"Priorities" threads

[John Adams]

I have corralled all of our previous Priority threads and moved them to this forum temporarily so between you guys and Zexis, we can come up with a definitive list of what the hell we really need to do to get 0.7.0 out the door.

Bugs was the first thing, and you guys are kicking ass getting that stuff cleaned up. The next thing we talked about was finishing a few of the unfinished systems (like guilds, spells, mail, etc). Then tackling - or at least defining - Smart Loot and Ground Spawns re-vamp.

On top of ALL that, let's take a quick re-review of the threads nailed to this forum as Announcements, and see where we stand. Zexis should probably take the lead on this, but I'm just kicking things in his direction

Thanks

[ZexisStryfe]

Sweet bejeebus! we have enough priority threads to last... well... until we are done!

Next question is John, which of the priority threads is priority?

[John Adams]

That, my dear sir, is your call I just provide the infos.

[ZexisStryfe]

DOH!

[ZexisStryfe]

So looking over these threads I see quite a few things that never got completed. Devs, could each of you PM me a list of your top three systems, in order, you would like to see implemented? I am not talking current system rewrites or augments, but new systems not currently implemented (ie- AAs, tradeskills, recipes, etc. etc).

Also Scat, could you run down the list of systems in the 0.8 Wish list and rate systems on how complicated/long each system would be to implement? No times needed just a guesstimation rating of 1 to 5. What I would like to do is compile all these priority/system lists down to a master list and rank the individual systems as "Major" (Guilds), "Minor" (Status) and "Add-on" (Guild Bank and Recruiting). I think this can help us prioritize what we want to try to squeeze into the 0.7 release (I would like to get at least one more system added before release, which it looks like may be instancing) and what we push off.

This sound good to everyone?

[John Adams]

~faints that Zexis isn't pushing AA's over instancing!~

Actually, I've only been asking about Instancing for two reasons; 1) to get Image's take on where we are with his work, and 2) because our next phase of content will require it. I do not (personally) need Instancing as officially supported in 0.7.

[ZexisStryfe]

I am not pushing anything. Looking for a consensus.

I figured as much regarding instancing, but since it is at least partially implemented I figured it was the best candidate.

Honestly, looking over those lists we should proably look at tradeskills since it has been on the list since the .6 priorities. I think that is going to be pretty major though.

Oh, and leave my AAs alone!

[Scatman]

Alternate Advancement
No works is done on these besides some structs Zcoretri did. This will probably be a fairly large system to implement so I'd give it a 7.

Arena
Again, no work has been started plus this requires pvp so this is a big system too. 8

Cross-Server chat
Shouldn't be too hard. Mostly login server code. 3

Inventory/Appearance
Appearance slots? I don't believe we've found this information in the structs yet. Once that's found, it'd be trivial to code. 3 or 4.

Knowledge Book
Sorting? Currently no server support for this. We'd need to also track categories for spells. This would require a little bit of work and a robust plan. 5

Languages
Most likely simple to code. Just need to determine how to handle the mucked up letters if you do not understand the language. 3

Loot System
Shouldn't be hard to add smart loot. Our current loot system is fine and just needs to be extended. I'd also like to start allowing chests to drop once we touch this system. Lots of thought needs to go into the algorithms for smart loot and the chest drops need to be talked about since we haven't even considered it yet (to my knowledge). 6

LFG/LFM
Just need to figure out the structs and modify a small amount of code. 2 (Zexis note- I don't think we should worry about this too much since I believe it is being phased out.)

Maps/Fog data
No idea how this is even tracked. This would be a system from the ground up, at least for the fog. 7

Marketplace
Do we need this? Would just be a struct thing. 3

PvP
BIG system. For every item we have stats for, we'd need to calculate a NEW set of stats for pvp. The current combat system and algorithms would need to be changed to allow for pvp. Definitely lots of server coding and lots of work. 9

Raiding
Shouldn't be bad. Much like groups I'm assuming. Just need to find the packets sent then some server changes. 4

Slayer Status
Would be easy to implement. Small database and code changes. 2 (Zexis note- this system doesn't exist anymore and has been rolled up into the Achievement system)

Waypoints
Haven't really looked much into this. Not even sure what you can really do with these on live. Like add your own? Just need a database table to store these for each character and send the packet to the client. I believe Zcoretri has the structs figured out for this?

XP Bar
Not really much to do here. Tradeskills and achievements both aren't implemented. Once they are this wouldn't be hard to calculate.

Zone Access Flags
This would be simple. Minor database changes and a simple check in the server. 2

Zone Reuse Timers
Wouldn't be too tough I believe to implement this once instances are finished. Just need the structs for the window and some server logic. 4

[ZexisStryfe]

Just a note regarding languages. When someone doesn't know a language, there is no garbled text (that was in EQ1). In the chat box the message is "blah is speaking a language you don't understand" or something to that effect. The chat bubble itself shows runic text, however that isn't actually garbled, it is a simple font swap.

[ZexisStryfe]

Alright,

Either today or tomorrow I am going to make a new thread which will have a consolidated list of the remaining systems we need to implement to reach completion. This list will have a relatively high level view of the systems (for a more granular view we have the Project Status page) broken down into Major Systems, Minor systems, Add-ons, and Revamps.

This list is rather long, and I intend for it to be rather fluid as I am sure I forgot some things, and we all know SoE loves adding new systems (such as the upcoming Storyteller System, which is already on the list). The list will contain no priorities or any order in which we need to get things done. After the release of 0.7 I believe it iwould be best for us to shoot to get 50% of the list complete before the release of 0.8. This will allow us to do the other half of the list with 0.9 and then play catch up and flesh out for the 1.0 release.

Once I post the list, I am going to lock all the existing Priorities threads and un-sticky them. From that point forward we will use the new list as our priority list.

Any Questions?

[John Adams]

Sounds great, Zexis. I know LE's original plan for 0.8.0 was "BETA", which meant most major systems were completed - that is, most major systems important to an emulator, not emulating live 100%. Then he wanted to pick up the final functionality between 0.9-1.0. I don't care if we go for 100% in 0.8.0 as a new plan, just as long as we know whatever we DO plan for 0.8.0 solely depends on how many developers we have lest it take 2 more years to reach 100%, which we'll never do thanks to SOE's total re-write of the entire game every 6 mos

But yes, I think your next step is perfect.

[ZexisStryfe]

I think major/minor systems like tradeskills, AAs, Pets, etc. are systems we definately want in 0.8. However there are some systems, like PvP (and arenas and battlegrounds), that would be nice to have, however I don't think are worth holding up the release of 8.0 for.

That of course is just my opinion as a carebear...

This is also why I am not adding priorities to this list. If we get a new dev (or even if an existing one gets a bug in their bonnet) who just loves PvP and wants to dedicate all their time to developing it, then fantastic. That changes everything. Trying to plan for stuff like that is impossible though.

[Scatman]

In the chat box the message is "blah is speaking a language you don't understand" or something to that effect. The chat bubble itself shows runic text, however that isn't actually garbled, it is a simple font swap.

What do you mean it's a simple font swamp? As in 1 English letter translator to 1 "runic" letter? Because I thought the same but I wasn't sure.

[John Adams]

WingDings!

[ZexisStryfe]

What do you mean it's a simple font swap? As in 1 English letter translator to 1 "runic" letter? Because I thought the same but I wasn't sure.

John is pretty close actually. If you poke around in the UI folder there is a folder called fonts. Each "language" has a font. what the client does is just take the normal font and swap out for the associated runic font. Letter for letter.

Actualy if you look in the lore forums on the official site there are a bunch of threads translating some of the in game writing because of this.