For those who are unaware, the guys at http://www.madcastgaming.com/ have offered to merge with us. I was a bit hasty in making this annoucement before, as there is still quite a lot to consider. I'm going to list the pros and cons, as best I can without bias. Please remember to keep this discussion civil. And this is a long one, so grab some snacks.
On the plus side, we would have a professionally hosted server. They play TF2 quite a bit, and random people would start showing up. This means map exposure, and feedback. We would be able to have game days on a more regular basis, as well as feature maps for various contests. Also on the good side is the expense, or lack there of. Atm, everything that doesn't come from ad revenue is fronted by drpepper, out of this pocket. Moving in with these guys means they would foot the bill; including map hosting, our massive tutorial section, etc.
Now on the down side, the biggest concern is that we lose our identity as a developer community. People might come to associate us as a sub-section of MadCast, since they are involved in multiple games. We would cease to be a community of like-minded gamers, and become just another part of some clan. It is for that reason when I first formed this group, I adhered to a strict 'no TF2M tags' policy. Being involved in all aspects of multiple games, their website layout leaves a lot to be desired. If merged however, I believe that could be changed to give our group better exposure.
I would like to say that I am in favor of doing this. I believe our community would stay the same, even if the name changes. The individual I spoke with me told me quote 'the owners are willing to bend over backwards to make this happen'. I believe that sufficient changes could be made to their front page and forums to make us feel right at home. I have made it very clear to said representative that we are nobody's mapping crew. We're all here because of a shared interest in custom TF2. When people come here, we aren't particularly interested in other games at that time. I believe we would maintain our focus, despite being part of a larger organization. Hell, the way we're going, MadCast might convert solely to TF2 b/c of us
Also to consider is the pride in having built up this community from scratch. I actually remember the day when I asked drpepper if my small Steam group of 20-some people could use his website as a base. For those of you who joined later, tf2maps.net has always been home. I truly think this to be in our best interest. But the last thing we want is to split our precious group in two. Either everyone is willing to give this a shot, at least for a little bit, or we say no, end of discussion. If it helps, I figure we can always return to tf2maps.net should things not work out. Please post your thoughts, and no bashing.
On the plus side, we would have a professionally hosted server. They play TF2 quite a bit, and random people would start showing up. This means map exposure, and feedback. We would be able to have game days on a more regular basis, as well as feature maps for various contests. Also on the good side is the expense, or lack there of. Atm, everything that doesn't come from ad revenue is fronted by drpepper, out of this pocket. Moving in with these guys means they would foot the bill; including map hosting, our massive tutorial section, etc.
Now on the down side, the biggest concern is that we lose our identity as a developer community. People might come to associate us as a sub-section of MadCast, since they are involved in multiple games. We would cease to be a community of like-minded gamers, and become just another part of some clan. It is for that reason when I first formed this group, I adhered to a strict 'no TF2M tags' policy. Being involved in all aspects of multiple games, their website layout leaves a lot to be desired. If merged however, I believe that could be changed to give our group better exposure.
I would like to say that I am in favor of doing this. I believe our community would stay the same, even if the name changes. The individual I spoke with me told me quote 'the owners are willing to bend over backwards to make this happen'. I believe that sufficient changes could be made to their front page and forums to make us feel right at home. I have made it very clear to said representative that we are nobody's mapping crew. We're all here because of a shared interest in custom TF2. When people come here, we aren't particularly interested in other games at that time. I believe we would maintain our focus, despite being part of a larger organization. Hell, the way we're going, MadCast might convert solely to TF2 b/c of us
Also to consider is the pride in having built up this community from scratch. I actually remember the day when I asked drpepper if my small Steam group of 20-some people could use his website as a base. For those of you who joined later, tf2maps.net has always been home. I truly think this to be in our best interest. But the last thing we want is to split our precious group in two. Either everyone is willing to give this a shot, at least for a little bit, or we say no, end of discussion. If it helps, I figure we can always return to tf2maps.net should things not work out. Please post your thoughts, and no bashing.