I wanted to share an idea I've taken the time to think upon to help alleviate the symptoms affecting players caused by server related problems such as frequent crashes and rollbacks. The major benefits of this idea will be listed at the bottom, after I have outlined the proposed system, its operational process, and basic requirements to achieve the intended function.
I have already been filling out my outage reports as per usual, but at this point I am trying to pursue as many possible channels of contact that I can think of in the hopes that someone is able to get it the attention I believe it deserves from the people with the power to actually do anything about it assuming of course that they come to the same conclusion upon looking it over, due to what it can potentially accomplish.
The shortest and simplest way I can think of to describe the system idea I am going to present here is essentially a glorified Automated, Auto-Character Restoration Triggered, Scan and Repair System for Character Inventory with built-in item dupe protection.
The idea has evolved to some degree from the initial thought process and iteration I had come up with, but I'll detail the general through process below just in case earlier thoughts are easier or more likely to work with/accomplish than the full end result. I apologize in advance for how lengthy this is going to be, though I will try and format things in a way to make skim reading the most important bits relatively painless. (The final thought/idea will be found below in more detailed form than above and will be granted additional visibility in a similar manner to make things easier for people.)
The idea started as a system to basically allow customer support/GMs the ability to provide better support through creation of a tool to help them resolve tickets involving losses caused by server crashes and rollbacks following player character transfers. I suspect many of the current limitations in place at the moment regarding tame and item replacement are in place to prevent possible abuse/corruption, and I believe we can get around those concerns by altering the process by which replacements are carried out in the first place. The initial thought was simply a system/tool that would be able to access a server save file from the origin server immediately prior to the transfer that caused the inventory wipe at the destination server, confirm the contents of the player's inventory, and then basically be able to copy and paste that data to replace exactly what was lost in the event that it is confirmed the auto-character restoration service was triggered at the destination.
The idea evolved a bit from that point to an automated system capable of simply checking for and replacing lost tames and items when triggered by using server save info and a data dump of their inventory contents into a system accessed and functioning similar to the Ark data, if not Ark data itself, where a player can download the missing items at their leisure in the event the Auto-Character Restoration service was triggered.
First, I would like to point out that I am operating on the assumption that some aspects of this idea are possible in the first place, and I am aware of the potential things may not be able to execute in exactly the way I am hoping or intending, however, I believe Studio Wildcard is still able to work from this general logic process to achieve a similar end result if that is the case. Ideally, this system would function in a logic path and method akin to the following:
Process of Operation
Step 1) To protect from being abused for duplication purposes, when initially triggered, the first thing the system would do is check if the character still exists at the origin point of upload into the cloud 30 minutes following the trigger, and if the character exists at both points, the system stops there, job done, because that means that the origin server had also crashed and rolled back and no inventory data was really lost. That is the built-in dupe prevention I was referring to. If the character only exists at the destination where the Auto-Character Restoration Service was triggered, the system proceeds to the next step. Step 2 will be listed with 2 variant possibilities to account for different possible methods of implementation.
Step 2-1) It loads the server save data with the time stamp just prior to the character uploading into the cloud, at which point it should be able to access, or view in some way, the entire contents of the inventory of the triggering player. The system then simply needs to copy that inventory data and dump it to the player's Ark Data or a similar network to be downloaded at their earliest convenience.
Step 2-2) A backup copy is stored in the cloud upon upload that is accessed at this point. This is likely a more efficient and less resource intensive method than loading an entire server save file to scan since it would only contain the exact data that is required for the purpose needed. At this point, two possible methods exist.
- Method One) Method One operates in the same basic principle/method as in Step 2-1 in that it simply dumps the inventory data into a point that can later be accessed by the player at their destination and downloaded at their convenience.
- Method Two) Method Two would be instead to re-download and overwrite the character data at the destination, as if they had only just downloaded there the first time.
I suspect that Method Two is the simplest and most efficient way to execute this because it would not require access to the ark data network or creation of a similar resource in order to dump the inventory data. It quite simply just saves a back-up of the transfer data in the cloud to be accessed in the event the automated system requires its use. In this event, if the character is currently still "online," then some process may need to run in order to prompt them to re-download their character with inventory contents from the cloud at their desired spawn location. My knowledge at this point is rather limited so I am unsure if something similar essentially already exists or would need to be added to accomplish this task.
Requirements For The Proposed System
For this proposed system to be able to operate, requirements vary depending on which method is used. Due to the nature of Method Two listed above being more efficient and likely less resource intensive, I will operate on the assumption here that it is the more likely candidate. For this Automated Inventory Protection System (or AIPS for short) with dupe prevention to operate, it would require the following:
A duplicate/backup copy of character data to be stored in the cloud upon upload that is overwritten at each upload
Ability to monitor the Auto-Character Restoration Service to trigger AIPS appropriately
Ability to track where the character last uploaded from. This data could theoretically be attached to the backup copy so the system knows specifically what server to scan upon trigger, reducing required resources for the process due to reduced search requirement.
Use the above information to scan said location for an instance of the character about half an hour after triggered.
In the event the character exists at both points the system should be able to flag the operation as complete.
In the event the character exists only at the destination where restoration was triggered, the backup data in the cloud is re-sent to the destination as if the transfer was being done for the first time, prompting the player to select their spawn location as normal at this point.
The potential benefits of what I propose, and why I believe it is more than worth consideration and implementation:
I believe a system such as what I have outlined above provides a number of benefits on both sides of the field. It provides better and faster support to the players due to its automated nature. It circumvents some of the current policies that are in place regarding replacements being necessary by removing the human from the equation, allowing not just general item replacement, but exact replacement of both items and tames lost from server rollback induced inventory wipes. These two reasons alone greatly increase the speed and quality of support offered to the players on the official network, which in turn can only reflect positively on the Studio itself, and by extension could even possibly help drive future sales of both Ark and Ark 2. Quality of customer support is definitely one of the factors some people consider when choosing a product. A large improvement that something like this would offer on that front would eventually be reflected in reviews and word-of-mouth communication. Another thing this proposed system also accomplishes on top of all that is freeing up valuable time for staff on the customer support side of things because it would eliminate a majority of tickets related to dino replacement. Due to the relatively simple nature of what I have proposed, as well as accounting for the possibility of, as well as prevention of, being abused for duplication purposes, I feel like overall this will more than pay for itself in the long run. The same basic principle could also be applied to Ark 2 if it ends up operating on a remotely similar server network and transfer idea. The argument/concern relating to having inventory be part of the character restoration service to begin with being abused for duping purposes becomes moot with the system i propose due to it being its own entity and accounting for that type of behavior in its operation and execution. If it is not very possible or feasible to adequately or timely handle issues of server stability, I feel a system like this that at least minimizes the impact to players caused by said issues when they crop up provides enough benefits on both ends to be more than worth the effort to set up in the end.
Suggestion
Keykoh
I wanted to share an idea I've taken the time to think upon to help alleviate the symptoms affecting players caused by server related problems such as frequent crashes and rollbacks. The major benefits of this idea will be listed at the bottom, after I have outlined the proposed system, its operational process, and basic requirements to achieve the intended function.
I have already been filling out my outage reports as per usual, but at this point I am trying to pursue as many possible channels of contact that I can think of in the hopes that someone is able to get it the attention I believe it deserves from the people with the power to actually do anything about it assuming of course that they come to the same conclusion upon looking it over, due to what it can potentially accomplish.
The shortest and simplest way I can think of to describe the system idea I am going to present here is essentially a glorified Automated, Auto-Character Restoration Triggered, Scan and Repair System for Character Inventory with built-in item dupe protection.
The idea has evolved to some degree from the initial thought process and iteration I had come up with, but I'll detail the general through process below just in case earlier thoughts are easier or more likely to work with/accomplish than the full end result. I apologize in advance for how lengthy this is going to be, though I will try and format things in a way to make skim reading the most important bits relatively painless. (The final thought/idea will be found below in more detailed form than above and will be granted additional visibility in a similar manner to make things easier for people.)
The idea started as a system to basically allow customer support/GMs the ability to provide better support through creation of a tool to help them resolve tickets involving losses caused by server crashes and rollbacks following player character transfers. I suspect many of the current limitations in place at the moment regarding tame and item replacement are in place to prevent possible abuse/corruption, and I believe we can get around those concerns by altering the process by which replacements are carried out in the first place. The initial thought was simply a system/tool that would be able to access a server save file from the origin server immediately prior to the transfer that caused the inventory wipe at the destination server, confirm the contents of the player's inventory, and then basically be able to copy and paste that data to replace exactly what was lost in the event that it is confirmed the auto-character restoration service was triggered at the destination.
The idea evolved a bit from that point to an automated system capable of simply checking for and replacing lost tames and items when triggered by using server save info and a data dump of their inventory contents into a system accessed and functioning similar to the Ark data, if not Ark data itself, where a player can download the missing items at their leisure in the event the Auto-Character Restoration service was triggered.
First, I would like to point out that I am operating on the assumption that some aspects of this idea are possible in the first place, and I am aware of the potential things may not be able to execute in exactly the way I am hoping or intending, however, I believe Studio Wildcard is still able to work from this general logic process to achieve a similar end result if that is the case. Ideally, this system would function in a logic path and method akin to the following:
Process of Operation
I suspect that Method Two is the simplest and most efficient way to execute this because it would not require access to the ark data network or creation of a similar resource in order to dump the inventory data. It quite simply just saves a back-up of the transfer data in the cloud to be accessed in the event the automated system requires its use. In this event, if the character is currently still "online," then some process may need to run in order to prompt them to re-download their character with inventory contents from the cloud at their desired spawn location. My knowledge at this point is rather limited so I am unsure if something similar essentially already exists or would need to be added to accomplish this task.
Requirements For The Proposed System
For this proposed system to be able to operate, requirements vary depending on which method is used. Due to the nature of Method Two listed above being more efficient and likely less resource intensive, I will operate on the assumption here that it is the more likely candidate. For this Automated Inventory Protection System (or AIPS for short) with dupe prevention to operate, it would require the following:
The potential benefits of what I propose, and why I believe it is more than worth consideration and implementation:
I believe a system such as what I have outlined above provides a number of benefits on both sides of the field. It provides better and faster support to the players due to its automated nature. It circumvents some of the current policies that are in place regarding replacements being necessary by removing the human from the equation, allowing not just general item replacement, but exact replacement of both items and tames lost from server rollback induced inventory wipes. These two reasons alone greatly increase the speed and quality of support offered to the players on the official network, which in turn can only reflect positively on the Studio itself, and by extension could even possibly help drive future sales of both Ark and Ark 2. Quality of customer support is definitely one of the factors some people consider when choosing a product. A large improvement that something like this would offer on that front would eventually be reflected in reviews and word-of-mouth communication. Another thing this proposed system also accomplishes on top of all that is freeing up valuable time for staff on the customer support side of things because it would eliminate a majority of tickets related to dino replacement. Due to the relatively simple nature of what I have proposed, as well as accounting for the possibility of, as well as prevention of, being abused for duplication purposes, I feel like overall this will more than pay for itself in the long run. The same basic principle could also be applied to Ark 2 if it ends up operating on a remotely similar server network and transfer idea. The argument/concern relating to having inventory be part of the character restoration service to begin with being abused for duping purposes becomes moot with the system i propose due to it being its own entity and accounting for that type of behavior in its operation and execution. If it is not very possible or feasible to adequately or timely handle issues of server stability, I feel a system like this that at least minimizes the impact to players caused by said issues when they crop up provides enough benefits on both ends to be more than worth the effort to set up in the end.
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