Wich day are you playing ET

[bibizz944x]

Just want to know when you guys are playing on the server,
less players are playing on a regular base,each time i connect myself,
there is only a few of regulars players.
For myself i log myself on every day of the week and week ends for sure cause week-ends are the time that i saw the most players playing since the last 3 weeks.
Just let me know when it's the best time to play!!!!!!

[Digger]

I'm usually on most days from 3pm-11pm central or so. Not constantly on, but pop in and out of playing/spec depending on kid, supper, chores, etc. Most weekends I'm on most of the day...again...same thing, depending on other things going around the house.
I find it interesting that with over 4500 members on the website, we can't get even 20 people to consistently play.

[septime]

Same as Digger, but for me it's 6-10pm EST.

Most of the players join when they see people ONLINE. For instance you have a 4vs4 and a couple of specs. Depending on what you are looking for : you will either join and play or say WTH, I want to play with more guys (so you postpone or never join).

Anyway, it takes players to attract players. IF you dont join, others won't.

Keep in mind that a 4vs4 can quickly become a 10vs10 ...

[Digger]

Keep in mind that a 4vs4 can quickly become a 10vs10 ...

This!

[TJHooker]

Unfortunately my work schedule keeps me pretty busy these days and when I do feel like playing there is never anyone on unfortunately. I guess too I am getting bored with ET, it just isn't the same with the small groups. I will try to be on between 6pm and 9pm pacific time when I have the time.

[Digger]

The server is caught in a bad cycle...people come on, see the low numbers....and leave. That's just perpetuating the problem. Sometimes I'll get on and be by myself for 5 minutes or so. Next thing you know, it's 4-4 or more. It takes players to attract players. Sometimes you just have to put up with the low numbers and give it a chance for more people to show up.
If we get everyone in that mindset, we can increase the amount of players. Just don't give up on the server too quickly...

[mAecrAes]

Digger and Sept are totally right about players attracting players. The past couple nights there have been some good matches because people are staying on. I haven't had as much time lately for ET as I have the past several months, but I usually try to stay on for an hour or two if time allows to see if some good games get started.

Another problem is when there are smaller teams, say 3 vs 4, the team that is shorthanded will most likely lose and there are certain players that seem to quit consistently after losing a map or two in a row which only compounds the problem. I like to win as much as the next guy, but quitting because you're losing maps isn't going to get more players on the server. I'm not sure what the solution to this is though. Sometimes I spec when a team is up by one to and wait until someone else joins, but I think people are more likely to join if they see a team needs a player.

Something else that can help in those scenarios is when a team is when a team is up by a player, take it easy with arty spamming and heavy weapons. Granted there are no rules against any of this, but it can be pretty frustrating being down a player when the other teams has 2 panzers, and a field op spamming arty on 2 guys, so I can see why some people leave quickly. I never thought I'd be going on an ethics in Enemy Territory rant but, I think a little consideration could go a long way to making the server a more fun place.

This wasn't directed at any players in particular by the way, just observations from the last few months of the server lull.

[KrispyKritter]

I worry about the New Blood for ET. PB stopping support has created the etkey problem. The loss of the Master Browser means new players will see no servers to play. I don't think new players who come across ET on Cnet/download.com will spend much effort on a 'broken game'. The problem would be magnified for non-English speakers.

I know TrackBase has done some good work fixing those problems for experienced players, but I wonder how their work could be packaged to attract newbies on the download sites.

Has anybody seen any brand-new players on BBA, not just new names? I think I saw one new player with a hand-me-down computer from his older brother, but that's it. Or so he claimed...

[kakeroo]

BBA is not in the server list.

i D/L wolf ET from cnet but got the 2.55 version. i had to patch to 2.06, then copy/paste the 2.06b files into the ET main folder. after that i had to type the fallowing commands into the console outside of a server

/cl_guid (did nothing)
/pb_cl_enable
/pb_system 1
/pb_writecfg

i was also having problems with my et key not being recognized for xp save and the above commands also fixed that problem or were for that problem.

i got all of these problems fixed from the fearless-assassin clan forums since there server was the only populated one in the server list. they also have an et key generator over there too.

and for some strange reason for the past few months the BBA website kept coming up as 404 not found.

i will do my best to attract players back to BBA if you guys can get ahold of their et key gen and put a tuturial sticky for the problem fix console commands i wrote above.

i no nothing as to why BBA is no longer in the server list though and i will just remain spectator as i am out doing my school/work because it is true, players attract players

[KrispyKritter]

Kakeroo is at least the second person to say this on the forums, so I did a little digging. The real problem is described after I write below,
"===============================================
Okay I found a couple of things:"

The first part of the post is explaining the history and possible solutions for some of the problems of some of the people, some of the time.

BBA is not in the server list. ...

Punkbuster had stopped supporting ET, RTCW and ETQW, and the ET Master Server went down. PB would not generate ETkeys for new installations, which means that installed PB clients could not generate PBguids. Jaymod, at least, requires the PBguid to be sent to the game server for the server to save XP.
From Trackbase, a new program to automatically install pb with an etkey. I assume this is an advancement on their etkey generator, where you had to place the key yourself.
http://etkey.org/pages/punkbuster/auto- ... rlekin.php

or, the Do-it-yourself etkey gen from them:
http://etkey.org/
scroll down to bottom of page where the location of 'etkey' file is shown in various operating systems.

here is their Full-ET-2.6B-Installer page (which might help you with helping newcomers to ET)
http://etkey.org/pages/enemy-territory- ... indows.php

When the ET Mastter Server went down last January, I used this solution, via Trackbase:
http://etmaster.net/
and I used the 'Edit Hosts File' method.
It seems that ID has since fixed/restored the Master Server. I am still using the Hosts-method, which the author said would redirect to the normal ET master Browser, if it ever returned. It has returned:
http://forums.warchestgames.com/showthr ... -In-Action
and I will now edit my hosts file to test the ID ED MasterBrowser.
and....I See BBA in the Browser List with a normal Hosts file.
I will have to reboot my computer now to make sure the system uses the new file. (unnecessary)

BBL ...
===============================================
Okay I found a couple of things:

1) a. you don't have to reboot to test your Hosts file, just close and restart ET.
b. The location of most Windows Hosts files is " %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\ "
c. I cannot edit the file directly. I have to save a copy of the file elswwhere, edit it there and then I can copy the edited file back over the original Hosts file.

2) People who say they can't see BBA on the Master List are correct!!
a. when I had the line " 91.220.53.73 etmaster.idsoftware.com " added to the last line of my Hosts file and I sort the servers in name order, I see:
<IoW> silEnT (No Bots
<{BBA}>1 NO RESET XP SAVE
+DarkServer=

b. when I clear the trackbase master browser address out of the Hosts file, I don't see <{BBA}> and in fact, I only see two servers with names beginning with "<", "<BHS/3 Clan Recruiting" and "<COBRA> Recruiting XPSAVE".

I believe that there are a number of other differences. I suspect that those who used the other NoETmaster fixes offered by TrackBase may see what I see when using the mod-Hosts method.

I don't have more time to work on this more tonight, but things ARE amiss.

*added* next day's results below ( http://www.bbaservers.com/ftopicp-68699.html#68699 )

[KrispyKritter]

Followup to http://www.bbaservers.com/ftopicp-68687.html#68687

===========
next day, 5:52 pm CDT
============

TrackBase Master Server List, with NO filters:
261 servers listed in browser with 2185 players.
22 servers not listed (filtered out by game browser settings)
]/condump TBmaster-Nofilters-#120422.doc

ID Master Server List, with NO filters:
371 servers listed in browser with 4143 players.
33 servers not listed (filtered out by game browser settings)
]/condump IdMaster-NoFilters#120422.doc

TB gathers 141 servers' info at a time, while
ID gathers 99 servers' info at a time.

I turned off ALL the filters before searching, yet both Master Servers filter some out.