Launch Pad: calling all code lurkers in BYOND Discussion

ID:138167
 
Feb 19 2001, 3:06 pm (Edited on Feb 19 2001, 3:36 pm)
In my previous post about the new Launch Pad host site, I said I was going to move all the existing "dantom" users over, but I just realized I don't want to do that. There are cases of multiple accounts belonging to the same person, and it just makes things harder to keep track of.

So I am asking all people who are currently using the "dantom" host server to try out the Blast Off BYOND offer, using the official BYOND key that you want your site to be registered under. And if you already have a host site but you still had some things lingering at the old site, please move them over now. The files should still be accessible in case you lost them...

The new server is at the URL byond://launch-pad, but you will have your own domain, which means that your worlds will be accessible under byond://your-key, which points to the real address byond://launch-pad/your-key. You only need to use the launch-pad directly when uploading/downloading files, and I'm about to turn on an even slicker interface to that.

This is not a gimmick to squeeze money out of you. After four months, if you choose to discontinue, there will be no hard feelings, so you really have nothing to lose. And keep in mind that distributing your games through the hub is absolutely free (whether you choose to make it free to players or not), so if centralized hosting is something your game can do without, you can save yourself a few dimes.

--Dan
#1 Feb 19 2001, 4:28 pm
On 2/19/01 3:06 pm Dan wrote:
This is not a gimmick to squeeze money out of you.

To me it sounds like a great program. It recognizes that creating a game in itself is valuable to the community, and allows new people to the system to get their stuff out there for months before needing to commit to a hosting system.

This is one of the better deals I've seen on the net.
#2 Feb 19 2001, 7:52 pm
On 2/19/01 3:06 pm Dan wrote:
In my previous post about the new Launch Pad host site, I said I was going to move all the existing "dantom" users over, but I just realized I don't want to do that. There are cases of multiple accounts belonging to the same person, and it just makes things harder to keep track of.
Are you saying that in the future, there will be no free hosting for BYOND?
#3 Feb 19 2001, 8:07 pm
In response to sunzoner (#2)
Are you saying that in the future, there will be no free hosting for BYOND?

There will be four months of free hosting. See this link.
#4 Feb 19 2001, 8:41 pm
In response to sunzoner (#2)

Are you saying that in the future, there will be no free hosting for BYOND?

Depends what you mean by hosting. With the kind of volume that we want to attract to the site in the near future, the free hosting that we were offering would not have fared very well (given our own budget constraints and the ease with which hackers could have taken advantage of it to bog down the machine).

Certain types of hosting, such as the interlinking of online games in the hub, the seamless distribution of game executables, and the management of shared game files belonging to multiple people, scale much better, so we are making an effort to develop more of that kind of functionality and (best of all) to make it freely available. This has not been highly advertised yet, because we only recently unveiled the new hub features.

Certain types of games (such as MUDs) do require a central host, and we are still dedicated to providing the necessary resources to make that possible. Yes, those resources cost a little money, but we are going all out to find creative ways to help you cover that cost. That's why we are handing out BYONDimes to people who write a game and want to show it off online! That'll give you time to experiment with BYOND's electronic commerce features. There's also the referral system where you can make a little money by helping us spread the word to new developers.

I feel like a frigging sale's man today. We just want to make creative software and we want to team up with creative people. None of that will amount to a hill of beans if we don't plan carefully before making the next big leap. People will not be impressed by a bunch of crowded laggy games. The solution is to reserve the host sites for games that really benefit from it and to use the hub for generating a much larger "virtual" site than could ever be achieved on a single machine, no matter how powerful.

That's the plan, Stan.

--Dan