Problems Connecing to server?

AcadiusLost · Post by **AcadiusLost** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:24 pm

Are you able to log in with a test PC, when you're getting these bootings with Natasha? Might be worth trying out.

indio · Post by **indio** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:55 pm

Yeah, Mayhem's tried with dfferent characters, new ones and old ones, and I don't think it's made much of a difference.

ç i p h é r · Post by **ç i p h é r** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 9:35 pm

There are no logs from 9/13, so I'd guess the database was simply not available then. On 9/15, I see a login by Natasha so the database was available, which means you were booted for other reasons. The SQL log might have some worthwhile insight into that.

ç i p h é r · Post by **ç i p h é r** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 9:52 pm

Reviewing Indio's server log, it looks to me like the problem is with corpse decay. The logs reveal that Mayhem's character is clearly dead, and on server restart, his character is being marked as "unplayable".

Now it should take at least 1 week for a corpse to decay. Has it been a week since your character died, Mayhem?

AL, I know we discussed (a while back) an alternative to booting players who's corpses had decayed, and I think you suggested sticking them in a quarantine area. If corpse decay is indeed the problem and (apart from any persistent time issues) this booting behavior is simply undesirable, do you folks prefer being quarantined or does anyone have a better suggestion on how to handle this situation? I think as everyone gets acclimated with the ACR and DMs begin to understand the reasons for booting (db, ban, decay, etc), they'll be able to make these determinations more easily. It's just a pity the game doesn't allow a boot message for the sake of clarity.

Anyway, thoughts welcome.

psycho_leo · Post by **psycho_leo** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:18 pm

Is there a reson why we can't use the system we have for teh NWN servers? And dead PCs log in on the morgue, instead of getting booted.

ç i p h é r · Post by **ç i p h é r** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:34 pm

Not dead. Decayed, as in, not ressurectable (permanently dead). When that happens, the character can't be played any longer so it seemed the logical point to perform some garbage collection, like cleaning up database records, purging the player's corpse from the player world, and anything else we might want to do. I booted these PCs only because I didn't want to think through and deal with the "what ifs" of a permanently dead player returning to the game world. Doesn't mean we can't allow it, just that I didn't.

Runestaff · Post by **Runestaff** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 4:05 am

I guess I would have to echo the fons' query, and ask why such a system was implemented, rather than using the "old" ALFA routine of having deceased PCs show up in the morgue. If the current decay system ends up as a permanent feature, at the very least there should be a means of preserving the PC's inventory in the event of an appeal (e.g., if the PC died due to some technical issue). Otherwise, it's inevitable that this will lead to grief/drama down the road.

I would agree that booting is very undesirable, particularly since the message is so generic there is no indication as to why it is occurring (it would be nice if Obsidian would at least cause a log file to be generated). Booting only makes sense in the event of an outright ban or a technical issue. Hence I would suggest having all deceased PCs show up in the morgue, whether their corpses have decayed or not. Unless there is concern that having more than one PC in a player's vault is going to cause major issues, it seems the simplest solution.

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 8:12 am

ç i p h é r wrote:Reviewing Indio's server log, it looks to me like the problem is with corpse decay. The logs reveal that Mayhem's character is clearly dead, and on server restart, his character is being marked as "unplayable".

Now it should take at least 1 week for a corpse to decay. Has it been a week since your character died, Mayhem?

No - and this problem was occuring *before* the character died, and occurs with other characters.

AcadiusLost · Post by **AcadiusLost** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:35 am

We've got a lot going on in this thread, just to hit the high points for now:

1. In most cases the players of dead PCs can still log into the morgue, as in NWN1. The scripted "decay" is set for 7 days, though I will look into how that is specifically managed. Certainly, we could remove the booting part and instead send the PC a message explaining that their corpse has decayed. Equipment on the body at the time of decay remains stored in the database, so could be accessible by something akin to the "death chest" handling we used for NWN1 (haven't written code to do this yet, but it wouldn't be too hard). If we make corpses remain indefinitely, I guarantee they will likely begin to pile up- remember, module resets don't clear them this time around. I'd be fine with removing the booting treatment for unplayable PCs though.

2. Module resets seem to advance the clock/date, and by a sometimes unpredictable amount- this may contribute to having a body decay with unexpectedly rapid kinetics.

3. Since the "boot" message is the same for DB connection error, banned player, unplayable PC, and a host of other problems, it's not a terribly helpful diagnostic. At this point it sounds like at least some of Mayhem's bootings were due to dead PC decay (which can be circumvented by logging in with a different character), while others were due to database connection problems (Cipher's "missing log" time- not avoidable by switching characters).

4. Currently we don't have a nuanced Quarantine system or standardized area yet- that's slated for coding alongside the server portalling, which really needs more than one server active (as well as a consensus on how to handle the character vault). So, for time being, it's not a terribly practical alternative.

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:27 pm

I have today been able to log on with an alternative character, so it seems the "decay" issue is what is keepign Natasha off.

***

Its been hard to verify, because my broadband connection has been playing up something chronic. This may prevent me from playing in the DM event tonight, if there is one

psycho_leo · Post by **psycho_leo** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:45 pm

Mayhem wrote:This may prevent me from playing in the DM event tonight, if there is one

It was last night. So don't blame your connection for this one.

ç i p h é r · Post by **ç i p h é r** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 3:04 pm

Fundamentally, the system is the same (or should be since we used the current NWN1 implementation as the basis for deriving the requirements), but it has been rewritten for a new platform that includes a persistent database. Inevitably, there will be some differences and where those differences are actually a hindrance, we will attempt to address them.

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:22 pm

psycho_leo wrote:
Mayhem wrote:This may prevent me from playing in the DM event tonight, if there is one
It was last night.

Damn. I was looking forward to that

AcadiusLost · Post by **AcadiusLost** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:30 am

Just an update, may be a few days before these changes trickle down to TSF. As it turns out, corpses were set to decay in 7 "game-days", which is actually less than 24h RL time. I've extended it out to be 30 game-days, or 3.5 RL days for the next update.

I've also removed the booting command. PC will still be marked unplayable, and DMs will be notified whenever a decayed PC enters the module, but no more booting in this case.

Also, PC's with apostrophes or other "special characters" still caused some problems, though I think I've caught the hidden calls to handle all that now. Will have to test with a Drow called T'ezt Ch'ar'akator sometime, in flagrant violation of the "no drow on the OAS" rule.

indio · Post by **indio** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:51 am

Heh. Good news.