Comments on: MeFi's Procyberathleticism!

MeFi's Procyberathleticism!

herrdoktor — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 11:57:21 -0800

MeFi's own TF2/gaming server?

Is there enough interest in having our own server? Costs aren't extreme, and it might be fun to blow each other up and maybe have a small tournament with awesome prizes. At the very least, some of us could just arrange times to play without pubber-related aggravation. What say you? I'll spring for the server. Looks like the various services out there rent out their equipment, so there'd be no need to pay for a box if I'm not mistaken.

By: kbanas

kbanas — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:14:31 -0800

That'd be sweet!

I'd participate... and kill you all.*

*not really, i suck. :(

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:21:44 -0800

without pubber-related aggravation

as opposed to snark and inside jokes?

But seriously, we can has our own games server? I'm intrigued tell me more...Does it only work with specific games? Platforms?

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:23:30 -0800

I'd love this. Same questions as Brandon: what are the implications as far as what can be run and when? Weekly schedule? Etc.

By: The Great Big Mulp

The Great Big Mulp — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:24:31 -0800

Someday ... someday I'll upgrade to the point that I'll be able to run TF2 ...

*sniff*

By: Plutor

Plutor — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:27:46 -0800

If it existed, I'd play on it once in a while. Yes.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:32:56 -0800

Same questions as Brandon:

You stole my kill, get your own, n00b!

By: kbanas

kbanas — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:40:24 -0800

Most "Source" servers (TF2, CS:Source, HL2, etc), come in Linux and Windows variates, and since the Steam/Half-Life/Source games are Windows only, that's the only client platform that would be supported.

I think it would be fairly trivial to run a CS:Source and HL2 server on top of a TF2 server, but, obviously, I think, not at the same time - depending on the server and the bandwidth.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:46:31 -0800

I want to say yes, but after some research I've found that my university's LAN actually uses carrier pigeons to transmit data. Sick ones. With weights attached to their legs.

So any online gaming I do outside of URI's Lagfest '07-'08 will have to wait until winter and summer break.

By: Skorgu

Skorgu — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:53:39 -0800

You're going to make me buy the Orange Box now aren't you? Dammit.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:59:46 -0800

I'd play on this, if it existed. I haven't played a FPS since the pre-Source Counter Strike but I've been waiting a long time for TF2. A bit of googling makes me think I should be able to get it working on my iMac.

I stopped playing on-line games because I was tired of public servers. My best gaming experiences were when I played on a server with a regular gang of grown-ups.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:11:23 -0800

Please help out an old man: what is "TF2"?

By: EndsOfInvention

EndsOfInvention — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:17:50 -0800

Team Fortress 2

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:25:26 -0800

See also: there's more than fifty folks in the Mefi group so far, which is inspiring.

By: absalom

absalom — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:30:59 -0800

Well, I just bought the damn game, so I guess I can be target practice for ya'll.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:49:03 -0800

Damn, CitrusFreak12, I thought mine was the only college using RFC-1149 for their internet service.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:32:36 -0800

Welp, I sprung for it!

24-player private server. Installation/setup is pending, should be completed within an hour. I'll be slapping up IP info and password this evening, here.

Or should I? Is everyone ok with having a password here, where some random guy could get to it? I'm not going to be around often enough to administer to the server for boots/bans. And would passing the info around to friends be ok, or should we keep it to MeFiers? Slap up your suggestions here.

Maybe people could send some mail and get the password in reply? I dunno. Lemme know.

By: quin

quin — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:34:56 -0800

I am currently completely unable to play TF2 or most other FPS games, as all of my hardware is far too old.

But, if there was even the slightest chance that I could kill some of you... albeit virtually, I would upgrade in a heartbeat.

Nothing personal, I just wonder what the your screams would sound like.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:36:48 -0800

My college was one of the first to start using that service, Pope Guilty, unfortunately they haven't updated since.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:38:48 -0800

Looking at the first thing that I Googled (actually one of the paid listings), gameservers.com offers a public TF2 server with up to 24 players for 35.95 a month. That's more than I expected it would be, but still within a range of something that we could reasonably expect to ask for voluntary donations from prospective users and get at least a couple of months and see how it goes.

I don't think my hosting service (1&1) offers game servers as an add-on, if they did I'd expect it to be cheaper for someone adding-on to other hosting than something like gameservers.com. But I could be wrong. I'm using the Linux hosting, not Windows hosting, at 1&1, anyway. I was also using GoDaddy for a while, but I canceled my account with them.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:43:05 -0800

I'd think having non-asshat friends in would be fine, and good for getting a game together as well.

Probably fine to plaintext the IP and password here for now; potential for griefing by strangers is pretty low in the short term, and in the long run we can probably get a bit better organized about server administration and player communications—maybe kick off an official listserv or something.

For what it's worth, I don't mind an email about this stuff now and then, and I'd hope that most folks expressing interest here who list an email in their profiles wouldn't mind a judicious "hey, here's the plan" sort of thing once or twice as this is getting its feet under it.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:44:02 -0800

EB, it looks like herrdoktor has it covered, at least for the initial bit here.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:49:55 -0800

Oops. Missed that as I was writing my comment.

Cool! You're the man, herrdokter!

Why don't we put the login/password on the MeFi Wiki? Or, I guess this is really probably low-profile enough.

By: kbanas

kbanas — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:51:13 -0800

Well, Steam has a pretty good "group" structure. The first step, as it seems to me, is that we'd want to create a MeFi group and a thread where we could leave our Steam usernames.

As for the server info, well, look, I don't want to keep coming back here to check for how it's going down, so someone, for the love of God, send me the username and password.

My e-mail address is in my profile. :)

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:52:43 -0800

herrdoktor writes "Maybe people could send some mail and get the password in reply? I dunno. Lemme know."

Just put the plain text in the email field of your profile (along with your email of course). Only members can see it, it's easily changed and you control it.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:54:49 -0800

A Metafilter Steam Group exists already, happily enough.

By: mrnutty

mrnutty — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:04:12 -0800

Where is this server physically? That seems to make a difference for ping times. I end up mostly playing on seattle-area boxes for that reason.

By: mrnutty

mrnutty — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:09:35 -0800

I suspect, also, that having it be a public server would be better for getting satisfying games going. There's nothing more depressing than trying to play on a box with 3 people on it.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:10:00 -0800

The server's located out of Missouri. Seemed to be the most central location.

The server status page says "Currently Installing." I've gotta head out for a work meeting in 30 minutes, will try to get things set up by mid-evening. I'll keep everyone posted here.

(Feeling pretty damn nauseated from Portal. Eeeyagh!)

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:10:48 -0800

I used to admin a public server, and it was more headache than it was worth. If the private server doesn't work out, no sweat. Can always try summin else!

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:43:50 -0800

It's up:
8.6.77.194:27015

Password is in my profile.
Will return in a couple of hours. Lemme know how it works.

By: rollbiz

rollbiz — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:12:35 -0800

Bummer, this sounds like a lot of fun.

I don't suppose there is a way to play TF2 on a non-Intel Mac that anyone knows of...?

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:18:11 -0800

I didn't think you could play TF2 on a Mac at all. Otherwise, I'd be in!

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:18:58 -0800

Short of Bootcamp, that is. Does the most recent iMac have the muscle? Anyone know?

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:59:21 -0800

non-Intel Mac

Are you up for Halo or Halo Demo?

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:48:17 -0800

Holy shit this is great! Thanks, herrdoktor! As soon as I can get my shit together here (just woke up), I'll hit the server, although my ping will probably suck from here in Korea.

By: Malor

Malor — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:11:02 -0800

Should be fine, sourwookie, under Bootcamp. If you have a really big screen, you probably won't be able to play at native resolution... you'll have to drop back a little. The 24" iMacs in particular have underpowered video hardware for the number of pixels they need to push at full res.

But modern LCD scaling is very good, so you should be happy at something lower....experiment a litle to see what works well for you.

If you enable the Developer Console under Options/Keyboard tab/Advanced button, the tilde (~) key will open a command prompt. If you type in:

cl_showfps 1

that will give you your current frame rate, which will help with adjusting video settings.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:19:01 -0800

Tried the server with Plutor -- I hope the 250 ping for me is playable.

Come on in, folks! Let's blow each other up!

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:29:18 -0800

I'm in. Downloading now.

Am I correct in assuming that the password spoken of is not overly obvious but a clever chap like me should be able to figure it out?

By: TheOnlyCoolTim

TheOnlyCoolTim — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:45:56 -0800

We need to schedule TF2 meetups.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:58:14 -0800

Am I correct in assuming that the password spoken of is not overly obvious but a clever chap like me should be able to figure it out?

Look at herrdoktor's profile page here on MeFi -- it's in his email field (visible only to logged-in users).

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:22:34 -0800

Ahhh. I'm not that clever it seems. Hopefully I'm a better sniper.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:15:12 -0800

Server seems to be running ok. Lemme know if there are any problems. There's always the option of turning it into a public server, but I'd have to pass out an rcon password for you guys to be admins.

Maybe we could set up date/times? Whatever you folks want!

By: Chuckles

Chuckles — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:17:03 -0800

I wouldn't mind hearing about this stuff, in the sense of cortex's listserv notion. I'm currently stuck on a Radeon 9200, so it might be a little out of my league..

By: slogger

slogger — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:39:17 -0800

Damn I really wish I could get in on this.

*sulks back to Wii to play Resident Evil 4*

By: gemmy

gemmy — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:45:58 -0800

Very cool! Been playing the beta and enjoying it a lot, even more than my normal game of DoD:Source. Thanks so much to herrdoktor for setting this all up, you're a star!

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:48:18 -0800

Just played a few rounds on herrdoktor's server (with sadly, only 4 of us, though), and even averaging 225 ping (for me), it was totally playable and lots o' fun.

I'd really love to get some big matches going with our fellow MeFites.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:49:54 -0800

Great game guys, thanks for the server herrdoktor!

If you had stayed on 0.4 hours longer, you could have helped me achieve a solid 24 hours of playing time in the past two days.

I'm not sure how I feel about that.

By: deborah

deborah — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:39:36 -0800

Oh, geez. I loved fragging the shit outta people in Quake 2. I may have to spring for this.

*sigh* So many games, so little time.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:49:08 -0800

Is it just me, or has anyone else had trouble reading from the browser after a session of Portal? Maybe it was just me and my painkillers.

But earlier I had stopped playing at Chamber 18 while listening to the commentary at the area of the successively higher columns, where (at least in my case) I was falling up and down through the air with a reorientation just after passing through each portal. When you do a lot of that in Portal, your sense of the world not being all rotate-y is badly damaged.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 04:41:32 -0800

Why are you all still posting while there's Science to do?

As always, I ask my fellow console punks to rally 'round the wiki for your pocket full of shells. We've had some great H3 games so far and I'm building a photo album on my Flickr page.

By: absalom

absalom — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:23:41 -0800

Yeah, I think scheduled times would be good. I hoped on last night and only saw about 2 or 3 other people.

By: erikgrande

erikgrande — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:18:50 -0800

Awesome, herrdoktor. I'm going to start downloading it at lunch and plan to check it out this evening (~6pm CDT).

By: cowbellemoo

cowbellemoo — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:53:11 -0800

This is a triumph.

I'd love to set a date/time/place for some rounds.

By: public

public — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 09:01:45 -0800

Saturday, 2PM Eastern?

By: Plutor

Plutor — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:53:49 -0800

cowbellemoo: "This is a triumph."

I see what you did there.

By: cowbellemoo

cowbellemoo — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:16:09 -0800

I see what you did there.

I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
I'm being so sincere right now.

Eep, 2pm Sat. is the same day as the knitting convention!

Anyone do the advanced levels yet? Build a mobile cube fort for the cage turret level? 30 mins of jamming the control key!

By: cowbellemoo

cowbellemoo — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:23:55 -0800

Ooh, and I'm sure this will be appreciated: Companion Cube Wallpaper.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:17:52 -0800

*sheds a tear for poor, sacrificed Companion Cube*

By: wzcx

wzcx — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:04:27 -0800

Thanks for the games everyone! I'd be in for 2pm EST tomorrow.
And I'm still alive.

By: cog_nate

cog_nate — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:50:44 -0800

I'm in for tomorrow.

Thanks herrdoktor, for hooking us up w/the server. It can't have been free, so can I pitch in a couple bucks?

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:51:29 -0800

PS I'll still be alive when you are dying.

PPS Also, I'll still be alive after you are dead.

By: public

public — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:59:13 -0800

Hopefully someone with admin (i.e. Plutor) on the MeFi steam group can set up an event so it will throw a reminder out to everyone with steam turned on.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:48:20 -0800

Freakin great wallpaper, cowbellemoo!
I'll try to be around the server tomorrow @ 2. Will definitely be there if the folks @ Bunnystock turn out to be turds. Most likely they'll be swell. In which case I may still be there-- supposed to prep some stuff for work over the weekend and there's something I gotta do in the evening involving dressing up (still trying to get out of it).

cog_nate: it's cheap. Save whatever dough you've got for the great MetaFilter Prosupercyberathlete Tournament of the Champions prize pool!

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:47:16 -0800

2pm! I'll do my best to be there, and we'll see what the campus connection gods have in store for me.

By: disclaimer

disclaimer — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:14:45 -0800

I look forward to dying with great honor at 2 PM.

Because I suck.

By: cortex

cortex — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:47:06 -0800

I've made an announcement and an event. Hell yes, we are prepared.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 21:18:13 -0800

The Bunnystock folks were not turds. In fact, they were in no way anywhere near being turdtacular. This means that I may not be on the server tomorrow so I can go go-karting, unless:
a) I get called in to work and crap out on Bunnystockart Racing
b) I sleep until 1:50pm
c) Put off other work til later
d) Have time to do my procyberathlete calisthenics
e) Decide to squeeze in an hour of blowin you guys up!

At this point, I just wanna not have to go to work. >8(

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 02:53:56 -0800

What year is 2 PM in Korea?

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 02:54:38 -0800

It's OK, I looked it up, and the answer is: cabbage!

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 08:35:48 -0800

Oh, man, this is cool. I mostly got the Orange Box for Portal and single player HL, but TF2 looks like fun, from the 1:09 I can stay alive against 13 year olds. My skillz are bad and I should feel bad. Also, if you are on the fence about getting the Orange Box, it is almost worth getting it for Portal alone. One of the best games I have ever played.

By: adrianhon

adrianhon — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 08:49:53 -0800

This is wonderful - looking forward to taking part!

By: Skorgu

Skorgu — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 10:06:27 -0800

Grr, I've been in and out a bit, but my box has started to hang delightfully after about ten minutes of play. Joy.

By: Student of Man

Student of Man — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:32:47 -0800

Plwase help the slow. I don't know how to find the server. Where in the menu screen for the game can you find servers by IP addresses? I sold two xbox360 games for the Orange Box. And I'm one of the first members. Halp!

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:34:41 -0800

You need to just enter the server IP, instead. It's listed in the MeFi Steam group.

By: Big_B

Big_B — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:41:45 -0800

Had some kinda crash after about 40 mins. Had fun though. Now to get to my Saturday to do list.

Frag ya later!

By: Big_B

Big_B — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:42:36 -0800

I couldn't find the MeFi steam group, but if you go to favorites you can paste it in the box and it will add it.

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 12:04:40 -0800

I really wish some of you fuckers would hold still.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:18:53 -0800

Thanks for the fun! Gotta to pick up pants and bathe, now. Good luck!

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:41:56 -0800

Well, I better tell my wife and son they won't be seeing much of me. That was a lot of fun. I'll be playing more.

FWIW, the game runs fine under Bootcamp.

By: itchylick

itchylick — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:51:34 -0800

That was good fun, even though I made a good target for some of you. Thanks again herrdoktor.

By: gemmy

gemmy — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:05:51 -0800

That was fun, guys! Quality of play was way above average for most servers, which is nice. I'm guessing I'll be seeing more of ya...

By: absalom

absalom — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:39:44 -0800

Had a good time. nice to play online with all fun loving adults for a change. we must do this again!

By: L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:42:46 -0800

G, as they say, g.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:53:45 -0800

That was awesome. I figured that was you playing, Lore.

Gg indeed.

By: cortex

cortex — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:21:42 -0800

That was a tremendous good time.

By: BlackLeotardFront

BlackLeotardFront — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:25:26 -0800

That was fun... and there wasn't even any trash talking, which is strange. I expected point-by-point refutations of my rockets.

By: BlackLeotardFront

BlackLeotardFront — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:26:06 -0800

Oh. I play as >>, so if you see me say hellooo.

By: cortex

cortex — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:25:31 -0800

and there wasn't even any trash talking

Actually, there was; I just deleted it.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:36:28 -0800

“Actually, there was; I just deleted it.”

How's that work? I thought the talking happened real-time?

Anyway, I had a lot of fun, too, which I would hope would be the case given that I played for like six hours straight!

But I did get frustrated a number of times and wasn't having fun at all. I don't know the maps very well and I could have used some guidance from other people on my team about what I should be doing. I was most effective as a heavy, but most of the time there wasn't a medic; or, if there was a medic, he wasn't working with me. (Or anyone—I saw some medics going solo and attacking people far more than I think I should have. But what do I know?)

By: cortex

cortex — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:43:04 -0800

I was joking.

I have to say, carry-over familiarity from TFC years ago made the re-learning process a lot less frustrating, but one of the most pleasant parts of the whole thing was talking my way through learning how to run an Engineer properly. Voice chat really kicked ass, there; and the bit of planning and team discussion/guidance that was going on sometimes was just faboo.

Folks should (a) get headsets, and (b) really proactively get their teamplay on in general. It really makes the experience tick. Though even when there wasn't much of any chatter, I still felt like there was a lot more going on team-wise, cohesion-wise, than on some random public server.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:58:08 -0800

I think having a mic helps out a lot. It's a lot easier to ask for and give guidance on the game without having to take a break in the action by typing. Plus, if you're dead, you can't send messages to the living, so it kinda makes it tough to communicate.

Hope you guys didn't mind my hootin n hollering. I play with a group that uses voice comm often, and I can't help but mash down the transmit key when I'm burning to death!

It was somewhat disappointing to see everyone get along. Where's the MeFi rage and bloodlust? Are we all friends here? WTF? KILL! KILL! BONK!

By: hindmost

hindmost — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:53:52 -0800

This thread has a ton of useful game tips. Voice is vital to in game communications. EB and others, if you are new, ask for advice on what to do. A lot of people are willing to help but shy away from giving orders. Familiarity with the maps is pretty important to learn key choke positions and strategies. When you're dead you should watch over the shoulder of someone better than you and try to pick up what they're doing.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:03:22 -0800

I definitely enjoy being given some directions or "helpful" tips, and I tend to ask for them if people aren't giving them. Feel free to say if we need a certain class or if I'm an engineer tell me if you need a turret at a certain location. Most of the time as engineer I'm not in it for the score (and I'm sure that showed most times).

Hope to do this again soon!

Also who can recommend me a good headset?

By: hindmost

hindmost — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:21:52 -0800

Oh and there are certain maps that practically demand particular classes so even if you have a favorite, you should get to competent with a few. Some maps like gravepit are long standoffs and require a lot of heavy weaponry like demos , soldiers and heavy/medic pairs. With maps like well and granary (5 cap points) getting the center control point is of key importance so people always go scout/pyro at the beginning to get it and then switch to more durable classes.

If you are a medic or have a medic healing you, you have to communicate. Wasting an uber early or having your medic whacked when you are not paying attention are terrible things. Either get a headset or learn to use the preset audio alerts. I die a little inside every time someone pops an uber on me when I'm low on ammo or there's nothing to kill.

By: wzcx

wzcx — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:29:41 -0800

Also who can recommend me a good headset?
Please, I'd appreciate advice on this topic too.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:39:00 -0800

You could buy any number of Plantronics headsets at your local Big Electronics Store.

Or, you could go the procyberathlete route and buy the cheapest mic you can find, wear the most comfortable pair of headphones you own, try setting "Mic Boost +20db" on/off in your sound control properties, and look good playing.

The important thing is to isolate the mic from the game's sound. Any mic will do, and pair of headphones will do, too. I'm using some supercheapo stick mic that came with something like a tin of ravioli, and a pair of nice, comfortable headphones. No problems. Served me well in my competition years, and the look is still popular with the procyberathlete gaming circle women.

By: L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 22:22:02 -0800

I've found -- and read -- that playing Medic is good for learning maps. Pick someone and follow them around healing. This works best, for assorted reasons, on the Heavy, Soldier, and Pyro. Engineers and Snipers often go someplace and stay there, Scouts are too fast, Spies aren't going to want you following them around. Not sure how well it works with a Demo, but I imagine they appreciate it as much as anyone else.

By: picea

picea — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 07:25:57 -0800

I wasn't there long (I was spruce), but I had a good time. I ended up playing a medic most of the time, and my heavy buddy stayed alive a long time until one well-placed sniper bullet took him down.

I'd really like to play one of these games with actual team coordination involved, rather than random flailing. Seems like this group has a good shot at that.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:58:48 -0800

I wasn't able to get my headset working. Not sure if it's a bad mic or a bootcamp thing. I'll keep at it.

I played as an engineer for about a minute until I gave up because it wasn't a good time to learn. Someone yelled at me to put a sentry by the briefcase and I broke down and cried.

I'd like to take the time to learn. Seems an engineer is one of the more vital classes.

And I agree with Cortex, I'm glad a played many months of TF Classic back in the Half Life days.

Is it me or is the sniper a lot harder to play this time around? I couldn't get any shots in.

By: absalom

absalom — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:14:23 -0800

Yeah, I have to say to those showing frustration, be patient. While I've played many FPSes in my day, I've never really been great at any of them. The learning curve, for me at least, is very, very forgiving. I've logged a total of less than ten hours playing, but I've already noticed my scores and my play improving dramatically.

Also, I like how it cuts off the dead. Sometimes it leads to unintended humor. I think my favorite scene from yesterday was

ME: "Uh, guys, watch out for the red sticky bo-"

By: cog_nate

cog_nate — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:31:54 -0800

That was fun. In the future, I'll probably not drink while playing -- that didn't seem to help my meager skills. (It did, however, make me identify better with the Demoman.)

By: cortex

cortex — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:28:44 -0800

Interesting. It was only when I ran out of beer that I felt like I plateaued.

Check that out: plateaued. Whole lotta vowels, just all jammed together.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:44:30 -0800

Hope we can set a time when everyone will be able to play again, soon. Say, tonight.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:33:16 -0800

I should be on later, after the Pats win.

By: cog_nate

cog_nate — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:58:47 -0800

It was only when I ran out of beer that I felt like I plateaued.

There's the difference, see; I didn't run out.

By: graventy

graventy — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:25:14 -0800

I think you can send group announcements, via Steam. Haven't tried it though.

I'm really interested in playing with you guys, it sounds like a lot of fun. Portal's been taking all of my gaming time so far, though.

By: darkripper

darkripper — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:26:34 -0800

I'll take this chance to try playing the engineer a little (with a ping of 170-200 I can't play anything else on mefi server)

By: Plutor

Plutor — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:06:44 -0800

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg: "I've found -- and read -- that playing Medic is good for learning maps. Pick someone and follow them around healing."

There are other reasons to do this, even if you're not just learning. The best games I've ever had is as team medic. After a few minutes, you figure out who can handle medicking the best. When there's a heavy firefight, they'll stand near but just around a corner so you can continuously heal them from safety. And you don't even have to tell them when you make them invulnerable. You both end up with so many points, and a team with two or three pairs of good medics with good patients is almost unstoppable.

By: itchylick

itchylick — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 06:19:12 -0800

Would folks find it useful to have a page up on the wiki similar to this one? This page is Xbox-specific, but perhaps the title could be changed to something platform-neutral? Or just create a new page altogether.

I, for one, would like to know who's killing me.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:33:37 -0800

Would folks find it useful to have a page up on the wiki similar to this one?

Good idea, itchylick. Perhaps just change the title of the page and the format to something like:

MeFi username
  System/Service/MMORPG1: Gamertag/Friend Code/Whatever
    Games commonly played
  System/Service/MMORPG2: Gamertag/Friend Code/Whatever
    Games commonly played
  etc

So my entry would look something like:

Rock Steady
  Wii: 7804 3304 6050 4006
    Wii Sports, Wii Play, Madden, Zelda, RE4
  Steam: rocksteady
    Portal, HL2, TF2
  Puzzle Pirates: Deliagrey

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:34:42 -0800

Also, itchy, I think that was me you were killing on some lonely map the other day, until TF2 crashed on me.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:45:06 -0800

There's some stat info here:
http://www.gametracker.com/server_info/8.6.77.194:27015/

By: well_balanced

well_balanced — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:23:08 -0800

Is anyone maintaining this server? I appear to now have a newer client version than the server.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 14:41:30 -0800

Yes. Plans are underway to have a couple of admins who'll be able to manage the server on a more frequent basis. The server has been updated! YEEEHAAA!