haha, thats cause l4d servers are more streamlined than tf2 servers, and also due to the player limit in comparison. where you'd normally need a single 24slot server for tf2, you can host 5 l4d servers, according to valve. not sure if they were talking bout versus or coop though

but thanks anyways eclub, you guys rock. except that i lag with low ping on your tf2 servers. other than that you rock

This post has been edited by strife_personified: Dec 2 2008, 01:55 PM

binding a server to a community might be ok, but i think it would be more open if they used a search key instead. that way even if you don't want to join the steam community (for whatever reason), you may still host a lobby and use a search key to reserve the server.

thats the thing la, sometimes people have to stop expecting to be spoonfed and learn the more "advance" tricks. besides, its pretty simple, in fact, i'll include a mini tutorial here.

Stage 1: Enabling the Console
1. At the main menu, click on Options.
2. Next, select the Keyboard/Mouse tab.
3. Check the Enable Developer Console checkbox.

At this point, you can press the tilde key (the key on the left of the number 1 on a full sized desktop keyboard, which looks like ` or ~) to open the console.

You can then type in "openserverbrowser" (without the quotes) which will do exactly that, and browse for the E-club servers.

Stage 2: Setting the search key
Assuming E-club (or your own server if you have one) has set the sv_search_key,
1. You type in "sv_search_key <yourUniqueKeyHere>".
2. Create a lobby like normal and invite your friends.
3. Start the game. It will automatically search for a server with a matching search key. Presto!

Not that difficult if you ask me. the benefits of this are that you can use the lobby instead of the server browser, which means you can select the game mode, and your character, and also the difficulty.

This post has been edited by strife_personified: Dec 3 2008, 02:48 PM

well, for those that are here, now they know. for those who are not here, AND not part of YOUR steam community, either they will have to learn or already know how to use the console anyway to connect to the eclub servers or any others, or they will not be bothering and just playing locally hosted servers rather than dedicated. besides, don't sell people short man, there's lots of other sources of info out there, which is where i get mine.

well calc, eclub has to tag their servers with a unique search key. lets assume the key is eclubmyl4d. this will allow your browser to locate it and give it a higher priority if you have also set the search key in your client.

so when you type "sv_search_key eclubmyl4d" into your console, and then create a lobby, when you start the game, it will look for servers with the same search key, and then connect to it, overriding the server settings with the ones you've selected in the game lobby. if all the servers with that search key are in use, or not available for any reason, then it will just select a random server. like usual.

if you need any further clarification do let me know

perhaps some of the others in between those numbers are also having the same problem, so since they've disappeared your rank jumped?

yeah, thats why i thought it might've happened to others, since it has already happened once, to you.

best would be to have them connect using the server browser or console. like you i havent tested any of the secure server configurations since earlier in the launch.

yo there, i have a problem. i have been banned from eclub's tf2 servers. which is funny considering i don't think i've been in there for a while (was taking a break from TF2 and exploring Cyrodill )

so yeah, i was hoping for a reason perhaps for my being banned. thanks.

it wasn't me