Author Topic: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.  (Read 333221 times)

Zombie Man

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #600 on: July 10, 2013, 09:54:20 PM »
Singing "We Can Be Heroes."

Cinnder

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #601 on: July 11, 2013, 03:05:22 PM »
Singing "We Can Be Heroes."

But I want more than just for one day!

Gleech

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #602 on: July 17, 2013, 02:39:33 AM »
I'd also so love to see this as a downloadable server. I realize there may exist one online solution, I'd still prefer to have my own home hosted server for me and my friends.

Thank you to all who have worked on this.
I agree with this a lot. Though I know there's a fear of splitting the community too much I'd personally like to have total control over my own server than play on a hugely populated one. Plus, the fact is that some of the CoH community didn't really blend. RPers and Non-RPers constantly fought even on Virtue. Imagine if every server was merged into one, mixing every kind of player? That'd be pure chaos to mix all the different kinds of cliques. Speaking of, everyone would pretty much just be hanging out with their SG mates and all anyway. Most social interaction would probably be scarce. Not saying that there can't BE a 'main server'. If someone were to host one for those who can't/don't want to host a server themselves, that'd be great! But I'd strongly advise against making that the only server.

What would I do with a server you might ask? Well I'd probably host it purely for those I use to RP with, and in addition some friends who always wanted to play but never really could (either back before Freedom or even after due to f2p restrictions). Thinking about other private servers for games that I've run before, I like the ability to control the game the way I want to... and clearly with a unified server I'd be unable to do so, and thus I'd have less ability to control situations that might be fun for RP or just messing around with friends and breaking the game in a harmless way.

Anyway, this has been on my mind for awhile while stalking these projects... I felt the need to voice my opinion.

Triplash

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #603 on: July 17, 2013, 06:33:09 AM »
I agree with this a lot. Though I know there's a fear of splitting the community too much I'd personally like to have total control over my own server than play on a hugely populated one. Plus, the fact is that some of the CoH community didn't really blend. RPers and Non-RPers constantly fought even on Virtue. Imagine if every server was merged into one, mixing every kind of player? That'd be pure chaos to mix all the different kinds of cliques. Speaking of, everyone would pretty much just be hanging out with their SG mates and all anyway. Most social interaction would probably be scarce. Not saying that there can't BE a 'main server'. If someone were to host one for those who can't/don't want to host a server themselves, that'd be great! But I'd strongly advise against making that the only server.

There's a lot to be said for both wide-open public servers and invite-only private ones. When any player at all is allowed to join a server, you end up meeting people you never knew you wanted to play with. I've met some great friends in City that I don't really have much in common with outside of the game. If I had only ever spoken with them through a forum first, I'd probably not have hung out with them at all, and that would be a shame since I'd be missing out on some really cool friends that way.

On the other hand, I pretty much agree with everything you're saying about why private servers would work well. Each and every server could tailor the game perfectly to that group of players, so that they get to play their perfect game without having to be interrupted by events and players they don't enjoy. The one and only hitch with that is, you only ever get to play with people you already know from somewhere else. You're protecting yourself from the things you don't like, sure, and that's great. But you're also preventing yourself from finding new things that you didn't know you'd like until someone else asked you to try it.

For my money, I think the ideal solution would be to allow both. Set up one public server with "vanilla" rules that anyone can log into, where players can mingle and find new people to play alongside. Also let folks set up their own private servers with their own adjustments to the rules and the environment so they can enjoy the game their way with their group of friends. (Although to prevent cheating, don't let them transfer those characters to the vanilla server.)

But one thing I definitely think should be enabled is for ALL the servers, public and private alike, to be able to hook up to one central set of global chat channels. Anyone on any server could talk to anyone on any other server, as long as you're in the same chat channel. Stuff like Help and LFG and etc would be local to that server of course, but the global channels would be exactly that: world-wide. Just like how someone on Freedom could talk to someone on Liberty if they were in the same global channel. But this way any server, public or private, could talk to any other if they wanted to (as long as it was online of course). I think that would help people get the exact play experience they want, while also still allowing the communication that would keep the playerbase at large interacting with one another.

Noyjitat

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #604 on: July 17, 2013, 02:10:52 PM »
I really hope we get a few community servers going first. Because the big group stuff like incarnate trials, msrs, and hami wouldn't be possible to do. And I personally like to do more than roll lots of forgotten Alts and stand under atlas. I'm doing the alt thing now in DC and CO and I'm pretty bored and lonely :(

General Idiot

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #605 on: July 17, 2013, 02:16:10 PM »
Regarding global chat being truly global - I'm pretty sure the server as it was had global chat in a mostly seperate system from regular chat to begin with so it should be possible, though I say that without any real understanding of what's involved. But it seems like if it's kept seperate then it should just be a matter of each server deciding what it takes care of and what gets sent to the global server, and some generous person providing somewhere to host that global server.

Personally though, I'd play on a big community server. Mostly because I like doing taskforces and incarnate trials at odd hours of the day when many of my friends aren't online.

Thunder Glove

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #606 on: July 17, 2013, 02:23:14 PM »
I really hope we get a few community servers going first. Because the big group stuff like incarnate trials, msrs, and hami wouldn't be possible to do. And I personally like to do more than roll lots of forgotten Alts and stand under atlas. I'm doing the alt thing now in DC and CO and I'm pretty bored and lonely :(

Same here.

Really, more than the Plan Z projects, more than the Google efforts (out of which I hope for the best but expect the worst), I'm really waiting for a community server and hope one opens soon.  I'm feeling more and more agitated every day.  The withdrawal symptoms are getting worse instead of better.

saipaman

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #607 on: July 17, 2013, 03:11:14 PM »
I want both.  A downloadable server so that the game can never be taken from me again and community servers so that I can play with other people or at least watch other people go by while I'm playing. 

Mooties

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #608 on: July 17, 2013, 04:32:45 PM »
I'd love to have my own personal copy of CoX  to just play by myself and modify my characters... I'd also like to play via LAN with some friends...
Also, why has there been very little on a private server of any kind :(?

Golden Girl

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #609 on: July 17, 2013, 06:59:17 PM »
Also, why has there been very little on a private server of any kind :(?

The answer is contained in your question :P
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damienray

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #610 on: July 17, 2013, 07:25:32 PM »
Why even waste our time with a non-answer ?

saipaman

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #611 on: July 17, 2013, 11:43:29 PM »
Why even waste our time with a non-answer ?

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Hyperstrike

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #612 on: July 19, 2013, 12:49:06 AM »
I'd love to have my own personal copy of CoX  to just play by myself and modify my characters... I'd also like to play via LAN with some friends...
Also, why has there been very little on a private server of any kind :(?

Because writing a server is no small undertaking.

Golden Girl

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #613 on: July 19, 2013, 02:25:50 AM »
Why even waste our time with a non-answer ?

Because it's a genuine answer :P
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Super Firebug

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #614 on: July 19, 2013, 02:54:21 AM »
I'd love to have my own personal copy of CoX  to just play by myself and modify my characters... I'd also like to play via LAN with some friends...
Also, why has there been very little on a private server of any kind :(?

Believe me, the very best thing that could happen for us, as regards a private server, is for any efforts to remain totally stealthy and unheard-from, so that NCSoft's lawyer henchmen doesn't know where to direct any cease-and-desist efforts. And then, the server springs up, full-blown, in several places, and is downloaded and spread by lots of people. That way, NCSoft can't suppress all of the copies, and (as someone put it) their lawyers can spend years playing Whack-A-Mole all over the Internet.

It's hard to be patient when CoH is missed as much as we miss it, but at least we have several things that we can wait for. In the meantime, I'm enjoying using Icon to set up a group photo of my toons (when I can work on it), and I'm re-reading the comic books. (Speaking of which, did someone ever put out a corrected edition of the first Blue King pdf? In the copy that I have, one of the interior pages - where the team are fighting the Vahzilok to enter the building - is tacked onto the end; it breaks up the story. :/ )
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Captain Electric

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #615 on: July 19, 2013, 03:26:08 AM »
Because writing a server is no small undertaking.

*Writes a small postcard to a server, just to be contrary* :P

JaguarX

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #616 on: July 19, 2013, 04:14:17 AM »
Believe me, the very best thing that could happen for us, as regards a private server, is for any efforts to remain totally stealthy and unheard-from, so that NCSoft's lawyer henchmen doesn't know where to direct any cease-and-desist efforts. And then, the server springs up, full-blown, in several places, and is downloaded and spread by lots of people. That way, NCSoft can't suppress all of the copies, and (as someone put it) their lawyers can spend years playing Whack-A-Mole all over the Internet.


Well the problem also lies in the the fact that ex COX players are not psychically linked. Meaning if no one hears or know, for protection, then more than likely when "great download" happens, there wont be a bunch of people waiting for something or know of something to download that they dont even know exist. Which, while getting the word out even then, make it easier target for the lawyers than if if was in development stage. Because then now they have then, and have evidence of distribution and dont have to go after the others and instead hold the main source, or as near as they can, responsible for the distribution. Alot of MP3 file sharing sites went down like that thinking if they get it out no one will find them. Lo and behold most got sued for millions and held responsible for distrubution of those files and made it easier to prove the damage, unrepairable damage was done. At the same time, there are many that got away. Just have to be careful and stop being so surely that they are outsmarting every single legal team on the planet. More than likely their plan is not very new or that unstoppable. That is how many get caught. When they start thinking they are untouchable and their plan is infallable and under estimate their enemy, it bites them, usually to their suprise. Too much like it's a sure thing they will get away with it scrot free in Robin Hood fashion and the evil NCSOFT will be conqoured for ever and ever and everyone will live happily ever after while NCSOFT wouldnt dare do anything within their power to fight back. They will roll over and forget about it. Could be. But prepping only for that scenario and not looking at all possibilities that is possible can lead to utter disaster and someone being finanicially ruined for trying to do something they thought was the right thing to do.   

Remember they dont have to supress all copies. And more spread out it gets, the more they can charge as damage caused by the person they catch distrub. If I get a product(used in manner to mean IP trademark, Copyright/ and actual property and or product) and someone steals it and use it for their own, then I dont have to track down every single person that got it. I can find that one, preferable the one that started it, and charge them and make a good case that because of them, all those people that have the copy, that money should have been mine and thus they owe me the market price and damage and business loss of the known people that may have it and a bit more since it is still being distributed due to that person.  In the age of internet, most things if not everything online is traceable from the conversation to the people that suggest doing this to the people that is actually doing it and whether or not they read and or posted here or not.

Ironwolf

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #617 on: July 19, 2013, 10:16:00 AM »
NCSoft doesn't stop the other games from having literally hundreds of private servers - and they even advertise for them.

If they don't know where they came from they can't stop them all.

Hyperstrike

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #618 on: July 19, 2013, 02:18:27 PM »
NCSoft doesn't stop the other games from having literally hundreds of private servers - and they even advertise for them.

If they don't know where they came from they can't stop them all.

Uhm.  No.  No they don't.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11786

JaguarX

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Re: OK, what now? I need a private server or the ability to run my own.
« Reply #619 on: July 19, 2013, 03:41:29 PM »
Uhm.  No.  No they don't.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11786

Basically.


Ironwolf-All I'm saying is there is a great possibility they might get away with it, but they should ensure they do a proper down the line risk assessment and know what the risks are of taking on such an endeavor. NCSOFT have been known to simply send C&Ds for many unauthorized servers even the ones that tried to stay hidden, for most of their now defunct games too. I'm just saying no one should go into it thinking that it's a guarantee that NCSOFT will not bother to make a move. On one it may stay underground but word have to get out if expectation for more people to know about it and more people that know about it and as they tell their friends especially through social media, which is a form of indirect grass root advertising for these private servers, the greater the risk that NCSOFT will find out. Only guarantee way to not allow NCSOFT to find out is that the maker of these private servers dont tell a single soul which defeats the purpose of making a private server that is designed for ex-coxers to play, which number into the thousands.

There are pros and cons, and while the focusing only on the pros may look like "being positive" and ignoring the cons look like "not being negative" it can set people up for failure and end up with risks and trouble they were not prepared for. I guess the quagmire is how to put the word out that a private server is available to the people without putting out word that there is a private server which can attract unwanted attention. 


Although I wonder, what are the chances of Icons becoming a sort of "private server" in the future? Think that is feasible? I think many ex-coxers by now heard of Icon, and so far it seems individual can "connect" to it, but say if somehow they were linked to each other or could connect to another's version of Icon as a "guest" of some sort. Or somethign of the likes.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2013, 03:57:11 PM by JaguarX »