Architect Archive
Thread: Latest Adds To TestCenter and Soon to Live.. Your FeedBack Is needed...
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Dvnce
Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:39 pm
#1
Ok I am sure most of us have seen the latest coming our way ( potentially ) (remember just because it hits test does not mean its set in stone 
)
)Here is the Link.. Latest Patch Notes for Test Center
There are alot of changes in this patch..
The one I am seeing most as potentially Impacting our profession is the changes to the way structure maitenance is handled.
I have tested this on TestCenter and as long as there is money in your bank account it does autopull from your account to keep your structure from decaying..
Please Now is the time and ( we dont have alot of It ) to post your feedback on this and any other issues that you may have in this upcoming patch. ( both good and bad ) Please keep your feed back brief and to the point .. thanks..
Pawlin
Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:01 pm
#2
Does it affect ALL structures? Houses, factories and harvesters?
So you want the feedback here?
Dvnce
Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:33 pm
#3
yes affects ALL structures..
and Yes feed back in this thread.. please
Pawlin
Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:41 pm
#4
If implemented as is, this would be a definite blow to the architect profession which is already struggling.
Our product does not decay at all and the only way we get renewed business is through maintenance running out and destroying a structure. If they take that away entirely then we will have no sustaining business at all.
Gojita
Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:34 pm
#5
Pawlin wrote:
If implemented as is, this would be a definite blow to the architect profession which is already struggling.
Our product does not decay at all and the only way we get renewed business is through maintenance running out and destroying a structure. If they take that away entirely then we will have no sustaining business at all.
you have a very good point.
LonelyGhost
Sat Jan 22, 2005 12:00 am
#6
I'd like to know how much it pulls, and how often, and is there away for us to opt out of this "feature". As I have said in other threads around the forums here, I am uneas about this. The fact is, there is some sort of bug in this game that accelerates the draining of maintenance, it goes warp speed, actually, and destroys the structure. I have had 4 factories, and a half dozen harvs poof due to this. These structures I am absolutely, positively 100% certain had, at the minimum, 7 days maintenance in them when they disappeared. The factories has about 20 days.
My fear is that this bug will hit a structure, and instead of destroying the structure and stopping, it will hit the 0% barrier and ull creds out of my bank, then bump again 25 milliseconds later, and pull more creds, and repeat this until either my bank is empty or the time-warp decides to stop.
This is the only real fear I have.
My other issue is the same as has been posted already....we have been aksing for over a year for decay of SOME kind on structures....be it the classic kind, or through a more interesting and engaging method of using repair kits to "refresh" the structures condition. But this takes the issue in the opposite direction, meaning the houses that are in existence right now will NEVER LEAVE THE GAME unless a player willfully and volunarily destorys it. And we all know how often THAT happens. I really dont want to sell candles for a living.
My fear is that this bug will hit a structure, and instead of destroying the structure and stopping, it will hit the 0% barrier and ull creds out of my bank, then bump again 25 milliseconds later, and pull more creds, and repeat this until either my bank is empty or the time-warp decides to stop.
This is the only real fear I have.
My other issue is the same as has been posted already....we have been aksing for over a year for decay of SOME kind on structures....be it the classic kind, or through a more interesting and engaging method of using repair kits to "refresh" the structures condition. But this takes the issue in the opposite direction, meaning the houses that are in existence right now will NEVER LEAVE THE GAME unless a player willfully and volunarily destorys it. And we all know how often THAT happens. I really dont want to sell candles for a living.
Skippy
Sat Jan 22, 2005 4:06 am
#7
I agree with the above posts and have very little to add. On one hand I like the change, as I often forget to pay maintenance, but thats part of the game IMO, so therefore im not too hard on myself. But on the other hand, im not liking this due to the fact that any and all repeat business will die away.
If they do add this feature, then I would like to see some sort of decay added, so that eventually structures would need to be replaced.
Im also worried about the 'time warp bug' LonelyGhost mentioned, Ive had this happen aswell and dont really want my bank balance to drained away like that, maybe ill keep all my money as cash and not in the bank.
Message Edited by Skippy on 01-22-2005 11:09 AM
bluejanus
Sat Jan 22, 2005 5:13 am
#8
You know that sucky event when you accidently delete your waypoints to a harvester or structure in the middle of nowhere. You've effectively lost that lot with this particular change. I believe CSRs cannot locate lost structures.
And as other people have noted in other threads, this will make it impossible to remove structures from player cities and leave derelict structures all over the place. Does this change affect city structures? Otherwise you end up with a player city that never goes away even though the city structures are derelict. And we already know about how you can buy tickets to player city shuttles that don't exist anymore. This change would make lot trade ghost citizens worse since they don't even need to maintain the house to be a citizen.
If this change is coming and can't be stopped, can we be allowed to deposit power in the bank and have power maintenance automated?
Let's say a house becomes condemned. Other than getting a loan from a player, if a player quits inside the house, is he stuck when he comes back, if his bank account is empty?
Oh yeah, the devs always throw the "database issue" in our faces, why bother maintaining condemned structures and the stuff inside when you could crate OMUs, have million unit bricks, crate deeds, expand storage in houses, etc.
And as other people have noted in other threads, this will make it impossible to remove structures from player cities and leave derelict structures all over the place. Does this change affect city structures? Otherwise you end up with a player city that never goes away even though the city structures are derelict. And we already know about how you can buy tickets to player city shuttles that don't exist anymore. This change would make lot trade ghost citizens worse since they don't even need to maintain the house to be a citizen.
If this change is coming and can't be stopped, can we be allowed to deposit power in the bank and have power maintenance automated?
Let's say a house becomes condemned. Other than getting a loan from a player, if a player quits inside the house, is he stuck when he comes back, if his bank account is empty?
Oh yeah, the devs always throw the "database issue" in our faces, why bother maintaining condemned structures and the stuff inside when you could crate OMUs, have million unit bricks, crate deeds, expand storage in houses, etc.
GummiShooter
Sat Jan 22, 2005 5:30 am
#9
I have very little to add, since the persons above me all make very good points. So I'm just gonna repeat the things that were said to stress their importance:
Pawlin wrote:
If implemented as is, this would be a definite blow to the architect profession which is already struggling.
Our product does not decay at all and the only way we get renewed business is through maintenance running out and destroying a structure. If they take that away entirely then we will have no sustaining business at all.
LonelyGhost wrote:
I'd like to know how much it pulls, and how often, and is there away for us to opt out of this "feature". As I have said in other threads around the forums here, I am uneas about this. The fact is, there is some sort of bug in this game that accelerates the draining of maintenance, it goes warp speed, actually, and destroys the structure. I have had 4 factories, and a half dozen harvs poof due to this. These structures I am absolutely, positively 100% certain had, at the minimum, 7 days maintenance in them when they disappeared. The factories has about 20 days.
My fear is that this bug will hit a structure, and instead of destroying the structure and stopping, it will hit the 0% barrier and ull creds out of my bank, then bump again 25 milliseconds later, and pull more creds, and repeat this until either my bank is empty or the time-warp decides to stop.
I actually think that they can't seem to fix this bug and that this is just a quick fix for it. But maybe I'm watching too many movies...
bluejanus wrote:
You know that sucky event when you accidently delete your waypoints to a harvester or structure in the middle of nowhere. You've effectively lost that lot with this particular change. I believe CSRs cannot locate lost structures.
Let's say a house becomes condemned. Other than getting a loan from a player, if a player quits inside the house, is he stuck when he comes back, if his bank account is empty?
Oh yeah, the devs always throw the "database issue" in our faces, why bother maintaining condemned structures and the stuff inside when you could crate OMUs, have million unit bricks, crate deeds, expand storage in houses, etc.
These are all valid points, and in my opinion outweigh the benefit of not losing items because you forgot to pay maintenance. How hard can it be to implement a system where you get an email for every structure that only has a few days of maintenance in it? If you then still forget to pay maintenance, you will have to learn it the hard way. And if the devs decide to ignore our pleas (which I think they will), then please don't implement this system for harvesters, 'cause that will be the final deathblow.
Just imagine what servers will be like when there are no Architects.
Petekod1
Sat Jan 22, 2005 9:39 am
#10
Well, I'm not thrilled about the prospect - a lot of my sales are from people who have their factories or harvesters blowup (gotta love the casual players).
I'm also concerned that this is going to leave a lot of empty strutures all over the landscape and cities unmanagable.
If the Devs want to stop players from losing their stuff, I'm not sure this is the best way - I'd be more in favour of a system that:
1)When youput money/power into a structure an email is send out verifiying the money put in.
2) When maintenace runs out,an inventory list is created and tagged to the structure in the SOE database
3) The structure is redeeded into the players inventory
4) After 3 redeeds, the structure finally goes poof.
With a system like this - if a factory mysteriously disappears, and the player has put in enough maintenance the CSR will be able to pull the inventory list, and the player can supply the maintenance email and things can be rectified.
The structure redeeding basically tells the player "Look - you're not with it enough to keep your structure running even though you had 3 warnings - so the structure is gone"
This way there will still be repeat architect business - not as much - but at least the developers can try to keep the people who whine happy (not referring to people who have their factory die due to a bug as whining - dont' get me wrong) and they'll manage to keep the architect profession alive.
ButLike I said - I don't like the idea at all right now.
Niklesnitz
Sat Jan 22, 2005 11:26 am
#11
From what I understand of this is that SOE is playing to the masses. They also might be trying to stop the poof problems where people had the sufficient maint in their structures, but they disappeared anyway.
But in all their "wisdom", they are going about this the wrong way. Instead of non-decaying structures, they need an interface that allows a better way to maintain structures.
I don't like this idea of coddling to those who complain about losing their stuff because they forgot to pay maint or whatever. If you have a structure, you should have a responsibility to that structure.
e6alfa
Sat Jan 22, 2005 11:33 am
#12
I have read on Corbantis, andhas been verified, that this will NOT go live. It's only on TC. I sure hope it doesn't.
Message Edited by e6alfa on 01-22-2005 10:34 AM
Anthemion
Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:34 pm
#13
- The drawing of funds from players bank accounts to maintain structures should not be implemented until the structure decay revamp is completed. The "Feature" will put more pressure on a profession struggling for ANY repeat business.
- If there is an absolute need for the feature to be implemented now it should not be applied to harvesters and factories, only applied to houses, guild halls, and city structures.
- Will this lead to many more unattended structures? I lost my wayp to the structure but it keeps drawing from bank! Or I just do combat with this toon once in awhile and forgot about the structure...
- This change also nerfs the Droid Engineer's structure maintenance modules which still need refinement if I remember correctly.
Message Edited by Anthemion on 01-26-2005 08:01 PM
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