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Remembering about LocalMS v83 and LocalMS v88 were my best memories on the scene. Reading about OdinMS v50+ development back in the day was also fun and motivating. I miss the competition between decent coders somewhat.
So many of these names I remember =), I've been a long time lurker since "08" my account name will not be said, (because of what I hope to accomplish on this account) however, Just know I was on CEF and have been part of this community since 08 =), really is nice seeing some of you again.
I'm sure I can whip up something 10000x better than what I used to do, and probably 10000000x better than anything you'd find on Ragezone. I really want to!!!!...but motivation is a whole 'nother issue.
"Old days" were great just because coding/developing/w.e was the most exciting thing to do, OdinMS was simple enough to allow starters to Java to create/tweak/fix stuff and Nexon wasn't really aware of what was going on.
Now, if we compare what's currently on the table with what we used to have, it's far from simple and way too complicated for anyone new to come as easy as it was, we've had so much drama and stuff going on in the maple development and there's no public source for the current version at the moment so yeah, not like before.
I had lost my hopes already for the MS Development until I started playing EdenMS, amazing server. I still hope that someday another server just like Eden will pop-up and even if it's going to be up for a little, I'd gladly play it because it is exactly what I was expecting MSServers to be by now when all this started.
Well yea your right the private server development scene is completely hopeless since everyone is keeping to themselves unlike when we first started when everyone was working together but I guess it happens and nothing we can do about it.
I can see why people keep their stuff to themselves. There is just a bunch of leeching going on and people not bothering wanting to learn coding at all. Instead they want to leech every single drop out of the community until there is nothing left and then just quit.
Why give your work that you spent hours, weeks, months on a forum where no one gives a poop about it and will use it and dis-credit you basically.
If you go on GTOP, there are nothing but a bunch of useless trashy servers that none of the server owners know how to take care of or code.
Just my two cents about the some of the community.
As far as veteran players go, I've been lurking for roughly 3 years now, however, finally decided to make an account err....last year or the year before. I knew I made one some time ago, just forgot the info.
Also, I wish I was here in 2008 where things were claimed to be good. (not sure if it's true). I'm sure it was extremely enjoyable.
It was. Useful releases. Less of custom stuff and more of actual fixes. No where near as much help threads, no where near as much repeated questions. The community back then was really helpful as well. Everyone was sharing / helping each other out.
It was. Useful releases. Less of custom stuff and more of actual fixes. No where near as much help threads, no where near as much repeated questions. The community back then was really helpful as well. Everyone was sharing / helping each other out.
It was. Useful releases. Less of custom stuff and more of actual fixes. No where near as much help threads, no where near as much repeated questions. The community back then was really helpful as well. Everyone was sharing / helping each other out.
Big difference though, during that time most basic function like party and such weren't coded. Now it's just the new stuff which aren't released that people keep to theirselves.
It was. Useful releases. Less of custom stuff and more of actual fixes. No where near as much help threads, no where near as much repeated questions. The community back then was really helpful as well. Everyone was sharing / helping each other out.
It wasn't better. Maybe in v62 days when it was only OdinTeh and not Valhalla but by Valhalla days, everything good was already private for a long time. Things like MTS and Hired Merchant Shops were used to show off and was leaked. By the time v75 came around Traitor released the minimum needed to get in game and then nothing else was ever released for months until OdinTeh made a short comeback. After that development was always months behind the highest version server on gtop100 excluding DelphiMS.
Since Valhalla, which was around November 2008(?), the community has not changed much. A few of the regulars were already developing privately (Generic, iamSTEVE, and the DestinyMS guys). The only difference from then and now is the people developing (which right now the notable ones from the past are only Flav and Hendi of ExtaliaMS and RMZero213 if he's still around). Back when I was doing v75 no one knew how to work with packets, so it was easy to keep things private. Just like now though, we get people that do fake developments or developments that die in a week just to get some e-fame on this forum. I remember people like XxOsirisxX raged about that for a v84 source from this guy andre1256 or something. Back then you get the annoying people like Maplr and KidFlow, and then now you get the same types of trolls.
Also as stated earlier, back then everyone was a lot worse. Just knowing a little bit of programming would be considered "pro" on this forum. The releases were not better in the past. There were little to no packet fixes just because in 2008-2009 no one knew how to do it except a small group of people. If there were, there would be no reason that v75 was private for so long. Back then everyone released the same stuff as well. It was shops, starter NPCs, and generally NPCs. I can't see how people would actually develop new content if no one who posted here a lot knew how to. There were people that were very good like MrMysterious but he was also working privately. As for people being friendlier is subjective, but I think it was kind of true.
The only thing I can say about now is that it is definitely less active than it was before. This is most likely due to the reason that the game is actually pretty boring once one gets passed the initial excitement. Also developing the game and running a public server is not technically legal, so it is not a great usage of time. Developing is good as a hobby, but hobbies don't always last so this is probably a big reason why people move on. Another thing is updating is extremely boring and tedious. Coding this game is actually extremely easy compared to coding other things. The hardest part of this game is figuring out how packets work, and after that it is just repetitive work that gets really boring.
What I did from v62 to now and my experiences (boring):
I remember v62-v75 days I was just getting into packets and it was interesting. I would spend hours learning from MrMysterious about packets and coding new features. I knew Java decently but I knew nothing about the game. I could code custom things and people thought that was good enough (and look at now, no one cares about people like that).
During v75 with Traitor's help and Osiris, I got into game, helped start MetroMS and was 3rd v75 server. It was good, and I put in a lot of time coding and developing the server. I did some stupid things like sell ShootSource, which brings back some memories. I fixed a lot of bugs from the testers/buyers and overall it was definitely worth it albeit all the leaks and such. I should thank Flav for pointing out some fixes too.
By v83 I joined the race to update the servers (first v83!). Pretty much worked full time on the source as I was motivated by the popularity of the server. We'd have like 400-600 online, which at the time was very high. By v88 I was still pumped for development, even though it was already starting to go away. Fast forward 4 months later and I never had any intention to update servers again even though I did some small updating here and there. I watched new LocalMS v99 and did some MoongraMS v103, and I played somewhat of an advising role for AthionStory a year later but those ended quickly.
edit:
Though I pretty much retired a year and a few months ago, I definitely don't regret doing this stuff. I learned plenty, which helped me in real life a LOT. I met some awesome people (XxOsirisxX, MrMysterious, Simon from LocalMS, and some GMs like Scammed from MoongraMS).
I don't know much and just go by whatever I've read or experienced myself, but something I kind of noticed or miss was that there WAS drama and competition between different groups of servers or coders. As in pservers all did have their own ecosystems and competed and whatnot and that it wasn't a 1% us vs 99% them type of thing it is now, with one elite group of coders that are super private, with the rest of the community revolving around them.
Back then there were essentially many different people just involved in different aspects and they didn't all necessarily have to be friendly or like each other to benefit the community as a whole mutually. People would become douchey, sure, but they kept things alive and fun (to watch from the sidelines). Now things have just dwindled down to basically Extalia and not to single anyone out or give preference to people and not the others, basically the more time passes the more the people 'of the past' become sort of like a 'where are they now' type of thing. It doesn't have to be coders or players or lurkers it can be anyone. And the more things 'dwindle down' the more attention is given to the things still operating. It's kind of depressing in a post-apocalyptic way. I'd say things have become WAYYYY too segregated now and that is safer in the long run, but it hurts the community that there is a huge disconnect. Competition between 2+ servers/groups of developers etc? Good. That's healthy. That's how the world usually works. The 'commoners' would basically fangirl over their favorite servers or developers and it was a win win for everyone. Hostility between the remaining people who run servers or development, between the 'commoners'? That's what Nexon usually feeds on. They like taking advantage of people who get butthurt who will 'sell out'. I don't know if what I'm writing makes sense I could be totally off.
That's why I don't put much emphasis though on who joined when and whatnot. The only differences in those are people who basically have first or good 2nd hand knowledge of the events or history behind much of these stuff. They feel things different than new people. But to me just enjoying the game and all those little aspects that got us excited is what's a bit more important. I much rather have a conversation with someone like that than someone who's bitter and grumpy and apathetic. If there was an easier way to pass on all the information and spur excitement in people like there was in the past then it would do a lot for everything :O!
