Gandalf's Servers

[Daynarr]

Sorry to see that Gandalf.

[Ballbarian]

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.

[NTJedi]

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.

[Gandalf Parker]

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 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://www.CafePress.com/OddThotz
My website is down but not my shop.

[Ballbarian]

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.

[DonCorazon]

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.

[Gandalf Parker]

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.