Distension Beta Suggestions/Bugfix thread

[jngy slate]

XFD this is still in beta.

[gdugwyler]

I'm still working at it. Minor setback with the DB stuff, but that's almost working, and that's the biggest part. We may still be on track for next Monday, or we might need to hold it another week. In order to make sure that everything works properly (the end of the test waned and made it so we couldn't test everything as much as I'd like) and there's enough interest, rather than opening full-time it may just be hosted as an event for several hours at different times of the day. Eventually as it becomes more of a staple of TW we can introduce the regular weekday schedule, probably with hosting on weekends.

[2kill]

5 days and change, i can't wait

^^

I'm a bit worryed but I still can't wait

[DankNuggets]

5 days and change, i can't wait

[gdugwyler]

Haven't had a lot of time recently -- lot of work around the house over the weekend, and now I'm packing up for a few days of camping in the middle of nowhere with my dog, my girlfriend, and some illicit and elucidating substances. (It's my birthday this Friday; turning 27 and still looking 17.) I haven't set a date for public release, but have a few things to fix up before we get it out the door, both in terms of the game and the political aspect -- figuring out when it will run and for how long, that kind of thing. One thing that those who are afraid of the elimination of the beta RP multiplier will be happy to hear is that (while the multiplier is still going) each ship will have its base to-rank cost reduced. This may be about the equivalent of having a 1.2x multiplier on at all times. Not much, but something. Yes, the ships are going to take a lot longer to rank up -- but consider it this way: you'll be able to play just about any time you want, and can take a more leisurely approach to playing. Consider it something like a more robust version of pub, where you play for the enjoyment, but also happen to rank up from time to time. Hopefully we can strike a balance. If it seems too grind-heavy, adjustments can be made. I'll probably tone down the amount extra required to rank up in the later ranks as well.

Will get back to the rest of the posts when I have a free moment. I'll start really pushing on Monday of next week, with a projected release of 7/21. That's if everything goes well (particularly thinking the politics/scheduling/moderating side may be tricky).

[roxxkatt]

is there a date set for the public release?
i would recommend 7/14/08 if possible...
or the 21st...


anyone heard anything?

[meddi]

So about this distension thing: what is going on?

I have no interest in reading through this drama-filled BS. Someone summarize important news regarding the "public release" and the times it is currently being run (if applicable?)

[Mjollnir]

Fuck yea!

For having the audacity to give my own views and question what I think is best for this zone ,I should quit the game !

Top notch staffing aquatic

I hope you teach all the staff such tolerant attitudes, remember attitude is 9/10 ths ! we don’t have time for any who disagree or fail to fall in line !!

There is a reason people are bashing your post. It was negative and didn't have any valid points. Distension has a lot of potential and it is the only thing some of the older players enjoy in Trench Wars anymore. Personally, I might still play twd and maybe even other things, if it wasn't for the resolution cap. In Distension there is no such thing and that only adds to it's perks. The pub was always boring and most of the hosted arenas get old really fast. Having a new, totally different kind of game in Trench Wars will only be a positive thing and there is no way the zone will lose people because of it.

[Pressure Drop]

Everyone can have their own wacky theories, it means nothing. Attitude is 9/10 of failure, these people should be quitting the game by themselves rather than sticking around trying to make others feel like they're wasting their time.

Fuck yea!

For having the audacity to give my own views and question what I think is best for this zone ,I should quit the game !

Top notch staffing aquatic

I hope you teach all the staff such tolerant attitudes, remember attitude is 9/10 ths ! we don’t have time for any who disagree or fail to fall in line !!

[Aquatiq]

Everyone can have their own wacky theories, it means nothing. Attitude is 9/10 of failure, these people should be quitting the game by themselves rather than sticking around trying to make others feel like they're wasting their time.

[roxxkatt]

pd, yet again you have reconfirmed your status as an idiot.


to anyone that bothered reading the above post:
qan wouldnt have wasted his time coding it if noone enjoyed playing it.
distension is an rpg, which takes TIME to play, and many people enjoy it.
if it is handled properly, it will not only attract ppl to the zone, but it will hold them there.

if it is handled properly.....
turns out, dist wasnt going to run as planned, 24/7, every day...
now its going to be hosted occasionally, MAYBE 24/7? <_<

[Pressure Drop]

qan I disagree with what your saying despite how nicely you put it. I don’t deny that some people enjoy distension and I could be wrong, these are only my views and in these scenarios there is no clear cut answers. I personally believe that the zone would last longer if minor tweaks where made to pub and marketed at communities only getting onto the internet on budget pc’s, thusly more people would have fun for longer. you believe that distension could gain interest in the zone making the whole zone better and even if it turns out that it is detrimental to the zone at least the people playing it had fun and the zone is going to die anyhow.


To be honest when dugwler started this project I thought at least a new player is showing interest and enthusiasm in the game even if it’s in a misdirected way. I did not realise it was an old coder coming back because he had little interest in the game or people but missed the coding …

Ultimately I now question how altruistic this project was and how much of it was to entertain yourself as the Beta lasted a LONG while and drained one of the most important resources we have left – active players …

There are a lot of staffers that do it for the wrong reasons, rather than purely serve the community, they do it for status and abuse their power. Perhaps coding for the sake of coding can be put in a similar ball park.

Setting up a bot to pm people shouldn’t have been allowed yet I guess this is why you had to sweet talk staff and finally rejoin as qan … further promoting the negative insular old boys club staff is (look at spiders post)

Personally I think everything should be done with a remote view “is this the best for TW” – I’m not against minor change but all for it, however do we need another subarena ?? is that the best thing for tw ?? in my eyes no … pub could be improved and many worthwhile suggestions go overlooked. Rather than spreading out our playerbase over many different games concentrate on uniting the ones we have left and hosting different events.

I’ve no preconceptions that this game will last forever, yet your rolling philosophical analogies seem to miss the point. (your aside is not valid – the vast majority of people grow up and believe in the gods they are taught – over a vast timeframe (lifetimes) these change and are eroded by larger social contacts and political influence ebbing and flowing with time. However for the individual they are as devote a believer in greek gods as they are jesus – some priests loose faith others are fervent) The same with games – look at chess for an example – I think it was invented in the 8th century and has been played ever since being changed here and there along the way and has changed little in present lifetimes other than in that now you can log into the internet and easily get a game of it.


I plan to stop playing this game when I stop having fun – unfortunately this is being exacerbated by the decisions and direction TW is going in, perhaps if TW gave me the power to recreate the game in my own image changing a sub arena with all the changes I’d like to see and after xx months of automatic pming ppl to test it out till I am happy with the balance that will reinvigorate me.:greedy:

anyhow i've said more than enough. I know you've put alot of effort into this and hopefully it will compliment the zone rather than conflict with it.

[Mjollnir]

I am pretty sure that the leveling rate will be too slow after the multiplier is gone. Most of the fun in the game comes from leveling. That's why it becomes increasingly boring at high levels, when you have nothing to look forward to.
It will probably be a more balanced rate at the low levels but I think it will still be too slow. I guess we'll see about that.

[roxxkatt]

RIP Distension Beta: October 2007 - July 2008

last comments:
spid needs to wait till lvl50 for lv2s.
RP TNL needs to be tweaked.
lag settings need to be modified for public use: no more ppl playing with 500ms.
antiwarp pixels need to be set to 160.
opsmine needs to be added.
lanc bullets still need a little slowing.
lagout should have a 1min d/c allowance.
merge jav shrap upgrades.
a decent F1 needs to be added. pm me with a txt file somewhere, and i can make it in 5 mins.


possible future additions:
dist hub, with 3 bots in 3 arenas.
global ops in dist hub arena.
chao's ear wormhole ability idea.
a beta test in #dist before any addition is made to public bots.
rank pictures, and team flag pictures.


its been a long run, hope it goes well...
its a shame i didnt have enough time to get all 8 ships in the top 5,
and that we didnt get to test high ranks...

It's time for the Public Release!

[2kill]

we're just going to wrap up the beta test this week.

Wo ho!

and oh darn

the spider still seems over powered if anyone ever gets it to 47 that brings me right to my next point. Well you want higher levels to take longer they should not be impossible or to the point of annoying, my rank 55 spider needs 300,000 rp to level average kill gives me 500 divided by 9 (the mulitpler) 55 rp per averge kill of the same rank thats 5454 people to kill thats about one rank every two and a half weeks taking that you kill 2000 people a week like I can if I play alot (if I don't play SS alot in a week I get alot less) now the only question I have is... are the round wins and goals have the mulitpler too? or is that what it will give when its released?

looking forward to the new abillities that you are working on once the database switch is done

you've done a great job cya in continuum

2kill