Bahamut

One problem I have is that the map is so large, it might be better suited for a 32 player server than a 24 player server.

There is one thing Steam offers as an improvement as well - I lost my HL2 Collector's Edition DVD, but once Steam identified that I registered an account before with a particular email address, they forced me to log on with my original account. Once I did, I found that I could redownload all of the games I got with my HL2 Collector's Edition for free, without any hassle. Steam is still pretty buggy, but if it offers such an improvement, I'm willing to go with a DRM scheme since there's no indication that it's intrusive in any other way. The version of SecuROM that EA is using contains just about all of the bad aspects of DRM rolled into one though, and is one that should be shunned by all intelligent/reasonable consumers. As long as EA uses SecuROM for its big PC titles, I have no reason to even consider buying or playing them. There are more than enough companies out there who don't take a massive dump on their consumers out there to not care about a few missed games.

So, anyone know of a good hosting company for game servers? In particular, I'm looking for one for Team Fortress 2 for the community, as Gameservers.com is just not cutting it.

Yeah, as it is, it really is a scout dominated map. Also those red/blue bars to denote where the intel is are huge

So the new tf2 server location is: vgmusic.com:27015 Add it to your favorite servers, cause when the current subscription runs out, this is the new permanent address.

Yeah, the IP will change, and it will be posted here and in the first post as well.

Also I've noticed some bandwidth issues with the server for the past month, and presh noticed it too. We might be switching to a new server today, so stay tuned! It will also be in the motd too on the current one.

So, I changed the current map rotation to this: pl_badwater cp_dustbowl ctp_epsilon_a2 cp_granary pl_badwater tc_hydro cp_dustbowl ctf_2fort cp_gravelpit pl_goldrush cp_steel pl_badwater cp_well ctf_royal_b3 cp_badlands tc_hydro pl_dustbowl_b4 ctf_turbine I've noticed that a lot of people don't like the arena maps, and there tends to be a lot of bitching in them, so for now I removed the two unique arena maps from the rotation. In addition, I switched mach4 for royal, and where royal originally was for ctp_epsilon_a2

There are a lot of server admins for the server - I think Optik might be one of the few who isn't on IRC.

Alright, so here's the mapcycle for now: pl_badwater arena_lumberyard cp_dustbowl ctf_royal_b3 cp_granary pl_badwater arena_ravine tc_hydro cp_dustbowl ctf_2fort cp_gravelpit pl_goldrush cp_steel pl_badwater cp_well ctf_mach4 cp_badlands tc_hydro pl_dustbowl_b4 ctf_turbine Sometime in the next few days we can change it to smaller rotations if people like, with suggestions by you guys of course.

I saw Sonata Arctica & Nightwish just last Saturday actually - I was disappointed by Sonata's setlist, as they only played 6 songs, and 3 are from Unia. The other three are White Pearls, Black Oceans, Don't Say a Word, and The Cage. It looks like they're trying to promote Unia since a lot of Sonata fans have expressed disappointment with that album to say the least. I can't complain too much though since I've already seen them twice beforehand. Nightwish's set is pretty much from their latest album Dark Passion Play - I've seen them 3 times before last Saturday though, so I was pretty familiar with most of their setlist anyway (their previous two US tours were to promote that album and the new singer as well). As always I met more great fans there though, and certainly much better than the Judas Priest, Motorhead, Testament, and Heaven & Hell concert I was at last month. It's looking like it's going to be trouble trying to make the Kamelot & Edguy show in Chicago, although I'm going to still try. I mean I can definitely make it, but I'd have to miss stuff like one class to do so. I'm really looking forward to Helloween & Gamma Ray on September 27th in Chicago though, that's going to be a classic show.

So here's the tweaked up server rotation: pl_badwater arena_lumberyard ctf_turbine pl_goldrush cp_dustbowl ctf_royal_b3 cp_gravelpit cp_granary pl_badwater arena_ravine ctf_2fort cp_steel cp_dustbowl pl_badwater cp_well ctf_mach4 cp_badlands tc_hydro pl_dustbowl_b4 Thoughts?

I guessed that some of the rock ones must've been doujin mixes - I had a feeling that this person dug into pretty obscure sources of music to get all of these tracks, especially with the rock oriented tracks and it seemed like my original suspicions are verified. Strangely, I don't think any of these tracks are any of the SSH ones, which was the first place I looked.

Strangely, I can't identify any of them as others I've heard before. I'll keep looking a little later on though if nobody has found any though.

So, Amazon currently has the 360 Elite for $400, but it comes with a $60 Amazon gift card. Great deal for those who don't currently have a 360, and is very tempting for any on the sidelines for it to fall down in price.

I dunno, I <3 Turbine.

Why would I play on a low-grav server? I've done all of the other bits just fine though (32 player instant respawn dustbowl and 2fort).

Go for a GeForce 8800 GT if you're really cheap - they should be pretty cheap now, and maybe the 9800 GT as well. I run TF2 on max settings on my 8800 GT with no slowdown whatsoever - my card has 512 MB of RAM I think.

And this was while we had two stupid medics uberchaining (and failing miserably).

Meh...I'm seeing Nightwish & Sonata Arctica tonight.

Talent alone doesn't get you into grad school for any department, whether it be the arts or humanities, or sciences. If you have a low GPA, it is construed as a sign of a possible slacker, and is grounds for many schools for rejection, especially private schools. Funding is competitive, and there are more deserving people out there who show that they are capable of working hard. There are other major factors such as ability, but the GPA is often the make or break factor regardless of department.

I didn't remove it on purpose, I have two different copies of the motd on two different computers. And plus if you had any reading comprehension, you would've saw that it wasn't there for about a month now.

For just about every person I know, it's hard to argue with what I just mentioned - a good GPA does wonders. My lack of one in undergrad cost me $100k in debt from 2 years of graduate school, having to work much harder to get into the PhD program (I was originally accepted only to the masters program, with a clear understanding that there was no guarantee that I would be accepted eventually into the PhD program) and obtain funding. Plenty of other people I know have had their choices severely limited after graduation because they did not have a good GPA. It is something that is pretty consistent from what I've seen. In addition, most applications after undergrad do not request your extracurriculars, much less care about them - graduate school the least of them all, with them clearly not interested in anything but stuff related to the department you're applying to. Their impact is far more minimal than a good GPA, and a great one such as an 3.8+ opens many other doors (better jobs, more job opportunities, significantly better starting income & pay raise track, etc.) that most of those without that type of GPA won't get a glimpse of. Of course I'm not advocating closeting yourself to study all of the time without participating in things that you like, but I'm putting everything into perspective. Personally I do think undergrad's primary importance is to socialize and to connect with others, but when prioritizing things you can make up, you can always meet with people another time, but you usually can't make up work or the damage that can be caused in your performance in a class from a missed important lecture.

The hosting company has it set to 24, which is its max (due to bandwidth/stability concerns) - I think the server crashing issues earlier might've been due to that setting change I made with the config_arena.cfg file. Also, what do you people think about demo sticky camping spawns, or in particular offense doing it to defense? Do you all think it should remain banned, or should we allow it to see what happens?

Whatever school you do get into, I can't stress this enough - work your ass off for the good grades. From all I've seen, GPA is quite possibly the most important thing you carry away with when you're in undergrad, and is the largest aspect considered when you're applying to jobs, or professional/graduate schools. Having a good social life is also important as well of course, but don't lose sight on keeping that GPA up.