Ich\'s Games
 

Ich buddy, can we get some kind of ETA on when your games might be working again? There are a lot of new players involved with them and for a lot of us, this is our first MP experience. You hold our Dominions 3 in the palm of your servers!

I can say that the 45 turns of Ascendant that were played were super exciting and interesting, and it's already been almost two weeks since we got shut down.

Is there any way we can transfer these games to other servers? Is there anything at all to be done? Can we at least have the home address of your server guy so we can send threats and such? It's getting a little bit out of hand now. Thanks!

Re: Ich\'s Games
 

It is quite likely that Ich is in a situation right now where he doesn't know everything about when things will be back up again either.

Since the server has been down for a while, it's actually quite possible that there will be some time lost getting everyone together again (It wouldn't surprise me if after some more time, a lot of the games are dead because half the players are gone), so maybe you should get another game going with a different host in the mean time.

Really, starting a new game is your best bet for getting some Dom3 action anytime soon.

Re: Ich\'s Games
 

I would doubt that lch's games get going again. They were hosted on Gandalf's server, and Gandalf does not seem too interested in the games these days.

I was in a very interesting game myself hosted by lch, but I have given up on it. Even if the server came back up, it would be a monumental task to get everyone back into the game.

I have moved on to other games. This has happened to me so often (through one cause or another), that I don't even worry about it anymore. I just move on.

Re: Ich\'s Games
 

I was not involved in any of Ich's/Gandalfs game but this has happened a couple of times to me.

Just to set the record straight, it is a rare occurance that Dom3 MP games do not get completed. I would say about 1 in 10 games are effected this way. Its just bad luck really in the real world effecting the host.

Re: Ich\'s Games
 

I've also recently had four games that "exploded" and were never finished b/c of one thing or another that happened to the host. The worst case was Fearsome Legions, in which the host Zachariah simply vanished at the most exciting moment in the game.

No offense intended for the possible great hosts out there but I've since learned to trust only llamaserver and Pasha. Mostly b/c my personal experience with some specific other hosts was bad (i.e. exploded games).

I think the MP community needs to have a hosts hall of fame (and shame) where hosts are measured by the number of games they actually hosted to the end. The hall should be used to help players make an educated decision regarding which host they'll entrust with their valuable time and effort playing a dominions game. The hall should by no means be used to flame or slander hosts. The hosts are volunteering their time for the benefit of players and IMO should be respected for that.

Re: Ich\'s Games
 

Wraithlord, to be fair to Zachariah before Fearsome Legions he must have hosted 6 - 10+ server games which were all completed.

llamserver and Pasha are indeed both excellent, gold star+++, hosts. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Ich\'s Games
 

Thankyou. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

lch is also a very reliable guy indeed - it's not his fault that Gandalf's computer exploded. I'm sure Gandalf will be trying to fix it, but of course lch can't do anything and probably doesn't know exactly what's going on.

It's frustrating that there is no access to the game files either, otherwise the games could be transferred.

Re: Ich\'s Games
 

No blame to anyone, but 3 of my last six MP games have ended because the host dropped out. I would support some sort of hall of fame/shame for game hosts. And I would nominate Velusion and llamabeast for the hall of fame.

Re: Ich\'s Games
 

Hmmmm. Rather than a hall of fame/shame, why not have a "backup" host who receives copies of the game files throughout the game? You'd have to trust him with copies of the game files, but if he had to take over hosting you'd have to trust him anyway.

-Max

Re: Ich\'s Games
 

Sounds like you've been spectacularly unlucky Lingchih. Such things are generally very rare, as Meglobob says.