LC Improvement Plan by anonymous

How to make the Lost Continent servers a better place for players of all types.
(aka “The Most Spergin’ Thing I’ll Ever Do, Hopefully”)

Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Server Configurations
III. Maps
a. Voting
b. Customs
c. Proposed Maplist
IV. Misc. Tweaks
a. Time limits
b. Team scrambles
c. Pubbies & Immunity
V. Admin Guidelines
a. General
b. Events

I: Introduction
Compared to the average Team Fortress 2 server, the Lost Continents are almost a
game of their own. They’re some of the most vanilla, basic servers in existence –
until recently, they lacked even SourceMod. They run a rotation of almost entirely
official maps, and lack game-breaking changes like increased max players or instant
respawn. Yet for all of this good, the LC’s have serious problems. Many LC players
play TF2 for three or more hours a week, and deserve the best possible playing
experience. With that in mind, I’ve created this document to address some of the
most major issues.

This document does not go into how to implement these ideas. I have chosen ideas I
believe to be possible with existing server modifications (mainly SourceMod), and I
will be looking into their feasibility in the near future and, hopefully, have a follow-
up document detailing how to put them into use.

II. Server Configurations

One of the most major problems in the current LC configuration is how the servers
themselves are structured. The five main servers – Atlantis, Mu, Hyperborea,
Lemuria, and Thule – are set up almost with no thought. For example, Atlantis
contains a map, “cp_yukon,” which is detested. Admins refuse to scramble it, and
players leave in droves when it comes up in the rotation. Another example is Thule,
which is an entirely KOTH server that is very rarely played unless Atlantis and Mu
are full, and even then usually passed over in favor of Hyperborea. This gametype,
unlike Arena, is similar enough to the main gametypes to be included on the other
servers.

With problems like this in mind, I propose a reset of what we think of the servers. In
conjunction with the new map voting, the servers would become more similar while
retaining the settings on each that people play them for.

The three main servers would continue to be Atlantis, Mu, and Hyperborea. Each
would have the same list of votable maps (see section 3 for proposals). Atlantis
would continue to have nocrits and nodmgspread, while Mu and Hyperborea would
continue to have both of these. In this way, players can play the maps they want
with the settings they want.

Lemuria would continue to be an Arena server, with similar settings to what it has
now. It would also continue to have nocrits and nodmgspread.

Thule would become the custom maps server. This is mainly a stopgap until good
custom maps that could be implemented in the main mapvote list are found. It also
would likely be used for events.

III: Maps
a. Voting
As stated earlier, all servers would have a new map vote system. This system does
not include a rock-the-vote feature, as it should not be required. For a map to pass,
it would be required to have a 50% vote. If a map does not reach 50% of the vote,
the two top-voted maps would then be pitted against each other. This would keep
from a common scenario happening: two popular CP maps and one popular PL map
come up on a server that generally prefers CP, but the CP vote is split between the
two CP maps and thus the PL map wins.

Map votes would come up halfway through a map’s time limit (see section 4a).

b. Customs
As said earlier, Thule is the only server that includes a rotation of constantly-
updated custom maps. While it does not necessarily have to be an FPSBanana
mirror, it should include maps that are gaining community attention and praise.
Maps that are good enough would go on to the Atlantis, Mu, Hyperborea votemap
list. These maps could be decided through constant polling on TF2Goons.com, or
through simple admin choice.

c. Proposed Maplist
This is a starting point. Nothing on this list is final, and maps may have been
forgotten. In general, these are mostly the same as their current counterparts.
Adding more would be injecting too much of my personal preference into the game.

Atlantis/Mu/Hyperbo pl_hoodoo_final Lemuria

rea pl_frontier arena_lumberyard
cp_badlands pl_goldrush arena_granary
cp_yukon_final pl_badwater arena_sawmill
cp_well plr_pipeline arena_well
cp_granary koth_viaduct arena_ravine
cp_steel koth_waste arena_badlands
cp_gravelpit koth_nucleus arena_nucleus
cp_dustbowl koth_lighthouse_rc5 arena_offblast_final
ctf_turbine koth_sawmill arena_watchtower
koth_harvest

IV: Server Tweaks

a. Time Limits
One of the most consistent issues with the Lost Continents has been maps ending
too quickly. Stacked teams or shorter maps can lead to disappointment from
everyone who was looking forward to the map.

On the flip side, some maps are simply longer than many players want. A/D maps,
PL, maps, and even stalemated 5CP maps have the potential to last an hour or
more.

To combat this, maps would have a new minimum and maximum time limit. These
limits would be different for each map. For example, A/D maps might not have a
minimum time limit, as one round attacking and one round defending is generally
enough for most players. However, 5CP maps may have a 20 or 30 minute
minimum time limit that these maps do not end too quickly.

Maximum time limit would work differently for different maps. On A/D maps,
reaching the maximum time limit in the first round would mean there would not be
a second. A good time for this may be 30 minutes, as a Dustbowl round can last
about that long on a good section 3 defense. On 5CP maps, the maximum time limit
may not be required, but if implemented would be on a per-round basis and lead
directly into sudden death. This could be, say, 45 minutes.
b. Team Scrambles
There are few things worse than being on the losing end of a stacked team. While
forced-random teams are nice (and could likely be implemented), another option
would be simply to scramble teams at the end of each round. This, combined with
time limits, would keep a map from being rolled too quickly.

c. Pubbie Immunity
One of the most controversial discussions has been in regards to pubbie immunity.
The important thing to remember that the LC’s are, primarily, intended as goon
servers. Friends of goons are also included in this through the existing buddy
system.

Simply put, pubbie immunity does nothing but hurt the community. The idea of
players filling up more servers instead of kicking pubbies is a nice idea, but in
practice it simply tends to lead to more players queuing or not playing at all.
Servers already fill up just fine naturally. Pubbie immunity simply keeps goons from
playing with the other goons that are part of the reason the LC’s are so active.

V. Admin Guidelines
a. General
I already know this will be the most contentious section of this document. Simply
put, the admin system on the Lost Continents is not working. Admins are simply
VIP players, who can change map and kick players on a whim instead of
answering to any authority. The admins need to be kept in check and kept
administrating the servers.

To this end, I propose some guidelines:

• If multiple servers are full, and multiples administrators are playing, at least
one should be in each server. A Highlander or similar event should not
deprive the casual players of administration.
• Players simply cannot be kicked because they annoy an admin. A player has
to be generally disliked by the current server population and has to be
disrupting other players’ enjoyment of the game to be kicked. While admins
will continue to have free reign in who they kick and can continue using five-
minute kickbans, any kicked player can bring up the issue to the head
administrators if they believe it is fraudulent and expect a just ruling that
could include punishment of an admin.
• Admins who work against the general server population’s wishes should be
removed. This includes changing settings like alltalk, nocrits, and choosing
their own preferred maps against mapvote.
b. Events
Events should be prescheduled and announced at a certain time with a single
Steam group popup. They should be run on Thule. What happens in events stays in
events – Highlander admins can choose to kick who they want, for example.