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Ragnar_Dreadbane

My biggest fear realised- Why private servers suck

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So when I started playing this game my greatest concern was that since Rolf doesn't host the server any more your characters very existence is in the hands of someone who has no monitory incentive to keep the server running. So what does make people host? A love of the game surely? But what happens when that honeymoon period runs out? Well, then they stop hosting, and your character ceases to exist.

Aaaand that just happened. Let me preface this by saying I absolutely love this game, it's seriously awesome! 

 

But BlueFangSolution's London server just decided that after a week to call it quits. 68 Hours of game time totally wasted. Gone. Not only that but I have no way of contacting the guys in my village, who I would like to keep in touch with. It's all really sad, but this situation was foretold by numerous skeptics.

 

And yes I know they'll be numerous people commenting that I should have just joined Wyvern to begin with (as if that's my fault), but at the time I didn't know that server existed, and when you've made friends and invested time into your village you don't fancy starting over. Lakeside Homestead is- was my home.

 

I kind of feel this is a fundamental problem of this game's model. I paid £20 for it, and I have no character security at all. In fact 68 hours of my life has completely been deleted. Thanks a bunch. Nothing to show for it. 

 

If any of the BlueFang guys read this, PM me, I'd love to keep going with you guys.

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Wurm online is your only way to make sure your character and items will never be deleted or hosting the server yourself.


Edited by Kegan
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Maybe next time play on a server that has a lot of people on like Wyvern. 


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I think in these early weeks, there will be a lot of server turnover.  As time goes on, there will be some servers that rise to the top and gain excellent reputations.  This of these early weeks as if you were doing a Beta test.  Might be less painful that way.


 


Talk to the old players on the older Wurm Online side and you will find that many have restarted new characters and settlements and have a blast doing if all over from scratch.  Every new server that opens in Wurm Online will get huge influx of old players, starting all over again.


 


Don't lose hope.


Edited by Wurmhole
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Try to find a servers created by established communities - these will most likely exist for very long even if population is low.

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I kind of feel this is a fundamental problem of this game's model. I paid £20 for it, and I have no character security at all. In fact 68 hours of my life has completely been deleted. Thanks a bunch. Nothing to show for it. 

 

I'm sorry you lost your char and I hope you can work something out to contact your lost friends but that logic is flawed. You have paid 20 pounds for the game and it's server software, not for character security. It takes quite some effort to run a map 'indefinitely' as WO does so expecting that from any third party is a bad idea.

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I'm sorry you lost your char and I hope you can work something out to contact your lost friends but that logic is flawed. You have paid 20 pounds for the game and it's server software, not for character security. It takes quite some effort to run a map 'indefinitely' as WO does so expecting that from any third party is a bad idea.

You see I only agree to a point. As a software engineer by trade I wouldn't provide a service that featured persistent data as a requirement to be so unprotected, without any safeguards. I don't think my firm would pass ethics on that without humongous warnings about temperamental data.

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Its funny in a way. Minecraft uses the same server model as Wurm Unlimited. Yes everything you've made can be deleted our griefef by an irresponsible admin. It's not a flaw in the platform, it's a flaw in people.

Over time the more permenant servers will become apparent.

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You see I only agree to a point. As a software engineer by trade I wouldn't provide a service that featured persistent data as a requirement to be so unprotected, without any safeguards. I don't think my firm would pass ethics on that without humongous warnings about temperamental data.

 

I wouldn't do that either but the people renting these servers aren't professionals, they're hobbyists and a good portion of them jumped into this without realising what they were getting into. I've seen it happen with other games, people think it's fun to run a server until they find out what's involved and that it cuts into your own gametime.

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I wouldn't do that either but the people renting these servers aren't professionals, they're hobbyists and a good portion of them jumped into this without realising what they were getting into. I've seen it happen with other games, people think it's fun to run a server until they find out what's involved and that it cuts into your own gametime.

No no, you misunderstand. I don't think my firm would pass ethics on Rolf doing that. I'm not blaming the hosters. I don't really want to blame Rolf either, he is just one man after all. And I understand why he'd want to abdicate responsibility for such a large amount of data storage, but it just sucks to be on the receiving end.

Looks like I'm going to be starting on Wyvern :(

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Players need access to server backups, so in case the server falls, any player can set up the game as it was in his/her latest backup.


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Players need access to server backups, so in case the server falls, any player can set up the game as it was in his/her latest backup.

We actually did talk as a village that if this happened we'd contact the host and ask for the server data. But we just didn't expect it so soon! One week!

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No no, you misunderstand. I don't think my firm would pass ethics on Rolf doing that. I'm not blaming the hosters. I don't really want to blame Rolf either, he is just one man after all. And I understand why he'd want to abdicate responsibility for such a large amount of data storage, but it just sucks to be on the receiving end.

Looks like I'm going to be starting on Wyvern :(

 

Yup, definitely misunderstood you in that case. Well, good luck on Wyvern I suppose :)

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You see I only agree to a point. As a software engineer by trade I wouldn't provide a service that featured persistent data as a requirement to be so unprotected, without any safeguards. I don't think my firm would pass ethics on that without humongous warnings about temperamental data.

 

Dude. This is such a load of bs. How can your 'ethical' firm control what others do? I really don't see where you're coming from. And companies, even ethical ones, fold all the time and take all YOUR stuff with them. It's not their fault someone pulls the plug.

 

This is just the second week. There's going to be all sorts of falling out. And people will lose characters in the shake down. This is nothing new or earth shattering. Just pick yourself up and go someplace else and hope they don't fold too. Give it a few months and you'll find out who is on solid ground and who is not. 

 

Was just thinking. It would be great if you saved your characters stats and another server let you come aboard with those stats if your 'old' server went away. But then there would be those who would take advantage I suppose. 

Edited by Clatius
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Not really surprised.  A lot of servers, especially during the first 2-3 months, will begin, and fall.  Even one's with a lot of people will do this, as they realize they have no wants to really continue hosting.


 


Finding a community that's been doing it for other games, Or that have wanted to do it for a long time and have long-term plans, is your best bet right now to find a stable one. but even they can fall after a period.


 


after 5-6 months, you'll be able to see the more-stable servers rise.


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Dude. This is such a load of bs. How can your 'ethical' firm control what others do? I really don't see where you're coming from. And companies, even ethical ones, fold all the time and take all YOUR stuff with them. It's not their fault someone pulls the plug.

Look I don't want to keep arguing this. Yes companies come and go but what I mean is the firm wouldn't set up the system in such a way that had no redundancy, precisely because we can't control what third parties do. Especially when the end user relies on the data being persistent. Ie Rolf should have added some redundancy for this.

That all being said, I'm getting over it. New adventures awaits.

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after 5-6 months, you'll be able to see the more-stable servers rise.

 

This. Happens with any game where players host servers.

It is unlucky that your one died so early, maybe email an admin to try and get a copy of the db?

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Yeah the system is not ideal on many fronts.


 


One feature that would be nice is the ability to get a personal copy of the server database for your own personal use such as a snap shot in time.


 


I would not venture to setup your own personal server for personal use unless you know intermediate networking


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My server 'Alador' is hosted on Hardware I have had up and running for over 3 years. I also have automated backups in place. It won't be going anywhere. I also will never ask for donations as I can finance my servers myself.


 


I think during this honeymoon period lots of servers will spring up and lots will die. Once time passes the more trusting servers in it for the long term will remain while others will slowly disappear.


Edited by cherbert
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Maybe next time play on a server that has a lot of people on like Wyvern. 

 

 

Having a lot of players does not mean the hosting company doesnt bail...

 

Even if someone is hosting their own server and you join it can still happen.

 

Heck Rolf could say F it and erase it all.

 

My choice is my own server created on my computer backed up by me and hosted by me.

 

That way I know whats what.

 

I thought hard about using one of these hosted servers and then ordered more memory for my computer...lol. ;)

 

that's not to say Steam doesnt  go under one day and poof.....wonder what would happen then...

Edited by Uberknot
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Steam has said that they have contingency plans in place in case something like that happens.


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Steam has said that they have contingency plans in place in case something like that happens.

 

No idea what you are on about? Steam can't possibly have any solution for this.

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No idea what you are on about? Steam can't possibly have any solution for this.

 

He's talking about what would happen if Steam ever 'disappeared'. I assume Valve has some sort of offline validation prepared for DRM titles. Multiplayer games that use the Steam server stuff would probably suffer the same fate as the Gamespy ones though.

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This happens in any MMO that shuts down, whether it's the entire game (City of Heroes, Vanguard, Glitch) or servers. You do not have any rights to your character. Don't play any MMO thinking that you do - unless you're the one hosting the server and even then, things happen.


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