Its just my opinion, that the most efficient thing to do is to not worry about new players get on with every patch at the exact moment a new patch occures.

Instead, take a month:
some developers working on tweaking the current EQEmu.
some devolopers find what needs to be updated for the current EQlive patch.

Accept the fact the people new to EQEmu might haveto wait a bit, make sure current user knows it is their reponsability to make a backup of the current working EQlive patch.

-Jerry

Jerry, I hold you personally responsible for making the newbies pleasant when they come too late into a patching period.

:) Welcome to the wrecking crew. :twisted:

But it avoids the distribution of the files. That keeps it legal.

And there isn't a freeze exactly. More of a check-point. A time when the emu is known to be compatable with the client. As it is updated the patcher restores a more current version automatically. So it would be keeping backups of several releases of the client.

If a new person came in when it was broken, he would have to wait for the emulator to catch up to the oldest version of the client that he has. Maybe a "whine" button could be added to the gui to make it easier for them....

It isn't the best way to do it maybe, but it would be 100% legal and take the need for the player to keep track of what version he has and do it for him.

another possibility
 

I have an idea that will avoid warez and still let everyone play with a non changing version possibly. Im not great at programming nor do i know the ins and outs of the eq file system so if this wont work disregard it. My idea is why can't we all buy the eq evolutions disk set and just use that as the base version non patched. never patched. any noob can buy the disks and its all legal. Is there any reson that this would not work?

um, minor comment Wumpas.

Do you know where the client was patched to when the Evolution master disks were sent to the publisher for manufacturing?

I know that I don't, but at a guess I'd say it was at least a few patches before they actually hit the market.

Plus, there are many that just plain refuse to spend yet another wad of $ on software they already have, just to get it in a prettier package.

Don't get me wrong, I think its a good idea, but I believe it to be outside the scope of EQemu's intent. Now if you could find people willing to do side developement it might be a different story.....

Anyway, afk again until the next go round.

Who wants to buy more EQ CDs?

in reply to above
 

In reply to the above few posts I think the ability to be able to stop playing catch up and instead be able to work on the MANY little things like real eqlive like pathing and other goodies that may be in the scope of posibility if the devs didn't have to spend every waking miniute updating to LIVE. Sure LDON and anything newer wouldn't work but does it have to? Theres already alot of content up to this point and It's my feeling that it would be nice to see the blanks all filled in.

29 dollars is not much of a sacrifiece hours of coding to stay caught up to LIVE definatly is. If im totaly left base with this idea im sorry but id still like to know what the devs think about the idea. as far as what the patch status is on the cds would have to be figured out and the coding for the emu changed acordingly but after that No more catch up work !!! : ) then the devs could work on bigger better things. (aka everything else)

In the last week, Grouping, Spells, Trading, AAs, and more things that I don't know about have been added to 5.0. That's along with 2 patches, so I don't see any arguement for those who say to freeze catching patches and to add more features. Only about 1% of the members on this board listen, so every time there is a patch there are 40 new posts about 1017 error and not being about to connect because of new patch. So why stay up with EQLive? Because if they didn't, no one would be able to play.

Wumpas, I see your point, don't believe that I don't. Also, I believe I said it was a good idea.

The problem is not the idea. The problem is, the dev's have set a course, and they intend to follow it. All of their efforts are aimed that way.

Try driving for 300 miles and then remembering a random signpost 200 miles or so back, chosen by a third party near the end of that trip. You would be hard pressed. Even if you had documented EVERYTHING continuously on the trip it might take days of research to find that exact signpost and the information contained on it.

So, with the dev's dedicated to making a good and working server that works for anyone that just happened to trip over the site, their time is used up. Period. They don't have the time to keep track of every patch for the last 6 weeks, let alone the last 6 months or even more.

To get a working server for any past release of the EQ client (as it comes out of the shrink wrap) might require months of research, even if you had the old server data to work from. Which equates to time the dev's don't have. And since they don't want to work in that direction anyway, the results would be less than optimal.

SOE makes changes regularly, partially in an attempt to keep interest level up for hardcore players, partially to attract new players, but I'm sure partially to thwart the efforts of devs like those you find here. The rules change almost constantly. That makes it impossible to test against old versions of the client. (Using the earlier example, its like having every trace of that signpost's existance erased except memories of it, and having to EXACTLY reproduce that signpost in every detail.) Meeting the expectations of similar play varies widely depending on the level, class, race, ad infinitum. The only way to be able to test against those expectations is to stay current with the live servers. Plus the devs rely on players for data collection, which I don't know if you've noticed, but it seems there aren't many willing or able to supply it, which means they have to go get it themselves (more time lost from actual coding, and longer delays in matching expectations). If even 1 percent of people playing live also played the emu and 1 percent of them provided reliable needed data (the key here is needed) the devs might be able to meet those expectations faster, and the issue of matching a shrink wrap version would be a moot point, cuz you don't have to have an active account to patch.

If that doesn't work for you try finding someone that has the old data and will share it. Find some devs willing to work towards static compliance with a shrink wrap client. Perhaps it might even be easier to find devs willing to build a client from scratch that uses the data from those shrink wraps and a different kind of custom server. Heck, legal issues might even prevent that. I just don't know.

If you program at all, I am sure you will understand that what you are suggesting is a huge change in direction with massive time requirements. Expecting the current dev's to spin on a dime just isn't feasible and its a bit disrespectful of the work they've done to this point.

I dabble in programming, and would love to have the talent to work on what you suggest. BUT, I don't have the skill or the time at this point. If I did have those tho, I'd probably dedicate it to helping the current dev's get where they want to be with EQemu, or useful 3rd party tools, rather than reinventing the wheel with EQ, or I might just build a better client and hook up with others for original content. Sounds simple, but pracical application proves to be just a bit [sarcasm added] more difficult.

Again, its not a bad idea. But think about all the consequences and requirements of what you are suggesting and compare those against where it seems the current devs desire to go. It's not as simple as it may appear to be on the surface when everything is considered.

P.S. If you detect any flamage while reading this, check around your computer or get your detectors calibrated, as no flame is intended. Merely a perspective to consider.

in responce Purcevil
 

Thank you for your alternate viewpoint and Very valid points Purcevil! Id have to say much of that never crossed my mind. It was all wishfull thinking from a noob to programming lol i only know qbasic well and a little of Borland C++. mabe if i could ever read enough of those "Teach Yourself (insert language here) in 7 easy steps) Books id be able to help out or even pursue my dream of a EMU for the original trilogy instalation only (pre luclin much more fun :D )

Once again very valid points i enjoyed your feedback

PS(Theres no such thing as a flame only Enlightenment :wink: )

I'm glad you found it worthwhile. Thank you.

I would love a static server, myself. I spend a lot of time on the road, and it would be perfect for my current needs. But, I think once they finish the 5.0 server you may see a mass of 3rd party tools that will let you create your own pre-luclin like behaviour for yourself. (hope hope hope) Or whatever suits you.

As for teach yourself how to brush your teeth in 7 easy steps... Well, I have the same problem. I've been trying for 20+ years and have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as easy. Do it the hard way, its faster. LOL

And there is nothing wrong with QBasic or Borland C++. It just doesn't happen to help you much when everyone else is using Microsoft Visual C++ (and I've been seeing some C# code starting to surface... gack). Personally, I like C++ Builder. But, switched to MS because of the emu. rofl (I'm still trying to figure out the IDE)

Later... afk till next time
[reaches for that bigger hammer to help with MS software]

I just briefly scimmed these pages and I came across someone's point about the patcher and pulling old files from a seperate folder or something to that manner.

Pardon me but what the shizeenizee do we need a seperate folder for when you should ALREADY have one for EQEMu.

*walks away boggled*

I just briefly scimmed these pages and I came across someone's point about the patcher and pulling old files from a seperate folder or something to that manner.

Pardon me but what the shizeenizee do we need a seperate folder for when you should ALREADY have one for EQEMu.

*walks away boggled*

You clearly don't understand what he was trying to say.

I agree, instead of scimming and coming to the wrong conclusion try reading it.

What I'm getting out of this is that he wants to make a seperate folder/place so when the patcher is first run, it saves all the files in the EQ folder to another one, and when he is over updated he/she can go back and get the files from that new folder? How is that not justl ike havign a seperate folder for EQEmu?

I didn't mean to throw pooh in anyone's direction in my last post but maybe I'm just reading it wrong.