Server dropouts during games causes disqualification

[DaveBarr]

Hi I have started a coupe of tourney's and have experienced server drop out where data cannot be shipped back to the tour site. This results in the round ending without a real score being posted and nets in a disqualification. The last time this happened, 15 mins ago, there was a error message filed when the site could not be reached :- "Heapstack overflow caused by Linksmmiii.exe" if thats any help.

The score is posted correctly on my PC score card but it appears there is a problem transferring the information. This is an intermittent problem and may be caused by server loading. The problem always starts with a lost server connection somewhere along the line to the Tour site. I always get the Alt+Tab check message come up when this problem starts. If I come restart the game the Tour Site knows there was a problem and asks if you want to restart the game but this is never successful.

The above is for information only.. not a moan.

Regards

[Larry_Warrilow]

an interuption of data to the server can be caused at several points: momentary power outage at players machine (home, business), isp interuption, cable or phone line interuption, and lastly but usually least likely (now anyway), a server interuption.

playing online exposes the player to all of these possible faults and thus loss of game for the entire time it takes to play the game and report.

playing offline decreases a players exposure to about two minutes or less. if you are getting data interuptions, which type of play makes more sense? lw

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[DaveBarr]

Larry, thanks for the reply. I am aware of the failure possibilities but really wanted to know if anyone experienced a problem at approximately the same time as me. I have a copy of the heapstack overflow dump if anyone is interested in analysing it - beats me totally.

If you and I are both saying its not our respective ends causing the problem then the problem is due to a dropout elsewhere. My concern is that perfectly valid scoring games are lost, competitors are disqualified, and these guys have no way of recovering the situation. Even if requalification were available they would only have one chance without penalty.

It is my understanding that each hole is played stanalone and once finished the score is posted to the game server. When the link fails there appears to be hole where data falls down if connection is not readily re-established. It could be possible for the game server to pull scores once a link failure was established and reconnected sucessfully some time later.

Searching the forum thare are others who have come across this very same problem.

Regards

Dave

[Larry_Warrilow]

D, the hazards of online play have been with us from the beginning. i personally play offline and have only lost one game in over eight years. while losing a game is always frustrating, my point remains: there's a relatively safe way of playing and reporting (offline) and there's a way that can cause endless grief (online). it's not the game server's fault when an isp, cable, or local power has a glitch. some players have UPSs, and isp and cable connections that give few problems, so online play causes few losses. other players have to decide when enough is enough with online. the tech gurus here have been unanimous in the past in recommending offline play for those with unreliable connectivity.

based on previous experience, there are now more connectivity technical problems at lspn than on the old (prebeta) site, but that site had years to shake out the gremlins. if you want to be sure of finishing events, offline play is the way to go until the dust settles technically at lspn. lw

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[DaveBarr]

Larry, thanks for your thoughtful reply. As a relatively newbie I need to know how to play the tournament rounds offline as you suggest, what do I need to set to make this happen? I'm set-up at the moment with the game automatically sending individual hole data to the tour site.

Regards

[DaveBarr]

Ok Larry, I've found the place for off line working - I'll give your suggestion a go.

Thanks

Dave

[Larry_Warrilow]

dave, if you have any problems with reporting offline game stats, definitely let us know here. there are some pitfalls for the unwary.

do not exit links until you have reconnected and successfully reported game stats to the server and gotten confirmation. lw

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[fish]

I too have run into this problem. the easiest solution i've found is to alt/tab out of your game, then reboot your computer while leaving the game running. it fools the server into thinking your game crashed and lets you restart your game where you left off.

[Larry_Warrilow]

f, how did you trick the server into letting you play with a four letter ID? lw

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[fish]

my i.d for the tour is fishn, fish is my i.d. for this site

[Freefaller]

my i.d for the tour is fishn, fish is my i.d. for this site

Just to try and help you out, when they eventually start showing stats here you're gonna haveta log into this site as fishn or you won't be able to see yours. You will be able to see stats for fish but that won't help

PS, also if they ever do a sweep for duplicate ID's you probably will be unable to log in as fish.

[Tresclub]

my i.d for the tour is fishn, fish is my i.d. for this site

Probably best to PM Mark or Bo, and have them change your ID here to fishn.

[fish]

my fish i.d is used to get in to play tour games(FFA/OGT/LOGO) and iht's with my club IGA. the links tour i use as a warmup for said games and to practice my new challenge of learning PS/RTS and to be honest the stats dont really interest me,as far as duplicate names are concerned i dont see a prob but given the fact i'm not the brightest bulb on the block i may be wrong lol. i do thank you for your posts and a special thx to those trying to this gr8 game going

[Freefaller]

allis gutte then