While we're waiting for Cyan to respond to our UU Shard Proposal, let's talk about the Volcano Dataserver.
Currently, I assume that the Volcano developers have a dataserver set up somewhere, which the client patcher will point the UU client to for downloading age data.
Let me suggest that we put the Volcano Dataserver on Starfyre's new server, once the proposal is approved by Cyan and the server is funded by us. This central location could also house the UAM age repository, for folks that want standalone browsing of the ages, or are unable to participate on the shard (e.g. dial-up connection, no Kagi key). Every time a fan-created age has received permission for distribution, the age creator can submit the age data to the server admins.
The Volcano client patcher would need to be modified in order to point to this new dataserver, but I'm assuming that would be a minor change.
How does the Volcano team feel about this? Or anyone else?
EDIT: On second thought, it makes more sense that the Volcano Dataserver be located in a neutral place, not associated with any shard. That way, the shards that use it are all on equal footing. Plus, the Volcano developers can place the dataserver where it would be easily accessed for maintenance.