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.
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