Will it be restored?
I posted something for @Excelsior re: use of Patreon funding. Just putting it here in case it wasn't seen before since I can't post in that sub-forum
Agree re spending on things that benefit stability of the experience vs niche streaming/casting features. Gotta get the basics right first.
Yes we just had a server restart and some minor forum history may be lost due to the mongo restart.
I assume you are referring to the association forum.
If you want the ability to post there please read this post.
@LinusTech I happen to still have that tab up and it apparently refreshed with the text of what you said before it got deleted:
BTW I saw your post in that thread discussing the use of Patreon funds and I can't reply since I don't have permission to post in that sub-forum, but I couldn't agree more.
Fighting over what trivial casting bullshit to build when the server is down as often as it is is like agonizing over a broken fingernail while you bleed to death from a gaping neck wound.
As someone who knows a thing or two about community management, consistency is everything. I (and many others) have a busy life and it doesn't revolve around FAF. Every single time I have a few minutes to burn and I wanna chill and play some 1v1 and I don't get a match or, heaven forbid, can't even launch the client, there is a >>>0 risk that you will lose me forever.
Just my $0.02
And my response to that is that it's exactly how I feel. While I certainly do not have your community management credentials, part of my day job involves keeping software and data platforms operational for downstream users and I definitely recognize how critical uptime is. I will try to keep some level of active discussion around it especially in light of the recent issues since it's something I care about, and maybe this'll be my push to start doing some more active contribution towards the dev work rather than just being a Patreon donator.
@LinusTech I can totally feel you. I would love to resolve all the server issues and give people a nicer experience. And for some point in time we had that. I don't know what changed.
I work as a software engineer on a software as a service. There are 8 full time software engineers, 1 full time server admin and 2 business experts working on it. The whole thing is running on a managed kubernetes cluster and costs shitload.
Compared this to FAF: We run a software-ecosystem that I would estimate as at least 2 or 3 times as complex, with not a single full time dev, on a single dedicated server with a budget of ~100ā¬. The problems we are facing are in the software or in the server config or a comination of both. And unfortunately we lack the manpower to investigate it.
Yes we could throw more money at problems (maybe we should), but that only helps to some extend. What we need is people's time. And not random people but people who exactly know these systems. Long term contributors with a high amount of free time per single developer. Battle proven senior engineers who know how to search for errors. These people are rare. We have a tiny set of them, but they are all very time limited. We'll never be able to put them on a payroll. And FAF is not attractive enough to get more of them.
So I totally understand if you or others leave FAF because it's unreliable. In that case I would just ask you to be indulgent with us. Try again a few weeks or months later. We will not give up trying to fix it.
"Nerds have a really complicated relationship with change: Change is awesome when WE'RE the ones doing it. As soon as change is coming from outside of us it becomes untrustworthy and it threatens what we think of is the familiar."
ā Benno Rice
Here is the full story why it's "not so easy"
"Nerds have a really complicated relationship with change: Change is awesome when WE'RE the ones doing it. As soon as change is coming from outside of us it becomes untrustworthy and it threatens what we think of is the familiar."
ā Benno Rice
@brutus5000 Thanks for the detailed reply.
To be clear I'm still into it. What I said was meant to apply to casuals (like me. I'm not 1500+ rank with hundreds or thousands of games) of any type.
And I read through your detailed post about why this is so hard, but honestly it didn't surprise me that much. Development is really hard work and costs a lot. Luke and I often marvel that this thing works better than some of the other commercial lanchers we've used. It's incredible what the team has done.
The only point I had was that if it's a question of spending resources, reliability of the service should come way above almost anything else.
Thanks again for the detailed reply 