Attracting new members

[Lee]

Another thread branching off from the debate thread and Smilodon's.

I think that we need to evaluate this a bit more logically and even delve a bit more in to the psychology of gaming. I reckon we should brainstorm some answers to some obvious (yet overlooked) questions. Feel free to create more questions but try to keep them objective.

These are a couple of questions I have come up with so far with what I believe are relevant answers. Some of the answers may be blunt, however I am simply being honest. Feel free to debate these answers.

What does the typical average gamer (not affiliated with a clan/community) want from a server?

-It must be free
-Not passworded
-The more populated the better (signifies the "health" of the server)
-Friendly community
-Reasonable admins (firm but not power crazy)
-Players of a similar skill level
-Regulars (again signifies the "health" of the server)
-Voice comms? (Not sure here, some people find it irritating, some find it useful)
-No restrictions (The player doesn't like to be forced to do something, they want to play in their own style)
-Low Ping
-Fast/Easy to join (Usually this involves no downloads whatsoever, but a few are acceptable)
-Popular maps (default for people who dislike downloading?)

What does the typical average gamer (affiliated with a clan/community) want from their server?

-Preferably would be free
-The more populated the better (signifies the "health" of the server)
-Friendly community
-Reasonable admins (firm but not power crazy)
-Players of a workable skill level
-Regulars (again signifies the "health" of the server)
-Voice comms help to strengthen the community/clan
-Reasonable restrictions (The player is willing to comply with server rules, however if they interfere with his playstyle he may become irritated/unruly)
-Low Ping
-Fast/Easy to join (Usually this involves no downloads whatsoever, but a few are acceptable)
-A different rotation of maps when they become bored of the current one.
-Benefits from being within the community

I'm sure there are plenty more points for each so if anyone comes up with any I'll be sure to add them to the questions.

To the other people who create questions I recommend you also keep it up-to-date with suggestions so that we can access the points directly (maybe a separate debate thread would be better so that we can keep this one simply for the questions and answers)

[GhostMjr]

Interesting topic to create lee.

My only real comments are about ping.

I would be more than happy to welcome gamers with 150ms pings providing they work to our ethos.

We have a European community but few if any at all (i might be wrong) American/ or far reaching users.

Do we want Americans and the like to join and if so how could we go about doing this?

[TeaLeaf]

I don't think we'd worry GM, we're not trying to filter people out, just to attract them wherever they are.

[Lee]

The low ping aspect was regarding the server not the player. That's what people hope for in a server. So obviously we will be getting mainly european players. I'm sure we will (and do) get players from further afield, but it is less likely.

[Gone_Away]

Hi Lee,
 
Good insight. Can I add one item to your section on:
 
What does the typical average gamer (affiliated with a clan/community) want from their server?

Reserved Slots for Clan / (supporting) members
 
This is a double edged sword I admit. It can tick people off if they get booted; It can make the clan folk happy as they are likely to get a slot when they want to play (after all it is our servers), but also; It can encourage the uptake of supporting (read: paying) members.
 
So.. Now with all of this good information where do we go?

[Gone_Away]

So not to confuse the good work by Lee. I'd like to ask:
 
Would we as a community consider merging a smaller (read: acquire) clan of players?
 
Clearly it's worked successfully with the WOW end of our community. Should we consider hunting for a smaller CSS or COD4 based group that has a similar ethos and try and have them join us?
 
The benefits could be an instant boost to the community base and potentially coffers...
 
(Admin feel free to move to a separate topic if required)

[Armitage]

Hi Lee,
 
Good insight. Can I add one item to your section on:
 
What does the typical average gamer (affiliated with a clan/community) want from their server?

Reserved Slots for Clan / (supporting) members
 
This is a double edged sword I admit. It can tick people off if they get booted; It can make the clan folk happy as they are likely to get a slot when they want to play (after all it is our servers), but also; It can encourage the uptake of supporting (read: paying) members.
 
So.. Now with all of this good information where do we go?

If we kicked a non dMW player off to make room for a tagged player, would only upset the guy who got kicked. He may have been a great guy real dMw prospect and then he may never return.

[Gaara]

Pretty complete list Lee and interesting topic

2 things I'd like to add:

-fast download for maps enabled
-NO downloading of mp3's and other stupid soundfiles

[kregoron]

Pretty complete list Lee and interesting topic

2 things I'd like to add:

-fast download for maps enabled
-NO downloading of mp3's and other stupid soundfiles

Fast DL is already on,,
The download is somewhere around 10 secs on a std line, often more populated servers has a lot more then us

[Gaara]

Fast DL is already on,,
The download is somewhere around 10 secs on a std line, often more populated servers has a lot more then us

I know it's on, just stating some things I reckon new players might be looking for in a community or server.

Thanks for the feedback nonetheless though!

[Lee]

Pretty complete list Lee and interesting topic

2 things I'd like to add:

-fast download for maps enabled
-NO downloading of mp3's and other stupid soundfiles

Covered this in the point "Fast/Easy to join", it's definitely an important thing.

Kreg, Gaara is right, we're just listing things which a player expects from a server and hope through these suggestions we can pick the relevant ones and adopt changes.

[kregoron]

I know it's on, just stating some things I reckon new players might be looking for in a community or server.

Thanks for the feedback nonetheless though!

About the fast DL, most chaps using the steam server list to find random servers dont go for custom maps, hence the reason the public css has std  maps..


I didnt say he was wrong, i just tried to point it was actually covered on our servers (atleast the cs based ones )

Im just tired i guess

[Dewey]

If we kicked a non dMW player off to make room for a tagged player, would only upset the guy who got kicked. He may have been a great guy real dMw prospect and then he may never return.

Or he might think if I join - I too will have a reserved slot - I know that was a pull for me when I joined a clan.

[Snokio]

Or he might think if I join - I too will have a reserved slot - I know that was a pull for me when I joined a clan.

but then again, he may think he might be kicked as a member to make way for a senior member....or an admin
 
Okay so it's third guessing, but still relevant in a way
 
It's kicking someone for a non valid reason, I myself actually purposely avoid going on those type of servers

[T-Bag]

I don't like reserved slots. I tend not to go back to a server I've been kicked from, and often the reserved slot lets you join and then throws you off again if they're 18/20 people etc.