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A Brief "State of Haelrahv" Statement
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HR-Trevor
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Joined: 04 Oct 2002
Posts: 6683
Location: Louisville, KY

 Post Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:12 am    Post subject: A Brief "State of Haelrahv" Statement
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I'm sure many of you are curious where the game is going, what the plans of the staff are, and the like. Unfortunately, this isn't going to be an all-informing post, but I did want to say some things about the general direction of Haelrahv's development.

Before I get into that, I need to inform everyone that there's going to be a major shake up, perhaps next week. I am going to be moving from Florida to Kentucky, and Haelrahv will of course be moving with me. I wll take the equipment with me, and thus the game will be down for what I expect to be 11 to 14 hours as the best estimate I can offer.

I am making arrangements to have our new internet connection in place before my arrival so that literally the moment I get in the new house, I'll set up the server, configure it and bring the games and such back up. I know how frustrating it can be to not be able to play for a long span of time. Whatever I can do to shorten that time, I will, including rushing to bring it back up after a long drive over 750 miles.

My reasons for moving are all rooted in family-related issues, but it presents a good opportunity for myself and Haelrahv as well, and I hope that it will open up some new options in the future. Regardless, it's a necessary move.

Of course all trial and paid accounts will be credited a day of service. Our new ISP will be Insight, not Comcast. As many of you know, we've had quite a few problems with Comcast.

I've been very sick since last week, and my health is touch-and-go right now, so I don't know exactly when I am leaving, so I can't announce the day HR will be down for the move yet. I'll provide that info ASAP.

Okay, so about HR:

Areas
We're developing a lot of new areas, which will eventually be opened up as a large-scale release. This includes a wide array of features, including shops, social areas, hunting areas, housing areas and more.

Skill System
The skill system is going to be overhauled to make it a bit more interactive than it is now. I know there's been some concern about this (some people enjoy the current system and don't want to have to do a lot of work to train skills), and to that I want to say that I believe in compromise and I believe there should be compromise here and I will keep that fact in mind as I design the system.

Combat System
Mickey has plans for future combat updates and rewrites. I haven't spoken to him about it at length yet. However, to facilitate this rollout, he and I will be sitting down to discuss his plans, and how I can help him implement them. I have passed down the combat system job so that I can focus on transitioning HR and then working on CL, but I am going to take part in the big stuff where I can, simply to ensure it's rolled out within a decent timeframe.

Randall will be involved in the discussions because he heads up magic and psionics, and we want to make sure all aspects of combat are well-balanced.

Justice System, PVP
Mickey has done a lot of work on Justice and it's getting close. When it's in, PVP will once again be in. Expect some tweaks and such post-release, of course.

Profession Face-lift
I think it's time we look at our professions and give them all a face-lift. This first involves looking at all the profession abilities gained at various levels, and restructuring them. The level you gain a certain ability at may be changed, new abilities added in gaps, etc. Not all of our professions have gurus (we just don't have that large of a staff, especially programming staff), so I will be looking at many of the professions myself.

Item/Gear Overhaul
This is going to be a big event, but a necessary one. We all know that HR was intended to be sort of a beta phase thing and wiped and go to the "real thing", but that never happened. We need to wipe out the way we've done bonuses, gear, etc and rethink it. I don't have any details on this yet because it's only been thought out at the most basic level, but expect major changes to equipment in the future.

Economy Re-alignment
Again, wealth is totally out of whack. Many activities pay way too much, while others pay way too little for the work involved. Pricing is all over the place. We'll be working out new guidelines for all of these issues. There may be a sweeping adjustment to existing player wealth. Yes, we may nuke some of your wealth. Then again, we may grant you wealth out of the clear blue, if you seem particularly impovrished for your level.

This will be done according to a formula used to determine one's wealth versus expected wealth (based on your experience total) - it will NOT be a decision by a GM. It will be applied equally to everyone. When all's said and done, the idea is that you'll be able to do a wider range of activities without feeling like you're missing out on money making potential. You'll also be able to more reasonably afford luxuries if you don't work on money making hardcore.

Character Manager / Tutorial
HR needs a tutorial for new players and a revision of the character manager would be nice, so that'll happen. Barring unforseen complications, the Alajsh will become a playable race during this CMgr revision.

HR Engine Improvements
One long-term goal is a major rewrite of the HR engine which will allow us to change how data is stored. The goal is to reduce character/world data save times or make them completely transparent. I hired someone to work on this task earlier this year, but he just wasn't able to get a working version that was stable. I will be looking into this again in the future. This is one of those things we can't realistically do in-house and will hire a contracted programmer to do.

Server Upgrades
Pete Souza (GD-Exxy) has been speccing out a new server for Eaxia and the websites and such, which he hopes to put together perhaps in February or so. Moving these services off of the equipment HR uses will be a benefit to both games (and the forums/sites). Additionally, I hope to build a new server for HR as soon as possible.

Custom Game Client
We're still looking to build a custom game client to play HR (and EO, and CL) with. Randall has been working on this client, but he has a whole lot on his plate in real life, much less in HR. Still, this is an important long-term goal.

So, there's some details. I am sure I forgot to mention some things, but as I mentioned, I'm sick and full of pain meds, so I guess I have somewhat of an excuse. Wink

Comments, thoughts, questions welcome.
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HR-Trevor
Boss Type Guy


Joined: 04 Oct 2002
Posts: 6683
Location: Louisville, KY

 Post Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:47 pm    Post subject:
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The mentioned server move will be occuring tomorrow, Wednesday, 12/19/07. We'll be taking the server down somewhere between about 5-6PM Eastern.

The equipment will be set up and the new ISP in place Thursday morning, sometime between the hours of 10-12PM most likely. However, due to the necessary propagation of the new IP address, role-players.com and our other domains won't resolve for many players for a period that generally takes from a few hours to 24 hours, depending on your ISP.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for all your support!
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-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy
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