pl_longboy_b8a Rotation Placement?

[Argoniphile]

Something that's been knocking around my head for a while is pl_longboy_b8a's Custom Maps placement. When I queue to play the Custom Maps servers are not always active. When I do join one, longboy_b8a is either being played or next in the queue. If it is recently played it will likely be voted on when it frees up. This is from personal observation so take that with some salt. I am not sure if there is a reliable way to check its popularity in HLS directly inside the custom maps. I have poor perception when it comes to this sort of online data navigation. What do y'all think?

Don't misunderstand me, I like playing longboy_b8a. I've had a lot of good times on this map. It is a unique map in VF4's rotation and especially loved in the community, at least from my perspective. Yet I would like to play some other custom maps I have not gotten to try on a large server yet. I can only remember a handful and not even name them. That and monotony does eventually settle in, even with a map like longboy_b8a.

Would it make sense to have it moved to the Standard rotation as a popular map choice? I think it could compete with Standard maps and not be overplayed that way. That or move it into its own 24/7 category maybe? That would be odd, but I think longboy_b8a has that sort of staying power on the TF2C community, at least from what I've seen. Or is it fine where it is in Custom Maps and I'm overthinking this?

 

[VintagePC]

Unfortunately the devs have specifically asked us to keep the Standard servers to maps that are part of the base game and do not require additional external downloads.

That said, having a 24/7 isn't out of the question. but our past experience with those is that (with the current player base) there aren't enough folks playing to warrant a single-map server. But it's something we're always willing to reconsider in the future as the player counts and interests shift

It's certainly an interesting observation on your part, since if you look at our Map Ratings table, (https://www.vaultf4.com/pages/map-ratings/), Longboy is somewhere in the middle, averaging only ~3.2 out of 5. Of course, it does have over 1000 votes, and this list doesn't account for maps that may have a higher rating but fewer overall voters.