Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

Geo said:

"However, it's possible the DSL company might give me a credit and then turn around and take it out of the phone company themselves."

That's the way it's supposed to work. Your contract is with them.

Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

I can see the head lines now
Space Empire Players win Class action lawsuit against Phone company empire AT&T
Dateline 2082
A judge ruled today in Canton Ohio that...

Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

On the other hand, the Cehul people have filed a counter suit, claiming that re-activating the PBW server will ensure their complete eradication by the invading Trilarian empire.

Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

Hmmmm....

I am wondering if a barrage of e-mails would help.

Not necessarily dunning e-mails, but ones which ask pertinent questions such as...

"It has been a week since the problem has manifested itself. When can we expect it to be rectified?"

While most of the e-mails will be out of state, most companies do not like this kind of attention.

From experience, they also know, that the next step may be the media.

There may be other avenues to pursue as well.

My feeling is that it may be a bit early for us to become involved as Geo may not have exhausted all the means he has available to get it fixed.

Geo, let us know when you think we can be of any assistance and the form of help you wish it to be. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ August 08, 2003, 02:48: Message edited by: tbontob ]

Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

Wait... if it's a residential account and people across the country start complaining, they might sue Geo for breach of contract and put PBW out of business for good... don't they kind of dislike it when you run a major server without paying for commercial access? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif

Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

Would shrapnel consider running the server?

Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nothing we are doing is a breach of contract with my ISP. The type of service I have allows for this sort of server to be run on it. And calling PBW a "major server" is a bit of a stretch. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Emailing the ISP isn't going to help, because the problem is the phone line. Emailing the phone company isn't going to help. It won't get me in trouble, but they aren't going to care that you guys can't reach your favorite website either. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

We looked into Shrapnel hosting the site Last year when we ended up moving it to Ohio. It wasn't a good fit with their business plan. I don't mind, I prefer it the way it is rather then having Shrapnel run it.

Just got to get the stinking phone line fixed. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ August 08, 2003, 04:02: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

Geo, maybe your local phone company is the exception, but most companies do care about publicity, even monopolies or oligopolies.

Especially bad publicity.

I have managed a number of companies, big and small, and from experience, I know they care about bad publicity.

They may give non-committal replies to inquiries, but the squeeky wheel does get the grease and is given priority! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

Atrocities is probably right in that game designers/owners will move to hosting multiplayer games and in particular games played over the internet.

However, my feeling is that it will probably be driven by the need to give consistent and dedicated service to the purchasers of their games who are demanding it.

IMO, we already have that dedication through the efforts of those who are currently involved with the day-to-day operations of the SE4 Forum and PBW.

I, for one, appreciate the time and effort they expend to ensure that PBW will operate efficiently.

But other Shrapnel games which have multiplayer capability to play over the internet may not function as well as SE4.

There may come a time when Shrapnel will decide to host all the games played over the internet (including SE4), no matter how well they may be run.

But that hasn't happened yet, and I have no problems about the personal preferences of the administrators as to the site of the server etc.

Re: PBW Down? - Back up!
 

Geo, can you say, cable? (starting to look like your only hope)