DOGS OF WAR - Server thread

[Merlin-27]

731 days in a row.

 

Today marks the 2nd full year of service for the DoW WWII Combat Server. We have offered this open server for the community allowing everyone an opportunity to enjoy the multiplayer experience on a level playing field, and exclusively geared toward the DCS prop warbirds. Tremendous amounts of time & effort were devoted to the construction, play-testing, modifications and updates to the many missions hosted through its duration. We had hoped it would bridge the gap and maintain some of the community's excitement while the supporting items for a legitimate second world war environment were constructed and had eventually reached fruition. It has been a good run, which like most endeavors has its ups and downs. Trying to adapt to the wants and needs of the masses while maintaining the core ideals we founded our group on can be challenging at times, but for the most part I believe we offered up a respectable place for anyone to enjoy these aircraft in all of their glory.

 

 

I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to every single person who assisted in any way, big or small. A full time server does not run itself and is essentially a living breathing thing. I have witnessed so many incredible moments during the past two years, encountered many many fantastic personalities and have made some very solid friendships as a result. Simply searching YouTube and seeing the countless references to the DoW server makes the experience very fulfilling.

 

 

At this juncture however the offering will be changing a bit. Running the server in its current format has become a bit taxing for a number of reasons and some other disappointing recent events have helped make this decision for me. The DoW WWII Server will be transitioned to a limited-access format and will be mostly used for squadron sponsored events.

 

 

Once again, I truly appreciate every person that played a role in making the DoW server such a success. If you have enjoyed your time on the server please come by our website and register on the forum and if you are interested in participating in any of our future events we would be happy to have you join us.

 

 

 

Cheers.

 

DoW Website

[SnowTiger]

This is truly disappointing news, although I understand where you are coming from.

I for one, definitely appreciate the amount of effort several of you regularly put into maintaining the server and creating/updating missions etc.

For the above reasons and because of the class of people I regularly meet online, I have deemed this group to be well worth the donations I have provided .... as pitiful as they may have been in the big picture of things. I will continue to donate as long as there is a server/group and hope to remain a DoW Squadron Member as long as permitted.

 

It is unfortunate that more people haven't taken advantage of the server time. I often find myself alone on the server or with only one or two others, few of which are ever on TS. However I often see several DoW Members online during the Later Evening Hours when I am unfortunately, usually too sore to participate. But I try to overcome that on weekends as much as possible. Maybe it hasn't been enough ... I don't know ?

But regardless what complaints I have had about the Mustang, I have ZERO complaints about Dow Servers, Missions and most importantly the Members. For that matter, I have met many others that are not currently members, that I would love to see become members because they are really great people to fly with (for example but only partially named .....Quark .... ahem "MAN" !! LOL).

 

Anyway, it is unfortunate that so many Servers go down because of a lack of support. A lack of regular users and as least as important a lack of donations. I have tried to promote the latter as much as possible and as nonchalantly as possible. Unfortunately it obviously hasn't been enough or has been too little too late.

 

Thanks to everyone who has ever done anything to maintain the site and missions etc. Hold your heads up knowing you HAVE done an excellent job and I DO understand why you have come to the decision you have. That said, I hope the DoW Squadron will remain together and I'm sure we'll find lots we can continue to do together and maybe compete against others. Finally, I will do my darn'dest to hook up with y'all more frequently at the later hours when the majority of you are online.

[Ultra]

I'm sorry to hear the server has become more burdensome to run. I feel bad I haven't been on much at all lately, life stuff got in the way (new job and such). But it's still good news that you'll be running events. I really hope they will be public events that I'm allowed to participate in! :)

[gavagai]

Sorry to hear that Merlin. You did a great job.

[HeadHunter52]

Just today I was thinking about a "Mighty Eighth" mission. Escorting 12 bombers at 32K. Long range - wing tanks required. Fighting at altitude.

 

:noexpression:

[MegOhm_SD]

Enjoyed every flight I made in your server. Great bunch of pilots. I have not had the opportunity much lately due to traveling. I will check out the website and hopefully get in on some of the future events. I appreciated the availability of the DOW Servers over the last 2. Thanks for that!

 

Hope to fly with you guys more going forward.

 

DOW was my favorite server...

Edited June 25, 2015 by MegOhm_SD

[HeadHunter52]

Withdrawal..... sucks worse than keyboard rudders....

 

There are others servers, now and then, but none as well done. Whoever is responsible for forcing this decision needs to be flogged and turned into a windsock.

[fastfreddie]

Wow horrible news. Sorry I haven't been able to fly very much recently but I looked for the DOW server the last 2 days and now I see why I can't find it. Hopefully you guys decide to bring the server back soon with all the new aircraft coming out. DoW was the go to stateside server to fly on and the Euro servers are usually empty late at night here. This is really going to kill the DCS WWII experience for US players unless ED steps in with public servers.

[HeadHunter52]

From a server standpoint, yes, this kills the US side but, even with some other server, ED or otherwise, it won't be the DOGS of WAR server, with its fantastic missions and all the thought and care that went into it.

 

Drainpipe

Battle in the Bay

River Raiders

Mudskipper

Refuge

Loose Lips

 

Care to name more? EACH mission was its own little game. You couldn't always tell when 4 AI would bounce your butt from "The Ridge" all the way back to base.... or when a safe area convinces you it isn't.

 

I miss the place. Even at a 310 ping from my crazy location, I had mas fun there.

[SnowTiger]

I'm currently drawing a blank with exception of "Frog of War".

There were others that haven't been in the server list for a while that I cannot name.

It is truly unfortunate DoW Server had to be packed in.

[cliffy229]

I just want to say thank you to all of the DOW people who kept this server going for as long as has been. I have enjoyed many hours flying here with you guys and while I haven't been able to fly recently I will still sorely miss this server. Once again, thank you all for an outstanding server and superb mission design.

 

Cliffy.

[HeadHunter52]

DOGS of WAR is back up right now. Itsy Bitsy is running.

 

Open for business!!

[Silky]

DOGS of WAR is back up right now. Itsy Bitsy is running.

 

Open for business!!

 

In what manner? Is it open like it was before, or limited access like they mentioned? :helpsmilie:

[HeadHunter52]

Password protected. I was too excited to check earlier.

[SeaQuark]

!! Just saw the news.

 

This is a real shame. DoW is the best option available for DCS WWII online, and its 24/7 availability was a big part of that for me. I tended to be online at off-peak hours, but still had tons of fun flying with SnowTiger, NetMan, and other friendly virtual pilots from whom I learned a lot. I was on 2 or 3 times a week. It was also great to fly knowing the server was open to the community-- you never knew if you were going to run into an AI, a novice, or an expert pilot on the other side. It kept things interesting.

 

In retrospect I regret not formally applying for DoW membership earlier and showing my appreciation for what you guys provided, but I was waiting for my flying skills to develop.

 

Thanks for all the time & effort you guys must've put into the sever, I got a lot of enjoyment out of it.

[dooom]

Hey everyone - if you would like to fly in our server we certainly would welcome you popping by our forums and saying hi - we are not averse to growing our ranks and would still like to look forward to flying with many of the friends we have made this far.

[SnowTiger]

A great video to get the juices flowing.

[HeadHunter52]

I had similar membership feelings, SeaQuark.

[SnowTiger]

I'm not in a position to say whether or not Squadron Membership is still open (because I simply do not know), but I can say you ARE welcome to sign up and sign in to DoW Website and Forum to stay up-to-date with current and future DoW Events etc.

One never knows what the future may bring but certainly a growth in interest in DoW could affect the frequency and scope of events.

[dooom]

Membership is still open - Pop by our forums and say hi and let us get to know you :) - please excuse some slower communication in summer though.... I don't think folks realize how remarkably small our group is :)

[SeaQuark]

Just finished a video I took on the server a while back, thought I'd share:

 

 

One of the more successful sorties I had on Mudskipper.

 

BTW if anybody knows NetMan's forum handle please let me know so I can send him this. Haven't seen him around in a while.

[SnowTiger]

BTW if anybody knows NetMan's forum handle please let me know so I can send him this. Haven't seen him around in a while.

 

Yes I second that. I have been trying to find him on here and on the server for a while without success. It would be great to make contact and see him on the server again soon.

 

NetMAN you are welcome to PM me here any time my friend.

[SnowTiger]

PS SeaQuark ... Excellent Video. Great Sortie.

[HeadHunter52]

I like the Dvorak music, man.

[HeadHunter52]

Cool video. I love the escort footage. Fantastic flying. Both you guys NEED to be regulars!