Monthly Mystic - Article I (21/4/18) - The T3 Update (NOTE: Has a vent.)

[Jabberdrake]

Monthly Mystic

Article I

(21/4/18)

The T3 Update: Setbacks and "Setforths"

Warning: Partly a vent.

-=()=-

Hello there!

I want to state, first and foremost, that we - the Content Team - are painfully sorry for our (and the server's) decaying status, as well as for our gross level of secrecy at which we have kept most, with the exception of meek details, information regarding the upcoming update.

Such secrecy, in consort with the unfaithful deadlines we failed to meet led to a surge of unhappiness among the playerbase and, therefore, decadence.

It is, undeniably, a fruit of the path in which we have chosen to take this project - a semi-failure for which I feel partly, if not wholly, responsible for.

However, in defense of the team, it must be said that personal mishaps and matters of real life are not out of the equation at all - it is just as frustrating to us as it might be to you that our expectations and ambitions are, in the end of the day, not met. The consequences of this are perhaps the most troubling aspect of this whole ordeal: delays and demotivation.

No matter how much we strive to create a fun experience; no matter how much passion we have for our jobs; no matter how much we dedicate ourselves - demotivation is always present, whether it is looming in the horizon or just hovering next to you.

As for the delays - "Nothing f*cks you harder than time" _{(-Sir Davos Seaworth, GoT)}. Enough said, I suppose.

Also, I must say that I am not writing this out of frustration or anger, but out of the need to communicate with the community in a grand scale. It is necessary sometimes - that is irrefutable - and not in a formal sense, but in a personal sense.

(Note: Vent starts here.)

You see,
I was demotivated. Work was piling up, the small "time windows" I had were getting narrower and narrower, demand was increasing and the expectations (drawback of the delays) were higher than I could account for. (Mind you, I do not wish to be pitied - I just want to convey the image here)

That was until I confronted a handful of people (a bunch of close friends) about the possibility of quitting MysticRunes as a whole. The response I got was, to say the least, motivating.


"We all want quality after all. And I would honestly happily wait until T3, the quests, balancing and everything else works smoothly rather than have it forced out tomorrow." - Talanthas

"Just know
We don't care how long updates take
I don't atleast
Take as much time as you need
and if you need help, let me know
I'll try and help you guys as much as I can possibly do" - Hayden

"If you feel like you want to plan something, change something, have any ideas on how your load could be lightened so you can have fun with this again
I'll support you how I can" - AmbassadorArt

"Take all the time you need. The server has already improved a lot from what it was a year ago." - Nocte

"I would like to believe that most of the ppl fueling the tier3 time-taking frustration are not complaining out of contempt, but rather out of passion for the server.  I can't speak for others but i speak for myself on that
Everyone has a finite level of patience, some more than others, but from personal experience and having seen half-assed and rusty updates released due to overwhelming complaints of time; it >>>Always<<< turns out worse in terms of community response" - AmbassadorArt

"I've said it before, and I will gladly say it again. No one wants the server to degrade, we all want the same thing in the end. And seeing some healthy points here only helps reinforce that fact. We're in the early stages of building something. It needs to take time, it needs to be frustrating and it needs to be reworked in most cases. To put a good definition on the stage I would use the term my teacher uses on the way to go in our big projects: the learning pit! You start a project or part of it, fall down the pit where you work hard, get frustrated and what not. But then you ascend the other side on a higher hill than where you began. And in this case, better yet. We're not alone about it, any of us, and least of all the staff. We players too are part of this project in one way or the other. And there are many fiery hearts wanting to help out, in small and big projects alike.
Some of us may have very little knowledge in terms of RPGs, some feels the need to go toward one kind, some towards another. And there are many conflicts in that alone. I doubt even the staff has fully defined what they are working towards, and while that too is probably a frustrating project to be done, it's another step towards completion in itself :P but most importantly is that we can agree on wanting to build the bigger project of Mystic Runes itself up step by step." - Talanthas


It is moments like these that inspire me to continue this project, to trudge onwards regardless of obstacles and setbacks, to push forward towards my ambitions. And thus, I believe I now owe quite a lot to this community.

(Note: Vent over.)

Therefore, I believe that a little shedding of light is in order. I will now attempt to give some disclosure on "what exactly is going on" with this update.

Despite my vent, most things are completed or just in need of polishing, whereas others are relatively undeveloped. This is the status of things:

• General Mobwork - Complete
• Complex Mobskills - In progress
• Map (Builds) - Complete
• Ores/Plants - Complete (ish)
• General Flow - Complete
• Items - Complete (ish)
• Armors - In progress (Undergoing a heavy revamp)
• Weapons - In progress (Undergoing a heavy revamp)
• Dungeon Map/Framework - Complete
• Dungeon Mobs - Complete
• Smithing - Complete
• Lootchests and Crates - Complete (ish)
• Balancing - In progress
• Quests - On hold
• Alchemy - On hold
• Achievements - In progress
• Merchants and Shops - In progress
• Accessories - In progress (Almost done)

Please note that this list will be updated once every month (every Monthly Mystic article) and that there are other aspects (small but important ones) that are also being worked on which were not included in the list.

Lastly, I want to thank some people: the team (developers and staff), those who strive to push forwards and make this project better than even before; and the community, who gives us (Content Team) the motivation we need to overcome our hardships. I can't thank you all enough, really.

Without further a do, I wish you all a fine weekend and I hope that we, together, can make Mystic a better place than it was ever meant to be.

FINAL NOTE:
Unfortunately, I will not able to develop much in the next two months due to barrages of exams and preparation for national exams, however, I expect this ordeal to be completely over around the 25th of June.

Thank you for reading.

- Jabberdrake

[joshua2504]

I didn't play for a long time, about 1 year.

I just randomly logged in 10 minutes after you posted your message to the forum. For me it looks like a great progress at Mysticrunes and I'm looking forward to further updates!

Joshua

[DarkAgeJr]

> This isn't Weekly Mystic
> Still quality content
> :thinking:
> Thumbs up

~Sweety~

[SOSDarkPhoenix]

Well said, my child.

[AmbassadorArt]

I appreciate the level of honesty and transparency here Jabber, i think this is just what we needed.  I just wanna add 3 pieces of thought here:

#1:

a semi-failure for which I feel partly, if not wholly, responsible for.

Nono, there exists no reality where you're solely at fault for this, not an ice cube's chance in hades that this is all your fault.  I've said it before and I'll say it however many times I need to convince you.  The massive amount of weight you're carrying right now; much of it was thrust upon you, you didn't choose to scale this demotivatingly-massive mountain on your own.  I'll get into that in point #2, but please if u take nothing else away from my words, at least acknowledge this.

#2:

However, in defense of the team, it must be said that personal mishaps and matters of real life are not out of the equation at all

Yeah I know, but I still hate hearing this. XD  The problem itself is less frustrating, it's more frustrating that the team is doing nothing to compensate for the equation: It needs to expand.  Only one of three GM's is reasonably active, and two-thirds of the CD team has fallen off the edge of the earth.  Y'all gotta find more people, trust more people, or soon there'll be no motivated staff on the server who can develop it!  I know it's not as simple as pulling veteran coders out of a hat, but I don't see any evidence (before and since adding Phoenix to CD team) that anyone was trying to search.  Progress is only gonna' keep going slower and more painful if the capacity of the team stays as it is; especially as people like Jabber are about to get a lot busier soon.

#3

I'll try and help you guys as much as I can possibly do"

Quoted from Hayden, CC'ing practically all of the server's "main players."  Just because we don't have CD+ levels of server perms doesn't mean we are helpless in the Tier3 update process.  I've seen no evidence of any upper staff members approaching major server players about chances for assistance (Nor have I seen such a staff member saying "no" or "nothing.")  Allow us to write/suggest quests, give us stat tables for the equipment so we can weigh in on balances, (tbh balancing could even be forgotten about right now, make that a point of the tier3 test server like with the pre-skill update test server) etc etc.  I can't speak for everybody, but i'm sure some people would be willing to donate some of their time if the core staff team would extend the offer.


To summarize; The update is too much work being pressed on too few people, with no spares to pick up the slack  Demotivation is not just "Oh i no longer like building/coding/testing/playing college baseball"  It's also caused by being overwhelmed with the activity, and having demand for activity to be done.  Unfortunately, the demand part of that is part of managing an MMO videogame server; you're doing this for playerbases of hundreds to thousands of people.

To any staff reading this to who these words may apply; I'm sorry if my words are tough or it seems like I'm saying everything is wrong, I know i havent been here long but i can't silence my thoughts anymore.  I don't just see this as just a multi player game server, i see it as a community i've grown to respect.  Jabber made that clear with his post today that he's poured his heart into Mystic, and likewise im making it clear with my post here now.  I haven't had a case like Mystic, a group I've wanted to see succeed so much, in years.

[Jugo_DG]

I love this post, This makes me feel like there is actual progression being made.
You should definitly keep this up!

-Jugo