Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

Now back to the post where Daretti is still looking for a PBEM game :). Do we have any takers for Daretti? Would be really nice to find someone for this gentleman to play :)

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ORIGINAL: lastkozak

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The Server will log how many times the game is downloaded to the PC. So there will be a download and upload counter. These two counters should match for a non-reloader(as long as you download and upload you are golden, it is bad when you miss the upload). So if you downloaded the turn the download counter is incremented and later you upload the counter for upload is incremented. These two numbers should match for a non-reloaded game. If the numbers don't then the counters won't match. Such as someone downloaded the game 12 times but only 1 upload. Then this example shows that the game was reloaded 11 times in a server game. You can actually contact Slitherine and ask for a particular turn if your opponent has been reloading. They are extremely nice and will give the details. Just don't get in a habit of asking all the time. (I'm pretty sure you can also send a PBEM file to Slitherine and they can also tell you how many times a PBEM game was reloaded). Also from reading old posts if you reload a set amount of times your account gets banned. But I believe that threshold never was crossed since supposedly Slitherine sends out incriminating emails to the person reloading.

So Hardluck you are saying that when you reconnect to the server, to upload your finished turn, the server does not download the file first? Where is your turn then saved? Someone could then reload from that could they not?

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ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

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ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

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ORIGINAL: Telemecus

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ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain
You can log onto the Server pull the game and play without being connected to the internet after it is downloaded.

I am out of date - I thought server games still needed an always on connection. Certainly old games used to insist on it. This would mean the game file is stored locally on your PC - how does a server prevent the abuses that are possible with PBEM?

Nope, you don't need a continuous connection. You can download the game from the server to memory, disconnect from the internet, play your turn, connect back to the internet to send your turn. Just make sure not to turn off the computer since it will wipe your memory and the game. So "no" you do not need a persistent connection that so many people believe you need.

Please note these are my observations and by all means could be incorrect. But here is my theory;

The Server will log how many times the game is downloaded to the PC. So there will be a download and upload counter. These two counters should match for a non-reloader(as long as you download and upload you are golden, it is bad when you miss the upload). So if you downloaded the turn the download counter is incremented and later you upload the counter for upload is incremented. These two numbers should match for a non-reloaded game. If the numbers don't then the counters won't match. Such as someone downloaded the game 12 times but only 1 upload. Then this example shows that the game was reloaded 11 times in a server game. You can actually contact Slitherine and ask for a particular turn if your opponent has been reloading. They are extremely nice and will give the details. Just don't get in a habit of asking all the time. (I'm pretty sure you can also send a PBEM file to Slitherine and they can also tell you how many times a PBEM game was reloaded). Also from reading old posts if you reload a set amount of times your account gets banned. But I believe that threshold never was crossed since supposedly Slitherine sends out incriminating emails to the person reloading.

I wouldn't always fear the worst if you were to ask and the counters were off by one or two. I had to reload a server game just yesterday because I had stepped away from my PC for a while and when I returned, the game screen was black. Obviously a video glitch because I could hear the clicking noise as I left clicked my mouse a number of times. I tried a few things but to no avail and had to terminate the program and start over. And that has happened to me on occasion so I do try and save if I am going to step away for a while.

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ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

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ORIGINAL: lastkozak

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The Server will log how many times the game is downloaded to the PC. So there will be a download and upload counter. These two counters should match for a non-reloader(as long as you download and upload you are golden, it is bad when you miss the upload). So if you downloaded the turn the download counter is incremented and later you upload the counter for upload is incremented. These two numbers should match for a non-reloaded game. If the numbers don't then the counters won't match. Such as someone downloaded the game 12 times but only 1 upload. Then this example shows that the game was reloaded 11 times in a server game. You can actually contact Slitherine and ask for a particular turn if your opponent has been reloading. They are extremely nice and will give the details. Just don't get in a habit of asking all the time. (I'm pretty sure you can also send a PBEM file to Slitherine and they can also tell you how many times a PBEM game was reloaded). Also from reading old posts if you reload a set amount of times your account gets banned. But I believe that threshold never was crossed since supposedly Slitherine sends out incriminating emails to the person reloading.

So Hardluck you are saying that when you reconnect to the server, to upload your finished turn, the server does not download the file first? Where is your turn then saved? Someone could then reload from that could they not?

Log onto your computer -> download current turn to your computer(into memory) -> play your turn (no continuous connection required) -> upload your turn back to the server. Simple as that.

Reloading happens when you continuously download the game but not upload.

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ORIGINAL: Telemecus

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ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

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ORIGINAL: lastkozak

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The Server will log how many times the game is downloaded to the PC. So there will be a download and upload counter. These two counters should match for a non-reloader(as long as you download and upload you are golden, it is bad when you miss the upload). So if you downloaded the turn the download counter is incremented and later you upload the counter for upload is incremented. These two numbers should match for a non-reloaded game. If the numbers don't then the counters won't match. Such as someone downloaded the game 12 times but only 1 upload. Then this example shows that the game was reloaded 11 times in a server game. You can actually contact Slitherine and ask for a particular turn if your opponent has been reloading. They are extremely nice and will give the details. Just don't get in a habit of asking all the time. (I'm pretty sure you can also send a PBEM file to Slitherine and they can also tell you how many times a PBEM game was reloaded). Also from reading old posts if you reload a set amount of times your account gets banned. But I believe that threshold never was crossed since supposedly Slitherine sends out incriminating emails to the person reloading.

So Hardluck you are saying that when you reconnect to the server, to upload your finished turn, the server does not download the file first? Where is your turn then saved? Someone could then reload from that could they not?

Log onto your computer -> download current turn to your computer(into memory) -> play your turn (no continuous connection required) -> upload your turn back to the server. Simple as that.

Reloading happens when you continuously download the game but not upload.

Guessing some of the intermediate steps: I assume by memory you mean the live memory not the hard disk memory - and so it would be lost every time you switch the computer off or exit the game. Hence you would have to redownload the game every time you exit it - you cannot reload with the copy already in the local memory. And hence the count of downloads minus uploads is (usually) the same as the number of reloads.

If this is correct it would still mean people need PBEM if they play at home and cannot get a home internet connection say. There is no way you can download a server game to your computer, switch off the computer, take it home and start playing a server game offline there.