Quote:
Originally Posted by DesolateRestriction
You can't have a successful developer's platform when the audience (both developers and players) are generally in their teens. I don't think Graal is a developer's platform because it's still advertised as a video game. When you log on the Graal website, do you see animated clips of stefan flipping through developer tools and explaining developer gold subscriptions? No. You see "him" -playing- and experiencing various servers as a player. He uses the promise of creative freedom as a hook line and sinker, but Graal is not setup to attract serious indie game developers.
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I agree with this first paragraph. You have my interest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DesolateRestriction
I agree with Hiro in this situation. We're telling a bunch of teenagers and young adults (25 or younger) that, for 70 USD for 6 months, you can have your creative freedom... with the exception that you still have to follow GraalOnline rules, assemble a team of volunteers who are also composed of teenagers, and rigorous inspections by the PWA... well when they get spare time to come inspect your playerworld that is.
If you truly want to turn Graal into a development platform, abolish PWA, claim no liability for server content, and make UC servers more accessible by the general population. Now I'm sure some of you want to shoot me for saying such ideas, I do not personally suggest looking at Graal as a Developer's platform.
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And... here's where you lost it. It's not $70 to have your creative freedom, it is $70 to have your creative freedom + pay for server space which includes electric bill and internet and maintaining the machines. It's actually fairly cheap for the amount of stuff you get and the power GS2
does have (although more definitely needs to be added for it to be considered a serious development platform).
Yes, of course you will still have to follow GraalOnline rules, otherwise servers would just be running rampant uploading pornography, copyrighted content, and extremely obscene things. Since the game is hosted on GraalOnline servers you have to follow GraalOnline rules. Any server host requires that you follow their terms of condition, including web hosts, dedicated server hosts, etc. Why wouldn't you have to follow the rules? Remember, these are their machines, they are legally liable for them and their content.
Rigorous inspections? Try simple inspections for basic quality, content and control. It does not take a ton to get accepted to classic, all you need is a halfway decent server, and even less than that to get Hosted status. One of the incredible things about Graal is not the fact that you can develop your own game, but it is that you can develop your own game and have it approved to be advertised to all sorts of players who play Graal. Since Graal IS a development platform
as well as a game, this is an incredible opportunity. I don't know many games that allow you to develop your own content, even as a complete amateur and have it uploaded onto the official game which is run by players -- just like you! You propose removing the PWA though, which would just be shooting yourself in the foot. PWA is not only here to protect GraalOnline, but to protect you as a developer as well. If your content is being used against your will and there is no one to enforce it, then you're just out of luck, how frustrating. PWA is also monitoring for copyrighted material and enforcing basic amounts of quality control on the classic servers. A game like Graal would not survive without the PWA, they are currently key to Graal and if the PWA team vanished tomorrow I am willing to place money on the notion that Graal would plummet quite a bit from where it is right now (no one running support center, handling corrupt activities in server management, making administrative decisions to [hopefully] benefit Graal).
There is a lot more freedom as a developer if you code the game yourself (using other languages such as C++, Python, etc). All indie developers know this, and most take advantage of it. No one forces the development to be on Graal, everyone is free to go off and start their own projects. The little secret that people sometimes forget about themselves is that they lack the ability and knowledge, but Graal makes it easier for them, and that is why they are here developing. To me, that says many things, but I will let you use your imagination
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DesolateRestriction
But for those of you who feel that Graal should only be a developer's platform, how do you expect to draw in any professional indie talent when UC servers are so limited? I suggest allowing regular players to have more interaction on UC servers; seeing players appreciate, immerse, or otherwise enjoy one's work is the ONLY motivation/reward Graal currently offers for Developers.
When I look at Graal I see a double edged sword. On one side you have the players, and on the other you have the developers.
You have to appeal to both sides if you want Graal to flourish. Client and Engine performance updates will only get you so far when the the overall content is outdated and otherwise boring. I agree with Hiro in this situation also, who better to formulate a design for a new server or massive server revamps than Stefan himself? Who could do better than he to bring a number of developers together?
You don't have to make anything free when the quality matches the price.
(Also, it'd be a good idea to link the community together in the login server. Why not advertise links to the wiki, forums, website, and subscription plans there? have it Advertise randomly select a topic/thread from the forums to display, followed by a link to read more. )
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Some of what is said here is pretty good too.