I would sub again for access to a subscriber only server.

[souptime_365]

I'm super happy to see the server and the community doing well with all the new players right now but it's become quite unpleasant for the type of PvE experience I enjoy. 

Here's what's rustlin my jimmies with scourge right now..

 - The volume of builds make it feel like there's no more wilderness on the map. 

 - Chat is obnoxious and crammed with goobers.

 - I've stopped visiting monuments because there's a 99% chance it's been looted.

 - The end-game type stuff like brad, and oil rigs are usually swarming with people who fight over loot.

 - Helis, personal or public, are a shit show.  I had the loot yanked from the first heli I did this wipe from a group of goobs who don't understand the concept of PvE.  Luckily Death was around and tossed me a few crates to make up for it.  I've had to build a heli base in the ocean just to get away from people but that comes with its own issues like trying to find dark green crates in dark green seaweed..  The last heli I did had people shooting at it from a nearby base trying to down it..  Telling them to stop in chat was useless and they still came over looking for "earned" loot on a heli I called in for 50k worth of scrap..

 - Flying a mini is no longer pleasant with the volume of builds and windmills.  Prior to this wipe I was getting anywhere from 60-80fps flying around and now I'm nowhere near that.

A subscriber only server would likely be the least maintenance when it comes to admin duties.  I've got to believe that if someone's subscribing monthly, they probably know all the rules, commands, and functions of the mods so I'd expect a negligible amount player vs. player issues for admins to address.  Some might look at it as splitting the community up unnecessarily but the things I listed above are kinda making me not want to play right now.  

anyway.... don't mean to sound like im in bitch mode here but the dynamics of these servers have changed dramatically since the bump in rust popularity and it hasn't been solely positive.  

 

[SKUDRUNNER]

The problem with exclusivity servers is they tend to become, and pardon my French.... Circlejerks. Great, you paid a bit of money and now you're in a special club with other people just like you. And these people are going to say that their server is so much better and talk about how bad the other servers and people on them are.

I do not like this idea. Sorry I had to be so blunt with it, but I don't think we really need to put a divide in the community in the form of Exclusive server access. There's a reason VIP's don't have queue priority, either.

[souptime_365]

9 hours ago, SKUDRUNNER said:

The problem with exclusivity servers is they tend to become, and pardon my French.... Circlejerks. Great, you paid a bit of money and now you're in a special club with other people just like you. And these people are going to say that their server is so much better and talk about how bad the other servers and people on them are.

I do not like this idea. Sorry I had to be so blunt with it, but I don't think we really need to put a divide in the community in the form of Exclusive server access. There's a reason VIP's don't have queue priority, either.

I'm not sure you understand the concept of wanting to pay a premium for a premium product.  You don't like the idea because people on a subscriber only server might say they're having a better time?  Why would that bother you?  If you're at a football game, do you sit there pouting about the shrimp cocktail people have access to in the box seats or do you enjoy the game?

A good analogy of what I see happening would be bagging groceries... Right now it seems like we're jamming everything in one bag expecting good results.  Eventually it'll reach a breaking point.  In this case, adding all the new players to the same server has broken the experience of what many have come to know as the RustEZ brand. 

The smart move imo is to invest in what attracted people to these servers in the first place, the experience, not seeing how many ravaging goblins we can pack into the same map fighting over available resources and loot.

How would you suggest the issues I listed above be addressed?  Honest question, not trying to be a dick.

[SKUDRUNNER]

The best thing you can do for this community is not act like a "ravaging goblin", and instead embrace all of our new members and welcome them into our community. People aren't inherently bad, and yet you come here saying that chat is now "obnoxious" and everyone's a "goober". All you're doing is adding to that idea. Be nice to people, welcome them in, and in turn, they will do the same when they, like you, have been around for a while and new players join. You don't want to be a dick, yet you stand here insulting the community by saying you don't want to play with them and would rather pay extra money not to play with them. How much of a dick can you be?

You're only contributing to the problem that you think you're trying to solve. Just be nice and welcoming.

10 hours ago, souptime_365 said:

 - The volume of builds make it feel like there's no more wilderness on the map.

A sub-only server isn't going to fix this. Just because there's more room means people are only going to build bigger. Mind you, and I'm sorry to call this person out, Sleet13 is a Subscriber and currently has the biggest base on US Scourge, covering about 2-3 grids worth of space. He's out of the way, in a corner of the map, nobody seems to have taken offense to it. And mind you the whole map is not covered with bases. You can always build in a different spot or ask an admin to tear down one of those blocker TC's.

 

11 hours ago, souptime_365 said:

 - I've stopped visiting monuments because there's a 99% chance it's been looted.

 - The end-game type stuff like brad, and oil rigs are usually swarming with people who fight over loot.

 - Helis, personal or public, are a shit show.  I had the loot yanked from the first heli I did this wipe from a group of goobs who don't understand the concept of PvE.  Luckily Death was around and tossed me a few crates to make up for it.  I've had to build a heli base in the ocean just to get away from people but that comes with its own issues like trying to find dark green crates in dark green seaweed..  The last heli I did had people shooting at it from a nearby base trying to down it..  Telling them to stop in chat was useless and they still came over looking for "earned" loot on a heli I called in for 50k worth of scrap..

This is a learning experience for everyone involved. Mind you, a lot of people who come to our servers aren't always new to Rust. I know many who are coming from PvP servers, just to get away from it, and know no better about how loot is handled on our servers. To protect the integrity of a Community PvE on our servers, we have some comparatively strict rules that people have to learn and get accustomed to. And where it takes someone a little too long to learn, our Staff is doing their best to handle those people. If you continue to have problems, please report people to Staff. Never be afraid to say their names to our team.

 

 

I hear your complaints. We all do. I just want you to understand the reason I'm mildly irritated with your complaint is the first one I discussed in this post. You're acting like the community that uses our servers isn't worth you, and you'd rather pay to not play with them. Find a different community if you're going to be like that.

 

[igorcraven]

I couldn't disagree more with Skudrunners comments.   Anyway as I've said before, when things are going this well for EZ there's not going to be much effort made.  I've complained in the past.   Made suggestions.  Tried every approach I could think of with the misbehavers.  For all my effort things have only gotten worse.  I just make do and hope for better days.  Kinds like real life.

[Aurora]

12 hours ago, souptime_365 said:

A subscriber only server would likely be the least maintenance when it comes to admin duties.  I've got to believe that if someone's subscribing monthly, they probably know all the rules, commands, and functions of the mods so I'd expect a negligible amount player vs. player issues for admins to address.  Some might look at it as splitting the community up unnecessarily but the things I listed above are kinda making me not want to play right now.  

anyway.... don't mean to sound like im in bitch mode here but the dynamics of these servers have changed dramatically since the bump in rust popularity and it hasn't been solely positive.  

Totally get that @souptime_365 . Your post isn't "bitch mode" you are voicing valid concerns that are not going unnoticed.  

I've stayed in this community for as long as I have because this stuff gets handled. When I first started playing here RustEZ was 3 servers and a community a fraction of the size it was last wipe. Many things are amplified because of server instability issues we have with the higher pop servers right now. Death will continue to work on these problems and will roll out fixes, upgrades and whatever is necessary to smooth this out for this wipe and provide a better experience in the future.

Player behavior issues are also frustrating for admins. We need the community to report problem players so they can be dealt with. 

Unfortunately, problem players are not limited to the standard community member role. Over nine servers, I am just as likely to see a VIP or Subscriber reported for stealing loot, monument camping, bullying, disrespect, or generally just being a toxic asshat in chat as I am any member of the community.  When players have been around for a while they know how to toe the line, skirt rules, and how to avoid detection.  I'm not saying your idea is a bad one – I just want to point out that a player doesn't change their behavior simply because they choose to spend $5 on a subscriber role.

Thank you for sticking with us while we get it together and for taking time to voice your concerns about the community. We know this wipe is a tough go for players and staff. If your usual server is just not an enjoyable experience for you right now, try one of the lower pop EU or AU servers, while we get our shit together on the other high pop servers (and we will). It's the same server, just hosted in a different region. https://rustez.com/connect/ 

[kingdl1st]

I am with you at @souptime_365. 

Several of the same issues all the monuments at anytime of day are looted out. Rude people.  I would like more Islands to spread out on.  I was trying to build a bridge across a river right at the top of a big drop seemed unique had it started went to get some more wood and a guy build a shack that blocked me.  I think it would be cool and maybe it will still happen. 

[souptime_365]

1 hour ago, Aurora said:

Totally get that @souptime_365 . Your post isn't "bitch mode" you are voicing valid concerns that are not going unnoticed.  

I've stayed in this community for as long as I have because this stuff gets handled. When I first started playing here RustEZ was 3 servers and a community a fraction of the size it was last wipe. Many things are amplified because of server instability issues we have with the higher pop servers right now. Death will continue to work on these problems and will roll out fixes, upgrades and whatever is necessary to smooth this out for this wipe and provide a better experience in the future.

Player behavior issues are also frustrating for admins. We need the community to report problem players so they can be dealt with. 

Unfortunately, problem players are not limited to the standard community member role. Over nine servers, I am just as likely to see a VIP or Subscriber reported for stealing loot, monument camping, bullying, disrespect, or generally just being a toxic asshat in chat as I am any member of the community.  When players have been around for a while they know how to toe the line, skirt rules, and how to avoid detection.  I'm not saying your idea is a bad one – I just want to point out that a player doesn't change their behavior simply because they choose to spend $5 on a subscriber role.

Thank you for sticking with us while we get it together and for taking time to voice your concerns about the community. We know this wipe is a tough go for players and staff. If your usual server is just not an enjoyable experience for you right now, try one of the lower pop EU or AU servers, while we get our shit together on the other high pop servers (and we will). It's the same server, just hosted in a different region. https://rustez.com/connect/ 

Did I just have a reply deleted from this thread?

[AlexaNightfire]

I second everything that Aurora said, and agree with most of Skudrunner’s points as well. Buckle up, prepare yourselves for an essay. My apologies for the length but I have a lot of observations as well as possible solutions to share…

To me, one of the best things about the RustEZ community is that 95% of the time what I see is everyone working together, be it fresh spawns or veterans. Yes, there are sometimes hiccups and annoyances, but they are pretty much always worked out publicly in chat, over voice, or with the help of an admin. I think that what a lot of the main issues you all are describing boil down to a few things: A. “loot goblining” or monument hogging, B. build size, and C. difference between age/maturity of players. The recent influx of new players, and return of a lot of older (more veteran) players, on the US servers especially has amplified these issues.

One thing that I truly believe though is that creating a separate server for subscribers would not really solve any of these problems, but might just amplify them instead. On top of that, I think it would create a divide between “us and them”: the subscribers versus the rest. A divide like that goes against the community feel that most of us work together to achieve. We should all strive to treat each other with the same level of respect, no matter the name colour (rank), or amount of time played on EZ servers.

For point A, “loot goblining” or monument hogging: a lot of the worst offenders I have noticed for monument hogging ARE VIPs or subscribers! So while there would be +less+ of those on a subscriber-only server, what would likely happen is a lot of the worst offenders would just move to the new server, and bring the problem along with them. The other scenario that I see a lot is a new player who is unsure of the rules, makes a mistake, is politely informed of the rules, and then corrects their behaviour. The best bet is to screencap and/or screen record, and report any time you see someone hogging a monument, camping, or refusing to fairly share loot, and then share with admins. Admins cannot be everywhere 24/7, and cannot take action if they are not aware there is a problem.  For those who have a tendency to hog monuments, maybe consider bring along a few new friends in chat and showing them the ropes. Also, I think when personal heli and Bradley loot instances are re-introduced, that alone will mitigate a ton of related issues.

Another possibility is to limit monuments, garrison, and events and say that you can only do them once in a row (i.e. you can’t go back and do the same monument twice in a row with the help of camping, spawn timers, etc.) OR: You (or your team) can only do each monument once a day. The problem with this is that it would be difficult for admins to enforce 24/7, but if people step up, voluntarily follow the new rule, and set an example for others, while reporting repeat offenders, it might just be possible and make it so that more people get a chance at heavily contested events and monuments.

For point B: build size, lack of “wilderness”, and lag builds: again, a lot of the worst offenders for this are VIPs or subscribers. I have personally seen people admit to having 100s of planters, use 1000s, of power, or own 100s of composers and fish traps. It might not be much for say, one or two people to have excess amounts of these things in their builds, but with a player base of 200+ people, it’s easy to do the math and see how quickly these excessive builds and entities add up, heavily increasing server load, and possibly contributing as well to server crashes. While having a subscriber-only server would *theoretically* help this, I don’t think it is a far reach to imagine that players would just push the boundaries even more with some of the things they build and place, still creating a ton of lag spots.

I love farming and making scrap too. I get it as I love it and do it too. I love the neon signs and decorations and when everything is nice and pretty. However, we are in unprecedented times with the popularity of the server and player base size. So perhaps if we all restrained ourselves, at least temporarily, and reduced a bit of our personal load on the server, it would go a long way. I see a LOT of unnecessary builds and entities from new and old players alike.

For point C : I think a lot of the negative interactions described in the above posts are caused by difference in age or maturity level of players. What might be fun for someone, for example pretending to be a fish in chat (as I do sometimes lol), might be annoying to an older player. Remember, you can always mute some in chat, which now mutes them in voice chat as well. It can be trying sometimes, but patience is key. A little kindness can go a long way, especially with players new to the server who, for example, might not fully understand the server rules yet. A possibility to help with this, although this would be hard to enforce, would be to open another US server that is adult only (21+.) This would make a more mature location for subscribers (and others) to play, if they so choose, without hiding it behind a paywall which, in these trying times, a lot of people might not be able to afford. We could do a poll to see if there is an interest in such a server, what mods it would run, and if it runs a custom map (something cool like Earth again maybe?) On top of that, I do not think there would be enough of a player base to justify having a subscriber only server, and the costs associated with it.

Continuing on from my last point, maybe it is time to do a poll on reopening a PvPvE server? They have floated in and out, in different capacities, and there might be enough interest with the recent Twitch popularity to revive it, and reduce player base on some of the other US servers in the process. Also, as Aurora said, there are also RustEZ servers with less population, including Scourge servers, that players might want to move to (even temporarily) if they want a less busy place to play.

In short, let’s all continue to work together in these unprecedented times to continue to make RustEZ servers a safe and enjoyable place to play. I think most of all, it starts with being proactive instead of reactive. Let us all consider our own actions first: maybe we don’t need 200+ composters. Maybe we don’t need to do oil rig or heli 5+ times a day if we are already fully kitted out. Maybe instead of doing garrison solo every hour, invite a few newcomers to come along, and share the loot and strategies with them. These are already things I see happening all the time, and would love to see more of. It is what makes the community so great: the ability to adapt, share, and help each other out, while having fun in the process. I know the above issues can be especially frustrating, but a few kind words, re-explaining of rules, and not escalating to anger or retaliation, can go a long way.

Thanks for reading and if you see a flying fish in the air, be sure to give me a wave!

Edited January 16, 2021 by alexanightfire

[Aurora]

1 hour ago, souptime_365 said:

Did I just have a reply deleted from this thread?

Nope!  [edit - If you go back to the message and hit reply (or quote) as you did the first time, sometimes you'll still see the text you entered sitting there and you can post.

[igorcraven]

I wish my experience was closer to what some of you have.  Maybe it is me.  Now I'm fighting with the Admins and that's never been a thing before.  I have been considering just not playing for a while.  Let my patience recharge.  Thanks to everyone for taking the time to post your thoughts.  I'm really surprised by the subs and vips behavior being no different from the blues.  Seems like most of my negative encounters are not with the regulars.  Population has been down a little and things seem more normal now.  I appreciate all the work the Admins are doing.  I know they are trying.  

[Death]

While a bit overwhelming at first, the influx of players is really highlighting the issues we've ignored or had never noticed until now. Once we get a handle on performance and stability, I can knock out the mechanic issues pretty quickly with the data we've collected so far.

A subscriber-only server is something I can look into later down the line.

[kingklik94]

I see both sides to this coin, and in all honestly i love this server. I bought this game in july and most of my 800 hrs are here, without the community i would have never stayed this long, so for that side of it im against it. But.. the reasons for wanting it i agree with and are similar to the reason why i plan on taking a break for a good bit in hopes when i come back it will be calmed down a bit, i feel like most of my time is now spent standing in my base doing nothing but making explo for creds i dont need because even when i call in a heli of my own at a tower i built on land i have tc'ed ive had issues will ppl in general trying to loot my stuff so i do understand that.

IMO:

This has been the first wipe ive been here that ive had any significant issues with any player in particular (Mind you all that this was dealt with already) and it got me thinking just about some of what i saw above, with so many servers and perks shared between you are just as likely to have an issue with a basic user as you are a vip or sub.

I feel like i whole new server might thin it out a little but the problem with people is that they are unfortunately... people....