Topic: Views of a redshirt...

[MrBad151]

I know I am just a redshirt around here but it puts me in the perfect position to see something that maybe all the nutters don't. 

It might be nice for newbies thinking of joining a server to have a sticky post at the top of the forum for the current server running.  You could put who the race leaders are.. how to join the appropriate forum, etc.  The nutters could post what times they fly so that any newbies with any questions would have at least some idea when someone might be on to answer them.  You could even post which side is in the biggest need of pilots, for those who really don't care which side they fly for, they just want a good fight.

I logged onto the forge and played 3 or 4 days and I don't think I saw a single person.. might have seen LK.. but since he was flying Coalition and I had chosen Gorn.. he didn't say anything.  I flipped a few hexes around the gorn homeworld and started working on the planet just south of the Gorn HW.  I logged on the next day and the feds and stole the planet I spent 2 days trying to flip.  It kinda torqued me off the greedy feds would steal my planet, so I switch to the coalition.  Since I hadn't signed up for a side.. nor had I even seen anyone on the alliance, I didn't feel too bad about it.  Had I know the Feds were about to lose their homeworld.. I would have understood and would still be flying Gorn.

Just seems to me everyone around here already knows so much, a lot is just assumed.  For those of us returning after many years.. well..clueless might be a bit strong.. but not by much.

[KBF-Crim]

You bring up some good points...we'll try and hook you up better in the future...

There are team forums on SFC2.net

[KBFLordKrueg]

I know I am just a redshirt around here but it puts me in the perfect position to see something that maybe all the nutters don't. 

It might be nice for newbies thinking of joining a server to have a sticky post at the top of the forum for the current server running.  You could put who the race leaders are.. how to join the appropriate forum, etc.  The nutters could post what times they fly so that any newbies with any questions would have at least some idea when someone might be on to answer them.  You could even post which side is in the biggest need of pilots, for those who really don't care which side they fly for, they just want a good fight.

I logged onto the forge and played 3 or 4 days and I don't think I saw a single person.. might have seen LK.. but since he was flying Coalition and I had chosen Gorn.. he didn't say anything.  I flipped a few hexes around the gorn homeworld and started working on the planet just south of the Gorn HW.  I logged on the next day and the feds and stole the planet I spent 2 days trying to flip.  It kinda torqued me off the greedy feds would steal my planet, so I switch to the coalition.  Since I hadn't signed up for a side.. nor had I even seen anyone on the alliance, I didn't feel too bad about it.  Had I know the Feds were about to lose their homeworld.. I would have understood and would still be flying Gorn.

Just seems to me everyone around here already knows so much, a lot is just assumed.  For those of us returning after many years.. well..clueless might be a bit strong.. but not by much.

For most so called "serious" campaigns, there is a stickied thread with all that information.
It's almost always included right in the rules thread for the server, notice the info is included in Dizzy's thread for SGO:
http://www.dynaverse.net/forum/index.php/topic,163385489.30.html
Since The Forge is not considered "serious" most of that information can be found instead in the different sides' forums.
Another reason I always encourage pilots to join the campaign forums on sfc2.net. 
Same thing goes for for the lack of pilots seen.
Player population is usually very light on The Forge because so many apparently arrive at the conclusion it's just not "serious" enough to be worth flying on...  
I have gone a couple of days sometimes before I see anyone, friend or foe.
And don't be too angry at the Feds, they really only took that planet because their HW was under assault and they were desperately trying to give themselves a resupply point.
With 2 other neutral planets still near the HWs, I'm surprised they haven't flipped another planet Fed, rather than relying on destroyable bases.

[MrBad151]

Once I realized why the feds took the planet I understood completely.  Unfortunately I had now spent so much time on the Coalition side I didn't think it would be right to switch back.  I still feel a little bad about switching in the first place since the alliance needs pilots so badly right now.

Interesting that you have non-"serious" campaigns.  The forge has been running for what? 4 months?  And has been the only server running during that time.  Are the serious campaigns so intense that you need a 4 month vacation after one is over? LOL  Wow! I can't wait to see that!

While it is true that a lot information is in the race forums on SFC2.net, SFC2.net is rather inhospitable.  Every single area requires special access, another speed bump for newbies trying to join up.

Are there that many people these days rushing to play SFC.. probably not, but considering how many once played, you never know when some old timer like myself decides to reinstall SFC.  If figuring out how to join a campaign takes more than 10 minutes its likely they will just run a single player campaign until the bug gets out of thier system...  I speak from personal experience.

[KBFLordKrueg]

Interesting that you have non-"serious" campaigns.  The forge has been running for what? 4 months?  And has been the only server running during that time.  Are the serious campaigns so intense that you need a 4 month vacation after one is over? LOL  Wow! I can't wait to see that!

lol... the last "serious" campaign (ATOK4) ended mid July of last year...
Setting up a campaign at all requires more work and know how than most have or are willing to give.
And since overall the general population has drifted to other games or fallen under the Vista curse, they are rare anymore.
They typically last 2-4 weeks.
The Forge was put up just to give players something to kick around on, almost not even considered a campaign at all, hence it's lack of rules and restrictions usually found in the "serious" campaigns.
The Forge has been running for a long time, it usually runs until about 2305 or so, once it ran until the 2230s, then Bonk resets it and usually puts up a different map with each run.
I think this is the 4th or 5th run of the Forge...? Not real sure...

[FPF-Paladin]

Intense?  Actually... yes, they sure can be!  It's not uncommon to see players put amazing amounts of effort into them to the point where a break afterwards is a good idea.

The time periods between 'serious' campaigns are more a result of mixing a set of factors into putting a campaign up:

-amount of time to design them, which is considerable.
-amount of time needed while the campaign is running to keep it running.
-out of the playerbase, there are really only a few experienced admins who have the time and know how needed to successfully get a campaign up and running.  Honestly I feel it's been difficult for these few to shoulder that workload time and time again (something only they could really comment on) irregardless of motivation to do so.

I think Bonk wrote somewhere that the Forge was his effort to always have an OP campaign running.  As LordKrueg mentioned it doesn't have a lot of rules normally used for balancing purposes that apply to it, so it's sometimes considered less than serious.  Beats me.. I know I've had some white knuckled moments on the Forge the little time I've been able to get to play and some good times that were just like the 'old days' years back when I was really first starting to get into SFC... so I'm happy with it.

Oh yeah, just because your post count is low doesn't mean squat, you're absolutely entitled to a say here and your opinions as much as the next pilot   Don't hold back feeling otherwise.

[deadmansix]

 there is a posting alliance pilots and coalition pilots those are the 2 sides I am the "leader" of the massive and indestructible alliance force, unfortunately I have been ill the last few days and have not put in the time I have been known to and I am truly sorry to have missed you on the server,so please log on I am on most of the time around 1pm -5pm PST and some times in the morning used to be almost 24/7 but I am an old grampa now and I now find sleep comforting