Basilisk extended downtime 08/09/2017

[shadow2kx]

But why can't you actually play those class's on nova? You don't have to use the frog to learn the skills.

I bet you went imperial, stormcloaks were the right choice btw.

Why doesn't everyone who wants the character limit set to two characters just delete their other eight? The answer is basically the same. You want to play the game you remember, but at the same time, you want to compete. SWG is as much about social interaction as it is competition. Nova has none of that.

And no, Hadvar was going to cut my head off. Screw that guy.

[sugarlizard]

Coming from a lower population server on Live, I always thought 3 character slots would be the perfect number. This would give everyone a chance to play at least one character with the profession build they loved and allow for 2 'community assistance' characters. Even the reverse would work. Sure, not everyone would follow that formula but having that 3rd slot would have been so helpful to many of us back in the day.

[Litintha]

Gotta say, everyone here is responding really well to a potential database wipe.

Last time I saw a server say they had a database wipe was back when Molten-WoW was a thing, and everyone flipped out over that.

It's really nice to see that the SWG community is WAY above that.

[diclarkio]

I keep seeing a lot of junk about economies and interdependence.

That would mean a lot more if this were a game.

It isn't.

As others have pointed out, this is development exercise disguised as a game, destined to be wiped sooner or later. More knowledgeable folks than me have explained why a wipe isn't Plan A, but it has nothing to do with whether or not people want to buy stuff from other people. Nor is it about preserving (or for that matter, destroying) the status quo for the benefit or convenience of us stress-testers. As far as I know, the "economy" isn't being stress tested. Don't bother arguing that crafting would be tested more thoroughly if there was more of a profit motive, that's magical thinking.

When the project becomes a game, intended to persist and please a community of players instead of testers, then we can get all hot and sweaty about interdependence, and the economy, and all those other meta-games.

In short, the problem isn't implementation, it's a problem of expectations.

Hey hey, how's things?

You're right - the object of the server is testing new code in prep for 1.0... for that reason (and others) I really hope no wipe happens.

There has to be a balance struck though, as the sheer timescales involved mean you need to retain a fair degree of goodwill from the community. Dogmatic pursuit of project goals needs to be tempered by the need to make the testing enjoyable or you risk toiling over lines of code for many many years and end up with a very empty Suncrusher server in 202x.

I personally think the balance is struck pretty well most of the time by the way...

[shadow2kx]

just leaving this quote here for people to read over again.

Yes, we know. But the more players you have, the more things get tested...whether they intend to be doing it or not. Because testing isn't strictly about QA sessions, it includes playtesting. Controlled testing only reveals so much. It's why beta tests of almost every game exists these days, so that many more things get randomly tested. So that players can "play", and randomly stumble across things that nobody would ever think of sitting down to test.

It's why game developers actively encourage more people to just sit down and play. They may give them a list of things that players should actively seek out to test. But they also encourage them to just run around and have fun, knowing that these players will do things the devs never thought would happen and could reveal game breaking issues prior to launch.

Perhaps the SWGEMU devs could learn a thing or two from the way actual paid developers run their alpha/beta testing phases. I mean, we've heard many times, SWGEMU just volunteers, right? Perhaps there's something to be learned from the professionals in this case.

[waynea]

Because we had 10 chars, I screwed around and tested a lot of things I normally wouldn't touch. I rolled a master CH. I rolled a BE Smuggler. I tested the speed of pets. I tested the BE crafting of pets. I tested mask scent and feign death. All things that were changed over the last couple of publishes. Gave feedback that the devs would not have otherwise gotten had I been limited to two chars. Because with two chars, I'd play only what I enjoy, not what needed to be tested and fixed.

Look, I get it. The economy is messed up because of 10 chars. I hate that. It's why I only log onto Bas to test things, and generally play on private servers these days. So on one hand, I'd love a wipe, as I'd come back.

But on the other hand...two chars. I'd have a PvE toon, and a PvP toon. And they wouldn't be testing much of anything. That's just the truth, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

You are better fit for nova 99.9% players are not like you you should make nova your home

[rambo1990]

i would totally come back after a wipe. two character minimum has been a debate since i can remember joining these forums. 2 - 3 toon limit would benefit the server greatly, but people will work around it if they really want more.

[waynea]

well if stress testing the server is the goal then they should let us have 2 afk toons and 2 active ones. by making it so no one can AFK buff for instance then no one can really do anything unless there is an active doctor on line or a entertainer.
if you think someone is going to at the keys a dancer all day your high.

speak for yourself there's alot of players that love doing it for the social aspect. IN live on my server kit they grouped and charged and split the money and had fun socializing all day

[ebayne]

Yes, we know. But the more players you have, the more things get tested...whether they intend to be doing it or not. Because testing isn't strictly about QA sessions, it includes playtesting. Controlled testing only reveals so much. It's why beta tests of almost every game exists these days, so that many more things get randomly tested. So that players can "play", and randomly stumble across things that nobody would ever think of sitting down to test.

It's why game developers actively encourage more people to just sit down and play. They may give them a list of things that players should actively seek out to test. But they also encourage them to just run around and have fun, knowing that these players will do things the devs never thought would happen and could reveal game breaking issues prior to launch.

Perhaps the SWGEMU devs could learn a thing or two from the way actual paid developers run their alpha/beta testing phases. I mean, we've heard many times, SWGEMU just volunteers, right? Perhaps there's something to be learned from the professionals in this case.

If the devs are dissatisfied with the amount of data they are collecting, or the number of sessions required to get it, or the number of days it takes to get a given amount of that data from those sessions, and they believe that a more realistic economy or interdependence dynamic will address that dissatisfaction, then I say go for it. But the subjective experience of users still isn't the goal, it is a means to an end. I haven't seen any indication that they are underwhelmed by the amount of data they are collecting or the time it takes to get it; I don't speak for them, just to my own observation.

[waynea]

Why doesn't everyone who wants the character limit set to two characters just delete their other eight? The answer is basically the same. You want to play the game you remember, but at the same time, you want to compete. SWG is as much about social interaction as it is competition. Nova has none of that.

And no, Hadvar was going to cut my head off. Screw that guy.

I think most of the people on bas has no idea of what nova is about. At one point we only had nova. I Built and maintained a city through 3 wipes. Most all players lived in my city. We had fun. Devs would spawn NS, Gorax etc in the city occasionally. we crafted we competed. Ivojedi loaded in, his first time playing and walked to my city and gave me a hacked crystal. nova iS no difrent than bas. You can go there and do the same thing with an effort. But lets get 2 chars on bas now. NOVA is a place to where you can play your style what ever it is. We had med center cantina combat every thing that bas has

[ginsu]

Anyone who wants a wipe is broke...and guess what...give it a year and you'll be in the same situation. I'd want a wipe too if I were broke and bad at this game.

I don't agree with that. It seems more like lots of ppl think the economy is broken, due to the fact that players have to many toons and dont need to relly on other players for nothing.

[Ivojedi]

I think most of the people on bas has no idea of what nova is about. At one point we only had nova. I Built and maintained a city through 3 wipes. Most all players lived in my city. We had fun. Devs would spawn NS, Gorax etc in the city occasionally. we crafted we competed. Ivojedi loaded in, his first time playing and walked to my city and gave me a hacked crystal. nova iS no difrent than bas. You can go there and do the same thing with an effort. But lets get 2 chars on bas now. NOVA is a place to where you can play your style what ever it is. We had med center cantina combat every thing that bas has

I'm baffled by this. I wasn't even around when we only had Nova.

[ebayne]

Hey hey, how's things?

You're right - the object of the server is testing new code in prep for 1.0... for that reason (and others) I really hope no wipe happens.

There has to be a balance struck though, as the sheer timescales involved mean you need to retain a fair degree of goodwill from the community. Dogmatic pursuit of project goals needs to be tempered by the need to make the testing enjoyable or you risk toiling over lines of code for many many years and end up with a very empty Suncrusher server in 202x.

I personally think the balance is struck pretty well most of the time by the way...

Hey man, long time no see.

I get your point about Suncrusher, but I get the sense that "toiling over lines of code for many many years" is kind of the point for the devs now. It may have started as a love song to a dead game, but now it's just the Matrix. Most don't and won't play the game for fun. 1.0 will undoubtedly give them a sense of satisfaction, but I imagine my satisfaction, or yours, or any user's, will be a small fraction of theirs. In short, I think most of them would be perfectly happy to have thrown the Suncrusher party even if no one came.

That those of us on the client side of the project get a fair approximation of a game we loved as a by-product is a bonus. We're here to serve their purposes; any expectation or belief that the reverse is true just leads to frustration.

[rwp389]

I'm baffled by this. I wasn't even around when we only had Nova.

If i remember correctly, which i may not, there was at one point only 1 server up. It may not have been called nova, but it was a test server type. We couldn't do anything except run around theed and fly tie fighters sub orbit. The SWGemu team has made an amazing amount of progress. I am very happy that this game is being revived and will be playing for the rest of my years most likely.

[dannuic]

There was a point where we only had Nova. That was back when cRush and kyle were around, before ivo.

There was also a server called Liberator sometime just before the OR hit.