Mike Nomad
02-07-2011, 06:20 AM
A good lesson for all to gain some insight into the art of Developer/Publisher Double Talk. And typical brownie boy responsiveness...
There are a couple of advantages to having servers purely run by GSPs, when it comes to running the game itself.
One of the biggest benefits is that it is always possible for the developer to reach the person who performs administration of the physical server machine. Is the software on the machine incorrectly configured? Is it out of date? Are there lots of crashes happening? The developer can investigate and mandate changes quickly.Is that so?? Why is it that an Independent Server that's properly set up, maintained and Admin'ed Server rarely has cheat/hack or stability problems?
The developer can also mandate a minimum level of quality from the physical server administrators. Yes, some overload their boxes, but they aren't taking the piss. There are no servers run out of someone's living room on a beefed-up ADSL connection.Now the truth appears.... "the Developer can Mandate" That actually says "the Developer can DICTATE". Kalms just used a softer word. Fact is, that even big time hosts use "BEEFED UP" ADSL and DSL lines. So what's the big deal?? Its clearly NO Money paid for the "privilege" of offering Server hosting by Independents. Its ALL about CASH.
The developer can get high-quality, filtered information on how the game servers perform. I.e. the GSPs do 1st line tech support. In return, the GSPs can get quality 2nd-line support from the game team. The game team would not handle doing tech support for many individual server operators, and no regular Customer Support would do as good a job at it as GSPs.Sure, sure, sure and that will happen when pigs fly. Gameservers is a prime example of this today with their service. If the developer interaction and support with the games they host is so wonderful why does the service itself always seem to be wanting. In a word, it sucks. Nice words, no meaning.
Another advantage is that it is indeed possible for the game team to ensure that all (or nearly all) game servers get upgraded in a timely manner. For BC2 PC, we usually get 60% of all game servers upgraded in a couple of days, and that is when we aren't telling GSPs to upgrade ASAP. On occasion we have developed and distributed game server updates which tackle cheats and bad bugs to all GSPs in less than 24h.Upgraded and fixed in a couple of days? Is this guy on the same planet we are on? Amazing that this topic is even brought up. There is not a single conscientious Independent Admin/Host out there that wouldn't install any update immediately. The only delays EVER introduced were done so by lackadaisical, second rate Hosting Services.
Sometimes problems crop up on a global scale. Being able to cooperate with all GSPs to implement global changes at short notice is valuable. (Such changes usually have to do with the infrastructure rather than gameplay.) Sometimes technology just isn't working as intended. Being able to solve stuff by talking to the GSPs and working out a manual solution is a godsend in such situations.More double talk attempting to justify "approved" GSP's. "Global problems"?? All Server problems are "global" in the true sense of the word global. Any global problem affects everyone. Talking to the GSP's? When would an Independent Admin owner not be responsible and talk to the developers? No Kalms, you are alluding to developer convenience - nothing more and nothing less. Pure BS.
Locking down servers has more to do with ensuring integrity of the play experience and anti-piracy. If you are a member of a clan and you just want to play with your clan members on your clan servers then you probably don't care diddly squat about this... But the games developer probably wants to cater to a wider audience.Baloney!! Locking down servers in only aimed at having and maintaining full control over the servers for further monetization. Truth be known, Every Independent Admin Owner I have ever spoken with had servers up and running that were virtually cheat/hack free mainly due to the fact that the those Admins had control of their servers... Not a bunch of monetization control freaks.
Also, if servers are locked down then the game server code can be considered to be trusted. There are dangers with this, certainly, but sometimes it makes development a lot easier.Say it like it is. The server code was and is so sloppy that any grade schooler with coding knowledge could easily hack the living daylights out of the code. So the developers couldn't possibly let the code out into the wild. Tell the truth! Development Easier?? How about-less expensive!
Locking down servers is a crude approach... but as far as the games companies are concerned, it works. There are two real alternatives: more engineering, or changing policy. Policy changes are less likely. I will not go into further detail.Crude?? Yes it is and much cheaper. The alternatives are far more desirous if the users are to ever get what they ask for. Unfortunately, it costs more money to do those things properly. In other words, it costs less to abuse the users than it does to satisfy them.
Oh yeah. Using locked-down servers as a cheat prevention mechanism didn't work very well for BC2 PC. It was naïve to think it would work. There, someone finally admitted it.How very true!! Its sad though, the wake up call had little or no effect on both present and future policies.
****************
Now, the brownie boy part... where "Mr. I want to be known" yelps out with his useless, ass-kissing banter.
After boastfully proclaiming to have fully understood what Kalms had to say.... (did he understand it or gullibly swallow Kalm's BS?) then Zeroy comes out with this final off the wall exercise in ass-kissing.
Thank you Kalms for the explanations, nothing better than straight answers
Straight answers my ass! Stop trying to pollute another game with your BS. Shut up and sit down Brownie Boy!
***********************************
Users and players be advised, as long as we have those, who are well known, readily swallowing the chaff offered to the community as genuine facts, the community will never have a real voice in the future of FPS gaming.
The time is now to WAKE UP and demand better from the slick tongued, developers and publishers who are only out for your cash and are not the least bit interested in satisfying the users by enhancing the true, online FPS gaming experience.
The above mentioned brownie boy is a perfect example of an agenda and bullshit being accepted as fact. It only serves to foster a belief among the developers and publishers that they ARE doing the right things and implementing satisfactory policies. When in fact, they are not.
Dammit ..WAKE UP!
There are a couple of advantages to having servers purely run by GSPs, when it comes to running the game itself.
One of the biggest benefits is that it is always possible for the developer to reach the person who performs administration of the physical server machine. Is the software on the machine incorrectly configured? Is it out of date? Are there lots of crashes happening? The developer can investigate and mandate changes quickly.Is that so?? Why is it that an Independent Server that's properly set up, maintained and Admin'ed Server rarely has cheat/hack or stability problems?
The developer can also mandate a minimum level of quality from the physical server administrators. Yes, some overload their boxes, but they aren't taking the piss. There are no servers run out of someone's living room on a beefed-up ADSL connection.Now the truth appears.... "the Developer can Mandate" That actually says "the Developer can DICTATE". Kalms just used a softer word. Fact is, that even big time hosts use "BEEFED UP" ADSL and DSL lines. So what's the big deal?? Its clearly NO Money paid for the "privilege" of offering Server hosting by Independents. Its ALL about CASH.
The developer can get high-quality, filtered information on how the game servers perform. I.e. the GSPs do 1st line tech support. In return, the GSPs can get quality 2nd-line support from the game team. The game team would not handle doing tech support for many individual server operators, and no regular Customer Support would do as good a job at it as GSPs.Sure, sure, sure and that will happen when pigs fly. Gameservers is a prime example of this today with their service. If the developer interaction and support with the games they host is so wonderful why does the service itself always seem to be wanting. In a word, it sucks. Nice words, no meaning.
Another advantage is that it is indeed possible for the game team to ensure that all (or nearly all) game servers get upgraded in a timely manner. For BC2 PC, we usually get 60% of all game servers upgraded in a couple of days, and that is when we aren't telling GSPs to upgrade ASAP. On occasion we have developed and distributed game server updates which tackle cheats and bad bugs to all GSPs in less than 24h.Upgraded and fixed in a couple of days? Is this guy on the same planet we are on? Amazing that this topic is even brought up. There is not a single conscientious Independent Admin/Host out there that wouldn't install any update immediately. The only delays EVER introduced were done so by lackadaisical, second rate Hosting Services.
Sometimes problems crop up on a global scale. Being able to cooperate with all GSPs to implement global changes at short notice is valuable. (Such changes usually have to do with the infrastructure rather than gameplay.) Sometimes technology just isn't working as intended. Being able to solve stuff by talking to the GSPs and working out a manual solution is a godsend in such situations.More double talk attempting to justify "approved" GSP's. "Global problems"?? All Server problems are "global" in the true sense of the word global. Any global problem affects everyone. Talking to the GSP's? When would an Independent Admin owner not be responsible and talk to the developers? No Kalms, you are alluding to developer convenience - nothing more and nothing less. Pure BS.
Locking down servers has more to do with ensuring integrity of the play experience and anti-piracy. If you are a member of a clan and you just want to play with your clan members on your clan servers then you probably don't care diddly squat about this... But the games developer probably wants to cater to a wider audience.Baloney!! Locking down servers in only aimed at having and maintaining full control over the servers for further monetization. Truth be known, Every Independent Admin Owner I have ever spoken with had servers up and running that were virtually cheat/hack free mainly due to the fact that the those Admins had control of their servers... Not a bunch of monetization control freaks.
Also, if servers are locked down then the game server code can be considered to be trusted. There are dangers with this, certainly, but sometimes it makes development a lot easier.Say it like it is. The server code was and is so sloppy that any grade schooler with coding knowledge could easily hack the living daylights out of the code. So the developers couldn't possibly let the code out into the wild. Tell the truth! Development Easier?? How about-less expensive!
Locking down servers is a crude approach... but as far as the games companies are concerned, it works. There are two real alternatives: more engineering, or changing policy. Policy changes are less likely. I will not go into further detail.Crude?? Yes it is and much cheaper. The alternatives are far more desirous if the users are to ever get what they ask for. Unfortunately, it costs more money to do those things properly. In other words, it costs less to abuse the users than it does to satisfy them.
Oh yeah. Using locked-down servers as a cheat prevention mechanism didn't work very well for BC2 PC. It was naïve to think it would work. There, someone finally admitted it.How very true!! Its sad though, the wake up call had little or no effect on both present and future policies.
****************
Now, the brownie boy part... where "Mr. I want to be known" yelps out with his useless, ass-kissing banter.
After boastfully proclaiming to have fully understood what Kalms had to say.... (did he understand it or gullibly swallow Kalm's BS?) then Zeroy comes out with this final off the wall exercise in ass-kissing.
Thank you Kalms for the explanations, nothing better than straight answers
Straight answers my ass! Stop trying to pollute another game with your BS. Shut up and sit down Brownie Boy!
***********************************
Users and players be advised, as long as we have those, who are well known, readily swallowing the chaff offered to the community as genuine facts, the community will never have a real voice in the future of FPS gaming.
The time is now to WAKE UP and demand better from the slick tongued, developers and publishers who are only out for your cash and are not the least bit interested in satisfying the users by enhancing the true, online FPS gaming experience.
The above mentioned brownie boy is a perfect example of an agenda and bullshit being accepted as fact. It only serves to foster a belief among the developers and publishers that they ARE doing the right things and implementing satisfactory policies. When in fact, they are not.
Dammit ..WAKE UP!