Linux Server Complaint

[bulletoothdan 10]

Dear Sirs,

I will undoubtedly get either, an infraction or even banned because as a PAYING customer i have the audacity to complain about the service the company is giving me and the hundreds if not thousands of players who like me, cant play on line with our communities due to the linux issue. I have sat by and waited and read the comments made by various company representatives, and moderators of this forum. However i cannot and will not sit here and ignore this any longer. I have spent the last 6 hours trying to get a mission onto our sever for us to play this evening and it wont work due to the server crashing. I am sick of it. I paid good money for my games, i have bought them from shops and the extras on line. I have the series starting with armed assault and moving through as each new version or game. As it comes out i rush to buy them, as a lot of people have done. But here we are with the company biting the hands that feed them!

I notice from BIS website that they have the community awards, to reward and i will quote " All of us at Bohemia Interactive are delighted to show our huge respect to all of you, talented, members of our community. The living essence of our titles." (taken from the arma website) Well i have to be honest i feel anything but the living essence of your titles! if i did i would have a working linux server now wouldn't I?

But i don't, and the reason given so far? well that's a good one, the guy was on holiday! are you kidding me? if your house was on fire and you called the fire brigade would you expect them to turn up? well yes you would, but what if you got a recorded message saying that sorry we all off sunning ourselves? you would be ever so slightly annoyed! and rightly so. Ok so you are probably thinking well its not a fair comparison, and i am inclined to think that myself so how about this one. You want some money from the bank, when you get there they are closed for holiday? BIS is a large company, and each of the games costs on average £25 i have both Arma2 and Arma 2 Arrowhead as well as BAF, PMC, the recent Czech DLC, this does not include all the other BIS titles i have. In the various bits of documentation its say that linux servers will be fully supported and there are numerous posts to this effect.

Dayz is credited with pushing sales of arma up by some 300,000! (http://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=arma+2) quoted the dev responsible! now thats an awful lots of money! so why not use this and employ some holiday cover! A company as large as Bohemia should be able to afford more than one person to work on this sort of project in order to keep the million or so arma players happy? after all we have kept the company going for some years haven't we? or is it that the company doesn't care?

From where I sit that's how it seems to me, and i'm very very sure that i am not alone! Its all well and good Devs coming onto the forums and saying it will get done when its done, and the guy was on holiday, and STFU from moderators. None of this is professional nor warranted. I actually find it offensive to read some of the comments made by some of the moderators. Is this something that BIS wants to be associated with? I doubt it very much!

All we, and by we i mean all of the various groups who hold linux servers is this;

What is the real issue?

What is the progress?

When will it be ready? |( and i dont want a message like "it will be ready when its ready" already had that from your forum team!)

Are you going to FULLY support it in the future now and for the eventual release of Arma3?

Why hasnt it been done already i.e. before the release of the 1.62 patch?

Why has Dayz taken over your time? oh hang on i know why, its something to do with the several £million you just earned from the extra sales of Arma (300,000!)

If we are as valuable to you as you say, why haven't you put more people on it to get the update out quicker and keep us happy?

I would like you to think about a couple of things for a few seconds; 1) The customer is ALWAYS right! 2) without a loyal SATISFIED customer base you WILL loose sales and your reputation will suffer as a consequence. 3) the customer is ALWAYS right. and finally 4 the customer is ALWAYS right!

There are tens of thousands of Arma 2 player across the world some of who play on Linux servers, they deserve to be treated with respect and deserve a full explanation of the reasons behind this failing of the Company to keep track of it employees and the work that they produce or not as the case maybe. They have a responsibility to there customers to provide a service, one that they have said that they would and one that WE pay for, maybe not directly to them but certainly to the companies who provide us our servers, which now sit idle because we cant use them but still have to pay for them! are BIS going to compensate us for that? I know the answer already!

If we wanted to run a windows or WINE or any other server we would have done it by now, we are a community group we all put into a pot to play a game we paid for, we want value for money, hence some of us feel that the linux way is the way to go. Other's didnt see it that way and went with windows or some other type of server, for us that is an additional £200-£300 as well as all the hassle of finding one getting it all set up etc etc. Please dont insult me either, i am no computer geek in fact i know very little about them. What i do know is this, i have been home on leave from the desert for 5 weeks and im due to return in two days, in that time i have been able to play on a server to which i contribute once in that time due to the linux issues. Why because some guy was on holiday! well he must be back by now? so how much longer do we have to wait?

I will not be able to play until December but i am hoping that you have made some sort of progress in the meantime.

Respectfully yours Danny

[JoeDamage 10]

In! and +1

[ovenmit 11]

The man speaks the truth.

I agree. Answers please?

[kylania 568]

:popcornsmilie:

[mike187 13]

feel exactly the same... +1!

[W0lle 1050]

I don't know how many times we said that already, but I repeat it again just for you. Maybe realize this before you continue:

The Linux server files are a free giveaway from BIS! Nowhere on your box or your manual there is a statement that a Linux Server is part of the purchased product! No one @ BIS has promised any of you Linux server files at the same time the patch has been released.

You paid exactly 0 cent for the development of the Linux files, not a single one. And you come here and demand something that has been given to you for free?

But yeah I understand, this Generation wants it all, for free and of course right now.

[dark_cloud 1]

Agreed, +1

[JoeDamage 10]

I don't know how many times we said that already, but I repeat it again just for you. Maybe realize this before you continue:

The Linux server files are a free giveaway from BIS! Nowhere on your box or your manual there is a statement that a Linux Server is part of the purchased product! No one @ BIS has promised any of you Linux server files at the same time the patch has been released.

You paid exactly 0 cent for the development of the Linux files, not a single one. And you come here and demand something that has been given to you for free?

But yeah I understand, this Generation wants it all, for free and of course right now.

Firstly, do you officially represent BIS? If not, we're not interested.

Secondly, its been shown in other threads that BIS has declared the Linux server fully supported, and makes NO mention of it being a freebie. (More references)

Edited August 23, 2012 by JoeDamage

[maturin 12]

Some of the key features of Arma 3 include:

Linux support. You see the implicit future tense in here, right?

[fusionofp 0]

Wolle, moderator out of control, says it all doesn't it. Always has to leave a "smart" reply ("But yeah I understand, this Generation wants it all, for free and of course right now.")

State the facts and leave your opinion out.

[Famewolf 1]

I don't know how many times we said that already, but I repeat it again just for you. Maybe realize this before you continue:

The Linux server files are a free giveaway from BIS! Nowhere on your box or your manual there is a statement that a Linux Server is part of the purchased product! No one @ BIS has promised any of you Linux server files at the same time the patch has been released.

You paid exactly 0 cent for the development of the Linux files, not a single one. And you come here and demand something that has been given to you for free?

But yeah I understand, this Generation wants it all, for free and of course right now.

You are belittling your customers? Some of them that have stood by BiS and supported them for over a decade? You know what? Ban me from this forum. Cancel my bloody account, you two-faced ingrates have completed pissed away any credibility you've built in the Sim community. The day I find a product that offers in any way a comparable experience to Arma I'll switch in a heartbeat. You think that you can hold all of us by the balls indefinitely? Treat us like mushrooms, keep us in the dark and shovel offal our way to keep us quiet.

Well, with due respect to anyone at BiS who still has a spine, go f&ck yourself.

[JoeDamage 10]

But yeah I understand, this Generation wants it all, for free and of course right now.

I didn't realise this had gotten personal.

[Banshee 9]

I don't know how many times we said that already, but I repeat it again just for you. Maybe realize this before you continue:

The Linux server files are a free giveaway from BIS! Nowhere on your box or your manual there is a statement that a Linux Server is part of the purchased product! No one @ BIS has promised any of you Linux server files at the same time the patch has been released.

You paid exactly 0 cent for the development of the Linux files, not a single one. And you come here and demand something that has been given to you for free?

But yeah I understand, this Generation wants it all, for free and of course right now.

In all honesty W0lle, but you are not helping at all.

Linux servers have been around for quite a while now. Noone ever said that they won't be supported anymore. Otherwise communities would not have rented or even bought some.

Please acknowledge that BI is not running any official servers. The multiplayer part of the game is relaying on community sponsored servers.

Some of the biggest servers run on linux (as allready pointed out in diffrent places). So without an official announcement of the discontinuation for Linux server support, we simply can assume that they are part of the product. In fact they have to be if BI still wants their customers happy playing on servers.

We payed exactly a lot for the development of Linux Server binaries. We payed for our game, we payed hundreds of euros to run gameservers that BI doesn't run, providing BI customers with a long term game experience they expected from the game. Most of the people did buy the game for multiplayer, not for SP. SP never was Armas strong point.

So please stop telling us to STFU and show some respect for all the time, effort and money WE invested into keeping us and other players happy while playing Arma and therefore keeping the playerbase happy and dedicated to the game. Without the long term multiplayer, the community made content, the community hosted servers and missions, Arma would be a singleplayer game that sucks ass for most people. This results in less sales for the next game and other games such as TOH.

If it wasn't for the multiplayer I would not even have bougth ArmA 1.

[[frl]myke 14]

Firstly, do you officially represent BIS? If not, we're not interested.

Secondly, its been shown in other threads that BIS has declared the Linux server fully supported, and makes NO mention of it being a freebie. (More references)

Seems i missed that Linux server files are enclosed with the main game. Until now i thought everyone could download them for free. I stand corrected. :j:

Linux server are under development as already has been said. Main programmer had a few days off (i should tell your boss that you're against vacation times for employees). If you know programming only a little, you would know that it isn't something someone else could just finish in the meantime. There are quite a lot of programmers but i guess all of them are quite busy:

- developing ArmA 3

- developing ArmA 2 patches

- developing ToH patches

- developing Carrier Command

- developing DayZ

and maybe some other projects not yet announced.

Official statements from developers has been made, nothing more to add.

:EDITH:

Noone ever said that they won't be supported anymore

Linux Servers are still supported. Nothing changed here.

We payed exactly a lot for the development of Linux Server binaries.

Care to elaborate at which point you've been charged prior to downloading linux server binaries?

Edited August 23, 2012 by [FRL]Myke

[bulletoothdan 10]

Wolle i am 4 years older than you for a start, dont patronise or insult me. I have paid for everything i own and i don't expect anything for free. It is this sort of attitude that gives BIS a very, very bad name, i am sure that they would love to see how you talk to and treat THEIR customers!

Further more your response doesn't answer any of the questions, so why respond? out of control are we? I would suggest that you either read the full post and then attempt to put a considered response to the questions or pass it to someone who can. Either that or i will continue with and go direct to BIS, and when that fails i will go public, and for your information i have a copy of all of the various correspondence pertaining to this letter

Regards

[slatts 1978]

Now this shall be a fun thread to read

[ovenmit 11]

:popcornsmilie:

Now this shall be a fun thread to read

You know... posting about just sitting and watching solves nothing.... other than increasing your post count.

[bulletoothdan 10]

Myke,

Thanks very much for your reply, however can i just point out the following, as it stands right now Bis has released Arma 2 and its various updates, it has released various other games over the last couple of years, so while i understand that devs work on different projects and are very busy with work on the projects you have listed, i cannot see why an issue of this magnitude hasnt taken a priority? And with respect you havent answered any of my questions?

As for being against people having holidays, well was it a necessary comment? again with the sarcasm? However if you want to tell my boss please feel free to do so you can reach him in Afghanistan come along i will meet you at the airport!

Further more i don't recall stating anywhere that i am against anyone having a holiday? so your not even stating facts.

Regards

[Banshee 9]

Myke;2212816']Linux Servers are still supported. Nothing changed here.

Linux servers are not supported currently. There is no 1.62 patch nor a 1.61 patch.

We have to work with old outdated beta versions served trough a custom repository for our closed community. All the public servers are idling around, costing money (not BIS money obviously, but our money).

We normally gladly pay that money. But if we can't even play, then of course we are getting angry.

This simply shows that there is no focus on this topic currently. And that's the point that makes us angry.

We pay a lot of money to supply BI with multiplayer servers and now can't even play on our own servers. And there is nothing that shows us that resolving this issue is to any priority for BI.

Just keep on doing those DayZ servers. They're community hosted as well and they sell more copies than the normal servers. Right!

[bulletoothdan 10]

Gents i haven't started this thread to generally beat the mods/devs or bis i simply want a constructive answer to my questions and to state that the way we are treated in here is not satisfactory, and given that this is a Bis website i will be complaining about the comments posted in here ( i have a copy of all) as well as others that have been made)

[RichardStallman 1]

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linuxâ€, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use.

Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux†distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

[[frl]myke 14]

bulletoothan

what did you expect? There is already a official statement from the developers yet you just don't want to accept it. Do you really think your thread will make the patch appear faster? Like the devs now goin "oh f***, bulletoothan has written a open letter, let's see we can release the linux binaries within the next hour"? It is done when it's done. You probably wont get a dev giving a statement in this very thread simply because the statement is already made. And it is our job as Moderators (amongst other jobs) to make sure the devs don't have to repeat themselves over and over again, instead they can focus on that what you paid them for: developing patches and linux binaries.

@RichardStallman

No nitpicking please. While technically your explanation is surely correct, "Linux" is common used term.

[JoeDamage 10]

Myke;2212833']There is already a official statement from the developers yet you just don't want to accept it. Do you really think your thread will make the patch appear faster? Like the devs now goin "oh f***' date=' bulletoothan has written a open letter, let's see we can release the linux binaries within the next hour"? It is done when it's done. You probably wont get a dev giving a statement in this very thread simply because the statement is already made. And it is our job as Moderators (amongst other jobs) to make sure the devs don't have to repeat themselves over and over again, instead they can focus on that what you paid them for: developing patches and linux binaries.[/quote']

Where is this 'Official Statement'? Replies in a forum are not generally considered "official statements". And even if you were to consider them such, they're spread all over the place and not at all very explanatory. An official statement is most often posted on a company website, not as a reply to a forum question. In addition, there has been a deafening silence on the topic for quite a while now...

If nobody said anything, it would seem like there was no interest. Thats why people ask about the Linux server.

Is it your job to represent BIS? Is it your job to make personal comments about BIS's customers (see Wolle's earlier comment) ?

[vilas 477]

if in this topic there is problem of paying for i game, i would like to remind author of topic, that, for the money that he payed (for a copy of disc) he gets:

- many years of gaming, not only stupid line shooting campaign which takes 1-3 days of gameplay like in other games,

- free DLC in 100 versions which are called "addons, mods, islands",

- patches many years after release of game oposite to other companies finishing patching few weeks after release of game,

- mission editor, not present in other games,

so take it under account that you get 100 times more than from other games which are how to say it... one week dedicated ?

[JoeDamage 10]

if in this topic there is problem of paying for i game, i would like to remind author of topic, that, for the money that he payed (for a copy of disc) he gets:

- many years of gaming, not only stupid line shooting campaign which takes 1-3 days of gameplay like in other games,

- free DLC in 100 versions which are called "addons, mods, islands",

- patches many years after release of game oposite to other companies finishing patching few weeks after release of game,

- mission editor, not present in other games,

so take it under account that you get 100 times more than from other games which are how to say it... one week dedicated ?

Without communities paying for their own servers there would be NO multiplayer servers whatsoever... and without multiplayer... Arma is pretty much a non-starter. Without Arma's amazing community, Arma wouldn't even feature on the games radar. Its not about 'everything BIS gives us' (which we pay for), its also about the community.