LotC Development Blueprint – 2016 Edition

[Telanir 6975]

Good evening, disciples of content consumption.

 

Some projects last but a few weeks while others live for several years, however, it is undeniable that all content has a life-cycle. If you could imagine for a moment, an iron train blasting across a railtrack at full speed—endlessly steaming ahead. With each mile the train shakes and rattles, bolts shake looser and come undone, and as one segment becomes unstable the rest reconsider their stability.

 

It has become increasingly difficult to maintain and update Nexus with the years, and this lends a heavy hand to the lack of content releases in 2015. 6 months ago I decided that it would become too difficult very soon and began working on a solution.

 

It’s time for us to salute Nexus and ArcheCore for the years they have acted as the foundational pillars of our server, and look forward to new promise.

 

While it hasn’t been an easy road the development cycle is now concluded. With this, I am pleased to announce our new content manager. Please welcome Obelisk to Lord of the Craft.

 

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The Obelisk Framework

 

Obelisk is a content management solution that enchances the capabilities of the Development Team and empowers us to dream bigger. One of the main goals of this project was to streamline the development process in several ways.

• Consistency: all content on LotC operates similarly, as a player you won’t have to adapt to ten different methods of getting things done
• Reliability: built to prevent unexpected downtime, will perform the same way each time you use it
• Development Time: strongly decreased development time for content built through Obelisk
• Learning Curve: there has been no better time to apply for the Development Team, typical overhead associated with Spigot is unnecessary

 

How does this affect me?

 

Obelisk isn’t actually a tangible content release that you could touch and feel—or at least not immediately. It is the new heir that will replace and inherit the responsibilities of our current content managers. In effect, it is a gateway for impending revisions to the LotC experience, and new features.

 

The opportunity now stands before us to envision a fresh Lord of the Craft, and give our gameplay experience a reboot from the core up.

Obelisk does not immediately replace the existing core however, for a time it will run alongside Nexus & ArcheCore and replace each piece bit-by-bit.

 

This way you do not have to wait for a full several-month replacement—features can be released as they are ready. The impact this will have on the server performance is minimal as a result of the new design.

 

How can I get involved?

 

Each one of us has an opinion on what we would like to see on Lord of the Craft, and often we want for certain features to be added or changed. I bring good tidings. 

 

This time the spotlight is on you.

 

We value your opinion and take your discussion seriously, but I am not simply mentioning this: the next several months we will show you this and you will be our judge.

 

The development of Modules for Obelisk includes a rigorous process that involves you in meaningful ways. What sets this project apart is staff mentality, we are looking to make sure that each who wishes to can assist us in creative development.

 

The release schedule for a majority of features will often include a Your View followed by a required period of short beta-testing. Once we have gathered enough feedback a project will be either implemented live, redeveloped, or scrapped if reception is poor. (Notice: this affects only Obelisk related content)

 

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Now, I must write here a disclaimer that may seem a bit harsh, but only at first, as this necessary to say.

 

Remember we each have a responsibility to actively participate in the development process: beta-test, submit bugs, hang with us on TS, join community meetings, etc. With each step you show us you take your experience seriously, and we will do everything we can to make sure your voice has a tangible impact.

 

Know however, that it is not our duty to cater and serve every individual, our goal is an experience that you will enjoy the most. Those who are comfortable with making sacrifices will realize they can make mere ripples into waves. In other words, we can make your ideas come to life, but only you have the power to show us the value in them.

 

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Development Schedule

 

Now I will present you with a concise list of our next works, these projects are not a list of all content we plan to release, but all of these listed will follow the release schedule above. Some overhauls will be more dramatic than others, but each will be followed by numerous quality of life improvements. Note that these are not necessarily in order.

 

- Prism -
The new /me interface, an intuitive menu that takes full advantage of what GUI capability is built in to Minecraft through inventories.

 

- RoleplayEngine -
An extra-roleplay-oriented overhaul of the existing RoleplayEssentials v2.5, provides a lot of unique features: some of which include italics/bold in roleplay, party creation (w/ a party chat) and guilds (with a guild chat) that give you integrated support for grouping and socializing with other players. (and much more, possible integrated support for languages)

 

- Workshop -
The new Crafting module, it takes the intuitiveness of Nexus-Craft and pushes it one step further. One exciting feature is the ability for staff to create new items/recipies/workstations on the fly.

 

- Foundry (EventEngine) -
Adds a myriad of new capabilities for the Event team as well as GM’s in making quality events, actual instanced dungeons, EventBlocks (add particle effects, sound triggers, etc.) and more!

 

- Daemon (Ticket System) -
Replacement module for the current ReportRTS plugin (modreq plugin). It is designed to minimize the time modreq’s take to be answered and incentivizing good performance. Gives the ability to privately report players and moderators, as well as make comments on how a ticket was handled for Admin eyes. Players consistently reported can be audited by moderation for chat-logs, stay on your best behaviour! Also includes a bunch of other neat additions.

 

- AND MORE! -
Not all pending content has been mentioned, some unmentioned things will also be getting touched up. Relevant posts for those will be made before development for these modules begins.

 

 

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Livestream
Due to very unfortunate circumstances we were unable to livestream on the 1st. Please accept my apologies, I will find a method to answer questions live, if a livestream isn’t a possibility I will likely at least do so during a community meeting.

 

 

And so, I conclude the reveal. I wish each of you an exciting and productive new year, thank you!

 

 

~Telanir, and the Development Team.

[IrishPerson 693]

I honestly can't wait to work with the new framework, having played with some of the features on the development server and read through the javadoc a couple times I can say it's something special that will speed up the plugin creation, testing and implementation on the server. Looking forward to a good year.

[mmat 7460]

Good now give me pikes

[H 820]

[Areon 947]

Guild and party chat sound awesome, what prevents it from becoming meta-chat though?

[CaptainSheepy 317]

Looks sweet!

(Aviary plugin? )

[Farryn 860]

You have caught my curiosity greatly. I look forward to seeing these implemented in the future.

[Kaelan 1918]

Awesome! Can't wait for it!
Does this at all affect skills and the levels we have in them?

[Eranikus 348]

This sounds freaking amazing. With the new professions plugin though will we get to keep our current progress on the professions? I don't want to drop all the way back down to promising on Stonemasonry when Aengulic is sooooo close ;-;

[LaCabra (Soda) 1519]

I'm bit tentative on the party/group chats - seems more oriented for an RPG/PVP server since it can solely be used for metasquads and will keep the chat less focused on roleplay emotes and dialogue goin on... But ay, I suppose Skype does the same thing. Anyhow, worth a shot. The Event Team revamp sounds cool!

[Jonificus 2741]

Give us a better bank plugin with shared accounts and stuff. Please respond to my idea in the plugin ideas forum :(

[Telanir 6975]

1 minute ago, The Great Uniter (Sythan) said:

When should we expect to notice the first changes to things such as the new /me?

 

It will take a bit for the Development Team to warm up, we've got fresh meat and now we're making changes in the team structure to be more efficient. After a short period of silence you should start to see new changes in torrents, Obelisk itself will be released two weeks after this announcement.

 

2 minutes ago, ZipZapMan said:

Awesome! Can't wait for it!
Does this at all affect skills and the levels we have in them?

 

If we ever decide to rework Professions we will approach the community first on that matter, at the moment you should expect no unannounced changes.

 

5 minutes ago, Areon said:

Guild and party chat sound awesome, what prevents it from becoming meta-chat though?

 

As usual, all records are logged and moderation has access to a 'global' party/guild channel when they need to. It's great for banter and group stuff, some micro-metagaming here and there when you're getting together to rp is okay, blatant metagaming to gain advantage is of course, a bannable offence as usual.

[AGP 3169]

[Jonificus 2741]

Found my idea ! https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/126585-idea-multiple-bank-accounts/ This un, Telanir. Surely this is something the development team could pull off? 

[Mrlollytime 102]