People don't care about this project? You're joking, right? I'm just a third-party tool developer, but I wouldn't have put two man-years into the admin tool and OpenZone if I didn't care about this project and if I wasn't *really* interested in making something special happen here. If devs are leaving, maybe it's because this isn't a job, in case you haven't noticed, and people get awfully tired of hearing endless complaints over what is *no more than a hobby*. Before anyone starts complaining about how the devs don't care about EQEmu, they should first, in my opinion, spend a few months doing actual coding. If you can't play because the devs aren't working fast enough, I guess that's just too bad. I could probably play if I wanted, but in case anyone hasn't noticed I've been more interested in furthering the project *by coding*. Those server operators who have seen me on your servers can probably count the number of times on two hands. I'm still patiently waiting for 0.5.7 final to come out, after which I fully intend to port my ZoneProxy changes into it and release a 0.5.7-ZP. I don't have to do this: I want to. This isn't my job, so unless someone wants to start paying me $35+ an hour, don't complain if I change my mind. You should start thinking of the devs the same way. They're doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.
Do the devs care about EQ or EQEmu anymore? I'm not a dev, but I've been around here for a long time writing tools so here's my $0.02. EQ can only offer so much. You can hunt for only so long before seeing everything, or at least seeing enough dimensions of the game mechanics that it pretty much amounts to the same thing. EQ has virtually no story, for instance, and of course it's all but impossible to create one without a dedicated team. Remember, EQEmu is a *hobby*. It's really hard to build a team when everyone is a volunteer, and it has to be done one server at a time.
I don't know what the answer is, but here's a shot in the dark. I think EQEmu is cool, but I think the effort is spread too thinly -- not amongst the devs, but amongst the *users*, especially those who run servers. I think the project would benefit a lot more if there were less servers but people instead pooled their resources to build "super servers" instead. The only point to be here, it seems to me, is to create something *better* than EQ. We're here because we're sick of EQ and want something more (as for myself, it's been so long since I've played EQLive that I've literally lost track of how long it's been).
I think that's what this project lacks and why it seems like there's no passion. An EQEmu server, a "super server", should have an engaging story, with quests that actually lead players on a journey instead of the simple "fetch this and turn it in" quests we all know and loathe. It should have custom content and even custom zones if possible (frankly, I think it's a necessity, otherwise servers will always be doomed to be EQ-lite). It should have custom rules.
There are servers that have some of these characteristics, but they are precious few and, not to offend anyone, but I think haven't yet scratched the surface of their potential. It all comes down to focus, dedication, passion, and manpower, which is hard enough for a hobby without spreading ourselves out so thinly. I'd rather see five super servers that were phenomenal than sixty servers of the kind we commonly see today.
People here are always comparing EQEmu to EQLive. I think this is a *huge* mistake. EQEmu should *not* attempt to be "EQLive without the suck". It's impossible. EQEmu servers should strive to be something completely different, and there should be frameworks in place for people who don't run servers to submit content. There should be some *modular* way for people to submit storylines, quests, mobs (types, locations, treasure, the whole shebang), zones, and so on. I don't think these things are there yet, and sadly I don't think people see the importance of them.
Anyway, these are my ramblings in the five minutes I've been typing. Take them as you will. Either way, I plan on retiring from EQEmu awfully soon, from another thing that affects us all: total EQ burnout.
WC
|