Classic Discontinued

[ffcmike]

I reluctantly announce that Classic/Graal the Adventure has officially withdrawn from the server list.

While a period of further development may be necessary for the server to become revitalized, I am sorry to those who have stood by the server despite troubles to say that all plans are cancelled, and that the server is set to remain in this state indefinitely.

This decision is the result of a general consensus among staff, who also agree that a monumental effort was made to both develop and push the server, but unfortunately it has not been enough and continuing efforts under the current circumstances would be clutching at straws.

It should not come as a surprise to hear that the main reasons for this are the game-breaking observer mode plus the vastly dated and unreasonable subscription policy.
When deciding to rebuild Classic from scratch, I honestly believed there may be at least one positive change in regards to this issue within 3 years. It has now been a total of 5 and a half years since the current policies were implemented, Stefan has recently expressed that he doesn't understand why observer mode is a bad thing, that trials logging out in frustration is a good thing, and despite iPhone Graal proving to be a shining beacon of light as to how allowing free players to properly experience the game can actually be beneficial, he still maintains that PlayerWorlds should be using hard-coded restrictions that massively hinder the game.

I should state that it would be wrong to put the server's failure entirely down to these policies, mistakes have certainly been made and there are things that given another opportunity I would wish to attempt differently.

The benefit of hindsight would however also apply to our attempts to remove observer mode, where much of the replies turned out to be lies, bovine fecal matter, evasive or irrelevant excuses, or no response at all.
To single out and highlight one of multiple examples of how frustrating this has been, in one of the unreplied-to emails, a private video was included. Within days of sending, certain elements of this video were put into use on iPhone. Youtube analytics showed there had been multiple views from 2 unique viewers in France, however a response to a later email of mine purported the initial email had not yet been read.

It's a huge shame to say goodbye to such an incredible amount of work, but never say never, there is still some discussion going on behind the scenes, or alternatively the server may have a different option at some point in future.

I would like to finish off by saying a big thank you to Racil, who Classic's redevelopment couldn't have got far without, and is possibly the nicest person on Graal, I've been privileged to work with you. Honorable mentions go to WhiteDragon, Bell, Nello, Ranger and Skyzer, who have all contributed a key role in one way or another.