On 12/21/05, StealthMode <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Trunky and other valve haters, > > Valve has a few servers up. Mostly internal test servers. But they do have > servers. Add to that many of them have servers they play on outside of work > (least I know a few of them like to play from time to time in their > leisure). I am sure somewhere at Alfreds relatives, as well as other Valve > employees, he/they are plugging away at the keyboard either addressing this > issue or repeating the crash in any way possible to help get to the root of > the problem with the code. >
I hope they can afford some test servers -- they are, after all, running a business here. Several of us are just hobbyist operators, me included. I was mildly annoyed with this update, but I feel terrible for the GSP's that have to find an explanation for their customers. I'm not saying Valve didn't test this update, but apparently they didn't test it very well since it KO'd one of two (three, considering you FreeBSD, sorry) platforms. > I'd also like to point out one thing (this should be painfully obvious to > the older members of this list). Valve does test each and every update. > However, they do not have the varied system configurations that server > admins/owners/gsp's in the community do. That is why SOMETIMES (and this is > extremely rare) they have to release a patch, hope for the best, and address > the bugs as they arise. > Unfortunately, this release was unannounced and showed a very poor and limited checklist for QA considering it disabled all Linux source servers, AFAIK. You're not convincing me of a dedicated staff of testers or a QA manager worth a flush. > More recently they have attempted to include the community in the beta > testing, I think this is getting mixed results. But it is helping them to > make a more stable server engine. > Yes, they included the "community" when mani mod weapon restrictions caused crashes on the 12/4 update. This doesn't surprise me, though -- if they don't even try to test with an extremely prolific server plugin a few weekends ago then why would we even expect them to fire up a linux SRCDS instance with no plugins and see if it crashes or not... > Ok so lets look back over the development of hl and hl2 servers. > Occassionally there have been issues, but the majority have been a smooth > ride. And considering they are not charging a monthly fee for the constant > updating, count your blessings. Because they could be like some other > software giants and charge you a monthly fee for the steam and hldsupdate > services. Thank the gods (Yes you employees at Valve know who you are) that > they do not. > Does any company have the business model of charging a monthly fee to run a dedicated server where clients have to also buy the client software? I'm not saying it's unheard of, and I'll plead ignorance to know of such, but does anyone actually make money with that business model? > And lastly, I would like to point out how quick a fix came out for the bug > in last nights original update. You think you would get that kind of > response from Sony, or Blizzard, or EA? Good luck. Be patient grab a cup of > eggnog and let the coders work on the bugs. > I will agree here. The second release was fairly quick, and I was delighted to know that my two public servers only lost one night of traffic. > Thank you Valve for providing a game and a server engine I have been playing > with for 6+ years now. My leisure time would be sheer boredom without you. > Thanks, Valve, for fixing things in the same night. No thanks for showing a complete lack of communication, and more importantly, a lack of accountability to the operators that have sustained your product. > Merry Christmas to those that celebrate it, and to those that don't happy > holidays. > > -StealthMode _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
