Server Online Players

UO Gateway Help and support requests as well as general discussions related to UO Gateway
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Nordic
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Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 10:26 pm

Server Online Players

Post by Nordic »

First off, i love this site, but i'm having issues finding a shard that fits my needs.  I want to play on a populated shard, but not one that is too populated.  I spent about a week on uo redemption because it showed 60 clients online, but this was never the case.  I spent most of my time on here looking for people to interact with and there were no players on.  not sure if something is broken between how your site updates the players online, but i found it frustrating when looking for other shards.  Thanks!

Archived topic from UOG, old topic ID:83, old post ID:230
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Red Squirrel
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Re: Server Online Players

Post by Red Squirrel »

Unfortunately, there is no way to truly get the number of players, we just have to trust the value that the server tells us.  It is very possible that there are servers that fudge the numbers, so while in general the numbers can be a nice indicator they cannot be taken as 100%. 

Archived topic from UOG, old topic ID:83, old post ID:231
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Nordic
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 10:26 pm

Re: Server Online Players

Post by Nordic »

Red Squirrel wrote: Unfortunately, there is no way to truly get the number of players, we just have to trust the value that the server tells us.  It is very possible that there are servers that fudge the numbers, so while in general the numbers can be a nice indicator they cannot be taken as 100%.
Are you saying the shard owner submits a number to you guys and that is what is displayed on the webpage?  Sorry for the followup question, just trying to figure out how this works.  I hope shard owners would be honest.  Thank you!

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Red Squirrel
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Re: Server Online Players

Post by Red Squirrel »

More or less that's how it works, but it's automated.  UOG sends a packet to the servers and the servers respond back with the information. So in theory someone could easily modify the server code to send a different value, or even display a different value when you login.

Honestly though I don't think it's a super common thing. Newer shards might try to fudge the numbers but there actually are some shards with 600+ people.  If a shard fudges numbers in the 600+ range and you login and barely see anyone or any houses it's a good indication.

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Jibreel_Kills
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Re: Server Online Players

Post by Jibreel_Kills »

When noticing servers that are spoofing is there any action to it? Example Ultima Online Forever doesn't have that many players especially now. I played there for 5+ years and this is their darkest times. Barely anyone at the bank, and it shows they still have 900+. I just hate when people are dishonest about their numbers, and waste your time by logging in and confused where the pop is.

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Red Squirrel
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Re: Server Online Players

Post by Red Squirrel »

Unfortunately there is not really a real way to police this as the value comes from the server.  However if a shard is known to fudge their numbers then by all means they can be called out for it by the community and it will look bad on them.


Archived topic from UOG, old topic ID:83, old post ID:414
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