2008 was the year of tmnX, which wasn't as good as everyone (including me) had expected. Unfortunately it took 8 months of 2008. The last 3 months were a lot better; TMN grew to about 400 active players again.
2009 will be the 5th year of TMN, and the 5th year I'm working on TMN as well. Which brings me to the future of TMN as it's in my head...
I hope TMN will hit 1,000 active players again in 2009. I also hope Huy will notice what has been going wrong, so we can work on these things.
Besides TMN, there's also my personal life. 2009 will be the year I have my final 2 semesters before graduation, and the year I turn 21 as well. Besides that, I'm looking at lots of learning, working, and having fun.
One more thing:
I wish everyone a merry Christmas, and a great 2009!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Activity of DC
I think we all agree that DC isn't active enough. No news, right?
So, why am I posting this? Because I have a chart to show you guys how active DC is, and -most important- when he is active.
The chart below shows when he updated pages, or files in general. You'll see that I set it all up, and DC started using it most (when he had a few weeks off) when he created TMNClassic. He worked hard for about 4 weeks, and then it all slowed down. My line, the green one, stays visible, where DC's disappears for a few weeks, until he fixed the cred retrieve from tmnX.
Chart is generated by TortoiseSVN.
So, why am I posting this? Because I have a chart to show you guys how active DC is, and -most important- when he is active.
The chart below shows when he updated pages, or files in general. You'll see that I set it all up, and DC started using it most (when he had a few weeks off) when he created TMNClassic. He worked hard for about 4 weeks, and then it all slowed down. My line, the green one, stays visible, where DC's disappears for a few weeks, until he fixed the cred retrieve from tmnX.
Chart is generated by TortoiseSVN.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Poll
A problem TMN has always had, is ISPs. Some seem to think it's best to throw all users through one proxy server, resulting in many players having the same IP address. Why is this important to us? Because players having the same IP Address, look like duplicate accounts to us. And if these accounts have interaction, it becomes a violation of the TOS.
"so, why don't we publish a list of users on my IP", is a question I often get. The reason is quite simple. Our TOS simply states we will never provide 'private information' to any third party. This third party can be a company or person, including a player.
Now, I would like to know what you find more important; Being safe, or having the TOS changed so your username and ISP details can be published to others.
Please let other players know they can vote here, I really am interested in your opinions. You can also comment to this post, if you want to add something. Thanks in advance.
Update #1
Option 1: You will get a page where you can see everyone who has accessed your IP. You will appear on lists of other users, who have logged in at your house/school/internet cafe as well.
Option 2: When you're about to send someone who has been on your IP anything, you'll get a warning. Something like "this user has used your IP, if you continue, you will be in violation of the TOS".
Option 3: You will get a page where you can see if other (active) accounts are on your IP.
Option 4: You are responsible, read the TOS and watch out!
Option 5: Place your own opinion in a comment to the related blog post.
"so, why don't we publish a list of users on my IP", is a question I often get. The reason is quite simple. Our TOS simply states we will never provide 'private information' to any third party. This third party can be a company or person, including a player.
Now, I would like to know what you find more important; Being safe, or having the TOS changed so your username and ISP details can be published to others.
Please let other players know they can vote here, I really am interested in your opinions. You can also comment to this post, if you want to add something. Thanks in advance.
Update #1
Option 1: You will get a page where you can see everyone who has accessed your IP. You will appear on lists of other users, who have logged in at your house/school/internet cafe as well.
Option 2: When you're about to send someone who has been on your IP anything, you'll get a warning. Something like "this user has used your IP, if you continue, you will be in violation of the TOS".
Option 3: You will get a page where you can see if other (active) accounts are on your IP.
Option 4: You are responsible, read the TOS and watch out!
Option 5: Place your own opinion in a comment to the related blog post.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Bad websites etc
I think it was last Thursday I heard about all these hackings, but... As always: I was too busy to do something about it. On Friday I started internship at 8:30 AM, and got home at about 3:00 AM, as I had a Christmas party.
This weekend I was finally able to produce a possible fix, but I couldn't test it because I wasn't sure how these hackers did it. I did talk to DC about it, but he didn't have a clue on how it was done either.
Today, I heard of more hackings, and decided to ask around about it. I got a working hack-site, and had a quick look. I implemented last weekend's fix, and it worked! I tested it a few times, but it kept working.
After updating it on TMN, I decided to update a few other thigns:
- Global Most Wanted page not giving out rewards
- Killing scums using 150,000 FMJ bullets threw me an error
- Adding a fix to stop certain scripters on crimes and gta pages
- Adding a nice warning image to possible bad links on game forums etc
Then it was time to handle 15 days of inbox... busy busy busy!
This weekend I was finally able to produce a possible fix, but I couldn't test it because I wasn't sure how these hackers did it. I did talk to DC about it, but he didn't have a clue on how it was done either.
Today, I heard of more hackings, and decided to ask around about it. I got a working hack-site, and had a quick look. I implemented last weekend's fix, and it worked! I tested it a few times, but it kept working.
After updating it on TMN, I decided to update a few other thigns:
- Global Most Wanted page not giving out rewards
- Killing scums using 150,000 FMJ bullets threw me an error
- Adding a fix to stop certain scripters on crimes and gta pages
- Adding a nice warning image to possible bad links on game forums etc
Then it was time to handle 15 days of inbox... busy busy busy!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
updates, DC, IRC
IRC
IRC can be used to chat to other TMN players, and it's quite easy to use. You can use mIRC to connect to it, or use this website that only requires you to install Java. The details below can be used to connect to our IRC server. It's managed by myself, so it's quite safe. The rules are stated when you connect to it. For more information google it (or visit this page), or wikipedia.
Server: irc.themafianetwork.net
Channel: Jail
Nickname: The name you use on TMN, or a name people know you by.
DC
I don't like it, but it's starting to look like DC isn't as active as he used to be at the start of this reset. I hope he returns very very soon, to fix some things I don't have time for myself. Adding mods is one of those, but also setting up mod rules and guidelines.
Updates
Although I don't have much time myself, I did manage to update a few things. One is related to networks being sent from one scum to the other: this is fixed. Boss+ is the new rule, just like when creating networks. Another update done today is related to crimes and GTA while in jail: this was possible for the past 2-3 weeks, because we had another bug. I think it's fixed now too (and I hope you all enjoyed it). Also I think we had an exploit, which should be fixed now too (I won't provide any info on it though).
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Donations / Payments
SMS
After typing the same message 5 times, I decided to update my TMN profile, requesting players not to ask that question again. What question? "Will you have SMS Donation implemented?"
The message I wrote to all players asking it, did contain an explanation, but I didn't enjoy typing it over and over again (and each time I thought it'd be the last player asking about it!).
As you may have read, my current internship project is all about SMS, so I read lots of boring articles about it, and I'm actually writing my own SMS Service. That means I know how things like SMS work, and why I'm not a big fan of donations over SMS.
However, at least a year ago, I did some research on SMS Donation services, to find two possibilities:
1) We pay €1500 (about $1900) a month (!!), and get about €1.30 (about $2) per SMS
2) We get €0.80 ($1) per SMS, where players still pay €1.30 ($2)
The first one is too much of an investment, and the 2nd one is a scam both we, and the customers wouldn't like. Besides the fact that an SMS would only get the players a few credits.
iDeal
I got a few requests from Dutch players, about iDeal. iDeal is a service most online shops in The Netherlands offer, to directly pay for the goods online. It has close contacts with banks, and works fast, easy, and safe. I'm not sure if it is used internationally, but didn't have time to have a look at that either.
So, will we implement this? I don't know!
TMN is registered in Canada, and I don't even know if we have a bank account. Therefore I really have no idea.
Paypal
So, instead of attempting to use other payment methods, I think it's still best to just stick to paypal, which is safe, fast (almost instant), and is used all over the world. In some countries you won't need a creditcard, in case you didn't know.
After typing the same message 5 times, I decided to update my TMN profile, requesting players not to ask that question again. What question? "Will you have SMS Donation implemented?"
The message I wrote to all players asking it, did contain an explanation, but I didn't enjoy typing it over and over again (and each time I thought it'd be the last player asking about it!).
As you may have read, my current internship project is all about SMS, so I read lots of boring articles about it, and I'm actually writing my own SMS Service. That means I know how things like SMS work, and why I'm not a big fan of donations over SMS.
However, at least a year ago, I did some research on SMS Donation services, to find two possibilities:
1) We pay €1500 (about $1900) a month (!!), and get about €1.30 (about $2) per SMS
2) We get €0.80 ($1) per SMS, where players still pay €1.30 ($2)
The first one is too much of an investment, and the 2nd one is a scam both we, and the customers wouldn't like. Besides the fact that an SMS would only get the players a few credits.
iDeal
I got a few requests from Dutch players, about iDeal. iDeal is a service most online shops in The Netherlands offer, to directly pay for the goods online. It has close contacts with banks, and works fast, easy, and safe. I'm not sure if it is used internationally, but didn't have time to have a look at that either.
So, will we implement this? I don't know!
TMN is registered in Canada, and I don't even know if we have a bank account. Therefore I really have no idea.
Paypal
So, instead of attempting to use other payment methods, I think it's still best to just stick to paypal, which is safe, fast (almost instant), and is used all over the world. In some countries you won't need a creditcard, in case you didn't know.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Mess-up and mod tools
It's my task to get some nice mod and admin tools made, that are intuitive and get the job done as fast and easy as possible. Though, with the lack of time, it's not going too fast. But: I think it's getting better by the day, especially now I'm starting to empty my (flooded) mailbox.
Yesterday we kind of messed up, giving all new players a server error. The problem(s)? I made a change to the table structure of a certain table, so technically it was my mistake. But... If DC had written some better statements, it wouldn't have happened! So we really both made a mistake haha.
Technical:
You can insert rows in a database table in 2 ways:
1) INSERT INTO TableName VALUES('1','2','3')
2) INSERT INTO TableName (Row1, Row2, Row3) VALUES ('1','2','3')
The first way was used during the registration process, leaving one column out. The result? Errors! The column added was a column to log some user information, that isn't needed for all users.
My next week is starting, and I hope I'll be able to fully empty my inbox (Unfortunately I failed at that this week).
Goals for this week: Empty TMN mailbox, succeed at writing some functionality and documentation for the internship project.
Yesterday we kind of messed up, giving all new players a server error. The problem(s)? I made a change to the table structure of a certain table, so technically it was my mistake. But... If DC had written some better statements, it wouldn't have happened! So we really both made a mistake haha.
Technical:
You can insert rows in a database table in 2 ways:
1) INSERT INTO TableName VALUES('1','2','3')
2) INSERT INTO TableName (Row1, Row2, Row3) VALUES ('1','2','3')
The first way was used during the registration process, leaving one column out. The result? Errors! The column added was a column to log some user information, that isn't needed for all users.
My next week is starting, and I hope I'll be able to fully empty my inbox (Unfortunately I failed at that this week).
Goals for this week: Empty TMN mailbox, succeed at writing some functionality and documentation for the internship project.
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