Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Transparency is never a bad thing with any gaming community. I've always been surprised when there isn't a post on the forums (Server Updates) when any update goes in matching the tab at login and vice-versa. I would think that at least would be easy enough and cut down on confusion. I'm sure everyone can appreciate the server stability and it seems it was a rushed solution with things that can be fixed in time like the transitions and what not. (can't say enough how annoying not having the boat south of Candlekeep is). I always liked Cloakwood Mines lvl 4 but its removal doesn't really affect my gameplay that much. Its easy enough to RP that level has collapsed in the interim even if it does come back reworked later in a less resource intensive form and the tunnels 're-opened' perhaps with some interesting rp event at that time. A tunnel collapse is immediate, shocking and unplanned anyways. *shrug* Simple enough interim explanation and if its reworked and added back later time enough to give the DMs a heads up to run an event off it being added back potentially.

We do aim for as much transparency as is feasible, and have been publicly discussing the possibility of maps removal for some time. We didn't give a "due date" because the timing of these things depends largely on when we have the free time and the motivation to put in the work (it's like tidying up a disorganized desk or organizing a filing cabinet -- you know it has to get done eventually, but you need to have the energy and the right frame of mind in place to do all the legwork). We also didn't ask the player base which maps should be removed, because "rule by committee" tends to translate into "nothing gets done." At some point the admin and senior leadership teams have to have some free rein to make executive decisions.

It goes without saying that not everyone's going to agree with those decisions. But it's also worth noting that Endelyon's cuts weren't made arbitrarily. This wasn't some "lucky guess" solution. She studied dozens of server crash logs, figured out what was wrong, figured out how much we needed to re-size (can I say "right-size?" is that too buzzwordy?) the server, asked the DMs for input on which maps should be removed out of the oversized and non-core maps she found (that is, which would have the least impact on ongoing server RP and server metaplots), and then removed the maps that weren't absolutely critical.

A lot of discussion and many hours of work went into the decision and the implementation. It's true that some transitions likely need repair now, and we'll be counting on staff and the player base to point those out to us. But it's also true that the server would have remained unstable indefinitely if no action had been taken. It was a problem that wasn't going to fix itself.

If there are maps that were lost that are deeply important to the player base -- for sentimental reasons, leveling reasons, or just quality of life reasons -- we can work on getting them added back to the server. But when something new goes in, something else (of comparable file size) will probably have to die in its place.

It is not that I do not fully understand what happened here, with area removals, nor why, and such. And just because I understand it, it does not mean it cannot be seen or interpreted in a non-conformist way.

Since Mac is laying it on, and laying it out there, let me say: I recognize and respect the work and effort here, by Endelyon and others, to improve the quality of the mechanics of the BGTSCC server. THAT is far and apart from looking at what was done, how it came about, and the means by which it is/was enacted.

This thread alone has multiple Staff saying things from different angles and with different opinions and with lesser/greater knowledge than others, and ALL with much more than the general Community.

I have no grounds to argue the validity of why which Areas were chosen when I am told these Areas, like Cloakwood 4, are just resource hogs without much use. And truly, Endelyon and Mac and AoS can obviously do whatever they want, irregardless if informing the Community beforehand, with or without exact details and notices of upcoming events.

But it is also not impossible to enact changes like this, in another way, with a bit more information directed specifically and clearly to the Community, as well, make an attempt to weave in an OOC action to the IC experience that may effect Roleplay.

Or not.

By the way: Friday night, the Server crashed twice within the 1–1.5 hour mark of being online.

This fix won't completely eliminate crashing. It should solve 90-95% of the crashes we have, based on the crash logs. But sometimes the server just freaks itself out.

Anyway, the very best answer I can give you with regards to more communication is "we'll try." It's the answer I always give you when this comes up, though.

I mean, it's definitely not impossible to give greater forewarning or enhance overall communication, and it's an admirable goal to have and to hold. But at the same time, BG:TSCC is already like a part-time job for me and for many others on staff -- and it could easily be a full-time job for any of us.

Sometimes we simply won't have the energy, the foresight, the free time, or the consideration to notify everyone of when we're planning to do what we've discussed we'll be doing. Sometimes we won't even say that we're doing it -- the RP XP increase was just a "hey, should we?" "Yeah, go for it" decision between Endelyon and myself. There was no discussion or forewarning even for the staff.

That'll sometimes happen too.

While we can strive for increased transparency, invite discussion, and work on communication, it's never going to be perfect. I'm devoting at least 20-30 hours a week maintaining the server and communicating between staff groups, individual staff members, and players already. I can't speak for Endelyon's work load, but I'm sure she and other members on staff are also sinking a lot of their free time into the server as well. We can definitely try to do better, and it's something we should definitely aim for, but it's not really fair to ask us to work more than we're already working. You'll burn us out!

Steve wrote:By the way: Friday night, the Server crashed twice within the 1–1.5 hour mark of being online.

I keep records of NWN2 server uptimes.

I apologize, then, to the Staff, if you feel notifications and communication simply gives you all more work to do. I personally feel it is very important to do, in every instance, and I'd question whether an action cannot be delayed in order to give some of that communication, first.

If you're essentially saying less communication equals the ACTUAL SERVER STAYING UP, sure, you got me and no complaints. Everything can be done relaxed like, yes?

No, obviously communication and transparency are both laudable goals well worth working towards.

I'm just saying that we're far from perfect, and we won't always hit the high marks that we're aiming for. We'll try to communicate more -- we always do -- but it's not always going to happen (for a thousand different reasons). So I can't really promise anything in good conscience. All good intentions aside, I'm pretty sure it will happen again.

All I can hope for is that the players (and the staff, since we don't always cross-communicate well either) try to be understanding when we do fall short of what we'd obviously like to be: Namely, communicative and engaging.