Suggested Vanilla Changes - continued

[ReCycled]

Jesus -  you put in a thread asking politely for a few changes and you open up a Pandora's box of simmering family resentments. Here's my 2 rupees worth:

Panjoo's DM7mod is a nice subtle improvement to the original. Of all the 8 Id DeathMatch maps, the Slimy Place has been the most reviled and least requested (if ever). This is the map where the player count goes from 20 to 10 in a minute or so. So any change there was welcome.

The issue of modding any standard ID map to something a bit different versus keeping them untouched seems to be largely an issue between the best players (no change) versus all the rest. Players like Ely have put in their time to learn these maps in intimate detail and fine tuned their game to each of them. They take the game seriously and the main goal of each round is to win. That's why there's a score. So I can see their point in consistency and keeping frivolous changes out of it.

However.......
A lot of the rest of us are really, really bored with these maps. We have played them so often that there isn't a crumb of discovery or intrigue about any of them. The same old routes, the same old landscape, the same camping spots and that same spawning spot where you face the wall. I have disconnected from maps where I was even leading or in second just because I was bored with such over-familiarity. This does not mean that we require a fresh new map all the time where we run around aimlessly trying to figure it out or trying to find a weapon. Thats a pain too. But a familiar map with a few new surprises in it, raises my interest again. I want to check out these new tweaks and have fun with them. And I can still play because I'm not lost. I think its a nice compromise between both schools. Also for me, the fun/social aspect of playing Quake at Vanilla is more important these days than winning. So I'm open to change.

The fact that someone is footing the bill to run this server and allowing so much user participation and say in the process, is a gift. I remember the years when bots would rule there and the admins didn't care. The new guys have done an amazing job to turn this around and provide all the benefits we have now.