EI and the Future of Horizons

[Nalrach]

And the point of my post was really not to cry over spilled milk,

LOL .. yeap some milk are sour or dry by now.

My post was not either to list what is wrong with the game , players or past developers, but was to encourage EII to give use their view where they want to take the game, and not to get too distracted by old issues. By doing so, if they stick to game plan, we the communauty can help them attain their objectives.

I really whish for EII to find their own path and grow with the comunauty.

[MadDwarf]

The point, Vlisson, is that contrary to some complaints leveled at EI, they are obviously in the process of hiring designers and devs. Hiring Amadan is rather good evidence of that.

Tantylar

Amadan is not a developer. He never has been. He is support lead and events manager that is it. Not that this isn't a bad thing. Its a good thing and only one piece of the puzzle. My point was lets not derail this thread with non essential horizons crap. There is nothing obvious about it once you understand my previous point.

So please get your facts straight before clouding very real questions with very real biased views. The questions were not a rant nor a complaint. EII has not answered those questions. Unless of course our disagreement stems from the fact that you believe Horizons needs no more developmental work ? If so then yes we disagree.

[Chioxin]

Development is vital to a MMO's survival and our goal is for Horizons to not only survive, but to thrive. We are still assembling our Development team and deciding what our next steps are going to be. We haven't made any major decisions, concerning game development, as our current priority has been the maintenence of the game as it is.

Post number 10... For those asking the same question.

[Tantalyr]

Tantylar

Amadan is not a developer. He never has been. He is support lead and events manager that is it. Not that this isn't a bad thing. Its a good thing and only one piece of the puzzle. My point was lets not derail this thread with non essential horizons crap. There is nothing obvious about it once you understand my previous point.

So please get your facts straight before clouding very real questions with very real biased views. The questions were not a rant nor a complaint. EII has not answered those questions. Unless of course our disagreement stems from the fact that you believe Horizons needs no more developmental work ? If so then yes we disagree.

Alrighty, let's do indeed keep facts straight . . . .

I am a Designer. True, I have no programming experience. But I still know the tools for content development. I also have extensive knowledge of the development process for Horizons.

That from Amadan on the VN boards in response to a similarly ill-informed whine.

And as for whether EI has ever answered the question of whether it intends to put together a dev team, please do read (again, and slowly this time) the statement by Nagafen quoted by Chioxin above.

[Balthizar]

LOL All I whanted was a rough time frame a posible ETA for Devlemont of game. O and as I am thinking about it What about HZ Settelments did that go down the drain with the buy out also?

[TheHaunt]

Erm... Settlements...

I remember a post from someone at EI that said that "Settlements" was basically some ideas on paper and that further development of that was not really in their plans. I'll try to find the exact posting for you, if someone else doesn't beat me to it... it may have been a quote from an IRC chat from Danu... I'll see what I can find.

[Vlisson]

Post number 10... For those asking the same question.

this answer is 12 days old (not much ^^) but since EII made the deal wit TG in the spring 2006 there should happened some prepatory work

so my opinion is that there should be new infos related to assortments

[Arzel Rashemi]

Tantylar

Amadan is not a developer. He never has been. He is support lead and events manager that is it. Not that this isn't a bad thing. Its a good thing and only one piece of the puzzle. My point was lets not derail this thread with non essential horizons crap. There is nothing obvious about it once you understand my previous point.

So please get your facts straight before clouding very real questions with very real biased views. The questions were not a rant nor a complaint. EII has not answered those questions. Unless of course our disagreement stems from the fact that you believe Horizons needs no more developmental work ? If so then yes we disagree.

sorry but i have GOT standwith tant on this one
this process IS GOING TO TAKE TIME i am sure somewhere i read they are "in the process of" now just my view here but i would rather them spend two months getting a pair of competent people than 2days and have 11 joe blow clueless's on the team

[Tantalyr]

this answer is 12 days old (not much ^^) but since EII made the deal wit TG in the spring 2006 there should happened some prepatory work

Wherever did you get this notion? The Tulga and EI folks did not even meet each other for the first time until E3, May 9-12, 2006, and then very briefly. The deal itself wasn't finalized until the third week in July 2006, with its announcement made on July 21, 2006, just five weeks ago.

[Vlisson]

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/721/721974p1.html

Our low point in subscribers was in May of 2005, and we had seen slow but steady increases that amounted to a 50-percent growth up until the sale of Horizons to EI Interactive.

Our investor was providing us with the money to operate Horizons during this period, but even though our monthly burn was shrinking, made a decision to attempt to sell Horizons in the spring of 2006.

[Nagafen]

Nalrach,
Your list an excellent example of the current issues we're trying to tackle. We're also putting together plans for the future, which include further development of the game. Settlements wasn't nearly as deep into development as was indicated and we're definitely going to be taking those promises into consideration, when deciding on which direciton to take our development of Horizons.

Vlisson,
I don't have more information about the development team that we're building. I've not been, and will not be, involved in that hiring process because I know absolutely nothing about game development. What's more, even if I knew who we were considering hiring, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to disclose that information in the forums. When I get news, I will certainly pass it on to you guys.

Tantalyr,
Your timeline is pretty accurate. Talks began at E3, but the deal wasn't really made, in earnest, until right before the sale. This is why, in defense of both EI and Tulga, there was very little indication of the sale prior to it happening. I'm going to go ahead and head this particular topic off at the pass and say that I don't know many of the details of the sale and I'm not going to be discussing it further, as I don't feel that is would be relevant to this discussion.

Everyone,
I know that I've been short on details, regarding our plans for Horizons content and development. The reason for this is that I want to be honest with you guys. The whole point of me being here is to deliver acurate information and squash rumors. My starting rumors would sort of defeat the purpose.
We're putting our development plans together and once we have them nailed down, you'll hear about it. Until that time, I'm going to continue being vague because I'm not going to make promises that we can't or won't be delivering on.

[Jayne]

I can understand that Nagafen. Being vague is perfectly fine. I rather have the truth then be feed a bunch of things I want to hear thats not really true. I know its been a short time and people are antsy about the future. But I would rather EI take there time and make the right decisions then rush and make the wrong ones. I can respect that.

Jayne

[Poppi]

Nagafen

Could you inform those involved that Blight needs a restart please? We have no mobs in land whatsoever and some of the NPCs are missing too.

Posted originally in Blight forum but no-one seems to have spotted it.

Thanks

[Nagafen]

Nagafen

Could you inform those involved that Blight needs a restart please? We have no mobs in land whatsoever and some of the NPCs are missing too.

Posted originally in Blight forum but no-one seems to have spotted it.

Thanks

Thanks for the heads up. I've just spoken to Dark Enigmaa and he's working on it.

[Dremora]

Since you apparently don't browse the other forums Nagafen, I'll copy a little something I put in 'Game Bugs':

Months ago, when Tulga still owned Horizons, occasionally I'd find that Dralk was much more laggy than it used to be. A couple updates later and it wasn't a problem anymore. Hell, even TAZOON wasn't that laggy a few weeks before EI bought Horizons.

Not so with this new company.. now pretty much everywhere lag is a problem, be it a bit choppy or full-out slow.

So my question is when, if ever, is this going to be fixed? What are you guys actually DOING in maintenence?

Besides this, it should also be noted that a certain NPC, a dwarf, that is needed to complete Dementional Pocket IV is not there, and when the quest refers to the Mithril Mines, no such place exists.

If any of this has already been mentioned before I apologize. I can't be bothered reading ten pages worth of posts.

[Nagafen]

Since you apparently don't browse the other forums Nagafen, I'll copy a little something I put in 'Game Bugs':

Months ago, when Tulga still owned Horizons, occasionally I'd find that Dralk was much more laggy than it used to be. A couple updates later and it wasn't a problem anymore. Hell, even TAZOON wasn't that laggy a few weeks before EI bought Horizons.

Not so with this new company.. now pretty much everywhere lag is a problem, be it a bit choppy or full-out slow.

So my question is when, if ever, is this going to be fixed? What are you guys actually DOING in maintenence?

Besides this, it should also be noted that a certain NPC, a dwarf, that is needed to complete Dementional Pocket IV is not there, and when the quest refers to the Mithril Mines, no such place exists.

If any of this has already been mentioned before I apologize. I can't be bothered reading ten pages worth of posts.

As I stated earlier in this thread, I do browse the other forums, though I don't focus much on the technical posts, as there's little I could do to contribute to finding solutions for those problems. I'm not privy to the moment to moment activities of those working on maintenance, but I know that there are numerous bugs that need to be addressed and our team is tackling them as quickly and effectively as they can.

Frankly, I don't appreciate the tone of your post. We're working very hard to resolve these issues and the implication that we're devoting anything but our full efforts to this endeavor is a little insulting. This thread was meant to foster a constructive dialogue about the future of Horizons and passive aggressive comments like "What are you guys actually DOING in maintenence?" hardly qualify as constructive. If there are any personal problems you are having with me, this thread, EI, or the way we manage Horizons, please communicate those views to me via PMs and we can work together towards a resolution.

[Bis Armida]

Good for you Nagafen. It's about time someone took a decisive stand towards the abuse being poured out on these forums. Frustrations abound, but they shouldn't be taken out on someone who's trying to do what so many people have been asking for: communicate.

[Dremora]

I suggest to quit taking things so personally, Negafen.

I asked a question. A SIMPLE QUESTION.

As no problems seem to get resolved in ANY OF YOUR UPDATES, asking what you actually do in maintence is indeed valid. I am a paying customer and have a right to know what is going on.

Go ahead, ban me for pointing out a flaw. If you can't handle critisizm, you made the wrong move in purchasing this game.

[Nagafen]

I suggest to quit taking things so personally, Negafen.

I asked a question. A SIMPLE QUESTION.

As no problems seem to get resolved in ANY OF YOUR UPDATES, asking what you actually do in maintence is indeed valid. I am a paying customer and have a right to know what is going on.

Go ahead, ban me for pointing out a flaw. If you can't handle critisizm, you made the wrong move in purchasing this game.

Our developers and programmers are working very hard to address these problems and I assure you that they check the forums for any bugs that are discussed there. I have answered you question, to the best of my ability.

I am bemused as to why you decided to continue this discussion, in this thread. I suggested that we continue this via PMs and contacted you accordingly. It would seem to me that, if your intent was to find the quickest solution to this problem, it would be through direct correspondence and cooperation with me. The fact that you've chosen to continue this discussion publicly, makes it seem like the intention was less to solve a problem and more to create a scene. I'm not interested in a fight and banning seems a bit extreme as a means of enforcing the use of proper channels of communication. Any further issues you have with me should be communicated via PMs and not in this thread.

[Dremora]

My intentions were not to cause scene at all. I posted that question for a simple answer since no one was replying to that thread. I didn't expect it to go this far.

'Nuff said on this topic. Move along, people.