Play by Web, recent server problems

[geoschmo]

Regarding the recent server problems. We understand it's frustrating when you are unable to upload your turn because the server is down, and then it comes back up in the middle of the night and runs the turn without you.

We appologize for the inconvienence. We are as frustrated by the server downtime as all of you are. There are some options that will alleiviate some of the problems with server down time.

If the server is down, you can try sending your turn as a reply to the turn email you received. The emails will be queued up and most of them will get processed as soon as the server returns, before the games process. This isn't foolproof, but it works most of the time.

The game owner could save a copy of the Last few turns and if anything like this happens upload it as a replacment turn. Then everybody would have to replay the Last turn, but at least the AI wouldn't be meesing with your empire.

Also the game owner could contact the PBW Admins via the forum or email. The PBW server stores the game turns. The game owner does not have access to them, (At least not yet, that might be a future change) but you can certainly post a request we can get the Last turn and upload it for you as a replacment turn.

You can also set the game to "After Last Player uploads" and the turns will never process without everybody uploading something. If a player is out of town the owner always has the option of forcing the turn to run without them just by hitting a button in the game admin screen. If everybody in the game is active, "after Last player uploads" is just as fast as automatic turns.

Bottom line, it's not a perfect system. We are aware of the faults and are trying hard within our limitations financially and time wise (we all have jobs too) to solve them. But as frustrating as it is sometimes I still believe it's a lot more convienent, for the owner and the players, than running the turns offline all the time. I did that myself before PBW and it was a headache.

Geoschmo
PBW Admin Team

[ 28 March 2002: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[Arak Koba]

I think I speak on behalf of the majority of PBW Users when I say-

We all appreciate the great resource and gaming option that you guys provide through PBW.

We understand the work involved, and know that the staff of PBW do all they can to continue providing this service.
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I have a quick question though: if I send my turn by e-mail reply, do I just attach the .plr file as is directly to the reply message? Just want to be sure before I go mucking up a game..

[geoschmo]

Yes Arak. If you receive your game turns attached to an email from turn@pbw.cc, you can reply to that email, don't change the subject line, and attach your .plr file and it will process it. The stuff on the subject line identifies you as the player, identifies the game, and the turn for the PBW server. If you upload a turn directly before the email turn gets processed, it will ignore the email. And if the email gets delayed and doesn't show up at the server till a later turn, it will ignore the email.

If you have set up your options so the game file isn't attached, the turn email will appear to come from the game owner. In this case you can still send you turn via email, but you have to forward it to turn@pbw.cc. Again, don't change the subject line.

Geoschmo

[Arak Koba]

Thanx!