Dear DtK Community,
It was 1 year ago in June last year that Server #9 Nilla/Rotation was officially opened to the public. What once started with a handful of players has now grown into something more. In the past year we have seen the playerbase grow , growth that required the server slots to be increased, we saw the server establish it's own identity -one that is different and unique from other servers out there, we have seen the server rise up to top 4th Ranked CS:S server in Australia, we saw other servers copying the server even the name (one a existing server, one a new one) ,we saw new players coming over from other communities and players from other DtK servers who usually stuck to their own server, we saw new friendships being formed on the server, we saw new friendly rivalries formed on the server , we laughed with players when they made silly mistakes, we cheered for players as they clutched and won the round, this list could keep going on but what I am trying to say is that a lot of good things happened in this past 12 months. While not everything was all sunshine and rainbows it is important to acknowledge the good.
The server wouldn't be what it is today on it's own and with that being said:
I would like to thank the Staff (especially Pigsy, Krezand and Ajaytech) for always being there - in the server's initial setup/testing and now the daily running of the server.
Much thanks to current and former admins of Server #9 Nilla/Rotation. They do the hardest work with the least pay. You all play an important role in running the server and it is much appreciated. We Council/Staff couldn't do this on on our own, so thank you for being part of the team.
Lastly, I would like to thank the most important part of the server, the server regular players who enjoy and appreciate the server. You guys make the server, you only have to go through recent DtK applications to see this. It is only because of players like you that there is an incentive for us to continue running the server. Much love and appreciation for being part of this server family.
To celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Server #9 Nilla/Rotation, we will be giving away a $50 Steam Gift card at the end of this month. This will be awarded to the player with the most positive influence on the server - be it being helpful to players or simply being a great person all around. Decision will be made by Council/Staff and all players will be considered (members,non-members,admins, non-admins).
!dtkw will also be accessible to EVERYONE for a week starting Saturday.
What's next for Server #9 Nilla/Rotation and General things:
1. Common Issues and Solutions:
2 common issues we have seen on the server the past 12 months was that of
a. Players not setting their rates properly and thus having a sub-optimal experience on the server. This often resulted in players with zero clue on how rates work blaming rego issues on the server. To remedy this late last month ,we started enforcing 100TICK rates on players, this will automatically change their rates to that of 100TICK settings. The downside to this is that not all players have a connection/computer that can support 100TICK rates, these players usually would have to use middleground rates to have a somewhat good experience on the server but now they are being forced to use the max value settings. Again we had no choice because of a few players ignorance.
b. Skin confusion - late last month we commissioned a modeller to create 2 sets of new VIP skins that are more similar to the original models and are easily distinguishable. All sets of custom player skins are now standardised - red for T's and dark blue for CT's. Additionally there are players who sometimes get invisible skins (less than 5% of playerbase), this is not due to custom players skins on the server. This can be attributed to a variety of reasons (e.g alt-tabbing a lot , poor connection rates , as well as changing some settings on the server can cause models to not get rendered )
There will also be newer updated guides to assist with above going up soon.
2. Competitions and Challenges Coming Soon
Expect to see bigger scale competitions pitching teams against each other and weekly challenges and Bounties on the server itself. (e.g of a Weekly challenge would be most kills with a selected weapon, e.g of weekly/monthly Bounty would be a bounty being put on a selected person and the person with most kills on that person would be declared the winner.
3. Playerbase and Toxicity
As mentioned earlier, a lot of the server's growth can be attributed to the original playerbase that was established early on. As the server grew, we saw players from other communities and servers coming here , some accustomed to a different playerbase and some with a similar playerbase. What might be fine to do on another server might not be fine to do here. With that in mind there were special considerations that were done to minimise toxicity and preserve the environment that originally grew the server. Additionally there are some players who constantly shit-talk the server and yet continue playing on it, you are welcome to your opinion however if it's affecting the experience of players on the server, expect voice mutes /bans. No one is forcing you to be on the server.
4. Slot Increase
At times the server gets full and spec have to be kicked, if this starts happening often , the server will be increased by ~2-4 or so. There is no intention of increasing slots to 40 or anything like that.
Again thanks to all those mentioned!!!
Cheers