[SUCS Devel] Effective use of the games server

[Graham Cole]

Another year, another opportunity to get the games server off the  
ground.

Here are my thoughts on what needs to be done to attain the goal of  
an active gaming community within SUCS:

1. Make sure people will be able to get onto the server. There are  
reports of not being able to connect from the Student Village.

2. Choose the right games, the right mods, the right maps. Appoint  
someone to be in charge of choosing the things which are likely to be  
popular. Armagetron and BZFlag are fun, but are not the staples of  
the community I think we're trying to attract. Things need to be kept  
fresh in this department, cause people seem to bore easily when  
playing the same games all the time. I would've picked on loki for  
this role, though he seems to be MIA...

3. Regular events on the server. When we tried this before, the  
publicity machine wasn't anywhere near noisy enough, so no-one apart  
from the SUCS hardcore knew there was anything happening, much less  
exactly what was happening. The net must be cast far and wide to  
ensure a plentiful supply of opponents, and less of the waiting  
around for people to play with and everyone getting bored and leaving  
after five minutes.

4. Despite the risk of sounding like a stuck record, I'll say it  
again. Publicity. It's really not going to be that hard to organise  
some times when the server is open to non-members on campus(/the  
village). Do that, and make it coincide with a few strategically  
placed posters and leaflets, and have a gaming jamboree. That's the  
only way of determining if there truly is a potential audience, and  
imparting the notion that SUCS is the way to play multiplayer games  
at Swansea University.

These to me seem to be the key points for successfully filling the  
games server with happy participants. It's my hope that should we  
ever get that far, our X-Fire server and forum would also be  
frequented by some of the same people, and a whole gaming sub- 
community of SUCS would be born.

I'm not going to say a lot more on the matter, because I'm not the  
one who runs this society, nor am I particularly into PC gaming. I'm  
just concerned that we're not making the most of the opportunity to  
provide a useful service to people and raise the profile of SUCS.

Anyone who wants to know more then I'll happily answer questions.  
Might even have some time and energy to help out with the venture if  
it ever happens. Otherwise, I'll happily sit here, shut up and leave  
the games server to find its own fate :-)

- Graham / the chckens