a note on servers

verbosity · Post by **verbosity** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:48 pm

[ rant ]
While its fun (and a bit of an ego boost) to run a server, Do we really need to have 4 servers running at one time> I just checked, and there are 4 servers with 3 pilots on, each on a different server.

Previously When I ran a server for Evochron Alliance and Evochron Renegades I occasionaly 'bowed out' to reduce the number of servers, feeling that there is demand for one or two servers. I'm not going to do this now, since I've spent the last month developing my 'dynamic server' system.
The other servers also have their merits I'm sure, boasting about how good your system is and how much bandwidth you have is kinda beyond the point ( we can all host as many people as there are, in fact one server could probably hold everyone at one time). The other servers have merit as well, I'm not selling my own server over others.
my server is there to try and push the boundaries of the evochron universe, and I'm going to continue with this - everything thats done is available for the other servers too if they wish ( for instance the SW server can already upload kills for the league tables in Legends).

I've ran servers both public and private for many years, and sure with games like half life , Mech warrior and trackmania you don't have to consider the effect your server will have, but here too many servers is not 'more choice' its simply splitting up the player base. More than that, we all know the tendancy is for pilots to join once and make an assumption based on that - finding an empty server increases the chances of that pilot not joining again, empty servers stop the player base from growing.

It's been a long road since the first dedicated server was brought out by Vice, and its taken a lot o time and effort, notably By people like SC-ACI , MMaggio,and myself, I'd rather see people spend the time and effort to fly in MP, rather than server, and reduce it for others...

I'll admit that I get quite emotive about this, but I've spend a lot of time and effort over the past two years, seeing MP turn from 2 or 3 pilots every couple of nights to a healthy and growing playerbase.
[/ rant]

[Edited on 2-6-2009 by verbosity]

Ironbar Sinister · Post by **Ironbar Sinister** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:56 pm

Whoops - just read this after having composed my post about my intentions to run a server...

I'm completely new to this development line and community, so I certainly don't want to step on any toes...

I *DO* however want to be able to run my own sandbox - and it can certainly be private. I'd be doing it mostly for myself and close friends to fly together in anyway.

verbosity · Post by **verbosity** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 10:05 pm

lol no offence taken lol,
I think a lot of people go "oh here is a server i can run, cool" and for most games this would be the case, and I'd love it to be the case but IMHO its not -yet.

you'll find the public servers a very friendly arena, and I'll be happy to help with any 'development' stuff - my website is still in the throws of development, but you'd be surprised at what it can do already, and all the cool funky goodness it offers is available to any server (public or private) that wishes it.

Daedalao · Post by **Daedalao** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:33 pm

hehe, Verb, you run a very specific type of server

Elvisman2001 · Post by **Elvisman2001** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:41 am

I didn't bring up a server to step on toes. i brought up my server because I was lagging pretty bad on the 2 servers I tried last night and decided i would put one up and give its location (South Eastern US) so that if someone else experienced the same thing, they would at least have an alternative with a geographical location to go by.

Daedalao logged into and said it was the best connection he had ever had on a server. That may not be true for someone else depending on where they are. I don't see anything bad about having multiple servers up and running. If someone new to the game experienced what i experienced last night, it would be an instant turn off for MP if there weren't alternatives i think.

If Vice thinks it is bad, then i will bring down my sever. But, he seemed pretty pleased with it today when he was on it.

I didn't bring it up because, "Oh cool a server I can run!" I brought it up to try and help the game out.

[Edited on 2-7-2009 by Elvisman2001]

Post by **Vice** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:26 am

3-4 servers is good in my opinion, especially considering geographic locations (where players may find improved performance and reliability on a server closer to them) and if alternate universes are used, some players may likely want to use the default universe configuration. Also, it helps to have others online as backups if one or more goes down. Too many could indeed spread the player base significantly, but 3-4 is likely more of a benefit overall than a drawback.

[Edited on 2-7-2009 by Vice]

Anubis Thanatos · Post by **Anubis Thanatos** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:42 pm

Maybe a naming convention for the servers.
What location and mod there running etc.
I'm at work so I cant check to see if it's already implemented or not.

InterFaced · Post by **InterFaced** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:30 pm

I've got two questions about servers with alternate universes.

1. Is there any way to tell if a server is running an alternate universe from the server browser?
2. Could joining an alternate universe server have any lasting negative effects on my Single Player universe, other default multiplayer universes, and pilot stats?

[Edited on 2-12-2009 by InterFaced]

verbosity · Post by **verbosity** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:35 pm

Originally posted by InterFaced
1. Is there any way to tell if a server is running an alternate universe from the server browser?

'fraid not at the moment, luckily all the servers use the standard universe, except mine which in the next day or so will require a launcher anyway.

2. Could joining an alternate universe server have any lasting effects on my Single Player universe, other default multiplayer universes, and pilot stats?

in a couple of ways yes.
1. the universe is held in a file called universedata.txt, an alternate universe would have to alter that.
( in the case of my server, the launcher has an option to replace the universe and return the standard one for otherservers, sp games.)

2. pilot stats would not really be effected except in the way they would normally, and this only applies to military and civilian ranking.

InterFaced · Post by **InterFaced** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:54 pm

Originally posted by verbosity
2. Could joining an alternate universe server have any lasting effects on my Single Player universe, other default multiplayer universes, and pilot stats?
in a couple of ways yes.
1. the universe is held in a file called universedata.txt, an alternate universe would have to alter that.
( in the case of my server, the launcher has an option to replace the universe and return the standard one for otherservers, sp games.)

2. pilot stats would not really be effected except in the way they would normally, and this only applies to military and civilian ranking.

So if for some reason universedata.txt gets overwritten a simple re-install should put everything right... right?

verbosity · Post by **verbosity** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:54 pm

Ironbar Sinister · Post by **Ironbar Sinister** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:55 pm

Correct.