Server Save Message - Does this matter?

[Sinatra SUN-FoW]

I agree, I just suggest changing the system save message font and type to represent Era Accurate T2A, this would not effect anything negatively in my opinion. You can pull up that save message in the Demo too, I had success with doing that actually. SO I know it was there as well as the server is going down shortly message.

[Derrick]

Aye. I think it'd be nice to match the color and font.

[Sinatra SUN-FoW]

Aye, I agree 100% - I also have an older picture but this is from 98 August and it has to do with server wars, I have that picture if anyone cares. Just the message before the server was about to go down for OSI's scheduled maintenance. If anyone is interested I will post, thanks!

[Batlin]

If anyone is interested I will post, thanks!

Please post, I'd like to see.

[kaldori]

OSI servers saved throughout the day without giving any message.

However, the server went down each day for offline maintenance (and probably backups). This is the only time you had the system going down message.

I remember that when you received this message, people would go crazy and attacked each other freely because nothing was saved after this system message.

[Sinatra SUN-FoW]

Aye, the above post is true - but before OSI server wars the server would do a last save and it announced it. This is a physical screenshot from that event occurring it can't be disputed if we are going for accuracy.


This is direct from an OSI server. I will post the screenshot as soon as I dig it off my Win98 box haha


3:00am est - the server saves for the last time before the restart.
3-3:15 - server wars.
3:15am est - the server goes down.


There are 2 types of warning messages one can see before a shard downtime, in the game.

At first message "the Server will be going down shortly". At that point, the backup is complete, and it's too late to get to a safe place (so you better hang around your machine to log back in as quickly as possible - especially if you have a pet out). There was a bug where a pet left out can wandered off and would be lost over a downtime - and you definitely didn't want to have loaded pack animals out at the time.

The third type of message is rare, and comes about from Downtime that is out of the regular schedule. It is typically a message from a System Engineer or Developer that there will be an unscheduled downtime a certain time in the future, and this message will usually be repeated several times (With the time to the downtime being updated). When that time comes around, USUALLY, you will see the other two warning messages normally.

Scheduled Downtimes: When applicable, these times adjust for Daylight Saving Time.

[Sinatra SUN-FoW]

Also so everyone knows, I physically worked with the OSI servers hands on. I helped put them together from 1996 till 1997 before taking another job working for SIS aka Siemens.

[Stranger]

I dont remember any message at all, that's why everyone playing in the late night/early morning on pacific would be frantically asking if it was saving before heading off to the GY. Not to doubt you, I am a little hazy when it comes to details, but are you sure that the picture isnt from SPHERE or WOLFPACK server(s)??

Im with Matron here, there was no such message on Catskills. Many was the poor fool who'd jump the gun on server wars only to find out the next day he'd died while it was still saving. It stopped saving around 5:00am EST on Catskills, and i'd always make sure to give a few minutes buffer.

[Sinatra SUN-FoW]

I assure you there was, however it may have been in the pre karma/fame days. But I do know for a fact it announced the end of day save then broadcast the fact the server would be indeed going down and that anything done after x time was not saved. I worked there no offense, but I know these messages were displayed.

[Silverfoot]

I remember around ~10am Pacific on Baja there would be a message in grey text just like that screenshot that said "The server is going down." It would be repeated every 5 or 10 minutes or so until the server went down. Server wars ensued during this time.

[Faust]

Definitely was the case back on Baja, Silver.

[Ifrit]

I remember around ~10am Pacific on Baja there would be a message in grey text just like that screenshot that said "The server is going down." It would be repeated every 5 or 10 minutes or so until the server went down. Server wars ensued during this time.

To the best of my memory this was followed with an actual
"Server wars have begun"

message.

[Sinatra SUN-FoW]

Yes you are both correct - the message would in fact be displayed and repeated about 4 times before the server went down for regular maintenance at this point the organize unit team would pull the server down then our team would inspect the hardware and the RAID disc setup to make sure everything was running as it should - which it often did not around 97 when I worked there we were overwhelmed by the amount of players that would hammer our poor DELL/SUN servers

[Sinatra SUN-FoW]

I think some of you are wrong.

I remember back around 1998 it was definetly a grey text like the screenshot above and all it would say to indicate server wars was like "The server will be going down shortly".

I think it did it twice, and it was the 2nd one that meant it was saved.

As Psilo has said this is the way it was from 97 - 1999. It happened ONCE a day if you don't remember that then it's of high probability you weren't on when it saved.

[nightshark]

I think the whole server saving thing only happened in the pre t2a days. I was a regular at server wars on Wakoku in '99 since it was during my peak hours and I never recall any pause in gameplay or message saying the server saved, it was always semi guesswork based on "the server will be going down shortly" (the messages were not 100% reliable) and sometimes you could log on after server up and find yourself dead at brit GY