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[John Adams]

Originally Posted by Sakrateri

I would not portend to change something because I was granted some power within just a few days, I would at least wait until the general population had gotten use to my role in smaller capacities. That said, there are people that use the PublicLogin to allow their friends to play with them that are NOT on LAN. and as such most of them keep their servers locked. A fire that rises the fastest burns out the quickest .

Ignorance IS bliss, isn't it?

As for the discussion, and Angelox' initial response, I happen to agree. The loginserver here is a mess. And what emu admins truly deserve is a way to run their own loginserver apart from eqemulators.net. If that is Minilogin, then Minilogin needs to be extended to allow more than 1 server.

Comparing EQEmu to WoW in any capacity makes no sense, because it is brand new (by comparison), and there are literally hundreds of people involved in code, database, and general aspects of that community. It's "new", and EQ is "old". New new kids on the block don't care for EQ's outdated gfx so much, so it is definitely an old-schooler game. And I still love it. Hell, I run a server and I still play legit from level 1 on occasion just to feel the original excitement...

I do not imagine things will change overnight... but what I would hate to see is "we're done here, nothing more to do. open source, knock yourselves out". I feel that coming, and it makes me sad that I am not a better coder. But, what I got is fun, and people play and seem to enjoy themselves.

I feel the whole game is in fact dying, due to the core of the live game itself, comparing it to the "whoa pretty" gfx of newer games. (I love my Antrix server, too... hah pretty).

[techguy84]

Call me a new kid on the block, but I like the newer graphics of EQ2. I really cant say a whole lot of nice things about WoW, as I dont like there cartoonish style models. I have a nice computer that can handle games like EQ2 at full tilt and I love it. The shading, lighting, particle effects, mapping ect.. its all just great to have as it makes it feel better.

But Im not all about graphics. The biggest thing that got me on EQ2 was all the new features. Guild Manangment, the new UI, combat system ect.. When I think of EQ, I think of how I used to just click Attack and watch, get the xp, and move on. I couldnt do quest all that much because I didnt want to have to sit down and write down what I was doing, and where I was going next. Newer MMO have the quest log, a way to help you along on your questing.

I guess I am a new kid and not a old schooler, but I spent many many sleepless nights with EQ, and no game has ever deprived me of a life more. I still like to kick back and play EQ when I am in that old mood, but I find myself burnt out on it no matter how long I go with a break.

Ahh sigh....

[GeorgeS]

Although it's not as busy as it's been back in '02!, the people that are still here are hard core fans of EQ.

What keep me playing after all this time, like any game I enjoy is to relive the 'live' experiences from way back then on my server, and really enjoy that.

I think there has to be a re-org of the code and establishment so we can plan what needs to be done. It feels like we are running a business without a plan and CEO. I'm willing to help code the emu, but C++ is not my strength. Unfortunately there's no written details on how to make diffs or figure out structs in the source.

I will however remain as the toolman here - as that is my niche, and good tools are like good food - make you feel good inside!

GeorgeS

[John Adams]

GeorgeS, you are on the money. Not so much a complete re-write, or re-structuring, but something needs to be done to allow more people to easily play this emulator, or it may not survive. I do agree the old school, "love EQ for EQ" players are still here and always will be. But in order to draw new attention to those who's first game may not have been EQ, but something else and they want to test-drive what it was like to REALLY have to play a game properly... hunting down nearly extinct copies of Titanium, and the cumbersome setup of the emu leaves a bad taste. Wow that was a run-on statement.

Anyway. For the last year, I have been absorbing EQEmu code, as well as comparing it to many other MMO emulators that seem to be a little more 'modern'. My hopes are that I will suddenly learn something that makes sense and I too can start making C++ changes where needed. I'm totally into it, just lack some of the basic knowledge.

Don't get me wrong, anyone Dev'ing EQEmu. This thing kicks ass, and I for one am very greatful to have discovered it. But, I seriously believe we need more dev attention (from more devs, not the current overworked ones ) and to make things simpler (I am working on one solution now, almost done!)

-J

[ZexisStryfe]

I must say, I guess I am not like the usual EQEmu user. I never really wanted to relive the "glory days" of EQ. I wanted to play something new, and more importantly, using the zones, models, etc. present in EQ, I wanted to create something new. I wanted to be able to create my own world. The fact that EQEmu doesn't patch to live is a big problem. Because of this, I must agree with Amra regarding open-sourcing. I know Wind spoke of cheating if they were to do this, but if the login server code was released, and people were able to set up their own logins separate from EQemu.net's server list, then I don't view it as so much of a problem (for instance, make sure the servers on EQEmu Login are "official", and if you want to hack and change your client, then use the released login server. The minilogin helps, but you are limiting the community by forcing them to use your login server).

A perfect example of this already exists. The most popular EQEmu server out there is a world where they took the client/server and changed it and were able to create their own world. Now I understand that they do things that are considered "illegal" here, and because of that just naming them is enough to get a thread closed, but come on. At any given time they have more players on their server than all of the "official" servers on EQEmu.net combined. Obviously they are doing something right, whether or not anyone here is willing to admit it.

It is my hope that EQ2Emu will end up having a released Login server, and that it gets more backing from developers than EQEmu currently has. If this turns out to be the case, then hopefully I will be able to create my vision there, since I am just not capable of doing it with the current EQEmu.

[John Adams]

The reason the login server code will never be released is due to the encryption stuff in there that would impose on Live servers - which would bring the thought police down on EQEmu and it would be very bad.

However, a dev responsible for updating it, changing it, making it more flexible and available itself, would be nice. Too bad for all those disassemblers.

[devn00b]

Originally Posted by John Adams

The reason the login server code will never be released is due to the encryption stuff in there that would impose on Live servers - which would bring the thought police down on EQEmu and it would be very bad.

However, a dev responsible for updating it, changing it, making it more flexible and available itself, would be nice. Too bad for all those disassemblers.

Originally it was kept secret not for fear of "police", but because if we had released it sony would change it, and thats a major pain in the ass to fix.

[Windcatcher]

One thing I'd like to point out is that SimpleClient uses entirely its own LS protocol. Doodman's LS supports it, but SimpleClient connects to it using a separate port and it goes through a totally different code path. One possibility for open-sourcing the client might be to implement our own encryption on the SimpleClient LS protocol and use a closed-source code module for it. Then we might be able to release every part of the client except that part, which would let people compile their own clients for use with their own servers. We would have to also release an open-source version of a LS that only SimpleClient could talk to (minus encryption), but that shouldn't be a problem (I've already written a simple one that's sort of like Minilogin). I'd really like to hear the devs' take on this idea.

[techguy84]

Does SOE still use the same encryption on LIVE knowing that EQEmu uses it also. I find that really hard to belive, as you would think that they would change that to something similar to EQ2 and update all the clients.