Current State of the Server III (Part 1)

[xHobbes]

Hello,

Since 2018, I’ve made a post like this one every year. Normally, it’s towards the end of the year, but with how much has changed since the last post, I think that it’s time to make another one. I’ll definitely make another one at the end of the year like normal, so you could call this the part 1 of 2.

Since that’s out of the way, I want to thank the Staff, Builders, Developers, and the Owners for the great updates this past 6 months. The quality and quantity of the updates we’ve gotten lately has been strong and consistent. This is exactly what I thought the best course for the server was when I made my last post.

Like my last post, I’ll condense the different sections to make it easier to navigate and find what you’re interested in. I don’t know if I’ll do this again in the future because it’s hard to read black text on a crimson background, but it is what it is for now.

Spoiler: The Forum

As of right now, the forums aren’t too active. It’s sort of surprising having such a big increase to the playerbase, but the forums staying pretty stagnant. I think that the forums should be promoted more on the server. Maybe reward players for signing up, offering a Legendary Crate for doing so or something along those lines. It would incentivize people to sign up, without forcing it or anything. It’s free, and will probably be effective.

It isn’t entirely lack of promotion that’s causing a lack of popularity. The UI isn’t that great, especially on mobile. I’m making this post entirely on my phone, so I can say first hand that it’s hard to navigate. I get that some features have to be stripped back for mobile, but it still could be executed better. For example, on the Menu tab, the Stats page is shown, rather then a more popular and useful page, such as Members. In order to get to the Member page, you have to scoll all the way to the bottom of the screen, where it allows you to go to the page. If you know your way around on the moblie site, it isn’t a big deal, but to someone just browsing on their phone, will make it harder and they might miss it entirely.

Another problem is the color scheme. It might not sound like to big of a deal, but the colors hold the forums back a lot. While the grey and crimson definitely fit the mood of the server, it isn’t visually attractive or very practical to read. I bet that you’re having trouble reading what I’m saying right now because the text blends in with the background, and people with worse eyesight might not be able to read it at all. I think the forums would be better if it reverted to the old space design that they used for a while. It was better visually and practically.

Spoiler: The Mining Dead

The Mining Dead has vastly improved. The new updates, map, and addition of bases has completely changed how the game works. It is easily the best gameplay in the servers history, ever. It’s fun, challenging and replayable, but I do think it could be further improved.

Bases, while cool, are kind of overpowered. You can have mutiple bases at the same time from what I’ve heard. Also, juggernaut is very common and hard to avoid at some points. Both aren’t super annoying or anything, but could potentially be problems further on. Bases should be limited to 1 per person across all servers, maybe a second for PvE. Juggernaut drop rates should be lowered in Crates, or have a nerf to their damage deduction, as well as making the wearer move slower. This also doesn’t feel like a bad time for a reset, but I don’t have any other opinions on one happening so I don’t know how it would boil over with the community.

The economy is great, with a good supply and demand because of the Auction House. The different guns have good synergy with each other, and are all useful in their own ways. Most of the gameplay works perfectly and is fun to play.

One of the biggest issues I have with the game is how easy it is to tank. There are so many healing and boosting items in the game, it’s almost ridiculous. Paired with Juggernaut, it’s almost impossible to take people like that down. Certain items, like Syringes, should be completely removed from the game and never brought back. Other healing items, like Bandages, should heal less or take longer to use.

Melee weapons are also an issue. There are so many of them and they’re all not worth using because the Katana exists. They might as well not exist at all. A Katana change should happen, nerfing the damage slightly and making its durability 100, while buffing the swing speed and potentially making it autoswing if possible. A Fire Axe buff should also happen, buffing the damage by a lot, and making it much slower. Then, possibly a Combat Knife buff, maybe making it a sort of middle ground between the other two. It would add much needed diversity to suite different playstyles, as well as balancing out the melees, rather than having one that’s objectively better than everything else.

Spoiler: Mine Wars

Mine Wars is going to be returning soon, to my and many others delight. I’ve been pushing for its return every since it was retired, and it’s finally almost back. I’m aware of the closed beta thats rewarded by voting, but I’m not going to bother with it, mostly because I want to focus on other things I’m doing than video games, but when I have the time and it’s fully released, I’m going to try to play as much as I can.

From the leaks on twitter, it seems like it’s finally getting the attention it deserves. It looks more polished, and has better features and graphics. Hopefully the maps are more interesting than the Tatooine one was, and is more fleshed out with quests. I’m also hoping AFK Farming will be fixed, and different levels being more balanced.

Spoiler: The Community

I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the servers toxicity, but no proof to back it up. I’ve seen it get a little heated on the PvP servers, but it mostly trash talking, not bullying or anything. Maybe it only happens on deep cut local chats on PvE, but I rarely see it. In fact, the server seems more inviting than ever. I always see people helping each other out on both gamemodes, and I think that the server will only get stronger socially with the addition of bases.

With that being said, the Discord server is different. It’s an amalgamation of weird and “special” people asking dumb questions or arguing. It’s useful for meeting people, but it definitely needs to be reformed and cleaned up.

The server has improved drastically these past months. While it’s not perfect, and does have flaws, this is still the best the server has ever been. I am looking foward to what the developers have up their sleeves, as well as future gamemode releases.

 

[mindblaster007]

I haven’t had a chance to read the whole thing... but I do totally agree with the part about Jugg giving you slowness. IRL jugg is really heavy and makes the user not able to move easily, I think this is something that should be added.

 

[Runkelpokk]

the idea of jugg giving slowness sounds good but it seems like a change the pvp comunity might hate a lot even if it would not be such a big change as removing fast pains it might break the pvp comunity, which is just recovering atm, again.

 

[xHobbes]

the idea of jugg giving slowness sounds good but it seems like a change the pvp comunity might hate a lot even if it would not be such a big change as removing fast pains it might break the pvp comunity, which is just recovering atm, again.

I think it would survive. It’s only a vocal minority that would actually leave the server because of the change. Most people either wouldn’t care, or embrace the change.

 

[mindblaster007]

s of right now, the forums aren’t too active. It’s sort of surprising having such a big increase to the playerbase, but the forums staying pretty stagnant.

With that being said, the Discord server is different. It’s an amalgamation of weird and “special” people asking dumb questions or arguing. It’s useful for meeting people, but it definitely needs to be reformed and cleaned up.

It's weird to me how we transferred to sharing all information via Discord rather than forums. I personally think the Discord looks like a hurricane hit it. It' confusing, not really organized, and just looks unprofessional. It also seems a bit sloppy how they have tickets being made in Discord, as well as on the forums. Important things such as tickets, bug/player reports, and appeals should all be in one, central place. I would also like to mention that a lot of what's announced in the discord server isn't announced on the forums. A lot of old players, such as myself, look at the forums every now and then to see what's up. When this happens we don't know about all the changes that have taken place. I also think that they should have another page on the forums to keep track of the changelogs as they have on the discord server.

Certain items, like Syringes, should be completely removed from the game and never brought back.

I have to disagree with this. Compared to the pain killers they were meant to replace, they aren't overpowered, in my opinion. Once you use one, you have to wait until the effects of the first syringe to wear off. It would be overpowered if you could just spam them without a cooldown.

I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the servers toxicity, but no proof to back it up. I’ve seen it get a little heated on the PvP servers, but it mostly trash talking, not bullying or anything.

I must admit, the toxicity is a lot better than it once was. However, there's still quite a bit of it around. I realized that on TMDPVP-1 there is just trash talk amongst older players and they all respect each other. However, on TMDPVP-2, newer players play on this and they are often straight-up rude and say some uncalled for things that would be punishable. Again, it's gotten a lot better, but could still be improved.

Melee weapons are also an issue.

I was recently thinking about this... I think that all the weapons that give "Concussion Time" should have a cooldown on how fast you can swing the said weapon. For example, a sledgehammer shouldn't be able to hit as fast as it currently does.

making the wearer move slower

Again, I completely agree with this.

Just my thoughts on what you said. You made another great CSOS thread @xHobbes!

 

[xHobbes]

Thank you.

The reason I suggested the removal of syringes isn’t just because I think it’s overpowered, it’s also because there are too many healing items in the game. Out of all the healing items, they are the most OP and don’t have a place in the game currently. I think they could be balanced by possibly causing a poison effect while using it, or maybe after using it makes you move slower. Since it’s a syringe, especially since it gives mutiple buffs, it’s fair to assume it wouldn’t be good for you in the long run, so a negative attribute that comes after you use it would balance it out. Because it would stay, I think the Medkit and the Antidote could have their effects combined (It would fully heal you and cure zombie infection, but would have a 15 second use time. It works like an item version of /heal).

As for the toxicity, I don’t think TMDPVP-2 is important to focus on. It doesn’t have a consistent playerbase, and it’s only real purpose is if TMDPVP-1 goes offline for some reason. I never play on PVP-2, granted, so I don’t know how bad it is, but I don’t think it’s big enough of a deal to put a blanket term on the whole server and say that its toxic.

 

[mindblaster007]

I think a reasonable effect to add to it is nausea for around 15 seconds which is 1/4th of the total time the syringe lasts.

 

[Runkelpokk]

removing resistance from syringes might be the best solution

 

[Dog7000]

HavocMC is not a perfect Minecraft network nor will it ever be. That being said, no Minecraft network is perfect and we've seen over the years that the ones that have failed to adapt to the trends either closed or can't even hold 100 players to this day. There was a period of time where Havoc was in this state and had they stuck to their roots they would've probably been in the same situation as the others. There are a lot of reasons why new & old players are coming to Havoc but one key reason that sticks out to me is the fact that they've become more receptive to feedback. Havoc has a done a good job of this I believe and if they keep on this path then I'm sure Havoc is bound to reach over 500 players again. When an individual in a team thinks that a specific method or whatever is perfect they are already setting themselves up for failure. Nothing is perfect and they should always be open minded to feedback.

In regards to the status of the forums, it is no surprise that activity has dropped. The truth of the matter is that forums are becoming rather archaic in the MC community. Do not misunderstand what I'm saying, servers in the MC community still have a website but there's no forums for people to hold discussions of the sort. Punishment appeals, staff applications, donation support etc etc can all be done via Discord. If people want to have discussions they do it through discord and so on. I think Havoc should follow suite considering they already do majority of their support via discord anyway. The only thing they don't do is doing ban appeals and staff apps through that (which can be easily done). One way they could handle staff apps is via using typeform (a common site used by other servers to handle staff apps) or via google forms (another common method). As for ban appeals, doing it via discord would probably be best considering they have to sync their account. Removing the forums section would allow staff to focus all of their attention in-game & discord. Yes, there are cons to using discord but I think the pros far outweigh the cons.

 

[Dsawemd]

Fun server, but there is no proper money sink in TMD. The lower levels are fairly well balanced, but once you get above a few hundred thousand it becomes apparent there’s just not enough to spend $ on.

One idea for a sink: when a base is raided to the ground, each structure loses a tier ie Gunsmith III -> Gunsmith II, Wall V -> Wall IV, etc.

A Reset would be beneficial, after implementing changes in economy balancing to fight inflation, and a bit of time to make sure they are working properly.