Friday with Means - March 27th, 2009

[Autumnleaf]

Hello Means!

I´m very happy about each Friday with Means! Great job!

I´ve one question for you:

Whats about DNW? I hope you won´t forget us because many of us are very happy about all "Friday with Means" news.

Some people think you have forgotten us but I still think that there are many thinks that you have to do like the engine, patches or new content for example.

Maybe you could write something about DNW in the next "Friday with Means" like a little statement on the population situation on DNW? This would help a lot and should show many DNW players that you won´t forget us.

Greetings from DNW to you and your team! (and of course to all AO players on Atlantean and Rimor!)

Millarks

[Warhead]

Any chance we could get a temporary NPC [maybe for like 3 weeks] that will reset Map Nav for us, so we don't have to dequip all our ****?

And those who arent around for that period of time are screwed? Did you really waste THAT much IP into map navi so you have to reset it immediately instead of waiting for the next chance to take your symbs out? Jesus...

I only ask because for those who have used their full IPReset already, they sort of missed out :x

What kind of logic is that? You are aware that there are single IP reset points, are you? And they work just like the full IPR, just for a single skill instead... so, what exactly do you think did you miss out on? Is it because you wasted all your IPR already? Go buy one...

[ArienSky]

If FC is smart, they will discontinue the Professionals program. It's not like Professionals are much more than a glorified name tag anywho. FC is all the time ignoring them.

Hmmm...now that I think about it, that might be why some of the Pros go emo on the forums often. I could sympathize with that I suppose.

I can tell you what the professional program is about:
it is promising to spend some time to relay information from the profession forums to AO management.

It is like choosing one person to petition, instead of having a whole raid petition, clogging up the system.

It would be a shame to discontinue, as there are many good Professionals, on the other hand I agree that there are inappropriate people being professionals.
It would be an idea to disbar professionals that have there posts deleted for being rude, just like policemen loose there jobs when doing something criminal.

On the other hand I think there should be larger punishments for disruptive users as well. Like one of the FWM questions (that was deleted from google moderator) on enforcing the rules of conduct on the forum more, instead of accepting the anarchy it is now.
I think the moderators are doing a good job weeding out the bad post, but the offender just return soon after doing the same thing.
I would like punishments to be exponential, so the first punishment is little.. so people have a chance to come back and be good, but that repeat offenders should get punishments so they do not return soon after.

Improved various tools to help GMs handle chat spammers.

I can hope that means the forum too.

I think this post is bordering what should be written to support instead of being talked about on the forums, on the other hand we have the above quote that there are new crowd control tools for the GMs, so I wonder if that stretches into the forums.

Kind Regards
Ariensky

[Kaylinne]

There's professions without any (Advies? I don't know what others)

Fixers...... of course.

[Tazalanche]

Instanced Cities:
Macrosun has taken it upon himself to create the instanced cities that have been long requested by the player base. This will be difficult...but he feels he is making good progress. The instanced nature of these playfields will make it impossible to have player owned shops...but the city bonuses and alien attacks should now be available to everyone. This is a long way from completion but at least work has begun on this issue that has been with us for a long time. "Normal" cities will still retain value due to their size and their player shops...but more AI content will now be available to all. I'm hoping we can also grant fr00b access to the org HQ's at the same time.

For example I didn't fully realize how much people were affected by the spammers in game...work has already been done to make this problem easier to deal with (something not easy in a game that offers free accounts..) and we look forward to having better ways (less player driven) in the near future to deal with this issue.

An 18.1 Preview from Macrosun (All Hail!):
18.1 code features sneak peak/preview:
Here's a short preview of code-related changes in 18.1:

• Instanced cities. You can only have one city at a time (meaning you can't have both a non-instanced and instanced one), and shops will not be allowed in the instanced ones.
• Improved various tools to help GMs handle chat spammers.

Thank you for the updates on these.

Synch Issues:
We have for some time been working on a more permanent solution to the "synch/lag" issues that seems to be randomly affecting players for some time. Within the next month we should have test dimensions up and running at another provider that will hopefully perform better during peak hours. Setting the game up itself isn't difficult, as we publish new servers etc all the time, it is the arcane art of monitoring/error reporting/billing/support tools for AO that is difficult. Either way I am very much looking forward to examining results from this new server/network environment. If all looks well we will move to the new environment as soon as humanly possible. Of course I will let you know when.

Please provide some updates on this.

[IHaveHugeNick]

Looking at this thread, my judgement would be they are going to scratch the professional program completely , because they are afraid they might recruit even more emo raging drama queens next time. And Famine is MIA because he had to cut off all communication and tries to find peace with himself while hiding in a tent in Himalaya.

[vadagget]

""Is there any chance of modifying the names of items like Arul Saba Bracers or the upgraded Reanimator cloaks to make their specific type clearer? (ex. "Fire - Arul Saba Bracer - 5/5 - Right" and "Cloak of the Reanimated Jester - 5/5")"

Yes. There is potential to change the names of items that share names but not stats. PM me a list of the most annoying ones...and they will get done when we get a chance."


This sort of response worries me a bit. It tells me that Means has never tried to locate Arul Sabas on GMS. Would have preferred something like "We know it's virtually impossible to shop for Aruls, and we're getting around to fixing that sometime". It's the sort of thing you can only understand if you actually play the game and try to do such chores. Also, might make for a good rule for Dev's to follow that they cannot create items which have the same names but different stats (excluding, of course, items who merely differ in QL). Things like Reanimators cloaks and Rollerrat helmets fall into a grey area, as they have different QL's and stats scale but they arrived at each QL thru a tradeskill process.

[Technogen]

shop by ql?

Means your suggestion would be the best and easiest, just make them ""{TYPE} - Arul Saba Bracer - {#/5} - {Side}. Same for the cloaks, and I would suggest doing this for any more step items from now on.

[griddingyou]

"Part of our delay this week was related to a new issue with monsters suddenly gaining out-of-combat regen while fighting in the latest version."

I thought I was crazy on this one, I had been camping the notum trainee after the latest version went live, never had a problem soloing it, but with the crazy HP regen it took me over an hour thanks to crat stuns. glad to see this is getting fixed, I noticed this on alot of RK and SL dynas.

[juksrz]

I will try to get through some more of your concerns during the week. I'm sorry if I didn't get to yours.

how about pm's? fancy actually getting through some concerns given there too? or email? last time i sent a mail to famine/soulwish meant for u over 4 months ago, then got a reply from famine/soulwish saying "if you still got those problems please re-send your email", only to do so and up to now STILL get no reply (again)

[*] Instanced cities. You can only have one city at a time (meaning you can't have both a non-instanced and instanced one), and shops will not be allowed in the instanced ones.

how about increasing plot size for some "medium" cities? there's 1 city i know off with 1 "pixel" size too short to place a mining ops building, and we can't remove any other buildings to replace either cause of the room shortage, thus for such orgs an instanced city to place a mining ops would be the only option (or either disbanding all their shops to get a big instanced one, or spending billions on a bigger plot, meaning all the hassle of trading / selling & then buying cities)

Would be nice perhaps to let orgs have both an non-instanced AND instanced city, but only allow the buff-buildings once in total (so if u got mining ops in non-instanced, don't allow it in instanced for that org)

[Berinda]

The mail system I am not a huge fan of personally...as I like that people congregate together to exchange items/credits...it is social and nice to actually see each other now and then. I have played other games with these systems in place and never really liked that I could not see members of my org for weeks at a time..yet exchange items etc with them all the time. Travel in AO is really quick and easy...so a quick visit with your friends never felt like a "bad" thing for me.

One compromise is found in the game The Perfect World. Mailboxes are found only in major cities, and it takes about an hour for a mailed item to show up in someone else's mailbox. If AO adopted a similar system, seeing someone in person who is logged on would be a far quicker alternative than mailing, which would typically be used when two people are busy in different areas or are not logged on at the same time.

[Mekh]

Looking at this thread, my judgement would be they are going to scratch the professional program completely , because they are afraid they might recruit even more emo raging drama queens next time. And Famine is MIA because he had cut off all communication and tries to find peace him himself while hiding in a tent in Himalaya.

/agree

[Solsssss]

and now....
look at this "new ammo" from the "Xan of Sloth"
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9...ri1024x768.jpg
how funny

XD

Lol

[Windguaerd]

My personal opinion, is to do a "reboot" of the professional program. Start over, just poll in the prof forums here and have an election, players decide who will represent them.

However there should be NEW guidelines for the program. For example a professional as a representative of the community, can't go on a rage posting and insulting people (or just trolling). Also being very active in his prof forums and allowed to speak with the Game Director himself once every 6 months (not through PM's, but LIVE, either in-game, IRC or an IM program) for ONE HOUR.

ARK Community Relations should be fully in charge of the PP (if they aren't already) and making sure all professions have a representative at ALL TIMES.

Professionals also should be rewarded for their dedication, every full year served should have rewards similar to the ones ARK's get.

The point of this post, is that I believe that all players want their profession represented properly by someone with a cool head that will address the people upstairs in a respectful and mature manner so they will in turn consider changes/upgrades/balances which may be needed by the community.

Just my 2 creds.

[Hacre]

My personal opinion, is to do a "reboot" of the professional program. Start over, just poll in the prof forums here and have an election, players decide who will represent them.

However there should be NEW guidelines for the program. For example a professional as a representative of the community, can't go on a rage posting and insulting people (or just trolling). Also being very active in his prof forums and allowed to speak with the Game Director himself once every 6 months (not through PM's, but LIVE, either in-game, IRC or an IM program) for ONE HOUR.

ARK Community Relations should be fully in charge of the PP (if they aren't already) and making sure all professions have a representative at ALL TIMES.

Professionals also should be rewarded for their dedication, every full year served should have rewards similar to the ones ARK's get.

The point of this post, is that I believe that all players want their profession represented properly by someone with a cool head that will address the people upstairs in a respectful and mature manner so they will in turn consider changes/upgrades/balances which may be needed by the community.

Just my 2 creds.

Also stop with the stupid rules of x number of infractions or if you've ever been banned, regardless of how stupid the reason/ban term means you can't apply for Professional.

Most of the people that would make great professionals, are very vocal on the forums and as such have probably bent (or broken) a rule or two. This shouldn't rule them out of the running but rather each case should be taken on its own merits.

[Kaylinne]

Most of the people that would make great professionals, are very vocal on the forums and as such have probably bent (or broken) a rule or two.

Breaking a rule or two is one thing. However calling people names and similar behavior is not what I would care to see from professionals.
Heck, I have been vocal enough on this forum and yet I got 2 infractions in almost 4 years, one of them for posting something OOC in RP forum.
How far you have to go and be banned then?

You may think that nothing but being "uber" player in your profession matters in this game - but it does for some of us.

[shadowgod]

My personal opinion, is to do a "reboot" of the professional program. Start over, just poll in the prof forums here and have an election, players decide who will represent them.

However there should be NEW guidelines for the program. For example a professional as a representative of the community, can't go on a rage posting and insulting people (or just trolling). Also being very active in his prof forums and allowed to speak with the Game Director himself once every 6 months (not through PM's, but LIVE, either in-game, IRC or an IM program) for ONE HOUR.

ARK Community Relations should be fully in charge of the PP (if they aren't already) and making sure all professions have a representative at ALL TIMES.

Professionals also should be rewarded for their dedication, every full year served should have rewards similar to the ones ARK's get.

The point of this post, is that I believe that all players want their profession represented properly by someone with a cool head that will address the people upstairs in a respectful and mature manner so they will in turn consider changes/upgrades/balances which may be needed by the community.

Just my 2 creds.

well.. for obvious reasons, i dont think most of the current, still-hanging-around professionals should be removed just for a "reboot" of the system. as theres a few quite good at what they're doing, and know how to properly test out things.

the professionals dont get paid, or anything special. in theory we get better access to the devs, thats it. and trying to hold a professional up to some high standard of a paid employee when it comes to what they can and cant say, just isnt realistic.

the rare occasion any professional really does make a bad post, they do get a yelling at by FC. so its not without punishments. however, theres the saying of "one man's troll is another man's brilliant writer". everyone here can point to someone who they beleive posts nothing but flame bait, while half the people will point to those same baiters and call them great posters who say things that need to be said.

Means has a different managing style than his predisessors. and i think hes still trying to work out alot of methods, towhich he just hasnt gotten around to the professionals program yet. and that could be considered fine, when looking at the whole.

alot of current professionals want to do more, and expand what their roles are. but still requires FC take the time to talk to them.

and lastly, there should not be hard requirements on devotion of time. as i'm sure many people here have experienced times where work-life becomes very hectic, or personal-life has, and for a few weeks you just cant devote much time to just a game. some of the most brilliant people we have in the community, also lead very full lives, that know a game shouldnt take presidence over the paycheck that pays for the game, or other more "down to earth" areas. so i'd hate for such people to miss out on contributing great work cause of this.

Not to mention theres people who do more than just being a professional. as i'm not only a member (shame i'm not the president as well!), but i also oper FC's irc server (one of only two active at that). and course, i have some other minor projects i'm doing for FC.

[shadowgod]

Breaking a rule or two is one thing. However calling people names and similar behavior is not what I would care to see from professionals.
Heck, I have been vocal enough on this forum and yet I got 2 infractions in almost 4 years, one of them for posting something OOC in RP forum.
How far you have to go and be banned then?

You may think that nothing but being "uber" player in your profession matters in this game - but it does for some of us.

and i'd like to see people also reprimanded for calling professionals names. as it seems people think its perfectly fine for people they perceive to have more power to be attacked, but lord forbird it might happen the other way around.

so i'm all for equal treatment of things like this. we're all human after all (well, most of us).

[Hacre]

Breaking a rule or two is one thing. However calling people names and similar behavior is not what I would care to see from professionals.
Heck, I have been vocal enough on this forum and yet I got 2 infractions in almost 4 years, one of them for posting something OOC in RP forum.
How far you have to go and be banned then?

You may think that nothing but being "uber" player in your profession matters in this game - but it does for some of us.

I said nothing about excusing people for being asshats all the time.

[Kaylinne]

I said nothing about excusing people for being asshats all the time.

Well being banned *usually* does mark someone as asshat in my opinion. People dont get banned for just one wrong post in wrong mood. So how many such posts is enough to be marked as "asshat"?

I would like to see professionals with social, not only gameplay skills.