A Fourth Gameday During the Summer?

Today I learned that I only had 16 full days of school left, and came to the sudden realization that I really don't have a whole lot planned for the summer (no vacation, economy blah blah). Over the course of my time in this community I have also learned that major changes can be made in alpha maps very quickly. More than one day, but less than a whole week. Then the thought occurred to me- many of the people in this community are still in high-school/college, and will also have the summer off. They have the extra time for mapping, and playing games in general, why not have a fourth gameday? This fourth gameday would perhaps be on a Wednesday (middle of the week) and be strictly for alpha maps. Thirty minutes slots as usual, perhaps a shorter total run time. The goal of this would be for mappers to get through the alpha stages much faster, or give them more testing on their alpha maps for any variety of reasons. Alternatively, this could strictly be for late beta maps that are nearing final, and want more balance testing. It could go either way depending on demand. So- what do you guys think? Would it be doable? Would it be worth it? I encourage you to post any ideas!

I was really hoping for some more feedback on this thread. Specifically from more experienced mappers; do you think this would be beneficial? I think the community as a whole might have to show a little more interest in this if you actually want it to happen

Loc_n_lol said:

What about the people who have a job ?

Personnally I wouldn't mind but is there enough 'material' for a 4th gameday every week ? Wouldn't that result in some kind of burnout in the long run, resulting in a drop in the number of players and the quality of playtests ?

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Well if there was enough interest a time that fit everyone's schedules would have to be decided.

Like I said previously, the gameday would be shorter, a sort of secondary Gameday. It would also only be for alpha maps, or for more playtesting for later Beta maps, whichever was in more demand. Theoretically it could be changed from week to week, although I'm not sure how much the person setting up gamedays (A Boojum Snark) would appreciate it, or how it would be determined.

Ah cool, thanks I-D, I was hoping an administrator would reply, good to hear your input on it. I agree we don't need a fourth Gameday right now, or even more Gameday time; but, I do not agree about trying weekend evenings before a separate day. After playing through an entire Gameday, or multiple Gamedays, I, at least, tend to be a bit TF2'd out and playing more TF2 is about the last thing I want to do, maybe that's just me though. I think a Gameday during the week could be useful for people with schedule's that don't allow them to be at the weekend Gamedays. Although, GrimGriz did try this, with limited success, maybe something would change if it was a true TF2Maps.net event? The easiest way to find out all these questions would just be to try out all of our options though.

MrAlBobo, I would prefer that over a fourth Gameday also, but I'm not sure how the current situation can be remedied. It seems like the only way to populate the TF2Maps.net server without it being a Gameday is to have an experienced mapper release the new version of their map, or a new map. I wish there was more enthusiasm for play testing outside of Gamedays too, but I can't really think of any practical ways, as most of the time the populating is done from a group Admin (Usually an experienced mapper) posting an announcement + event about their new map and the play testing they need. I suppose administrators could post events for other mappers? Any other ideas from administrators, moderators, or experienced mappers would be appreciated.