My contention is that with the current map list, which I believe to be bloated, we have relegated gameplay to a small nucleus of maps that the general population of the server is familiar with. Some of them are fantastic and I'm really glad we play them a lot, but some of the others? Not so much... I think the map list in its current format has a negative effect on the server for the following reasons:

1. The good but unfamiliar maps do not get voted.
My example for this is jb_nexzoid, a map I'm a fan of for it's wide array of games and though the hallways to those areas are a little complicated, the map is designed with a navigation system that lends readily to rebelling. If we played it more often I have no doubt it would become one of the server's favourites. I also believe that if we added a kickass new map tomorrow, chances are it would get passed up in the vote for something more familiar and within a few weeks forgotten about entirely.

2. We play maps that are just awful.
When the map vote comes up, players inevitably vote for the map they know the most. If nobody has nominated one of the maps we always play, then sometimes we end up on an obscure one that's just thoroughly miserable to play. You know what I'm talking about - it has no secrets, the warden has no idea what to do, it all gets boring because nobody is enthused nor motivated by the map we're playing... but we end up sitting on it for 30 minutes because we can't get enough RTV's to change it! By the time the next map vote rolls around the server population has been halved, all because we ended up on a map that nobody really wanted to play in the first place.

I took the liberty of going through the Jail Break map list using the server's nominate feature and I have noted down every single map eligible for nomination. I have listed them in the below spoiler.



My observations are as follows:

1. What the fuck even are some of these?
Has anybody ever played ba_jail_entanglement_v1?! What is that? Is it good? MAYBE! What is jb_golden_chicken_twse? What is ba_jail_partyhouse_v4?

2. We have maps that even the creators themselves are surprised by.
My friend made ba_jail_yolo and Retizetia at least four years ago because he wanted to learn how to use Source SDK. We ended up on Retizetia a few weeks ago and he was stunned when I told him we were playing it. It's extremely basic and he assumed it would have been removed for quality control reasons once he stopped associating with the community. I'm with him, we shouldn't have maps like this on the list when we have far greater ones.

3. There are two versions of Lego.
I'd rather we had no Lego jail, I hate it with a passion and find it ruins my enjoyment but is there a reason we have both v4 and v8?

4. Too many Razor clones.
Hiddens Jail was played more than Razor itself back in the day but we never play it now. Aero is pretty bad and boring. Outer Space is mostly a re-texture with some nifty little additions like the laser and the library, I know Musical likes it. I think it's decent and all but it hardly changes the game up enough to warrant its inclusion IMHO. I don't mind electric_egn, vipinthemix or the JT2K one either, it's just that we play enough Razor as it is without also playing the razor clones.

My suggestion is that we shorten the map list drastically to a small pool of the best 10 to 15 maps. I've listed my ideal map list in the spoiler below.



My thought is that not only will we always be playing a map that we both enjoy playing and are familiar with, but new additions to the map list will stand out more and that may encourage the server to vote for them more often than they currently do.

If this is a dialogue people could bring up in the server to the regulars that don't have a voice here, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm positive that some of them would rather the map list be shortened to the maps they love the most so we never end up on an awful one that kills the game.

We just play 5 maps and Razor is shit.

Glad someone finally took the time to make a solid list of maps and weed out the shitty ones. Here are a few maps that didn't make the list but definitely deserve a place on there. The list is in order of most to least deserving with lego and VIP being tied for most.

jb_lego_jail_v8_css_a1 should stay because of its general popularity and quality.

jb_vipinthemix_v1_3 is a really popular map and should stay.

ba_jail_blackops is seen as a classic by some people and should probably stay, it isn't terrible.

jb_nexzoid should stay too because it is a really good map and people would learn to love it if the shittier maps get removed. I think its only problem is that some people lag.

jb_paper_alive_fix isn't that bad and has some unique games (Battle Royale and a few others)

Here's the list again with my additions in green, still seems pretty clean and manageable.

Now it's just time to wait and see if something will actually be done...

That's a pretty solid list, although I haven't played Nexzoid tho. For real tho New Summer is the shit.

Yeah that's a good list, I can roll with that.

JUST TAKE OUT EVERY MAP OTHER THAN RAZOR...PROBLEM SOLVED

In secret Dyno is actually my biggest fan. He wont leave me alone

razor clan fuck the opps

also, golden chicken is a hella good map

jb_nexoid is great +1

Concerning jb_electric_razor: Why not put it on a shorter timer? That way we get more opportunities for other maps.

If there isn't already a plugin for map specific timers, I can probably make it.