Why so many password-protected servers?

[Fuzzysham]

I haven't been around the Lockon/DCS sims for too long, but my one guess to less turn out now as apposed to, 'the old days', would be that we now we have the DCS BS and DCS A10, so the, 'herd', has been thinned by additional sims. Just a guess, but I could be way off base.

 

As for pass-protected servers, our group normally runs ops with protected servers, and generally speaking this creates an atmosphere for our members to be able to participate in without having to worry about or deal with the general riff raff. We definitely don't go to any means to turn away potential pilots, in fact the opposite for those who've shown an interest by joining our forum and participating both in forum and in game.

 

I realize the frustration some may experience just trying to join a server to get in some gametime, but really, the only obvious solution is to take the next step and contact a few formed groups, join their TS, or form a group of your own, or get on the minority of servers that aren't password protected.

 

It is what it is and largely due in part to many variables, but one of the biggest I believe is for groups to not have to deal with those who are disruptive. And as one poster perceptively pointed out, joining a group/TS server, takes away some of the anonymity.

 

And for those who really don't like to talk much, it is not a requirement that you carry on full blown convo on our TS server. We use it more for purposes of getting everyone on the same page as far as communication goes. I'm like that too at times, sometimes I'm a jabber mouth and some days I just don't feel like saying much. BUT, having TS/Vent makes things so much easier as apposed to having either no communication, or having to take hands off the stick to chat in game.

 

Excellent post. You make all good points. Some people such as myself don't necessarily like to seek out groups or be part of a squadron (or clan if it's FPS's) and just want to jump into a quick game and play with some other people. There are definitely irritating players that will join a game and be a pain and it's understandable locking servers. A nice balance of locked vs unlocked but well administered servers would be nice.

 

Your point about using voice vs typing is so true. If someone asks a questions I always answer it even on approach for landing and it's bad taking your hand off the stick. Having voice chat built into the game itself would be great instead of having to use a third party program all the time.

[B1Helios]

Thanks Fuzzy. ;)

 

Per your first sentence, this is one of the reasons I've created my own group. We're not a squadron and we don't dictate any hard and fast rules, which by the way there is nothing wrong with. I'm just pointing out that we're more a group of casual flyers.

 

My intention is to offer people a casual experience to fly with others, while having fun and learning/honing skills at the same time. People are more than welcome to come and go as they please as there are no commitments required for time and no, alarm clock', ops.

 

Our decision to password protect our servers is actually left up to the person hosting, but generally speaking we usually have them pass-protected. But again, there are no rules stating that a member must protect it and in fact can set one up with no passwords whatsoever if they choose.

 

In my plight of providing this to fellow simmers, when I host I typically pass-protect to ensure an atmosphere that we're all expecting, and get no surprises from the anonymous lone wolf with counterproductive intentions.

 

In a sense, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, ie keeping the riff raff out, but also closing yourself off to fellow pilots.

[acdarc]

Please give us linux dedicated server and I'll keep one FFA hosted 24/7 in a heartbeat.

[Arclight]

In a sense, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, ie keeping the riff raff out, but also closing yourself off to fellow pilots.

That's pretty much it, and making sure there are slots for the people expecting to join (only hosting once a week, or whenever the mood strikes us). Hosting for a small group over on SubSim and the password is in the first post of the thread for it, so not exactly private but shielded enough.

 

It's a bit more comfortable as a host too since you know the people that join, even if only on a really basic level.

 

Strangers dropping in would be questioned a bit as to who they are, but other than that it's all open. All that is "required" is that people post there so we expect them, and even that can be overlooked.

 

tl;dr: passworded doesn't mean closed. :)

[Steel Jaw]

We pw our servers because we fly with strict SOPs and TARS etc. You have to be on our SOPs if you want to fly with us. So you start by going to our website and maybe coming by on TS.

 

Mind you we must be doing something right to be attracting so many (v) Hawg pilots....oh and the FBMS dudes as well. Rock on.

[Cali]

We pw our servers because we fly with strict SOPs and TARS etc. You have to be on our SOPs if you want to fly with us. So you start by going to our website and maybe coming by on TS.

 

Mind you we must be doing something right to be attracting so many (v) Hawg pilots....oh and the FBMS dudes as well. Rock on.

 

Lies, all lies :D

[Snoopy]

We pw our servers because we fly with strict SOPs and TARS etc. You have to be on our SOPs if you want to fly with us. So you start by going to our website and maybe coming by on TS.

 

Mind you we must be doing something right to be attracting so many (v) Hawg pilots....oh and the FBMS dudes as well. Rock on.

 

I think the current number of A-10 pilots in the 25th is 30 or so with 15 being very active (as in at least two or three times a week).....we had, at various times yesterday, over 10 pilots on the server...

[ralfidude]

My friend and I play constantly, but are downgraded to using the non password servers, which there areabout 2 at any time....

 

We use Ventrillo and like to talk there, would have to have to join TS and take up comms. So we would go into our own channel, which defeats the purpose... buttttt if we must... then i guess...

 

How do I find the TS information for these servers? It doesnt state it in the title.

 

PS: At some point Im forced to join stallturn or the Chinese server... Ugh... 350 ping and above... :( And im playing in NYC. Though it doesnt seem to affect the gameplay much or at all. Just dont fly in formation with anyone... it wont end well.

Edited November 5, 2011 by ralfidude

[Fuzzysham]

My friend and I play constantly, but are downgraded to using the non password servers, which there areabout 2 at any time....

 

We use Ventrillo and like to talk there, would have to have to join TS and take up comms. So we would go into our own channel, which defeats the purpose... buttttt if we must... then i guess...

 

How do I find the TS information for these servers? It doesnt state it in the title.

 

PS: At some point Im forced to join stallturn or the Chinese server... Ugh... 350 ping and above... :( And im playing in NYC. Though it doesnt seem to affect the gameplay much or at all. Just dont fly in formation with anyone... it wont end well.

 

I own a Team Speak server that is on 24/7 from a hosting provider. If you want access to it, feel free to ask and I'll create a channel for DCS players. Maybe we can all join it when we want to play. Whoever finds a server, we join them. Doesn't fix the amount of locked servers but at least we would have a steady voice server.

[Krebs20]

I have had a teamspeak server up for a while now. Its still open to the public and is used quite regularly.

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=75353

[Fuzzysham]

I have had a teamspeak server up for a while now. Its still open to the public and is used quite regularly.

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=75353

 

Cool man, thanks for pointing that out. I missed it somehow.

[EtherealN]

How do I find the TS information for these servers? It doesnt state it in the title.

 

When you click the server name, it'll show mission information in the box below the server list. Most servers operating under that model keep their TS info there.

 

PS: At some point Im forced to join stallturn or the Chinese server... Ugh... 350 ping and above... :( And im playing in NYC. Though it doesnt seem to affect the gameplay much or at all. Just dont fly in formation with anyone... it wont end well.

 

I've flown tonnes of formation with that kind of ping without problem. It's not really the ping that is at issue there (as long as formation lead knows what he is doing), but packetloss can cause a lot of "warping" with ensuing fireballs.

[Moa]

[quote=ralfidude;1321014

PS: At some point Im forced to join stallturn or the Chinese server... Ugh... 350 ping and above... :( And im playing in NYC. Though it doesnt seem to affect the gameplay much or at all. Just dont fly in formation with anyone... it wont end well.

 

I run the stallturn servers (theres an FC2 one and an A-10C one too, besides the 104th+community pilot statistics), and they are located in New Zealand. Too bad no-one in NYC has made a server available to you (NYC is not the center of the universe dontcha know). Be grateful this is made available to you at all - it costs me a non-negligible amount of money to run each year. My low ping to the server is affected by the high pings and crappy connections of some people joining - but I don't complain about it, I let everyone join (apart from the serial teamkillers, who get banned) - even those in remote corners of the globe like NYC that are too backward to have their own servers (lurlz). 'Bad' ping is a relative thing, and from the server's point of view you are the bad client with the high ping, although a friend in VNAO from NYC never seems to have an issue.

 

The high ping matters less than you'd think. Mostly what matters is the 'jitter', which is the variance in the ping. Plenty of people are able to join from all around the world and use the server ok if the connection at their end is also low and as reliable as stallturns. For formation flying the server ping has some impact but more important is the jitter in your connection and the guy you are flying next too - even if the server's connection is good if you have someone on lowly DSL/wireless/or worse next to you then you always have to be careful.

 

If you don't like the ping why don't you purchase a server box and pay for the server bandwidth yourself (about 1 GB/day). That way you'll have low ping and be able to share with others so they all get low ping. Oh yeah, and you'll also be able to quit complaining about the servers that others provide to you for free because they don't meet your expectations.

 

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but you turn your nose up at the servers that people actually make available to you and think that the server is the problem when from the server's point of view it is your connection that is high. If you took the very simple step of joining Teamspeak you'd find many of the other closer password-protected servers would be made accessible to you.

Edited November 6, 2011 by Moa

[ralfidude]

Moa, you took this too personally and 5408 steps wayyyy too far making you sound rather annoyingly arrogant. I did not say that your server was shit, or that you should do something about your ping. Stop taking things out of context. I was merely stating the fact that it is not an encouraging fact to play on the only open servers left that have a 300 to 500 ping, AND I stated that even then it doesn't seem to affect gameplay anyway, with the exception of warping friendlies.

 

I know what it takes to run a server, I am part of a clan that runs the busiest Project Reality Server that ranks #1 in population over all BF2 servers world wide. We split the costs between our members. Don't lecture me about the proper use servers. You won't see us locking our servers up because of a few bad apples.

 

However, since this is a rather small community and some griefers do come about causing a rather troublesome time (especially when you start up the jet for 8 minutes just to get TK'd) I can understand why they are locked. When my people join up to fly, I just host my own game and have everyone join in, nobody has problems even though a majority are playing from Sweden and Russia.

 

So Moa, take a few steps back, chill the eff out. I'm sure you are running a fine server, I have been there maybe once before and it was fine.

 

Now that I know where the information is to join TS I will try to do so (especially since I wanted to give TARS a whirl, though my community uses ventrillo). Should make for some pretty good footage to add to my account, and perhaps get more people interested in playing DCS and FC2.0.

Edited November 6, 2011 by ralfidude

[Moa]

ralfidude, thanks for clarifying. However, my advice still stands. Instead of complaining why not create a server for others to use in your part of the world.

 

With regards to taking something personally, what would you think if some random person came on a forum (with few other posts) and started complaining about your clan's server? Actually I didn't take it personally, I've never seen you on these forums before and you have few posts so its to be expected if you don't understand how many A-10C servers are set up - especially as I (correctly, it seems) guessed you were used to US-centric twitch-gaming (where people complain about pings over 20 ms). If one of the regulars had some disparaging remarks to say about the open servers then I might have been worried and defensive. So my response wasn't personal, but I do feel I have some right to defend my (and the Chinese) server from a disparaging remark made about them.

 

My response was to point out that perhaps that post was looking at things the wrong way (from the [free] client perspective while forgetting about the server's perspective), and that there were at least two very simple things that could have been done rather than complain in a community you have just joined:

* contribute by hosting yourself, or

* join Teamspeak as everyone else does (and is explained numerous times earlier in this and related threads).

[Speed]

Q:

"Why are there so many password protected servers?"

 

A:

Probably because every time we make an un-protected server, 10% of everyone that joins is interested in nothing more than killing every friendly they see. The next 25% are asking questions like "how do I shoot a Maverick?" and then when the answer is "it's complicated" then they ask "well what button cycles through my targets?" The next 35% of folks will join, fly around, doing nothing and saying nothing all mission... so they might as well not even be there. Only like the remaining 30% of folks will actually interact with others and a try to accomplish the mission objective. In the end, if you want to make a public server, it's better to just leave it password protected, but be very open about what the password is. Then the mature 30% will go through the small amount of work required to acquire the password and actually cooperate with others to achieve the mission objective.

[Fuzzysham]

Damn fine answer. I can't say I disagree with that. Although I haven't seen anybody ask how to cycle through targets (they shouldn't be playing this game) or do absolutely nothing. Still, you make some good points.

[CarneyUK]

Couldn't help but comment. Haven't read all posts but the question "Why so many passworded servers?"......because of twats like 'R?? D????????', who uses the name online, but doesn't register it with the forums!!

 

After an enjoyable mission with Badger, we were on route back to Kutaisi and decided to refuel. Once I had A/A refuelled, Badger who had moved in to take up position was then taken out by D??????? who then took out the tanker and then me.

 

I normally lock my server if I am online with the team but quite often leave it unlocked for people to fly in. Most I have met have enjoyed it and had a relaxed flight, and I will do my best to talk them through stuff (even typing to help) I hope it brings them on a little to fly in the big boy servers.

 

For me now...locking the server will always happen!! Simple answer, the minority of twats online is why servers are passworded.

Edited November 8, 2011 by CarneyUK
Name removed as I think it's against forum rules.

[dok_rp]

Q:

"Why are there so many password protected servers?"

 

A:

Probably because every time we make an un-protected server, 10% of everyone that joins is interested in nothing more than killing every friendly they see. The next 25% are asking questions like "how do I shoot a Maverick?" and then when the answer is "it's complicated" then they ask "well what button cycles through my targets?" The next 35% of folks will join, fly around, doing nothing and saying nothing all mission... so they might as well not even be there. Only like the remaining 30% of folks will actually interact with others and a try to accomplish the mission objective. In the end, if you want to make a public server, it's better to just leave it password protected, but be very open about what the password is. Then the mature 30% will go through the small amount of work required to acquire the password and actually cooperate with others to achieve the mission objective.

 

 

Amen to that.

 

Happened to a buddy of mine and myself. We got bombarded out of smithereens by some guy that wanted to target practice his CBU on the parked A-10's. I myself started passwording servers after that.

 

Sad, but true. :(

[Snapshot_goon]

Looks like I'm going to have to install TS again. Not going as far as TARS though, its equivalent in ARMA2 made me gunshy about TS radio hacks. I'll have to bind another PTT button as my squad uses mumble exclusively.