The pin on the ''official'' servers...

[-250H-Ursus_]

For start. I would like to clarify this post is not only dedicated to 'not official' server owners, but as well, for players in general and how this thing has affected multiplayer community.

For almost a year, this change was added on April 2023, the ''official'' servers have been pinned above every server at the server browser.

I really not understand the why of that decition, and to be fair, i am not interested in the motivation.

What really concerns me, is that the decition, of forcing a few servers above the community ones is unfair, and proved to be in fact, harmfull for the servers of the community, which have done as well, hours of development for their own servers, and some of these, have improved in actual in game mechanichs one can enjoy. And now, those servers lives on a permanent shadow, and that effort, dedication that, they put on their servers for pure love not as a living, feels disrespected.

I let this open at discussion for everyone.

In my opionion would have been easier to give the users the option to pin the servers they like by their own, as a any normal favorite's system of any browser.

Cheers.

Edited January 17, 2024 by -332FG-Ursus_

[Dubsy]

One up on this, it's really done a number on pop for Finnish especially. Wings is the worst of the big three multiplayer servers we have IMO (many people will agree, some won't) and receives very little attention from the server owners compared to CB and FVP. But people including myself will fly where there are people, so Wings is populating at the cost of those servers.

The long term effect is going to be to a decrease in the average multiplayer experience quality for most pilots. That means more burnouts, fewer hours flown, and fewer modules bought (especially since Wings barely uses anything made since Kuban and to an extent BP). 

Put simply, pinning Wings and thus directing people into it is bad for IL-2.

[Luftgangster]

42 minutes ago, ACG_Dubsy said:

One up on this, it's really done a number on pop for Finnish especially. Wings is the worst of the big three multiplayer servers we have IMO (many people will agree, some won't) and receives very little attention from the server owners compared to CB and FVP. But people including myself will fly where there are people, so Wings is populating at the cost of those servers.

The long term effect is going to be to a decrease in the average multiplayer experience quality for most pilots. That means more burnouts, fewer hours flown, and fewer modules bought (especially since Wings barely uses anything made since Kuban and to an extent BP). 

Put simply, pinning Wings and thus directing people into it is bad for IL-2.

 

Wings of Liberty has received plenty of support from the server owners with new maps having been added along with new aircraft. The server's primary focus is the Eastern Front much like Combat Box being focused on the Western Front. Furthermore, Wings of Liberty offers a far more user friendly experience for newer players versus that of Combat Box or Finnish Virtual Pilots which could be considered hardcore. It's by no means a bad server but rather caters to a different audience.

[Dubsy]

It's barely gotten any new maps and what few I've noticed are either un-innovative or not great (thinking of the huge Stalingrad one with weirdly square territories). They don't post updates on the forum or anywhere I can find including the discord, which I left because it got ping spammed and wasn't moderated.

The only way it actually makes things any easier for new pilots is the map icon. Everything else is just as hard. It also locks skins, locks a lot of mods, has a culture of complete chaos on the airfields, and questionable English translation. I don't see how it's at all 'user friendly', it's just slightly easier to fly in a low effort (and for me unrewarding) way.

I don't think the concept of an Eastern Front server that's slightly easier is a bad one, but Wings does not implement it well, especially from a non-Russian perspective. I'd much rather fly Russians on Finnish if I want Eastern Front, which I do sometimes. 

[Luftgangster]

5 minutes ago, ACG_Dubsy said:

It's barely gotten any new maps and what few I've noticed are either un-innovative or not great (thinking of the huge Stalingrad one with weirdly square territories). They don't post updates on the forum or anywhere I can find including the discord, which I left because it got ping spammed and wasn't moderated.

The only way it actually makes things any easier for new pilots is the map icon. Everything else is just as hard. It also locks skins, locks a lot of mods, has a culture of complete chaos on the airfields, and questionable English translation. I don't see how it's at all 'user friendly', it's just slightly easier to fly in a low effort (and for me unrewarding) way.

I don't think the concept of an Eastern Front server that's slightly easier is a bad one, but Wings does not implement it well, especially from a non-Russian perspective. I'd much rather fly Russians on Finnish if I want Eastern Front, which I do sometimes. 

 

I've been saying for years that if Combat Box were to do Eastern Front scenarios that I would drop Wings of Liberty in a heartbeat but unfortunately they're just not interested in doing so. Apollo on Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kuban would be amazing.

[LR.Jpatty]

I agree to Ursus completely,   maybe this change had good intentions but its kinda wonky and from a new player perspective might be confusing.  Let the people decide, and vote with our player count on our favourite servers!

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

51 minutes ago, Luftgangster said:

 

I've been saying for years that if Combat Box were to do Eastern Front scenarios that I would drop Wings of Liberty in a heartbeat but unfortunately they're just not interested in doing so. Apollo on Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kuban would be amazing.

Kuban is featured frequently in the non-Apollo missions.

CB makes WoL (and even FVP) superfluous. It really is an excellent server. It's dynamic campaign, SRS bot, and RCI features are so much better than stock multi-player that it's kinda laughable how far behind the "official" servers are. I'm glad WoL exists, but it should not be given preference.

Edited January 17, 2024 by =DW=_drewm3i-VR

[Nickkyboy99]

+1

[Janus_Interalia]

None of the servers I fly in frequently or see populated have been selected for the official star for the server. I don't understand the thinking behind the selections. 

 

None of the flying circus servers have been chosen. I personally spend most of my time on CombatBox now, which others have described. I got my start on the Air Attack Tactical Combat Dogfight Normal server which features small maps, unlimited fuel and ammo, and AI planes for when there are not enough humans flying. It's a great introduction to multiplayer for people not quite ready for the realism servers but wanting something different from what singleplayer has to offer. 

 

There are many active and worthy servers which have not received "official" attention

[BrockRetro]

I'm not opposed to official supported pinned servers being a thing, but please allow players to pin their own preferred servers that take priority over the default official ones. Thanks. 

[Zooropa_Fly]

I've no problem with the supported servers being identified with the red star, but don't think they should be pinned at the top.

It looks a bit silly to be honest.

 

That said, I don't really think it'll influence where people choose to fly.

It won't be the reason for the 'downfall' of any other servers.

 

Most of my ww2 time is spent on WoL, mainly because I can't be bothered navigating most of the time.. and there's always a 110.

It's certainly not because it's always top of the list.

[-250H-Ursus_]

6 hours ago, Zooropa_Fly said:

I've no problem with the supported servers being identified with the red star, but don't think they should be pinned at the top.

It looks a bit silly to be honest.

 

That said, I don't really think it'll influence where people choose to fly.

It won't be the reason for the 'downfall' of any other servers.

 

Most of my ww2 time is spent on WoL, mainly because I can't be bothered navigating most of the time.. and there's always a 110.

It's certainly not because it's always top of the list.

Certainly it had an impact on the other servers.
One which is active enough can notice it. Take FVP as the most noticeable example.

Edited January 17, 2024 by -332FG-Ursus_

[MAJ_stug41]

+1 for pinning our own choices

 

 

[R33GZ]

What does 'officially supported' mean anyway? It is a bit odd that the officially supported servers don't seem to be as technologically advanced as CB and most of the time I fly on CB (southern hemisphere) it's the most populated as well, not to mention the ping for me is substantially better on CB. Officially supported seems to be a gimmick at best?

[Enigma89]

Servers should not be pinned

[[DBS]Tx_Tip]

10 hours ago, R33GZ said:

What does 'officially supported' mean anyway? It is a bit odd that the officially supported servers don't seem to be as technologically advanced as CB and most of the time I fly on CB (southern hemisphere) it's the most populated as well, not to mention the ping for me is substantially better on CB. Officially supported seems to be a gimmick at best?

Open up a WOL mission in the ME take a look at what’s activated with the voluminous number of entities at all times then stick the mission in your own independent or through the BoX server within your game and see how you think it would preform with the high number of players that WOL has.

 

At the time I used to stick them in our server and came to the opinion that they were either directly using a Cray and/or having a Russian military server as their host machine. 

Officially Supported. ?

 

 

[Haluter]

Community server admins have dedicated years of hard work and commitment to build servers that are popular with the player base. These servers have been nurtured with time and effort, resulting in unique gaming experiences that are cherished by many players.

The recent move by 1CGS undermines this dedication and effort by prioritizing their own servers over those built up by community members. It is not only disappointing but also discourages future investment into creating unique and engaging environments for players.

We understand that as developers, 1CGS has a vested interest in promoting their own servers. However, we believe there should be an equal playing field where all servers have an equal chance to thrive based on merit rather than developer preference.

We urge 1CGS to reconsider this decision and restore fairness in the server listing. By doing so, they would not only respect the efforts of community server admins but also uphold player choice which is fundamental in any gaming environment.

[CountZero]

and from video 3, insted making hyperlobby type lobby, we gona get focus on official coops server it seams lol

[FTC_Davies]

Pretty much every game with server lists has a way for the user to pin/favorite/search. This feature would be very welcome, but forcefully pinning servers at the top is just not something the community wanted. I have nothing against the servers themselves but I personally don't fly on them anymore and I'd rather support the community servers.

Remove the pins or allow me to pin whatever server I want.

[354thFG_Leifr]

Remove the pins, or let me (the user) choose what to pin (favourite).

 

[ShamrockOneFive]

IMHO I don't think the UI is well setup for the pins. If they want to denote an official server there should be some sort of badge/icon. Right now when you sort it feels like the sorting is broken and I thought it was until I figured out what they were doing.