Author Topic: Titan Network & Community Server Support Expectations  (Read 6191 times)

Tahquitz

  • Titan Staff
  • Elite Boss
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,859
Titan Network & Community Server Support Expectations
« on: May 06, 2019, 04:17:18 PM »
First of all, if you haven't read it already, TonyV has a primer for the whole situation.

So after reading that, you're probably thinking, "Sign me up!  Where do I download the game?  How do I ask for help?"  Well, there's a few things to clarify first.

Our ability to help users with downloading the client, getting started and logging in is complicated.  Namely, because there are multiple efforts to get a server launched by several community groups.  This includes the COH Homecoming group, the Reddit COH group, a group from 4chan running a server called /coxg/, and an effort called Project Ouroboros that aims at returning the game server and client to Issue 24 in order to start over and make community based issues (as they put it, Volume II, Issue 1.)  And complicating matters further we're in the middle of talks ourselves with NCSoft to find a legal path forward to play City of Heroes on Community Servers.

And this is all in just the last two weeks.  Give it a month, and more groups are likely to form as well.

This results in a simple and hopefully clear decision from us at Titan Network:  Tech support for these games are currently the responsibility of the communities that run them.

There are some considerations, however, on ways Titan Network CAN help.

Paragon Chat:  The technical requirements to run Paragon Chat and most of the Community Servers clients are identical.  So if you are trying to run one of those and you can't get in, give Paragon Chat a try.  And we CAN troubleshoot issues running that. Once Paragon Chat is working, if you still can't login or if the client crashes anyway, it's out of our hands at that point.  Conversations about tech support for Community Servers will be locked on the Paragon Chat boards to keep discussions on topic.

Tequila/Island Rum: The game delivered through the group known as COH Homecoming uses the Tequila and Island Rum launcher.  The same launcher as Paragon Chat and Icon for the last three or so years.  While Leandro created Tequila and Manga made Island Rum, the launcher has no support forums outside of Titan Network, so we can help with issues specific to those launchers.  Once you can run and update the launchers successfully, that's the extent of our help.

As one of the teams known as SCOTS are hard at work on a new launcher called Sunrise made specially for community servers, Tequila may be deprecated for this purpose anyway.  We'll update as info warrants.

The most important thing to emphasize is that general questions about gameplay in City of Heroes are still welcome here.  Head to the City of Heroes board and talk about your experiences, share screenshots, or ask questions that other players can answer.

But before I go, there is one other thing that does need touched upon. 

Retail support no longer applies.  Most of the community behind the recent efforts are VOLUNTEERS.  Nobody is being paid to do this for the Community, and as such, the expectation that comes out of playing retail games (specifically, the "customer to business" relationship many of us are used to) needs to be rethought when asking for help with these Community Efforts.

Posting on Titan Network Forums demanding help for Community Server support will be met with a strong "No" for two reasons:

1) We're not running ANY of the servers.  As such we have no authority to tell any of them what to do.  Demanding action here is like telling your congress person they're doing a horrible job on Facebook on a community page.  The people who are in charge of the situation are probably not going to see it at all.

2) Even if you have a question about something we are responsible for, then demand Tech Support like you're a paying customer, everyone will probably pass up your thread.  Then again someone who is calm, who can answer questions when asked of them, and is willing to do a little work themselves as well to fix their problem will see more replies to their issues.  Not just from Titan Network staff, but the community as well. 

We will try to answer your questions, but we cannot guarantee that all tech problems will have a satisfactory solution for you.  At the end of the day nobody is responsible for your programs and games working except for you.  Because the same deal goes for the rest of us, too.

Seeking help with the right attitude, and asking questions at the right place is key to getting the help you need.  Pay attention to where you ask questions.  Show courtesy, and you'll receive it in kind.  This is how to get help now, and probably for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for everyone's patience while we await more news and developments on this evolving matter, and our thanks to everyone in the community volunteering to help out others as well.

----------
ADDENDUM:  As a reminder, server software for any of these games are still illegal.  As such, we cannot support or assist with implementing a game server on these forums.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2019, 06:03:55 PM by Tahquitz »
"Work is love made visible." -- Khalil Gibran