Future of EQ2 Emulator

[phoenixgaming]

I currently pay for EQ2 and I have the latest expansion. How can I contribute information from the live servers to your team, IDK much if anything about opcodes etc.

[ilythor]

Grab a collector and run around!!!!!

[phoenixgaming]

2 questions 1. Is this collector going to get my game banned and 2. Where do I get it? lol I stated I knew nothing about collecting this data please be specific.

[KainUK]

Could you do some sort of scrape from allakhazam?

There are so many players on eq2 but you need a way to get them all to run the packet collector. But why would they? I mean we could try to help but that would take hours for the few of us that still have an account.

What you need is some reason for the existing eq2 community to run a collector. Build them a desktop tool like allakhazam maybe that could also double up as a collector for eq2emu?

Maybe if you guys talked to the isx team they might also be able to help you out with a plugin that users could use but again it needs to benefit the users somehow.

Lots of opportunities here but it's getting the guys that play eq2 to get you the data where you need to be creative I guess!

Prolly shouldn't say this, but that's where I'd be getting my data from...

I've got limited access to the admin side of the database on the EQ2 site, as that's my job. So I know that at LEAST everything t7 and below is accurate (with the possible exception of Lavastorm since the revamp). T8 should be as well... RoK zones are, I believe Moors is and I'm fairly sure the TSO dungeons are fine too.

[bolly]

we would still need the

* Pathing
* Spawn time specifics etc
* Spell & combat art mechanics
* Quest information
* Faction configurations
* Merchant lists
* Recipes

and more no doubt so a packetcollector used by the masses would be a big help

[John Adams]

2 questions 1. Is this collector going to get my game banned and 2. Where do I get it? lol I stated I knew nothing about collecting this data please be specific.

1) The collector itself will not get you banned, unless you are in game talking about collecting packets for EQ2Emu, which would be silly. SOE is very well aware we collect data from their game, since they read these forums and that information is public. They have not once tried to stop us from doing so... which leads to...

2) The collector is given out on a request-only basis. Why? Because some smart people figured out how to reverse-engineer our collector and proceeded to use our otherwise harmless packet reader to make tools that automate things such as tradeskilling. That is such an enormous no-no to this project, we pulled Collector from public availability, and now only give it out when someone requests it.

As for what needs to be collected and how, there are literally dozens of posts on these forums explaining in detail what needs to be done.

[bolly]

I think if you want people to really be doing these things it should be right there in their face on the front page in bold letters else people (or most people) are not gonna find it.

Another example of this would be a how to play EQ2Emu guide. If you go to www.EQ2Emulator.net there is no getting started guide right there on the front page. You have to go to sub pages or do searches to get to this info.

People are lazy but hey If you need them to be playing or capturing they need it spelling out for them!

[John Adams]

I get ya. and that makes sense. I've never been one for hand-holding or breast feeding lazy people. In fact, if someone is so lazy they cannot find out how to play eq2emu or where to find project status, I kinda don't think I want that type of person responsible for our data anyway harsh, but true.

I prefer self-starters, someone motivated enough to jump in, find the info, have a little passion. Look what you did, bolly, with a custom server and our WIKI, and how much you dove into helping around the forums. People like this, few and far between. Society really has bred a bunch of laziness into us... it's too bad, too.

[bolly]

yeah i see what you're saying, i remember showeq used to have a similar system (and i'm not sure if it's still the same) -
i just don't want to see this project close it's doors

[John Adams]

Me neither.

[bolly]

I do not want to see this project go to waste. We need the support of the people from EQEmu.org.

I think this is the wrong way of going about it. They are already stretched on eqemu as it is and you don't want to move one problem from one area to the other. So where do we find developers with the skill and time to assist? How do we get the message to them?

I guess to start a list:
a) In EQ2 itself although that could be risky but that's certainly where people are who like EQ2
b) IRC networks relative to gaming? Quakenet etc?
c) IRC networks relative to coding? Freenode maybe?
d) C++ developer websites?

Is anyone putting out recruitment ads? There are plenty of forums that have dedicated subforums for 'Help Wanted' or 'Projects'. Has there been a single post in any of these?

What else could we do?

[KainUK]

we would still need the

* Pathing
* Spawn time specifics etc
* Spell & combat art mechanics
* Quest information
* Faction configurations
* Merchant lists
* Recipes

and more no doubt so a packetcollector used by the masses would be a big help

Pathing can be found on ZAM by clicking on a mob and looking at all the POI's where it's reported to be. I've found a few like that which go in a circle... or a line. Spawn timers are usually pretty easy as well. Most mobs are on a 1 min timer, named usually anywhere from 5 mins to 1 hour... contested raid mobs are on a 6 day cycle. Factions can prolly be found on ZAM too, and I think we have tradeskill recipies also.

The rest? Yeah... collector for sure.

[KainUK]

Apparently ZAM got a parse from SOE of all merchants and what they sell last night.

How much an item costs -might- be inaccurate... but at least each merchant should have a list of items now.

[John Adams]

The problem [we] have with ZAM is that it is basically a Wiki - and that spells "edited by the community", which always bothers me for accuracy. I use eq2.wikia for a lot of spells-related info, but even that is community driven and accuracy relies on the individual entering the data. It is, of course, better than nothing so definitely an option.

a) In EQ2 itself although that could be risky but that's certainly where people are who like EQ2
b) IRC networks relative to gaming? Quakenet etc?
c) IRC networks relative to coding? Freenode maybe?
d) C++ developer websites?

Is anyone putting out recruitment ads? There are plenty of forums that have dedicated subforums for 'Help Wanted' or 'Projects'. Has there been a single post in any of these?

I doubt you were aiming that question at the EQ2Emulator Project team, because by now you have to realize any spare time we have from real-life goes into working on code/data. We have zero time slots to spare for sitting on IRCs, wandering the interwebs placing "ads" everywhere. This is YOUR emulator, community. You want it to survive, you spend the time trying to find resources. We're doing the most we possibly can. Good suggestions though, just nothing we're going to have time to do ourselves.

[KainUK]

Actually, for mob spawns, item stats, quest levels and merchant info, we're getting the data direct from SOE.

Quest writeups are most definitely user based... cos I do a lot of them myself. Items aren't anymore... so if you see an item that ISN'T a screenshot with damage numbers on it, that's from SOE.

Also, all the mobs have drop tables listed, with a % drop chance for each item. Again, that's direct from SOE.

That's why i've suggested using the info.

EDIT: Here's an example...

Conjuror: Level 1 spell - Crystal Blast

http://eq2.zam.com/db/item.html?eq2item ... 63972d2bd5 - Apprentice Version
http://eq2.zam.com/db/item.html?eq2item ... 2650750eb3 - Adept Version
http://eq2.zam.com/db/item.html?eq2item ... b0850cdf67 - Expert Version
http://eq2.zam.com/db/item.html?eq2item ... 18f899ac36 - Master Version

That's all from SOE... so mostly accurate.