PLEASE READ PRIOR TO VOTING. Thanks

This debate may start up a large dispute, but here it goes..

We all know that The Crypt's Modded settings all contribute to the fact that it is quite popular...even I joined pDs after playing on The Tomb (DM). I know the priority of WDF and many others is to have The Crypt as one of the most popular servers in HL2DM. However, here is my stance:

I believe the settings of The Crypt are hurting the talent of people who play there. Many people in this clan have much talent in HL2DM, but only visit The Crypt. Many people as well get too comfortably acquainted with the over-powered, over-used, and ridiculous 200 Damage Crossbow..as in that is the only thing someone uses. Now, my problem with the Xbow is the fact that it is highly over-powered. Instead of being BOOM HEADSHOT with the .357 (The only way to one-hit kill with a magnum), I have found BOOM FOOTSHOT is highly connected to the Xbow..anywhere you shoot on a opponent is a one-hit kill.

Now for another problem. With the popularity element set aside, The Crypt is a fun place. However, the flow of talented players into Modded servers is very unlikely. In order to get better as a clan, we must play against people who are better than us. Now with popularity. We can become just as popular as we have been before if we become Unmodded. However, before this, we must gain the respect of the HL2DM community. Now do not get mad at me for saying this, but Nookie's Playhouse, and Dogghouse (Before PiTbull left HL2DM recently) are/were VERY popular UNMODDED servers. Additionally, more highly skilled people in result play there, and thus the people who participate in those competitive matches become better themselves.

Furthermore, the low gravity is a concern for me. There is no incentive to learn Bunny Hopping (I know a few people who think it is morally wrong). Also, people who know how to Bunny Hop well destroy non-Bunny Hoppers in CTF, since The Crypt is primarily CTF. This gravity throws basically everything off-balance. What I mean by this is: Timing and judgement in your aiming while jumping; Aiming at other people in which it takes not much effort to move fast; and just doing everything you must do in HL2DM to fight.

Lastly, I know pDs is a clan for fun, but surviving in competitions such as The ILDM, we have no chance if our clan members ONLY use The Crypt. Now I know some of you will say, "Just play on a different server if you do not like it," but why be in pDs if you do not like to play on your own clan server? Anyways, the dominant weapon in Unmodded is, of course, the .357. Now, we all know that the magnum takes much skill to be able to Headshot..but players would rather use the 200 damage Xbow that does not require AS much skill.

Now, I am comfortable to do Half and Half, which is why I put it an option in the poll. I am a major fan of toning down the Xbow, at most to a Damge of 150, so that it is not a one-hit-anywhere-on-the-body-kill. OR with the Xbow, it can stay 200 Damage..but I need llenta to tell me if this is possible: Make the damage equal to where the shot is hit - So a Xbow headshot would be 200 damage, but  BOOMFOOTSHOT, would be let's say 50 damage. (Again, I do not know if this is possible) Additionally, the gravity can be changed if a majority wants to.

In conclusion, if The Crypt is changed to Unmodded settings, pDs and its server WILL remain popular. Remember, it is not the settings of a server that makes your server popular, it is the integrity of the clan and others who play there that keep people coming back for more.

 

 

I disagree with most of what you wrote. I don't think the Crypt hurts our playing ability anymore than playing counterstrike does. It might take a bit to adapt to an unmodded server, especially if you have NEVER played on one before, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. The only significant difference is getting used to the normal xbow, and again that's not a huge deal in my experience. Maybe that's not true for everyone, I've been playing FPSes for more than a decade so it could just be that it's second nature to me to adapt to changes.

One of the biggest things I disagree with is that the Crypt does not attract skilled players. I'm sure there are some hardcore HL2DM players out there who would never play on the Crypt but fuck them if they are scared to have fun because they are paranoid about eroding their 31337 skillz. The average ability of our regular players is higher than any other server I have played on. I won't name names, but since the Crypt has been down I've been playing on a few other similar servers and find myself getting bored after about two maps. The challenge just isn't there except from names I recognize, which seems to only be a small handful of people. The Crypt was (is) fun, popular, and unique - so why fuck with that? I get asked almost every single time I play when it will be back up, people know it and miss it because it is not like everywhere else. There are hundreds of straight DM servers already, why ruin a good thing just to make another one?

i agree with dick on this one.  i have been playing first person shooters since wolfenstein came out.  its not that hard to make a change.  the magnum is untouched in the crypt's settings, so if you want to practice with it, feel free.  since the crypt has been down, i have been playing on HAX's server along with the playhouse.  I find myself doing just as good on both servers even though one is modded and the other isn't.  i don't think the crypt is destroying the quality of our players, it just attracts people that like those settings. 

when i first started playing hl2dm online, i found the tomb.  the shotty was improved along with the x-bow, and with the gravity/friction settings, i was hooked.  I can still pick up a magnum and shoot peoples heads off if need be, but i prefer the x-bow because it has always been my weapon of choice.  Even when i play on the HAX and Nookie server i use the x-bow most of the time.

with the x-bow, i think the game has it set so that it can't distinguish between a head shot and a body shot.  The magnum, along with the other guns, can.  I think this might have something to do with the fact that wherever your crosshair is when you pull the trigger, thats where the bullet will be (no delay).  Where as the x-bow is one of the few weapons that has a delay and you have to shoot in front of your target.  Im not sure about his, it would be something you would have to ask steam why they built the game that way.  all i know is we can't change it or it would have been changed a long time ago.

i say if your really dying to have an unmodded server, we should change the Tomb back to hl2dm and make it an unmodded server for now.  Not all that many people play on that server, and until the release of 1.8, i don't see too many (if any) new people playing that game.  That and i do believe we always has a locked practice server that most the time was unmodded.  just spam your x-fire list and tell people to go there and have a pick-up game.

If my opinion even matters, I sort of agree with Llenta on this one. Until CTF 1.8 comes out and hopefully draws some more people, it would be awesome if you guys had a straight up unmodded dm server. The things that drew people to the Dogghouse were mainly Pit and the rest of the admins, the map(aim), the default settings, and the players that played there. By the way, many times the 1337 people just came on to whore and raise their rank, that's no fun. But I don't think the settings are as important as Nova thinks they are. The TWC DM 24/7 Lockdown server attracts many of the best players around and on that server the friction is reduced and airspeed is doubled.

I love the Crypt , and I especially love the settings. Where else can I get killed by some noob with a lucky Xbow shot.

Hehe, Fubs is right. We wouldn't be very popular if you guys hadn't shutdown the Crypt.

Besides, who says it doesn't attract some of the better players? I play there all the time and we all know I'm way better than all of you.

-{Nookie}dariandre

Shazam!


Let's face facts here:


The Tomb is staying HL2CTF and Snoochy is running it with nite or some nonsense.

The Crypt will be the only server for hl2mp.

There will be only one DoD:S server.

I will be opening a 20 person css server once we get situated... The eternal Silence server will also return.

When FF and TF2 Come out, they will take priority. The crypt won't go anywhere, but it will no longer be the priority of this website. I will leave it up for nostalgic purposes when this happens, but when it does happen, the debate over it's settings will no longer be an issue.


So there. Poop faces.

In the mean time, you all better decide what settings it is that you want.... modded or unmodded. I ain't votin'.

what about the new quake game? and wtf is FF, I'm behind on my acronyms or some shit.

No, it is Fortress Forever, a TFC(I think) mod for HL2. www.fortress-forever.com is their site.