@Pie: Not sure why I couldn't join in that case. I'll try again later.

@StarvingGamer said:

I bet I suck ass now.

You might be surprised how quickly it all comes back to you. I was never all that great but I've slid back into it quite nicely. Also I think there are a lot more new players who've never played a CS before so that may help.

@jessej07 said:

"You are banned from joining this session" or something like that.

Only 1 person was on the server when I tried to join, so I'll try later if others are on it... but does anyone know why I'd get that message?

Look forward to playing with you guys :)

Yeah, you'll get weird messages from time to time when trying to join servers. It has gotten better since the first couple days after launch. And, of course, the phrasing sucks. It implies that perhaps you've done something wrong and have been banned from the server, which isn't the case.

There will eventually be more maps out for CS:GO, but at the moment there are only a couple or so custom maps (such as 747, assault, etc) and they all have glitches and bugs and some incompletely aspects to them. Some of the old maps also appear to be coming out at a later point, if you look in the default CS:GO configuration files (there is a reference to assault, for example).

As soon as some new maps are out (and complete, stable, reliable, etc) we'll definitely add one or two for variety. Personally, I still miss militia and cbble, too. :(

Been having a lot of fun despite the high ping :(

Thanks Branthog!

Great fun had this night. Definitely do better with more people in the server. Is it because more human shields are readily available? This server is a hit Bran-thog. Keep it up, hopefully those minor glitches i.e. bomb ticks when CTs are dead, go away.

@tekmojo said:

Great fun had this night. Definitely do better with more people in the server. Is it because more human shields are readily available? This server is a hit Bran-thog. Keep it up, hopefully those minor glitches i.e. bomb ticks when CTs are dead, go away.

Yeah, CS:GO definitely still has some weird bugs. I think you were there tonight, when four people kept spawning into each other's bodies. And when someone couldn't see the world at all. However, that seems to have literally only happened during that one match and was solved with a change to the next map. All in all, I find it reasonable out of however many hundreds of matches have been played in the past ten days.

Today was a lot of fun. It was dead at 11am, but picked up an almost full server by noon and was full 12v12 for the next eleven or twelve hours.

What's weird is that, when the server dies out, it happens fast. Tonight, we went from 12v12 to 2v2 in a single map. Granted, it was late, but ideally we'll end up with a server that is popular enough to draw people 24x7. That's a lot of why I wanted to run a server again after all these years. I don't like server-hopping. I want one place where I know I can go 24x7 and instantly get some game on. And, preferably, with people I come to know as regulars and have a good time with.

It's getting there. As long as we get in there every day and fill up the server enough that others start joining, then it should stay lit all day long... and over time, we'll get enough regulars from GB and the world at large to sustain itself.

Now I just have to stop sucking. Today was one of my worst days ever. I just couldn't hit a damn thing. And then my brain shut off for about six hours while I just tried desperately not to kill my own teammates (HI SHERMAN!). :D

Anyway, it has been a blast seeing you and all the other GB familiars all day long!

Just an update. I'm sure nobody reads this far down. I wish there were a better way to get info out. Oh well.

We're now in the top 10% of servers tracked by GameTracker. We're getting close to the top 400 servers. We still require some boot-strapping to get the server going early in the day -- meaning, I have to login and play for a half hour until others start to join. Then, once we're going, I can log out and the server remains self-sustaining for 10-12 hours.

Valve also issued another update Thursday night that completely fucked up how configurations and modifications are handled. They issued no real information on how the changes work and how to transition to them, but they totally gutted entire configuration files that are useless now and added *several* new ones. And then moved them into a completely new location. And changed the syntax of them. Frustrating as hell. However, I think we've recovered and everything is back to normal.

Also, based on feedback I've heard from players on the server, I have made the following adjustments:

mp_roundtime is now set to 3 minutes. This is the default time with casual. Competitive uses 2 minutes. However, with a larger player count on the server and -- especially -- when we're not talking about 5v5 clans that play with each other for hours a week, two minutes makes hostage maps IMPOSSIBLE for CT. So, I increased the time to three minutes. I would have tried two and a half, but I don't think it'll accept that. Three minutes also allows a little more time for end-game. Watching two knuckleheads find each other and proceed to the knifing while we all talk behind their back and make fun of their mothers. This won't increase overall time of each map/game, though, because most rounds are over far sooner. This only gives some leeway for those few rounds that need it.

The freeze-time in the beginning is fifteen seconds, by default. I don't know why. That seems really long. I left buy-time at 45 seconds, but adjusted the freeze time down to 10 seconds. I may reduce it a little more, later.

@Branthog said:

Just an update. I'm sure nobody reads this far down. I wish there were a better way to get info out. Oh well.

We're now in the top 10% of servers tracked by GameTracker. We're getting close to the top 400 servers. We still require some boot-strapping to get the server going early in the day -- meaning, I have to login and play for a half hour until others start to join. Then, once we're going, I can log out and the server remains self-sustaining for 10-12 hours.

Valve also issued another update Thursday night that completely fucked up how configurations and modifications are handled. They issued no real information on how the changes work and how to transition to them, but they totally gutted entire configuration files that are useless now and added *several* new ones. And then moved them into a completely new location. And changed the syntax of them. Frustrating as hell. However, I think we've recovered and everything is back to normal.

Also, based on feedback I've heard from players on the server, I have made the following adjustments:

mp_roundtime is now set to 3 minutes. This is the default time with casual. Competitive uses 2 minutes. However, with a larger player count on the server and -- especially -- when we're not talking about 5v5 clans that play with each other for hours a week, two minutes makes hostage maps IMPOSSIBLE for CT. So, I increased the time to three minutes. I would have tried two and a half, but I don't think it'll accept that. Three minutes also allows a little more time for end-game. Watching two knuckleheads find each other and proceed to the knifing while we all talk behind their back and make fun of their mothers. This won't increase overall time of each map/game, though, because most rounds are over far sooner. This only gives some leeway for those few rounds that need it.

The freeze-time in the beginning is fifteen seconds, by default. I don't know why. That seems really long. I left buy-time at 45 seconds, but adjusted the freeze time down to 10 seconds. I may reduce it a little more, later.

Round time at 3 minutes seems like a nice fix. On most maps, after 1 minute most of the players are dead anyways. An extra minute may draw out the bomb maps a bit more, but...I'd rather have hostage maps playable, gives the CTs more time to plan and execute.

Freeze time is mostly annoying, only time it has saved me when I was AFK, clicked the wrong buy menu, etc.

Good news overall, glad to see the stats reflect all the fun that has been had on the server. Literally been years since I've played CS, and it shows :P

The only real reason I can see for having it be 15 seconds may be for new/returning players who need some extra time to get familiar with the buy process again. Maybe Valve will update the default later, once they feel everyone's comfortable again. I think ten seconds may be too long, too, but it's better than dropping it down to five seconds and having half of the team still buying stuff while the other team has crossed the map and put a gun to their heads in their own spawn. :)

@Branthog said:

We still require some boot-strapping to get the server going early in the day -- meaning, I have to login and play for a half hour until others start to join.

I've tried this a couple of times too. I guess, being a UK Bomber, that my mornings are a time when most members of the server are fast aleep. Had a few early morning games with a couple of people, but it currently seems pretty quiet until the 'Mericans get up. Hopefully it'll only get better and better! Haven't jumped on in a few days, but looking forward to doing some this weekend.

@bibamatt said:

@Branthog said:

We still require some boot-strapping to get the server going early in the day -- meaning, I have to login and play for a half hour until others start to join.

I've tried this a couple of times too. I guess, being a UK Bomber, that my mornings are a time when most members of the server are fast aleep. Had a few early morning games with a couple of people, but it currently seems pretty quiet until the 'Mericans get up. Hopefully it'll only get better and better! Haven't jumped on in a few days, but looking forward to doing some this weekend.

Yeah it has always been empty when I have checked it, but I guess the games are mostly going when I'm a sleep. Also the ping might be a problem since it's probably 100-150 for me. Maybe some day I get to try it out.

100-150 ping should be totally playable in CS. But the servers are definitely pretty dead during UK times, so far. They tend to be most populated between about 6:00 PM and 6:00AM GMT.

@Branthog said:

100-150 ping should be totally playable in CS.

Yep, my ping is around this usually and it's smooth as butter on the GB server.

100+ ping is never good in CS. Playable sure, but good? No. Otherwise I'd be on this server much more often. :(

Finally saw some action in the GB server, but my ping was 170-180 and that's just too bad. I mean if you just run around shooting like a maniac it's fine. It feels smooth but when you try to put that one bullet from your AK to the head of a strafe shooting guy it's unplayable. Even with fellow duders the only thing that offers me is frustration.

I play with 200-260 ms and rarely notice hiccups (if at all). I think it's more of a placebo effect; unless you're playing at worldwide tournaments (and let's face it: you're not) you won't be handicapped by a 250 ping.

Welp, since the server has been pretty dead for awhile and I'm getting tired of Valve's shitty two-steps-forward-one-step-back updates, I'm going to kill the server (for now).