Considering opning my server to the plublic

[starblight]

I have been running my server for a few friends, some local other off site. For long enough that most friends have moved on. I am now considering the idea of opening it to the public.

First question would be do you think anyone would even be interested in the server? you can read about the type of server it is below

Second question is how hard is it to keep the server available to people with both login systems. Meaning I would like to keep letting people login how they are currently but also allow it to be available though EQEmu as well.

Third question: I never plan on making this my job. I feel that people could log in and have fun. If I do not plan on monitoring the server full time is is best to just not host it? I am not saying I would be completely absent but I do have a life...


So to summarizes I have put months into configuring this server the way me and my friends wanted and now it sits almost empty. Well most days it is empty. It just seems like a shame. We had a lot of fun for months why not give others the same chance?


Current Status as of 8/29/2015

• Changes To games speed
• Increased exp gain to 4 started at .65
• Increased how fast skills are learned like 1h slash...
• doubled regen when out of combat.
  
  Changes for convenience
• made food consumption no longer needed. or at least very very little
• All new players receive an orb of recall (takes you back to your bind spot with a 10 second cast time)
• All new players receive a Just looking stick (Same effect as a cleric epic)
• All new players receive 4 10 slot bags (Inventory problems do not help me enjoy my games)
• There is no longer flag restricted zones
• Vinz Clortho has moved to PoK and if asked will give you keys to many locked zones.
• Many zones have had loot chances increased.
• Elaborate defiant gear now drops in 2 zones. More zones to come.
  
  Merchant Changes
• All spells, songs, and I think even monk ability's cost 2cp each.
• Dye Added to Vender for 2cp
• Horse prices dropped a lot (low end now starts at 90plat)
• Added just looking stick for free (rez clicky)
• Added orb of recall for free
• Added cheap bags.
• Added Rope This item can pull a group member too you from a very short distance.
• added basic arrows to the main merchant in PoK
  
  Game Rule Changes
• Turned off no-trade
• Turned off attuning
• Items no Longer left on corpse at death (after level10 you still lose exp)
• Making rare spawns much more common (finished)
• Removed racial and class exp differences (all equal now).
• set max level to 85 have not tested
• Removed level restrictions for Vox and Naggy
• removed items level requirements but still have recommended levels.
• Removed regents requirements (I think I did this but not sure if I have not yet I will)
• Trakanon in old Sebilis has forgotten how to Banish.
• In plain of air Death touch is becoming rare.
• Respawn timers are becoming shorter on raid encounters. Depending on the area it can be as low as 20-30 mins Some areas are around 45-60 mins.
  
  Fixes or Other Changes
• a lot of the older zones have been revamped but are not working on EQemu. I finished setting people to login to old zones that are working
• Change combat music for clients (Figured out how let me know if interested)
• Fixed Tower of Frozen Shadows fixed. As a work around for broken portals now all key drops are 6 keys.
• Remote access to server tested and works.
• Lot of poison recipes have been added from live. More to come in the near future.
  
  Planed or working on it
• Make all races default to PoK after leaving tutorial.
• Finish bot setup or mercenaries (right now bots crash zone if they die)
• Decrease cost of ldon items
  
• Optional or not worked on yet (some requests from friends in here that I am not sure I like)
• KDI Stick or change mana regen

[Shin Noir]

First, if you open the server up do not expect a huge influx of players out of no where. They may trickle in, they may have an insurgence, but really I glanced at your site, seems like a clan forum, and I don't know anything about your server without diving deep into a forum that seems unrelated info.. So that's a turn off for decision making. Most will just stumble on your server when server hopping at select.

Second: I don't know which login systems you use, but if it's built in eqemu styles (private login and eqemu login), not hard. Should be lots of topics to search for about it.

Third. You're going to get abusers if you open it to everyone. Just try your best to keep it moderated, and build up a good community, and players will help you out. But nothing about a server is easy, and making one public is asking for even more headaches. People understand you have a life though, but they will hope you try to keep a presence.

I'd say make a backup of all your data, make sure your current players are cool with it, with a potential rollback if shit hits the fan, and just open up. See what happens. *shrugs*.

[starblight]

Originally Posted by Shin Noir

First, if you open the server up do not expect a huge influx of players out of no where. They may trickle in, they may have an insurgence, but really I glanced at your site, seems like a clan forum, and I don't know anything about your server without diving deep into a forum that seems unrelated info.. So that's a turn off for decision making. Most will just stumble on your server when server hopping at select.

Second: I don't know which login systems you use, but if it's built in eqemu styles (private login and eqemu login), not hard. Should be lots of topics to search for about it.

Third. You're going to get abusers if you open it to everyone. Just try your best to keep it moderated, and build up a good community, and players will help you out. But nothing about a server is easy, and making one public is asking for even more headaches. People understand you have a life though, but they will hope you try to keep a presence.

I'd say make a backup of all your data, make sure your current players are cool with it, with a potential rollback if shit hits the fan, and just open up. See what happens. *shrugs*.

I updated the first post with server details. I guess my link did not go directly to the post not sure why. Backup is done every night right now keeping 30 day history. I need to re-look at what guide I used but I'm mostly positive I used the privet login setup on the wiki. I guess when it comes to the login I just wanted to make sure one could run both privet and public login at the same time before I started looking for a guide on implementing it.

I would like to hear more about the abusers. I guess I figured if a player was causing problems then the community as a whole would get them band from EQEmu account? I guess I did not think that all the way though.. so how bad can it get? anyone care to give some examples? Seems like EQ being as old as it is would limit the amount of children playing. I know that is not going to eliminate all the problems but seems it would diminish it anyways.

[Shin Noir]

Note that everything I say is purely my opinion, and also isn't your biggest concerns, since this assumes you even get a large enough player base on your server.

To give a very small insight, global bans across eqemu are rare (I'm not even sure they happen?) and extremely difficult to ensure validity due to the nature of the internet. Since creating an account on EQEMU is free, if someone is tenacious enough to try to circumvent security, they inevitably can create an account even when banned. There's no easy way around this. That aside..

You can ban accounts on your server, IP based, and that'll negatively impact cheaters. If they're determined they will try to log in still, and you can just remove the account and they lose their gear, permanently suspending them, and that's really the biggest punishment you can give, start over.

Some servers support and encourage Macroquest 2 Usage. MQ2 has some typically off limit services, like mq2warp, mq2nodoors, as well as ghosting, and other sort of manipulations that while eqemu has some generic protections against, due to how players may abuse it, could bypass detection. (If you go to the hackers table you'll see this). Other tools, like the map display feature of mq2, or showeq, can be difficult to detect and there are no widely released security fixes for these services. This is because if you open source the protection, you create encouragement for players to circumvent the protections. An example of someone with a MQ2 protection is P99.

People may spam, harass, or do other negative things as well, and some times based on your build of the EQEMU source, they may take advantage of bugs and exploits (especially since your server has customizations to native eqemu, that adds even more steps of vulnerability).

It's just an endless hole of filth and good faith that is always a fight, but are small notes that surface while juggling attracting players.

[ZekayDorf]

I would like to try this server out

[starblight]

I shutdown the server many moons ago I am sorry to say. I did hold onto the files until recently but even those are now gone.

The whole experience was a lot of fun and I learned a lot but at this point I am looking at newer games to explore. been watching Pantheon and VG-emu both have been making great progress recently.