I got a question, will the game run on a mac with these new (graphic) updates? I assume major changes will occur and I am curious to know if you are keeping/adding the support to play on macs.
I got a question, will the game run on a mac with these new (graphic) updates? I assume major changes will occur and I am curious to know if you are keeping/adding the support to play on macs.
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Means: "We have done way dumber things than this..."
Sounds good, except for one thing that bugs me.
Server upgrades. Not terribly long ago Funcom upgraded AO to "state of the art" servers which was promised to help alleviate the lag issues in large raids and mass PvP. The actual result? Virtually no change. And it's been steadily deteriorating ever since.
Are there any plans to do anything about the actual server code and database backend which seems to be the bottleneck still (evident from the fact that mass PvP on one game cluster creates lag on all other clusters indicating the database backend not being able to keep up)
More horsepower is good, but it doesnt do you much good if your still only going to be spinning the wheels and getting nowhere. Mass PvP is for all intents and purposes dead outside of BS. You cant even have a Tara raid with 100 people without the server barfing anymore, let alone 200-300 people (which we actually did do back in the days with only a fraction of the lag we have today)
The fact that TL7 NW is more broken now than it was before the PvP expansion is largely irrelevant given that your servers still, after 4 years (Notum Wars released in November 2002), cannot handle mass PvP.
It's something that bugs me to no end, but it's still exciting to hear about the rest, and i can only second Tsun and say that it's nice to see Funcom communicating better.
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I diddnt hear anything about hoverbikes working in SL, just the boards, and from what ive seen, they dont fly. Their just like ground vehicles but appear to be like 5 feet over the ground :P
SL's tops are not finished enough to allow for flying in SL im pretty sure. They would need to do alotta work to SL maps to make flyin up high not look bad since the whole place was built thinking you would only be at ground lvl the entire time.
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Last edited by Krause; Jun 27th, 2007 at 20:56:54.
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Thats not quite true, we previously moved the database servers to new hardware, they are just one component of the server farm, and we were careful to point out at the time that those were to resolve existing very specific database related server downtimes and lag spikes - which they did achieve successfully.
This move is on a whole different scale and involves moving the entire server infrastructure to a new environment, new servers, new disks, new racks, new switches, new redundancy systems and back-ups, the whole package as it were. It really doesn't compare to anything we have done before.
'Lag' is a many headed beast, and no, even a whole new server farm won't resolve all of its many forms but it will provide us with a stable and better performing platform on which to provide a reliable game experience to everyone in future.
Craig 'Silirrion' Morrison
Old Timer
Quite understandable. Im perfectly aware of the fact that lag is a many headed beast. However the one im referring to is the one that just kills mass PvP, and you can still feel the effect on Atlantean today when any large scale battle attempts to take place, everyone suddenly starts complaining about lag on RK and SL alike.
I could be miles off of course, but everything does seem to be consistent with database backend issues.
Lord "Khalem" Trevallien -=- Fixer Kingpin, proud officer and Loremaster of Ancarim Iron Legion
Sir "Eoemar" Trevallien -=- Supreme Creator
http://ao.shadow-realm.org/ - The Shadowlands Library -=- http://ai.shadow-realm.org/ - The Alien Invation library
http://bebot.shadow-realm.org/ - BeBot - An Anarchy Online Chat Automaton
http://aodevs.com/ - Anarchy Online 3rd party developers resource
"Frustration is not a good emotion when it comes to playing games."
-- Former AO Game Director Marius Enge
They would also have to change/update quests, such as the one in Nascense you get from the researcher to kill the Hiathlins for their body parts, to aid in the research as to why flying vehicles can't be used in SL.
Now, as to the Director's letter, having actually read this entire thread and Sil's responses to questions instead of glancing and responding (as many in this thread seem unable to read a whole thread ), I can hereby say I applaud Sil and the AO dev team and fully support all of the changes/additions Sil has announced. Way to go, Sil!!
Well, no playing on the mac then, oh well. Still really great news to hear; I can hardly wait to see what kind of new stuff you gona add into the game.
Enter the Information Age
Proc Descriptions
Hunt, and be hunted: The Hunting Grounds | Alien Tower Field :Aliens, that really invade!
Pet argo management: Servants Protection | Expand the Notum Silo :Make it worthwhile
Rimor
Tesgri - 220|17|58 (Omni Agent)
Leara - 220|25|62 (Omni Doctor)
Ponygirl - 220|25|56 (Omni Bureaucrat)
Means: "We have done way dumber things than this..."
Hey Sil,
Are you going to Dragon*con again this year?
I think it is an absolutely rediculous idea to have items and money available to buy outside of the game (against the EULA already). You want to be able to keep and grow your player base, this is the WRONG idea.
Us players who are willing to pay for the expansions who have little money are not gonna be able to keep up with all these new so called 'packs'. The game itself is unbalanced between the paid and the free players, throw this out even more and you risk losing a larger chunk of the ao community.
For the last 6-9 months with all the new patches things are realy starting to go downhill, things were good when i first started to play then you started to nerf everything and it's getting to the point where i'm seeing a gradual day to day decline of some of your loyal players being willing to logon and play the game.
You (FC) as a group need to realy get back in touch with your player base and see what players realy think the game does/does not need, not just all of a sudden put on the forums a survey asking what players think about the credit choice.
Not everyone watches forums, instead of posting on forums get an ARK or GM to send a server wide message out about it and give every1 a chance to have a say not 5000 out of god knows how many players you actually have.
My rant and rave over, FunCom itself needs to think back to what the game was like when they had a lot of players and how it is now with more noobs that play for a couple of weeks/months then leave coz your patches are effectively turning this game into a get richer quicker scheme than making a fun game for players.
This is starting to come near my time as a loyal player of anarchy, you do this and people start leaving you will be kicking yourselves when paid players discontinue from paying because they just can't afford to keep up.
FunCom please think what you are doing long and hard before you realy plan on putting it into action.
I say no go for all ideas you have, if these little min packs cost no more than say $5 each maybe you might just keep people in the game rather than losing them.
This is a very interesting letter, Silirrion, it proves the continued interest and effort of FC in AO, and also proves that you guys are willing to try new things to improve the game, and the business model.
I like the concept, it is really flexible in terms of time/resources needed to complete each one of this smaller packs, the actual result of them are to be seen, but after seeing all the latest developments i am thinking positive here.
You have been doing an excellent job as game director as well as the rest of the AO team, people migs like or dislike some of the changes and new things, but it is undeniable that a lot of work and ideas has been put in practice, and you guys have tackled several of the long time playerbase concerns. I wish the best of lucks to this new implementation.
no way would they release items comparable too css or rbp to buy, i think EVERYONE who sepnt the time farming AI raids, creds, CRU, tara points would be PISSED after all the hard work and time spent to farm their armor, only for any noob with rl $$ to go ahead and just buy it.
Are you joking? the last few months of updates were making AO go downhill?
Those were the best things they have done to the game for years, and its great to see that trend is to be continued. As for a while it seemed as if the game had been abandoned.
Its not paying for "Items" its paying for access to content. Thats what every big Expac for any game has. Would it be different in your mind if they held all the "Packs" back 1 year till they collected enough to make a standard Xpac? Since random novelty items were always used as incentives for Xpacs, like the new Yalms with AI.
Just hope they actually make it like buying content (where you need to obtain/make at least some of them) instead of logging in after upgrading and having them all in a drop down menu.
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(Items like "Lost Faith/Hope", "Wreath of Insects", "Chirop Exoskeleton Wing Mesh", "Small Jar", "Old Barrel")
Though.. dont be surprised if items comparable to those come out of dungeon zones from places you bought through the packs. But that in the end is the same as buying AI, and having to work tward getting that armor anyways. Just remember, the best gear, dont matter how long it took to get, should NEVER be expected to stay the best forever.
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*** Krause's Evil WTB Thread! (Weird/Odd Stuff) ***
(Items like "Lost Faith/Hope", "Wreath of Insects", "Chirop Exoskeleton Wing Mesh", "Small Jar", "Old Barrel")
so to get the bikes and boards its going to cost cash. once you pay for it i assume we have to buy the specific board/bike you want with in game money? so the big question will froobs be able to get these smaller booster packs with out having to subscribe to the game, or will you have to be paying to use the new toys?
I personaly think allowing froobs to pay for this content but stay froobs will net you more money from this part of your cash flow then making them subscribe.
I mean this could be a brilliant way to get more then just billboard money from those who otherwise are not putting money in your coffers.
if this has already been pointed out sorry 6 pages of response is hard to sift through.
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Sil, I just want to say that this is an awesome idea, I'm acutely hyped for it, unlike I was for LE. You have done a great job since becoming gd.
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Sent you a PM earlier Sil telling you how wonderful you are doing but I also want to mention it publicly as well. Thank you so very much for boosting this community. Being a GSP DJ, I've noticed it kinda slowing down over the years. These updates are going to be like dousing the flame with Napalm. It's gonna burn hot and for a very long time! GridStream isn't going anywhere!
And I will definitely be at Dragon*Con this year Sil . Can't wait to have a beer with ya again!