Titan Network
Community => Task Force Hail Mary => Topic started by: Stitchified on October 17, 2015, 09:55:29 PM
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Personally, Infinity is where it's at for me! What about everyone else? 8)
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Well as we would all be starting over from scratch since all evidence points to loss of accounts/characters, it really won't matter which one we start on.
Also we are presuming that ALL servers will return upon relaunch.
As large and passionate the COH fanbase is, some attrition has hit since shut down. Some have moved on, some may have very "jaundiced" feelings about NCSoft and won't return if NCsoft has any control or ownership of the game when it returns. Some may have found another game they like better then CoH (hard to imagine but possible).
So that being said, the question is: SHOULD all the servers return at relaunch? Would they all be needed or should say half the servers return with the others left on standby to be restored one by one as population/demand dictate? For example: the Exalted VIP only server, I can't see that returning as a VIP/private server on relaunch. Then were what, 2 or 3 Euro servers? Would they all be needed at relaunch or just one? Would we really need the TEST server?
I personally would like all the servers back at relaunch, but business is business and it may not be necessary or wise to have them all back at relaunch but to keep some in reserve.
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the question is: SHOULD all the servers return at relaunch? Would they all be needed or should say half the servers return with the others left on standby to be restored one by one as population/demand dictate? For example: the Exalted VIP only server, I can't see that returning as a VIP/private server on relaunch. Then were what, 2 or 3 Euro servers? Would they all be needed at relaunch or just one? Would we really need the TEST server?
I personally would like all the servers back at relaunch, but business is business and it may not be necessary or wise to have them all back at relaunch but to keep some in reserve.
You raise some excellent points and I'd say that not ALL the servers should be active at launch, maybe have 2 or 3 of the servers active at launch and then leave the rest to be inactive unless it turns out to be needed. I agree with you on what you said bout the Exalted VIP only server coming back, as for the TEST Server, I think that should only be used if the group who'll be maintaining CoH/CoV (if the deal gets approved by NCsoft) will also be updating it, but if the group will only be maintaining CoH/CoV then I don't think the TEST server should be used.
Also, as I said in the beginning, you raise some excellent points, points I did not consider when making this thread, so thank you for taking the time to make those points (and i'm being serious bout that). :)
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You raise some excellent points and I'd say that not ALL the servers should be active at launch, maybe have 2 or 3 of the servers active at launch and then leave the rest to be inactive unless it turns out to be needed. I agree with you on what you said bout the Exalted VIP only server coming back, as for the TEST Server, I think that should only be used if the group who'll be maintaining CoH/CoV (if the deal gets approved by NCsoft) will also be updating it, but if the group will only be maintaining CoH/CoV then I don't think the TEST server should be used.
Also, as I said in the beginning, you raise some excellent points, points I did not consider when making this thread, so thank you for taking the time to make those points (and i'm being serious bout that). :)
You're welcome. Like I said, I'd love to have all servers back at relaunch but I just can't see it happening. I would think that 5 servers perhaps 6 would suffice. I would also look at the accounts at sign up and see just how many are from "across the pond" as it were, a.k.a. Euro-accounts, and see if there were enough to justify a Euro server at relaunch. Otherwise I would probably have to leave the Euro servers offline as well unless the numbers justify a return of said servers.
As to the ones I would bring back, well since we'd all be starting over again even though some servers had certain reputations such as Virtue being the RP server, Freedom being the PL/farm server, Champion as a drama server and so on, those reputations really no longer matter as this would be a restart. So I would use the following server names:
1. To celebrate the return of the game and of beign free from NCsoft control/ownership: FREEDOM server
2. To celebrate the goodness in the hearts of the new owners and the fanbase who never gave up: VIRTUE
3. To celebrate the triumphant return of the game: TRIUMPH
4. To show that we will climb any heights and scale any mountain needed for our beloved game: PINNACLE
5. To show that we are truly champions of online gaming the CHAMPION server
6. and finally, to celebrate the sweet, sweet feeling of victory over the return of our beloved game: THE VICTORY SERVER!!!!!!
Test server should be offline until the devs can actually make updates that need testing before go live.
The Exalted VIP private server should be the last to return if they plan to have be a private/VIP server again
These are the other servers, I would keep them offline in standby mode and monitor the metrics and population of the active servers and see if any should return. IF circumtances merit a return I would bring them back one at a time with a week's notice to the players as to the date and time for then the server activates thus giving everyone the time needed to get ready to jump in and make their alts on it. Also IF I could make some changes to the PVP system that I have in mind , part of which would be the mitigation or removal of issue 13 changes, I would activate one as a test PVP server and if the changes are well received make it a PVP only server
Guardian
Justice
Infinity
Liberty
Protector
(Defiant, Union, Vigilance, Zukunft) they were the four Euro servers before server merge was done. I would likely just bring one euro server back if needed.
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If the servers come back as they were? Back home to Justice.
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I played on ALL servers.
But Virtue was my home.
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If all the servers come back. and if the same community is built back on each server, I probably would return to protector. This time, however, I'm going to play all the servers.
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The red one
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Whichever ends up being the pantsless one.
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Whichever ends up being the pantsless one.
Seems legit :P
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Depending of whether the servers are split up into zones (East Coast, West Coast, Europe, Asia), I would naturally tend to gravitate towards whatever server was West Coast. If that is Virtue (as I believe it was before), then I am there!
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It will be a new world and all semblance of the past is up in the air as players and time has moved on. Who knows if/what the characteristics will be like.
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It will be a new world and all semblance of the past is up in the air as players and time has moved on. Who knows if/what the characteristics will be like.
Tis is true
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Whichever server features the statues of the Heroes who bring the game back...
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we will be lucky to get 1 to 5 servers to start with there is a very rare chance we may get all the servers back (cause it costs major money if they are using an actual server machine). not major money to the THeM possibly, but to us yes.
I've seen server drawers that cost the same as a small house.
a small part of what the THeM is taking a small amount of time on must be deciding what they will run the server image on. will they go cheap and deal with upgrading components later, or will they go straight for an IBM or other pricey brand server?
anyways I can imagine if they start with one machine it'll probably have the capacity to serve 1000 to 10000 players, in other-words from 1/10th to 1/6th of the paying player estimate at shutdown.
I should figure we will also get 1/10th or 1/6th of the servers back with it, and that's if we get them back, for all we know there might be some clause in the contract that for some strange reason the servers cannot have the same names as they used to. we know NCSoft stated they would not restore our saves (I think they scrubbed them) that was during the first hail-mary with the paragon devs.
So.. I'll most likely be on the first server they put up or if there's more than one the one where my friends are.
Some positive speculation; players will come back. if they aren't dead they will return when words spreads that the game is back. just need to blast FB twitter and the like with it.
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Except for the much appreciated ability to fly go backwards in time and see what we all once had, what is happening which would convince us that COH/COV will ever be as close as it once was? Too many incredible thing to accomplish. IF COH does, I'll be on any server. My sincere thanks to all the developers who have worked so hard to make the impossible dream seem somehow possible.
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IF the game comes back, I hope we only have half to 2/3 of the servers we had befre at first. I believe we need 0to know how many of our fellow players would truly return. I also believe we need to grow our community again . I believe people need to get to know others again and meet new folks. I believe that by having a smaller number of servers at first , we will be able to grow our community by meeting "new" folks. I think teaming would be easier going this direction as well. Were going to have to team up with lot of folks. Old and new IF the game returns.
As much as some oflks will ahte it, I believe fewer servers = more interaction with people and more teaming.
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If not for name conflicts I'd be happy with one or two servers so we wont ever be far apart again.
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IF the game comes back, I hope we only have half to 2/3 of the servers we had befre at first. I believe we need 0to know how many of our fellow players would truly return. I also believe we need to grow our community again . I believe people need to get to know others again and meet new folks. I believe that by having a smaller number of servers at first , we will be able to grow our community by meeting "new" folks. I think teaming would be easier going this direction as well. Were going to have to team up with lot of folks. Old and new IF the game returns.
As much as some oflks will ahte it, I believe fewer servers = more interaction with people and more teaming.
Well, if we have to get to know one another...
Hallo! My name is Indigo Montoya. You kill my father. Prepare to ... Um, ... Faceplant?
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If I could find members of the twilight avengers sg from guardian/pinnacle I'd go wherever there at. I'd love to be in that kind of dedicated sg again.
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Was there a Paragon server? I'd go there.
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First, get the game back.
Then we can worry about how many servers we get. It wouldn't shock me if it started with just one....
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Pinnacle represent!
But if it's a ghost town, I'll move to Champion, then I don't know past that. Those were my two 'homes' back when.
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I guess the premise of this topic is that we have the game back, and all the servers are as they were before shut down.
Obvisously we got to get the game back before we go picking servers.
And there is a good possiblity that they might not start the game with 11-d-12 servers out of the gate, but try to play along. Pick a server and 'splane why.
Justice, because I want to start running villains.
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Well, if we have to get to know one another...
Hallo! My name is Indigo Montoya. You kill my father. Prepare to ... Um, ... Faceplant?
My point is a tighter community will allow the game to grow . As the numbr increase, sure add more servers. But until we can prove that more servers are needed to meet demand, we do not need as many
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we will be lucky to get 1 to 5 servers to start with there is a very rare chance we may get all the servers back (cause it costs major money if they are using an actual server machine). not major money to the THeM possibly, but to us yes.
Oh, that would be horrible for the game to come back with 0 servers.
:o
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I would rename the server to Paragon Avenger and have just one.
Then I would just add a number on the end Paragon Avenger 1, 2 and 3 as needed.
Thanks, Ironwolf!
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At the start we would likely only need one server, maybe two or three, and I feel they should really have their own new names. I agree with Ironwolf, they should have a name meaning something to the community, like Paragon, Atlas or even Titan to recognize this community. There is really no need for 15 or 16 servers.
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At the start we would likely only need one server, maybe two or three, and I feel they should really have their own new names. I agree with Ironwolf, they should have a name meaning something to the community, like Paragon, Atlas or even Titan to recognize this community. There is really no need for 15 or 16 servers.
Yes, something meaningful, like Paragon Avenger!
(what is wrong with me, oh well.)
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Since it is running an image of the game, with no code to recompile, isn't likely that there we will have the exact same servers that we had at the shutdown?
Maybe someone like Codewalker or Arcana could chime here since they seem to know more about the behind the scenes stuff.
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Since it is running an image of the game, with no code to recompile, isn't likely that there we will have the exact same servers that we had at the shutdown?
Maybe someone like Codewalker or Arcana could chime here since they seem to know more about the behind the scenes stuff.
I would think it won't matter. Once you are in the game it doesn't care which server you are on. The servers were just a menu to select - the game was identical on all the servers. From what I recall the servers didn't mention which one it was while you were playing just at the start menu.
So you may need to have all the pointers running behind the scenes but they could likely point at any IP address. Servers are pingable so they were identified by the IP not the naming.
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At the start we would likely only need one server, maybe two or three, and I feel they should really have their own new names. I agree with Ironwolf, they should have a name meaning something to the community, like Paragon, Atlas or even Titan to recognize this community. There is really no need for 15 or 16 servers.
Paragon, Atlas and Titan servers would be fine by me.
Just getting the game back... You know? :)
Speaking as a former 'Defiant' resident. ;)
Azrael.
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I would think it won't matter. Once you are in the game it doesn't care which server you are on. The servers were just a menu to select - the game was identical on all the servers. From what I recall the servers didn't mention which one it was while you were playing just at the start menu.
(1) A menu that's stored on the client, so you need a client patching mechanism (and some way to lock out people with the wrong version, since you can't depend on the server to do it if you can't modify it!) in place in order to change the names. You also need to completely understand the binary format the client uses for its translations. There are a handful of people in the community who know enough to be able to read it, and probably 2 or 3 who could modify it without breaking the file.
Alternatively, if you got an ex-Paragon dev on staff you have a small chance of getting one who could do it, but most wouldn't have a clue how to binary patch the game as that's not how they interacted with it. There's 3 programmers (and one designer who liked to play with the engine) I can think of who might remember enough to be able to reverse engineer it. None of them are extremely big names, and all but 1 left the studio quite some time before the shutdown.
(2) The server does care about the name, because the global services need it. The chat server needs it as the shard name shows up in the global friends list. Things that store per-character data like auctions and AE missions also need it to distinguish between characters with the same database ID number on different shards.
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(1) A menu that's stored on the client, so you need a client patching mechanism (and some way to lock out people with the wrong version, since you can't depend on the server to do it if you can't modify it!) in place in order to change the names. You also need to completely understand the binary format the client uses for its translations. There are a handful of people in the community who know enough to be able to read it, and probably 2 or 3 who could modify it without breaking the file.
Alternatively, if you got an ex-Paragon dev on staff you have a small chance of getting one who could do it, but most wouldn't have a clue how to binary patch the game as that's not how they interacted with it. There's 3 programmers (and one designer who liked to play with the engine) I can think of who might remember enough to be able to reverse engineer it. None of them are extremely big names, and all but 1 left the studio quite some time before the shutdown.
(2) The server does care about the name, because the global services need it. The chat server needs it as the shard name shows up in the global friends list. Things that store per-character data like auctions and AE missions also need it to distinguish between characters with the same database ID number on different shards.
So, if I understand this correctly, it's very unlikely the names of the servers would change. However, there would remain the question of how many servers would be up and running?
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I would think it won't matter. Once you are in the game it doesn't care which server you are on. The servers were just a menu to select - the game was identical on all the servers. From what I recall the servers didn't mention which one it was while you were playing just at the start menu.
So you may need to have all the pointers running behind the scenes but they could likely point at any IP address. Servers are pingable so they were identified by the IP not the naming.
The server knew who it was. Did you ever do a /whereami? I remember that it would return server and zone.
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freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedoooooooooooooooooooommmmm
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(1) A menu that's stored on the client, so you need a client patching mechanism (and some way to lock out people with the wrong version, since you can't depend on the server to do it if you can't modify it!) in place in order to change the names. You also need to completely understand the binary format the client uses for its translations. There are a handful of people in the community who know enough to be able to read it, and probably 2 or 3 who could modify it without breaking the file.
Alternatively, if you got an ex-Paragon dev on staff you have a small chance of getting one who could do it, but most wouldn't have a clue how to binary patch the game as that's not how they interacted with it. There's 3 programmers (and one designer who liked to play with the engine) I can think of who might remember enough to be able to reverse engineer it. None of them are extremely big names, and all but 1 left the studio quite some time before the shutdown.
(2) The server does care about the name, because the global services need it. The chat server needs it as the shard name shows up in the global friends list. Things that store per-character data like auctions and AE missions also need it to distinguish between characters with the same database ID number on different shards.
Very good to know! So the client needs to be written and altered if possible - otherwise we get all the servers back?
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The server where most roleplayers go. Whatever name we choose for that, be it Virtue or something else if we have to choose new names for servers.
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Very good to know! So the client needs to be written and altered if possible - otherwise we get all the servers back?
I think we all suspected that a new launcher and at least a client patch would be needed anyway, I mean that the new servers would have a different IP than the original so the new launcher would have to point at the correct server address to apply the client patch or even download a clean client for those who don't have it anymore. Wouldn't it?
Then there is an issue of Logo's and what not, the new masters would need to slap their own brand on that hide. . .
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Very good to know! So the client needs to be written and altered if possible - otherwise we get all the servers back?
Just that the names can't be easily changed. Which ones are active or listed can be altered as that comes from the server when you connect. The authentication server sends a list of numeric IDs -- along with the current number of active players (for the load level bubbles) and IP address -- for the client to choose from. The client appends each ID to a hardcoded string and looks it up in the translation table, which is loaded from the client messages bin file. CoHWorldServer_1, CohWorldServer_2, etc.
A monkey with a hex editor might be able to pull off changing a server name to a different name of the same or shorter length. But they couldn't make it longer, and they'd run into serious problems trying to reintegrate the extracted bin file with the game, getting past pigg checksums, etc.
I think we all suspected that a new launcher and at least a client patch would be needed anyway, I mean that the new servers would have a different IP than the original so the new launcher would have to point at the correct server address to apply the client patch or even download a clean client for those who don't have it anymore. Wouldn't it?
Then there is an issue of Logo's and what not, the new masters would need to slap their own brand on that hide. . .
Downloading the client and patching the client, while often performed by the same launcher, aren't necessarily tied together. One is easier and less complex than the other.
Dropping in a texture replacement and modifying .bin files without dev tools are on completely different levels as well.
For that matter I don't think even the .pigg archive format has a publicly-available way to create them. There are plenty of viewers, but no tools I can think of are comprehensive enough to create new ones or patch existing ones (which is more easily done by creating a new one to replace it anyway). That's a little surprising to me since the pigg format is relatively simple.
Or they could do what players have been doing and drop replacements into data/, which works to override any type of file that's not on the forbidden list. But it looks amateurish, and players would be able to delete their data directory and revert those changes. Not to mention support headaches with other client mods that go into data/.
My own opinion on number of shards is that due to the heavily instanced nature of the game and the fact that the architecture shares a pool of map-hosting servers, there is little reason to limit the number unless you're anticipating an extremely low number of players. Once you have enough hardware to run one shard smoothly (and don't fool yourself, it'll take quite a bit just for that), you can easily fire up 2-5 more without taking much of a hit on resources at all.
From available evidence (mothership raids, hami raids, iTrials, Freedom stress test, ITF valley of lag), the server software doesn't scale particularly well with the number of players/critters at all. In that case, a large number of shards with a lower population each would support more players on the same hardware than a few heavily populated ones.
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we will be lucky to get 1 to 5 servers to start with there is a very rare chance we may get all the servers back (cause it costs major money if they are using an actual server machine). not major money to the THeM possibly, but to us yes.
Virtualization is a thing and has been for years.
a small part of what the THeM is taking a small amount of time on must be deciding what they will run the server image on. will they go cheap and deal with upgrading components later, or will they go straight for an IBM or other pricey brand server?
They can go cheap. CoH's servers originally ran on 2004 era hardware, remember? Technology did not stand in place in the 11 years since then - even budget modern hardware will outperform 2004's cutting edge.
anyways I can imagine if they start with one machine it'll probably have the capacity to serve 1000 to 10000 players, in other-words from 1/10th to 1/6th of the paying player estimate at shutdown.
And do you really expect more players to be there at start? Another advantage of virtualization: You can assign resources on an as-needed basis.
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Virtualization is a thing and has been for years. They can go cheap. CoH's servers originally ran on 2004 era hardware, remember? Technology did not stand in place in the 11 years since then - even budget modern hardware will outperform 2004's cutting edge.
And do you really expect more players to be there at start? Another advantage of virtualization: You can assign resources on an as-needed basis.
You can build a moderate server pretty cheap anymore... One for an 11 year old game shouldn't be too bad. I do worry about if there is a speedwall of sorts though from how old the code is causing it to be horridly optimized. Sorta like how games can lag on hardware regardless of if it is overkill.
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So many servers to choose from. When any are available, I will choose a west-coast server and probably load that up with my characters. I started many characters on all servers, then broke down concentrated on 2 servers (one for CoV, one for CoH before you could swap sides). I THINK my villains were on Virtue and my heroes were on Champion. But with the loss of all my characters, it really doesn't matter to me. I just hope that we get the account information back. I purchased a lot of stuff from NCSoft and I think this information should be included in the sale.
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So many servers to choose from. When any are available, I will choose a west-coast server and probably load that up with my characters. I started many characters on all servers, then broke down concentrated on 2 servers (one for CoV, one for CoH before you could swap sides). I THINK my villains were on Virtue and my heroes were on Champion. But with the loss of all my characters, it really doesn't matter to me. I just hope that we get the account information back. I purchased a lot of stuff from NCSoft and I think this information should be included in the sale.
I hope so too. I honestly don't buy that they don't have it anymore. You don't just lose that stuff.
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The truth is that, if this ever happens, there will be one server. There isn't going to be the financial support for anything more than that, not to mention that just running one server is going to be difficult to do.
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. I purchased a lot of stuff from NCSoft and I think this information should be included in the sale.
One would like to think so but there may be some laws against this due to personal information, etc.
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My guess, all the virtual junk you bought with real money is gone.
I think I'll play on the game server: Paragon Avenger 12
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The truth is that, if this ever happens, there will be one server. There isn't going to be the financial support for anything more than that, not to mention that just running one server is going to be difficult to do.
That may be true but there is also the old saying about putting all of one's eggs in one basket.
I would think at least two servers would be available at relaunch.
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That may be true but there is also the old saying about putting all of one's eggs in one basket.
I would think at least two servers would be available at relaunch.
Ok, the term server doesn't mean server.
They most likely had a group of physical servers linked together into what is known as a server farm.
Each "server" like freedom and protector was a game instance or shard. The game instance can run on one server or multiple. And once you have a server capable of running a game instance, most likely you can run more than one instance.
So they will probably have separate servers for:
- database of user accounts for billing
- database of player data
- web front door server for login
- some sort of intrudsion detection
- master server for load balancing
- a group of servers to run the game instances on
So, we all thought that we were on separte servers when on justice or guardian, but we were in realality on the same physical server or group of servers.
I'm not a network guy, so I don't know the exact configuration of servers, but I'm absolutely positive that it isn't going to be a 486 running XP sitting in Codewalker's basement.
It might be that the name of the servers was part of the game. Changing the server names might require changing the code, easy enough if you have the source code, assuming NCSoft knew how to program and had the server names in only one location.
If THeM can only get the binary copy, it will require extra work to change the server names.
In other words, there wasn't a PC some where named Triumph.
(the joys of trying to explain the difference between physical and logical in the IT world)
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I'm absolutely positive that it isn't going to be a 486 running XP sitting in Codewalker's basement.
I knew it, Codewalker's a Tandy man.
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I knew it, Codewalker's a Tandy man.
Are you kidding? Codewalker probably built his own rig, and it's water-cooled, no, liquid helium cooled. He has to call the power company to warn them before he turns on the power.
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Are you kidding? Codewalker probably built his own rig, and it's water-cooled, no, liquid helium cooled. He has to call the power company to warn them before he turns on the power.
heh... its probably nuclear fusion powered...
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I usually say its magic.
You put smoke and wires in one end of a bunch of boxes and the game comes out of the other end. The wizards control the lightning and use it to make everything work.
Occasionally the smoke gets out and everything is broken requiring more smoke to be installed.
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I usually say its magic.
You put smoke and wires in one end of a bunch of boxes and the game comes out of the other end. The wizards control the lightning and use it to make everything work.
Occasionally the smoke gets out and everything is broken requiring more smoke to be installed.
No, it's not smoke and magic. It's probably mirrors, and there's a false bottom. And there might be like a spring loaded trap-door.
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I'll be on Virtue. Virtue virtue virtue.
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I'll be on Virtue. Virtue virtue virtue.
If there is a Virtue, that's where I will be!
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Let's all assume that all the servers will be back as there were right before shut-down.
I'll be on all of them, this time.
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Everyone has a favorite server...if the game comes back...all the hardcore players will be here...Freedom and Virtue will be full, count on it...but equal to Freedom and Virtue servers...Champion server had the most hardcore players who came daily and stayed active trying to push CoH/CoX to its limits.
The best solution to accommodate huge traffic flow would be to reopen ALL the original servers!!!!
I will be voting for CHAMPION SERVER!!!!
(Stryke-Force, Protectors of Neverland, United Heroes Brigade and Hammers of Justice EACH one of these sg's had more prestige than ALL 100 sg's from ANY other server combined so don't tell me Champion players were not as dedicated as other servers)
I heard of the crazy 88's sg which ran the summer of 2011, they started earning prestige, ground out daily and in 6 months became the top prestige sg on their server...Freedom?...if they had been on Champion server they would need another 54 months just to hit the top 20!
Yes champion server had a small population...but those few did a lot :)
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To be honest? I think they should limit the servers to only a few of what was available during the game's original running. I say this since we're most likely a small band of CoH'ers who know about this compared to the millions of players they had by the time the game shut down.
Basically what I am saying is since we are a small population unless the deal gets published and gets promoted really fast, I would say they should only bring back 4-5 servers until they absolutely need more. My opinion at least
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I will be on ALL of them.
Yeah, I always thought that they had too many servers.
Fewer servers means higher population per zone, if number_of_players is the same.
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I'll probably start on Victory and then migrate to the more popular servers after a while :D
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Healix was my very first created character.....I would fly her over the Atlas globe, even if my tears made it hard to see.
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I changed my mind, I'll be on ...
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Not sure if I said already but: Virtue.
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Going back and forth between Liberty, and Virtue.
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Just in case P.A. 1 is too crowded, I'll play on any server that will have me. :-[
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I was origonally on Union, but I may consider Virtue as it was one of the most popular servers...then again when I first got the game (City of Villains first) we only had 4 servers here in the UK and they added all the servers together later I believe. There was a french one, german one and two English ones. One of which was Union.
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Was there ever any 'All Kheldian' or 'All Warshade' SG's?
I would have loved to seen a SG that was pure Epic AT.
An army of PB or WS flying into battle.
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I sometimes tried to login early to catch the Brits.
I would stay on-line playing with the Yanks.
And stay up late to roll with the Aussies.
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Virtue and Freedom! ;)
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What ever is popular and not a roleplay server. I doubt Defiant would be back so I couldn't be more specific.
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I'm hoping they cut the servers down to two,
1. Virtue - Roleplay
2. Freedom - Casual
Otherwise, I'll be back on Guardian - and Virtue if it becomes the Rp server...
To go with this, I'd love to see names done in the Champions Online style - open to all and attached to our global.
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My home was at first Freedom (or Freedumb to some), but eventually I spent a lot more time on Virtue, and Virtue even became my home. RPing on this game was what brought the game back to life for me. I never picked it up in WoW, maybe I should try it there. But I'd probably go the most populated server. I honestly think it should start with just a server or two and add more if necessary.
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I'm kind of hoping that they can do away with the server concept.
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I'm kind of hoping that they can do away with the server concept.
Sorry for the necro, but I don't think that'd be a good idea..mind you if they did I'd adapt, but..CO gave me baaaad memories from not having servers :o :gonk:.
In terms of servers, I'll also have one on the farming server, whatever that'll be. I have expensive builds to make :P
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Assuming the SG bases and such are no longer existing, I'll log onto the top server in the list - when I'm zoned in, I'll look at the list of who's on and see if I recognize anyone I'd like to play with. I would try to be a lot more team oriented this time around.
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Assuming the SG bases and such are no longer existing, I'll log onto the top server in the list - when I'm zoned in, I'll look at the list of who's on and see if I recognize anyone I'd like to play with. I would try to be a lot more team oriented this time around.
While I agree somewhat, doing this after the shutdown would just drive me to be more social - so I'd head to Virtue by default unless another server became the "Rp" server.
I'm thinking we won't come close to the population we had even at close - so migrating to a few select servers is the way to go if we want the best of the game for both soloing and teams...
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While I agree somewhat, doing this after the shutdown would just drive me to be more social - so I'd head to Virtue by default unless another server became the "Rp" server.
I'm thinking we won't come close to the population we had even at close - so migrating to a few select servers is the way to go if we want the best of the game for both soloing and teams...
Presuming that all the servers do come back at relaunch, I suspect that returning players will make Freedom the farming/PL server and Virtue the RP server again.
I'd be surprised though if all servers returned at relaunch, I'd be more inclined to keep some offline but ready to go if population needs dictate more servers are needed.
Example: I don't think we need to have the VIP server Exalted at relaunch.
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Presuming that all the servers do come back at relaunch, I suspect that returning players will make Freedom the farming/PL server and Virtue the RP server again.
I'd be surprised though if all servers returned at relaunch, I'd be more inclined to keep some offline but ready to go if population needs dictate more servers are needed.
Example: I don't think we need to have the VIP server Exalted at relaunch.
I agree. Though, I heard Exalted was pretty active ???. Another interesting topic of discussion/side track: Did you know all IOs(bar purps) can be earned in AE too?! :o. That is such a relief for me :gonk:, I thought I'd have to scavenge and beg politely rob implore the community for generous donations of IOs :)
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I agree. Though, I heard Exalted was pretty active ???. Another interesting topic of discussion/side track: Did you know all IOs(bar purps) can be earned in AE too?! :o. That is such a relief for me :gonk:, I thought I'd have to scavenge and beg politely rob implore the community for generous donations of IOs :)
Going off of memory here I think that any AE mission that was approved by the devs after it was submitted by the creator was set to drop salvage/recipies, etc. Purples and incarnate components were not though.
As to Exalted Server, yeah it was active most of the time. But as it was for VIP/paying only and the game has been under "extended maintenance" for the past 2 years, I don't think such a server is needed at relaunch.
To be honest if I were the one bringing the game back, I'd be seriously looking into doing away with the F2P/VIP thing and set a monthly rate, reactivate the paragon store for purchases of xp boosters, emotes, etc like it was. Perhaps offer a discount for buying a few months worth of subscriptions like it was, but I wouldn't offer lifetime subscriptions, those seem to have a tendency to blow up in the devs face whenever they make changes that offend some players.
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I agree with doing away with free2play, it attracts less than desirable players, sometimes.
I always thought that it would be cool to have a few subscrition levels.
VIP
Community
Economy
ElCheapo
and of course, a free trial period.
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I agree with doing away with free2play, it attracts less than desirable players, sometimes.
I always thought that it would be cool to have a few subscrition levels.
VIP
Community
Economy
ElCheapo
and of course, a free trial period.
I agree-ish? But then that's not a good idea, especially for a game that's been shuttered before, it seems a bit audacious on our end, and promotes an air of for a lack of better words, elitism. Or atleast, I believe so. Plus I've got a friend who's interested, but isn't too keen on $15/mo(unless it'll be cheaper ofc.), at least before trying the game first :).
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I wouldn't want free to play either, given my experiences with CO and how free to play(especially turned pay to win) utterly destroyed that game.
But I also think that limits on free players could be done within reason. Frankly I think the biggest issue is trying to keep power level separate enough from a store system without discouraging people from paying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhz9OXy86a0
Goes into the two extremes free to play go: Free entirely enough that no one pays a dime for the store, or pay to win. CO failed both ways with that. It was pay to win with freeform/freeform slots, and yet many of the store only costumes were bad enough that it was almost a type 1. Then of course overpowered vehicles....leading to....
.....this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwI0u9L4R8U
We don't want to go down the whale path either. CO did that with vehicles and then when it tried pulling out, it did so in a way that left everyone thinking it was one big scam. CO lost such a large volume of it's remaining players in less than a month over that disaster and I would not want to see that happen to a returned CoX.
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This also makes me think of another point. Powersets should not be on the store, or if they are they have to come with some disclaimors about balance. We have to make it clear that bait and switching is not something being done. People felt that way about CO and it's store-only items when they got nerfed. By having disclaimors or keeping them off we can focus on bringing OP sets to the baseline. Of course the baseline has to be something reasonable but then CoX had a reasonable baseline to begin with.
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I agree with doing away with free2play, it attracts less than desirable players, sometimes.
I always thought that it would be cool to have a few subscrition levels.
VIP
Community
Economy
ElCheapo
and of course, a free trial period.
Well less then desirable players can arrive whether they pay or not, but I can see your point.
However I wouldn't offer multiple subscription levels, just a flat monthly fee, perhaps purchase a few months worth at a discount price, no life time subscriptions and no F2P. As to what the monthly fee would be, I'd have to do some number crunching and see what would be equitable to the fans as well as covering maintenance and development costs.
F2P really ticked off some people I knew about losing their inventions and having to buy a monthly invention license. I reminded them at SO's can still make a good build but the allure of the almighty defense cap, stamina boost, regen, etc from the sets....
I'd have no power sets in the paragon store if I could avoid it. Also I would have no plans for vehicles to ever be put in. However......the Halloween event did give us the costumes of NPC's....perhaps updated versions where you can transform into said NPC and have their powers....but not yours until you change back...... also perhaps when one defeats a GM they gain the badge and a recipe to craft for a permanent accolade type power with a 30 minute recharge that only works outdoors that lets you transform into said GM. Imagine facing a KRONOS titan with the power to transform into Eochai or Jack or Deathsurge....
I'd also look into seeing if the issue 13 PVP changes that alienated so many could be redacted or at least improved upon. If they couldn't be redacted I'd make sure the Arena wouldn't have them and advertise that both in forum and in game as a reminder to all that the Arena can be a fun place....
I'd also look at the PVP reputation badges both in terms of requirement and the PVP reputation decay rate.
Also a tune up for PB and WS....
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AP33
It will be a new server to celebrate our success at getting the game back.
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If not for name conflicts I'd be happy with one or two servers so we wont ever be far apart again.
^^true
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Personally, I feel that if/when the game comes back, we should start with just one server. Having multiple instances of a zone wouldn't be so bad, but I doubt we'll see nearly the population the game had previously.
Currently, there are already a few problems with the population. First, getting the word out to all the previous players is nigh impossible without any form of listing of all accounts. I doubt NCSoft would give access to that kind of thing. Second, it's an old game now, and there just aren't enough of us old-school gamers. Third, there are already fully operation illegal servers running for this game. Those will detract from the main population. Finally, there are no more major content updates. I mean, if the negotiations are for just the right to host the game, and not to also acquire the software to create updates, then how will a handful of people create updates, starting from scratch on the software front, and keep up with a company that had nearly a hundred developers? We might see small bug fixes or minor changes, but I doubt anything big is even possible now.
While month to month payments are a good idea to keep less desirable players out, I just don't think a game in this condition can survive like that. I'd personally recommend a F2P system, minus the premium stuff. I mean, as it stands, it's rather unreasonable to ask a lot of money from people like myself who already sunk several hundred dollars into the game, just so we can get back the very same things we already purchased. I might be dumb enough to purchase it all again, but I doubt there are that many fanatics lol. Heck, we even have to start from scratch in earning vet rewards. Maybe a trade-off could be made. For example, you have to repurchase the costume packs and such, and you can get those various item packs or purchase things like rename and respec tokens, but we all start with full vet rewards, or at least earn them faster than before. I dunno, it just really is going to be tough on whomever brings this game back to make it profitable enough. At least, it will be until the word spreads.
On that note, if this game ever returns, I'm going to do a full Let's Play series on YouTube for it. That'll be fun for me, probably for a number of viewers as well, and it'll be my way to getting the word out that the game is back from the dead. Since currently the only Let's Play/Walkthrough/Playthrough videos for CoH are only up to level 20 at the highest, a full LP would also be a first for this game. *sigh* Of course, that assumes that NCSoft gets their act together and stops holding out on earning free money from a dead MMO.
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Third, there are already fully operation illegal servers running for this game. Those will detract from the main population.
There has never been any evidence of this. There was one that was sort of operational, that ran a very very old version of the game. There are no fully operational servers of any kind for this game. Well, unless you want to count Paragon Chat, but since that isn't actually a game...
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There was one that was sort of operational, that ran a very very old version of the game.
SEGS?
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SEGS?
That's the one. Didn't they eventually get it up to I3? I logged into it a few times. Buggy as all getout, but it DID work. I forget if it started as SEGs then changed to CoHEMU or if it was the other way around.
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Pinnacle naturally. It is, after all, the drunken server!
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When City of Heroes comes back, I will be on some server running Linux I guess.
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If the game launched exactly as it once was I'd be on Virtue. Wherever the RPers are, that's where I'll go.
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Wait is CoH for sure going to be revived? :o
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Wait is CoH for sure going to be revived? :o
Right now we have the firm possibility of a definite maybe. Last word was the parties in negotiations are under a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
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When it does come back I would be on Guardian and Freedom.
But I do forsee that there would be only 1 server at least in the beginning. It was gain more if the demand for more and need for more was there.
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Once upon a time, I would have answered "Liberty." But I have since then been logging onto Paragon Chat, and I've started engaging more with the community than I ever did when the game was live. Now? I honestly don't know where I would go; I would want to play with my new friends,
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The Super Fire Dragon server. It will be by invitation only, and only the cool kids will be allowed there. Wait a minute, they might not let me in there.