IS this the last wipe?

[Sonicboom]

Is this the last wipe that will happen or will there be more?

[Draklar]

I suppose there will be more.
PS is still in a very early development stage so that is to be expected...

[Pestilence]

very early? hmm

It\'s kinda sad that years after this project started it\'s still refered to in this way

[Drey]

think of it not in time but in completedness.

[Pestilence]

*looks at PS. looks at other games similar to PS*

completedness? (is that even a word? )

Uhm lets see lack of good basis in the code leads to a lot of bugs making a lot of the devs time being taken over by bug fixing.

Story and legends about PS are none existing beside the creation saga. Not counting the fanart ofcourse wich I have to say is impressive sometimes

[Keyaz]

until the devs are happy with everything we have there will alwys be wipes

[SuburbanPlankton]

*looks at the cost to play PS vs. those of similar games*

*looks at the salaries of PS devs vs. those of similar games*

*looks at the PS role-playing community vs. those of similar games*


I think I can handle a wipe every now and then.

[Bnm85]

Yea... it\'s hard to argue with free. And considering the game is free, it\'s pretty amazing that the devs have dedicated even that much effort to it. I mean, try to sit down and write an equivalent of what PlaneShift is today from scratch. You\'ll probably go, \"oh, hell no, this is insane amount of work\". Even if the code is flimsy and progress is slow, it is done on devs\' own time.

On the other hand, knowing that it\'s free, it\'s hard to get attached to PS too much because just as when you feel you want to take your character far, make him look unique, create or join a dedicated guild, you realize just how slow and how far off everything still is. Then you start thinking that by the time PS is ready, you most likely won\'t even have time for games because you have future plans that will give you a very limited free time, and so on. So, like it or not, commercial projects start looking more and more attractive, and you end up signing up for something just so it can \"tie you over\" until PS is more mature.

I wish, for starters, PS made a \"Make a donation\" PayPal link on their site. Everyone and their mother has one, and it\'s nothing shameful. It\'s actually quite respectable. No one is forced to make a donation, and those who don\'t will not be limited in any way in the game. But if you do make one, you know it\'s for a good cause. Yes, I\'ve read discussions about donations before. I don\'t think it depends on maturity of the project at all. Just IMO.

[SuburbanPlankton]

Originally posted by Bnm85
On the other hand, knowing that it\'s free, it\'s hard to get attached to PS too much because just as when you feel you want to take your character far, make him look unique, create or join a dedicated guild, you realize just how slow and how far off everything still is. Then you start thinking that by the time PS is ready, you most likely won\'t even have time for games because you have future plans that will give you a very limited free time, and so on. So, like it or not, commercial projects start looking more and more attractive, and you end up signing up for something just so it can \"tie you over\" until PS is more mature.

I have two words for you:  


Role Playing




As for making your character unique; take a look around and you will find that there are a lot of \"unique characters\" in this game, despite the similarity in outward appearances.  While we would all love to customize our characters\' appearances, that\'s not all that important at this stage.  When we get together in-game, or on the forums, it doesn\'t really matter how we look, it matters what we do.

Want to join a guild?  There are a number who have long histories in the game.  Look over the Guild Forums and you will find them.  Talk to people in-game, or visit the guilds\' own forums, and get to know the other characters (and the players behind them).

This game certainly is not for anyone looking for a \"quick fix\".  It takes some time and effort in order to get the hang of it.  And once you do, there isn\'t really that much to \"do\".  But if you are looking for a role playing game, this is the place.  And being part of something at this stage in development will make it all the better when it is \"done\", and you have helped to make it happen.

[Bnm85]

Role Playing is all fine and well but it can only go so far. There must be content and there must be goals. Your RP\'ing personality is only part of what makes you unique. Appearances do count and are part of role playing. In fact, I\'ll often make a unique combination of armor and clothing to make my character look more interesting, even if some of the individual pieces aren\'t the best stats wise. Another reason -- adventure and exploration. You need newer territories and more quests for that. Role Playing manages anyway.

[SuburbanPlankton]

Yes there must be more content.  There need to be more areas to explore.  There need to be more quests, and more skills, and more NPCs we can actually interact with, and more weapons, and more spells, and more everything.

And all those things are coming.  Some of them are coming soon(tm), some not-so-soon.  But we know the devs are working their butts off (*yay devs!*), and progress is being made.  And in the meantime, there is role playing.

And when the game is complete(tm), there will still be role playing, because that\'s what it\'s really all about here.  that is why PlaneShift exists in the first place, and that\'s the foundation that underlies everything else.

It\'s just a matter of how much \"role playing\" you are comfortable with, compared to the amount of \"gaming\" you can do in the game.  PlaneShift, in its current state, works quite well for me.  It may or may not be the same for you.  If it is, that\'s great.  If it isn\'t, that\'s fine too; come back for another visit in a year or so and see what we\'ve done.

[Bnm85]

Well, PlaneShift is, indeed, something special, despite its early state. And a year is a long time... Of course, I wish the devs all the best on having things develop smooth and fast. No question that things are coming. But a lot of them are going to take a very long time. I just wish there was more incentive for them to work faster. For commercial projects it\'s money. So, there needs to be something else here. Or at least a donation option.

[Karyuu]

Originally posted by Bnm85
 I just wish there was more incentive for them to work faster.

This is their hobby; this is done during their free time.

If that free time gets taken away by more pressing RL issues, there is no incentive in the world that can make any dev work faster, except the solving of those RL problems. I don\'t think any active member on the dev team is just \"strolling\" through his or her PS duties, or not putting in their absolute best effort. When it\'s a hobby, when it\'s something you love to do, you are already working on it as much as you can.

[Bnm85]

Originally posted by Karyuu
there is no incentive in the world that can make any dev work faster, except the solving of those RL problems.

Money.

Also, I don\'t think free time is determined just by having or not having RL problems.

I don\'t think any active member on the dev team is just \"strolling\" through his or her PS duties, or not putting in their absolute best effort. When it\'s a hobby, when it\'s something you love to do, you are already working on it as much as you can.

Well, I don\'t think they\'re just \"strolling\" through their duties either, nor did I ever say they did. And I don\'t think that a hobby necessarily means you\'re working on it as much as you can but rather as much as you feel like. Doesn\'t mean you don\'t make your best effort when you do, however. Also, you\'re forgetting to take in factors like lack of inspiration or motivation intervals. Writers write because they love to write. But sometimes there\'s no motivation to write, even if you have spare time. Donations could help with such a motivation.

[Efflixi Aduro]

Money isn\'t an issue for the ps devs. Though it would attract new devs we would probably lose over 1/2 the people in the community.

Money is a no. Heck the devs even refused donations. Probably because the money wouldnt do anything...