Synaptique's back with another project

[Synaptique]

Hey there. Yes, this is my 'first post'. In actuality I used to be under the pseudonym 'Sleighyah' until I dropped it. I was the original curator and caretaker of WoWMaw; a Vanilla-WoW server meticulously managed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by a team of WoW veterans across the globe which I handpicked and interviewed myself.

Unfortunately, that project went under. Why? University, my dear Watson. University. $18,000 in university fees forced me to cut my spendings.
Now, however, I'm back, with two Linux systems, ready to start work again.

First, maybe an introduction about myself is in order. I'm a seventeen year-old web engineer from Australia. I've been tinkering with computer systems since age eight, and exploring systems architecture and security since twelve. Despite my age, I oversee and manage a global network of servers for my business. I know C++, PHP, SQL, Java/JavaScript (yes, both), HTML5/CSS3, Ruby and Bashscript. I'll be first to admit that I don't know everything there is to know, but I know enough and I can learn as I go along, as any good developer should. Alongside these, I'm used to using the plethora of Unix and GNU/Linux tools on an hourly basis: I'm typing this from an Arch Linux machine that I built earlier today. Basically, I know my stuff. As you've seen, my typing is indicative of someone who is actually literate and well versed in the English language; a stark contrast to about 80% of posts in any gaming forum.

Now, I'll introduce my project, but I'll do it without coloring it green and centering my text. It's called Arche WoW. Arche is Greek for 'beginning', or 'origin'. I'm sure the veteran players among us can remember WoW 1.12.1, or maybe even earlier back. For a couple of months I've been working on a Vanilla WoW server emulator core in order to add a little bit of flair and a twist to make it much more enjoyable. So here I present my differences:

• Start at whatever level you choose (between 1 and 60)
• Level at a pace you wish (customizable XP rates)
• You play on a server where the staff are doing it for the love, not for money
• I run it

"Four differences?" I hear you scream, "four?"

Yes. Four differences. Any more than that starts to detract from the 'vanilla' experience. Besides, the former two are the two functions that my team figured were necessary in order to create the 'perfect' server. You can start at any level between 1 and 60, and you'll have all of your spells learned there for you, along with a proportionate amount of gold and green-level items. On top of that, you're able to choose what speed you wish to gain XP, from 0.5x to 3x.

Now then, onto the scary part of the post: What I need. I'm going to be blunt here; I can't run this without user support. It'll cost me around $180/mo per 60 players to provide a decent experience. Anyone who says otherwise either doesn't know what they're talking about, doesn't use my quality of hardware/network, or is simply handicapped. Arche WoW is sat in the 'idea' phase at the moment. It's something I've played around with and such, but I can't/won't launch it unless I get user interest. One thing I refuse to add into the game is a rewards program. If you want to donate to keep the server alive, that's glorious. Just don't expect me to be giving you weapons/armour/gold. That's just unfair to other players who can't afford to donate. I can afford the first, maybe second month out of pocket, however after that it's uncertain unless I can get a backing.

So, OwnedCore, what do you think? I'm open to (some) suggestions, as long as they contain a degree of literacy and indicate you have a ballpark idea of what you're talking about.

[fastelf]

Not to be hatin' or anything, but i just want to point out some holes that may not cause people to have a lot of confidence.

1. If you went to uni and are currently 17, you obviously didn't complete year 12 (As far as i'm aware its a prerequisite for all - if not a majority - of courses)
2. You say you ran a server 24/7 prior to uni (judging by 24/7 - then you started uni somewhere after) which means you dropped out of school initially.
3. 'my business' is that stating its yours, or do you just work for them?
4. If you are managing a global network for servers; working 5 days a week (presumably) you won't be able to put in anywhere near as much time as you first did.
5. $180/month per 60 players? Clearly you are not with the current times, molten-wow (as an example purely) could probably run 500+ players off a server paying that much, if not MORE (in fact, i would guarantee more) and still provide the same level of quality as they currently do.
6. Expansion onto number 3, if its your business you should be able to do it for free technically, so i'm going to assume you're an employee.
7. Expansion onto number 5, thinking about that cost would be closer to australian server costs, so i'm going to assume you would be running it from the company you are currently with, which is not a good look considering you would be hosting illegal (in some degree) of content on the servers provided by your company, which could cause trouble for your boss(s).
8. Installing Arch Linux isn't too hard, you don't need to know too much in computing to get that done, just sayin'

This post probably does seem like a hating post, but really; I just see holes in there and maybe i've got absolutely everything wrong and i'm sorry if that's the case but I can't help what I see.

[Synaptique]

Not to be hatin' or anything, but i just want to point out some holes that may not cause people to have a lot of confidence.

1. If you went to uni and are currently 17, you obviously didn't complete year 12 (As far as i'm aware its a prerequisite for all - if not a majority - of courses)

I finished school. I haven't finished uni, just paid the bills in advance. I'm studying a bachelor of Information Technology specialising in scalable systems development and information security.

2. You say you ran a server 24/7 prior to uni (judging by 24/7 - then you started uni somewhere after) which means you dropped out of school initially.

It was maintained 24/7 but not just by me. International team of twelve friends (RL friends. I have travelled a lot) in England, Germany, Singapore, Canada, Chicago, New York City, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

3. 'my business' is that stating its yours, or do you just work for them?

I'm the director of technology and one of the cofounders. Yes, it's a legit business. I got into making money early.

4. If you are managing a global network for servers; working 5 days a week (presumably) you won't be able to put in anywhere near as much time as you first did.

Insomnia, and it won't just be me managing the server. Only the host node.

5. $180/month per 60 players? Clearly you are not with the current times, molten-wow (as an example purely) could probably run 500+ players off a server paying that much, if not MORE (in fact, i would guarantee more) and still provide the same level of quality as they currently do.

Probably. I based the price on a much higher figure than I needed to in order to be able to guarantee things.

Edit: Actually, I probably just accidentally a zero. Then again, I'd estimate 450 to ensure maximum stability.

6. Expansion onto number 3, if its your business you should be able to do it for free technically, so i'm going to assume you're an employee.

Nope.

7. Expansion onto number 5, thinking about that cost would be closer to australian server costs, so i'm going to assume you would be running it from the company you are currently with, which is not a good look considering you would be hosting illegal (in some degree) of content on the servers provided by your company, which could cause trouble for your boss(s).

It has nothing to do with by business, or any other trade entity, however it'll be hosted in Europe.

8. Installing Arch Linux isn't too hard, you don't need to know too much in computing to get that done, just sayin'

"MANGOS server on Windows"

This post probably does seem like a hating post, but really; I just see holes in there and maybe i've got absolutely everything wrong and i'm sorry if that's the case but I can't help what I see.

Not at all. Hope I answered your questions okay. I had to do this from a phone.

[fastelf]

Alright, seems like you've gotten off to a pretty good start for being 17, congrats man. After people read your post they should definitely get some confidence, hope you get a team together for your project.