the UT community

[FATTYLLAMA]

its always been kinda slow for deathmatch, but what is this crap that people only play rankin for tdm? its the only map i find that people play.

and onslaught is kinda dead as well

so if UT isnt the high community shooter nowadays, what is?

[Nytefyre]

not sure...im partial to UT

rankin is way popular, but there are other map that get played....

grendel is popular, as is compressed....

just depends on where u go and who is playing....

all the maps i like never get voted for...

OR

some DRAGN took them off the rotation!!

[Houdini]

fatty you are going to have to get aquanted with the team arena master (TAM) mod. As soon as we can find a time where we are both online we will try it out if you have not already. Pretty much 2004 is dead until 2007 comes out that is why its cool to play with some cool people because half the fun is the crazy conversation. ô¿ô.

Houdini

[pewterdragn]

some DRAGN took them off the rotation!!

What did I take off rotation? Its called MapVote!

[Avaris]

Methinks the lizard means on the Pub, but whatever. I can't stand TDM anymore! I've become a TAM maniac completely!

[BeerNut]

Fatty.. I assume that you are referring to public servers. Obviously, the large # of Rankin-only maps means that these are demo servers. Because people can play on these without spending a penny, they tend to be populated most of the time. From a more serious standpoint, Rankin is actually a VERY good map for 2v2 TDM... Any more than that, and it gets stupid.

As far as public play, DM and ONS have always been the 2 most popular gametypes (in terms of player/server counts). TDM & CTF had always trailed behind these 2 by a fair amount. From a competitive standpoint, TDM, CTF and TAM are the stronger gametypes.
TAM has been the most recent popular gametype to play, as it manages to be both accessible and fun for newer players (no small feat in the 2k* world). ....And as Houdini said, it has a social aspects to it as there is down time from playing.

Regarding general trends, more realistic shooters (WWII, CS, etc...) have been dominating online shooter counts for a while now (the days of UT, Quake, half-life style games have declined). With 1-shot kills the norm, and limited movement options... new players can get into the game very quickly and contribute to a match, or get at least a couple kills.

UT2k* has suffered from a much steeper learning curve, and as a result... lower player counts. However, once you get a feel for the overall experience, I would say that the play is MUCH more rewarding and skillful.. and definitely worth the time put in (I make the checkers -vs- chess analogy).
Sadly, in today's age of instant-gratification... nobody wants to put time into getting good at anything anymore. If someone installs the game, steps into the Purgatory, and gets smoked... It's easier to put the game down, dismiss it as sucking, and move onto something easier.

edit: How the hell did that post get so long?.

[Avaris]

Fatty.. I assume that you are referring to public servers. Obviously, the large # of Rankin-only maps means that these are demo servers. Because people can play on these without spending a penny, they tend to be populated most of the time. From a more serious standpoint, Rankin is actually a VERY good map for 2v2 TDM... Any more than that, and it gets stupid.

As far as public play, DM and ONS have always been the 2 most popular gametypes (in terms of player/server counts). TDM & CTF had always trailed behind these 2 by a fair amount. From a competitive standpoint, TDM, CTF and TAM are the stronger gametypes.
TAM has been the most recent popular gametype to play, as it manages to be both and accessible and fun for newer players (no small feat in the 2k* world). ....And as Houdini said, it has a social aspects to it as there is down time from playing.

Regarding general trends, more realistic shooters (WWII, CS, etc...) have been dominating online shooter counts for a while now (the days of UT, Quake, half-life style games have declined). With 1-shot kills the norm, and limited movement options... new players can get into the game very quickly and contribute to a match, or get at least a couple kills.

UT2k* has suffered from a much steeper learning curve, and as a result... lower player counts. However, once you get a feel for the overall experience, I would say that the play is MUCH more rewarding and skillful.. and definitely worth the time put in (I make the checkers -vs- chess analogy).
Sadly, in today's age of instant-gratification... nobody wants to put time into getting good at anything anymore. If someone installs the game, steps into the Purgatory, and gets smoked... It's easier to put the game down, dismiss it as sucking, and move onto something easier.

edit: How the hell did that post get so long?.

That last paragraph made you sound like a grumpy old man

[BeerNut]

That last paragraph made you sound like a grumpy old man

Last paragraph?... Did you read the rest of the post, or anything else I've posted here before for that matter?

EVERYTHING that I've posted indicates that I am a grumpy old man.

[nonstop]

To answer your questions Fatty, top online shooters right now are Day of Defeat, which is actually quite fun. It's definately in the wwII shooter genre which most popular games are right now. As beer said, 1 shot 1 kill mostly but I still liked it the few times I tried the beta.

Also Battlefield II is huge or BF2 and has been.

But you know what is sucking most peoples time is wow. Wow has sucked millions of players time away from other games. There are several blogs from ut players saying they or their friends are never playing ut because they are playing wow.

On another note, Beer actually, for once, didn't sound as grumpy and sounded more reasonable to me when he described tam. Usually when beer can't even mention it or he starts to combust. He usually refers to it as 'the unmentionable one" or "that gametype we do not speak of."

There are lots more people playing it lately. Go to 3spn.com and install it if you want to see it appear in your gametypes when your searching online servers. You will then see lot of peeps in different tam servers.

I actually like tdm too but was just thinking today that I might ask dragon to make a manditory map vote because I just don't like playing all those 1on1 maps on the tdm server with 8-12 people on them. It's just spawnkill and spam city when some of those maps come into rotation like compressed, ironic etc...

[Avaris]

That last paragraph made you sound like a grumpy old man

Last paragraph?... Did you read the rest of the post, or anything else I've posted here before for that matter?

EVERYTHING that I've posted indicates that I am a grumpy old man.

Fine, that last paragraph EMPHASIZED your old man grumpiness

[BeerNut]

On another note, Beer actually, for once, didn't sound as grumpy and sounded more reasonable to me when he described tam. Usually when beer can't even mention it or he starts to combust. He usually refers to it as 'the unmentionable one" or "that gametype we do not speak of."

Ah Crap... I've lost my edge.

I knew this day would come sooner or later.

Just so people don't think I've become a total softy, I personally think TAM is the result of 1 part UT TDM, mixed with 1/2 part CS (in other words: 1/2 part elephant feces). However, I know exactly WHY it is popular, and understand it completely... And my personal opinion is completely irrelevant when you consider the many people that enjoy playing it regularly...

...And actually, I do exaggerate for my own amusement... I don't think TAM is THAT bad, and I have had fun playing it before. It's just that I feel TDM is the superior gametype, and my limited playtime recently has forced me to gravitate towards what I really enjoy the most... But in the end, to each their own.

[Avaris]

On another note, Beer actually, for once, didn't sound as grumpy and sounded more reasonable to me when he described tam. Usually when beer can't even mention it or he starts to combust. He usually refers to it as 'the unmentionable one" or "that gametype we do not speak of."

Ah Crap... I've lost my edge.

I knew this day would come sooner or later.

Just so people don't think I've become a total softy, I personally think TAM is the result of 1 part UT TDM, mixed with 1/2 part CS (in other words: 1/2 part elephant feces). However, I know exactly WHY it is popular, and understand it completely... And my personal opinion is completely irrelevant when you consider the many people that enjoy playing it regularly...

...And actually, I do exaggerate for my own amusement... I don't think TAM is THAT bad, and I have had fun playing it before. It's just that I feel TDM is the superior gametype, and my limited playtime recently has forced me to gravitate towards what I really enjoy the most... But in the end, to each their own.

TAM has gotten on my nerves recently, to the point where I can't stand it. I, personally, think that TAM is the superior gametype, for the fact that it is in one way or another, a gametype that provides a level playing field for both sides. Not getting spawn-killed is more than I could ask for

But, like you said yourself, personal opinion is irrelevent, so I guess as the saying goes "Twoj cyrk, twoje malpy" (roughly meaning, your circus, your monkeys).

[BeerNut]

TAM has gotten on my nerves recently, to the point where I can't stand it. I, personally, think that TAM is the superior gametype, for the fact that it is in one way or another, a gametype that provides a level playing field for both sides. Not getting spawn-killed is more than I could ask for

Well, the level-playing field comment is a matter of perspective... The last time I checked, EVERY player that spawns/re-spawns in TDM has the same guns: An Assalt Rifle and a shield gun... Sounds pretty balanced to me.

I'll give you the spawn rape thing though... There is virtually no spawn rape in TAM... But it definitely exists in TDM.

In general, I would also say that TAM has less spam than TDM as well... Whether that is a good or bad thing is probably a matter of preference.

[Avaris]

TAM has gotten on my nerves recently, to the point where I can't stand it. I, personally, think that TAM is the superior gametype, for the fact that it is in one way or another, a gametype that provides a level playing field for both sides. Not getting spawn-killed is more than I could ask for

Well, the level-playing field comment is a matter of perspective... The last time I checked, EVERY player that spawns/re-spawns in TDM has the same guns: An Assalt Rifle and a shield gun... Sounds pretty balanced to me.

I'll give you the spawn rape thing though... There is virtually no spawn rape in TAM... But it definitely exists in TDM.

In general, I would also say that TAM has less spam than TDM as well... Whether that is a good or bad thing is probably a matter of preference.

That's a bad thing for Nyte

[BeerNut]

That's a bad thing for Nyte

lol... I dunno.

Nyte's got a pretty wicked sniper, and there is no spam in that.