Folks,

Happy Friday, all! Today’s update is chock-full of goodness, information, and a personal recommendation from your friendly neighborhood developer. I hope everybody reading this had a good week—speaking on behalf of CSE, we sure did!

First, a quick update to our P.A.T. #3 Checklist. We knocked one item off our list, and added six new items to the list. While it’s not as long as the last update (it’s only been a week), we have some really good news on to report.Here is the updated list.

Complete:

1. Begin moving client -> server TCP connection to client -> proxy.

To add:

1. First pass rigged generic human female.
2. First pass Úlfhéðnar visual concepts.
3. Added block rotation to building system.
4. First pass ability component editor for designers to tinker with.
5. First pass ability crafting API.
6. First pass Gargoyle Becoming concept.

Secondly, we had a very successful P.A.T. this week. We peaked at about 300 players, and the engine held up very nicely. No server crashes, minimal client crashes, and the fight in our little battleground was fast and furious. Our Alpha/IT Backers left wanting more, and that is always a very good thing. Client performance was greatly improved on many machines, and most players also saw increased performance. In addition, we have the next round of client optimizations going in next week, so we should see another increase in performance as well. Even at 300 people, the game was extremely playable on most machines, and on machines that met our recommendation spec, performance was great.

Thirdly, due to demand from our Alpha folks, we are going on have another P.A.T. test this weekend! The servers will be open from 2PM Eastern Time to 5 PM Eastern time on February 7th, 2015. We’re hoping to hit 500 people per battleground, so please join us if you can. Let’s see if we can break the server (or at least cause it to slow down a lot)! Expect that performance will start to suffer as we pass the 400 player range, but that’s one of the things we are working on, so more data is, of course, helpful. OTOH, how many games can handle 300 people in a small battleground when they are LIVE, let alone while that game is in Pre-Alpha? So, please join us on Saturday for some fun and frolic! If you haven’t been to a P.A.T. yet, and your tier comes with Alpha Access, please head to our Forums for further information. Please, please read the P.A.T. FAQ that’s on the bottom left of our launcher. The time/place for this test is:

When: 2/7/2015
Where: Wyrmling
Time: 2PM Eastern Time/11AM Pacific Time/7PM UTC. This test will last three hours.

Fourth, for our IT folks, we will be having an impromptu test of the current build today at 2:30PM Eastern Time. We had a quick test this morning, and things went well, so please join us later today for another important test. The current build has the new TCP/IP code in it, so we really need to put it through its paces if we are going to migrate it to Wyrmling next week. Join in if you can.
When: 2/6/2015
Where: Hatchery
Time: 2:30PM Eastern Time/11:30AM Pacific Time/7:30PM UTC. This test will last one hour.

Fifth, everything else is moving along nicely with the game’s development. We’re getting close to selecting our sound engineer, so I hope that this will be the last month that our game’s sound has the same title as that old Simon and Garfunkel song. 🙂

Finally, I have to use this space to do something I haven’t done before, and recommend that our Backers go look at a Kickstarter. I’ve been loath to do it in the past for a number of reasons, but this time, well, I think it is different. For those who have been part of the Massively news site as readers or posters, you already know that it closed last week. I wrote a lengthy piece about it here, and judging by the response I got from many of you, my feelings were reciprocated by many of you. Well, the good folks at Massively launched their Kickstarter this morning here, and it is off to a good start. My thoughts on this new site should be obvious to those who have read my piece, but just in case, let me be very clear about this:

1) I loved the current incarnation of Massively, before it was shut down by you-know-who.
2) I think that the MMORPG industry needs more sites like Massively, not fewer.
3) I respect the current editorial crew at Massively for their integrity, and their willingness to stand by that integrity.
4) I will be backing the Kickstarter on a personal level. I will also back them as a studio *if* there is a way to do it that doesn’t compromise their integrity or ours.

What I am asking all of you to do is to head over to the Kickstarter and decide for yourself if you want to back them at any level. I would also ask you to remember that during the Kickstarter, sites such as Massively and MMORPG kept reporting on us, even when certain other sites wouldn’t. Our slice of the industry needs more sites that are willing to stand for something, and not compromise their integrity by always being positive, out of fear of losing the ad revenue that keeps them afloat.

Will MassivelyOP maintain the same standards as the former team, also led by Brianna, did? My expectation and hope is that they will. So, I urge all of our Backers to head over there and decide if you want to help perform a group rez spell on the former team. If you like reading sites such as Massively, MMORPG, and others, here’s your chance to throw a few bucks their way. Help ensure that you will have a special place to go on the Internet in order to get the news, features, and updates on games like the one we are making here. I’ll be there in body and spirit, hanging out in the comment section of their new site, just as I did in the past, as well as occasionally in the comment section of their Kickstarter. 🙂 Again, the link to their KS is here.

That’s a wrap on today’s update. It was a great week here, and I hope everybody reading this has a great weekend!

-Mark