[AKA]PanamaJack 03-25-2005, 03:42 PM I think everyone needs to read the End User License Agreement that comes with VUG products. This does include T1 and T2 as well as T:V.
I say this because if they have truely abandoned the entire Tribes Franchise as a lost cause when it comes to making money we may see some nasty things coming in the next year or so.
However, nothing contained herein shall be construed as to place an obligation upon Sierra to provide the servers and software technology necessary to utilize the "on-line" component beyond the time that the Program is Out of Publication. The term "Out of Publication" as used herein shall mean that the Program is no longer being manufactured by Sierra.
Right now this affects T1 and T2 as they are no longer being being manufactured. Sure you can download free copies of the game from all over but the games themselves are not being manufactured and sold by Sierra anymore. So they COULD decide to cut costs and shut down the master servers for those two games. There wouldn't be anything you could do about it.
Also, if they decide to stop making T:V they could immediately shut down the T:V and IRC servers the day after they announce the stopping of manufacture. The game can still be in their warehouses ready to be shipped and sold and they could still shut down the Master Servers. This is because of the wording of the clause. They can still be selling the game even without providing Master Servers.
Things may get pretty nasty in the not too distant future if the suits at Sierra/VUG decide to cut costs even more on the Franchise.
Pachacutec 03-25-2005, 03:44 PM something to look forward to!
Random150 03-25-2005, 03:45 PM Wow
They have the utter power to just kill the whole tribes franchise.
KillerONE 03-25-2005, 03:46 PM Master servers are easy to replace. I'm not afraid.
BugsPray 03-25-2005, 03:46 PM I foresee nerd lynch mobs in VUG's future.
FishStix 03-25-2005, 04:04 PM FUCK THEM IN THEIR ASSHOLE WITH A BIG BLACK DILDO, THAN BREAK IT OFF AND BEAT EM WITH THE REST OF IT.
Mr. Scary 03-25-2005, 04:08 PM Don't beat around the bush FishStix, tell us what you really think. :clap:
[57th]cneal 03-25-2005, 05:55 PM Are you the dumbest person on this forum PanamaJack. Have you not considered that people have been bypassing the "master server" since the dawn of tribes and even other games besides tribes?
Pachacutec 03-25-2005, 06:01 PM posit:
http://eia.egreen.wednet.edu/graphics/beaker.jpg
response:?
[AKA]PanamaJack 03-25-2005, 06:08 PM [57th]cneal, are you not the most ignorant person ever to fall out from between your mothers loins?
If they shut down the master servers it will not matter that you can bypass them because that will definately remove virtually ALL new players that MIGHT decided to download the game and play it.
Why?
Well let me explain oh one of feable mindedness.
A new player downloads the game, installs it and BAM no servers listed and an error saying they can't connect to the master server. They uninstall the game and go on.
They are NOT going to take the time to try and find out why they can't find any servers. They are NOT going to look for a program to install to find other servers. They are just going to go on to something else. The only people who will be left to play the game are those diehards who take the time to find these things out and that number of people is pathetically LOW.
Also, a large portion of the people currently playing will also just move on if something like that happens. They will not take the time to find another way to find servers. Hell, I remember just a few weeks ago the Master Servers went down for T1 and a few people were screaming about it and not being able to find anything.
It is plain ignorance or utter stupidity for someone to think that closing the Master Servers wouldn't mean anything. If it happens it will be a wasteland in every sense of the word.
F [a] C E 03-25-2005, 06:28 PM something to look forward to!
NoFiX 03-25-2005, 06:34 PM PJ, you're delusional if you really think there's going to be *that* many new players coming to T1 or T2 in the future.
And you're wrong about the T1 masters, because, when they went down, there was a replacement within days, and even without it, there was still in excess of 400+ active players ;)
Gotta love T1's server browser, fuck...what a piece of work ;)
Diotoir 03-25-2005, 06:55 PM I don't think we have to worry about a decrease in new players, but there would definitely be a drop in current players. When the master server went down not too long ago, the Tribes 2 servers had at most half their normal population in them despite the fact that you could rather easily get information on the servers and join. It would be a catastrophic event.
Also, what of the T2 auth server? If that went out would there be a way around having to log in?
PS: Also, if they go by pure technicality, could they not shut the servers down even if it is in production considering Sierra no longer exists or does the clause include parent companies? I know it's a stupid and completely irrelevant question; I'm just curious.
sYs|yavor 03-25-2005, 06:56 PM PanamaJack']So they COULD decide to cut costs and shut down the master servers for those two games. There wouldn't be anything you could do about it.
They refused to attach T2 to one of polish gaming magazines because "they can't guarantee that the master servers will work". I received an official post from VUG (2 or 3 months before T:V premiere).
Master servers are easy to replace. I'm not afraid.
Hasn't someone already put up a secondary T1 master server?
what would it take in terms of hardware and bandwidth to host a master server for a game like t1 or t2? would a typical t:v server with good bandwidth be capable?
new players for either of those games is unlikely to any significant degree, and the people that still play either of those games WOULD bother to find out where the new master server is, so i don't think either of those games would be impacted greatly.
|CO|Kapeket!! 03-25-2005, 09:07 PM Master servers are easy to replace. I'm not afraid.
What he said.
Who cares if they abandon the master server list.
We ran an alternative master server list for T1 awhile back, remember?
The active servers stayed up and were listing just fine.
Again, I hope VUG just hands it out for free download and just lets this go freeware.
Well T1 and T2 are still being supported by the community so it would be worth the effort to put up an alternative master if it came to that. Then the community sites (all two of them) can post the new address etc. yadda yadda.
Slitz 03-25-2005, 09:35 PM Maybe they'll be kind enough to release the master's DNS (eg t1m1.masters.dynamix.com) when they shut it down. Then it wouldn't affect anything. I'd gladly chip in to buy dynamix.com.
At the very least they could help us by putting a forward on t1m1.masters if they need to keep dynamix.com.
[AKA]PanamaJack 03-25-2005, 11:06 PM Well T1 and T2 are still being supported by the community so it would be worth the effort to put up an alternative master if it came to that. Then the community sites (all two of them) can post the new address etc. yadda yadda.
Well, T2 would basically be dead in the water unless you could duplicate the authentication server. Without that server the loss of the heartbeat would cause you to be kicked from any server you joined after a few minutes.
T1 doesn't suffer from this problem but if the T1 servers are lost then you would still have the number of players shrink even more. Then you have a small little code of players who know about the alternate master server. Those players will dwindle away and eventually becomes non-existant. It's basically an accellerated effect. The number of people who stop coming back gets faster as the number goes up. It's like being on life support with a limited oxygen supply.
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