TPG Priming Beacon

**donfede692** · 01-20-12, 10:59 PM

Hello again TPG BF2 players -

Recently I tried to regroup the community synchronously (http://www.teamplayergaming.com/batt...f2-rounds.html), hoping to identify a day/time for TPG BF2 players to reach critical mass (~20+ players total for a good game to get cooking). Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to reach a day/time to have even a minimum number of players to start a match (maximum votes were 7?!?!, matches currently require 8+ to start).

I _know_ there are still TPG BF2 players out there. I am one of them; players that enjoy the multitude of angles and characteristics to this game, players that appreciate the surplus of power that comes from working together as a team. In a recent thread (http://www.teamplayergaming.com/batt...ml#post1582041) badprimer1 was able to identify ~20 TPG BF2 players _playing bf2 online_. That is enough to have critical mass for a good match, already playing out there now.

Trying a different approach, I would put forward priming the TPG BF2 sever asynchronously - to develop a TPG Priming Beacon. Some way, either automated or semi-manual, to check for interested TPG BF2 players online, and call/notify them to hop onto the TPG server. For example, a running daemon that watches all the time for a critical mass (ex: the 20 players described above), and once reached sends some signal/notice such as email, SMS, IM, $X for interested players to hop online to the TPG server. That should have enough to get a good match going with minimal effort.

Any constructive input from others?

best,
donfede

**Kill8ox** · 01-21-12, 02:43 AM

Been there yesterday for 5 hours.
Seem like everybody at TPG lost the interest of playing this game.
The rest of the gang have been playing the shallow counterpart of this game.

**chray00** · 01-21-12, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by Kill8ox

Been there yesterday for 5 hours.
Seem like everybody at TPG lost the interest of playing this game.
The rest of the gang have been playing the shallow counterpart of this game.

sorry to hear that. I would have joined you if I could (my day-night cycle is currently pretty fucked up, going to bed at 3 pm and waking up around midnight).

Hope to see you guys on the server soon enough

**Warflagon** · 01-21-12, 08:07 AM

Actually, I don' t think that's it. Looking at the server, I have not seen BF3 even half full for over a week.

In six months, this community has gone from 2 active TF2 servers to one empty one. 4 BC2 servers down to one empty. 2 BF2 active servers down to one empty. And the most anticipated game of all; BF3 Only ever had one server and I have not seen it full since November.

It seems to me the TPG community is dying.

**donfede692** · 01-21-12, 11:31 AM

<re-focusing thread>

I recognize there is a fair bit of frustration, but this is not the thread to vent that. Constructively, I'm seeking two types of input from the community:

a) members that would be interested in being notified by a TPG BF2 Priming Beacon, please speak up

b) members that have technical info/background on how such a daemon/beacon could be developed, please speak up. I have coding abilities and servers where such a daemon could run, but am not (yet) very familiar with bf2 APIs. I expect the end product would have a list of interested members, check various websites to confirm their currently-online status, and then send out some notification (email, SMS text, IM, $X).

best,
donfede

**Warflagon** · 01-21-12, 12:22 PM

Didn't mean to de-rail the thread.

To repent, I will spend the next hour priming the server.

**Goblin_Jim** · 01-30-12, 03:34 PM

Idea is great.

But the API is a real pain in the butt. I've been investigating this stuff for a long time. And I'm pretty sure that EA does not have any APIs at all. And all we have are the sites like GameTracker, GameMonitor, Battletracker etc.
And they all probably emulate the game-client on their server-sides. So it's a little bit too complex for me...
But we could use any 3d-party help. Like GameMonitor for example (bf2s.com uses it to check for players availability and servers)
The bad thing is that it's not free

So this is still an unsolved problem.

There is a way to make it work for free. We could just grab info from bf2s.com Leaderboard( just like you said). But I don't know if it'll work ok with couple of dozens of players).
The website owner can also dislike this kind of stuff (if he notices that some outside script pulls the stats every 10 minutes), he can just block my IP.

I would appreciate some help from people who may know how to pull the player online status in an easy way...

**Goblin_Jim** · 01-30-12, 04:03 PM

OMG, how could I miss this?...
There is actually a working web-api. IT's over Gamespy ( BF2 Statistics - BF2 Technical Information Wiki ). And it's official, as far as I understand.
So it's not that hopeless.

**Trinity** · 01-31-12, 07:41 AM

Hello all, know I haven't been playing on TPG servers much (sorry bout that), but would it help to use something the likes
of Origin or Steam so everyone knows when a good number of people are available at the same time? Maybe this is what you're already doing or what that primer thing is all about.

I'd love to get some BF2 games in but I just don't know where everyone is that plays anymore.

So I guess count me in if you get something set up and I'll add everyone I can to Steam and keep that up too.

Hopefully see you all on the battlefield soon!