T2 boards?

[Junta_Joe]

I'm curious to know what we are going to set up around here to support the T2 game?

The PI board and partnership with Breakaway Mac was a great success.  We even got to be the site picked for the patch beta testing.

A patnership with Frog City would be great as well.  Has anyone put out feelers yet?

Another point to make is that T2 is a stand alone game.  A single board couldn't really do it justice.  But by the time we add 3 or 4 boards to support it this place becomes pretty huge.  Are we going to do some trimming or combining?

I figured with the game due in a month or two that now would be a good time to work all this out.

[CafeDave]

Hi Joe!  Thanks for asking.  I have been discussing this with Robbo as well for a while now and don't have a definite answer yet.  I had hoped to do a second forum linked to this one for members and some boards, but I don't think this version of software can do that.  

But as a minimum, there will be at least a section like for Tropico with some multiple boards, but not as many.  Combining some of the Tropico boards may be a good idea now as well.  There is a new version of Yabb out now in beat that makes that easier but the bugs are still being squashed.  

As for Frog City, Robbo has been keeping in close touch and they are not saying much, but promise to keep us informed when the time comes.  I hope they will come here and post too when it comes out.

Robbo has also done lots of work for the site part for Trop2 but it needs some work by me now.    

[Junta_Joe]

Thanks for the update, Dave.

I sure do hope that we can get us a visiting expert from Frog City.  Mac really became a family member here.  A repeat would realy keep this place on the map as the truly premiere Tropico site that it always has been.

Let us know if you want any help from us peons.  

[Eddy]

Yes, thanks for mentioning this.

Well, I'd like the board to stay where it is.  There really isn't a need for a brand new board in my eyes.

I do have some suggestions about consolidation and the board in general.

I think Tropico News and Tropico Help and even the Other Sites could probably be combined since they are relatively low traffic areas.

Robbo, I hate to say it, but I think New Beginnings and the Arena could be combined.

I'd like the Paradise Expansion pack to be moved to Tropico Questions since it is now old tech compared to the new Mucho Macho.  

The AARs and scenarios could be combined I think.

Bugs could be put into the troubleshooting area.

I think the archives should be locked if possible.  There is no reason for anyone to post there.

I don't know if all of these changes are practical, but I'm just throwing them out there.  

[Chairman Robbo]

The arena and nightclub could be combined, but i don't see how throwing NB in will do much good.
but seeing as how we have to trim, i have decided to go back to my original plan for NB.

more details soon

[Eddy]

I originally was going to suggest eliminating all forums except for the nightclub, but I have heard from a reliable source that there are a dozen people or so who actually use them.

[Chairman Robbo]

strange eh?

[Junta_Joe]

I have a new concern now.

We seem to have too many "slow" days in the last few months.

This may chase off prospective newbies from the T2 boards.

Slow loading threads will surely deter many newcomers.

I know this is a perpetual battle for you guys.

Yet without an ultimate fix this place will grind to a halt.

Perhaps a 10 day limit on pics or limiting avatars to the in-house ones.  Things that fill bandwidth.

We could do trial runs now before the T2 release to see if the fixes work.

I'm no computer whiz, but, is there something we could run to find the bottlenecks?

We should use this time before T2 is released to implement changes.  Most of the members that come here frequently at the moment are old timers.  Therefore we would understand general site closings for serious maintenance work.

I'd rather lose a few weekends now than watch T2 newbies make disparaging remarks before leaving for good later.

[Chairman Robbo]

as far as i'm aware, its not so much a bandwith issue, as a board bottleneck, in that the YaBB software isn't as efficent once you get massive sizes (as we currently are). but we'd have to wait for dave (or batchman) to answer, seeing as they are the only two i know of, who have gotten deep inside the YaBB code.

[Junta_Joe]

You mention board size.

Is it members, post quantity, post size, smilies, sigs, or some combination of the above?

This is why I mentioned limiting certain things.

I know that sigs fill space in every post, as do avatars and imports.

Cutting back on this could open lots of space.

I've noticed that filling a post with dozens of smilies will slow the thread from loading, as do imports.  Maybe this is a weak spot in the Yabb code.

I'm not advocating any particular course, but, we could try a few things before the release of T2.

I'm sure that the regulars would be willing to suffer some limits to streamline this place.  Over half of the posts on this board rest in the hands of the top 50 posters.  Of those 50, only half are currently posting.  Therefore any changes will only inconvenience a couple dozen people very much.

I'm sure that a polling of the Night Club would show positive support for limits to ease the pressure.  I'm also very sure those same regulars would be willing to go through test periods to confirm this.

[Junta_Joe]

Same old gripe.  

It happened to take 3 minutes to load this reply page and took the same amount of time to move from the Night Club to this thread.

It has been almost as bad for a few days now.

And it happened the week before for a few days as well.

It's beginning to seem like there is a 30% chance of having a slow day now.

Can we really afford this with the new game coming out?

[CafeDave]

Sorry, Junta_Joe, there's not a lot of control I have over server response.  This is Gamespy's area and it seems to vary a lot.  I will be installing a YaBB upgrade shortly which is supposed to be significantly faster, so hold on to your horses until then and we'll see if it makes a difference.  Thanks for your concern though.  I share it as well.

[Junta_Joe]

Thanks for your prompt response, Dave.

So you say it's not really our Yabb forum code us much as Gamespy's problem.

I do seem to remember visiting another Gamespy site and seeing a similar problem.

We're stuck on a clogged server, huh?

Well that's different, obviously.

I guess we can just hope that new Yabb update helps a lot.

If not, maybe some other home site might want us.

I know that last statement is mouthful.  

I remember your last move was a bear of a job.

I wouldn't recommend doing it unless the Yabb update and Gamespy can't seem to budge the snail pace.

Just remember that the regulars here will do what it takes to help you keep this place open for business.  

[CafeDave]

Thanks Junta Joe.  I appreciate your support as always.