Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

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EmanReleipS
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Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by EmanReleipS »

Just heard today that Epic will shut down the master servers for a bunch of older games, including UT2004, on January 24th. Seems they have also removed UT from Steam.

Source: https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/ne ... lder-games

I'll attempt to get in touch with Epic about this. Maybe they would agree to let the community host a new masterserver, or they could at least provide a link on the News tab to a list of active servers. Also, I don't understand their decision behind removing UT2004 from Steam and hope they will reconsider that.

Make sure to inform your players and teach them how to favorite any servers they like!
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infinitecat
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Re: Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by infinitecat »

So when the master server goes down we won't see any other games on the "Internet" tab, just whatever private servers are alive and in the "Favorites"?

There's a Youtube channel, Accursed Farms, which has complained for years about gaming companies shutting down servers for older or unpopular games and not allowing users to erect their own servers.

That UT2004 has lasted 20 years is a miracle unto itself and a testament to the programmers.
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YEAAAHHHHHHHHHH
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Re: Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by YEAAAHHHHHHHHHH »

Is this the end?
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In all seriousness though. This would suck. We need to take action on this.
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Enyo
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Re: Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by Enyo »

The article Ema linked to says, "The following titles will have all online services disabled on January 24, after which players can continue playing single or local multiplayer modes offline." UT2004 is in the list.

This doesn't mention being able to access favorites... will we still be able to access servers saved in our favorites list? I would assume so, but now not 100% sure after reading that. Ema, do you know the answer, will we for sure still be able to play on servers we have in favorites?
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Super Sanka
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Re: Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by Super Sanka »

Enyo wrote: Wed Dec 14, 2022 4:17 pm The article Ema linked to says, "The following titles will have all online services disabled on January 24, after which players can continue playing single or local multiplayer modes offline." UT2004 is in the list.

This doesn't mention being able to access favorites... will we still be able to access servers saved in our favorites list? I would assume so, but now not 100% sure after reading that. Ema, do you know the answer, will we for sure still be able to play on servers we have in favorites?
I dont think so if I understand it correctly. I think someone would actually have to make a ut2k4 launcher with its own HUD and have it display servers. It'd have to be a community thing.
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EmanReleipS
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Re: Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by EmanReleipS »

Enyo wrote: Wed Dec 14, 2022 4:17 pm The article Ema linked to says, "The following titles will have all online services disabled on January 24, after which players can continue playing single or local multiplayer modes offline." UT2004 is in the list.

This doesn't mention being able to access favorites... will we still be able to access servers saved in our favorites list? I would assume so, but now not 100% sure after reading that. Ema, do you know the answer, will we for sure still be able to play on servers we have in favorites?
The master server has been offline/on and off before due to technical problems, which never affected the favorites tab. You can also add servers there which usually aren't whitelisted. I think the favorites list will continue to work.

The issue is that any new players won't have such a list...
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Enyo
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Re: Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by Enyo »

EmanReleipS wrote: Wed Dec 14, 2022 4:43 pm The master server has been offline/on and off before due to technical problems, which never affected the favorites tab. You can also add servers there which usually aren't whitelisted. I think the favorites list will continue to work.

The issue is that any new players won't have such a list...
According to this PC Gamer article I found, yes, you can still play on servers where you know the IP address (i.e. your favorites)

Unfortunately, I'm sure that means a lot of our casual players that have never bothered to add OMNI (or any other servers) to their favorites, and who do not visit the forum, will be left in the dark on January 24th wondering where the hell all the servers went. I fear this will kill off a good portion of existing players, especially the ones that still haven't figured out dodge jumping after 15+ years.

And the game is being removed from all online store fronts, which means no more noobs ever again... unless someone picks up a disk in the Walmart discount bin, figures out how to find server IPs from the Gametracker list, and then figures out how to add the IP address to the favorites list (which is not a super intuitive process).

Sadly, this will likely completely kill these old Epic games off in the next year or two unless there's enough of us diehards that stick around. And did you notice they're completely killing UT4 (alpha)?
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Re: Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by Mailbox »

via Miauz, SgtMuffin is looking to set up a replacement master server, which people will be able to view online at https://ut2004serverlist.com/, and that servers can add themselves to with a mutator. Will be parleying there, as well with other channels that I still have...
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Re: Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by infinitecat »

Is this, perhaps, why the stats page is offline?
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Enyo
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Re: Master server shutting down on Jan 24th

Post by Enyo »

infinitecat wrote: Wed Dec 14, 2022 6:14 pm Is this, perhaps, why the stats page is offline?
Unrelated, but thanks for the heads up. I’ll let pooty know in the admin forum, I think he’s been busy with work lately.
“Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”
― Mark Twain
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