Server admin rules too strict.

[AdmiralBull 15]

Almost 20 years ago, I was on the development team for this new thing that was to be called the "Microsoft Network"(MSN).  If our alpha testers had received such buggy releases, they would have trashed the project from the beginning.  Since we were able to provide our concept with few issues, the MSN became elevated to the level it is currently at.  While not personally a Microsoft fan, I did learn a lot in my time with them.  There was not a huge budget to work with from the start, but we provided exceptional code and related services.

 

While I do understand DayZ is essentially community-supported, I do understand the public hive concept; I still realize that not only is this an overpriced lump of development nightmare, I see hosting companies exploiting the fact that they are a minority, so these ridiculous prices and such stick.  It is not considered legitimate business practice to stick paying users with so many bugs, bugs that could be ironed out quickly under the right circumstances..

 

I spoke with a longtime associate of mine, who currently designs 3D items for EA Games.  I asked him about DayZ and he cracked up laughing, saying DayZ was a total fraud. He frankly said that by design, this game will ultimately fail once the right pockets are lined.

 

Take it or leave it; I'm just giving the perspective of a retired developer and his peers.

Okay I hear what you are saying but, it still comes down to one thing & one thing only.....CHOICE. It was yours to take a chance on by starting a server knowing the hive concept was setup the way that it is CURRENTLY.This will change along with the progression of the game in its final stages.The popularity of the namesake of this game prompted server providers the opportunity to make their money based on the early release format that the production company decided to put out there on the market...thats all. As far as your friend at EA stating anything pertaining to another competitor,he doesn't know squat or can predict any outcome of anything in the video game world.Time will tell on that front.I wouldn't rely on anyone working for EA making any kind of off handed remarks about failures or scams considering their vast honorable commitments to the gaming community(ie.,shutting down numerous EA online based servers within the last 5 to 10 years).Not making a crack on your post but,trying to get you to realize that its always a crapshoot  when it comes to the online gaming industry in general much less,the gamers (investments) themselves. Just Sayin......

 

 

Ain't Marketing a Bitch?

Edited May 13, 2014 by AdmiralBull

[pilgrim* 3514]

Bohemia host a server called the Hive with over 2,000,000 entries on it, constantly updated, each entry containing every detail of location, total equipment and state, for every player-character in the game worldwide, even if a player has only ever logged in once.

 

That must be a pain in the neck to run.

 

xx

Edited May 13, 2014 by pilgrim

[sea 18]

My buddy's EA affiliation aside, his statement was from an educated, experienced software developer.  He does not enjoy his job at EA and is looking for new work.  Passed on Bohemia due to the DayZ nightmare alone.  Alas, until he finds new employment, the salary is huge and he will continue drawing it until he finds new work; I can't blame him for that  :)  

 

I do understand the potential ramifications of public server admins having more ability, but when you rent a gameserver, you make it yours.  In any game I have ever hosted(dozens) I have had the ability to essentially do as I please.  DayZ has the most stringent rules of any game you can host.  With rules that stringent, they should host their own public hive servers.  What's the point of paying a ridiculous amount of money for a server that you can't really do anything with?

 

Add to that the 10-20 minute warning this morning in email stating that all servers not exactly abiding by rules will be shut off, and only will be restarted if you furnish absolute proof of your inability to abide within 10-20 minutes.  This comes after I agreed to a 3 strike system through Vilayer.  They just reneged on their end of the contract I agreed to!

 

PLEASE REALIZE:  My server was not shut down; I DO abide by the rules.  I'm frustrated that rules have been overlooked for so long and were implemented with no warning whatsoever, and the 3 strike system was not being used as per contract.

 

If Bohemia wants to force the hand of the hosting companies, then they should start banning those who ghost or use wallhack/aim exploits too.  Fair's fair.  Ban these exploiting fools immediately; don't just focus on server admins who pay personal money to host a game.

[sea 18]

Actually, it's a simple database that requires little processing power and bandwidth considering the application.  My $59 monthly server could handle all hive requests and storage.  Automatically, with little to no user intervention.  The hive server is only a database; one which could run somewhat efficiently on an old Pentium 4 computer and only use perhaps 10mbit of bandwidth.  To put that into perspective, my server has guaranteed GigE(1,000mbit)

 

Bohemia host a server called the Hive with over 2,000,000 entries on it, constantly updated, each entry containing every detail of location, total equipment and state, for every player-character in the game worldwide, even if a player has only ever logged in once.

 

That must be a pain in the neck to run.

 

xx

Edited May 13, 2014 by seasharp

[Lady Kyrah 1110]

Why do i keep seeing people complain about pricing? It doesn't have to be cheap or even affordable and it's not like you're being denied basic necessities or shelter it's a video game, stop acting like an entitled child, and accept that you will have to vote with your wallet if you don't like it.

[Spellchk 0]

As a server admin I would love more control.  However I do understand the need for strict control that either stems from a lack of software development on this front or the want of the developers to keep things simple.  Personally I do not feel my clans funds are wasted on renting a server for us.  We do so to drive people to our website and to recruit like minded players.  I can only speak for myself.  Would it be nice if it was a hell of a lot less expensive?  Would it be nice if I had full log access and admin controls to weed out wall glitchers and memory hacking?  I would say yes to these.  Will they all come to pass?  I would imagine so eventually as the game gets closer to release.  

 

From what you have typed you may not want to wait however.  You may want to rent a new server in a few months or a year.  With luck your friend from EA will be wrong and we can all enjoy a fully functional game with a beefy set of admin controls.  That will be a great day!

[quantum2k6 348]

1. You agreed to the rules when you bought your server.

nothing more 2 say... stop whining and accept it...

[pilgrim* 3514]

Actually, [..//..the Hive..//..] it's a simple database that requires little processing power and bandwidth considering the application.  My $59 monthly server could handle all hive requests and storage.  Automatically, with little to no user intervention.  The hive server is only a database; one which could run somewhat efficiently on an old Pentium 4 computer and only use perhaps 10mbit of bandwidth.  To put that into perspective, my server has guaranteed GigE(1,000mbit)

Yes:   "to put that in perspective"

It's well known that the US Army keeps all its military service personnel records on one old Pentium 4 computer too, because it doesn't have to update them so many times an hour. And that the entire British National Health records are kept on a grand total of 10 old Pentium 4 computers - that's because the Brits have 60 million folk to deal with, and are so inefficient - they could probably do it on 5 if they tried harder.

Maybe you could help them out?

Edited May 13, 2014 by pilgrim

[skypig 139]

you are RENTING ther server not using Your server... you're paying to use their toys by their rules. if you do not like their prices or rules then don't play or pay. coming to the GD forum to complain about their prices and rules is like me bitching at the post office because mcdonalds fucked up my order

[sea 18]

you are RENTING ther server not using Your server... you're paying to use their toys by their rules. if you do not like their prices or rules then don't play or pay. coming to the GD forum to complain about their prices and rules is like me bitching at the post office because mcdonalds fucked up my order

First off, the rules set by Bohemia for game service providers are the sole reason the pricing is as it is.  These companies have to host a large number of servers at their own expense  It forces these companies to take a loss from the start so they have no choice but to charge 15x cost on services, because a majority of servers are awaiting rental in the early stage of hosting.  Once the servers start filling up, however, it makes for extremely high profit.  If I make the choice to start a gamehosting company, I have to provide x number of servers at my expense for x amount of time.  If, for any reason, I do not get to 50% capacity immediately, I'm on the hook for a lot of money every month.  The pricing nightmare is initiated by Bohemia solely.

 

As for rentals vs ownership, I could OWN a server easily enough.  Which blade shall I pick first?  Each blade can easily host what, 8 DayZ servers?  I have plenty of resources, but the unique set of rules prevents me to own my own, unless I wish to isolate an entire cluster to start with and dedicate its entire resources to DayZ at my personal expense while forming yet another corporation.

 

It's an unethical business model.  Yes, I could profit, as the resources to start a gamehosting company are sitting idle right now.  I could OWN my own DayZ server(s) without a problem.  The rules still apply, even to equipment I own and maintain.  The rental status does not matter.  It's the fact that when someone pays to host something, they should have some control over what happens on the resources they pay for out of pocket.

 

I expressed a willingness to provide 16 gameservers from the start, and always keep the proper ratio of rentals vs self-sponsored servers.  I can scale nearly infinitely with datacentre access in over two dozen countries.  Unfortunately, the rules require even more investment upfront; hence the ridiculous server price points.

[p4triot 207]

There's no point in buying a server.  No, mine was not shut down; I abide by the rules.  I'm just saying, if I am paying that much, I should have control of my own server.  If players don't like it, there are others.  All server owners from Vilayer were just given 10-20 minutes warning via email that if their servers do not fit the rules exactly, every violator's server will be shut down.  10-20 minutes warning on enforcement of something they have left alone until this moment!

The thing is not if players like your server of not, the thing is players can use your PvE servers, or passwored, or whatever, to gear up easy way and then jump onto another server to play deathmatch. In fact, I would be more strict with the rules and demand all the server to be synced in time and weather, so no one could play 24/7 daytime an play easier than the rest of us. That's for private hives, cuz what you do on a private server WONT ever affect me on my server cuz we dont share hives.

 

But for public hive... sorry, we all have to abide by the same rules. Think of it as road safety rules (or whatever the english expresion for it). Everyone shares the same roads, so you and your car have to abide by the same rules, and no, paying for your car doesn't give you any privileges.

 

P.S: however, I do agree admins should have a bit more power against hackers.

[thelonewarrior 886]

I know people are saying that the rules are there to prevent people kicking and banning for un just reasons

But come on, those companies don't give a shit

I was banned (not kicked, BANNED) from a server recently because it was a clan server and they kept kicking me manually at uneven intervals I knew they were kicking me manually (so I might have been trolling them by joining over and over, but only because they were clearly farming gear and restarting the server again and again)

They had about 15 people with clan tags, set the server to some ridiculous restart every few minutes and in the end I got a banned message

I contacted their host and it's been weeks with no reply, I've sent multiple emails

I'm seeing little difference between admin abuse in the mod and the standalone in regards to getting gear easily and they won't shut down someone's server as long as they are paying them cash, regardless of what rules they break

I'm also seeing similar stories to mine popping up

Edited May 13, 2014 by Regulator Lone Warrior

[Lady Kyrah 1110]

First off, the rules set by Bohemia for game service providers are the sole reason the pricing is as it is.  These companies have to host a large number of servers at their own expense  It forces these companies to take a loss from the start so they have no choice but to charge 15x cost on services, because a majority of servers are awaiting rental in the early stage of hosting.  Once the servers start filling up, however, it makes for extremely high profit.  If I make the choice to start a gamehosting company, I have to provide x number of servers at my expense for x amount of time.  If, for any reason, I do not get to 50% capacity immediately, I'm on the hook for a lot of money every month.  The pricing nightmare is initiated by Bohemia solely.

 

As for rentals vs ownership, I could OWN a server easily enough.  Which blade shall I pick first?  Each blade can easily host what, 8 DayZ servers?  I have plenty of resources, but the unique set of rules prevents me to own my own, unless I wish to isolate an entire cluster to start with and dedicate its entire resources to DayZ at my personal expense while forming yet another corporation.

 

It's an unethical business model.  Yes, I could profit, as the resources to start a gamehosting company are sitting idle right now.  I could OWN my own DayZ server(s) without a problem.  The rules still apply, even to equipment I own and maintain.  The rental status does not matter.  It's the fact that when someone pays to host something, they should have some control over what happens on the resources they pay for out of pocket.

 

I expressed a willingness to provide 16 gameservers from the start, and always keep the proper ratio of rentals vs self-sponsored servers.  I can scale nearly infinitely with datacentre access in over two dozen countries.  Unfortunately, the rules require even more investment upfront; hence the ridiculous server price points.

Just because you can run the same service on your own system doesn't mean they have to give you the software, if they do not wish to provide public binaries it is their choice, the number one right of a software company, is to NOT release their software publicly.

 

And yes because, like many companies they want to deal with professionals who can be trusted an held accountable should the software be leaked. In an age where any kid with a credit card can rent his own server anywhere in the world, they want a little more guaranties than that.