Gandalf\'s Servers
 

I have good news, and I have bad news.
My main server died last night. The good news is that it seems to be the power supply so the accounts, email, domains, modding projects, and many multiplayer games hosted there should be OK. The bad news is.. unfortunately like many in the US we are having trouble just getting the mortgage paid. It might be abit before I can get it fixed. My main desktop died almot a month earlier from a different problem (half of the raid crashed) but I was holding off fixing that.
I may need to get another job. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

For the many people who I have been providing free accounts and hosting in order to support the many games and projects which were spawned from the forums here and other places I sincerely apologize. But since I never charged anyone money, I only apologize a little bit. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I have tried to contact as many of you as I have addresses for (off of that server). This post is to try and fill the gap for those I missed. Those of you who have backups of your stuff, if you wish to contact me about moving you over to the lesser older server then feel free to message me here.

Gandalf Parker
--
more More MORE MMORPG
now available on black Tshirt at my shop
http://www.CafePress.com/oddthotz

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

Thanks for letting us know, Gandalf.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

Sorry to see that Gandalf. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

Thank you for the heads up Gandalf.
Sorry to hear that you are feeling the pinch out there in California. I think your state has been hit harder than most.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

About 3 weeks ago the powersupply died in my most powerful system... and it killed the motherboard too!

At least you have a Fry's Electronics... also remember to check Newegg and Mwave.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

Updates:
Main desktop computer: still down.
Old desktop computer: still slugging away. (knock on virtual wood)

Main internet server: still down.
This affects many of the free accounts I provided. Zen, Targa, Alneyan, Ballbarian, lch, and many others. Im sorry for your items being unavailable. Also of course Dom2Minions.com, Dom3minions.com, Ballbarians excellent random generator, lch's multiplayer games, and many other domains for various games and interests of mine. One should get special note. The ShazzyShard private Ultima Online server pages are down, but the game server itself is up since I did not host that world but just the web pages. (still debating UO, WoW, SWG, CoH worlds for hosting)

Old internet server: still sludging away (knock on virtual wood again)
Other than many old Dom2minions things such as daily generating of random maps which I just never bothered to take down, it also means that the smaller games are still running. Blitz games http://game.dom3minions.com/bin/blitz_chk.cgi should be working fine, and are updated to the latest version of Dom3. Also the Shadowdale MUD (play.SDmud.org 7777) world is still running altho the SETH bot project is on hold (it was hosted on the main server) and of course the SDmud.org web pages are down. One Space Empires IV private game is still hosting from the old server, and one Stars! private game. The Dominions 3 Mid-sized games, Demo games, and Mega games died from lack of interest. It can host more but other than a request from Cor to bring up the blitz server for his group, I havent received any and even that one seems to be dying off again.

general update
While I do have the concern of the budget manager for my mental health http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Im afraid that repairs of my toys are still not at the top of the needs list. And considering what is on these machines, Im not tempted to tackled it as a do-it-yourself effort. If this causes anyone extreme problems then please contact me and I will try to make other arrangements to at least get your stuff online someplace.

Gandalf Parker
--
Well you could always think about buying a crappy mug or something. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
http://www.CafePress.com/OddThotz
My website is down but not my shop.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

Thanks for the update GP.

Take care of you and your family first. I (and I know many others) appreciate all you have contributed to the community.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

Gandalf, Good luck getting things up and running. As someone who also lives in the Bay area, these are indeed stressful times. And I probably speak for a silent majority who have been introduced to Dominions since you have been less active on the boards but have come to appreciate your many posts and contributions. Best wishes. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

I dont usually do this but I will reply here to an anonymous email to a server I dont control (otherwise it would not have been as anonymous as you think). If you are not running a free server, then I would avoid using the word sucky when talking about one.

Apparently I have "let down" the community by letting the other games fall off my servers.
Well I didnt let them fall off. What happened is that I never received requests to do them anymore. I do the game host on a 24/7 server, provide an email account for receiving pretender files, provide email backups to the person running the game (if they request it), email notifications to the players for turns (if they request it), ftp support if desired, webhosting for maps and status pages and anything else they want added, map generation for maps larger than most people can create on their own computer, various file conversion requests, security, anonymity (when requested), scripting automation, and hours worth of consultation. All for free. I think that was plenty. Some who have been around for abit might remember my frequent reminder about people forgetting how to "pay" for free things. If you dont please & thankyou the way your mom taught you then dont cry when the free things go away.

You have no idea how many and what types of games Ive hosted for free since many of the people "running" that game did not bother to mention that I was hosting it. I didnt mind if they redirected their own address to my server. But if no one is willing to be the one running a game, creating a thread, ironing out the parameters, handling the many player requests and letting me know to change hosting times or ai players so I dont have to read 35 game threads (at its peak) 20 times a day; then dont whine to me about letting things drop. I think I was covering more than enough for the flak I was getting on the forums.

And no offense but your list of "good servers" made me smile. There are great people on the forums who do the beta testing and reporting and recommending additions in areas such as modding, and balance, and new spells, etc etc. But for Server, and Maps, go back thru the forums and see if I wasnt at minimum considered deeply involved in nearly any major part of it (not trying to put myself up with the devs of course). Those great servers you mentioned are good people doing great server service but I wonder what their reaction would be to you saying I should be more like them.

Dont bother with me but you might think about those servers that are still servicing you for free. I HIGHLY recommend that you NOT treat them the same way. And you might wonder why people stopped being the game leaders when it involved so little to do. Was that your fault also?

Damn, now Im sounding like Zen and many others who went before me. My apologies to those who do not fit this post. I will probably delete it when I calm down.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

This is the second time in a month that a beloved member of our community has gotten ticked off over a post from some yahoo, and it both annoys and befuddles me. Gandalf, you are absolutely beloved by the Dom3 community. This is not conjecture or opinion, it is fact. The anonymous coward who abused your kindness and generosity is a dip [censored] loser and his opinion is a fart in the wind, ignore him. Why do you care what some ignorant dork thinks? Surely you have noticed by now that some gamers and internet citizens have impaired social skills. Those of us who have been around long enough to know how totally awesome you are and how much you have contributed to our hobby respect you and hold you in great esteem.

Thank you for all you have done! My sympathies for your troubles, i hope things get better soon.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

I don't think I could express my feelings on the subject any more clearly than Tyrant just did. My SemiRandom projects were a direct result of your brainstorms and many features in the program can be traced back to emails, ideas and suggestions from you. Hell for that matter, you were my first exposure to working remotely with a web server. With the help you gave me working with your own donated web space I had the basic knowledge to learn more and have actually created a fairly impressive web space for the county that I work for! This small county in Kansas never had a web presence until now. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Gandalf, just remember when you start feeling like all your work is just a small drip in the ocean and unappreciated, that it is actually causing many ripples and that in the end you impact many, many people in rather large and dramatic ways.

Eh. I suspect that I may be starting to ramble...

But, I do want to emphasize something that Tyrant said:

Quote:

The anonymous coward who abused your kindness and generosity is a dip [censored] loser and his opinion is a fart in the wind, ignore him.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

Actually I was just responding because I wanted to and his anonymousie tactic saved him from a direct response (this time).

I had already considered myself blown off the forums by people far more talented than this one. I was greatly irritated at his assessment than I let the games slide from my server. It actually turned out that when I stopped drumming up business for my server like the fanboi I was called, no one seemed to care for a long time. The only reason the blitz games started back up was because it was requested by one of the players.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

IMO, you shouldn't delete it. Even though the people who most need to read it probably won't realize it applies to them.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

Please don't. I think such things have to be recalled from time to time. Some people are just consumers and they just forget that free products/sofware/services are never a due, but a gift. It's safe and reasonnable to remind such guys that they are wrong http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Thanks for the efforts you undertook for the community and good luck for the maintenance of your tools.

The way the world actually works.
 

The pervading highschool culture of our society is embarassing enough to deal with (especially every time I turn on a tv or read the news), but some people never got out of kindergarten, honestly.

Some of us still expect the tallest person in the room to hand them a cookie and make everything better, no matter how badly we've fouled our pants. Well, the truth of the matter is, those tall people expect to get paid. If they're your parents, they expect to get paid with the coin of immortality. If they're a teacher, a babysitter, what have you, they expect to get paid in cold hard cash, and respect. If they're just a random, good-hearted person, handing out free stuff that you want, they expect-and deserve-courtesy, manners, and grateful thanks. And if you don't give it to them, they'll start demanding cash and respect.

See, there are two types of people in our society: adults and children. Adults work hard in order to provide for children and the society at large. Those members of our society who don't understand the concept of hard work, responsibility, and sacrifice (and for that matter, manners, courtesy, and independence) are children.

Children come in all ages-and adults would too, but it takes a few years to get the brain up and running and to iron out the hormones. Let me restate this-The respective ages of said adults and children are immaterial. It's not how the world views you-atleast it won't be in the long run, because in the long run-perhaps to your shock and awe-the world doesn't give half a damn about you. It's really (really, really-really) nothing personal. It's simply a matter of how you choose to view the world.

Now, you can choose to be a weeping, stinking, snotty little midget your entire life, and contribute significantly to the hardships that we suffer in this world--and you might even get away with it, but you'll only get away with it because the adults have decided-individually, and as a group-not to drown your *** in the nearest river.

And the only reason we don't-the reason we have laws, the reason we have society and civilization and everything that makes us human beings-is because we *respect ourselves*.

Re: The way the world actually works.
 

Very well said HB.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

You are one of the immortal legends here Gandalf [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/icon17.gif[/img] , and the name person who wrote the anonymous e-mail isn't worth knowing. Thank you for all of your contributions. [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/icon41.gif[/img]

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

I have now started a donation thread in the Dominions 3 forums, here:

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...?Number=618128

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

Thank you everyone who helped make this happen.
I am pleased to announce that the main server is BACK online and all of the domains are fully operational again.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

I know I havent been paying as much attention to this thread as I should have. The only reason I drug my feet about saying thanksyous was because I felt rather pensive about whether I would be able to honorably use the money for its intended purpose. The more that the house seemed in danger, the more I was mindful of the donated funds. Not that I would have misused it but I wouldnt have had a DSL line to hook the server to.

I now can feel relieved, honorable, and suitably thankful to everyone. And since the repairs fell short of the funds you provided, the server also received a ram boost.

Re: Gandalf\'s Servers
 

That is great news Gandalf! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif