Recent patch?

[Purcevil]

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.