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Rank: The Illuminist
Groups: Administration
Joined: 5/8/2006
Posts: 8,375
Points: 2,755
Location: Seattle
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For the time being, we're going to be running one TF2 server. There are a number of reasons for this decision: 1. Bandwidth is expensive. On average one full TF2 server uses the entire 3Mbps pipe we rent. Once there was a time when we could afford the 20Mbps pipe. That was $650/month. The 3Mbps pipe is $220/month (including cost of rack rental) 2. Lack of community interest. Let's face it. It makes no sense running 3 servers when only one ever sees any action. 3. Ultimate. I am looking into a way for us to get srcds (the server software) to run at 1000FPS. There is a way to do it in Server 2k8, which is what we run. I need to go into the datacenter to do it, though. So, that'll have to wait. Right now it's running at 500FPS (our three old servers were running at 250... and doing so poorly). You probably don't know what server FPS does, and I don't feel like explaining it. Go read up if you care. There are simply more options for us when we host the server on our own hardware, like being able to push said hardware to the limit. Now, I know there are a few of you out there who will "waaaaaah" and stuff. Some of you like 24/7 2fort. Some of you like custom maps. The Tempest, which is what we're calling the sole server, has both 2fort (though in lesser doses) and all of the custom maps from Tempest 3 available for voting. I hope you all can give this solution a chance. If you don't like it, the other option you have is to donate. Basically, the amount of bandwidth required to host each xtreme server comes out to be about $120/month... give or take. We could probably get away with adding an additional 2Mbps to our hosting agreement per server, at $40/Mbit. I can afford to keep the machine in place, and can afford enough bandwidth for 1 server pushed as hard as the srcds engine allows. The rest, well, is up to you guys. I honestly think this will be a better solution until the financial crisis improves. However, reserved slots will be more important than ever. Keep that in mind. The Tempest: 69.46.35.2:27015 The Tempest -HLSTATSX- WDFNews.com  [13:58] TheSpaniard84: I have a kitty stuck to my rump [13:58] WhuTdufK: I suppose that's better than what's normally stuck to your rump.
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Rank: You're gonna stick that where?
Groups: Registered User
Joined: 5/5/2009
Posts: 353
Points: 1,113
Location: San Antonio
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Seriously...I love this community, you people are awesome. I wish i could donate, but i have so little money...so i am going to give you this info one last time, i seriously hope you take it too heart. https://billing.primaryt...et.com/cart.php?gid=17. You can get 32 man servers for 50.95/month. I say you do it, you are already switching IPs. This would really help you guys get back on your feet, and then as you re-group your funds, add servers through primary target, or go back to what you are doing. I'm sorry, but 220/month for one server is a crime. [CMS]defiance - Steam: defiance018 - Xfire: defianceoby - www.constantmayhem.com
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Rank: You're gonna stick that where?
Groups: Registered User, {pDs} Member
Joined: 3/26/2009
Posts: 226
Points: 699
Location: Washington
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It is true that only ever is one server being used to its full potential. Whatever we have to do in order to survive. If I win the lottery and the massive red numbers go away I will send what I can your way but until that day.... Is emotional support worth anything around here? Ok, ok, I will eat ramen for a month. Heads up! P.S. you probably have your good reasons but what are they as far as the offer Defiance is putting in front of your nose?
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Rank: The Illuminist
Groups: Administration
Joined: 5/8/2006
Posts: 8,375
Points: 2,755
Location: Seattle
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defiance wrote:Seriously...I love this community, you people are awesome. I wish i could donate, but i have so little money...so i am going to give you this info one last time, i seriously hope you take it too heart. https://billing.primaryt...et.com/cart.php?gid=17. You can get 32 man servers for 50.95/month. I say you do it, you are already switching IPs. This would really help you guys get back on your feet, and then as you re-group your funds, add servers through primary target, or go back to what you are doing. I'm sorry, but 220/month for one server is a crime. $220 for a dedicate colocated machine is fine. Not sure what you're complaining about. $220 for a game server is insane. We're not doing that. We have our own quad-core machine that hosts an assortment of websites we run, including this one. It now also hosts The Tempest. Here's the other thing about rental houses for game servers. They fuck you over. Take Artofwarcentral.com, a host I once loved and used in the past. They offer two kinds of servers. A regular TF2 server and a "boosted" TF2 server. As Sunfox and I have joked about at great lengths, one is Unusable, and for the price of "boosted," it becomes "usable." hax.sunfox: "With these tough economic conditions, it takes a strong company to stand behind an unusable product, and offer to upgrade you to one that may be usable." We had the standard servers recently. Three of them for $130 or so. Not a bad deal. (The $450 donation goal, as I've stated in the past, was to help me recoup my losses in excess of $10,000 that I've put into this community for new server machines, site development, etc). Well. Above 20 players. Those servers turned to mush, as you saw over the past few weeks. So, I asked them to upgrade us to the "boosted" ones, believing they would increase the server fps from 300 to 600. The owner informed me that "300 is hardcoded." His explaination was that "boosted" meant that the server FPS would no longer drop like a stone. Basically he increased my server from low cpu priority on an overcrowded machine to high priority and charged me $30 extra per server. Fuck that noise. FPS is not hardcoded. There are 1000FPS servers. It's a hardware limitation. Friday, we should be running at 1000FPS (need to get to the datacenter and change a bios setting). Running the server on my own machine allows me to dedicate the computer's full resources to running it. Those who played in the new server tonight will tell you it ran 90000 times better. So, in conclusion, it's $220 for the website, the file hosting, the game server, and some other projects we work on. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for help from the people who utilize the server the most. I rarely even play anymore. I appreciate you looking out for us though! [13:58] TheSpaniard84: I have a kitty stuck to my rump [13:58] WhuTdufK: I suppose that's better than what's normally stuck to your rump.
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Rank: Fecal Impaction For the Win!
Groups: Newsie, Registered User
Joined: 6/16/2006
Posts: 1,299
Points: 1,248
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Although it is sad that the number of servers are getting cut back, I do believe that it will be the best overall solution. I think a single server will get filled often and unite the community more since there will be that one and only place to hang out. I think a big reason our time in HL2DM was so epic and long lasting was that we had a single server to concentrate on (I remember how many times The Crypt was taken away and then brought back when The Tomb stood strong perpetually). {pDs} Lead Salad: bike why did you change your name
Jessica343: so I can get heals
{pDs} Lead Salad: oh damn good idea
{pDs} Lead Salad has changed their name to {pDs} Lead Salad (is a girl)
Jessica343: hahah
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Rank: The Illuminist
Groups: Administration
Joined: 5/8/2006
Posts: 8,375
Points: 2,755
Location: Seattle
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Bike wrote:Although it is sad that the number of servers are getting cut back, I do believe that it will be the best overall solution. I think a single server will get filled often and unite the community more since there will be that one and only place to hang out. I think a big reason our time in HL2DM was so epic and long lasting was that we had a single server to concentrate on (I remember how many times The Crypt was taken away and then brought back when The Tomb stood strong perpetually). You make ultra valid points. [13:58] TheSpaniard84: I have a kitty stuck to my rump [13:58] WhuTdufK: I suppose that's better than what's normally stuck to your rump.
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Rank: You're gonna stick that where?
Groups: Registered User, {pDs} Member
Joined: 3/26/2009
Posts: 226
Points: 699
Location: Washington
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Tested out the server. In total agreement. Especially now that my ping is around 15 :)
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Rank: The Illuminist
Groups: Administration
Joined: 5/8/2006
Posts: 8,375
Points: 2,755
Location: Seattle
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Just spoke with our host. It seems their super discounting us again. $25/1Mbps. So at $225 we can go up to 7Mbps (burstable to 100Mbps). This would give us enough bandwidth to host 3 servers again. [13:58] TheSpaniard84: I have a kitty stuck to my rump [13:58] WhuTdufK: I suppose that's better than what's normally stuck to your rump.
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Rank: The Illuminist
Groups: Administration
Joined: 5/8/2006
Posts: 8,375
Points: 2,755
Location: Seattle
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So maybe we branch into other games again? I kinda like the idea of having one server per game. [13:58] TheSpaniard84: I have a kitty stuck to my rump [13:58] WhuTdufK: I suppose that's better than what's normally stuck to your rump.
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Rank: Fecal Impaction For the Win!
Groups: Newsie, Registered User
Joined: 6/16/2006
Posts: 1,299
Points: 1,248
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WDF? wrote:So maybe we branch into other games again? I kinda like the idea of having one server per game. Perhaps, though I can't really think of a game out right now that's very "hot". I have COD4 and COD5 but I don't know who else does. L4D isn't really a server friendly game. I'm lacking ideas of games though, surely someone will have a good idea. {pDs} Lead Salad: bike why did you change your name
Jessica343: so I can get heals
{pDs} Lead Salad: oh damn good idea
{pDs} Lead Salad has changed their name to {pDs} Lead Salad (is a girl)
Jessica343: hahah
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Rank: You're gonna stick that where?
Groups: Registered User
Joined: 5/5/2009
Posts: 353
Points: 1,113
Location: San Antonio
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The thing i love about this place, is that you come with a great suggestion, and people just call it complaining. [CMS]defiance - Steam: defiance018 - Xfire: defianceoby - www.constantmayhem.com
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Rank: You're gonna stick that where?
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin
Joined: 12/22/2007
Posts: 376
Points: 404
Location: nWo Country
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The thing with expanding to new games is that there is always a risk. Some of our members may not have the computer capabilities to play a new game (these are the ones who usually complain the most) but on the other hand branching out is a great way to attract new members. That being said I have little to contribute to this topic. I agree with Whut's decision and if he wants to expand to some other games it's up to the community to come up with some potential games. I do however believe that we should expand into other genres as they contain an install base of players that could help recruitment (which inevitably leads to more donations.) While FPS' are great, I believe that by expanding into other genres we can diversify our portfolio so to speak. I'm the leetest one here 
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Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 6/18/2009
Posts: 1,422
Points: -25,484
Location: USA, Indiana
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WDF, I think this is a great compromise. We're cutting costs without cutting everything out. I'm glad that the custom maps are still available. Moving to a new genre could be tricky. I say wait until the "next big thing" comes out, and then maybe we can try that out. If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. - Carl Sagan My Backpack
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Rank: King of Jeans
Groups: {pDs} Member, Server Admin
Joined: 5/10/2006
Posts: 452
Points: 702
Location: So Cal
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defiance wrote:The thing i love about this place, is that you come with a great suggestion, and people just call it complaining. The thing I hate about forums, is that people take a response which is filled with explanations and thanks them for their input at the end, and they just focus on the part that doesn't even matter.  King of Jeans I wanna be like Buddylee 007 for life
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Rank: The Illuminist
Groups: Administration
Joined: 5/8/2006
Posts: 8,375
Points: 2,755
Location: Seattle
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defiance wrote:The thing i love about this place, is that you come with a great suggestion, and people just call it complaining. You read too much into that. [13:58] TheSpaniard84: I have a kitty stuck to my rump [13:58] WhuTdufK: I suppose that's better than what's normally stuck to your rump.
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