all games everywhere are down

[Gandalf Parker]

I didnt mean anyone ELSE putting up a server. For one thing if you could figure out how to get the game to "dial home" to a different server then you could figure out how to get it to not dial home at all. Hmmmm.... actually, come to think of it.. no never mind.

What I meant was that no matter what happens to the server it wouldnt be much for Illwinter or Shrapnel to put up another. Its not a big expense for a server like that. And even if the key file was lost it would just start over building a new one.

[Zapmeister]

Personally I was impressed that the issue was resolved in an hour's time at what must've been an inconvenient hour Illwinter-time.

Certainly. However, the fact that it happened at all must have been a major embarrassment. Checking that a connection has succeeded and taking appropriate action (allowing access, in this case) if it hasn't, is fundamental functionality in any application that does network communications.

EDIT: Hmmm, simply allowing access may be too exploitable.

[ April 19, 2004, 03:12: Message edited by: Zapmeister ]

[Member 4148]

so what happens to the game each of the following happen:
you go out of buisness?
someone else ends up with the IP address / domain name the program specifies?
10 years from now a group gets nostalgic and wants to run a multiplayer game on their ethernet?
an outside net connection is unavailable/inadviseable for a Groups network?

i guess i can see both sides - you have a popular game and want to slow pirates to get money that is rightfully yours - consumers want to play the game that they bought - a required call home cd check slows pirates but stops legit use in some circumstances
the question is: which takes priority?

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by Member 4148:
i guess i can see both sides - you have a popular game and want to slow pirates to get money that is rightfully yours - consumers want to play the game that they bought - a required call home cd check slows pirates but stops legit use in some circumstances the question is: which takes priority?

True enough. But then thats true of any type of protection. This is actually one of the least bothersome that they could have chosen.

But before someone inevitably says something about how such things dont stop pirating, we should point out that protections like this are 95% about stopping "casual copying" by those legit customers.

They could have gone with a 5 deep named domain site such as 1.2.3.illwinter.com than an IP with an ISP like its doing now. Of course that makes it bypassable by anyone who knows what the host file on their machine is for but it would take care of your "sometime in the future" scenario. Everything has its pros and cons.

Maybe if sales go well they can go with a multihomed server, and alternating pointers between an illwinter server and a shrapnel server.

[Zapmeister]

Maybe if sales go well they can go with a multihomed server, and alternating pointers between an illwinter server and a shrapnel server.

If 90% (just to pluck a figure out of the air) of the usage of the product critically depends on service provided by the vendor, then I think this is the least you can do. Before the sales figures come in.

[PhilD]

Does the "phone home" check mean a network game on a LAN that is otherwise unconnected to the Internet is not possible? That, if true, would be something I have a problem with.

Right now, I have an Internet connexion, and no local opponent, so only one CD key. But both might change, and on general principles, it would be a very bad practice.

I don't have a problem with the game checking the CD keys Online if the players are Online. But hanging the game if they aren't is a whole different matter...

[BugRoger]

My game server is running behind a firewall that blocks all outgoing ports except for the port the server listens on. I didn't notice any problems with the phone home "feature" yet.

So if Illwinters CD-check server ever shuts down it might just be enough to block that port/server.