Being experienced server developer like NatalyaAF, I 2nd her opinion.

Otto
n00bsalad

Quote Originally Posted by NatalyaAF View Post
Here's what will happen if we make the server a steam server again:


1: The Koreans won't be able to join.
2: Nor will most of the other people who play on ZM.
3: ZM will revert back to what it was before November with only a few players.
4: It will lose its spot as the 13th most popular CS:S ZM server.
5: I will NOT do anything to try to get players to join the server.
6: Since the server lacks any other admins who would try to populate it, it will die.
7: You will baww that ZM is dead and ask to have it changed into something else.
8: ??????
9: Failure.


Let me explain to you my story...

January 2008
- Tara leaves. Zombie Mod is left with Random as its only Jr. Owner. It slowly loses popularity and eventually dies in April.

April 2008
- ZM is completely dead.
- Propmenu is added to the server by Siosios.

June 2008
- I am given FTP access for N/U servers. I set about trying to revive ZM.

Summer 2008
- Between June and August ZM gets some decent popularity. I play almost every day, however when me or another admin is not around, the server goes to the shitter and no1 plays.

August 2008
- I go to Canada. When I come back a couple weeks later, ZM is totally dead.
- I go back to University for the fall.

September 2008
- Kami joins as an admin.

Fall 2008
- I work hard on populating ZM. I play for most of my free time to get the server going. During the week, if we had 8 people on at any point in time, it was a good day.
- My grades began to suffer from me spending my time in the server when I should have been studying. I was the only person who populated the server on a daily basis, though Kami tried to help with that too. But by November I got worn out from constantly trying to get people in there with no real other help.

November 2008
- I am tired of trying to populate a server that remains dead without me and am ready to give up on it.
- I no-steam the server as the last resort to populate the server.
- The server explodes with players literally over night.
- I spent a couple weeks working out the bugs with the anti-cheat and the ping kicker.


That is the time line of the server. If we set the server back to normal, I will NOT spend my time trying to populate it, and without a significant time commitment from ALL other admins on the server, it will surely die. I am not going to waste my life trying to get people to join a server that for some reason does not attract players. I've tried running mostly lila panic and atix helicocksucker. I've tried cutting down the file download size to 15 MB. I've tried the public skins contest. I've tried nearly every new map released for Zombie Mod between June and December. I've tried escape maps. I've tried inviting other clans to come play on the server. I've tried posting the server IP in my maps which I release publicly and other servers play. I've tried advertising the server on different websites. I've tried sitting in the server all day every day, leaving my computer on over night to idle in it. I've tried inviting admins from other N/U servers to play in there to get the server going. I've tried adding the !weapons menu. I've tried the !propmenu. I've tried adding various other scripts to make the server more enjoyable.

I'm tired of trying. I'm done. No one else has committed half as much time to the server as I have, and yet I could not succeed in populating it. I am done. If the rest of you want to volunteer to be on the server all day every day between yourselves, go ahead. But don't count me in. I'm done. If you really want me to put it back to the way it was, I will do it, but don't come crying to me when it goes to shit.[/SOAP]