Pickup: Destroying fort since 2010!

[compguygene]

Well, its just my opinion. No doubt we don't need more servers. You could say that what I am truly wishing for is a bit of a cultural change that I don't see happening. I mean it's miraculous to go to the master list at 11pm EST and find 9 American players in G5's with 1 Euro when there are several very nice American servers to play in.... I still maintain that Fortress really does have a bit of an "Elitist" feel to it anymore. But, it seems that is what is wanted. No problem. I also get that very few of you see any truth behind my viewpoint, I expected nothing less.

[Goodygumdrops]

Yeah definitely blame it on europeans being scared of lag (especially those nooby ones who are up late), instead of Americans not knowing anything better than to go to G5's for a fort game at 3amGMT, when there is more than one fortress server available that's located in the US

even if they read it, they wouldn't understand

[Goodygumdrops]

The majority of Europeans respond to the question "Want to go play in <insert US fort server here>?" with "no thanks it is too laggy"

this is the same old thing

the people from [the other continent] always whine too much about lag when playing on servers in [my continent]

the majority of na players complain just as much about lag in euro servers

I am not blaming it on Europeans, I'm just wondering where the classic TX fortress games went (New York).

the TX leadership is incompetent to keep a server running unless compguygene is doing it for them for free

[Mecca]

Pickup isn't destroying fort. The extremely small active community is the reason these situations happen.

[ElmosWorld]

Isn't G5's the only 9v9 server? ID MegaFortress NY only goes to 8v8. This seems to be a point everyone wants. Why limit yourself to 8v8 when a 9v9 is available? As for the EU vs US servers, until someone can host a server in the middle of the ocean, someone will always be at a disadvantage regarding ping. But that person will have ping rubber. Yes it is still unfair but you can learn to deal with it.

[Kijutsu]

Or maybe americans are simply less interested in casual fort, seeing as there are never any fort games going on at night for me (excluding clan wars/practices), and I highly doubt that's because there aren't any american 9v9 servers, elmo.

Anyway this topic title is way too dramatic, false and 90% of the responses in here are butthurt losers who need to get some skill and then cry less about lag and the "elitist" euro fort community, boohoo.

[Word]

Isn't G5's the only 9v9 server? ID MegaFortress NY only goes to 8v8. This seems to be a point everyone wants. Why limit yourself to 8v8 when a 9v9 is available? As for the EU vs US servers, until someone can host a server in the middle of the ocean, someone will always be at a disadvantage regarding ping. But that person will have ping rubber. Yes it is still unfair but you can learn to deal with it.

why does it have to be the middle of the ocean? why not India?

[ElmosWorld]

I feel like there are usually games being played until around 8 or 9pm ET every night which is into the early morning for Europeans.

[Concord]

there's a very high level game that happens every thursday around 2 am. not unusual to see all the best north american players there.

[Phytotron]

While only having skimmed this, and recalling that the last time I made what I thought was a rather innocuous comment about "pickup games" resulted in a disproportionate bashing, I just want to add to the one point: They don't only "steal" players from fortress servers, but from regular servers as well, which can have a hard enough time attracting and retaining players as it is.

[sinewav]

Pickup players are like superheros, and IRC is like the bat-phone. Gotta go when you get the call!

[arilou]

Last Thursday (6/16) we had a great mix of players on Comp's NY Fort server. Players like Durka, Goody, Agility, Robo, Garismo, Wildcat, Sin, Agility and many others doing 8 v 8. Just wanted to mention that cause it was an unusual occurrence out of the norm of when people prefer to play. What made it most fun was the range of skill from intermediate to veteran-pro having close matches. Big fort matches are kind of a rarity on late night North American servers.

[2020]

several issues people have made valuable points about:
pick-up v random games
authenticated v open servers
expert v noob players

with more players on the scene
these problems would disappear

the problems can be ranked as barriers to entry
(which gives the impression of elitism but i believe this is unintentional effect of the systems employed):
1 fortress has a tough learning curve for the noob
2 authentication makes it harder for a noob to simply discover the fortress game
3 irc pickup adds an additional layer of know-how

we have a situation where we have a relatively stable small group of dedicated players
this will not alter any time soon unless some drastic collective action is taken to vastly increase the uptake
eg tron school -- but this idea came and went
whatever it is
it will rely on the player community doing more than just play the game
and thus ending this semi-permanent cabin-fever we have been suffering over the last two years

for my part
i have enjoyed playing pickup recently
very quality games imho
and yes
i remember what it was like being a server and a lot of the players leave all of a sudden --
it used to be for clan wars...
feels like one is missing the party...
it's a downer for those not in the know...

[apparition]

To be honest and clear, there are two current ways to play fortress: organized and casual. Organized = clan wars, Pickup, and competitions. Casual = MB53 Mega Fortress Pro.

It seems the main reasons people don't like pickup are that it "steals" players and lowers the intensity of casual gameplay at MB53 Mega Fortress Pro. I understand that, but both of these things amount to the relative "availability" of quality fortress for you to enjoy. It's my opinion that the problem is not fortress in general, it's not Mega Fortress Pro, and it's not Pickup. You get what you put into fortress and those who have problems with fort either don't have the time, can't commit, or are unwilling to be a part of it. They want the same old easy and effortless simple fortress available for any player at any time. Maybe it's not that fortress is being ruined, it's that either you've outgrown fortress (in your personal life) or that fortress has outgrown you and you can't keep up.

The incentives of being in a clan, joining Ladle, and signing up for pickup are similar - capitalizing on one's personal luxury of having the time and desire to play serious matches. The pickup server itself has a lot of flaws, but some of the best fort matches I've ever played in were pickup matches; same experience with clan wars and Ladles.

[Word]

Casual = MB53 Mega Fortress Pro.

I'm loyal to G5's.

And there's our 0penFort Server, but it remains offline til Ai is back