Please Give Server Admins/owners Back Their Sub Categories

[splinter2k 23]

Greetings,

 

Just wondering why many of the Sub Categories are gone under the DayZ Mod forum.  I thought they were organized quite nicely, but now some of the key ones, such as Ban Appeal and Cheat Reporting are merged into "Mod Servers & Private Hives."   This is going to make it harder for players to find what they are looking for.  

 

You know the saying . . . "If it aint broke, don't fix it."

 

Regards,

 

Splinter

Edited January 30, 2014 by Splinter_2K

[Max Planck 7174]

It has been 'streamlined' a bit.

After the release of the SA alpha, the mod will be getting less and less attention from players and we had way too many subforums that didn't really serve much purpose.

 

Also, the reason it seemed to be 'organized quite nicely' is because we used to spend a lot of time every day moving topics into the correct subforums.

[TedZ 424]

Same as said above, DayZ SA is most likely more popular now.

[OrLoK 16187]

Hello there

 

Nothing is ever written in stone, so if things do get messy we can always change things back.

 

But we do have to accept that the main focus is now on the Retail release and the fact that the traffic in those sub forums has dropped off.

 

We never make changes lightly and this move was discussed in depth.

 

This is a very fluid time for both the game as well as the forums so expect more changes.

 

Rgds

 

LoK

[splinter2k 23]

Thanks all, I appreciate the replies.

 

Regards,

 

Splinter

[Skydive (DayZ) 71]

I don't like this change for the specific reason that the thread for server operators is now gone.  One of the problems that still remains unanswered is that with the recent changes to battleye that basically breaks everyone's filters from working with no good explanation or examples of how to set them up correctly.  And now, this has basically been "swept under the rug" still leaving the problem unsolved for the majority of us who are server operators.

[SaintMerc 73]

I don't like this change for the specific reason that the thread for server operators is now gone.  One of the problems that still remains unanswered is that with the recent changes to battleye that basically breaks everyone's filters from working with no good explanation or examples of how to set them up correctly.  And now, this has basically been "swept under the rug" still leaving the problem unsolved for the majority of us who are server operators.

 

I have to agree with you. As it seems since SA came out the DayZ mod servers being a public or private server have been brushed under the carpet. Unless you can afford to rent a SA server there seems to be no help.

Or they allow us DayZ Public dedicated server owners to run a Public SA server for them, At least they will not be admin abused. Like most of the current servers.

I understand the reason for the clean up, But the server categories should of stayed the same.

1 for public mod and 1 for private mod and 1 for SA servers.

Even the data center I use, don't even have a answer to the Battleye filter changes and there servers are also running on the old scripts that are currently useless.

I'm hoping that someone that understands these filters will come out with a fix, for those that don't know how to modify them.

 

As for the original post on the BE filters changes here are the links. Which are now on page 4 of this section.

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/166175-battleye-server-filters-for-dayzmod-1803-info/

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/165859-battleye-update-breaks-filters/

 

Regards,

 

Faz

Edited January 26, 2014 by Faz

[splinter2k 23]

Greetings,

 

All good points being made.  I understand getting ready for the Stand-Alone, but I don't think removing some of the key sub-forums makes sense yet.  As server Admins/Owners, we need those server categories to be able to help one another.  

 

I would like to ask that the Cheating Reporting, Ban Appeal and Server General sub-forums be restored at least.   PLEASE!   It is very important that we can alert each other to cheaters, ask server operator type questions and respond to ban appeals.  Those threads are now buried among a variety of topics and have lost the visibility that they deserve.  

 

Continuing to keep the DayZ Mod experience a positive one, can only help SA once it is completed.

 

Regards,

 

Splinter

Edited January 26, 2014 by Splinter_2K

[Skydive (DayZ) 71]

Splinter_2K nailed it.  This particular server thread is constantly bombarded with server advertisement spam.  There is no way that anyone will find useful message threads among the constant bombardment of server hosting companies and server operators trying to populate their servers.

 

I say break off the sub forums Splinter_2K recommended so that we can still have an area to share valuable information.

[splinter2k 23]

Greetings,

 

Any further thought to bringing back a few of the sub forums that we suggested above?   As Skydive correctly pointed out, important threads are getting buried underneath server advertisements and spam. 

 

I know you moderators work hard at keeping these forums clean and believe me, it is very much appreciated!   However, we also work hard as server owners and admins to give our players a positive DayZ experience.   Your reconsideration regarding this would be appreciated.

 

Thank you,

 

Splinter

[TG ! Jimmy 216]

...I understand getting ready for the Stand-Alone, but I don't think removing some of the key sub-forums makes sense yet.  As server Admins/Owners, we need those server categories to be able to help one another.  

 

I would like to ask that the Cheating Reporting, Ban Appeal and Server General sub-forums be restored at least.   PLEASE!   It is very important that we can alert each other to cheaters, ask server operator type questions and respond to ban appeals.  Those threads are now buried among a variety of topics and have lost the visibility that they deserve.  ...

As a fellow owner/admin I agree with Splinter here.  I can think of half a dozen instances in which just being able to cross reference other servers bans and complaints has come in handy with issues I've had crop up in my own server; furthermore, I've been able to use my server's logs and data to help other admin manage their own servers.  I think having an easy access point for crucial data like this is one of the few things that helps hold together the administrative community.  Not to sound like the little brother angling for attention--but without some quality owner/admin out there to properly manage servers I'm afraid we'll be dealing with servers that are not so maturely handled.  To me, this seems like it would affect the player base, if they didn't have quality places to play the game they bought.  

 

 

Splinter_2K nailed it.  This particular server thread is constantly bombarded with server advertisement spam.  There is no way that anyone will find useful message threads among the constant bombardment of server hosting companies and server operators trying to populate their servers.

 

I say break off the sub forums Splinter_2K recommended so that we can still have an area to share valuable information.

 

I think this is a good idea, and a pretty reasonable request.  I know it is asking the moderation staff to refit, refinish, and reorganize a portion of the forums.  I also think that the amount of owner/admin who utilize this section is significantly lower than the population using other sections of the forums, which could be a reason to write us off.  I get that.  I just hope we can find a way to help keep this section easy to access, easy to sift through, and allow the people who use it to continue using it as one of the few tools we have left to combat the cheating and other issues that we stumble across.

 

 

Cheers,

Jimmy

[splinter2k 23]

Get back up there . . . you are too important to be buried in spam!  :)

[SmashT 10907]

They won't be returning, we've been considering this for a fair while (well over a year now), focus has now shifted towards the standalone game, things like ban appeals and cheat reporting are probably better suited to your own websites tbh.

 

We must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom! 

[splinter2k 23]

So the "Clan Recruiting", "Trading" and "DayZ Picture Gallery" sub-forums are more important than the ones we're asking for back?   Come on guys are you really thinking this through?  Who is ultimately making this decision?   A separate sub-forum for your favorite "screen shots" is more important?   Someone ought to be embarrassed by that!

 

With all due respect, why be so stubborn about this?  How is adding the forums back that we are asking for going to prevent you from moving forward?   You could even give us one sub-forum back for Server Admins.  That would be better than the crap you have us buried in now.

 

I purchased the Alpha and the Stand-Alone is looking great, but it's not done yet.  You guys are acting like you have a finished product ready to hit the store shelves and you're on a mission to get rid of the old.   Well, you're not that close and a lot of players are still playing the Mod while waiting for the Stand-Alone to get finished.   A good share of your player base for the Stand Alone is going to come from the DayZ Mod community. Why would you do anything to take away from their experience or our ability to support them right now?   That's just poor business logic and an unfortunate "FU" attitude toward the community that's made this game so great.

 

It is not a better place to have Cheat Reporting on our own websites.  It belongs here in a central place, to alert all of the server admins that a Hacker may be heading their way.   They almost always hop from server to server sharing their hacking love!!!

 

Sorry for the rant, but I don't appreciate the "we won't budge" mentality.  That's a slap in the face to a lot of people who have supported this Mod.  That includes those of us who have paid to host servers and give players a nice place to game.  

 

Splinter

Edited January 31, 2014 by Splinter_2K

[Skydive (DayZ) 71]

They won't be returning, we've been considering this for a fair while (well over a year now), focus has now shifted towards the standalone game, things like ban appeals and cheat reporting are probably better suited to your own websites tbh.

 

We must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom! 

 

Wow. This is certainly a slap in the face for me and anyone else running a public hive server.

I guess this would be a good time to shutter the doors on it, but maybe that's what this change what meant to do.

[SaintMerc 73]

I agree with both splinter and skydive statements, because there would be a uproar if we were to close our public

server, due to the lack of commitment from the staff here with the Mod version at this time.

This is just another let down for all the work we have freely done while hosting the Mod server. :(

Shame a few more Mod server admins are not supporting this little change.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Faz

[splinter2k 23]

The silly part about this is that the Stand Alone is nowhere near ready!  It's in Alpha for crying out loud.  It's looking great, but realistically it's not hitting the shelves anytime soon.  There is a whole lot of work to be done!

 

Many of the players on my server own the SA Alpha and have been testing it.  However, they always come back to the MOD, at least for now.  Why?  Because SA is nowhere near being completed enough to give them the complete DayZ experience.   Again, they will continue to play the MOD until SA is ready and can offer the full DayZ experience.   This only makes sense!  

 

Why does it make any business sense whatsoever to start pulling emphasis away from the MOD this soon?   They need to keep it running smoothly, to keep players satisfied and interested while waiting for SA.  This is just plain common sense!

 

I own 5 copies of the Alpha, because my four kids and I all play.  I also own 5 copies of Arma2, because we all play the DayZ mod.  In addition, I host a Server and take a lot of pride in giving players a good DayZ experience.   When I first decided to host a server, I was lost.  However, these forums gave me a place to post questions and get the help I needed.  In fact, thanks to these forums, I met Jimmy from US 3480 who put up with my stupid questions and taught me SO MUCH of what I needed to know.

 

I'm not sure who has the final say regarding these forums, but I hope that all of the ego and arrogance can be set aside and the right decision made.

 

I will repeat, I have always appreciated the effort of the moderators in these forums!   

 

Regards,

 

Splinter

Edited January 31, 2014 by Splinter_2K

[TG ! Jimmy 216]

Splinter, thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it, and I'm happy to help!

 

I am pretty sad to see this go away.  I require my admins to post bans here, so when a player cannot join our server at least they have a centralized place to go find out some information.  I would say on average I get two PM's a week from players who have been banned, and because of this forum we are able to either sort out a misunderstanding--or I can let the player know that they have been caught and that's the end of their time in our server.  It's not a foolproof method of interaction, but it sure beats banning players and giving them no means of communicating with us.  A centralized point of contact is a great tool for communication.  Not that this is a business, but to loosely relate it to customer service it could be argued that a player banned by accident, or by false positive, is to kick out a customer or client.  If they go rant to their friends about your poorly run server and go on to flame the admin staff, then their friends hear, and their friends...you get the drift.  It can cause a lot of bad press for a server.

 

I suppose it's true, each owner/admin could run a web site and direct their ban info and any other press to that location.  I think that's something that many of us (dying breed) official hive admin could do, but it's also one more thing to manage.  I actually ran a forum for my server for a brief period and I can count on one hand the amount of contact I received from my playerbase through it.  I grew tired of checking up on our insignificant site when in truth, players would come here to this site to lodge their complaints.  This forum already has given DayZmod players a voice, and it seems they choose to use it, rather than hunt down a site for each server they visit. One more place to put up with the trolls, the spam, and the common asshattery that mature players care to avoid.  The forum staff here certainly knows what I mean by that.  They deal with as much bravo sierra as anyone who's ever touched a forum.  Sometimes feels as though you need to glove up before logging in, I imagine.

 

It's impossible to give a man advice if he hasn't asked for it, so I won't directly suggest how to run this forum.  I'll stretch to say that there is still a DayZ Mod Suggestions forum, and I'm going to make the connection to this post and that forum albeit technically in the wrong section.  It does seem as though while there is still any amount of forum space allocated to the DayZmod that it's fair to give the few gluttons-for-punishment that run official hives a place to band together in keeping the official hive as clean as possible.  The hive still exists, the playerbase still exists, the servers are still paid for and managed by guys who truly care about them.  I'm not altogether convinced we need some of the other forum categories that still exist--but I'm sure there are folks that would miss them if they were abolished.  

 

I stopped by and checked this section frequently.  Partially to be sure we admin were doing a quality job of policing our servers, partially to share banlists/data/etc. with other official hive admin, but also to find those players who had a bad experience in my server.  If they were banned, and they would care to lodge a complaint, I would do my best to respond to them in an appropriate manner.  I feel like it's these little things that have made the few remaining official hive servers last as long as they have.

 

In summary, I'd just ask that this is reviewed for the Nth time.  Even if the section were to be simply re-created from scratch--just to give the official hive a little corner of existence to manage itself until it's no longer relevant.  There are still people who care, and isn't that what the hive was created for anyhow?

 

Thanks for putting up with my long-winded posts,

Jimmy

[SmashT 10907]

I've added a Server Owners and Admins subsection, that should suffice. If you need a topic moved there either report it or PM me.

[TG ! Jimmy 216]

I've added a Server Owners and Admins subsection, that should suffice. If you need a topic moved there either report it or PM me.

Cheers!

 

It will be put to good use. Thank you for the consideration.

 

-Jimmy

[splinter2k 23]

I've added a Server Owners and Admins subsection, that should suffice. If you need a topic moved there either report it or PM me.

 

Thank you SmashT and the Forum Team.  Very much appreciated!!!!

[SaintMerc 73]

Thank you SmashT and the Forum Team for the Sub Forum.  It is indeed very much appreciated! :)