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Test Server Feedback

 
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Drop down server selection

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Mattadore
Doomheim
#1 - 2013-06-22 00:16:06 UTC  |  Edited by: Mattadore
Just thought of this. Instead of having to download patches and files for the Singularity server, and making a new copy of EVE and new folder and all that crap, why not just have it so the game downloads both Tranquility AND Singularity files together. Then when you launch the EVE client (cause I don't use the dumb launcher), why not have a drop down menu to choose what server you want to play on? A drop down menu like the "Username" menu? Seems like it would be alot easier. Then you could have the option to update the test server if you wanted, so instead of waiting for all the test server updates when you want to play on Tranq, it gives you the option. Default would = no for that.
Marlise Chelien
Awesome Federation of Awesome
#2 - 2013-06-22 05:47:59 UTC
You couldn't do this because the files each server uses are the same, they are just different versions.
Mattadore
Doomheim
#3 - 2013-06-22 19:37:45 UTC  |  Edited by: Mattadore
You can just rename copies of the files to something else and change it so each server uses different ones. It's just a matter of programming.
Solutio Letum
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#4 - 2013-06-22 20:29:44 UTC
There are all ready allot of people who use the test server, the main people CCP wants on the test server is the one able to understand the basic of redirecting your launcher to sisi i guess...

Its really not in need because most people understand how to do this easily....

Also i dont want one guy touching my launcher again and messing it up...... so ya, also it costs to much time for nothing. you dont understand how long it takes to code simple things do you?....
Mattadore
Doomheim
#5 - 2013-06-23 02:04:05 UTC
No, and I don't care how long it takes to code things.
Kora Ethereal
Ethereal Beings
#6 - 2013-06-23 03:11:56 UTC
So there are tons of reasons CCP probably won't/shouldn't do this. Also I'll clear up some things for you

FIRST
Mattadore wrote:
You can just rename copies of the files to something else and change it so each server uses different ones. It's just a matter of programming.


Learning time! EvE is coded in Python, simply renaming this and that will break this and that... CORRECTION* IT WILL BREAK EVERYTHING and if it doesn't break eveything, also add to this, SiSi isn't the main game, there is no need to have an option for it to be colocated with the main game. Next: Nothing on SiSi is to ever affect Tranquility, long story short, Singularity is here for testing purposes, there shouldn't be any need to group them together EVER not even under the same launcher.
On the same quote: These files require deployment, deployment requires packaging and hosting and the ability to transfer them out to the players that want them, also to allow updates. How exactly would CCP implement updates for 2 completely seperate shards under one launcher? The updater would simply get weighed down and the launcher itself would become "feature heavy" thus increasing the "Launch-to-login" time. The need to check two seperate servers for updates and patches then implement and install those patches would easily add more load to the already sometimes buggy launcher.
Logistically and Code wise, this idea should of been canned from the beginning.

Continuing:
Mattadore wrote:
No, and I don't care how long it takes to code things.


CCP needs a reason to invest time and money into adding a feature to be used by a whopping 2% of it's playerbase or so. So far in this thread all I've seen are negative responses to your propositions, meaning Not even the SiSi players want it.


To add my own notes, this idea is generally bad, Python won't be happy if this gets implemented, and CCP needs a rhyme-or-a-reason to do it, the ammount of effort required is stupid to implement what seems like a simple feature. Also SiSi and Tranquillity are two completely seperate shards that should never come in contact AFAIK. Two seperate launchers also helps keep everything in order, files for the two seperate shards are distributed on their own networks to clients that need them,

TL;DR SINGULARITY AND TRANQUILITY SHOULD NEVER EVER AFFECT EACH OTHER, NOT EVEN THE LAUNCHERS.
CCP Atropos
C C P
C C P Alliance
#7 - 2013-06-24 15:25:43 UTC
Regardless of the tone of your posts and your flat out disregard for the actual implications of what would be necessary to do this, I'll bite and explain how things work.

Currently, the environments for the two servers are like this:

  • Singularity = all things development. This means anything currently being worked on.
  • Tranquility = release

Whilst some things do migrate through to release that shouldn't, there is a fundamental code difference (based on internal code branching strategies) that help isolate what's on Singularity from what's on Tranquility. In this way, we only integrate changes that we want to, to help reduce accidental regressions where possible.

Now, with that covered, I would like to point out that despite your flippant disregard for my work as dumb, we're not going to add in features to the old, branded login screens since it's our intent to remove that at some time in the future. As such, any such drop down would be placed into the EVE Launcher. I'm guessing you don't use the EVE Launcher, so this will probably mean you wouldn't log into Singularity any longer, but this is all theoretical, so lets just roll with it.

If there is a single version of the EVE Launcher that handles connecting you to Singularity as well as Tranquility, we would have to work out how to handle beta updates to the EVE Launcher. Perhaps something akin to an opt-in beta program similar to Steam's would work here.

With that resolved, we can't really force everyone to download Singularity files, if they're not interested in helping out, so it has to be an opt-in download. This can be done, but it requires us to change some of the assumptions in the EVE Launcher about the relationship between the EVE Client and EVE Launcher (currently 1:1, ideally 1 EVE Launcher to many EVE Clients). After that it's simply a case of downloading and connecting.

Due to the way that the Launcher communicates with the backend logon servers we might still need to start an instance of the EVE Launcher to connect to Singularity, but that would be doable, aswell.

The work is considerable, and is actually something that we've considered, to improve the ease of access to the test server, but there are several edge cases that we don't really have answers for yet:

  • How does this jive with installs handled via Steam?
  • What about the Mac?


There's still work to do to scope out something of this nature, but it's potentially feasible. If enough people push for it, we might prioritise it, but for now it's not a critical feature when balanced against things like improving multi accounts support in the EVE Launcher.
Shinzhi Xadi
Doomheim
#8 - 2013-06-24 16:43:40 UTC
And DEV hits whiner with 9999 damage wrecking shot!


lol

*high fives Atropos

Mac Pro dual 6-core Xeon 3.06ghz, 24gig ecc ram, EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition, Intel SSD, OS X Yosemite and Windows 8.1 Pro.
brinelan
#9 - 2013-06-24 19:34:41 UTC
Mattadore wrote:
Just thought of this. Instead of having to download patches and files for the Singularity server, and making a new copy of EVE and new folder and all that crap, why not just have it so the game downloads both Tranquility AND Singularity files together.


This would be detrimental to the many players who use either slow connections or have small bandwidth caps. Singularity patches quite often and the files can get pretty big (sometimes several hundred mb at a time) and expecting people with slow connections or small bandwidth caps to do these downloads before they can play for files they would never use since they don't log in to sisi can be a problem.
Kora Ethereal
Ethereal Beings
#10 - 2013-06-24 22:13:39 UTC
Shinzhi Xadi wrote:
And DEV hits whiner with 9999 damage wrecking shot!


lol

*high fives Atropos


*Pods the remaining Capsule*

Yay for Dev's!
Nick Bete
Highsec Haulers Inc.
#11 - 2013-06-25 17:25:59 UTC
Thanks to CCP Atropos for taking the high road and responding thoughtfully to an obviously hostile (and ignorant) poster.

When I first started playing (back in the Revelations II days) there was an option at the log in screen as to which server one wanted to connect to. It was a nice convenience but, due to the many considerations and difficulties CCP Atropos has outlined, hardly seems worth the investment of time and resources to bring it back.