Server Screw Up Kills MMO

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FEichinger

Senior Member
Aug 7, 2011
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Grey Carter said:
Sleekit said:
"no backups" for a online MMO isn't so much a mistake as highly, highly suspicious.
That occurred to me, then I realized that nothing they could actually do could be more damaging to their reputation than "we accidentally deleted the game."
Sure, but for the short-minded it does make for a nice excuse as to why they close it down. Given that the playerbase wasn't too big either.
 

Dimitriov

The end is nigh.
May 24, 2010
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BAHAHAHAHA!

That is the funniest thing I have heard so far today! :D

Apparently hilarious things happen to stupid (or at least incredibly careless) people.
 

MammothBlade

It's not that I LIKE you b-baka!
Oct 12, 2011
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Wow. What a shame, for all concerned. Seriously, epic fail on the part of the developers. Or it might be a case of cut and run... "lolgais we accidentally our game... sorry, can't refund. Ty for the money though..."
 

QuadFish

God Damn Sorcerer
Dec 25, 2010
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Phishfood said:
QuadFish said:
So... Did they delete the game's source code too? Did they have a catastrophic failure that killed off all their source backups as well as the persistent game data? Because if not, they should probably get that shit started again.
Duh, the source was stored on the server. Where else do you put source code than the production server? don't ask such stupid questions.

Also, I suspect this is what the server looked like.

Most competent developers store the source code in a few places at least. It seems unlikely that they'd put it on the same machines that run the server programs. Why would they? It doesn't need to be there at all, since the written source isn't used in the final product, only the compiled program you get out of it.

Then again, that's assuming these guys are one of the "competent developers", which is probably giving them too much credit.
 

Phishfood

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Jul 21, 2009
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QuadFish said:
Most competent developers store the source code in a few places at least. It seems unlikely that they'd put it on the same machines that run the server programs. Why would they? It doesn't need to be there at all, since the written source isn't used in the final product, only the compiled program you get out of it.

Then again, that's assuming these guys are one of the "competent developers", which is probably giving them too much credit.
If they were competent this article and thread would not exist.
 

LilithSlave

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Sep 1, 2011
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No! My Asian video games are dying!

Well, on the bright side, if they were dumb enough to make a mistake that bad, it couldn't have been that great of an MMO to begin with.

Still, one less video game in the world is a bad thing. And think about all that hard work down the drain. It much be wrenching. I haven't even worked on it and I feel it. I wouldn't be surprised is someone killed themselves over this, as sad as that would be.
 

Antari

Music Slave
Nov 4, 2009
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And this is what happens when you hire your friend on as a sys admin. He may be a good friend, but that doesn't make him a good sys admin. Talk about some bad decisions coming together.
 

Skratt

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Dec 20, 2008
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How is this any different to a game shutting off it's servers due to lack of funding?

Seems like a good racket to me. Make a game, give it away, charge micro-transactions, turn off the servers at the tipping point and call it an "oops, we forgot to backup", have a good laugh and head to the bank.
 

Spud of Doom

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Feb 24, 2011
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How... What... this makes no sense. So their server files on the live servers were the ONLY server files? They didn't have internal dev builds? They didn't have the client on another network for testing?

That pretty much tells you they didn't even work on the game. For crap's sake, how do you even do something like this?
 

stewox

New member
Dec 25, 2009
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deleted doesn't mean wiped, with forensic software it can be recovered - or by simple "undelete"
 

Twilight_guy

Sight, Sound, and Mind
Nov 24, 2008
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Guys, I accidentally the entire server, is that bad?

I have no idea how one deletes the entire game which was probably on multiple servers. I guess if you have the guy who has no idea what he's doing pushing buttons but I still can't figure out how it could be that easy. Don't you not want to do this and thus put safeguards against such a thing? I mean rm -r *.* usually pops up a warning message.
 

KILGAZOR

Magnificent Retard
Dec 27, 2010
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Something tells me that no-one is really gonna miss a game that had all its information stored on one single server.
 

Fearzone

Boyz! Boyz! Boyz!
Dec 3, 2008
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Okay, I can see character data being lost, if it isn't backed up, but that just forces the MMO to start anew, and everybody has to re-roll as a level 1 character. Hopefully purchased items could be restored since there has to be some evidence of the money transaction somewhere. Such would be embarrassing, but the game isn't dead.

Sure, there is code that runs the servers, which if accidentally deleted would be problematic, but I think most of the code runs the clients, and copies of that code would be commonplace on any number of download sites, or on DVDs if the game comes on that. Worst case scenario they have to rewrite the server code, no small feat, but shouldn't be insurmountable.

So, color me skeptical. Besides, in Japan don't they stab themselves in the stomach if you do something like that? If somebody stabs his or her self, okay I'll believe it. Until then, color me skeptical.
 

rapidoud

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Feb 1, 2008
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Eri said:
RedEyesBlackGamer said:
How does a blunder that big happen?
Incompetence, plain and simple. No backups? Idiotic rookie mistake. Having the ability to accidentally delete it ALL so easily? Idiotic rookie mistake #2.
Maybe the backup died as well (can happen), so don't just draw crap out of thin air.

Of course, not having multiple backups is a pro mistake.
 

Andrew_C

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Mar 1, 2011
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Assuming they made backups they obviously forgot to test them. And I don't mean passing CRC checks and md5sum checks. I mean a successful restore. That's the only way you know your backups are valid.

EDIT: spelling
 

Thyunda

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May 4, 2009
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This is what happens when you think 'freemium' is an acceptable way to run an online game. The God of the Internet shows his disfavour.
 

Jaime_Wolf

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Jul 17, 2009
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"brings the whole microtransction model into question"?

Seriously?

I know the Escapist likes to have ridiculous and sensational endings in articles for some inexplicable reason, but this isn't a condemnation of microtransactions, it's a condemnation of not backing up your data - just like the article says two paragraphs before that.