Seriously, you could eliminate a large portion of server downtime (and in turn, customer complaints) by simply adding a redundant server to fall back on should the main authentication server go down.
Add a server status page to the site. Set the page to poll a file/variable on the site for the server status. Have the main server perform scheduled check ins every X minutes and if a check in is missed, flag the server as down. With two servers, just have the redundant server set the variable/file to a third setting and have the site display whether the main server is up, backup server is up, or all servers are down.
The reason this is needed is because people will not know whether they are having an issue on their end or yours without posting on the forum about it. This cleans up your forums and makes people stop complaining.
Problem is simply that, hosting two servers. Honestly, let's say you're a small company. Do you want to pay to host two servers that large running simultaneously?
It's fairly obvious if it's a problem on your part or theirs; it's a matter of checking your internet connection. If it's up, and you can't log in, the server is down. Whoopity-doo, play online or do something else for a few hours.
Has there been a lot of downtime lately? It's hard to tell since the front page changed.
The status page and server checks are fine, though.
Problem is simply that, hosting two servers. Honestly, let's say you're a small company. Do you want to pay to host two servers that large running simultaneously?
It's fairly obvious if it's a problem on your part or theirs; it's a matter of checking your internet connection. If it's up, and you can't log in, the server is down. Whoopity-doo, play online or do something else for a few hours.
Has there been a lot of downtime lately? It's hard to tell since the front page changed.
The status page and server checks are fine, though.
You say small company, but if you think about it, Mojang is becoming (and already is) extremely popular. Calculating up the sales for minecraft would be over $789,970,312 if they were all at $26.95 like they are now.
You say small company, but if you think about it, Mojang is becoming (and already is) extremely popular. Calculating up the sales for minecraft would be over $789,970,312 if they were all at $26.95 like they are now.
Compared to something like Nintendo, Square Enix, or other big-time companies, yeah. Mojang would be considered "small".
Even if they sold twenty copies a day, that's only $194,040 a year from sales. Some of that has to go to taxes, salaries, and, of course, server hosting.
Ok, I'm probably mixing a lot up and don't know crap about finances in the small business market, but you kind of get the idea; a popular game wont just make you a millionaire company.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
[quote=Badgerz]You have to keep in mind that people are stupid.
[quote=Catelite]Just because you don't understand how something works, doesn't make it broken or pointless. >_<
Problem is simply that, hosting two servers. Honestly, let's say you're a small company. Do you want to pay to host two servers that large running simultaneously?
Let's look at it this way:
"In the last 24 hours, 102,735 people registered, and 12,040 people bought the game."
At $27 with 12040 purchases, that's $325,080 in 24 hours. I think they can afford the $1,800 a year for a decent backup server ($150 a month.) At least until the sales slow down.
Problem is simply that, hosting two servers. Honestly, let's say you're a small company. Do you want to pay to host two servers that large running simultaneously?
I think that a video game company should be prepared to pay large amount of cash in order to keep up with the technical specifications that might be, if not required, at least beneficial to the community. Their medium is one that begs to be updated and upgraded constantly, and one of the beauties of this game is that it is always improving. The hardware should also improve.
Minecraft just added a whole new base with the addition of the Xbox Arcade version. This will put a lot of strain on the servers, and I would be surprised if something like this wasn't debated within the company already. The fact is, small game company or not, once you've paid for a game that is supposed to give you online access, all server downtime is bad for business. The internet explodes into chaos if the Diablo servers don't work, and we should hold Mojang to the same standard. They *deserve* to be held at the same standard.
So I agree with this. The backup server doesn't have to be anything fancy, but I think there should at least *be* one.
Compared to something like Nintendo, Square Enix, or other big-time companies, yeah. Mojang would be considered "small".
Even if they sold twenty copies a day, that's only $194,040 a year from sales. Some of that has to go to taxes, salaries, and, of course, server hosting.
Ok, I'm probably mixing a lot up and don't know crap about finances in the small business market, but you kind of get the idea; a popular game wont just make you a millionaire company.
12040 purchases in 24 hours multiplied by $26.95 == a millionaire company. I'm not sure if these stats even include the xbox sales or the Pocket Edition. You are severely underestimating the popularity of the game. 5,937,331 purchased licenses and only one authentication server? It's a little insulting, especially to those of us who payed full price for the game.
All I've read on the forums are insulting comments to those complaining about downtime; as though these people are playing non stop and now have to deal with a few hours downtime. What about REAL scenarios like mine? I play roughly one weekend a month, if that. I have college work to deal with so I don't play often. And when I do, I can't play; In the limited amount of free time I have, I can't enjoy the game I payed for.
Add a server status page to the site. Set the page to poll a file/variable on the site for the server status. Have the main server perform scheduled check ins every X minutes and if a check in is missed, flag the server as down. With two servers, just have the redundant server set the variable/file to a third setting and have the site display whether the main server is up, backup server is up, or all servers are down.
The reason this is needed is because people will not know whether they are having an issue on their end or yours without posting on the forum about it. This cleans up your forums and makes people stop complaining.
It's fairly obvious if it's a problem on your part or theirs; it's a matter of checking your internet connection. If it's up, and you can't log in, the server is down. Whoopity-doo, play online or do something else for a few hours.
Has there been a lot of downtime lately? It's hard to tell since the front page changed.
The status page and server checks are fine, though.
[quote=Badgerz]You have to keep in mind that people are stupid.
[quote=Catelite]Just because you don't understand how something works, doesn't make it broken or pointless. >_<
You say small company, but if you think about it, Mojang is becoming (and already is) extremely popular. Calculating up the sales for minecraft would be over $789,970,312 if they were all at $26.95 like they are now.
Compared to something like Nintendo, Square Enix, or other big-time companies, yeah. Mojang would be considered "small".
Even if they sold twenty copies a day, that's only $194,040 a year from sales. Some of that has to go to taxes, salaries, and, of course, server hosting.
Ok, I'm probably mixing a lot up and don't know crap about finances in the small business market, but you kind of get the idea; a popular game wont just make you a millionaire company.
[quote=Badgerz]You have to keep in mind that people are stupid.
[quote=Catelite]Just because you don't understand how something works, doesn't make it broken or pointless. >_<
Let's look at it this way:
"In the last 24 hours, 102,735 people registered, and 12,040 people bought the game."
At $27 with 12040 purchases, that's $325,080 in 24 hours. I think they can afford the $1,800 a year for a decent backup server ($150 a month.) At least until the sales slow down.
I think that a video game company should be prepared to pay large amount of cash in order to keep up with the technical specifications that might be, if not required, at least beneficial to the community. Their medium is one that begs to be updated and upgraded constantly, and one of the beauties of this game is that it is always improving. The hardware should also improve.
Minecraft just added a whole new base with the addition of the Xbox Arcade version. This will put a lot of strain on the servers, and I would be surprised if something like this wasn't debated within the company already. The fact is, small game company or not, once you've paid for a game that is supposed to give you online access, all server downtime is bad for business. The internet explodes into chaos if the Diablo servers don't work, and we should hold Mojang to the same standard. They *deserve* to be held at the same standard.
So I agree with this. The backup server doesn't have to be anything fancy, but I think there should at least *be* one.
12040 purchases in 24 hours multiplied by $26.95 == a millionaire company. I'm not sure if these stats even include the xbox sales or the Pocket Edition. You are severely underestimating the popularity of the game. 5,937,331 purchased licenses and only one authentication server? It's a little insulting, especially to those of us who payed full price for the game.
All I've read on the forums are insulting comments to those complaining about downtime; as though these people are playing non stop and now have to deal with a few hours downtime. What about REAL scenarios like mine? I play roughly one weekend a month, if that. I have college work to deal with so I don't play often. And when I do, I can't play; In the limited amount of free time I have, I can't enjoy the game I payed for.