Whiteboard Server
 

A server where everyone gets a (dynamically assigned) folder, into which they can develop their server. Nobody else can log onto their folder (or maybe a 1-user cap: register a full port if you want to Release a PW), but it gives you the opportunity to do some development "offline" before you shell out $100 on a flawed concept.
Add a 24 hour wipe to save space, add a clientside backup/restore feature...

More development, more PWs, less UC, less complaints. And if it's a VIP feature, that becomes a worthwhile upgrade again too.

That's great.


So, being a smart person, this is what I'd do if I wanted to build a server:

I'd use this dummy server with a team and I'd work on a server, free of charge. Everything wipes after 24 hours? That's great, I'll just back everything up and reupload everything to keep working on it the next day. Limit it to only scripts? Won't be a problem, you make levels and graphics offline anyways.


You see, as much as this would be nice, it would definitely cut down on Cyberjouers profit margin, which is already low to begin with.

Personally, I like this idea.

What's stopping you from doing this now?

using GS2 online is a powerful tool which can be used for as much evil as good, so there would have to be a pretty airtight way to filter out douches that upload malicious code before this could work because there are jerks out there

I concur!

I have issues with the theory that Cyberjouers' Profit Margin hinges on us only being able to develop by buying a server.
Other than that, that's exactly what I have in mind: upload, tinker, download, wipe. Fairly low impact server (particularly if Stefan puts a choker on how big of a upload/download you're allowed on the Whiteboard), plus there's the BIG limitation of You Can't Go Public from the whiteboard. You can test your ideas, you can develop all you want. If you have a server, your underlings can play around with scripts before uploading them on YOUR server. Everyone's got a Private Dev Server nobody else can play on/steal from. Heck, if you reduce it to Only You Can Access, you can't Really Test multiplayer scripts, only work up a theory to test on a Real Server, which doesn't cost a dime less for the fact that you can pre-build your scripts on the Whiteboard.
Additional advantage: Don't have to wait for Stefan to make another version of the offline client so we can see Gani Effects, etc.

It's the whiteboard. Feel free to do all the harm you want in your own personal bubble. Write a script that spams the GServer until it crashes, you've successfully locked yourself out of your own testing environment for 24 hours and thrown up a flag that pretty specifically singles you out to the watching eyes of the admins. It can be scripted to prevent malicious code leaking beyond the whiteboard boundaries; I mean hell, there are worlds sharing servers, and except for the truly disasterous scriptsplosions when one goes down the others stay up. The exception is when one goes down and the whole server goes down, and that tends to be the Ye Olde Spilled Coffee story, not malicious code.

Additional advantage: Hey Hellraven, I made this awesome code, upload plx!
Hellraven: Hmm, okay...*uploads to the whiteboard, it explodes* No.

But I still don't see what is to stop someone from using malicious code like DarkCloud_PK said.
It doesn't take much to crash the NPC Server.

Heck I did it, and all I did was remove a ";" or a "," or something.

I think his theory is one gserver with many subservers in the ftp.
Each subserver gets their own npcserver (in theory).

So if you crash yours, your just out of luck and your scripts wouldnt be able to effect people on levels outside of your little place so you wouldnt be able to mess up people testing their own stuff elsewhere.

Hmm...I don't think a gserver can support more then one npcserver currently though.

A whiteboard server would be nice. I think you would need to send in some application which would show you have some knowledge of programming at all before you could get access though. I would love to be able to host a server for this purpose if I had the money.

But one physical-server can support many gservers. And if one gserver crashes, the others tend to be fine, particularly if they've been "choked" enough.
I'm sure it'd be a trivial matter for Stefan to code a partition for maybe 30 micro-playerworlds, each with 1/30th a normal PW's storage and 1/30th a normal PW's processor priority, each with a single user allowed and that single user defined as the creator, each with a 24-hour wipe...but of course we'd need a way to upload-and-download the entire microserver before it'd be Really useful. In the meantime though it'd be a handy way for VIPs to test gani effects, and anything else that doesn't show up in the offline editor.

Though I'm sure Stefan will just say "We're working on something, it'll be great, don't worry, you'll see soon." :\

What if you want to practice and learn but really don't have very much experience in the first place?

Perhaps a way to host an NPC server on your own computer?
It's been similarly done with the RC before, so I'm sure it might be possible with NC. With a self-hosted NC and a new editor that connects to it, it might help a lot.