MMORPG.Social - a post-mortem.
For those who don’t know, I ran an MMO-focused Mastodon instance about 3 years ago. First, it was successful - high usage, growing pains, lots of fun.
Then it failed softly - interest wound down, usage dropped.
Then it failed hard - an onslaught of bots and trolls registering that were hard to prevent and eventually caused most servers to kick it from the fediverse.
So, what happened? And how can you avoid making the same mistakes?
First, I started MMORPG.Social on the cheap, as a hobby, in my spare time. I waaaay underestimated the learning curve needed to get to grips with Docker, Ruby, and all the other components it needs.
I also tried running it on a single core virtual machine, which was hugely unrealistic. As traffic grew and people started posting game screenshots, costs ramped up significantly.
Second, running MMORPG.social ate a lot of time from a moderation and maintenance perspective. I underestimated the burden this required, and tried to take shortcuts.
I decided that new joiners could post straight away without needing approval, hoping to remove any friction. But opening up the server to registration without any checks made it a playground for bots and trolls.
Thirdly, once MMORPG.Social was running, I went through a life change. My wife and I found out we were expecting our first child, and my world changed. And yet, I didn’t proactively ask for help with running the server.
By the time I asked for help (and lots of people offered once I asked), it was too late. I’d neglected the server, the spambots had got in, and we’d been blocked by most others on the #fediverse.
So, my advice to those looking to start a new Mastodon server, is to consider these three things:
- do you have the time to learn a bunch of new skills so that you can get it started and keep it running?
- how much can you afford every month to run the server, and what will you do if it becomes popular and you need to upgrade?
- who will look after the server and your new community when you’re not able to?
Don’t make my mistakes.
I won’t be restarting MMORPG.Social - that ship has sailed. And I regret a lot of what happened with that server. In hindsight, I was incredibly naive. I probably also damaged the perception of Mastodon in the eyes of a bunch of people.
-ends-
Gareth Harmer
Petter
Paeroka
Sam 'Qelric' Spencer