Page 1 of 1

Servers Grouping and Names

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 3:12 pm
by alfa1
Based on own and other people's experiences/ideas (including recent allejo's one), I suggest owners to make servers groups which would allow us to have much less options to deal with at once. This could make people both come together and increase on amount. The suggested maximum would be, approx., from 2 to 5 servers (running at once) per host (user), and using Map Change plug-in if necessary (with non-limited amount of maps inside). The main idea behind a group, then, would be aimed to help on a geographical issue: people would be able to choose them by proximity. Note I am not saying having 100+ online servers is really bad but, I think, this approach could be a better idea, as an improvement.

Also, I suggest name/title convention to make them more organized and identifiable:
{{<brand>|<host>'s Servers}}: <map> {(<author>)} {- }[<continent/subcontinent code>] {- }{[more-specific-region code]} {- }[<classification code>] .

(I was forced to change symbols convention here: brackets: double curly ones: mandatory; single curly ones: optional; angle ones: fill space in; bars: options. 'more-specific-region code': i. e., region, country, state, province or city.)

It is recommended, in general, that names are simple and clear. Separators (' - ') should always be used unless the lenght prevented it; in this case, avoid them at all. The title limit is 80 characters.

Examples:
- brand: 'Happy Tank: Party FFA - [Europe] - [FF]'.
- host (player): "Captain Brave's Servers: Sea War (smarty octopus) [North Am] [Virginia] [FF]".

This convention could be adapted, if needed, for other languages, with a suggested minimal English translation, like this:
- brand: 'Conquistadores: Tierra salvaje/Wild Land - [Am Sur] - [FAM]' ('Conquistadores': Conquerors; 'Am Sur': South America).
- host (player): "Servidores de aviador: El avio'n/The Plane - [Europa] - [Espania] - [INT]" ('Servidores de aviador': "aviador's Servers"; 'aviador': pilot; 'Espania': Spain).
(Also, into the server, it is suggested to have English help pages apart from mother language ones, and about the server introduction, either making the '/help intro' one translating it or making it bilingual.)

This is how the situation is nowadays about the amounts, considering the servers over the limit, and how it could be if this is applied (I use 4 as an average):
allejo: 41 (was ab. 50 some days ago) --> 4 --> -37
bztank: 14 --> 4 --> -10
arpa: 12 --> 4 --> -8
fairserve: 9 --> 4 --> -5
catay: 6 --> 4 --> -2
phantomzone: 6 --> 4 --> -2
tuxee: 6 --> 4 --> -2

Total (includes all): 114 - 66 = 48 (42.11 %).

* References:
- Map Change plug-in: link #1 and link #2.
- Servers Classification.

Re: Servers Grouping and Names

Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 7:03 pm
by alfa1
I forgot to add 4 'meliodas' servers to 'allejo' and nowadays it has 2 more servers too; also, new total is 115; then:
allejo: 47 --> 4 --> -43

Total (includes all): 115 - 72 = 43 (37.39 %; near 1/3).

Re: Servers Grouping and Names

Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:43 pm
by blast
I think in the short term is doesn't matter too much. Long term, there's directions we could go that would make playing on a specific map easier. For instance, decoupling the map from the server so that a single server instance can host arbitrary maps, with players merely choosing which map to play in the client interface.

The problem with mapchange servers in their current form is that they feel rather clunky, having to type commands (so, not intuitive to new players) and require rejoining. Version 2.6 may end up fixing some of those issues.

Re: Servers Grouping and Names

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:52 pm
by alfa1
Name/Title Convention Update:

[<classification code>] {- }{{<brand>|<host>'s Servers}}: <map> {(<author>)} {- }[<continent/subcontinent code>] {- }{[more-specific-region code]}

Brackets: double curly ones - mandatory; single curly ones - optional; angle ones - fill space in; bars: options. 'more-specific-region code': i. e., region, country, state/province or city.

* Reference: Servers Classification .