Oct 25 Chat log

[Peaches]

Tonight’s IRC chat will be with GM Gizmo, GM Darkenigma and GM Nagafen. The topic will be on the League of Historians. Please try to remain on topic for tonight’s discussion. This will be a moderated chat and please send any questions you have to QT_BreeOge any other questions to anyone else will not be answered. Thank you




*Tagath* How many historians are you wanting for each shard?

<GM_Gizmo> The Historians are going to be the keepers of the Lore of each shard. We're not going be limiting ourselves to a specific number. They'll be in ratio to the number of players on each shard, depending on participation and interest.


*Tagath* What is the primary function for this league?

<GM_DarkEnigmaa> the league will provide ideas and maintain a level of interaction between developers and the world itself, helping to shape their shard's lore ina more dynamic fashion.


*LO* Since new quests, lore NPCs, etc. cannot be implemented without a working delta process, how is progress on reverse engineering it going?

<GM_Gizmo> LO: The process of developing new content and providing new quests, lore npc's and other items for the game is being worked on. We will be announcing the specific items sometime in the near future, but for now, we'll just say that progress is looking good


*Tagath* What are the qualifications for historian?

<Amadan> We'll be looking to veteran players to help document the recent history of Istaria, but contributions to the ancient histories will be open to any player with a great imagination.


*Tagath* How much of each shard's individual lore will be directly written by this league?

<GM_Gizmo> The developers will provide a framework to provide an overall storyline to the League of Historians, within which they can help flesh out and deepen the Lore


*Rawdge* What is the process for becoming a Historian - i.e. what will players have to do to become one?

<GM_Gizmo> We'll be announcing the official requirements within the next 2 weeks, and we'll begin the qualification process after that announcement. Expressing interest and a strong storytelling ability is probably the primary requirement at this point.


*Deb* What signifance will the historians have to the shards? If you plan to have each shard take its own path, then you will need 4 development shards, and 4 development teams. Is this going to be happening?

<GM_DarkEnigmaa> Deb: It's going to be structured so that we'll be able to create different content and lore, utilizing the 4 testing databases and the single testing shard that we have.


*Talonia* Will players moved from Unity to Unitas also keep their lair/plots? .. what if it's a guild lair/plot?

<GM_DarkEnigmaa> Talonia: Access to the Unity database will ensure that we'll be able to make a clean transfer of characters. Plots will be a little trickier but we're still working out the details.


*Rawdge* How will their role be identified to other players?

<GM_Gizmo> Historians will be identified either through an emblem, depending on their level of interaction, or a title in game. The specifics are still being worked out, but we want to reward those who participate for their contributions.


*LO* Four testing databases? Do you mean four seperate development servers? If so, great, but how will new content, quests, etc, be tested on Blight? You're talking about four unique builds and one test shard

<GM_DarkEnigmaa>: Four different testing databases yes, But the actual world server is 1 cluster of servers. The 4 individual databases can use the testing cluster of world servers. New content, quests, etc will tested on blight similar to how it was previously done.. through delta process.


*Peaches* Will we have any type of fall festival this year?

<Amadan> Peaches: We will have a series of events for the Fall Festival, although the event will differ from Tulga's Festival.


*Tagath* Will each race, adventure class, and/or craft class have a representative historian?

<GM_Gizmo> Historians will deal with generally broad spectrums of Istarian lore. We probably won't specify or delegate the roles of each historian, but allow them to fully express their imagination in their own fashion. We're looking forward to a whole new level of lore building and interaction with the players of Horizons!


<QT_BreeOge> This will conclude tonight’s chat. We would like to thank everyone for coming and a log of the chat will be posted on http://hz.stratics.com in a few minutes.

[LexDivinia]

1. That was an hour long Q&A? There were only 12 questions.

2. Can we get further information on this? I am confused.

*Deb* What signifance will the historians have to the shards? If you plan to have each shard take its own path, then you will need 4 development shards, and 4 development teams. Is this going to be happening?

<GM_DarkEnigmaa> Deb: It's going to be structured so that we'll be able to create different content and lore, utilizing the 4 testing databases and the single testing shard that we have.

*LO* Four testing databases? Do you mean four seperate development servers? If so, great, but how will new content, quests, etc, be tested on Blight? You're talking about four unique builds and one test shard

<GM_DarkEnigmaa>: Four different testing databases yes, But the actual world server is 1 cluster of servers. The 4 individual databases can use the testing cluster of world servers. New content, quests, etc will tested on blight similar to how it was previously done.. through delta process.

[Leviathan]

Originally Posted by LexDivinia

1. That was an hour long Q&A? There were only 12 questions.

2. Can we get further information on this? I am confused.

I cannot speak on specifics for EI, but I install and configure Oracle databases as a part of my job. So I will do my best to explain it in comprehensible terms.

Think of clusters as many servers linked together and combining their processing power.

A database is a means of stroring/retreiving data (really just files containing tables of data). In this case, there would most likely be a database containing all of the information for each Shard (one for Order, another for Chaos, and so on). Multiple databases can reside on a single server, or cluster of servers and each update their data independent of each other.

I think that is what he was trying to convey. I hope this helps.

[Garfonso]

It sounds like they have set up an internal development server (to replace genesis).

They want to run them with 4 different Databases, one for chaos, one for order, one for blight and one for unity/as, so they only need one server and can switch the Database, depending on what they are working...

At this point, I don't really understand what that will mean for the role of blight... maybe the "lore" quests won't be tested on blight, but rolled out to live directly. Hopefully the rest undergoes testing on blight

[IndyMan]

the reply to the plot question was interesting ... to me it sounds bad, else he would have said sure thing. /shrugs

the rest could have been put in a sticky for the historian information.

[Fratricide]

Originally Posted by IndyMan

the reply to the plot question was interesting ... to me it sounds bad, else he would have said sure thing. /shrugs

I still dont see why it isnt possible to purchase the hardware that currently supports the Unity shard. It seems that it "should" be possible especially if GN is wanting to get out from underneath Horizons. Anyway... I wish it would be so easy to get those same people to respond to some of the posts here on the forums, then they could make sure their statements were clear and consise. Then we also wouldnt need so many of these supposed "Town Hall" type meetings on the IRC, which incidently I dont attend anymore because I dont like being muted for no reason other then "important" people are here.

[Deth]

Because, as I understand it, due to EU law, they would still have to delete the User Database and only import in the accounts that request to be transfered to the "new" server. So it is easier and maybe cheaper to just get a new server or use a server they already have.

[Tzael]

The issue of the Unity transfer is looking a bit scary.

Yes I understand that the accounts database cannot be transferred to EI, only records pertaining to customers who have given their permission can be transferred.

The game database however is an entirely different kettle of fish, there is no reason why it cannot be transferred in its entirety and then EI can manually link account data to game data for those customers who expressed permission to have their details passed on.

Regardless of whether EI were to buy the existing Unity hardware and continue service as-is, or EI take a backup of the game database and restore it to their own hardware, I fail to see why the plots will not be transferred intact as part of the process.

The only reference between plots and accounts that I am aware of is the paid status.

Could someone from EI please take the time to explain why the process is being complicated ? This will help alleviate concerns that are spreading amongst the community; your soon-to-be customers.

[Solitaire]

Looks like the Future of Horizons thread got a little too controversial and it went poof, so I'll ask my question here since it pertains to what was said in the chat.

*LO* Four testing databases? Do you mean four seperate development servers? If so, great, but how will new content, quests, etc, be tested on Blight? You're talking about four unique builds and one test shard

<GM_DarkEnigmaa>: Four different testing databases yes, But the actual world server is 1 cluster of servers. The 4 individual databases can use the testing cluster of world servers. New content, quests, etc will tested on blight similar to how it was previously done.. through delta process.


When you guys finally do get the ball rolling on getting new content for the game, I'd like to know just how often you are shooting for each individual shard to recieve an update. Are they going to be cycled, each taking a turn then having to wait weeks or months for the other shards to get theirs before it gets another chance?

[Garfonso]

Hm... not every content will be shard specific... in fact only the big events should be..

[Phillip]

It seems to me a lot of the folks on Unity don't seem grateful for what's going on. Maybe you wanted the way of the former. I mean seriously, things aren't rosey and we know that, duh. But, enough with the whining already. You guys want EI to roll the red carpet for you or something? Is that how plendid things have always been for you?

[Garfonso]

Originally Posted by Phillip

It seems to me a lot of the folks on Unity don't seem grateful for what's going on.

Where do you get that idea?
All we want is to keep our characters and plots.. If you don't, then go on and sell your plot.. have fun

[Phillip]

It's been done. I'm currently building up my plot the second go round. Personally I rather have more than what the folks at Unity went through. We can see beyond plots, can't we?

[IndyMan]

Phil .. I can see plots being the deal breaker for many. If they lose all they built up I would bet many would leave. It IS a big deal to many of them.

[Phillip]

I'm not saying EI's plan exclude the plot issue, since it's important to these folks. What I'm saying is, will what they get in return be better than what they had? say, updates maybe? be kinda cool to get those...

[Garfonso]

hm.. I don't need the last updates from TG... and did you get any from EI, yet? I heard of nothing..

A bit support and a GM online would be cool... but if I loose my plot and have to rebuild... I'm not so sure if I will keep on playing... it will cut my patience for new content down drastically, that is sure.
And I won't have much fun in rebuilding everything... it's not just my plot, it's everything through whole istaria... every community structure, every plot of all my guildmates, plots with important machines near ressource fields...

It will definitively have a very big affect on most crafters. If you're adventuring the whole day anyway, then I understand that you don't care much... but try to imagine an completly empty istaria.. no player build structures...

I think it's worse that the status quo.

[Phillip]

I don't expect any updates from EI for a long time. The rush of the sale among other issues, new and old, one shouldn't expect that sort of thing unless one is really, that's the word I'm looking for...ah yes, stupid.

The best way for this thing to work is if they clone the Unity server however that means forget about personal data which, appears that quite a many Unity folks are so sensitive about. So which is it?

When DB swing the goods not long ago then said it was deleted (but wasn't), no one cared. Why now? These people whined about getting spam like they just got shot. Twice.

There's got to be a work around on the issue of the account database, but one side wants to have it both ways. Sounds like another HZ crutch to me.

[Tzael]

Phil get off your anti-DB high horse and come down to earth with the rest of us.

Ok, you're only floating a few centimeters above ground, I really hope this works...

Pop quiz : What is the lesser of two evils ? Don't post your answer here, keep it to yourself. Now look deep in your heart, and ask yourself if you truly believe that answer. Justify that answer. Justify why the other isn't the lesser. Ensure that your justification is based upon 100% fact.

Now if you've truly done what I have just asked of you, then you will finally realise what the concerns are of many Unitarians.

Next time you want to crash down on people who are concerned that this transfer is going anything but smoothly, take some fact pills before you speak.

Oh and for the record, I don't know where you got the notion that a complete transfer of Unity game data also involves a transfer of account data. It's inaccuracies like that which devolve the presentation of your arguments into unsubstantiated claims.

[Garfonso]

Originally Posted by Phillip

The best way for this thing to work is if they clone the Unity server however that means forget about personal data which, appears that quite a many Unity folks are so sensitive about. So which is it?

When DB swing the goods not long ago then said it was deleted (but wasn't), no one cared. Why now? These people whined about getting spam like they just got shot. Twice.

It's not that people are so sensitive about the data.. If EI stops sending out emails, I think most people won't care at all.
It's just that it's against the EU law, and GN doesn't want to break the law, so you can't force them...

And I'm totaly against a complete clone of the Unity DB, because I think it's good to get all that ancient chars deleted of players who don't care for the game anymore. It's just too much balast.
Maybe keep the unity DB somewhere and make it possible to copy over an old char, if someone doesn't manage to get his chars transfered and realises in the distant future that HZ was a great game and he misses his char... but I wouldn't even do that if I was EI...

Just give the remaining playerbase on unity a fresh restart and inform all former players that they should come back now or all their chars will be lost.

[Phillip]

Hey after what Unity been through, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out what's happening now is a good thing. No matter how you spin it Tzael, the crap spewing out of you haven't been pleasant whatsoever, as if EI is trying to do all kinds of nasty things to Unity.

Just another DB pole smoker.