Tourneybot Frozen

[amarganth]

Hi all

Yesterday, it was the second time, that TourneyBot does not respond to commands, sent to it. It happened to all people, not only to me.

Last Sunday, I received the result of all sent commands after some minutes.

Yesterday, I got no answer of it for about 30 minutes. After that time, someone restarted TourneyBot.

We played the tourney under TBot. (Thanks diane!)

Do you have an idea, what the problem is, MadMatt?

amarganth

[webrunner]

I just restarted tourneybot.
Hope that helps.

[amarganth]

Thanks, webrunner.

But you corrected only the symptom, not the reason.
There is a reason, that TourneyBot freezes.

[MadMatt]

I don't know why this started happening all of a sudden. I haven't changed anything recently and before I only did minor changes that don't really affect the code that much, like added the bagolympic type.

Webrunner, have you changed anything on the server? Like, updated ruby or something else?

I've enabled logging, maybe we'll see some exceptions in the logs next time it happens.

[webrunner]

I haven't changed anything that has to do with the bot.
I have updated a lot on the server, but i do that all the time.

[amarganth]

TourneyBot was frozen, today, at about 11am thru 12am. After a short while, it answers to all stacked commands.

Can you see something in the logs, MadMatt?

[Anakin]

I was trying to host Bagolympic today between 9:30 - 10:30am utc, but TourneyBot will not respond to any commands.  

Why is this happening?  

[Tomawaky]

You can try TBOT when Tourneybut is out of order

[webrunner]

I don't host Tourneybpot anymore.
Ask Madmat for help.

[diane]

I am pretty sure this is being done maliciously, quite what the objective is, is beyond me.  What it is doing is annoying, for sure, but it isnt going to stop me running tournaments, or coming to FIBS.  I will be doing them the old fashioned way from here on in - since this person seems pretty determined to keep being a pain in the ass - bans are much easier to handle this way too  

For a long term solution - the only thing I can see as a possible solution, is to have more copies of the bot running and/or available - since it seems to take some time and effort to knock them down - and if a TD can start up their own bot to run the tournament they are running - it should last until the end of the event.  The bots that we have running are not manned even close to enough - so they cant be rebooted as often as is necessary - and cannot be made operational on the time scale needed - so as long as this person / people are hell bent on spoiling the tournaments - we either need to remove the technology and do it by hand - or find a way around the situation where only two copies of the bot are running - and by people who arent watching over them when needed.

[Tomawaky]

As I already posted here.

If Tourneybot or Tbot are not available, I will not host anymore Online Tourney on fibs.
I do not host many of them, but I took really no pleasure to do it.
I rather prefer playing, especially when I know Servers where you can manage tourneys without any TDs.

I only do personnaly one bago a month cause we are not enough TD and I think I must take my part. But if it must be done manually, it's for me a clear Double / Pass  

Bot help us a lot and there is no many thing to do, but doing more is too much for me.
I already spend enough time for the league and offline tourneys...

[amarganth]

I understand that, and it's also my solution. If TourneyBot or TBot are answering, I will run my tourneys, but without bot help, it's too much (unnecessary) work.  

[diane]

I am disappointed you both feel this way, this is a deliberate attempt by a person to stop tournaments from running.  I wont give in to it - and I would hope others would try to give it a go, it really is very simple - and with a few tools I think it can actually be easier than using the bots.  We have a few basic tools for running Fridays3, which we would be willing to share - and honestly - there is nothing more to it than some cutting and pasting (course you need an interface that does that).  Please be at least willing to try - if you still think it is too much work - I guess we give in to the 'terrorist'    

[amarganth]

Ok, Diane. I will give it a try. You know my mail address.

I'm afraid, if I will start a tourney manually/offline, that there will (sure!) be some persons, that accept some "bye"s in the first round, or some opponents only with some nervy comments.

[diane]

Using these tools, the positions are randomised and byes given in much the same way they are with the bot. People have always made jokes about that - at the end of the day - you laugh and ignore it.  The odd few will always find things to moan about - the majority will appreciate you have nothing to gain by 'fixing' positions.
The only real difference you may notice is that running a tournament manually does mean you cannot play in it yourself.  You need to be available to send out match pairings and to take match results.  Of course this means you will have to be slightly more altruistic than for a regular tourneybot tournament, but it also means - since you arent playing - you cant be accused of giving yourself a bye etc.

[Tomawaky]

The big Advantage of the bots is the automatism = no discussion.

When you start doing things manually, there always would have discussion about cheating.

And don't reverse things diane. There is no 'terrorist' !
Simply not enough people who want to be involve in Fibs in the long time.

We all saw many people who get involved in some kind of projects which improve Fibs. But with time, they give up for many reason that we can understand....

Another thing. I started the league more than 4 years ago and it is still up. Really sorry to disappointed you Diane but I prefer to do what I am able to do long rather than start something that I will give up by the time.

[Tomawaky]

The only real difference you may notice is that running a tournament manually does mean you cannot play in it yourself.

And that's what I explained upper. I really prefer playing than hosting.
I do not enjoy hosting as some other do.

[diane]

Simply not enough people who want to be involve in Fibs in the long time.

We all saw many people who get involved in some kind of projects which improve Fibs. But with time, they give up for many reason that we can understand....

This is very true - and it is a shame that someone deliberately knocking the bots offline to further discourage those few volunteers should be successful    That is my main concern - it is highly likely that if these attempts fail - the person may give up - and tourneys can become easy again - that is my ultimate aim - not that more people give up and move on.  Obviously it is up to each TD how they wish to handle the situation.  
I understand and appreciate what you do Tomawaky - and know that you already give much time - it is the others who maybe can cope with a tiny bit extra work that I wish to encourage to hang on in there.

[socksey]

and it is a shame that someone deliberately knocking the bots offline

Is this an established fact or is this a supposition?  If this is the actual case, how do we go about finding out who the culprit is and neutering him/her?  

socksey



"Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance." - Lakota Proverb

[diane]

It is a fact - but I am not going to give them the satisfaction of naming them, they can own up and take the rap, or remain an unknown pest.  There is no way to neuter them - every escalation causes a counter escalation, this is why I am just moving outside the vicious circle.  I expect the next step is to knock me offline while I run tournaments, but that is easily dealt with.  To be honest I have no idea what other tricks can be done to make life awkward for those trying to be positive, but I will plod on attempting to provide some fun for fibsters for as long as it is possible.