NEW SERVER PLEASE

[jdwebwolf]

I am a new user to the system and I am really liking what I am seeing.  I used to be addicted to EQ, but had to stop playing once I went back to school.

Now on to the real meat of the message.  I see on the site that you have received a bunch of volunteers for server hosts, but have decided not to add any.  I think that this is a big mistake.  My reason for saying this is that I am a developer myself and would glady aid in whatever ways I can.  In order to do this I need to be able to get on the server without lagging so bad that I cannot even make a smooth turn while walking.

Due to me being in Atlanta, Georgia in the USA and the server being in Singapore I get pings that are no less than upper 200s, but mostly upper 300s.  It is so bad that I cannot even enjoy the gameplay.  Sometimes it takes me almost 10 minutes to log on.  I have a new box with no memory/CPU/OS problems and a broadband connection.  I see real potential here, but there needs to be another server located in a strategic position so that more people can test and offer input so that when it goes public it will be the best that it can be.  Is that not the whole point of open-source?

[acraig]

Well I see two problems here.  1) Fragment the games so we get less users per server so they are not stress tested as much.  2) More for us to maintain.  At the moment it\'s not so bad but setting up a new server is a fairly big commitment that I\'m not willing to undertake at the moment.  If, however, you want to set up another server then there isn\'t much we can do to stop you

The way the system is designed at the moment the network traffic is very limited.  I\'ve said before that you could probably use carrier pigeons to do the networking and it could be ok.  The slow downs you see are in the Rendering Engine.  When you load, all the server does is send across the name of the sector you are in.  The client then does the loading, and this is what takes a long time.

Another server might be nice but, as I said, it is a fairly big commitment on both the server provider and whoever is setting it up.  If you ( or somebody else ) wants to take a stab at it then I will do my best to help out.

[jdwebwolf]

I know that a server setup is a big commitment/headache/hastle.  

Is that what you told all of the people before me that offered to host?  They offer to host and then you just blow them off saying that it is a hastle?  Come on man.  You know that people who are of the open-source mind are used to hastles and are usually more dedicated than the average out-ot-the-box moron.  I do not have access to a dedicated connection any more and my *NIX box is down for reapirs or else I would take you up on your offer just to test your mettle.

I understand the testing of server load argument very well, and please assume that I understand how the rendering and transferance of data as far as the game goes.  I am not mad as I know that you get contacted by a lot of people that just do not know and want to complain.

I still think that these problems that you have listed are far outweighed by the benefits you will get from the people this side of the planet who will be able to get on better.

Just out of curiosity...what would I need to do to set up my own server?  And what are you seeing as the bare bones minimum system requirements?

Thanks for the info.

[acraig]

Originally posted by jdwebwolf

Is that what you told all of the people before me that offered to host?  They offer to host and then you just blow them off saying that it is a hastle?  Come on man.  

You\'d have to ask our project leader how he responds to those requests.   I can only deal with the information about the servers that he has provided to me.  We\'ve tried several other people that wanted to provide servers but they did not provide very good support and we got stuck spinning our wheels.  

Just out of curiosity...what would I need to do to set up my own server?  And what are you seeing as the bare bones minimum system requirements?

You can try checking out these instructions  They are only for linux at the moment and are still a work in progress but they should have most of the info there.  I have to add a section about installing MySQL but for most people that just want the client then that is not necessary.

[BlueScreenJunky]

I think you should keep to 1 server for now, as acraig said we\'re not enough on the first one, it would be worse if there were 2 or more.

About the lag, I agree that it would be better to have a server in the US (for you) or in Europe (for me), BUT it\'s not as if we really had to play. as long as it\'s alpha testing, 300 ms is acceptable.