Shmack / CRMOD server donations, and Quality of Service!

[Mindf!3ldzX]

It's become apparent to anyone who frequents the RuneQuake server Shmack (or CRMOD server) that the service has been declining slowly,and speaking for myself, Shmack is only enjoyable during non primetime hours (IE,when im supposed to be sleeping, late as fuck,past my bedtime,etc etc)


It has been two years,maybe three,that Shmack has survived off the the awesome donations given by none other than the community members of RuneQuake!

This post in no way emphasizes any CHANGES will be made, what it WILL strive to accomplish is herding all the opinions of RuneQuake players pertaining to the ping/latency issues that for most (not all,I'm not speaking out of turn for anyone) makes it barely enjoyable.

GETTING TO THE POINT AND CUTTIN THROUGH THE BULLSHIT...

The community pays for this server, and as such, if the community is paying for a EXPENSIVE shoddy ass server ($400+ a year?). Point being? We could do better,for cheaper, and I for one think it's time for this discussion to occur, BEFORE judgement day arrives again. This post is Carbon Copy @ two forums, Quakeone.com and Runecentral!

[Syluxguy28O3]

so, what suggestions are on the table? do you have a specific idea/plan?

[Mindf!3ldzX]

Well, a yearly cost exists to cover quake.shmack.net and quake.crmod.com , these Quake servers come hand in hand when the community donates to pay for them once a year.

X=Current cost of servers
Y=Any cheaper alternatives?Geographic location?What can be done better?
Z=The difference in the servers cost at present state VERSUS whats available.

Let me be very clear, I am in no one wanting to step on anyones feelings or toes, but I'm not a regular RuneQuake anymore, I pop in now and then to get my Quake fix when nothing else is going on,as such my opinion,what I think should or shouldn't be done,means nada,dick,squat,shit.. My opinion is worthless to the community of RuneQuakers who frequent that server every single day of the week,or more than twice a week. So, I will tell myself to keep my opinion to myself.


Those who USE it should take first billing for the suggestions, and I'm not touching that with any length of pole. SlotZero knows who frequents his server's,and as such the discussions involving this can be summed up by him as to who's who in terms of who should be payed close attention to.


Example? Kimp will not be allowed to voice an opinion, he recently started his shit @ Shmack a few weeks back, I heard it through the admin grapevine, and the vine had 3 nodes, me being the tail end (I'm usually last to find out about anything unless I be directly involved heh)

Another Example? Amebix, he does not play RuneQuake,at all. As such, accounting for each and every players opinion is the wrong approach and will drown out the actual RUNE PLAYERS OPINIONS!Those who do play on the Rune server should recieve top billing in terms of making that community's determination of whether to do something or do nothing.

I just found it really unlikely that anyone of those members of the RQ community would speak up on this subject, and I'm just sowing the seed of discussion. Thats it! I have no plans or thoughts other than what I've written here.

[Guest]

Let's see if people are willing to contribute for a 3 year plan and then I can see a greater interest in investing the situation!

Mindz you did it last time do it once more?? 3 years is as easy as 1 to me.

[Mr.Burns]

Hi Mindzy,
I feel at this point I should nervously stand up from my chair and, fighting back the feelings of embarrassment, stare at the floor, clear my throat and announce that "My name is Monty, and I'm a RuneQuaker"

Yes, I do play RQ at Shmack (albeit very badly) regularly under a range of pseudonyms and yes when the server gets more than 3 players it's a slideshow (for me at least) and the pl just isn't funny. I'm connecting from England so I don't expect it to be fantastic but it's just not playable. New York, Rage, Damage, Flanders, QRF and others are fine and dandy ping wise so I just tend go there instead. However, from speaking to others on Shmack my experience isn't isolated to just me.

Perhaps a more centralized server would be better, or at least one with better performance.

I would be reluctant to put RQ on New York at this point as I don't think that the player base is strong enough for 2 dedicated RQ servers but it's always there as a failsafe should Shmack (or a more useable substitute) no longer be viable.

Kind regards

Monty

[Mindf!3ldzX]

Let's see if people are willing to contribute for a 3 year plan and then I can see a greater interest in investing the situation!

Mindz you did it last time do it once more?? 3 years is as easy as 1 to me.

Mark ,people are willing. Slot Zero has used donation sites atleast twice now. Shmack ,today, survives thanks to 'those who donated'. I was not one of them.

Re-iterating what I was saying earlier, I merely brought the subject up.Seeking me for anything other than "Thanks for bringing up the discussion" is over stepping, I requested to be left out for the most part. I just seen someone using the name PL today, which indicates Packet Loss! Rather than using CUTE names on the Shmack server, indicating they have Packet Loss, I took a realistic step forward,took the complaints out of the server and brought them to TWO Quake1 forums/messageboards.

Lets face it,Slot Zero isn't watching the server logs daily looking for complaints about the server,and I've only witnessed one person even mention it @ Runecentral forums (Solecord) , and this is awhile back!


I walked away from this post, came back, decided its not gonna get any better! Hope the discussion grows/blossoms for the better of the community.

[wicked_lord]

I tried to host one in Atlanta well over a year ago. Had it posted here on the forum and only 1 person "godsend" ever connected to it in the 3 month's it was up. Those RQ'ers are very LOYAL to the "shmack" name regardless of the server's performance. Those RQ'ers have trust issue's and refuse to leave to try another server. All being said, it's their choice to play in the toilet after taking a shit and before flushing.

[Mr.Burns]

@ Mindz: You are of course right, and to respect that person's privacy I won't say who PL is/was given that they used a pseudonym , but having spoken to them yesterday if I've understand them correctly I can confirm that they regularly suffer from Latency problems that they don't get when they play at for example New York, other US servers or to a lesser degree even Damage and Bigfoot.

WL has also got a good point as many (but not all) of the RQ'ers seem set in their ways and determined to play only ID Maps on standard RQ on Shmack. Not that there is anything wrong with that, everyone is different and perhaps they are the RQ equivalent to the "Eternal DM3" players we have seen on other servers
On the other hand, I suppose it has stood the test of time where other servers have fallen by the wayside, but let's hope that with some good feedback things can be improved. Perhaps the safest way would be to move the Shmack name to somewhere better so that it would be a seemless transition to the players.

Kind regards
Monty

[wicked_lord]

I offered to take over the servers for shmack. However i dont want the website just the domain name. Slotzero wouldnt sell it because people still donate to keep the servers up and running. But however if he ever does decide to sell or does not get the donations needed to keep it open im seriously going to buy it if the $$$ is right.

[Mindf!3ldzX]

@ Mindz: You are of course right, and to respect that person's privacy I won't say who PL is/was given that they used a pseudonym , but having spoken to them yesterday if I've understand them correctly I can confirm that they regularly suffer from Latency problems that they don't get when they play at for example New York, other US servers or to a lesser degree even Damage and Bigfoot.

WL has also got a good point as many (but not all) of the RQ'ers seem set in their ways and determined to play only ID Maps on standard RQ on Shmack. Not that there is anything wrong with that, everyone is different and perhaps they are the RQ equivalent to the "Eternal DM3" players we have seen on other servers
On the other hand, I suppose it has stood the test of time where other servers have fallen by the wayside, but let's hope that with some good feedback things can be improved. Perhaps the safest way would be to move the Shmack name to somewhere better so that it would be a seemless transition to the players.

Kind regards
Monty

Correct , and if the quake.shmack.net DNS was to stop working one day all of a sudden , I fear what would come of multiplayer Quake1. hold all thoughts and commentary about non-RuneQuake players or servers......

Not to be a dick,but I don't want Shmack running a risk of falling off the face of the earth,and I see risk involved if a non-runequaker has shit to do with keeping its head above water. While I don't play there daily (thats bound to change shortly) I want nothing for the best for the community, this post highlights that.

I dunno bout this can o worms I opened.

[Solecord]

I started playing Quake again almost daily a couple months ago.... mostly on Shmack because when I'm around to play that's where the players are. The server was so badly lagged a year ago or so I was pleasantly surprised when I started again this year that it was fine. Then it got bad again. Stuttering lag that just ruins game play.

I don't know why Slot or someone doesn't address the issue with the host. There's got to be something that can be done to resolve the persistant issues now instead of waiting till the fall to move it (as Slot said on his forum).