server shift suggestion

[celticswynd]

OK, this suggestion depends on if your using a third party server or not. Being down for five days sounds like your getting a bum deal. If you guys ever get fed up of the server your on, I know of an awesome server. It is hardly ever down, and when it is they get right on the problem and gets it fixed as soon as they can. Another game I play, "Furcadia" uses this server. It is called "layerd technologies." I don't know how much money they charge, but maybe its worth looking into.

[Meolae]

PlaneShift's current server is graciously donated by Fragnetics. At the moment, the team cannot (and is not likely to in the future) afford to pay for a server. There are no funds for such an undertaking. Fragnetics has been doing a really good job with server stability from what I can tell. All the crashes that occur, occur because of PlaneShift's in-development status and the bugs that it contains.

Plus, the server may be down right now because of an update. I hear on the board that every two months or so a new client gets released, and there is always a downtime of this approximate length before it happens.

[theirah]

right now, its just down to fix a major bug that was being exploited

[Caarrie]

The server has not been down for 5 days straight lately, and the only time it is down for more then a day is for major bug fixes or when there is a release

[Technomage]

The server has not been down for 5 days straight lately, and the only time it is down for more then a day is for major bug fixes or when there is a release

I realize this may rankle some feathers, but... shouldn't there be a seperate development machine to iron out all these wrinkles?
I know the devs [robably have a preference for the way theu are doing things now, but..
Operating on a live machine where real clients are involved tends to cause big problems (such as the current streak of server downtime
due to some software "breakages".

I am pefectly willing to donate funds towards purchasing a machine specifically for "development work" only.
this will allow the devs to iron out all the bugs and roll those updates into the currently running server with minimal downtime
(and less pressure on the devs from users complaining about the game being offline so often).

Please consider this as a serious suggestion (and not just another complaint). I really do like the game and service and
would like to see it continue to fuitful production as a completed product.

TMH
 

[neko kyouran]

has been discussed many time in the past.  the devs each have a local server running that they code on, and hen it is deemed the code is ready for more formal testing, it is brought to laanx.  you get the privilege to play on the main dev server.  you get to be part of the development process.

[Enrion]

Yeah, that's right and must be said as often as possible. Some people seem to have forgotten or have never heard about the fact that they are all testplayers. I really enjoy being part of developing PS and carrying it a long way to become a stable and funtastic RPG(-chat).

What I am recently missing a lil' bit is public information about what's going on: Just right now the server is down because of a major exploit which has heavily damaged the financial balance in Yliakum. I can't easily find anything here at hydlaa.com about it, not even under the news. If this a matter of not having enough people for that job, than I offer myself to help in such cases.

Yesterday I started with contributing to the PS-wiki. But I am new to the game and I can only write a few parts I know facts about. So if you need manpower: contact me.