09-26-2016, 08:37 AM
Hey Folks,
First off, we are looking at a public community discussion in the next week or two. We'll likely be organizing it for at least 2 separate times in the same day (weekend) to answer questions that players may have.
As for Development...
Chat
I have worked to improve this a bit more for player's liking. You will be able to move, resize and change the alpha on the chat. These settings are saved on the serverside, so you shouldn't have to reconfigure it each time you open the game
The sporadic scrollbar should also be improved...I noticed there was an issue with it flickering up in history so it was difficult to see the latest messages once this bug triggered.
Private messages are not yet in, but we have prepare the layout for how to make this possible with our new broadcasting system. I definitely see this system being out in October.
You will also be able to click on a player's name for the next new feature:
Inspecting
Clicking on a player's name in Chat, or in the top ranks should allow you to inspect a players primary details (Name, Level, IOU, Guild). It's not a ton, but it's a start to a long overdue feature.
![[Image: inspectshot.png]](http://iourpg.com/ss/inspectshot.png)
New Player Engagement
We learned of a couple major issues with new account creations, one of which was being disconnected if you didn't pick a name quick enough, and the second being issues with finding an available name in the crazy amount of accounts in the database. We have since pruned a lot of inactive low-level accounts to free up over 160k names.
On top of freeing up names, we've also added a Name Suggestion system which should reduce the annoyance level from new players just trying to check out the game, and being cock-blocked by "Username Taken" messages.
Visuals
A few improvements have been made to the Alpha planet, with the addition of shadows to monsters, and the proper monsters within the proper backgrounds. There's an aspect ratio issue but the resolution for that will need to be fixed once we have all the planet's creatures.
You can expect new planet rehauls very soon, along with a new World Select window.
I've discussed a few issues with the current UI to the arthouse for improvements, and hopefully we will see results from them soon enough to clean up the main window more.
I believe the missing text will be fixed in tomorrow's patch, and text size increases have been made in a couple areas where it was difficult to read.
Few minor mentions
SO's from codes will be increased
Guild top rank freezing issue will be resolved
Guild list scrolling will be resolved
We have new tools to debug party issues (offline gains being inappropriate after challenges, for example)
Room stability will be significantly improved (stuck at loading character data? This should either happen far far less, or never again)
What's next?
After the community discussion that will be a bigger carving into stone...however some minor things we are looking at:
-Private Messaging System (as mentioned)
-Queued actions (lag no longer an issue for challenges)
-More streamlined maintenance approach (automated, with notifications as it counts down)
-We're looking at a new approach to updates to offer smaller updates at a higher frequency, but that is to be discussed
-We're looking at ways to skip waiting on the art-house for assets and move forward with new features via commercial pre-made assets in the meantime so we no longer have to keep waiting and waiting on new systems
-I've come up with an idea to offer a way to get answers from the team more quickly, for simple Q&A at any time. Many players have been doing this via ticket's or PM's and plenty are repeats or significantly delayed. I need to have further discussions with the team and get this going for sometime in October.
With the upcoming event more than likely being a double event, and "Winter is Coming", the amount of interference to organize and refocus content development will never be better. I understand there is plenty of dissatisfaction by the lack of new content for end-game players, and we will be tackling that in the discussion and looking to target the best solutions based on agreeable feedback.
Ray
First off, we are looking at a public community discussion in the next week or two. We'll likely be organizing it for at least 2 separate times in the same day (weekend) to answer questions that players may have.
As for Development...
Chat
I have worked to improve this a bit more for player's liking. You will be able to move, resize and change the alpha on the chat. These settings are saved on the serverside, so you shouldn't have to reconfigure it each time you open the game
The sporadic scrollbar should also be improved...I noticed there was an issue with it flickering up in history so it was difficult to see the latest messages once this bug triggered.
Private messages are not yet in, but we have prepare the layout for how to make this possible with our new broadcasting system. I definitely see this system being out in October.
You will also be able to click on a player's name for the next new feature:
Inspecting
Clicking on a player's name in Chat, or in the top ranks should allow you to inspect a players primary details (Name, Level, IOU, Guild). It's not a ton, but it's a start to a long overdue feature.
New Player Engagement
We learned of a couple major issues with new account creations, one of which was being disconnected if you didn't pick a name quick enough, and the second being issues with finding an available name in the crazy amount of accounts in the database. We have since pruned a lot of inactive low-level accounts to free up over 160k names.
On top of freeing up names, we've also added a Name Suggestion system which should reduce the annoyance level from new players just trying to check out the game, and being cock-blocked by "Username Taken" messages.
Visuals
A few improvements have been made to the Alpha planet, with the addition of shadows to monsters, and the proper monsters within the proper backgrounds. There's an aspect ratio issue but the resolution for that will need to be fixed once we have all the planet's creatures.
You can expect new planet rehauls very soon, along with a new World Select window.
I've discussed a few issues with the current UI to the arthouse for improvements, and hopefully we will see results from them soon enough to clean up the main window more.
I believe the missing text will be fixed in tomorrow's patch, and text size increases have been made in a couple areas where it was difficult to read.
Few minor mentions
SO's from codes will be increased
Guild top rank freezing issue will be resolved
Guild list scrolling will be resolved
We have new tools to debug party issues (offline gains being inappropriate after challenges, for example)
Room stability will be significantly improved (stuck at loading character data? This should either happen far far less, or never again)
What's next?
After the community discussion that will be a bigger carving into stone...however some minor things we are looking at:
-Private Messaging System (as mentioned)
-Queued actions (lag no longer an issue for challenges)
-More streamlined maintenance approach (automated, with notifications as it counts down)
-We're looking at a new approach to updates to offer smaller updates at a higher frequency, but that is to be discussed
-We're looking at ways to skip waiting on the art-house for assets and move forward with new features via commercial pre-made assets in the meantime so we no longer have to keep waiting and waiting on new systems
-I've come up with an idea to offer a way to get answers from the team more quickly, for simple Q&A at any time. Many players have been doing this via ticket's or PM's and plenty are repeats or significantly delayed. I need to have further discussions with the team and get this going for sometime in October.
With the upcoming event more than likely being a double event, and "Winter is Coming", the amount of interference to organize and refocus content development will never be better. I understand there is plenty of dissatisfaction by the lack of new content for end-game players, and we will be tackling that in the discussion and looking to target the best solutions based on agreeable feedback.
Ray