opinions about server verification

i considered posting this in cvberdemon's thread but i thought it would derail too much so i decided to make my own

i wanted to collect more opinions on server verification from a place which isn't steam, where it has been receiving some very mixed reactions. personally i think it's a good thing but there's a lot of misinformation surrounding the topic. things which the devs should really be stepping in to correct or otherwise dissuade, but apparently aren't. i've seen claims that being banned from one verified server means getting banned from TF2C altogether, which obviously isn't true, but i have seen some less questionable claims, like verified servers requiring 24/7 moderation which doesn't seem very realistic to me given the majority of game mods do it for free are volunteers

basically, i'm looking for thoughts and opinions about verification from a different audience. i know the majority of regulars here are VF4 staff themselves (no disrespect, that's just how it is) so i thought i'd get some more insightful responses, but i would still like to ask you to be as neutral as possible. please don't frame everyone who dislikes verification as a furiously racist porn-addicted manchild even if a few of them are because i'm also looking for constructive criticism of the verification system, and how it could be changed for the better

Well for a starter i didn't even followed the history behind server verification thing. if someone could explain what it is,how it works ,why it has been implemented in the first place and why it is doing so much drama would be appreciable

At the end of the day, my objective take is that just as people are free to run servers in whatever configuration and with whatever rules they like, it goes both ways and the developers that put time and effort into making a free mod should be just as free to implement some sort of filtering to highlight the experience they want new players to get when playing the mod for the first time.

I find it interesting that the devs are catching flak for it when it's not a new precedent; there have been a number of games released (esp in the 2010s) that I recall we opted not to host servers for because the developers elected to only allow you to rent from a small number of providers rather than letting you host yourself (and we did not have the funds to do so back then). Different mechanism but likely the same effect/end goal since said provider can put more stringent conditions on your rental than if you rent a bare metal box and get to run the server binaries yourself.

For all the uproar about verification my 2 cents is people seem to lose sight of it generally being a good thing to help increase the mod's traction/popularity. Unverified servers can still be accessed, it's just a few more steps to do so. (Quickplay vs community servers on tf2, anyone?) If the first couple of servers you join when trying out a new game is an unmoderated chaos of micspam, questionable sprays etc and you're not comfortable with that, you're gonna turn off the game and uninstall it. On the other hand, if they're moderated with defined rules and lead to a pleasant experience, you're going to come back and play again. The more returning players you have, the more you will attract additional new players and actually gain a foothold rather than just fading into the obscurities of time.

More players coming back regularly is a good thing no matter what kind of server you host, because people that are into your particular choice of settings and rules will also be proportionally higher and more likely to seek you out.

well by the look of it i'd say that is quite a good thing to do ! But what are the conditions to be deemed worth for the verification ?

hawaw_dacar2 said:

well by the look of it i'd say that is quite a good thing to do ! But what are the conditions to be deemed worth for the verification ?

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The rules are outlined there, they seem pretty straightforward to me.

My own opinions on server verification have been very much pro-verification. I've been calling for a toggle in the server browser, not hidden behind a menu, just at the bottom of the screen, to be by-default filtering to only verified+official servers. Would both weed out the bigoted server spam and provide a good default experience. And could be instantly toggled off with a single click if so desired.

Didn't follow the public outcry as much because most of it seems to be coming from the same people who.. checks notes also have more questionable gaming opinions, to put it kindly.

VintagePC said:

For all the uproar about verification my 2 cents is people seem to lose sight of it generally being a good thing to help increase the mod's traction/popularity. Unverified servers can still be accessed, it's just a few more steps to do so. (Quickplay vs community servers on tf2, anyone?) If the first couple of servers you join when trying out a new game is an unmoderated chaos of micspam, questionable sprays etc and you're not comfortable with that, you're gonna turn off the game and uninstall it. On the other hand, if they're moderated with defined rules and lead to a pleasant experience, you're going to come back and play again. The more returning players you have, the more you will attract additional new players and actually gain a foothold rather than just fading into the obscurities of time.

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this is a great point because it directly contradicts an argument ive seen many anti-verification posters make. they claim that verification was the reason the game lost so many players, but i mean... every game starts out with an inflated playercount and then drops off sharply. frankly i'm amazed TF2C launched to 9k players at all, i was expecting a fraction of that. it obviously wasnt going to sustain a player count of that kind. modern TF2 players arent interested in it because a lot of the key-jingling bullshit which turned vanilla TF2 into such a shit experience aren't in TF2C (and thank god for that, i'd sooner castrate myself than play against one more vaccinator user)

the exact same thing happened to TF2 gold rush, which is now completely dead, and also never had any verification policy

Shens said:

I've been calling for a toggle in the server browser, not hidden behind a menu, just at the bottom of the screen, to be by-default filtering to only verified+official servers. Would both weed out the bigoted server spam and provide a good default experience. And could be instantly toggled off with a single click if so desired.

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i actually am against this tbh, because it would be deboosting any non-verified server and driving traffic away from them, which isn't cool. it's not like every unverified server is a hive of scum and villainy

verified servers get top billing in the server browser and that's fine, that's how it should be, but i dont think it should be anything more than that