remove portal timers

[Witchdoctor]

I suggest we trust the player base and remove the non working portal timers between servers. it is broken and instead of devoting man hours to trying to fix it how bout just removing it and using the honor system so people don't abuse it. if you notice someone abusing it and ruining your immersion then sound off and call the offender(s) out instead of another roadblock standing in the way of honest players enjoying the game.

signed,
a very frustrated player

[FoamBats4All]

When was the last time you tried these? Zelknolf just completed a fix the other day, though I'm not sure if it is out.

[Witchdoctor]

just now and I talked to Z when I did it

[Zelknolf]

I have not released any fixes to portals-- I was working on them past mightnight last night.

and the night before

and the night before.


But it would be the same investment to just remove them, because the system-- like many of our legacy systems-- is fragile and tends to prompt unsympathetic rage from players when it fails.

[kid]

I was thinking remove as well, but mostly because intuitively it seemed less prone to bugs and easier to do.
(as bugs are more of a pain these days when we've fewer dms online to port)

But If it's the same work/chance of failure for 24h or 0h then it doesn't matter much.

[oldgrayrogue]

The amount of time it would take aside, given the size of our player base portal timers should be eliminated. If its more work for tech forget it, but multiple servers is one of ALFA's draws. Forced travel restrictions and buggy portaling is a drawback.

[Zelknolf]

Obviously desk-flipping fury if we want it all to be removed now. That'd be throwing out all the stuff I've been doing this week to instead focus on safe removal of the same stuff.

Course there's no logical impact for any nonzero cooldown. Could be 1 hour or 50 hours with a relatively-easy change; basically no overhead if folk are happy to wait until the next release to get it. I'd need HDMs' approval (they need the power to be their servers' gatekeepers to meet the expectations we put on them) and PA's approval (so sayeth the charter), but yes-- changing constants is easy; changing the logic is hard.

[Castano]

I'd vote to keep the system as Zelk proposes, and allow HDMs to change the constants. Making the constant something less than a day could be doable. Also having the ability to impose the restriction is useful since the playerbase (I remind you guys you all came to us with the hopping problem goes ago) wanted it put in in the first place and may come back and ask for it again later.

Last time this was up for discussion it was deemed DMA territory, now people say it is PA territory. I'm asking for LA to rule on who owns travel restrictions also, just so I know whether I am making a ruling or voicing an opinion here.

[Zelknolf]

I think there was a misunderstanding there. There's one constant right now, in acr_portal_i. It's currently 24. I can make that a different number at any time for almost no effort, but that'll apply to all of ALFA. Other stuff is possible, but we would need to go back to a design discussion to talk about how the new thing works, and the change will probably have to go on the backlog so the fix we need can go ahead as soon as it's ready.

Regardless, I'm really not comfortable making any change beyond making the system as it plays work like the system as it is currently described if the PA or HDMs aren't on board. They're responsible for oversight of players and servers respectively; where players are and who's on your server are huge parts of those interests.

[Witchdoctor]

Sorry Zelk I did not know I was opening a can of worms I thought it would be easier for you to remove the timers. I will get off the soap box and shut up as I appreciate your hard work and do not want to cause problems. Thx as always for all you do!

[HEEGZ]

Can we set the value to something lower than 1, like 0.1 ?

[Zelknolf]

Constant is an integer, so something other than a positive integer will go on the backlog so I can release something as soon as it's ready.

That's not a "no" of course, but it is a "not right now; portals are dying in code rot and I want to release something on Friday."

[HEEGZ]

I propose we drop it to 1 for now on a trial basis.

[Castano]

what do people feel about Heegz's proposal? Does anyone hate it?

[Mikayla]

I do not hate it. For the record, I don't think this is "PA territory" - I like having the PA enforce the rules rather than create them. Its easier for me. Regardless at this stage of ALFA, I think its a fine change.