Epic UT99 & UT2004 Stats Databases Going Offline 2018-10-26

[Mailbox]

Information coming from Flak on a Reddit post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/unrealtournament/comments/9qg784/ut99_and_ut2004_stats_database/

Hi everyone,

We are in the process of auditing old servers that are on site at Epic Games Headquarters. While we have no intention of taking the UT99 or UT2004 master servers offline, we will no longer be collecting stat information. This Friday, October 26, we'll be taking the stats database and website offline. Of course, you can continue to play as always. Thank you for your continued support of Unreal Tournament.

While I think most people never used the stats site, it was a nice place to see player info, as well as a serviceable means to see if a person you played with changed aliases. An issue occurred with the player server sometime around the beginning of October, where afterwards match frag info is no longer available and player stat pages are inaccessible. Perhaps Epic thought it was better to kill off the stats site rather than try to fix it. I can't blame them, to be honest.

To my knowledge, this leaves privately run UTStatsDB [1] sites as the alternative for a public stats site. I proposed one in the past [2] on OMNI, but I don't know if the admins there would want to have one set up.

Did anyone else use the stats site?

[1] http://www.utstatsdb.com/
[2] http://forum.omnipotents.com/showthread.php?t=15203

[SysX]

Ow this is kinda sad but let's face it the game released in 2004, since we can still play I'm not too worried.
Personally I didn't use the stats site anymore since my stats got bugged somehow... even with a new copy of the game.

[Hyden]

Does this affect stats tracked by Gametracker? It's actually the only one I've used anyway & even then not that often.

[Pegasus]

I may have mentioned this before, but if not, this might be a good time for the remaining active ONS[Plus] server communities (and admins) to reach out n' get into talks about potentially launching a joint Open/Community [UT|ONS]stats domain & site so that all their servers might be pointed to it, store online match stats there and so continue offering a valuable trove of information for remaining map editors, modders in general, and server staff looking for more insight to help with content management decisions.

Epic's latest attempt at planned obsolescence by snuffing out a practically cost-less, but nonetheless still useful, legacy online UT support service could prove a deciding moment regarding whether UT2004 is granted a renewed lease on life with no expiration date under community control or, instead, if the game will be left to wither n' die out due to the remaining oldschoolers getting disaffected in the face of the seemingly inevitable and leaving in search for something else.
The thing to keep in mind here is, a developer pulling online support for an old game of theirs doesn't necessarily constitute a foregone conclusion in terms of said game's life. You only need to take a look at what happened when a determined modder and a diehard online community banded together to save the online "life" of older C&C RTS games as EA was shutting down one server after another, long after leaving the ranked ladders in complete disrepair and open to hackers - and these were not even games with private server support. Custom software and IP redirecting allowed for a community server to supplement the official ones, while a bunch of trusted players became the de facto community managers, ladder maintainers and adjudicators of fair play. To this day, all these games can still be played online by any nostalgic oldschoolder or any other player who just happened to discover these great games later on, all because XWIS exists as a project to fill the void the publisher's departure created.

Even though assurances are still offered about their supposed survival (for now), to me it's likely the Master Servers will also follow UTstats' ill fate at some point in the future. Still, Epic shutting down this game's online services does NOT need to mean UT2004's life has to end altogether. Beloved old games can survive their creators' termination plans and continue thriving, or even get updated/uprezzed, on different terms; it's happened before and it can happen again. But it won't happen on its own. Concerned people in all positions will need to get together across servers, try to form some kind of viable plan and do so quickly if they mean to save the game they love and have invested so much time into from oblivion.

As I've done before in a previous "gaming life", I'll be around to help such a rescue attempt however I can, if the remaining UT community is up for it. Here's hoping for another bright chapter lying ahead in UT's long history instead of its last one.

[EmanReleipS]

Can't say I'm surprised after the recent problems with the stats server and seeing how long it took Epic to fix them. Still a bummer.

We're trying to get the UTStatsDB to work on CEONSS. Currently already collecting stats, just need to get the website part running for everyone's viewing pleasure.

[Pegasus]

That's a great first step; congrats to the team for your quick reflexes jumping on this - that's your twitchy hitscan expertise coming to good use in other fields, doncha know ! Looking forward to seeing the CEONSS match stats logged on some kind of ceonss.net subdomain (or elsewhere) and how close they might hew to the official ut2004stats in terms of per-match and per-player recorded aspects. Hopefully, this can turn into CEONSS' next big (side-)project and keep growing outwards to help even more people in the remaining UT community from there.

Edit: back to this thread's main subject for a bit, could someone with direct line of communication to Flak please ask her (say, via Twitter, Discord or some other kinda chat or DM platform) if Epic might restore ut2004ststs' Player database to working condition at least until the Friday deadline so that all those interested might be able to get one last look and maybe grab a copy of their own record for vanity posterity's sake? I know there's some of us who'd appreciate the chance and the gesture in the face of the overall unfortunate news of said service's shuttering. Thanks in advance.

[EmanReleipS]

Hehe, thank you. I'm sure it will take a bit to figure out the details and get it to record everything that we want, but I'm excited for the possibilities.

I really like your idea of having a joint website for stat collection. It seems to me (from my limited understanding of UTStatsDB after reading the Readme several times) that it would be easy to get several servers to upload their files to the same location. I'm not sure how much space they will take up on a website, though, so maybe their are some logistical issues to figure out. Not to mention the discussion where to upload it, who will pay for it, etc.

Nonetheless, I would really like to share a stats website if that is doable. Hopefully more servers will start running UTStatsDB soon. That would indicate to me that they also see a value in collecting player stats. I think that is the necessary first step before we can tackle a bigger collaboration.

[Miauz55555]

@Hyden: Gametracker should not be effected bye that, they anyway track just some basic stuff.

I made a little homage to the stats server: https://www.epicgames.com/unrealtournament/forums/past-unreal-tournament-games/unreal-tournament-2003-2004/403349-r-i-p-ut-stats-server-for-ut99-and-ut2k4
Eveyone is invited to write some condolence there.

[Miauz55555]

[...]Edit: back to this thread's main subject for a bit, could someone with direct line of communication to Flak please ask her (say, via Twitter, Discord or some other kinda chat or DM platform) if Epic might restore ut2004ststs' Player database to working condition at least until the Friday deadline so that all those interested might be able to get one last look and maybe grab a copy of their own record for vanity posterity's sake? I know there's some of us who'd appreciate the chance and the gesture in the face of the overall unfortunate news of said service's shuttering. Thanks in advance.

Be fast:
http://ut2004stats.epicgames.com/index.php?stats=players

[Miauz55555]

Spike: http://ut2004stats.epicgames.com/player ... er=2860718