Map-based Server Regions

[Ryeng]

Suggestion Name: Split different servers into regions based on map regions
 

Suggestion Description: Instead of having multiple servers meant for playing across the whole of Europe, divide each server into suggested map regions around Europe for people to choose a server based on where they want to drive. What I mean is that each map region will have a corresponding server to gather as many people as possible driving in each specific region. The whole of TMP ETS EU would be divided into 5 server regions. Here's a picture to demonstrate my idea: TMP EU Server Regions.

Any example images: 

Spoiler

 

Why should it be added?: The reason why this would be a great change and addition to TMP, is that it would allow players to gather in each of the major regions of the ETS map. Right now, if you drive to the outer regions of the map, there will be very few people to meet. Especially south in France and south-east. With 5 servers that have corresponding map regions, people can make a stop at a truck stop or gas station to change into the server that corresponds with the region you want to drive in. Increasing the amount of people you will meet along those roads. If people somewhat follow this system, everyone will be more likely to meet many more fellow truckers along the roads. Another reason to supports this idea, is that it can be tested without affecting either players or admins too much. It does not require any extra coding or changes to the MP codes, as it is just an option for people to do. The only change would be an informational post, and server name changes. Yes, technically you can still drive across EU on any of the 5 servers if you really want to, but if you want to drive alongside as many others as possible, you will be stopping and swapping servers as you go. At least I would do that if it meant more people to meet and drive alongside. Even if people don't follow the map regions as much at first, then it's not necessarily a huge problem either. As long as it increases the amount of players in each (of the outer) regions, then we have already got an improvement. While it might not immediately make a difference, I think it quickly will become pretty popular across the whole of TMP network as it doesn't limit people from driving in any area, but it gives people a great option to gather more people where they want to drive. 

Final argument to try this out. Imagine all 5 servers, with 2000-2500 player limit on each (to compensate for the increased density of drivers in each region). If all servers are maxed and people are somewhat using the servers properly and choosing server based on map region, you will basically be driving amongst 10-12k other drivers at peak hours. My first impression of this idea didn't convince me at all, however after thinking about it while driving from Scandinavia, through Going East and finally enter Vive La France, the idea grew a lot on me. I think it would be a very interesting thing to try out. Please share your thoughts, and thanks for reading.

[Smalley]

Hello,

 

Please take a look at this topic the next time you make a suggestion. 

This has been suggested before and by the looks of it you've replied to the topic which is similar to yours. I would wait for a response on that instead of making a new suggestion about the same thing...

Anyways... in my opinion this would be a bad idea. 

 

1. Different servers have different locations of where they are in the world. 

2. Euro Truck Simulator 2 gives us freedom of exploring different countries and what the traffic laws are like there. Hence why they call it 'Euro Truck Simulator 2' 

3. You shouldn't go on different servers just to go to a specific place on the map that would only waste time. 

4. Would be hard to implement 

Overall -1 

Edited July 27, 2017 by Smalley - Truckers.FM

[Ryeng]

@Smalley - Truckers.FM I didn't find any similar suggestions when I searched the whole of the "Suggestions" forum. Yes, some are about server regions, some are about automatic server changing based on location etc. But I couldn't find anyone that was specifically the same as my suggestion, which is something that can easily be implemented right away. Please post a link to it, then I'll improve my searching habits for my next threads.

This suggestion is not about different server locations. All servers would still be located in the EU. The servers are just named and suggested for different regions of the map to increase the player density in each of these regions. This will allow each player to choose different servers to play on depending on where they want to drive. If they want to drive in Scandinavia, Great Britain, Central EU, East or South(France DLC), you can choose the corresponding server alongside many other players, and you will potentially have a much higher density of players in each respective region.

I don't see how it is hard to implement at all. It's just renaming servers, informing all players, and potentially adding 1-2 new servers (by removing some of the unpopular ones).
 

Edit: 

This thread is suggesting an automated system which most likely involves huge changes to the coding of MP. It is not what I am suggesting, even though the essence of the end result is similar.

[Smalley]

These servers are to show what region they're in. It's not about EU all together. If you see there is a US server as well as other servers like Hong Kong etc. This is to show which servers are easier to connect to without lagging depending in which country you live in. And I don't see what difference it would make due to the fact people wouldn't want to leave the game just to change server so they can go to a different parts of the map. 

Edited July 27, 2017 by Smalley - Truckers.FM

[Ryeng]

@Smalley - Truckers.FM I think you're jumping to a conclusion on something you won't know the answer to before it has been tested. I'm not saying you are wrong. You might be right. It might not change anything. Maybe players are lazier than I think, and won't change servers as they enter each map region. However, I don't think that's the only possible result of my suggestion here. I think many people would actually want to change servers to have more people to drive with. If I was driving from Germany to Norway, and I saw that the "Scandinavian Server" had 1k+ people online, I would change to that one when I crossed the border into Denmark because it could mean that I would be playing with more people than the 3500 players spread across the whole of EU. I'm pretty sure many more would think the same way. 

Yes, if you only drive around central europe, it won't change a thing for you personally, but for everyone that loves driving across the map and drive to different areas, this could bring a lot more life to the outer regions and DLC areas that are currently quite dead because most people drive in central europe to experience more traffic. It would also allow more people to be online and driving at the same time. Why have seperate servers where everyone is still driving in the same areas(but usually with less players), when you can make people swap servers based on where they want to drive? If it became the norm and all servers were packed, then you would have 2000 players in a much smaller area, all over the whole of EU, instead of 2k players spread across the whole map.

[Weepydruid]

-1 I get what you are saying and I get your point however nobody would want to keep changing servers everytime they leave a zone... On top of that trolls would take advantage of this situation especially if they can just block the road then load up a busy server and cause mayhem.... Also joining a Hong Kong server or US would put my ping way over 100 if not more so ill end up getting kicked from the Hong Kong server without fail... Plus every server has different stuff... Eu1 has a speed limit and I believe another server has ghost plus no Skoda's so it would cause a hell lot of problems for many people.... 

[Guest]

I don't think it's possible to have certain parts of the map on a server as this would mean editing the base game which tmp cannot do. I might be wrong. 

 

We also have different servers for different realisms and some people like to drive on the cd road without chaos so go to eu1 or 3. With this we would either need many more servers or we would lose the other servers. -1

[Syntog]

+1 I like this idea a lot but I would have a few questions.

 

We currently have 3 different types of servers: Simulation (EU1), 'Casual' (EU2/3), and freeroam (EU4) 

I imagine that EU2/3 will be merged with this 5 server system, but that would mean three more servers to maintain and use (which costs money)

1. So, are you wanting to do the same with the Simulation and Freeroam servers? That'd mean an additional 8 servers on top of the additional three, which no one really plays on anyways. I'd suggest to just leave them as they are. 
2. Also, how about would you select which server to play on? Let's say you haven't played in a week and forgot where you left off and you pick a server at random. You picked wrong and now need to connect to the correct one which means quitting the game and selecting the right one. It'd just be a pain, not to mention having to stop and reconnect to a different one when you (let's say) go from france to the UK. 

 

My solution to this potential annoying issue for #2

Instead of having to select which server to connect to, the game will do it for you. You just press 'Drive' and wherever you are-the server will determine what server you should go in. (Same thing while, ie. going from France to the UK) This would eliminate the need to quit the game and select the other server

 

 

---

 

This idea would be really cool to add to add players to a single map on different servers but I don't think this will get implemented anytime soon. Sure it would be really nice I think they have better things to do with their time. Mainly because this would mean having to add even more 'behind the scene' features for us admins to be able to do. For example, if we are watching a DEMO of a player and they have to change servers, how would that work? Not to mention plenty of other things that would have to be reworked.

This great server 'revamp' suggestion would be really cool to see, but I'd like to see other features first, like the economy system that was mentioned a while back. (No news of it since though  )

Edited July 27, 2017 by Syntog

[Ryeng]

@Supersam Thanks for your contribution. I respect your opinion, but I don't believe nobody would change servers if they had the option to. If I shared your opinion on that aspect, I wouldn't have bothered to post my suggestion at all.

In terms of ping, I have to confess that I am currently living in the US, near the west coast. However, I play almost exclusively alongside my Norwegian friends whenever I play, and they have no problems with my ping of 160-170 ms to EU2. I have no issues either and I don't think a ping above 100 immediately makes a terrible experience for others. If that's the case, then I hope people record me and report me for my choppy connection (if there is one). I'm fairly confident that won't happen though.

As I have stated in many other forum threads on many other subjects, I don't believe it's right to use trolls as a reason not to do something. Trolls, wherever they appear, will almost always be recorded and reported, no matter how they choose to go about their business. Therefore, I don't believe that anyone should resist change out of fear of trolling. In some cases, yes, it is obvious that some suggestions can allow more trolling, but I don't see how that applies to my suggestion here. Yes, on the long term, TMP would need more admins online to cover the 5 servers, but that's natural progression that shouldn't be a reason to not do something new. Please elaborate if you'd like.

Yes, as of now, all servers are slightly different, but I think that overall TMP should strive for a more unison experience on all servers. If that comes at the cost of removal of speed limiter on EU 1 or the Full map NCZ EU 4, then so be it. As long as they reintroduce speed limiter inside city limits on all, I won't complain too much. I, like many others here, don't believe that the speed limiters alone are causing more mayhem than speed limiters being forced would do. Even if speed limiter was forced on all servers, trolls would still be trolling, some way or another. I also think that the speed limiters are a prime reason why the EU 1 server is not as popular as it once was. Yes, when there were no other option, then people would play with speed limiters regardless of their preference. However, I think many players quickly get accustomed to driving at 120+ kmh, and returning to 90 max or 110 max, becomes a bigger downgrade than it felt like before. I also believe there are many good drivers that really can handle high-speed trucking totally fine, which is why I don't think speed limiters are the culprit of trolling, nor a necessity in TMP. The same goes for the Skodas. It's not the cars that are the problem. It's the drivers. The trolls and bad drivers will eventually be banned (hopefully).

@oolala11 Thanks for responding. As I wrote in OP, everyone can still drive everywhere on the map. The regions are just suggested regions for players to gather in. No changes needed to base game or servers as of today. Just rename them and inform the community.

 

@Syntog Thanks for your response and questions. As I merely mentioned in my response to Supersam, I would like to see more of a unison experience overall in TMP. Yes, it will affect some players negatively, but overall I think the end result is a better, more predictable experience for all. If something like this was implemented, I would like to see the same rules for all servers. As of right now, I don't see the simulation server being as popular as it needs to be, to be an attractive choice for gamers. Neither is the freeroam server. In any way, after my drive through 3 DLCs earlier today, I have to say that driving alongside other DLC players are a joy compared to base game, central europe. I think even simulation players are choosing EU 2 over EU 1 as of now, due to the player base and amount of players. 

To your 2nd point, I don't see this being a problem at all.  If you have a garage in each region, you can quick travel to whatever region you wish to play in. And for the ones that are yet to expand their trucking empire, they get a new reason to do so.

 

Edit 1: To your latest edited part, I don't see the need for much, or any, extra work for admins to implement or test something like this. I would suggest this being tried and tested large scale before any sort of new coding or re-coding would be commenced. The biggest changes this would bring short-term, would be the closing of the currently low-populated servers in order to fully test this. In terms of increased amount of admin work, I would suggest that you (each admin) only focus on one server at a time if you decide to be online. Not jump between servers based on activity or reports. Yes, if loads of people are screaming on the Discord that someone is blocking or trolling really bad on a specific server that lacks an online admin, then someone could potentially jump in and get rid of the trolls. However, I think all players should just use the three R's, then drive somewhere else and let the trolls enjoy their limited time until they get banned. Seeing as some servers would almost exclusively be centered around DLC areas, then many trolls are out of the questions because of that alone. 

Edit 2: I also don't think there's any need for an automatic recognition of map location to server selection (Maybe for a future update if the devs really want to see it happen). I think all players will be able to figure this out manually all fine. There will be some questions about it on the forums, but when people get used to it, it will become 2nd nature. It's also fairly straight forward to understand. If you are going to drive in Scandinavia, join the server named Scandinavia.. If you plan on driving in France and southern eu, join the server named France/Southern EU and so forth. I think it's pretty self-explanatory in itself, and if it's also explained shortly in the rules that everyone should read before entering MP, then I don't see it being too difficult for players to grasp. 

Edited July 27, 2017 by Ryeng

[Ryeng]

@Doppler effect What do you mean? If TMP is paying money for a service that is less popular compared to another service they also pay for, then why shouldn't it be their right to change things as they wish? I'm all for simulation, and if it were up to me, all servers would have speed limiters enabled and NCZ in depots removed. However, I also understand that I can't possibly get everything the way I want it, so I would gladly give up my wish for more realism for a unison experience that everyone either accepts or avoids if they so strongly disagree with it. You can't satisfy everyone. It's impossible. In this case, I think more players gathered in each of the DLC areas would be a great improvement, and it would allow more people to play on "one server" together.

As I said in OP, some players will very likely choose to drive to areas that are not suggested for a server. This is fine with me, as long as I meet more people in the areas I expect to meet more people (based on what server/map region I choose), then I won't be bothered by the people enjoying their loneliness. 

Edited July 27, 2017 by Ryeng
*speed limiters enabled

[Weepydruid]

@Ryeng With my internet if I join a server in the US or HK on any game I lag and everyone complains and so on so I always join EU2 or 3 depending on if the server is full or not.... 

 

The thing is if there wasn't trolls there wouldn't be a need to make servers with the whole speed limiter/no collision and so on as players complained in the past of being rammed etc by players who were going over the speed limit that's why these servers exist... It applies to your suggestion here because to change server you would be leaving and then joining another server.... The problem with this is imagine driving down a road and then some idiot spawns right in front of you.... Now that annoys me and alot of people do it.... So I think they need to sort that problem out before hand.... 

 

When this mod first came out there was a limiter on the server hardly any non collision zones and so on... Yet there was trolls everywhere.... My point is the players asked for a non collision and a speed limiter server and they got just that... You may not see many people on it but at times there is hundreds (we are not talking thousands like the EU2/EU3 server) But still there is plenty of people on them... My point is the more players the more trollers as they like to cause havoc and they won't join a server hardly anyone on it which makes it better for those players who want to play properly where as EU2 and EU3 are havoc when the server has over 500+ players... I get your point and it is a good idea but right now I think it wouldn't work.... Plus a small number of players would complain about the change in servers (That's if you are getting rid of speed limit on EU1 and no collision on EU4) The only way round this would be to IP ban trollers and get rid of them completely where as right now they get banned and create a new account, buy the game again or have it on disc and start doing the same thing all over again.... 

[the bored hermit]

I dont see this being implemented because it would be quite a hassel I think it is fine as it is.

Edited July 27, 2017 by the bored hermit

[sko0923]

If this is possible, I think it would be great. However I have seen a similar post like this in the past. That one recommended the servers overlap each other, and while you are in that zone between the 2 servers it automatically transfers you over without lag or anything similar. Again, not sure if this is entirely possible from a developers stand point though. 

[Ryeng]

@Supersam Thanks for expanding.

I agree with many of your points, and I think your concerns are valid. On the other hand, I don't think that this suggestion would make things any worse than today. Heck, if trolls really go buy ETS2 hundreds of times, I would actually be kinda happy for that. It would only mean that SCS gets more money to expand their business and provide more great stuff (like the doubles, tried them today and they are just insanely cool and awesome).  As for the hundreds of players enjoying the other servers, I agree, that will be a big hurdle to figure out here. I think the discussion regarding this should boil down to opting for a unison experience for all players, or keep things the way they are today with different experiences. As a middle ground, I could see this being "tested" with EU 2 and 3 today, meaning that you divide the map into 2 big chunks, but I don't see it providing anywhere near the same impact on the experience as potentially playing alongside 10k other players on 5 servers.

@the bored hermit Thanks for pitching in. I disagree. I want to meet more people in the outer regions of the map, and I don't see this happening without giving players an incentive and higher chance to do so. 
 

@sko0923 Thanks for your input. I actually asked on the Discord yesterday regarding that specific thread and the chances of it happening. As far as I understood, it would require major re-coding of the entire server-setup, which made it highly unlikely to ever happen. Some day far into the future, I would definitely prefer such an automated system, but as of now, I don't think people would really mind taking a minute out of their time while they stop at a gas station to switch servers when they enter a new region. People play multiplayer because it's fun to drive alongside other people, this fact is what I believe will make this suggestion both possible and functional.

[the bored hermit]

@Ryeng I see what you mean but I dont think it will change much because they all want to stay in duisburg or calais area and drive up and down that road and splitting it will still have the same effect as now the main areas are always going to be the same it may bring a few people into other areas but I highly doubt it.

[Ryeng]

^ I don't think that would be the case. 

[Da n R O]

I relly don't like this suggestion because people who Want to go to C-D will be more than was and it will be more traffic, crash and low fps

[[Biu] - Luo Shen]

If you plan the server according to the map, then there may be delayed phenomenon, this is not good.

[Ryeng]

@DAN RO If anything, people would have more than one option to go to, if this got popular. Just wait and see how Scandinavia will look after the next ETS version gets out of beta.

@[Biu] - Luo Shen What do you mean with delayed phenomenon? 

[Guest]

On 27.7.2017 at 2:22 AM, WTLVTC - Smalley said:

This has been suggested before

 

Please read the replies of the above-quoted person as they contain every necessary information that I could not have phrased any better.

 

Rejected.