Late night pipe dream

[adslrizla]

We're two months into subs and I think even the most pro-BW peeps can admit that it's not going all that well really

So here's the pipe dream :

If only a way could be found to make all the servers public but subbies get priority. ie the server is full of non-subbies but a subbie wishes to play - so the non-subbie that has been on the server longest gets kicked with a message along the lines of : "Apologies but a subscriber wished to play on this server. Amongst all the non-subscribers playing on this server you have been playing longest so we regret you will have to leave. Should you wish to subscribe - blah blah blah"

I know it probably isn't possible right now but for God's sake it can't be technically impossible to do something similar with some (OK - a lot) of work. It would seem to me to be the best way of encouraging new subscribers - I wouldn't have paid anything had a group of us not had a Barryserver and dealt with Nat and Baz! Who's going to pay money for something they can't try?

We all know the current system is leaving BW dying on it's feet - OK you can go through all the cost arguments forever but the fact is that peeps (even subbies) just aren't playing here any more. When people leave then new "communities" start and it's bloody hard to get them back!

Like I said it's just a pipe dream but I hope someone inside BW is having some radical thoughts cos another three months of this and all that will be left are the Barryservers, the loonies here and on #barrysworld

Pipe dream/rant over

 

[.cage]

if you wanna play why not just spend the £2 a month or whatever it is

I've heard of cheap fuckers, but that's taking the piss :>

 

[adslrizla]

I have paid you retard. As have many others - but it's getting bloody hard to actually find anyone on any of the servers these days!

Try reading things and engaging your brain before you spout shite next time?

 

[.cage]

perhaps I didn't mean you specifically

Try reading things and engaging your brain before you spout shite next time?

 

[]SK[]

All being well but I would imagine that the biggest issue here is the money for the bandwidth that goes on like 12/18 people on that server, not the subs peeps.
Also implimenting the above into existing games would be pretty hard. Halflife would look possible with adminmod but others look doubtful.

 

[Ch3tan]

And adminmod is resource hungry.

 

[]SK[]

Well I think bw are looking at it as there are so many requests for it.

 

[(Shovel)]

Since I stopped playing online games much I didn't subscribe, but if I started up again then I'd have no problem coming back to Barryswolrd as I know what it's like.

I think the point about "paying for something you haven't tried" is a valid one. Regardless of how cheap it is, for newbies they still want to know what the service is going to be like.

 

[dysfunction]

There have been sooo many threads like this...

The horse has been flogged to death ages ago...

 

[Durzel]

Originally posted by .cage
if you wanna play why not just spend the £2 a month or whatever it is

I've heard of cheap fuckers, but that's taking the piss :>

Your answer:

Who's going to pay money for something they can't try?

 

[Will]

Having a server with a couple of unreserved slots for non-subscribers, using Adminmod/SQL, is possible. But its not elegant, I dread to think how much network traffic it would cause, and thats only one game.

Just think about this for a little while. BW didn't just decide overnight to go P2P. This has been in the pipeline since Game rescued them. The reason Game didn't go out and set up a GSP themselves is because BW has a good team of coders, some lovely server management software, and a reputation as a good place to play.

Everything has been planned out, and this slack period is hardly unexpected. Its almost like a beta test, checking the system works, bugs getting reported on a fairly small scale rather than swamping technical support, seeing which games will make a profit, and which ones will die.

There have been a few cryptic clues from people who are in the know, that plans are underway to sort this out. I'd like a bigger clue, but then, I'm nosey. I had a game last night on one of the CS servers, and in my opinion they are damn good servers. Every game I play it is the same. Battlefield 1942, I don't get the disappearing rounds or lagging tanks. Counterstrike, I don't get lag pauses.

The UK FTP is great too. If only I could upload useful things to it too, some CS maps and tools, but I've got my own FTP for that, so I'll live with it.

*wandered off point* So, I'm sure they are up to something. I just wish it would hurry up already.

 

[gremlin]

Surely if GAME pulled their finger out and start actually promoting BW in-store then this would surely help. There must be a market of gamers who dont know about BW yet still play the odd game online.

I've seen the leaflet you get when you get a new GAME card, no mention of BW at all! There's very little cross-promotion between the GAME website and BW's and how about slipping a little BW advertising card inside the plastic bag of all purchases made at GAME stores?

I do wonder if the whole of the GAME organisation actually realise they own BarrysWorld?

 

[Will]

Heh Grem, you've not worked for a big company I see. I work for Telewest, but do I ever mention our gaming service? Most of our staff don't know about it.

When things are at the planing stage, the lower end staff don't get any information, and if they do, its normally from third party sources.

I don't know if things will be ready for Christmas, or if it will start in the New Year, but I get the feeling "buy a game, get one month free" or something along those lines, might be on the cards. But first the literature must be written, approved, printed, checked and distributed. The software required must be simple to use, and bug free.

Thats a bit simplified too. I know that plans are afoot which are bigger than that. Its going to be fun finding out I think.

 

[adslrizla]

I hope something's afoot Itcheh cos the only reliable way to get a game on BW ATM is to organise it well in advance. When you've got kids that's not often an option

Ho hum...

/me sits back, puts up feet and waits to see what happens

 

[Skyler]

Problem is, people know that BW is currently empty, therefore there is no chance at all that they will pay. It was hard enough to get them to think about paying before BW went subs only, when they could see the full servers and played there all the time.

The only way subs will work is if BW offer something better than the rest. You cant expect people to pay for something and get less than they would for free elsewhere.

I would rather play on BW than anywhere else, but I cant play alone so I have to play elsewhere most of the time.

Currently BW are wanting everyone competing in the BWCSL to pay a full subscription charge to play in the league (will get about 3 seasons for one years subscription), it is quite stupid that they are asking so much. I dont think reserves in clans will pay for it, and certainly not everyone in the clans will pay for it either. That means that the clan is divided between those that want to pay and those that dont, therefore either the clan splits or it leaves BWCSL. Most will leave BWCSL and thats the end of the best UK online CS league. If that happens then the clans that paid to play in it will feel ripped off and will want refunds, as they have paid for less than what they expected. If you think of the reduced numbers in the subs only version of the league it wont make you want to pay any more.

BW need to work something out because currently they arent getting many more subscribers. The longer BW stays empty the more existing subscribers will get annoyed, they wont renew their subscription when BW puts their prices up in just under a years time.

I personally think BW went into p2p wrongly, they let the service get poor and then said, "it will be better when you pay" I also remember when I wanted a small change done on the BWCS servers one time, Baz said "I'm not doing it unless you pay me", or something along those lines...

Instead of them letting the service get crap then charging and expecting people to pay because they promise it will be better, they should of invested a bit of cash and made the service sublime before asking for money, then people would be more likely to pay I think. They would of been playing on BW and seen that it is the best by a long way, and deemed it worth paying for. Instead BW got worse than the other GSP's before p2p. The other GSP's stayed free and as far as people knew stayed better.

I dont really know what BW can do now to sort the problems out, they could try something like BY and leave 2 free slots (only works with HL adminmod) for subscribers and the rest free or whatever. The trouble with this is subscribers may find it hard to get into the servers given that they only have two free slots to play with, you could increase the slots available to subscribers, but then the servers wouldnt ever fill unless subscribers joined. Also why would people pay then, they can just play on BW for free and get into the server almost as efficiently as subscribers...

Some people have also suggested leaving the servers open for a night and letting non subscribers join for that evening and play to see how good the servers are. That wouldnt work either, as most people just go into an ingame browser and join whatever has some free slots with decent ping. They wont really be bothered if one night BW is there and the next night it isnt, they will just go elsewhere.

Blah cba to write anymore

 

[old.Kez]

I may just harp on about their lack of christmas in-store promotion as its quite possibly their biggest stumbling block, regardless of whether they have teh grande plan!!!111
They should've started promoting at least a month ago, like every other goddamn high-street motherfuck. It ensures blanket coverage.

In honesty, its an abomination that a company built up on community interaction should leave its paying (and unpaying) users in the dark for the months it has. It amounts to neglegence; and their whole hush-hush attitude is oddly paranoid. It'd be nice - if pipe-dream like - to actually see some communication.

I don't even play pc games though, so its a pretty moot point. I'm just an Armchair Cynic.

 

[Testin da Cable]

ah, but you have a point young Kez. were I GAME I would have flogged BW for all it was worth in ever single shop I had and then some. afaict from the conversations here in the forum just about nothing has been done and little pro-active feedback has been given. stuff like that feeds the disgruntled masses rather well. I know full well that everyone is busy as heck but a little infomation goes a long way.