Discussion: announcing lobby server updates

[gajop]

We need to start announcing scheduled server downtime, whether it is for maintenance, (uber)server updates or anything else that can affect it.
Announcements should be made at least one day in advance if possible.

Now the question is, should they be made in a sticky thread on this subforum or should it be done in the community blog? I think this stuff is important to everyone, but I'm worried it might turn out to contain too much spam (how often is this done?). If we can limit it to once in 1-2 months I think using the community blog is fine.

Each scheduled downtime should contain an announcement 1-3 days beforehand, which gets one update when the downtime goes into effect and one update when it's back online. This should all be done in the first post.

Thoughts?

[Silentwings]

A sticky thread imo, and there is usually a server wide message a few minutes or so before.

Is the amount of downtime going to change? I've not noticed any significant downtime in recent years.

[gajop]

Hm, also, I think there should be a separate announcement when lobby protocol changes are made. Or do you think it's enough to just expect that all interested parties are following this: https://github.com/spring/LobbyProtocol ?

@Silentwings:
I don't think it will change significantly (although a few more commands are being added to the uberserver so one more upgrade-downtime will happen in the next month or so). Still, it's pretty important imo, even if for a few hours, and that's not just for the devs, but for the gamers too.

[gajop]

Also, I don't think a 'few minutes warning' is enough. That would still ruin games and isn't enough for anyone to prepare for it.

[Silentwings]

do you think it's enough to just expect that all interested parties are following this: https://github.com/spring/LobbyProtocol ?

No, but most changes (at least, in the past) are fully backwards compatible. If a change to the lobby protocol is actually going to break things, imo there are so many projects depending on it that its safest to announce it months in advance.

not just for the devs, but for the gamers too.

Many players do not use these forums, I think the only way you will inform those ones is with a server wide message. A 5-10 minutes warning does not ruin games - games that are in progress still continue and games that have not quite started can be started. These is also (at least, I guess there still is) a backup server.

[abma]

thats one of the reasons why i made the community blog

-> imo announce in community blog

in the past i tried to make server updates / restarts when very few users are online, mostly tuesday/wednesday/thursday in the morning. but full restarts are rare, only for big changes its needed, most changes can be done "online".

also a lobby server restart shouldn't ruin games as when a engine/game is running it doesn't need a lobby server connection. if they are stopped the autohost is fail.