Reon

[quote name='Alessan' timestamp='1341228620' post='59999'] Isn't Beta when everything is ready to go but just need testing to make sure there are no errrors or bugs? That is my understanding but aren't we still missing content and areas? [/quote] Industry language has changed quite a bit since this game was released...if my memory served me correctly, there were bugs and missing content in this game AFTER it was released from beta. When I first started beta testing for MMORPG's, Betas would last a long time, and would often be a completely different product than what they started out with. Times have changed though, and often a beta test is simply to make sure their code is optimized to handle a large scale of players and only to polish a few areas up prior to a release...it is not uncommon to see a beta lasting 2 months or so prior to launch date. While I do agree there is much work to be done, I would say this game has been in an alpha stage, and I do agree it is ready to move on to a beta. The main coding is there, most people can agree while there are still plenty of bugs and glitches, with loads of polish work to do, it is more than a proof of concept, and is very playable. What it needs now is some major balancing to the new classes (and some of the old, see the many threads about PW's and JD's), they need to focus on balancing skills and perhaps making old worthless skills functional (see befriend, enrage, ect.), adding content in the form of sectors and missions. Face it, the game might not be ready to go to full release in the next few months, but it is close enough to turn the attention to optimizing the code, adding the missing content, finalizing skills/classes, and fixing the last of the bugs...sounds like a beta test to me. I say enough arguing about what we do and don't have, what the test is and is not...lets ready ourselves for some new stuff to do and try our hardest to break things! P.S. Thanks for the hard work Devs! Thanks for your time!

this ^^^^

Did someone forget to feed the Server Hamster? EDIT: Ack! I know what it is! Someone forgot to put a tinfoil hat on the hamster! Poor little guy was not grounded from the EMP generated by the lightning storms near the servers! Quick! Someone get the little guy to a veterinarian stat!

i am the last one to talk about server numbers, because any time work and family require more attention, this game gets put on a back burner...i mean, my computer broke down and rather than rush to fix it, I was too busy taking care of the house, kid, and looking for work. Me and my wife got booted from builders inc because we had only been there a week and then were gone for two weeks...but life happens. People put real life first, and that is how it should be. Server numbers have declined, but when new content starts making its way in and people with more than one level 150 start having something to do (and credits start meaning something) they will hear about it and return. I think that once the game is polished up and ready for release, server population won't be an issue. A game like this is better than most of the free MMO's you find out there, and there will be plenty of the former ENB live population returning to the game when the emu goes live. I am not too worried about the numbers at the moment, because we still have enough people testing to break the login server...so obviously even with our 70-200 people online we are managing to find stuff to break, so it is all good. People need to remember the game is not complete or balanced, so skills will be fixed, and this is not finished, so soon there should be more sectors, mobs, and missions. Until then, we should continue to blow stuff up and mail the devs energy drinks so they can pull a whole night of coding after working a double shift

look...rather than finger pointing and everything getting out of hand...lets look for a solution...is there anyway that we can give anyone trustworthy access to server reboots? I know it is summer and the devs are busy, and I do not expect them to work full time on this project. With one or two more people with access, then we would have more TPTB to advise of a situation. I understand if that is not an option, and instead will be content to sit back and make aluminum foil and hamster jokes while waiting for a server reset. Thankfully I have enough of a life outside of the internet and computer games I can find something else to do. P.S. I just like playing. So I am more than happy to thank the devs for their work so far, and I won't fly off the handle over a log in server issue. Call it butt kissing or whatever...I just know that you can't ask someone to be 100% devoted to a free project, especially when the community craps out a baby cow because they worked a long shift then had a dinner with friends instead of coming straight home to pander to the 200 people that have a substance abuse problem(myself included).

[quote name='FireRibs' timestamp='1340403106' post='59529'] Server has been down for way over 18 hours Rolo and no one works 18 hours [/quote] other than emergency dispatchers, rescue personnel, factory workers, or any of the other few hundred jobs with shifts longer than 12 hours?

copper costs too much...the economy is bad, I am sure even the African princes are only slightly rich these days. If money was no object, I would use silver...but, we are on a budget here, which is why I proposed squirrels and coat hangers, rather than minks and silver tubing By the way...if it sounds like I am joking, I probably am...or am I? I need my fix...hit me with that stick again...I think it helped.

you are from South Africa fireribs? I once got an email from a prince who lived there that needed my credit card for a currency exchange...I don't normally loan people money...so I didn't. I count it as the one that got away...I could have been rich right now and bought the emu a new log in server and a generator that doesn't rely on hamster power. I would upgrade those suckers to squirrels! Oh, and I would buy some coat hangers and a roll of tinfoil to shield the squirrels from EMP. I hope the log in server is back up soon...I am starting to act weirder than usual.

hrm...well, on consoles they are going to make people pay a fee to play a used game...I knew about that, but I had not seen anything about computer games being hit with that. Should they try to do that, how exactly could they get around it? I mean, if the client is not modified by the devs, and no one is making money off of it, how is it that EA would be able to do anything to people like myself that still have their EA account information, their retail box, as well as game time cards? I did not buy the game second hand, and my EA accounts can prove that...so any laws passed regarding the sale of used games should still not affect anyone with the original game or had an account with EA. I am sure it would force the removal of the hosting of the free demo from net7 though. Either way, hopefully EA does not get their way. Should they ever manage to, I hope that the community can adapt...if EA decides to once again screw us over that the community could work toward making a similar game using an already established game engine(like Crysis or Real,ect). Let us not run around screaming yet, I am hopeful the sky is not falling EDIT: should a former MMO become the target of a used game law, it may be a good thing...what if a court decided that EA would need to receive their fees for the distribution of a used game? The court could determine the original retail price or $9.00 per month would need to be paid to EA for the use of the title, but if that happened, it would force a usable service. I know some people would rather shoot themselves in the foot than pay EA anything, but if it worked out that way, EA would not be able to take legal action and we would not have this whole "Is EA going to shut the emu down" thing to worry about. Cause technically, if any laws passed concern the sale of used games, a ruling should only affect that portion of it...and if the services are not being provided by EA, and we aren't doing anything illegal like modifying the client, all of us would have paid for what we are using and we should be free to play as long as we want.

yeah...really...EA is not some monster out to ruin your day, they are like any other corporation worried about profit, they just have lousy public relations. Some corporations like Apple and Sony will go out of their way to produce a public identity and brand that is pleasing to everyone while trying to make it at least appear like they care for their customers. EA? They aren't quite as worried about that. With that being said, at the end of the day, these aren't like some demon spawn here to destroy everything you love...but they are worried about money...but so is every corporation out there. So, buy small...buy private...support free speech.

You can make some of the people happy some of the time... The good news for you is that none of the people disagreeing with you can force you to equip a different setup. When the game was live, I ran long delay weapons on my JE and JD...I never bothered arguing with people because most of the time they wouldn't listen to you and would use their sango's anyway. I say if people want to do things differently, let them...but don't expect to convert me to the crowd that doesn't use combat cloak...I like my DPS too much. That being said, my JE had skill points in projectiles...why? because I didn't like playing tag with the mob when grouped, and you couldn't transfer power or buff your teammates when you were cloaked behind a mob 5k+ distance from the group. I took flack for having the skill...but I had my reasons, so I never let it bother me. Play how you want to play, just don't expect everyone to agree that your way is best. I wasn't online (if I was I was not paying attention) when this discussion took place, but I have seen enough of this sort of discussion to know how it always plays out...people argue about it until someone gets offended...a complete waste of time.

tempy and myself are not playing much due to two factors, for one, our finances are very tight and we can't afford to donate right now, and for two, we know that this stress test has been running a long time, and that soon we can expect they will move on to an alpha test. We have mostly been trying characters out to see which ones she likes and waiting to see when/if a wipe is coming soon. I know people hate the idea of a wipe, but this is an unfinished game and it will happen eventually...people are expecting it...as soon as there was a rumor a wipe was going to take place soon, it seemed like instead of 100-200 people logged on, it was more like 50-70...now that the wipe hasn't happened it seems like numbers are climbing again. I know the dev's can't post a date otherwise people will hold them to that date regardless of if they are ready to launch alpha, also if a date is released, we can expect that a week or two prior to the date almost no one would log in, which means no real testing would take place in that time. In summary, when it happens, it happens, and I expect that server population will climb when it goes to alpha...in the mean time, thanks to the devs for the countless hours of hard work.

[quote name='Terrell' timestamp='1338157880' post='58340'] To turn it on or off, could require visiting an NPC, or a slash command. Whichever is easier for the Devs to do. A slash command could be something like /pvp on or pvp off. If you want a cooldown on /pvp off one can implement it. [/quote] I like the visiting an NPC best...at least something like that...why not have a "group shrine" for PVP...when you target the nav it opens a mission window, and you can click if you wish to be flagged for PVP or not. If you choose to be flagged for PVP, it puts a "debuff" on you that stays up as though it was an equipped item debuff, and will not cancel or wear off. With said debuff on you, you will now be attacked by (and be able to attack) other players. If you wish to no longer be flagged, target the nav again. You could possibly prevent griefing at the nav or certain other "safe" spots by keeping a gate turret nearby that will engage anyone who initiates fighting(it would be a pain to code I would imagine, but may be do-able). Items could be sketchy for the reasons mentioned above. A debuff however, that seems quite manageable, and will alleviate the concerns I had for someone turning off PVP flag right as they are about to die(and other possible exploits and complaining).

in live it was a progen warship being built, you would turn in ores for a reward. not sure of its status in the emu, but I remember it from live prior to sunset.

Any word yet? Holiday weekend...people must have had places to go and things to do...I wish I did...sitting at home...sick again...hoping that the game comes back online p.s. Thank you to the ENB Emu team for the project...it keeps getting better...keep up the good work and thanks to your devotion to this project!

no offense intended, was just wondering...the wording just sounded like a large amount of sarcasm. I am the last one to point fingers if people do not type out what they meant...usually my posts are a massive wall of text that could have been summarized in a couple of sentences.

[quote name='muse' timestamp='1338061673' post='58291'] Indeed, I don't know if it was just low level or if I angered the wrong person, but more than once I ran into cases of people healing a mob's sheilds/hull and telling me I better not try killing in that sector of space again. Strange too, because I didn't think you could heal mobs in E&B. anywho, I much prefer the EnB of now. [/quote] uhhhh...people healing a mobs shield and hull? so first in the server status thread you post this: [quote name='muse' timestamp='1338052145' post='58284'] 1:07 PM Eastern Daylight Time and the servers are still down with no dev response. No, not complaining, just a sign of how appreciative I am of your work. [/quote] Now you are saying people are cheating and that there is a way to exploit and get people killed by healing mobs? I have just one question... Are you a troll?

uh oh....you know what happened...the server went down a few minutes before I was going to log in...I think I am frightening the hamster or something. maybe I need to get a haircut or switch deodorant brands or something.

Matt, that post of yours is the main reason I am all for PVP zones, or flagging, but not for a server. L2 had a really good PVP system I thought, that helped eliminate many of the PVP griefing issues, but there were many other distinct issues with that game. I tried EVE, even beta tested for them...lets just say the community and some of the key game elements are a disaster waiting to happen. WoW, yeah...played with friends, never paid for a subscription...cookie cutter MMO that has too many immature players. I have had similar experiences to the ones you described. EQ2 had part of their PVP encounters sorted out...their PVP servers were a wreck, but towards the last they got it right after the introductions of battlegrounds. At that time, on full PVE servers, you could go to an arena to PVP against other players on your server, you could duel anyone on your server if they consented and had duels enabled, and you could also select to go to a battlegrounds instance and face other players from any server, including PVP. Winning and earning kills in the battlegrounds earned tokens you could spend on gear that was great for PVP and average for PVE. This kept the lines from being blurred on gear, and allowed you to play against PVP players and win or lose based off of skill, not gear. The best introduction to EQ2 was when they made gear behave differently against other players than it did against PVE...this meant they could do the same with skills...if a weapon was too powerful in PVP, they could nerf it there and not make it suck at PVE. That allowed PVE people to not be hurt by PVP balancing, and it meant the gear designed for PVP was not meant for PVE, so no one would have any reason to ever engage in a PVP activity unless they wanted to. I think a flagging system will eventually be a nice fair system of play, and in the mean time, one or two large PVP zones with things to do and a range of mobs between lvl 30-60 would allow players to have the PVP experience without hurting gameplay. If the Devs keep the skill balancing seperate between PVP and PVE, and never require PVE players to go into a PVP zone unless they want to.

i was talking about dual boxing....it frightened the hamster

well, we both clearly agree on the seeker needing an extra skill set, and not one currently present in the game. I do not want to see a JE, TT, or any other class replaced, rather find a niche for each class. You see, when I discuss balance, I am not talking about things the way they are with tanks having a hard time keeping solid aggro, requiring warp in and out or mash tactics, I am wondering what it would be like if there was a main tank group that was set up with more than one healer...two different types of healers. I agree that without hull patch the JS would be lacking, but if she had a ward to go with her recharge and the group had a TS along for the ride, the two classes could do the job of a TT. While a TT takes only one spot, the TS/JS combo would allow for a different type of buffs/debuffs and healing. I am not suggesting replacement, simply different ways to make all of the classes function well, and keep balanced. This will allow for raids to be tailored to each guilds roster and the needs of the perticular raid mob. I am sure the Dev's do not plan to make any class useless, and there are plenty of good ideas floating around the forums, I expect we will see some new skill sets on the 3 classes soon enough, and hopefully the JS will be better at healing and providing a unique support ability when all is said and done. Oh, and Devs...if you decide to be gracious enough to provide the JS with some sort of cure/buff along with psionic ward, and find yourselves needing to get rid of a skill...please junk foldspace. It is quite redundant...and I personally never find a use for it...maybe other seekers do, but...yeah...between cloak and shield recharge, I have not found a reason to use it.

-shrug- generally in most MMO's if something can't kill quickly, they are given buffs and debuffs or heals to make up for it. sure, cures do help in fights, but will it be enough to make the JS survive long enough to do its job....healing. I think the trader classes have established the role as healers, and if they can't keep themselves alive, they can't do their job. A cure is great, I just see that it will change the support role from a possible main group healer to being a back up healer that is still quite squishy. Rather than being to take as many on a raid as you want, you will only take one or two for curing, because you will need TT's or PP's with level 9 shields and bigger hulls to survive long enough to do the real healing. After ENB went under, I played multiple MMO's(Eq2, Lineage 2, EVE, STO, ect) and raided heavily, and found that much of the raid content was broking and classes were horribly unbalanced for raiding...the long scripts found in EQ2 made it to where each of the 26+ classes were required on many raids, and required a guild to have multiples of each on hand, even though there were only 24 raid slots. I found that the game drew the most players when the devs found balance between the classes and skills and created a place for each class. When they made one class over or underpowered they would loose players and raiding would suck. This game is so much more simple, but I would love to see some of the skills fixed(like enrage) and actually make a place for each class in a raid, and find balance both in groups/raids as well as soloing. If this game had nasty debuffs throughout the levels, the cure would be a big deal, but the debuffs normally will not affect if you live or die...a extra massive ward will. I am not saying the JS should never get another support ability, just saying they need to be better at staying alive, then focus on the fluff. I would love to see her with a massive ward and a type of efficiency buff like you mentioned. I just would like her to be able to do what her class was designed to do...heal...and be able to stay alive and heal well enough to be an option as a main healer...even if not the first pick, to at least be able to be a healer when a TT is not available...I just see them as too squishy to be anything more than back up at this point. who knows, either way, anything they get will be better than the way she is now (probably)...so I guess we can agree to disagree on what the class is and should be. I see healers as a type of support class, but as a seperate entity from other types of support(crowd control, buffers, debuffers, power transfers,ect). To me, healers should be good at healing first, and good at a secondary skill after they are good at healing. I think it is great when healers provide an extra bit of utility to bring to a group, I just think you should not have to bring a extra healer to help keep them alive. So, I want to see Psionic Ward first, and Dispel or buffs/other utility second. My own opinion anyway NOTE: I really do not want to see reactor optimisation go away...can't we take one of the skills they added that doesn't fit well away? Why not make a extra ward be the 1-5 effect(1st one being self, 2nd being other target, 3rd being a group ward), make dispel or one of the buffs you were mentioning the lvl 135 skill, and make reactor op the 1-7 skill?

so, why not keep the patterns, but just modify them? in other words, keep the basic idea, just improve on it. The devs wanted the JS to have psionic shield, but it is too redundant to be useful, right? so, modify the type of psionic shield, turn it into a short term few second group ward against damage, make it stack with normal psi shield and buffs, and call it good. hacking sucks on the TS, right? hacking is a debuff on a mob, so, give them a debuff...why not give the TS a skill that gives mobs -20 resistance to all damage types? In other words, keep in line with what the WW devs had planned, but tailor it to keep classes useful and unique. Replace heals with heals, debuffs with debuffs, and it will make balancing much easier. You don't have to reinvent a wheel that is broken and make it square, you just have to repair it...

*shrug* Jenquai are more defensive from what I see. They were never designed to be offensive...progens were. Jenquai have weak shields and were not meant to pack DPS. Jenquai want peace, and the pursuit of knowlege, not to engage in the art of war. They just do not believe on offense...at least the material I have read over the years says that. Both the debuff devices she gets are not exclusive to her class. Nothing I have seen in regards to the original plans for the JS were ever indicating she was planned to be a debuffer or an offensive healer...nor does it match the back story/lore of the game. I figured with the dispel line that you were wanting the ability to cure benifical buffs from enemy mobs on higher level versions of the skill, if that is not the case, then it is purely defensive. I think new effects are needed as well, I just think that the skill you describe would be a nice fit on a privateer, and that powerful ward would be very nice on the JS to help compensate for the lack of DPS. If you couldn't kill stuff quickly, and couldn't take much damage, would you rather be able to cure a speed debuff from yourself, or have a massive damage shield for a few seconds??? It just makes more sense. If the skill is powerfull enough, combined with the support abilities the JS already has, that will be enough to make her useful in groups and raids. A cure is much better than nothing, but do you really think that will be enough to help her survive in a raid if she is the only healer...no hull patch...no extra heals...just a cure...yeah...a cure is a great idea for a class that has the hitpoints to stay alive long enough to use it...I just don't think the seeker is that class. I am all for the JS getting some love, but I would love to see her get a similar skill the what the devs had in mind to start with. A cure is better than nothing, but it seems like it would be better spent on a PP. I also would like to see some new dev engineered skills new classes...they need to be unique to be needed. The skill I am refering to the JS aquiring is similar to Psionic shield, but still different and will take some dev love to make it work...but in the end would set the JS apart and make her a good healer, and allow her to cope with spike damage and keep herself alive when she is the only healer in group, I do not think a cure will provide that for her. I would love to see a nice debuff make its way to the skill list of the scout, and a cure replace one of the skills on the PP...so I am definately for new dev engineered skills. Finally, PLEASE READ THIS: I do not want the seeker to have psionic shield. I am talking about a psionic ward. A massive short duration damage shield that stacks with everything. not a redundant skill like you keep saying. I do not want a copy of a JD skill...I am talking about a new skill.

well, that is kind of the point, making it so that non flagged pvpers can not be attacked and only flagged pvpers can. Now, I dont think it matters much whether this is a clickable option in your skill window that will be activatable after a certain level or completing a certain quest, or if it is a permanent option that stays after doing a long mission and cannot be undone without completing another long mission. I think the main point of flagged pvp is to be able to have a PVP system without having a seperate server...while keeping noobs and hard core PVE people safe. The flagging is fine as long as you can not flag while in combat, and it should take at least 5 minutes from the time the box is checked untill you can attack another flagged player, and at least that much time after un checking the box before you become immune to PVP. This will prevent much of the greif if a flag system with a check box is used...otherwise people would really abuse the system. Even if a flag system is never set up, a few dedicated PVP sectors should do nicely. I am fine with there being XP in there, nav points, mobs of all levels(just so long as there are no rare PVE drops), even seperate PVP missions in that sector...I just do not want PVE players to have to go in there if they do not want to. No one would be able to complain about PVP'ers getting explore XP from that area because the XP would be balanced out by the debt and equipment damage that is likely to follow...it would provide incentive for non pvp'ers to try it out in order to go mine, try a new mission, or get some explore...but because there would be no real PVE content in there, there would be no major reason for anyone to go in there if they hate PVP. EDIT: As I stated in previous posts, PVP should not take priority over what is a mostly PVE game, and skill adjustments to accomidate PVP should be made seperate from PVE...a PVE skill should never be nerfed over PVP concerns on a standard PVE server. Be patient, I am sure the Dev's will get to PVP after this game is restored to its pre sunset status.