The Etherium

[Singularity]

So....
Just checked the changelogs for update 7 and one line there has me a little worried -

Removed Phantoms and their assets.

Should I be worried about this? Is this a signal from the team that this has been rejected? Or could we interpret that removing these is a way of making way for the Etherium later on, if they meet the benchmark?

#Following

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[Echo 7-7]

So....
Just checked the changelogs for update 7 and one line there has me a little worried -

Removed Phantoms and their assets.

Should I be worried about this? Is this a signal from the team that this has been rejected? Or could we interpret that removing these is a way of making way for the Etherium later on, if they meet the benchmark?

The Etherium concept has not been rejected because it has not been submitted. However, any future proposals would now have to be made as new content submissions, not content replacement submissions, as the Phantom asset entries are being recycled.

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There was a sig here, once.

[|nfrared]

Ok, now I'm confused.
We were originally asked to come up with a Phantom replacement. There was an announcement that this is what was asked for by the admin team. Now we are told the Phantom assets are being recycled. So this won't be a Phantom replacement at all because the assets are being used for something else. This isn't a rant, I am just irked at the sudden change of footing.

I have some questions.
Could we have some idea as to what a new content submission will entail? And the appropriate place to make said submissions.

Does this mean we can't use the Temple anymore?
If the Temple is being recycled, is it possible to clone our own one?

Forgive me if I come across as a little flustered by this, but it feels like the goalposts just moved a significant distance.

EDIT - It has taken me this long to realise that I am asking these questions in the wrong place. Here is a link to what I hope is a more appropriate place for this discussion - http://discoverygc.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=115426

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Shard - The Faceless One

[aerelm]

As someone who brought up the phantom replacement discussion within the admins team, does like your roleplay, but also did most of the dev work required for removal of Phantoms, I think I can explain the situation:

First off, I completely understand your frustration and hope we could've given you (and Phantom players on other servers) a heads up at least a couple of updates in advance, but even though the plan to remove Phantoms altogether has been sitting on the dev to-do list since early 4.86, the opportunity had not presented itself until now. With the last batch of additions (ships, weapons, etc) in the upcoming update, the Phantom entries could finally be recycled into gear for existing factions, and since that's what the majority of the community was in favor of during the last attempt at replacing Phantoms, it was done so, and it may appear somewhat rushed because it unfortunately actually was, as it either had to be replaced for this update, or wait for whichever update that included this quantity of content addition, i.e. nowhere in foreseeable future (the upcoming update was supposed to be a mini-update for balance and infocards fixing, but since a lot of new ships and whatnot also got ready in time, we decided to turn it into a proper update and push everything we can into it so the final release can be focused mainly on bug fixing, rather than feature additions. So these changes weren't planned for this update beforehand, and were discussed and decided on during the update 7 development).

As for the GC Admins team decision to find a suitable replacement for Phantoms, you have to understand that even though GC admin team and Disco dev team work closely together, they're two separate teams and their fields are somewhat separate as well (Admins work on the server and forums, maintain the roleplay and approve roleplay additions, while developers work on the mod, maintain the game files and approve actual content addition). The decision to open up Phantoms for replacements was made by GC admins, on the basis of "It's already in the game, so let's put it into some use", however, as you yourself most likely noticed it caused two problems: First, majority of the community wanted the Phantoms entirely gone, rather than replaced. Then, no matter how different the replacing concept would've been to the old Phantoms, nearly everyone treated it as "Phantoms Mk II" rather than an entirely new faction. With those two points in mind, my honest opinion is that your faction replacing Phantoms would've caused more problems (for you, as the one running it) than it would've solved. So, after seeing the community input on the possibility of a Phantom replacement (with most of them wanting the faction gone), it was decided in the dev team to do exactly that - Recycle the entries from Phantom assets and reuse them as gear for existing factions:

• Phantom IFF is reworked into Bretonian Privateer IFF.
  
• Phantom guns are readded as lootable Bomber codename weapons.
  
• New Junker Gunship, CTE Freighter and Gaian Bomber are replacing the Phantom Cruiser, VHF and LF respectively.
  
• Phantom system and base entries are removed for now, pending review on which existing faction should they be reassigned to.
  

Now, as for your main concern which is what would happen to The Etherium and what would be your options when it comes to content submission - You already have the support of the community and the approval of the admins team, so you're free to start your faction on the server whenever you like, however, as a non-canon faction you'll need to go through the standard procedure every other non-canon faction (RoS, HF, SCRA, etc) has gone through to gain the approval of the dev team and get their content into the mod: You'll need to establish your roleplay on the server using one of the the existing open use IDs and assets, go for official status and meanwhile justify the ship/station/whathaveyou you want added into the game files through your roleplay, and once you're official you'll be able to post a content submission request which will be then reviewed by the dev team and implemented if approved. Alternatively, you can take your request through the unique ship system, but that'd of course only work for the ship, and not guns, stations or systems. That also means you (unfortunately) have to move your stories based around Temple of the Revenant to another base for the time being.

To cut a long story short - The decision to entirely remove Phantoms as a faction was finalized based on the community input on the last attempt at replacing Phantoms. Even though your faction submission was initially posted as a Phantom replacement, the recent change will not block your faction, but only make the process of reaching the content submission stage a tad lengthier than it would've been as a Phantom replacement, but otherwise, the faction itself can still exist on the server through one of the existing IDs and equipment set.

[|nfrared]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

This is what we have needed. Although I am unsure how we will proceed from here, I now have the information I need to make some serious headway. Much appreciated.

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Shard - The Faceless One

[7AlphaOne1]

I have a suggestion. similar to Vagrant Raiders.


make a creation request. run the few months of RP with a PoB somewhere in the deep omicrons. RP/Pewpew with people. they will come to notice you. apply for officialdom. pay 500 mils. get back with CAU8. profit.

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Need some software for FL?looking of a whole database? click here!

Jay's Quotes

TO FLOOD OR NOT TO FLOOD, THAT IS THE QUESTION.

Well, I've managed to piss off Snak3, Ageira, LH~, Furries, Wisp, but at least Beast is happy.

[|nfrared]

To be completely honest we had already entertained this scenario, but were discouraged as it may have been perceived as watering down our RP potential. It is likely this is the direction this will go in now.

But don't worry. Always have more than one plan, that's my motto.

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Shard - The Faceless One

[Unlucky_Soul]

• Phantom IFF is reworked into Bretonian Privateer IFF.
  
• Phantom guns are readded as lootable Bomber codename weapons.
  
• New Junker Gunship, CTE Freighter and Gaian Bomber are replacing the Phantom Cruiser, VHF and LF respectively.
  
• Phantom system and base entries are removed for now, pending review on which existing faction should they be reassigned to.
  

Would it be possible to use the Phantom id for the Etherium since there has been nothing mentioned about it in your post. The way i see it the existing ids well do not exactly fit the description of the Etherium, being as they are an alien race outside of Vanilla lore. Could the id be reworded to fit the Etherium RP?

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[Echo 7-7]

• Phantom IFF is reworked into Bretonian Privateer IFF.
  
• Phantom guns are readded as lootable Bomber codename weapons.
  
• New Junker Gunship, CTE Freighter and Gaian Bomber are replacing the Phantom Cruiser, VHF and LF respectively.
  
• Phantom system and base entries are removed for now, pending review on which existing faction should they be reassigned to.
  

Would it be possible to use the Phantom id for the Etherium since there has been nothing mentioned about it in your post. The way i see it the existing ids well do not exactly fit the description of the Etherium, being as they are an alien race outside of Vanilla lore. Could the id be reworded to fit the Etherium RP?

Technically speaking, the ex-Phantom ID could be recycled for the Etherium ID. However, for that to happen, an Etherium ID would have to be approved first. Since the Etherium is a non-canonical faction, they would have to first achieve Official status on another ID, and then request a faction ID (for reference, see the process the Vagrant Raiders went through).

In other words, read what aerelm wrote.

... however, as a non-canon faction you'll need to go through the standard procedure every other non-canon faction (RoS, HF, SCRA, etc) has gone through to gain the approval of the dev team and get their content into the mod...

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There was a sig here, once.

[Unlucky_Soul]

• Phantom IFF is reworked into Bretonian Privateer IFF.
  
• Phantom guns are readded as lootable Bomber codename weapons.
  
• New Junker Gunship, CTE Freighter and Gaian Bomber are replacing the Phantom Cruiser, VHF and LF respectively.
  
• Phantom system and base entries are removed for now, pending review on which existing faction should they be reassigned to.
  

Would it be possible to use the Phantom id for the Etherium since there has been nothing mentioned about it in your post. The way i see it the existing ids well do not exactly fit the description of the Etherium, being as they are an alien race outside of Vanilla lore. Could the id be reworded to fit the Etherium RP?

Technically speaking, the ex-Phantom ID could be recycled for the Etherium ID. However, for that to happen, an Etherium ID would have to be approved first. Since the Etherium is a non-canonical faction, they would have to first achieve Official status on another ID, and then request a faction ID (for reference, see the process the Vagrant Raiders went through).

In other words, read what aerelm wrote.

... however, as a non-canon faction you'll need to go through the standard procedure every other non-canon faction (RoS, HF, SCRA, etc) has gone through to gain the approval of the dev team and get their content into the mod...

Hmm ok.That clears things up.thanks

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