Monthly Development Update: February 2012

[animaly]

How would you send tells or !whois if their names were colored ;p

/tell Javcky/r herro red!

/tell Javcky/b herro bru!

[Alternity]

I think there is an easier solution to this:

RK1 players get "Hero" infront of their nick, so Hero Darkempire
RK2 players get "Random Zero" infront of theirs

[Mastablasta]

I think there is an easier solution to this:

RK1 players get "Hero" infront of their nick, so Hero Darkempire
RK2 players get "Random Zero" infront of theirs

I support this.

[Thorneee]

All I hope is that we can rename our chars for free if someone has been using the same name for a longer time on the other dimension, and do not have to keep the [Rimor] or [R] or whatever prepended/appended to the toon names.

[Gridpain]

I think there is an easier solution to this:

RK1 players get "Hero" infront of their nick, so Hero Darkempire
RK2 players get "Random Zero" infront of theirs

In that spirit, I d vote for : Roxor_ for RK1, and Carebear_ for RK2

[Louderer789]

Do you find that stalling for time is much easier on a monthly basis?

I have no room in my signature. However for the lolz, here is Means hinting at a video of the engine within the next 3 weeks, in February 2010. Here he is in April 2010, laughing at the incoming vaporware jokes. Here is Cube being brought on, ostensibly to produce said video, in May 2011.

Here we are in March 2012.

[Gunforhire]

All I hope is that we can rename our chars for free if someone has been using the same name for a longer time on the other dimension, and do not have to keep the [Rimor] or [R] or whatever prepended/appended to the toon names.

I really think this naming issue is going to be a minimal problem because unless you are only playing on one server with all your toons, (1 have 8 on each server so I can play all profs.) half your toons will be wiped anyway with the merge beause there are only 8 slots. That leaves way fewer duplicate names to worry about. The names disappear with the toons.

[Malosar]

I don't see them wiping out characters. I've stated this before, it would be a simple matter of allowing > 8 characters on an account but you can't create anymore unless you get below 8. The merge script would simply ignore the limit so you would end up with 16 toons on your account. I don't get the big deal on that issue.

[equilibrium]

Character wipe wont happen! I imagine a guy that plays the game since the launch , and then he loses everything he accomplished on 10 years ...that wont be fair and Funcom known that.

[Exxxie]

There already was a server merge: DNW to RK1/RK2. IIRC they just put a -1 to all duplicate names following these rules:

If the name is free, the toon keeps it's name.
If it isn't, following rules apply:
If a character on the target server was created AFTER [specific date] and the character on the source server was created BEFORE [specific date] the character on the target server loses it's name (get's a -1 at the end of the name).
If both characters were created BEFORE [specific date] and the character on the target server was inactive for over a year the character on the source server can keep it's name, otherwise the character loses it's name.
If a character on the source server was created AFTER [specific date] it loses it's name and the character on the target server keeps it's name.

I think the date was something around 12 month before the merge and all toons which got their names changed during the merge could initiate ONE name change free of charge to another (free) name.

The only character wipe-out I remember was a few years back where they deleted all toons below lvl5 which haven't been logged in for over a year. But they announced it 3 month in advance, enough time to log all mules.

[haxi]

If a character on the target server was created AFTER [specific date] and the character on the source server was created BEFORE [specific date] the character on the target server loses it's name (get's a -1 at the end of the name).
If both characters were created BEFORE [specific date] and the character on the target server was inactive for over a year the character on the source server can keep it's name, otherwise the character loses it's name.
If a character on the source server was created AFTER [specific date] it loses it's name and the character on the target server keeps it's name.

There will be no "target" or "source" server. Everyone from both Dimensions would be going to a new server.

[Exxxie]

There will be no "target" or "source" server. Everyone from both Dimensions would be going to a new server.

Yeah, but these rules can still be applied.

If a character from RKx has been created BEFORE a [specific date] and the character from the other server was created AFTER [specific date], the latter one loses it's name.
And so on...

Even the "inactive for over a year"-thing applies because I think they will transfer all characters, regardless of them being on active accounts or not.

It's not THAT hard to adapt these rules to the given circumstances

[Xamofne]

There already was a server merge: DNW to RK1/RK2. IIRC they just put a -1 to all duplicate names following these rules:

If the name is free, the toon keeps it's name.
If it isn't, following rules apply:
If a character on the target server was created AFTER [specific date] and the character on the source server was created BEFORE [specific date] the character on the target server loses it's name (get's a -1 at the end of the name).
If both characters were created BEFORE [specific date] and the character on the target server was inactive for over a year the character on the source server can keep it's name, otherwise the character loses it's name.
If a character on the source server was created AFTER [specific date] it loses it's name and the character on the target server keeps it's name.

I think the date was something around 12 month before the merge and all toons which got their names changed during the merge could initiate ONE name change free of charge to another (free) name.

The only character wipe-out I remember was a few years back where they deleted all toons below lvl5 which haven't been logged in for over a year. But they announced it 3 month in advance, enough time to log all mules.

What happend when rk3 account had 8 chars and few on target server,let say RK1 ? Did they got those 8+ slots ?

[sannz]

No, they did not. They were allowed to create a veteran account (just like everyone else) on top of their existing account and have the rk3 toons transfered to that account instead. But they did not get more slots per account.

[Otansaanpas]

No, they did not. They were allowed to create a veteran account (just like everyone else) on top of their existing account and have the rk3 toons transfered to that account instead. But they did not get more slots per account.

in other words, their toons got deleted.

[Tanisthonus]

in other words, their toons got deleted.

That's not what it means at all. It DOES mean you would need to start paying for two accounts.

[Xamofne]

That's not what it means at all. It DOES mean you would need to start paying for two accounts.

omg u so smart

[ragerayden]

Seriously? Removing newbie island... It is so wrong I could cry.

[MrMojoRisin]

You mean you know a lot of people who would finally be free of their addiction and quit AO forever. Myself included. Because that's what deleting all those toons would mean. The moment all my toons are gone is the moment I'll go away for good and never look back.

Why though? Aren't you missing the point of what a game really is?
Is AO all about completed character content, and not the journey for you?
Is the journey of your AO characters that bad that if you had to do it again, you would rather leave and never look back?

Oh well then, you can ost me some hecks.

And thats the problem, too many of you are all about your finished characters and how much time you've spent on them. Hence most people love to just powerlevel on AO, i see people is lft all the time "wtb powerleving 3m a lvl". This is ridiculous. You whine about the grind but you are the ones finding out all the best xp mobs and doing all you can to levelling on only those. Whatever gets max level faster eh. What happened to exploring? If you have SL; most people these days only know the obvious level places like hecks and tiigs but there is so much more to SL so many more places to level and explore I love the design of Shadowland and I find new dungeons almost every day. I like to find quests and do them, for story and reward. It's not all about getting to that level albeit max or lower than max. It's about enjoying the journey and exploring Rubi-Ka and Shadowlands, or at least that's how I see it. WoW is a game that's all about grinding to max level, AO isn't. Yes it has grind ofcourse and I don't mind it at all because there is soo much to entertain yourself with in AO a little grind can go a long way. I'm not saying I want the possible new server to have no old toons from previous servers I was just saying part of me thinks that wouldn't be all too bad but only because I wanted to be around when AO was first released and everyone had to discover the game from scratch.

[3246251196]

Seriously? Removing newbie island... It is so wrong I could cry.

This is just nostalgia which I can understand but this change must come about in order to try and tempt new players into AO and retain them.

When I first started in 06 I was on the island. I was lucky enough to experience the pre-nubIsland startup area which I loved, but have yet to sign the petition for. It was just a matter of luck that I had implants explained to me by someone. Jeez, I don't even think I knew I had an implant tab until I got to post-nubIsland.

People have requested than an explanation of implant tabs etc exist and I am fully for this. Ideally these would be discussed in game, or at the least - a link to a webpage which can explain them.

There probably have been a lot of people who have started this game who had just the right sort of mind set for a complex game such as AO - but have left because of the current start up island its neither here or there.

And thats the problem, too many of you are all about your finished characters and how much time you've spent on them.

This is true. I do not really have much input, but the outlook of a verteran player is different to a new players. New players want to explore, but veterans want to hit tl7 asap.

I also hate seeing powerleveling services.