Appalled.
 

There's nothing quite like seeing something you once adored slowly dying. It's a feeling that quite a lot of the Graal players are familiar with, but more so the Classic players. Over the last three years, promise after promise has developed nothing but disappointment. We've had developer after developer claiming he's the best thing since sliced bread; focusing on rewriting the lasts work, yet nothing being published. Of course, unless you've just joined Graal you'd probably know this.

There is a double bitterness to these let-downs. They just taint the server that it was, and they taint the server to what it could be - it's always just the same grand claims, the same enthusiastic ambitions, or more so arrogance. All it comes down to is every new development administrator in the hot seat has a somewhat gigantic ego, concerned only for their image and because of that, replacing everything that is already existing. Tyhm was respected, because all he did was log onto RC, upload some work, and log off. Why stay for the ego or the popularity? It's clear he loved to develop. It's perhaps part of the slight ennui that seems to cloud the new generation of staff on Classic: they may talk the talk, but they're banging the same old drums. Something needs to change.

Today I was reminded of old concerns; What if the latest "revolution" to Classic fails on delivering? How are we going to stand with the other servers progressing in the way they are? Well, apparently we are not. Today the Classic players got a sneak preview of the development which has been kept secret, and you'll see why. Here is a preview of -apparently- the brand spanking new level14, one of the most popular spots on Classic.

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/7...9396lx4.th.png http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9...4163ls5.th.png

To be honest, I was pretty shocked when I seen that level. After viewing threads such as this on the forums and the revival of Atlantis, then seeing this, the Classic "revolution" looked more like a piece of trash. Then I came across a YouTube video with the rest of the 'new content' on it, and it just gets worse. But while it's clear how much has changed, and that much more will inevitably change, what's harder to gauge is how even more unsuccessful Classic is going to be after these changes. Whatever your opinion of Classic, or the staff members, there is no denying that this content is genuinely poor, and more so a downgrade then we've ever had.

I've supported Classic more then any server around, but we're getting screwed over by these egotistical people, yet it's being ignored? We need an administrator on Classic who is in touch with what the players want; not telling them what they want, what they will like, and what they will play. Most of all, not trying to be that best thing since sliced bread. Leave what is liked alone and add onto it, whether you can claim glory for it or not. Server development is not about ego trips or glory, it's about working for a better server for the players. The players are currently ignored, because apparently we don't know what we want, but we will like this new content, and if we don't it's okay because it will bring in fresh players. What a joke, no it will not at all. This is a game people pay for, and I certainly will not pay to play Hell Raven Land.

The PWA can't touch the server, and Graal Administration seems to ignore it. The server could do much much better, but with the current pompous idiot, it may as well be removed. Hopefully someone will read this and get the picture. Bell quit today, that most certainly shows that we're on our last leg.

The only reason to keep classic is for nostalgic reasons. If that fails to deliver, then classic shows itself as being the out-dated server it is. The only reason most people appeal to it is because it was the only server they could play(of course there was N-pulse and a few others, but they poofed) when Graal first came out, and they grew up with it.
I'd personally love to take the classic of the past and only rescript it for GS2. Instead of changing Classic, they should have just fixed it and added stuff that carried on the Classic traits. I usually don't take on full projects, but if I was given a chance, bringing back classic would be one of the very, very few projects I'd accept.

eeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
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How can you take something so old, on a playerworld that's named "CLASSIC" for gods sake and turn it into an aborted child of Unholy Nation?

Most people would agree that the current state of Classic isn't working and things need to be done to change this situation. The leaked content you've seen in the last few days is neither finished, nor even guaranteed to be the future of Classic (it is one possibility from a number of potential options). I can assure you that if any such change is made, a full backup will be kept allowing the content to be reverted if things don't work out as planned.

DustyPorViva's comments that Classic may be outdated are entirely true, and that's the thinking/reasoning behind the new content. Theres no guarantee such a change will work, but it might be worth a try. The idea that we could simply convert the pre-NPC Server content and work off that isn't a realistic option. Classic was losing players before the switch to NPC Server was made, and even if that wasn't the case, such a conversion would likely take years to achieve, and reaching a perfect conversion is not possible due to security changes imposed by the NPC Server.

When I originally launched the NPC Server, I converted only a small region of old Classic, with the intention being to add new content with a Clasic feel outside this area. Unfortunately, ciscumstances meant that parts of it were rushed, and this has had a domino effect on development for some time. I also feel that some of the content added was not in the Classic style, and this has frustrated many players. My personal view is that this approach should be restarted (on a development server), but with the time taken to ensure that updates are done properly and keep the adventure feel that makes Classic so memorable. In some ways I would want to make the server hidden in order to achieve that, but that would ultimately damage the playercount beyond repair.

People have been very quick to criticise things when it comes to Classic, but very few people make suggestions of what should be done instead. All that I've ever tried to do is please the players, but it's clear that drastic changes are need. I've always been open to suggestions, and I don't ignore anyone who has constructive comments to make: I just wish that more people would give a useful input. At the end of the day, pure negativity isn't going to help improve things.

Things need to change/improve, and it needs to happen soon. All I ask is that you help me to help you. ^^

I've said this to a few people: split classic up. Upload a backup of classic from like 99, convert it ONLY so it works with NPC-Server and leave it. The current dev team could go on to make the new adventure server or similar. Updating everything with shiny gimmicks is a contradiction on the concept of 'Classic'.

That's why we're players and you're staff. Classic lacks content, THINGS TO DO. Not levels, which are things you just look at and walk around in and eventually get bored of.

Tell Stefan that serverside hit detection sucks. I've heard a lot of people on UN who say classic would be perfect for sparring if only it had clientside detection.

Atleast you acknowledge it. <3

You missed the point of my comment. That the only reason to keep it alive is for nostalgic reasons. To redo it completely denies the reason the server should be up. If it's not going to be classic, then forget it.
Classic's main loss of players was the switch to P2P. Then after that it was forgotten about, so it lost more players. Then it was updates again, but that's when classic started undergoing huge chances. Then there was the NPC server, and then even more changes. In the end, ever since P2P, no one has ever gotten a chance to just play Classic the way it used to be. You can't say we don't give ways on how to change things, we constantly say here to keep Classic the way it was, and it's ignored.

I have said it before i will help dev on classic.I hate to see something i grew up with die.

Clientside hit detection is very very easy to script and you don't need to tell Stefan about it... It's just very insecure. I'm sure you remember the days back then where Graal "trainers" were all over the web like free candy? With clientside hit detection, it would be insanely easy for a "hacker" to give him self god-mode.

Also, I've been trying to help out on classic but every time I pose my interest to Storm (Polo), he always tells me to talk to Hell Raven whom has a love for ignoring me and I'm sure has no want for my help what so ever.

Wow, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Oh ya, here's a suggestion:
Throwing a million push/pull blocks in room is not fun. I'd say if you ever want push/pull blocks to be challenging without putting a million in a room(and the only thing that challenges is your patience), is to adopt the push/pull blocks from Zelda, and only allow one push/pull. I know it's not exactly "Graal Classic" but I think it'd be one of those changes that are actually for the better. Zelda's block puzzles could sometimes stomp for a good few minutes, and only consisted of a few strategically placed blocks.

I so agree..

Yeah he does, because when I asked MS about it on Classic, he said that Stefan told him he has to do serverside or something. Insecure? Probably. Worth it? Totally.

Doing things serverside is very secure, actually ;o

Yeah, because hackers are just so abundant these days. I mean they seriously cause so many problems on Graal at the moment that GP's are always tied up.