The future of 333networks

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Dr.Flay
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The future of 333networks

Post by Dr.Flay »

The 333network team wish you all a happy new fragging year.

And so a new year is upon us, and with that comes upgrades in many ways.
Alongside the usual Masterserver updates, there have already been server and network changes which we did properly so there was no discontinued service (unlike certain master hosts with no backup).

The hosting costs have already changed with equipment and location changes, and so eventually we hit the point that we need to look to the community to help a bit, just as you do here and a few other valued sites.
333networks now support and host many games, so hopefully each community will help share the load to help keep us all fragging into the future.

Although 333networks don't charge the game authors for the service or software, they will also be asked to help if they want to.
If you value the extra reliability we have given the gaming world, please think about donating to something that is there for you when you most need it.

(We will have an active supporters list that will include companies and individuals that wish to be displayed.)

http://333networks.com/donate
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Darkelarious
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Re: The future of 333networks

Post by Darkelarious »

Some of you may already have noticed that there are not a lot of publications around 333networks lately. The masterservers are running stable, the website has automated messages and styles regarding out 13 year existence this year, some Halloween- and Christmas easter eggs, and basically all functionality people have been asking about for a while.

So what's going on?
Last December I moved into another city (farmer to the city kind of thing and all fun that comes with it) and still have to deal with a busy schedule. It's good, it's great, got the job (vision engineer at a 450+ peeps company, married the girl (informal setting, there was no party yet, that's for when we have money, all y'all will get invitations) and now looking for a more permanent house. For the moment, I am at a rental, nice place, but limiting my capabilities, not ending with the lack of access to a router.

So there are no local masterserver home brews at the moment. The local beer brewery is another story, though, that does not necessarily explain the lack of updates.
:highfive:

No, there are big plans. We've gotten some more requests for support for different games and in order to support that, we will need to seriously revise the current masterserver architecture. This is sufficiently complex to really break a lot of functionality here, so I can not start on that without at least a plan. Most of the work happens on paper, in the literal sense. Predicting outcomes, performing sandbox tests, keeping into account different protocol versions and dialects of protocols and hybrid versions between different protocols. There is a lot of work to be done.

But since we moved, the amount of time to work on the masterserver is scarce. During the week, we work, eat and sleep, during the weekend we catch up on the household that we should have done during the week. The daily routine. The weekly routine. The monthly routine. I am sure many of you know it and understand why all 333networks developments are progressing slowly and invisible.

That also brings me to the latest development that we did push through. Our youngest improvement is a donation page on our website. The intention is to collect enough donations to buy new and long-term server hardware so I can continue to host the masterserver on there for the next decade. This is not a priority, the masterserver is running stable and reliable for now, but there will be a time that hardware will start to break down. That, and I really dislike advertisements on the website. If you choose not to donate, could you please help us spread the link?

http://333networks.com/donate :help:

In the meanwhile, we try our best to keep up. I hope to continue posting for a long time, with many updates and new features. And as always, if you have questions, suggestions or other comments, we gladly hear them!
--Darkelarious
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Masterserver | Discord Channel
Oh, and we still are ready to receive donations. The url works, right? It doesn't seem to be doing anything...
ShaiHulud
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Re: The future of 333networks

Post by ShaiHulud »

Thank you for your continued efforts, much appreciated. And congratulations on your marriage and new job!
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