What were SWBF1 servers like?

[Skinny]

I never got a chance to play SWBF1 multiplayer until the steam update released, what were the servers like? Did they get more players? Were there more servers? I'd love to here what you veterans have to say. 

[Dark_Phantom]

SWBFspy servers have been around a while, but more recently have only been conducive to organized matches and coordinated events.  There haven't been enough players around consistently.  The last time there was a big influx of activity was the original Steam/GOG release of BF1, where there were many servers with 30 people at a time over about 2 weeks, then it quickly died back down (so we know that it can handle a lot).

Back in 2012, before Gamespy shutdown, you could expect plenty of people on for an 8 year old game.  Hop ingame, maybe get 8 to 10 in the PLA CC server, sometimes more if it was the weekend.  It was a simpler time - the official servers worked consistently with dedicated software, and many people had 24 hour servers up like you see now.  Picture the SWBFspy scene, with official support and more activity.  Clan matches were more common, but I would say we had more large scale tournaments after the shutdown to encourage activity.  See: 6 ICWs, DET, and other scattered tournaments.

As for me, before 2012, I was just getting active in the modding community here, trying to reverse shell and common scripts so that we could solve the mysteries of the game.  I mostly played the original 1.0 version, which was a fun "study" on how players in different communities adopted their rules.  1.0 players would generally only play with standard units (rifle, rocket, sniper) and play without taking command posts.  There were plenty of people on there, because you had to go find the update on Lucasarts website which was annoying to some people or they just didn't know.  Connection-wise, I had a slow connection which worked better on 1.0 than 1.2 (they optimized a lot of the netcode, which widened the gap between my slow dialup connection and everyone else, but also 30 tps became the standard, which didn't help me).

[Sovereign]

Aw, homie I got a video for you:

https://youtu.be/ky9Az1Z2-1c

This was back in the glory days when one server was always full and people duke it out in one map for hours. So many players that when you press tab you'd have to scroll down to see the entire list of players.

The thing I remembered most in these days was not the amount of activity and amount of people that played, but the players themselves.

There were so many good players, with plenty more noobs coming in who'll eventually come to be great players too. When you see them learn, they can surprise you in many ways.

Then there were the great players. People who were so good at one class that they become juggernauts on their own. The snipers were the scariest especially when they're on one team. The sight of a single clone jet trooper flying and then 3-5 long lines of red converging into one spot is a sight you'll never forget. They never talk either lol.

Then there were the best players. Players who were so good at any class they play. You give them one class to play and I'll guarantee you they'll top frag and be like 20+ kills over second highest frags. I think there were three players at that time that I can with no hesitation say were the best. I really miss them and I hope they're all doing fine now.

But yeh, that's pretty much how it all was until the servers shut down. It was quite something let me tell you.

[Skinny]

Dang, those days sounded great, I hope one day this game will start gaining traction again. SWBF2 has tons of players playing, it'd be great if that happened to SWBF1.

[Anyder]

Damn, those days sounded great, I hope one day this game will start gaining traction again. SWBF2 has tons of players playing, it'd be great if that happened to SWBF1.

SWBF2 also had the same problems but they did announce that a second patch was coming up, although, personally it fixed little to nothing. However people like Lekeks spent time working on it to get it fixed, or better said, "bypassed" (since problems still remain).

SWBF1 was released with the 1.3 patch which has its pros and cons, but all those crashes clients get from their mistakes are reason enough not to play it, that's why many players stopped playing the same week Steam/GoG released multiplayer.

If SWBF1 crashes in the load screen, they should accept people are gonna talk trash of the game.

[{PLA}gdh92]

I never got a chance to play SWBF1 multiplayer until the steam update released, what were the servers like? Did they get more players? Were there more servers? I'd love to here what you veterans have to say. 

When I started in 2011 there were probably 50 servers and 120-150 players at peak UK time and that was down to 80 in 2014. There would usually be 20-30 in  PLA cloudcity server and similar in one of the European all map servers like ententeich, cupbears server or pic arena with the rest spread out.

The servers were all stable then as well, more than most modern games, so you could play for an evening without worrying. With hindsight my 30+ hours a week for a while was probably a bit much but I regret nothing.

[Skinny]

When I started in 2011 there were probably 50 servers and 120-150 players at peak UK time and that was down to 80 in 2014.

150 Players? That's crazy! I wish the game was like that now. I hope with the new potential patch coming up it will bring more players to the game.

[Unit 33]

Aw, homie I got a video for you:

https://youtu.be/ky9Az1Z2-1c

This was back in the glory days when one server was always full and people duke it out in one map for hours. So many players that when you press tab you'd have to scroll down to see the entire list of players.

The thing I remembered most in these days was not the amount of activity and amount of people that played, but the players themselves.

There were so many good players, with plenty more noobs coming in who'll eventually come to be great players too. When you see them learn, they can surprise you in many ways.

Then there were the great players. People who were so good at one class that they become juggernauts on their own. The snipers were the scariest especially when they're on one team. The sight of a single clone jet trooper flying and then 3-5 long lines of red converging into one spot is a sight you'll never forget. They never talk either lol.

Then there were the best players. Players who were so good at any class they play. You give them one class to play and I'll guarantee you they'll top frag and be like 20+ kills over second highest frags. I think there were three players at that time that I can with no hesitation say were the best. I really miss them and I hope they're all doing fine now.

But yeh, that's pretty much how it all was until the servers shut down. It was quite something let me tell you.

Aye, it was the same in the Mac Game Ranger community. There was a core of perhaps 50 folk who played every evening, and then some hardcore undefeatable player that everyone knew would rock up and cause mayhem.

[freezefiveoh]

I bought the game in 2004 and played it consistently until 2010ish.

There were dozens of servers, multiple with 32 players.

The phenom players - Hurtzjet, Frenchie (omg he was annoying), Skullz, Cobra (maybe was his name). They were all great.

The clans - JMMC (John's movie making company), 502nd (ours), NJO (ours), and several others I can't think of.

Here's links to my 13-year-old videos. LOL

https://youtu.be/q0PBJ-6aJnI
https://youtu.be/4gaIBqI5t4s
https://youtu.be/DRuakApjbvg

This was was funny - we had Teamspeak recorded and bantering back and forth. haha
https://youtu.be/BD-4VeIhziY

And learning 'tricks' were super-secret back in the day. You couldn't find videos about tricks and you've have to scour forums (god forbid) to learn techniques. Here's a video I made for other clan members back in the day. It was private until today. haha.
https://youtu.be/dWCTjbTusNw

Anywho, it was fun. Now Team Fortress 2 is dying just like SWBF1 was back in the day. Time to move on.

Have a great day -
-Freeze 5-0

[Led]

Hi Freeze!

good to see you.  Good times in the NJO clan.   

Too bad about TF2, was thinking of finally playing it 

I've been playing Division 2, graphics are great, sounds are great, concept is pretty good, game play is...ok.  I miss the old days of SWBF when a game was actually tested then released, and maybe 1 or 2 patches.  Now days, they are constantly tinkering with weapon stats, etc.

[Skinny]

I miss the old days of SWBF when a game was actually tested then released, and maybe 1 or 2 patches.  Now days, they are constantly tinkering with weapon stats, etc.

This is so true.

It's sad that it took SWBF2 2017 two years to finally be a good game.

I hope SWBF3 will just be good from the beginning. I also wouldn't mind some content updates every month.   

[SirPimped]

SWBF1 was an awesome game. I definitely miss playing with everyone, especially the clan tournaments like ICW. If you want to see what the old servers were like, you can watch full games and montages on YouTube. I have tried to summarize some good videos/channels on YouTube:

1. My own channel (shameless plug) - I have some montages and full ICW games: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgXwFf1v-I--cB2met9hBLg
2. The Pusher - has a couple of montages and has been posting some speed-run games recently: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrS1fV5fZQz96KFLgAxWqAg
3. Drunken master - has some ICW games and other videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-e8M6hzhrMvF8XYRpW1jNg
4. Kiwi - not many videos, but they are enjoyable: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ChZ3dMWMm3_E50EJq5xAg
5. Dumbledore - an old German player with some montages: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmq55KlafOq0HoV9q3mHh9A
6. Led - yes I did find your montage  -
7. Sonny - mostly montages: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVYJ2g6rO6TF7T4FgQiKsDw
8. SWBFminiClips - a channel from a few different German players, with multiple montages: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_pl2cG5v2ua98ANqA6Vvlw
9. WusiBabyEater - a top class sniper montage:
10. TWA Clan - definitely the most artful montages on YouTube of SWBF: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKlj2ZU_hNlu3Raza4wnw0g

Miss playing with you all, might be checking in every now and then. 

[Verranicus]

SWBF1 was an awesome game. I definitely miss playing with everyone, especially the clan tournaments like ICW. If you want to see what the old servers were like, you can watch full games and montages on YouTube. I have tried to summarize some good videos/channels on YouTube:

1. My own channel (shameless plug) - I have some montages and full ICW games: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgXwFf1v-I--cB2met9hBLg
2. The Pusher - has a couple of montages and has been posting some speed-run games recently: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrS1fV5fZQz96KFLgAxWqAg
3. Drunken master - has some ICW games and other videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-e8M6hzhrMvF8XYRpW1jNg
4. Kiwi - not many videos, but they are enjoyable: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ChZ3dMWMm3_E50EJq5xAg
5. Dumbledore - an old German player with some montages: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmq55KlafOq0HoV9q3mHh9A
6. Led - yes I did find your montage  -
7. Sonny - mostly montages: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVYJ2g6rO6TF7T4FgQiKsDw
8. SWBFminiClips - a channel from a few different German players, with multiple montages: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_pl2cG5v2ua98ANqA6Vvlw
9. WusiBabyEater - a top class sniper montage:
10. TWA Clan - definitely the most artful montages on YouTube of SWBF: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKlj2ZU_hNlu3Raza4wnw0g

Miss playing with you all, might be checking in every now and then. 

What's old is new again. I guess Steam (and probably GOG) just updated BFI and now it's online again (without patching gamespy). I don't like the idea of shelling out more cash for a game I own a copy of on PC, and still have my OG Xbox copy, but if that's the way to go these days?