The Discovery Development Team is now taking volunteers for membership.
There are many rumors going about, some assuming it is an April fools. But it is a fact that Durandal, head of Art and most active in balance, and Xalrok, our top systems developer, have parted ways with the team.
Of extreme interest to us, but not limited to, are people interested in joining the Systems, Balance team and the Assets (Art) team.
A balance team applicant is willing to abstract themself from any faction preference and consider multiple points of view, and will be expected to know or learn how to edit freelancer inis.
An Assets team applicant has some experience with modeling software, like blender, but preferably 3ds-Max, or basic familiarity with particle systems and not be afraid of handwriting xml for .ale stuff, or experience with graphics programs (photoshop and procedural texture generation tools) to make sprite textures for effects.
I'm planning to take the game server down for an hour or two tomorrow evening, I expect some time in the window 1800-2200 UTC.
This should allow me to run more software to check network connectivity with our host, in a further attempt to demonstrate to them that a router in our host's network is broken.
FAQ
Q) Do you have a magic 'fix my lag' button?
A) No.
Q) Do you have evidence of hardware problems with our game server?
A) No. I am testing for connectivity issues between our game server and the client.
Q) Shouldn't it be possible to test this without taking the server down?
A) Absolutely, yes. I would much prefer to not take it down during this process. Unfortunately the host would like us to run their special rescue mode while we perform the tests, presumably to rule out any kind of software problem on our side.
We have come to the end of the latest Quarterly Check. Here are the Results of those that failed to achieve the minimum required time:
Official's March 2020 Check
Time
Failed Y/N
Notes
The Order (Legacy of Orillion)
1d 02:01:04
Yes
Second failure
The Commune
14:36:24
Yes
Second failure
Secret Intelligence Service
1d 16:19:14
Yes
First failure
Bounty Hunters Guild
2d 01:04:35
Yes
First failure
The Liberty Rogues
1d 13:50:57
Yes
First failure
Genesis Research Group
1d 07:32:38
Yes
First failure
The Core
No
First Pass
Die Weiße Rose
No
First Pass
Kusari Naval Forces
No
First Pass
Auxesia
No
First Pass
Aoi Iseijin
No
Second Pass
Büro Der Marineintelligenz
No
Second Pass
Battlegroup Harmony
No
Second Pass
Liberty Security Force
No
Second Pass
Unofficial's March 2020 Check
Time
Failed Y/N
Notes
Deep Space Constructions
00:45:56
Yes
Removed from Tracker
Doe Industries
00:42:41
Yes
Removed from Tracker
The League
20:18:58
Yes
Removed from Tracker
Those Official Factions that were warned within the last two checks and have also failed this check, have lost their Officialdom and will be removed from the Tracker.
Those Official Factions that failed the last check, but passed this check will be taken off the Warning if they proceed to pass the next Quarterly Check.
Those Official Factions that have failed the Quarterly Check, for the first time, are now under Warning and will have to meet the minimum requirement for the next two Checks.
Those Official Factions that have achieved a Second Pass are now off the Warning.
The Unofficial Factions, listed, have failed to achieve the minimum requirement and will therefore be removed from the Activity Tracker.
I'm planning to take the game server down for an hour or two on Wednesday evening, I expect some time in the window 1900-2300 UTC.
This should allow me to run some different software to check network connectivity with our host, as I expect one of the routers in our host's network is broken.
FAQ
Q) Do you have a magic 'fix my lag' button?
A) No.
Q) Do you have evidence of hardware problems with our game server?
A) No. I am testing for connectivity issues between our game server and the client.
Q) Shouldn't it be possible to test this without taking the server down?
A) Absolutely, yes. I would much prefer to not take it down during this process. Unfortunately the host would like us to run their special rescue mode while we perform the tests, presumably to rule out any kind of software problem on our side.