:S but have barely played it, doesn't bother me because I won it free. Just bought this yesterday because I'm up for a game with a high skill ceiling and I'm pretty good at all FPS's so I'll be able to adjust. Would love to play with other bombers as long as it doesn't get too competitive.

Just looked for the server but couldnt find it.

Settings would definitly be classic competitive for me, especially long term

Also like the best of 30 rounds official servers, just long nuff to get a good competition going before the map gets boring.

Etc 8 vs 8 feels like cs to me and just switch the maps around maybe even some hostage rescue in between the bomb defusal.

suggestion: dust 24/7!

199.21.112.28:27015

@Rolyatkcinmai: Can you give some of the stats you went with?

Good shout man! LETS DO THIS