For the record, I am still committed to us doing something big with this. We had talked about this at length many times before and the "potential" for this game is just as I said it was. I did everything I could to make sure the game would meet our expectations. Sadly, most of the problems we have experienced did not really become evident until after we started testing the server's limits. There was no way to know until we started cramming it full of people and in-game assets. We had hoped certain preventative measure would be enough, but sadly that has not been sufficient. So now we are at a crossroads. We have two options: I have already upgraded the server based on documentation I have read and our previous stress tests we have performed. But I need more bodies to know if upgrading the server is the right solution. Unfortunately, this will make the server cost at least twice as much (but possibly more) as it was before. If we have enough people to make it worth the effort, that is fine, but I need to know how committed everyone is to this. The whole point of this was to give us something that was persistent and we could all work towards regardless of conflicting schedules. Alternatively, we can put the game on hiatus and hope for a future patch to improve stability later. To be fair, it doesn't cost us anything to suspend the server and pick it back up at a later date (all files can be backed up). Personally, despite the work put into getting this server for us, I take no issue with either decision. If we do decide to suspend the server, the good news is that it leaves me more time to work on other projects for us (Stellaris, Mechwarrior, Megamek, etc.) I am willing to give the server another shot, but I need to know that a sizeable portion of the community has my back on this. If not, I am happy to put this to the side for now (to readdress later) and move on to the next project. I leave it to the community to discuss
I'm always game for something like this. I just need a time and day. Hell, as long as it's in the evenings I just need a DM.
My interest in the game is the mainly the empire building aspect. If there is any solution that allows for PVPing with entire fleets and economic warfare, I'd be all in for it (and would also be willing to contribute to it). If that turns out to be unfeasible in the current state of the game, it might be better to suspend the server. Is anyone else interested in that (potential) aspect of the game?
Sorry for the slow rollout on this; Mother's Day and the Stellaris campaign interrupted our plans. How does next Sunday (the 24th) sound for everyone?
Billing date is coming soon for our server and activity has been basically non-existant as of late. No one is to blame for this. We just need to be honest with ourselves about the situation: ^the single spike of activity was when some of us join for a brief server stress test that I organized for May 24. This server costs us $25 a month. In light of these facts, I'm strongly in favor of backing up our server data and retiring the server until their is renewed interest in the game. I can also make the server data available for anyone who wants access to it themselves.
