Hey @FAE

Hiyas

So, the sitch is simple, and there may've been hints when I poked earlier about this, but basically there's summat of looking into the costs of maintaining the GameOn server.

Basically I need to figure out how many people are actually using it, how actively they're using it, that kind of stats.

Ah, gotcha. The one @MarcoCeppi's running, right?

Yep

You mentioned that the Mumble server "saw use" but I'm needing to figure actual numbers.

As far as I understand it, there haven't been any regular events in a while, at least not one's that I'm aware of. In regards to Minecraft, Jochem's currently running a Minecraft server, but he's renting a VPS out of pocket, so it's not associated. Before that, I believe Tim Stone was running his own.

Mumble sees use nearly much every day, as far as I know, but numbers aren't that high.

For concurrent use, that is.

Could the Mumble be moved to either the one Jochem's running stuff on, or Tim's thing?

There's the Monster Hunter group of half a dozen or so which uses it irregularly on Saturdays, the Minecraft group which is half a dozen to a dozen people who use it roughly daily, and then just random usage for games that come and go in popularity, like LoL, D3, etc.

If you guys shut it down, I'm sure someone will find a solution. I can't speak for Jochem, as he's not home right now, so I can't ask, and he and I are also currently in the beginning processes of doing an infrastructure overhaul with our guild, so I'm not sure if he'd want to add another mumble server to his responsibility.

But as far as I can tell, pretty much the only use for the GameOn server at present is Mumble, and there are enough people who like using it that I'm sure someone would step up to offer a replacement were you guys to announce that you'd be bringing it down.

I have no idea how large/expensive the GameOn server is, but you need way lower specs to run a Mumble server than to run a server that's capable of running Minecraft.

Mmkay

@GraceNote Jochem is home so I was able to get some numbers from him, there's only a total of 9 players on the Minecraft server and 6~ of those use Mumble. He said he can run a Mumble server for the Minecraft players for the duration of the rest of its existence, but the current MC server is only something he's going to be running on a temporary basis and will eventually be shut down (as in within a couple months).

He doesn't plan on keeping the VPS once the MC server's gone, so he wouldn't be able to offer a long term solution in that regard.

Mmhmm.

Let me grab @timstone and see if he has some thoughts.

He's not really able to take the responsibility for running a Mumble server as an official Arqade server though (and putting up a current replacement would be just for the Minecraft players, as he's responsible for those), as he's not running the MC server in an "officially associate with Arqade" capacity atm, just running one because people are interested in playing and they use Arqade Mumble because it's there, mostly.

pew pew

My eyes are readjusting from playing that darn 2048 game, let me refocus a sec before I try and read what's going on

@TimStone Key strategy is to realize the best schemes are done without ever hitting one direction, but I digress.

I can't say I'm a fan of their music, but hitting them seems a bit harsh.

Hah

Ah, okay.

@GraceNote Jochem and I need to eat now, but if you want, you can throw him an invite too (He's @Jochem, can be found in the Minecraft chat) to here so he can explain his stuff without using me as an interim here. >_>

Yeah, I was hosting the server on Rackspace, but that wasn't very cost-efficient. >_<

It was also kind of a money sink for me, on account of me not having time to play given the baby and what not.

Understandable.

@jochem You can pop in here but after you guys eat, naturally.

Price-wise it was somewhere in the range of $80 a month, but the server was underpowered. That said, if I were to have relocated it to somewhere else, I probably could have gotten something adequate for a bit less than that.

I doubt there's much issue in cohosting the Mumble server, but I admittedly don't have a lot of experience using it to know what the processing requirements are.

@TimStone the server I'm running is a VPS, it's about $20-25 a month, and it's on the slow side, processor wise for Minecraft.

so yeah, not really something that's usable for something that's supposed to be more reliable and long term, like mumble, except for use alongside the minecraft server

what it boils down to, is that you shouldn't worry about the use the mumble server is seeing because of the MC chat. If mumble goes away, I'll put up a replacement for use with the minecraft server, but it'll go away with it in a couple of months

Yeah, I could likely run a smaller instance for Mumble if necessary.

Mmkay. Are people even using the Mumble for things besides Minecraft?

Not as regularly. D3's currently make it so it gets some more use than usual.

I don't even know if the weekly Monster Hunts are still going on.

I've seen people on mumble once or twice, other than the MC people, but not very often

also, use has kinda dropped off as people are playing more spread out during the week / day, and the kind of builds are shifting

Origami says no, the hunts aren't really going on anymore.

Mmhmm

It's not an extra cost on you if you move things over to Jochem's server, at the moment, is it?

(I keep wanting to say "Joachem", argh, it's been like that ever since I first learned of your name)

@GraceNote it won't cost me anything to host it for a bit, no... but I wouldn't want to do so in an official capacity

Yeah, and definitely not on a long-term basis.

exactly

No warranty, no guarantees, it's up when it's up and it's down when it's down type thing.

That seems perfectly fair.

So what it's looking like is that that is, at least for now, the best progression, is to host a "No strings attached" Mumble server on your end. Folks who play Minecraft can continue to use it there, and others who might use it otherwise can also use it, but that's basically existing for the handful of folks doing the Minecraft stuff.

If people want a more robust solution that'll last longer, then people are going to start having to pitch in or otherwise come up with a plan.

It would be nice if we could keep hosting it over here, but we're actually paying more than double what you're paying, and for under a dozen people (I had initially been under the impression that there were dozens), that's hard for me to justify internally.

This sounds reasonable, yes?

It does sound reasonable. I'll put an MotD up when I install the mumble server that it's unofficial, and not connected to SE / Arqade, and just there temporarily

Sounds good. Also, belated, but it's nice to finally meet you, @Jochem. Heard much on-and-off about you from @FAE.

@GraceNote Good to meet you too :) Similar experience here, heard a bunch from @FAE

Lemmeh know when everything's setup, then I'll start getting things wound down on our end.

Yeah, back a couple years ago, when GameOn events were still going on on the weekends, there were higher numbers on a more consistent basis, but given the lack of organized community events, the numbers are inconsistent and sporadic, at best.

@GraceNote will do, shouldn't take too long.

room topic changed to Mumble Server Hosting: Room for discussion of Mumble going forward. And maybe other server-related shenanigans (no tags)

mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble

@OrigamiRobot I strongly considered just naming the room "Mumble mumble"

@GraceNote There's a server up on 62.4.3.194. I've registered myself and @fae as admins on there, there's a bunch of rooms for people to use, and a message about availability and guarantees (or rather lack thereof)