Dragon Tombs - Where are they?

Discussion in 'Empire News' started by Aikar, Dec 4, 2012.

  1. So the Dragon Tombs has been a hot discussion for a while.... but of course people are now questioning "Where is the update?"

    I wanted to give a brief summary on why its not here yet and why it still has some time to go --
    -----------

    When I first started on it, I was on track and it could of been released quickly, but as things were done, many things become clear that they needed to be fixed.

    Code was found to be poor and needing improvements. Then ideas came on how to make the experience even better, but those ideas rely on the bad code being fixed.

    Then there is the updates... 1.3 and 1.4 was a chain reaction of needing immediate work to curb the problems it caused, bugs and lag especially.

    This took a lot of time working on the updates.

    1.2.5 was great in performance, but 1.3 killed that, and 1.4 made it even worse. Before Sunday's update, we would be lagging to unplayable levels even with 40 players on.

    That is a problem -- So performance is a top priority. We have to iron this out BEFORE we grow back to 60/60 on all servers.

    We are trying to regrow EMC back to its previous glory and we are now on track to do so, but it won't do us well to rush Dragon Tombs in and new players, for them to be met with lag, ugly wildernesses and unpolished experiences.

    We want to do things correctly, and give everyone a solid experience on EMC. So top priority has been updating to latest versions and working out the performance issues. We've made major advances in this regard, and has came with sacrifice to some grinder users, but its for the best.

    So, we also have understood that its not good for everyone to go so long without new "fun" things to do.

    So I've sidestepped a little to try to get in quick wins for new additions. One I got partially done but realized its going to take longer than I expected to complete so that also got pushed to the side for now.

    But we have at least 2 that will be quick... Supporters are aware of one that's not exactly a 'fun feature', but to help the community overall. and the other is coming soon too..

    While these aren't the same level as what I was originally working on, It'll be a little bit of new to add to EMC.

    Once those are out of the way, the plan is to get back to fixing the bad code. Fixing this bad code also means major improvements to performance, along with the main goal of better code to maintain.

    Once this is out of the way, I will likely push to have the periodic reset areas working on an automated fashion. We don't want new players to see a wasteland... That would be no fun.

    There will likely be other tiny one offs in the meantime too.

    Then finally, we can get back to the development towards the tombs (first the feature they depend on that depends on the other stuff).

    But, with it being Christmas time, and 1.5 to come out in January, who knows how much that can hold things up.

    All we ask is you please bear with us on the updates, as we can only do so much at a time.

    The Dragon Tombs WILL come, but we want to ensure that when they come, they are a polished, professional feature and not a rushed piece of crap full of bugs... I think its best for everyone with this approach :)

    -----
    As for posting about the Tombs so early -- Look at this way.... Would you rather not know about the features and simply think there is no goal/direction for EMC the entire time?

    We want to let people know where EMC is heading and have assurance there is a vision and a plan.

    Our goal is to let the players know this vision.
  2. In before "aikar ruined the economy!"

    Sounds great, and I can't wait for periodic resets to be automatic, it's completely trashed...
    codygraw101 and jamesg003 like this.
  3. Oh yeah, supporter secret....
    Although most of the other players probably already know via word of mouth..
    (I may have talked about it a few times)

    But on to the matter at hand;
    The numbers do seem to be going up, Alex's voting contest and the new rewards are both putting us up the rankings and bringing more players. (We have more guests than actual players on the site at times)

    However, that is only that start of bringing EMC to it's former glory. The dragon tombs and other future updates are what will help to push us along. :)
    cadenman2002 likes this.
  4. Does that mean a wild reset or being better about resetting the PRA?
  5. resetting PRA.
  6. Good job
  7. Great, Howewer, It would be nice with a bit more info about what you have fixed and not just "1.3 bugs". :p
    Otherwise then that I have only one small,unimportant questions... ;)
    WHERE IS JUSTINGUY? :)
    Hash98 and BeKaLuSa like this.
  8. Where is JustinGuy?! Last time on EMC?
    Can someone /p him and post it :S
  9. 52 days ago on Smp9 :(
  10. He's still here, in the background. ;)
  11. 52 days ago, on SMP9.

    Sounds awesome Aikar! Keep up the good work, don't worry, we actually do love you, we all just like taking out our SWM bits of ourselves out on you.
  12. Sidenote: do you ever build on your res'? You have one on SMP4 But its just plain boring and nothing! I can build something if you want ;) For a price of course
  13. Background? I closed all the tabs and still can't see him :(
  14. I opened task manager and couldn't see:
    JustinGuy.exe
  15. I wish I could of made some joke in that it was because Justin doesn't use Windows, but sadly he does :(
  16. Windows FTW! Dont give me any mac rubbish read my will the world end? thread and see what I post ;)
  17. And this kids is why EMC is by far the best server and one of the most long lived servers... That are still popular :D
    I appreciate EMC professional approach to Minecraft and that the admins aren't running the server for money for themselves, greediness kills a server. EMC is amazing and this thread is a perfect example of that :)
    AKing707, Lasluin, ZBSDKryten and 3 others like this.
  18. Dragon Eggs open up a wealth of new opportunities in the EMC economy. With land claiming, anyone with a dragon egg can in theory claim land near spawn and set up a huge Resource Factory on it to mine, farm and gather any goods which can be acquired from the Overworld and easily export the goods back to Town at high volume and low risk. This could potentially drastically lower the price of the majority of commodities and, as a result, increase the amount of people embarking on creative and profitable projects, which in turn enrich the community. I think we can safely say Aikar has given up on destroying the economy.

    Other benefits to the update include:
    - Ender Dragon fights constitute a new source of experience, which could slightly lower the price of enchanted tools
    - Less outpost griefings, meaning less time spent repairing them and more time spent producing goods
    - A new market for Dragon Slayer Agencies, who could collectively project the other benefits of the update through invisible hand theory, as well as providing high-pay work to players unoccupied with projects
    - Searches and tunnelling for dragon eggs is, in itself, an act of producing goods, 'jumble auctions' could be held by dragon slayers to sell off the goods they collect from trying to find the Ender Dragon
    -No-risk ungriefable transport through the wild, through a tunnel under a line of claimed plots, meaning people are able to gather resources from the wild more easily reducing them further, cheaper tools and armour from the resource factories will make it even easier for someone to go to the wild
    -With more people working on shops as a result of the low commodity cost allowing them to cheaply and quickly construct malls, there will be lots of shops looking for employees, meaning there is a high chance they can compete to offer higher pay than one another, meaning the service sector will be more lucrative to work in and it would be more worth your time to work for someone
    - New tomb portal coord auctions will come up, creating a new valuable quaternary industry. In the same way the consumer supply chain goes producer-manufacturer-wholesaler-retailer-consumer, a Dragon Tomb chain could arise, going searcher-battler-retailer-consumer, creating 2 new professions.

    My estimates suggest that once the 9 SMP servers all have at least one factory, the initial process of the cheapening of all goods will finish. More factories that are present, the more accessible goods are to consumers. The Dragon Tombs will do to EMC what oil did to the world.

    With the revolution this update shall bring to the economy, we should be patient. When this comes, it shall be HUUUUUGE. When it comes. So be patient.

    I like to think I've been a helpful economist today.
    AKing707 likes this.
  19. By the way, one hypothetical question. When the update comes, could I get a ton of Dragon Eggs, claim a circle around SMP5's wild spawn and outposts, then fill the claimed area with lava and charge a toll fee to anyone who wants to pass? Just hypothetical, I'm wondering if it's possible.
    EpicWeow4 and SpaceShuttleFan like this.
  20. There will be a really far out distance requirement for claiming lands, to avoid people claming/griefing areas close to spawns/outposts.
    Daxter9133 likes this.