--> UPDATE [10/24/08]: <--
The server IP has changed.. again!
Join us at: 69.147.237.26:7776

It has been a long couple of weeks, characterized by depression and uncertainty. Things have been rough without your Novocaine family to spend time with.. But despair no more, because we're back and better than ever. In light of the recent DDoS attacks on our server (and other servers), we've opted to move our server over to a new host.. Which we've already got setup and running, so hop in, or keep reading (I suggest you keep reading!)

These DDoS attacks have been a burden on us all in the past couple of weeks.. But for our community, it just might be a blessing in disguise. With the new server rig, we now have alot more overhead to play around with. That means more potential for server functionality, and more importantly, ALOT LESS LAG. You may not have noticed any lag in the old server, if you're from North America, but I think that all of our players should notice a significant increase in the stability of the server (less restarts and less lag spikes!).. So don't forget to add us to your favorites!

But all of this comes at a cost.. Renting a quad-core monster of a rig with 4gb of ram and 4tb of available monthly bandwidth is EXPENSIVE.. Of course, we've managed to get a very good deal, but that does not mean that it comes cheap.. So I am asking you, the community, to help us out. If you want to see the Novocaine server stay up, then please, give us a hand! If you've got a few extra bucks lying around, put it to a good cause.. Every little bit helps, so don't be shy!

If you're interested in making a donation, your best bet is to use the donation block on the right hand side of the main page. This method would be for those with access to Paypal. If you don't have a paypal account and you still want to donate, simply send [NoV]Fishbulb a PM on the forums, or find him ingame, Ventrilo, or contact him via. MSN or E-Mail.

The greatest part of the donation process? Every cent that you donate will be DOUBLED. For the first couple of months, I will personally match EVERY donation that you make, down to the cent. If you donate $10, I'll donate another $10 to the cause. So what are you waitin' for? Get donatin'!

and hey.. If we get enough positive feedback on this, some of our donators just might receive some VERY interesting prizes.. So if you want to see what I mean, you know what to do!

UPDATE:
We've got a target date set for the server.. Drumroll, please!
Wednesday, October 15th @ ~11:00PM GMT!
With a little bit of luck, we should have everything up and running by then!
So keep your fingers crossed, and keep an eye on the server list.
You can expect some super crazy parties on the server at that point in time.
Yes, you heard me. I said SUPER CRAZY PARTIES.

I'm sure you've all noticed that our SA-MP server has been down for quite some time, and there has been little official word on what is actually happening. I apologize for the huge delay, but here's the deal:

The Novocaine server and the Partyserver (both of which have been made possible by Cam; be sure to thank him if you see him!) have been under a DDoS attack by a script kiddie that goes by the name of "netzeek" (Be sure to verbally punch him in the gulliver if you see him.) Cam has been working tirelessly in his efforts to get all of the problems sorted out, but he was unable to put a stop to the problems. He's now had to entirely block incoming and outgoing connections. 

So where do things stand now? Well, it's been decided that our best plan of action will be to have our server moved over to a new rig. All of our databases, player information, etc has been backed up; so don't worry about losing your stats. Cam managed to find an extremely good deal on a server for us.. So maybe this really is a blessing in disguise. For comparison, the old box had a couple of outdated Intel Xeon CPUs @ 3.0GHz (two processing cores) and 2gb of RAM. The new rig will be running an Intel Xeon X3210 @ 2.13GHz (four processing cores) with 4GB of RAM. This doesn't sound like a massive increase, but the new quad core CPU has a much more advanced archatecture which equates to a HUGE increase in effective processing power.

Cam has also recently made a post on our forums about the status of the server, so go check it out and give him your thanks. Here's what he said:

"As many of you know, if Partyserver goes down, NoV has to go down with it in the case of DDoS attacks. This is what happened last week. I made every effort to block it at NIC level, however that was not sufficient enough so I had to get all the traffic null routed. This means no traffic can enter, or leave at the router's level. This is why I bought an expensive dedicated server from Ubiquity. I received it on Saturday, however, I have been having some hardware failures, which are getting resolved as we speak. It's on a really powerful system. It's a Dell R200 with an Intel Quad Core with 4GB of RAM for those of you that are interested in the server specs.

I hope to have Partyserver and NoV up this week. I will keep you all updated.

[UPDATE 10/13/2008 9:00PM CDT]

I've been in contact with the data center. They are still researching into the hardware problem, apparently they had a similar case like mine in the past. They also reinstalled CentOS, but the wrong version of it, which I found out the hard way when I tried to start putting stuff on the server. Time to wipe the HDD again for the third time since Sunday and stick CentOS5 on there..."

So, as you can see, we've already got things rolling. It's just a matter of ironing out a couple of problems. It won't be long now.

Just hang in there. Novocaine will be back soon, and better than ever.

I have a new addiction that I'd like to pass to you guys.. TORIBASH!

There isn't a whole lot I can say about this game that will do it justice. Basically, the game is a ragdoll physics-oriented, turn-based fighting game. That being said, you can basically develop your own style of fighting, your own moves, throws, etc. The game is absolutely amazing. Check out the trailer:

If you're at all interested, use THIS LINK to download the game. Doing so will give us a couple of ToriCredits, which gets us a little bit closer to getting ourselves a server. ;) If you download from anywhere else, we won't get the benefits.

So if you're playing, good luck, and happy decapitating! If you want a bit of instruction, don't hesitate to ask me on ventrilo, or through the forums.