Author Topic: Soldat is dying, how to revive it? (Read 141139 times)

miketh2005 · « **on:** July 10, 2009, 07:31:20 pm »

I've said it before, I'll say it again: With each passing version, instead of GAINING people, we lose them. For good. Not just because of the version change. You can say whatever you want, but there is only about 40 ACTIVE Soldat servers. I remember 1.3.1 having waaay more. Whatever happened to Hover Racing, modded servers (the ones with hk laws), knife guns, saw only, multimode, fistbox, etc. All those classic modes we played and loved. I don't think it's because they lose interest or because the server just went down. It's because the people who liked those servers are no longer active, or no longer play. Bombski is gone, I think, someone told me he only plays TW, now. And loads of others. And the thing is, this is peak season! It's summer! People aren't bogged down with school and what not.

We need to do something. About Soldat. For scripters: New game modes, new scripts. For people with money: donate to soldat. Donate to enesce, server owners, scripters, buy servers from enesce / U13 / Selfkill. Server owners: Make servers with popular scripts. Soldat makers: Make better/more features, trying your best? try better. I don't mean to be pushy or mean or anything, im just a lowlife server owner, right? I know. But I'm worried about Soldat. Come 4 years, Soldat will only have 5 servers...

Or maybe when you guys finally realize that Soldat is dying. Some gang who knows C++ can make a new soldat with a better engine (scriptcore sucks!) and can encorprate all those features enesce says he can't do, like movable stuff. Changing sceneries, etc. Just make it more moddable. I heard Shoozza and others are making a new game based off Soldat's engine. Is this true? Link dead is coming, but we have no idea when it will be released, and to be honest even though seeing all the videos and such on MM's blog, I'm not too excited for it. MM himself said it's not gonna be another Soldat which we all came to love. Ok, yes. MM is a genius and he won't release a crappy game. But, it's gonna be DIFFERENT. He says it's gonna be REALLY modable, but exactly HOW moddable? Moddable enough to make a Soldat in Link-Dead? We'll have to see. I certainly hope so, if it's possible / reasonable. The thing is, Link Dead is gonna be a WHOLE different game. Some people will like Soldat better, while others will think Link Dead is better. It's a different game. I say we need to make a Soldat 2...

I know I'm gonna get a lot of arguments...so start posting

SpiltCoffee · « **Reply #1 on:** July 10, 2009, 08:03:20 pm »

Public Soldat, maybe. Competitive Soldat still seems pretty strong to me.

LtKillroy · « **Reply #2 on:** July 10, 2009, 08:25:20 pm »

I still lament the demise of U13.

iDante · « **Reply #3 on:** July 10, 2009, 08:26:55 pm »

Pretty sure eC hexer/MMod is still pretty full up, plus those HnS servers as well. The Elite pubs also seem to be doing well.
The competitive soldat scene is still going strong, with over 100,000 gathers being played on #soldat.gather.

Sure soldat might be losing population slowly as it gets older, but it's definitely still going strong.

LtKillroy · « **Reply #4 on:** July 10, 2009, 08:44:59 pm »

I have good news: Link-Dead.

~Niko~ · « **Reply #5 on:** July 10, 2009, 09:30:46 pm »

But the point is to revive Soldat somehow. Though Leo's are as full as always.

We need more ppl playing?

scarface09 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 10, 2009, 10:02:32 pm »

Soldat is much more a success than Link-Dead, I don't know why he isn't working on Soldat himself anymore.

STM1993 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 10, 2009, 11:26:25 pm »

I'm running out of non-mod servers to play in that are below 300 ping. Gamearena pisses me off with the fact that it seems to keep changing server location - one month I get 200 ping, next month I got 300(whereby I'd get kicked too). The thing about Soldat is, it's not always about competition, pubs are important too.

Aye, people get old and have to move old with life. You don't expect a 14 yr old playing Soldat all the way till 90 actively right? The nostalgia will still be there though, and the game will always be remembered, no matter how much it has declined.

The other reason why Soldat's population is dropping is also because of the coming generation. They just play the new games that come about, but few of them actually look at the older games. They tend to see graphics/features over gameplay and balance.

miketh2005 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 10, 2009, 11:35:09 pm »

Quote from: scarface09 on July 10, 2009, 10:02:32 pm

Soldat is much more a success than Link-Dead, I don't know why he isn't working on Soldat himself anymore.

You can't say. Link Dead hasn't came out yet.

MMod isn't THAT active. Most of the time there is no one in it. Hexer is still active alot. Elite SnS, SnL, and PvsN is active...but those are still few. Yes, we are talking public...

miketh2005 · « **Reply #9 on:** July 10, 2009, 11:46:03 pm »

Quote from: STM1993 on July 10, 2009, 11:26:25 pm

I'm running out of non-mod servers to play in that are below 300 ping. Gamearena pisses me off with the fact that it seems to keep changing server location - one month I get 200 ping, next month I got 300(whereby I'd get kicked too). The thing about Soldat is, it's not always about competition, pubs are important too.

Aye, people get old and have to move old with life. You don't expect a 14 yr old playing Soldat all the way till 90 actively right? The nostalgia will still be there though, and the game will always be remembered, no matter how much it has declined.

The other reason why Soldat's population is dropping is also because of the coming generation. They just play the new games that come about, but few of them actually look at the older games. They tend to see graphics/features over gameplay and balance.

Why would GA do that? Seems stupid to keep changing where the server is hosted...

STM1993 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 10, 2009, 11:52:49 pm »

*seems to change server location*, I'm not always right, but yeah, the ping to me in GA always changes once in a while. Nevermind, this discussion should be brought elsewhere...

Anyway, no game, however epic, will remain strong, except in the memories of gamers.

EDIT (Rant):
Bloody hell, GA just made the ping kick value lower. NOW WHERE THE FUCK DO I GO TO PLAY SOLDAT WITH A FILLED NON-MOD SERVER WITH 250 PING OR LOWER?! Do you know how fucking irritating and annoying is it that being in Singapore = easily 200 ping to everywhere else and there are no local servers and I keep getting told by a bunch of people "YOU LAG GTFO"?! Not just Soldat, but every other online game! Then at the same time, if I ever find Southeast Asian servers that have 100+ ping, I keep seeing Mandarin language everywhere! Pshh... I guess people will never understand how it feels to lag everywhere... it's not my internet connection (it spikes only occasionally, but other than that it's good), its my location... And practically everyone in my country never plays the game I would play.

*sigh* Everyone just wants a popular low ping server to play in... but has anyone ever been in the situation where everywhere you go, you'd get high ping? While if you manage to get into a low ping server, you don't understand a single crap there? That's exactly how I feel.

Snow · « **Reply #11 on:** July 11, 2009, 12:19:39 am »

I'm 31. I plan on playing till 91 or longer. Soldat isn't dying, but servers aren't cheap. When I'm back from holidays I hope to have at least 2 up myself. I sure do wish u13 was active and that Fracs got fixed. Those are the best for me to play on. Though I still do have fun on the elite servers. TTW servers are usually active too - one of the best game modes there is.

Soldat will never die. It is a game with a dedicated dev and dedicated players. There is still nothing like it. Plenty of game modes, thousands of maps, animated sceneries (go meatsaws and fireflies WOOT!), etc. Speaking of maps, map making is fun and there are some creative talents out there.

We just gotta stop bickering (well, those that do) and start playing. Community get togethers would be nice too. We can sing, "We are the world Soldat community..."

There is still a lot of life left in this game. I can foresee it being played 200 years from now (in neural implants). No seriously though, I could. I've been playing for roughly 6 years already, so 200 isn't that many. We make the game, so if we bleed, let's kill each other.

MyiEye · « **Reply #12 on:** July 11, 2009, 12:58:10 am »

one thing that really bugs me is that there are so few NORMAL servers!! There are like 2 normal CTF servers to play on for me to use...I hardly ever play these days...but as long as it alive I'll keep playing once and a while. I'll never grow old of the fast paced beauty of a game Soldat is.

miketh2005 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 11, 2009, 01:08:42 am »

i would create a normal server but it's never popular, the most popular normal server is that france one, but there are normal servers, but they just aren't popular

STM1993 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 11, 2009, 01:27:58 am »

*sigh* Now I'm just pissed that I can never find any popular low ping server where I can play and understand. Read my rant in my previous post (its in small text) if you want to know the full details.

Quote from: Snow on July 11, 2009, 12:19:39 am

I'm 31. I plan on playing till 91 or longer. Soldat isn't dying, but servers aren't cheap. When I'm back from holidays I hope to have at least 2 up myself. I sure do wish u13 was active and that Fracs got fixed. Those are the best for me to play on. Though I still do have fun on the elite servers. TTW servers are usually active too - one of the best game modes there is.

Soldat will never die. It is a game with a dedicated dev and dedicated players. There is still nothing like it. Plenty of game modes, thousands of maps, animated sceneries (go meatsaws and fireflies WOOT!), etc. Speaking of maps, map making is fun and there are some creative talents out there.

We just gotta stop bickering (well, those that do) and start playing. Community get togethers would be nice too. We can sing, "We are the world Soldat community..."

There is still a lot of life left in this game. I can foresee it being played 200 years from now (in neural implants). No seriously though, I could. I've been playing for roughly 6 years already, so 200 isn't that many. We make the game, so if we bleed, let's kill each other.

Mmm, but not many people retain the interest for so long, and even so, not many have the opportunity/time to play a video game in adulthood due to many factors.

nuclearrambo · « **Reply #15 on:** July 11, 2009, 02:06:02 am »

i have been playing soldat since last 5 years and i agree with you that the population has dropped significantly.
I used to see more than 500 servers with people in it in the lobby, but now there are hardly 300 server that have some players in it.
i dont know why, but its the fact that population has decreased

Godefroy · « **Reply #16 on:** July 11, 2009, 02:15:00 am »

I don't believe Soldat will die anytime soon, so I wouldn't worry so much. I also believe STM is right, people do get old. A lot of people have left, and more will leave as time goes by. I'm about to start my senior year of high school soon, and I have to start thinking about what colleges I'm going to apply to. I won't be here for long because I'm growing out of this game. Sure, I'll visit every now and then, but I'll grow more and more out of it as time flies by.

I'm pretty sure the new generations to come won't know a damn thing about all of this, because this may all be gone. I'm not even sure there will be any new generations, if not any at all, because there's a lot of s**t going on around you. The old men won't be here forever. Soon, my generation, and the generations to come, will have to take their place.

Snow, you're 31. I suggest you go out and live your life, not play a 2D game and chat on forums. You plan on playing until you're 91? That's 60 fucking years of playing, man. I highly doubt you will stick with this game until you die. But, if you insist, be my guest.

Snow · « **Reply #17 on:** July 11, 2009, 03:03:09 am »

I agree STM, it is a lot more difficult to play as you get older. I used to play more frequently since I was in college, had no gf, only sex bunnies. Now however, my interest has never waned. In fact I love Soldat more than ever, yet I don't dare play a gather and can barely scrape a few hours a week.

Quote from: Godefroy on July 11, 2009, 02:15:00 am

Snow, you're 31. I suggest you go out and live your life, not play a 2D game and chat on forums. You plan on playing until you're 91? That's 60 f**king years of playing, man. I highly doubt you will stick with this game until you die. But, if you insist, go ahead.

Oh, trust me man. I have a good life. I love my life. Ever since I realized who I was, what I could do... I've had experiences that only some of you will have (and no, that is not a "virgin" joke). Damn, I've had a f**king good life. Video games: can't give em up. Played since I was 4, on one of those rare table top arcades that supposedly had the mini - CRT in it. I'm not sure since my memories of playing Pac Man on it are pretty much mixed with memories of playing Pac Man on an arcade unit and atari's. Soldat for me is something that is a perfect fit. 2d platform with the realism that I like - physics, not sparkly eye candy. Although I do keep up with current titles. I can't wait to try Battlefield 1943 when I come back and eagerly waiting for Modern Warfare 2.

That, brings up another problem with a shrinking community. Although I do not believe that Soldat will ever die (Well soon anyway, I'd say some decades could be squeezed out of it. Some of the first FPS's are still coveted and have a strong, even if small, fanbase.), the market is saturated with all kinds of brain candy. Consoles have gotten better and now also offer downloadable games. PC is still a very strong platform with numbers off the chart when it comes to games. This includes the exploding indie scene. And lastly, though mobile games on iphone and the android platform are no match for PC, still, that platform too is growing with tons of awesome titles. I wouldn't be surprised to see people sitting in front of their computer, but their hands are glued to their iphone playing a quirky new game.

So don't fret. There will always be a community here. And, sometimes, some just take breaks from playing Soldat. I do every now and then for short periods of time.

Lastly, if I reach 91. On my 91th bday, I will play a round of Soldat and post a video (or a neural transmission). It's a promise and I'll never forget it. Plus, I just posted it, so it's a permanent part of history.

danmer · « **Reply #18 on:** July 11, 2009, 04:20:43 am »

all you people whining about the fact that there are no good servers - it's all in your hands. Really, why would someone host a server for YOU to play on it? Why would someone spend money so that some random kids have fun? I'd rather have a couple of beers with my friends than pay for some randoms' fun.

About sir bomb and multimode - have you been on the irc channel when there were problems with the hosting? I reckon no. Yes it is a good mode, but for some reason it just doesn't want to work without a stable server. Afaik some people were offering a server for it, for some time. Then they quit. No server - no game. How many of those who say it was so good donated even a cent for the servers?
(I know im not Bombski and my attitude will probably differ from his in a way, but i doubt he'd care to post here since he just seems to have lost faith in this community and has moved on)

About MMod - as sad as it is for me, it didnt work out too well and is pretty much dead. No comments.
Hexer is still alive, with two servers provided by EnEsCe. There WOULD be more servers, it's just that only about four or five people donated money for it. Ever.

So yes, many old server owners are leaving, the main reason being money for the servers (IMO). Because since the majority of players are kids with no ability to pay for something, this is not going to work.
(Again, this is just my opinion - you can call me greedy or w/e, but i'd tell you to fuck off)

Peace.

STM1993 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 11, 2009, 04:29:35 am »

Quote from: danmer on July 11, 2009, 04:20:43 am

all you people whining about the fact that there are no good servers - it's all in your hands.

I'd like to point out that I'm not exactly whining about the servers, but more about my location and the fact that most people within my region don't play Soldat.

Other than that, I can agree with your points.

News:

Author Topic: Soldat is dying, how to revive it? (Read 141139 times)