No need to ban anyone, golly. Having been a lurker for the past many years before even registering I have seen the whole Hamlet-esque soap opera play out from waaay back. I give props to Matt for cleaning out all the 'dudes' who made the forums very unwelcome back in the 'good ol' days' when everyone wore spiky haircuts and being dowsed in beer was the preferred method of helping people.

I try to contribute what content I can, even help a clueless person once and a while with a PM or post, without pretense of credit or praise, merely for the good of those who want to play. That's all you can hope for a free project, ego's be damned. It's just me returning the karma for all the fun I am having, shouldn't that me the modus operandi of everyone here? I just worry about pulling out the moldy old laundry again is ix-naying our high right now.

But sure, if someone wants to package up the PEQ or whatever into a zip file and host it so people have easy access, who cares? For the record, I do SVN and compile my own projects now, but, waaay back when I was a youngling I got my start with Cavedudes excellent 3.x installer. Once I learned SQL, Perl, and compiling, I do it all myself now. Heck what I have learned here is moving me onto my own SQL/Python/Crystalspace/Blender based D2 clone project. So I thank the project for that.

(--If there is a security fix you can help people with then at least put the right people on the right course to fix it.)

I know plenty of people, and I'll even name some: blah, striat, that are capable coders, who I have spoken to, that HAVE written patches (I'm even running some on my server and they work) that claim that all of their attempts just to get the code into the tree has been fruitless.

The problem here is that nobody seems to accept the patches when they are posted.

Someone, whoever the actual maintainer is, should be quick to accept updates, and someone should be available to talk to these potential devs and find out just HOW good they are and HOW willing they are to continue working on the project... and they should be encouraged.

Again, I know good people who have told me repeatedly just how frustrated they are that they don't have a voice. I can only wonder just how much the project has suffered because of this.

That being said, I applaud those that do work on the emu, and I applaud those that do have SVN write access. However, I would like to know what it actually takes for someone not already in the loop to start to contrinute. What is being doen to expand the contributer base here? Anything?

What I'd like to see are submissions being taken seriously. I'd like to see them promptly tested, and I'd like to see them added to the tree.

And the flaming and derailing attempts I've seen in this thread so far?

Pathetic.

Seriously, is this REALLY about your ego? Do you actually CARE about this project and the people who participate in it... all the way down to those who are trying to enjoy it, the players? What's with the butt-hurt commentary?

Look, this is really simple: if there is a DDOS bug that is KNOWN, then somebody that knows how to and is willing, please fix it.

And when that code is posted, NO MATTER WHO IT IS FROM, put it in the damn tree.

ROFL just realized I should get some sleep.. said BLAH instead of bleh two posts up.

My bad, and bleh, sorry.

Again, this is where we are mistaken; Everyone who ever made/is making a piece of code for EqEmu, should be considered a "dev", not just the few people that have control over the repository.
In any case, the ones that truly hold the key to this EqEmu project and its future, *still* have not posted a word about anything for anything, anywhere, in any form. Not just now, but for a while. This is not right: plenty of us here are truly interested and dedicated enough to a point where we give away our time and money to see this work (in good faith), and are willing to do more. If I got a few people pissed, well I'm sorry (didn't mean to), but I'm not on anyones side but EqEmus, and so should we all!
Maybe I just have a wrong opinion of what "open source" really is?

I'm glad to see this thread has triggered a civil pissing match. It is a good thing, I think.

Angelox, I am a bit hurt about some of the things you said. EQEmu is my first priority, with database/quest development being next. I've often been prone to taking the less wise path in an effort to keep both projects moving, whether I look bad in the process or not. But, I know you and know you don't hold any malice towards anybody who doesn't deserve it so I am going to chalk this up as a miscommunication and call it done with.

Back on to topic about the devels...

I have worked with a few of them pretty closely and I do want to say some of the flames toward them is a bit unfair.

KLS - Grab the full changelog and do a search for KLS. That about sums it up. Other than answering development posts KLS keeps themself pretty quiet on forums and such. I have no problem with that at all, and don't see why others do. The work gets done and it's quality.

Wildcard - Again, look through the changelog. Add that to the fact that he is a key member of PEQ. In addition to coding, he does database work, event scripting, helps me with misc chores that we find ourselves needing, and handles some of the GM work that I don't particularly care for. He has a full plate that's for sure.

FNW - In the modern day of EQEmu he kept this project going, Atlas style. I still remember back in the day his MASSIVE changes to the changelog. Getting new code from him almost felt like Christmas. In the past 2 months, he corrected a few severe memory leaks that I know were brutal on Grand Creation and I am certain effected other servers as well. I think he and Doodman do more behind the scenes than anybody knows, or gives them credit for. I found with PEQ that running a project isn't just about getting the actual development work done, there are tons of other things on your plate that require attending to, or else there won't be a project left to develop for. I think it should also be noted that when EQEmu was losing its hosting, FNW told me if he had to, he would host the site and login on his PERSONAL box and bandwidth.

Doodman - I haven't spoken with him much, but I have to admit I haven't ever tried, either. I know like FNW, he does a ton behind the scenes much, much more than he is given credit for. On a personal note, there was a time recently when Wild and I were bomboarding with him questions mostly dealing with packet collection and collecting spawn opcodes so we can try to get eqextractor working with eqbuilder again, and he was more than friendly and helpful to provide us the information we needed.

Rogean - I know less about him than any other, I admit but his recent HoTT implementation as well as fix for a certain form of exploit was well received by me. His work seems to be quality, so that's all the counts for me.

Now, I don't know the specifics of how it works so I'm now expert, but I do know that all code that is put into CVS is quality controlled to prevent bogus and/or incompatible code from getting into the repo. I know there have been a few times developers had to rewrite certain pieces of code because while they worked and worked well, they didn't meet the quality EQEmu has tried to maintain in recently time. I think that may be one of the reasons why code from the forums doesn't make it into the CVS often. Here is the next issue I have seen... lack of free time. Developers don't have the time to find a piece of code on the forums, analyze it, then either approve it, or hand it back saying this, that, and this need to be changed because of that guy over there. Finally, submit the approved code to SVN which winds it's way to the CVS, and eventually to the nightly builds.

What I feel EQEmu needs to correct this situation is a sort of Forum Developer. Somebody who will act as a lisaon between the coders on the forums, and the developers with CVS access. They would need to be a good developer, and have a very solid grasp on the EQEmu code. They could find the code on the forums, diff it if it isn't already, find immediate mistakes with it and either correct it themselves, or give it back to the author. Then, pass the mostly polished code up to whoever. If they deny it, the liason would then send the code back to the author and either let them know what's wrong, or have them contact the CVS developer directly. Of course I have no power to make this a reality, it's just an idea really. I think instead of fighting back and forth, that's what we need to do come up with ideas and put them into motion.

So.......Anyone seen the Wild Hogs movie?? .........Funny shit :grin:

back to the primary point.

what is the poop on this exploit and the possible patch that may or may not exist.

== sfisque

I agree completely.

viva la Dark Horizons! -We had working bards for pete sakes! Where's our credits????

The liaison use to be me, however there is zero communication coming from anyone in the development team.

The idea worked very well for a long time, I am not sure whats going on with the dev team, they dont respond to e-mails, PM's and never seem to be on IRC (idle but not responsive).

This started months ago and continues today, I cant get answers, help, anything at all.

This is the state of the emulator, the devs separated themselves, weither due to them spending less time on eqemu, moved onto other things, who knows.


I have an in box full of questions, comments, demands, and complaints from the community, and i cant answer a single question because of this.

If that's the case, and the devs refuse to talk to anyone, including their community liason, then what are our options?

Honestly, the ball is in their court. I'm sure the devs are, and have been, reading this thread and quietly hoping that it will go away. This is the point when someone normally swoops in, locks the thread and tells everyone that if they EVER hear any negative feedback again, they will ban everyone in the community and unplug the server (or whatever).

I'm hoping that this time will be different. It appears that there's a pretty unified feeling here that something needs a change. I think that the community would be excited to see more transparency with this project, and by cutting off communication (most likely due to busy schedules and other engagements), the community only sees that things appear to have become stagnant and shitty.

The motivation for the devs to come out and make a move is this: You guys are busting your asses for this project, but the community doesn't see it. You get this feeling that no one gives a shit about how much time or effort that you put into the project, and no one seems to truly appreciate the asset that is our current dev team. The problem is, even if you spend 24/7/365 on ONLY this project, the community still wouldn't understand. That's because the community doesn't realize how much work goes into one of those little lines in the changelog, but then again how could you expect them to? It's not your job to make them understand that, and when you try to, you'll just end up more tired and pissed off than you started (and the community will likely still not understand). That's why you guys NEED a liaison/project manager/public relations person (we'll call it a liaison for the sake of discussion)

If you, the dev team, decided to make your move, by first asking each other if any of you wants out. This is a GPL project, there's no reason for anyone to feel trapped in it. Next, decide that you are going to make a change, and start talking to MattMeck, or hell, if you guys hate him, pick someone else (sorry Matt, nothing against you at all. ;) ), but find yourself a liaison that you can trust and work with. Come clean with any dirty little secrets that you guys have been keeping (I'm not implying that there are any, but the first step to transparency (and an overall happy project) is to make sure that everyone feels like they can be open and honest). Again, this is a GPL project, not an arms race. After that, I'd suggest working with your liaison (just for the sake of this discussion let's call him MattMeck), to get the community actively involved and excited, and pick out some new devs from the community, or like Angelox said, start calling everyone devs. It's not like you're going to lose your green jacket for bringing someone else into the club. Hell, maybe you could run some contests for finding and fixing bugs, or Hawaiian shirt Friday, it doesn't matter, just something that will be a change from the whole "I am the god of Mt. SourceForge, and I don't answer to anyone" image of you guys that the community has developed. No one appreciates or respects that. What people appreciate and respect is human beings who are open, honest, inclusive, yes, even fallible.

There are a million and one ways that this thing could go, but if you choose (and yes, the power is completely within your hands) to go with what's listed above, I will personally claim responsibility if anything goes wrong (because I've used it at least 15 times in my professional career, and it's worked through every single situation).

Discuss. ;)

Dax

Gotta love people who come on and claim to have put all the work into a project, totally ignoring or intentionally disregarding/downplaying the efforts of others that had the same responsability for several years prior, and DID make the sacrifices of running the project on home boxes/bandwidth.
But that doesn't count for anything, so long as the people who have control today are recognized, no matter how spread out they make themselves(must be good for everything) ,all must be good.
It's a good idea, I guess, in the eyes of the few who are in control to piss off the players and run off as many old-school contributors as possible, leaving them to take all the credit.
Contributors such as myself, who have been members, contributors for many years, but now I'm informed that I had nothing to do with anything, so I guess the years I wasted here were for absolutely nothing, something to think about when putting in your time and money to this whole thing.

Hey tcs! as I was reading and I started think about you and Im glad you replyed to this.. your one of the key players of this project(Project Everquest founder) I think! If it wasn't for you, I think thier wouldn't be any movement in the database or as good as it is today!!! I also see that no one said anything about Hoogie.

In my eyes I see a project thats "open source" if you have fix for a "BIG" problem you should post it or show a work around, other wise you should brag or say I knew that was going to happen.(just think if MS did that) .. Everyone in this team is good at something so we should be a TEAM and fix the mess called EqEmu. I would love to see more advance-ment in this project.

Then, like I said already in this thread, maybe a fork is needed.

If the people in charge are THAT unreachable, then someone else needs to step up who is. Or they need to step down, or defer, or do SOMETHING to connect the developers again.

Hey, at least this thread has exposed something that people have been wondering for awhile now.

Maybe NOW we can all discuss a way to fix this.

Remember, this is about the CODE. Everyone, please drop the finger pointing crap. Please. Let's all come together and solve this problem. This emulator is TOO GOOD to die.

Again how was I supposed to post somthing when my ip was banned from here, and irc? I dont have the patch files anymore as it was many moons ago, and when i left the project I deleted everything except my database.

Why don't you guys just create your own LS, most recent code and (your favorite database) and start your own eqemu project if you're worried about the progress. Hell, i'm sure Mattmeck wouldn't object to creating a new section to the eqemu forums for all of you "contributors that want to upkeep eqemu" to start the build on a more sucessful eqemu. I mean, you don't have to create your own LS either.. Just work on a successor to the current builds, together. That is the reason of opensource, right?

I'd prefer to see an attempt at reconciling the current communication issues before someone jumps the gun and forks the project. I don't think it will help anyone to split EQEmu into distinctive factions. All it would take is reopening these closed communication channels to get things back on track, but again, it's up to the devs to step in here and post their thoughts.

fair enough, but if you have "knowledge", aka, you know where the problem is.. e.g. its in the zone server, when a player object has its inventory injected, etc., then a pointer with a quick blurb would be cool. knowledge isnt as good as a concrete patch file, but its worth more than nothing, if its communicated, know what i mean?

== sfisque

I think the devs have just been doing this a long time and, understandably don't want to give it a lot of attention anymore. Which is probably compounded by the guilt of not working on it often which makes them want to work on it less. I'd think they'd want someone active to step up and lead the project and let them work on it when they get excited about it again. However, it's probably pretty difficult to find a qualified person. Although at this point someone half-decent would be better than what we have now.
Either way, KLS has been doing some good updates. As long as we aren't going 3-months without updates I'm not going to freak out.

I vote a community owned repository/build... (Dev version builds/source and then community version builds/source) which can be controlled by community developers (to create less hassle of some jerk coming in and fucking it all up)

While I do not always agree with devn00b's presentation, I do have to agree that getting shite on (or even the perception of being shite on) by your 'team' warrants no effort to hand over my work. That would be like your boss coming up and saying "You're fired, but before you go can you complete your TPS reports?"

Uh, no. <finger> ;)

What I WOULD like to know is, how to detect these "hackurs", either via logging in the emu or 3rd party tools. I've been forced to run Abyss on a Windows server due to something going on that is crashing the Linux code. Now I am worried. I have 10 years of midget porn I need to protect.

Here, here, for midget porn!

From my understanding though, it's a buffer overrun that is created within the EQEmu code. I don't think that having Linux vs Windows (without knowing exactly what's happening to take action to prevent it) would make a difference.

Could someone in the know throw out a little info for us to look into? I'd be happy to monkeypaw around in the code and try to find it. I'm not a software dev (I did get an associates in CS back in college (it was so my credits would transfer for my bachelor's, long story, don't ask), but I do know systems and networking pretty damn well. If there's something that I could do to assist, I'd be delighted to help.

Dax

Project Communication & Collaboration
 

Hi all,

Most of you won’t know me, I kind of phase in and out of EQEmu. I originally got involved back with EQEmu 5.5 by writing some tools to add items to NPCs loot list and such. Since then, due to outside commitments, I've been phasing in and out.

I’ve seen eh team change so much, that the only people I remember now are LE, image and devnoob really.

Gee, that was quite a few years ago....

However, back to the point. After all my years of phasing in and out, long time reading, first time poster sort of thing I really wanted to get back involved in official dev'ing for EQEMU.. Why? Because it’s a fucken awesome project. However, from my own experiences, I have noticed things which prevent this.

First and foremost, the lack of communications which has already been drummed to death on this thread. Really there’s no too little communication between what’s happening with the project and whatnot.

This makes it hard to find out exactly what is going on. Then when you finally get the balls to ask what’s happening in IRC, majority of the time is attitude and smart arse remarks. I don’t know what this steams from, as I said, this I just my personal experience.

Secondly, as my own career has lead me too many senior development rolls, I’ve seen a lot of projects and the one thing which keeps a project is alive, besides communication, is collaboration. People working together and sharing ideas.

This does happen with EQEmu, but generally your only listen to if your known or have been around forever (but by no means I’m saying I’ve been around forever, haven’t not contributed to the office code in any form).

I think what EQEmu firstly needs is a clean stand on where it is heading, lay down some process, control, accountability. Now granted this is a community project, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have design documents, open forums between devs, admins and users.

I did talk to FWN(I think I got it right) and he did point me to some basic documentation on the wiki on the architectures used in EQEmu.

Hopefully he will agree in saying this, when it comes to EQEmu, it fails miserably on the topic of collaboration, certainly in the dev area.

Thirdly, al the pointes previously stated by other members, code not making it into the official release, and what code is made part of the official really is bandaids and hardly documented.

If we want EQEmu to succeed to a point where it’s stable and playable with all functionality to titanium, then we need to implement some process, control and accountability.

Lastly, this is more of a pet hate than anything else, which may or may not reflect on the site (so sorry for going off topic, but it’s *semi* related). The site is bloody dark.

Could we lighten it up, more recent updates, a better user experience?

Our own little community here in OZ, we have both EQ (EQEmu) and WOW (mangos) servers running and the portal for the wow server is simply amazing (granted I’m not a big fan of wow), but it looks good and it gets people attracted to it.

Now, this is all well and good you might say, but who’s going to step up to the task.....

Well I for one would gladly offer my skills in the software development and process & control sections. Having been a project manager on MANY different kinds of projects, I feel that my controbution could have a positive effect on the EQEmu project and community.

I’m also sure, there are a bunch of people feeling the same way, who feel that they could bring a new era to the project. So why don’t we?

In order for this to happen, realalisticly (and some people aren’t going to like this), the project needs a revamp, on a management level.

If the dev's have lost instrest (burn out is 110% normal, etc) then they need to either step down or be forced to step down and had over controller.

Does anyone (who is an official staff member) have access to the security for the CVS to grant new members official access to the source tree?

Also, let’s get the code documented, some processes & controls in. The Wiki could be the perfect spot for this...


Also talking with FWN, there’s no official bug list or anything like that... That is going to have to change with more process and control around it.

Now... DONT get me wrong, we don’t want to go Nazi with it, but I feel that the project needs some revolutionary changes to move forward and get out of this rut as it was.


All of which, I’m glad to donate my time and serves to helping, but thus far, 98% of my questions or ideas, have been met with smart arse remarks or land on deaf ears (or fingers as it is the case online).

Now also, as I stated, these are just my personal views and may appear very generic and broad, but they are made with the best intentions to get the project in full swing.

As someone said, it will only take a hand full of people to get EQEmu project energy levels up and though the roof again!

Froglok

P.S this is not an attack on anyone or the project; personally I just think it is time for change.

P.S.S I would also like to point out that previous devs have done a outstanding job in getting EQEmu to where it is today! (But, we need to change to move it forward)

P.S.S This post is intended to by constructive criticism

Sorry
 

Sorry all for the long and ungly post :(

I agree completely. I have nothing else to add to that. I harbor no ill will to the devs, and only want what's best for this project.

I've got a lot of infrastucture design, implementation, management, and documentation experience, as well as having worked as a project manager during the first part of my career. EQEmu is a very personal thing to me, and I am more than willing to contribute anything that I can offer to make this project soar again.

Let me know what I can do, and I'll get started

Dax

Yeah except that after releasing the LS originally as GPL, they pulled it back and refuse to distribute it, even though it was licensed GPL (once GPL, always GPL).

Thus, one point of failure was artificially created, which would be fine if that point didn't fail. But when even their own appointed liaison can't reach them, and they guard the code that allows people to use what IS out there.... well, you do the math ;)

Look, I respect the heads of this project a LOT. I just wish they'd explain why things are the way they are, and maybe do something to eliminate this bottleneck.

Login Server
 

Regarding the Login Server source code...

Don’t beat a dead horse. It’s only going to be seen as bad criticism and shut out the administration team more from our concerns.

The primary reason the logion server source code is not public availably is of the encryption that is needed for login details and ultimately... credit card details (used to be, dunno about now).

I Agree with the Dev Team on this one, The Login Server Source code being publicly available, have the potential to kill the entire Project... Why? Because (if I remember correctly, maybe someone with more expertise in the area can confirm or disprove this) is because it will bring the full wrath of SoE down on us.


Which we DO NOT WANT! We want EQEmu to thrive. EQEmu and SoE seem o be balanced and as such, SoE leaves EQEmu alone.

However that being said, if Minilogin could be adaptor to allow the running of private servers, just not enforce IP (this may not be possible, due to encryption) then I think it would be a goer.

But as it stands, Keep the Login Server source code, closed source and locked away, these no need to have it available.
However, if the encryption in live has changed enough to warrant the current encryption useless, they maybe I could be released and binary... hoping for anything more is just not going to happen.
Any who, let’s not turn this into a thread about login server... there’s millions on the same topic... let’s keep focused.

Agreed, Froggy (btw, welcome back :)). If people have not gotten it through their thick skulls by now the reason the LS source is NOT open source, then they never will. It's moot, it's not even the PROBLEM, and always ends in one sentiment: get over it.

It's not going to be released, no matter how many times you bring it up. Dreams of becoming your own Hub are not going to happen.

Here is the deal with the login server. The original were talkin the 1.2 days hgere guys login server was GPLed, However the crypto (a seperate project that compiled to a .dll) hat went along with it to make it all work was not. Quagmire never wanted it released. I released the old login server, along with the compiled .dll file. I'm sure if you wanted it you could find it. The current login server is a bastardized version written by doodman (and probably others but hey), wich is not under GPL as I understand it.

OK then I stand corrected in terms of the LS.

Hey Dev, remind me again what version that Login worked with.....

SOE does not take any action against EQEMU because EQEMU is no real threat to them atm. If EqEmu ever did get organized and developed into a large player-base, I can pretty much guarantee you, they will get shut down. Right now, all EqEmu is, is a "Demo" of what the real Everquest is, and if anything, will attract players to the live game.

very true Angelox, more than likly it will attact people back to live, but still, the less attention we get form SoE the better I say. :)

Id much prefer this project to stay alive then get the wrath of SoE :)

-froglok

oh snap haha

Focus
 

Focus people, lets not turn this into a bitching thread, about what people did or did not do.

Lets discuss ideas on how to get the project back on track....

If you want to btich, name call and shit liek the last 2 posts, make a new thread!

-froglok

Lets do it!
 

So far, these are the ideas / topics which need addressing

1. Dev Team - Finding out what is going on.
- Do they need to step down?
- OR - Do they need to rejoin to the community?
- OR - Do we need to forcibly appoint new developers?
- OR - Do they need to appoint new developers to join their ranks?

2. Documentation & Collaboration
We need to pick up the level of documentation associated with the project to be better focused.
Documentation of the code needs to be done
Collaboration between various teams (database, EQEmu and the community)

3. Process and Control
Investigate what process and controls are currently in place
Develop new processes and control for development of both EQEmu and various databases. (I.e. official release process, documentation process & control, making items official, alpha & beta)
Implement Process and Control though the project (i.e. what process is used to get new code in, what process is used to ensure the quality of code that is making it into the CVS, etc)
Quality Gates - Do we have any? Should we have them to stop potential harmful or under developed code making into the CVS? (I so think we should!)

4. Attitude
Stop the bullshit attitudes which can be seen though the forums and IRC. This just pisses people who want to help off.
IRC at best is a hostile place with only 20-25 people in it, 90% of which just idle. We need to change this around... people won’t like this, but if they are arseholes, /quit and take their servers with them. I’m sure people are willing to run IRC Servers (i.e. I will gladly run one for EQEmu)


5. Revamp the Site.
Use a better colour scheme
Keep the site up to date with relevant and current information

6. Audit
Where exactly is the code base at, what can be improved, what can be refracted, etc

Where exactly is the databases at (i.e. lets get a working expansion by expansion database going (this has been the case for the 2 major ones thus far, but still, we need to identify just where they are at and make it know))

7. Supporting Services
Let’s take advantage of services offered by SourceForge, i.e. bug lists and such. Currently I can find 2 bug lists, both of which were updated well, really last year some time and are so not relevant it’s not funny.

That all I can think of off the top of my head, I’m sure we can refine these topics, maybe cut some down and add some, as always, these are just my personal views and opinions, please feel free to comment and suggest different views.

8. Education of the community.
Lets education the community not to be dumb arses and constantly arse the same questions over and over again. This just pisses everyone off if the same questions are asked (i.e. when we are going to live, why I can’t get the login server source code, etc).

9. Investigate other services and technologies which can better the EQEmu Project

Let’s get some momentum behind this peoples!

-froglok

Let's see.......

#1 A couple of the devs that are still hanging out, and contributing silently, have contributed that way for a long time.
I do agree it's time for change, but there are a few Old-school devs that deserve thier positions, if for nothing else still being here for the project.
There definately needs to be a link between the Devs and the public, but I don't think that is a priority at this time since the same small group are controlling the emu and the DB project, public input isn't really needed, so not a top priority.

#2 Code commenting has always been a bit laxed/loose (some of it used to be pretty colorful :) )
A few people have tried to clean up the commenting along the way, but the code has been around awhile, and would take quite the effort to try to do more than generalize and condense what's there.
Alot of it is that way because it's been patched/fixed/changed/commented out, etc to accomodate different other code changes, etc, etc.
Becomes a nightmare real quick.
Set up guidelines for new code additions?? Min / Max comment structure??
That way we at least get the newer code/fixes/patches covered.

I think the whole thing ran better when the Development team was the development team and the DB projects, not just PEQ were being worked on by thier own seperate teams, each running thier own server with public input being a key element in the process.
If the key people don't recognize player/public input as important, the players will drop out or move on, and the more we lose , the smaller the community gets.
We need to spark up some community spirit, drag out some old screen shots from a few years back, remember way back in 2002 when npc's first started moving??... OK bouncing/sliding/slingshotting/and disappearing, but they didn't stand still :)
Back then EVERYONE got excited and wanted to jump in and help, no matter how inept or uncoordinated they were, they still wanted to help.
We need that kind of spark again, get some fresh faces to come forward and show us that they too have some great ideas/fixes/changes to add, or just to help out with input and general help to newbs on the forum/irc.
If we really want the project to be better, we need to fix it, it's supposed to be a community effort.

#3 According to the original mission of PEQ, each expansion was to be finished, tested, fine tuned then released.
It's become hard to stick to the mission plan evidently, since now the addition of multiple expansions and even non expansion correct additons have become commonplace, as a means to pacify players I guess, and I see new posts all the time mentioning overlooked npc's or objects from zones that should have been finished from prior expansions.
Rushing the work always leads to disaster, It may take a bit longer, and people may complain along the way, but when they source the DB in it should work, and be of High Quality, not a work in progress that needs hours of work.

As for the Emulator end, the coders in the community need to maybe form a panel, have new code snippets/fixes/changes reviewed once a week or so and any valid code be commited on at least a weekly basis, so that the fix that was made this week isn't sitting in a forgotten post for weeks at a time.
If need be , have community elections, among qualified persons to head up the panel???
Elect a couple people, not just one, that are capable of commiting the code so there is always someone available for the weekly commit???
Quality control is a must, not sure what is in place, if anything right now.

#4 The attitude in irc has been there since I came here a LONG time ago.
It used to irritate me too, when I created #npcmovdb channel, we would try to help the people and be decent, and we had quite a few people that would stop by and comment on how nice it was to log into our channel, get an answer (even a correct one most of the time) without all the hassle.
I guess it's easier to bark at the newbs and discourage them , than it is to answer a question, and satisfy thier need so they can go about business.
Anyways, point being EqEmu irc has always been and probably will always be, an attitude waiting to happen, there are actually a few of the irc channels that help people :)


#5 Agree completely, like black, but we went a wee bit overboard???
Color is good, color is your friend.
Would be great to have relevant info maintained regularly, but we get back to the lack of shared information again, and the persons with the access to do so being available to actually do it.

#6 See #3

#7 I guess it's just easier to have the bugs reported on the forums for the individual projects, makes it easier to keep track of them, if the team actually monitors the forum I know that the DB bug forum got a good workout, and the resolved bugs section is looking bigger all the time.


#8 It's funny, everyone who has been here more than six months says the same thing about asking stupid, asked a million times questions, but they are the same stupid-asked a million times questions that EVERYONE asked and got chewed out for when they arrived new and exicted about playing EQ on a "Player run server"......


That's my view on things, not that anyone really gives a shit anymore.

EqEmu has survived many rough spots/times through the years, it has it's ups and downs but somehow always seems to survive.

Buffer Overflow
 

HI all,

It just occurred to (a link between exploiting which has been going on and a warning I’m getting), when I compile EQEmu in VS 2k5 (following the guide) I get the following warnings:

Warning 1 warning C4996: 'sprintf' was declared deprecated c:\eqemu-0.7.0-1034\common\sharedlibrary.cpp 110

Which, originally I just wrote off as *nix being compiled on windows and didn’t give it much thought... well that was silly of me.

sprintf is unsafe and can be exploited with buffer overflows.

What’s a buffer overflow? In short, it’s when a block of data in written to a buffer that is too small.

I.e. writing 10 chars to a buffer which can only handle 8 chars.

The solution for this (at least on windows) is to use sprtinf_s.

Or for a more generic solution (cross platform) snprintf which ahs these safety checks.

What’s people’s ideas / thoughts?

- froglok

P.S for more information about buffer overflows, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_overflow