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News Archives / October Update Part 2
« on: October 04, 2018, 10:01:11 am »
This one isn't so much of an update really but more of a reflection on the past 2 years ish.
Going back even further. 2 years ago my family acquired a new home.
But lets say it wasn't really a ready to move in home....
The first 6 months were spent acquiring building permits, gutting the place and arranging for builders to come in.
(When I say gutting I'm talking everything a couple of the interior walls remain and the exterior wall all plumbing, wiring, ceilings, even the roof came off.)
While this was keeping me busy it wasn't causing me to be so busy that I was losing much time with Feral Heart stuff.
Next, the builders came in. This is where I ceased to be able to work to my own time scale. Certain things had to be done at certain times.
So other work could be completed and I had to find time to do this outside of my job and my other volunteering commitments which consume a few nights of my week.
Basically if it had wires there's a pretty good chance I put it in from the electrics, lighting, network data points, the alarm system, for some reason I ended up wiring in the boiler too?
(Thought that was the plumbers job.. Where's Mario when you need him?)
I'm also a bit of a pyromaniac. I have both a fire pit and a log burning stove so took it upon myself to split and chop all the old timber that came out rather than letting it be ditched.
At one point there has a huge pile of scrap wood in the probably about 4m wide 4m deep and 3m high.
During this 12 month period, I was struggling to keep up with whatever was going on with Feral Heart and the staff.
I dumped Skype off my phone, which was the main method for communication.
Why? Because I was getting home incredibly tired, and the late night calls (all the staff at the time were American) kept waking me up while I was trying to sleep.
I didn't cut all communication ties though. My phone number has resided in the staff room for-pretty-much-ever, even if only on very, very rare occasion the staff have used it.
I also use Telegram (Russian free speech version of whatsapp). Sura had me added on there and was dropping me messages as and when I was needed.
The last 6 months on the back of that was/has been spent moving and settling in. We didn't use a removals service which in hindsight was a massive mistake.
I don't think I have ever moved so much stuff in my life. This continued the tired and need to sleep issue.
On top of that, during the build, we foil insulated the entire house. The upshot of this was upon moving in I discovered that mobile reception was patchy at best.
Basically, if you wanted to call me I need to go outside. You might say "What about the internet?"
I now have probably one of the most unique connections going. I'm bonding (legally I might add) a number of connections from around the neighbourhood.
I actually have a mast of antennas picking up signals from all over the place. While this is great and technically free in the long term (I did have to buy a shed load of equipment to do it).
The upshot of it is that it isn't very good for calls. The call jumps between connections of different latencies, which it seems no calling software is prepared for and you end up with a really choppy call(something else I need to work on).
I very recently installed a mobile booster on the roof so the issues I was having until now have been pretty much solved.
So if you have sat and read though all of this, you're probably thinking this is some huge ass excuse. Honestly this is kinda how life works.
In my position there's really no excuse I can make for disappearing for the best part of 2 years... But at the same time I don't have anyone else I can pass the job to.
Other staff would probably have left. But if I leave who else has the understanding of the server?
So that's the initial issue. Though it doesn't explain what actually went wrong.
Before my activity took a tumble I started a the next patch with the staff. As you all should know we called out for map makers among other things.
LaughingWolf and Lady_Alizarin were selected to produce maps.
They were provided a framework to work within but generally what you will see from these maps is there own work with little bits of staff input here and there.
I certainly saw almost all of Laughing's map go up and was able to make sure Lady's was on the right track before my activity dropped.
So X months down the line, after Christmas really, this patch was pretty much ready.
Sura contacted me so, now this is where I'm a little hazy.. I know from the conversation that I have been back and read in telegram.
Sura did tell me that the patch was ready! I did also mention in the same conversation that I had the flu. So I probably forgot.....
Again I'm not trying to make excuses this is just how it panned out. Following this was a number of contacts about a call.
I was either moving in or moved in roughly when these occurred, so it was either sheer tiredness, or because I wasn't going to stand outside at night in February/March time for calls.
I did, in that period though, answer questions about users and rebooting the server a couple of times on request over messages. Oh, and some broken Boards stuff here.
Months ticked by, other less frequent messages for calls arrived. Again, I didn't arrange anything. Website had an issue.
Other text based discussions about random stuff. But still I hadn't actually got into a chat with all the staff. Or really discussed what was going on with the patch.
Rolling round to start of august august I got a message about object groups here's me thinking "Blimey, they are still working on them maps".
It was a long message so I left it till later to answer properly. Again it was clearly forgotten as at the end of august I must have picked up on it and threw back an apologetic response.
This was also where my first concern about the patch was raised.
"There are a few meshes that need to be "private" and not accessible in Object Maker." I'm immediately thinking; this is what happened with the old markings that went in game.
People wanted to use them as in presets but the creators disapproved.
Since replacing those its been the general consensus that anything that goes into Feral Heart can be used by all of you. Realising there's an issue this is about when I rolled back into Skype.
In a Skype call I had with the staff, by staying back at work late, I discovered the work the staff had been doing went well beyond the original intended patch.
I was now looking at effectively 3 new maps and other changes throughout the Feral Heart world, including complete removal of the grounds.
On top of this the world logic (positioning of maps by maps in 3D space) introduced in the last patch looked like it was going, by the way.
I know a lot of people weren't and aren't happy with the last patch. But I don't see that the good things it brings to Feral Heart should be lost.
To me there's two issues with these maps. They need some additional fun elements and as role players you need more environments than are currently available.
In my mind this this had gone ahead without my consultation, and while I really don't like to see good work go to waste, I would really have to have a deep look at how I could fit these maps into the existing structure that the world provides.
The response I got back from the staff was that of huge disappointment, that they had worked for so long on these maps for them to potentially not end up in game.
Also a distinct sense that I was ignoring the benefits of what they had done, and how they had done it, almost by community request.
Please note at this point, even though I still hadn't been in the maps myself, I knew in the back of my mind that there's been so much work gone in to this that people are going to leave if I can't find a way to make it work in game.
I wasn't and I'm still not really prepared to sacrifice the world logic we have obtained for the old maps.
Its my belief that in doing so is no better than to revert that last patch. And that's going backwards not forwards.
So following this call I made it my mission to at the very least take a quick look around the maps at the weekend.
I was expecting an awkward integration from the call. But seeing the maps it was looking impossible. I couldn't in my head find a way to make them fit with the existing world.
The upshot of this is a 3 week argument with the staff.
I'm saying 100% these maps are not going in game unless we can find a logical place for them (I also made it clear that I was willing to let the staff leave over the issue).
I have the staff claiming that the logic was through out and while it loosely worked it didn't quite fit.
I also took issue with modifying existing maps which were not part of the plan to build these new maps inside them.
Maps which effectively became backdrops for the new maps; increased complication already complex maps, or were simply what I felt to be an improper representation of the original maps they were connected too.
So three weeks of battles roll by staff tensions are at an all time high. By this point I'm convinced that the staff are blind to what they have created just as a parent can be blind to an ugly child.
I'm dropping into late night calls that I was far to tired to really be in. The staff have setup another group chat and are having calls without me.
I have a solution to logical map placement and I've provide it in chat. It's simply been over looked or ignored.
(It's not until after the staff leave that I discover that they didn't understand what I was trying to layout.)
If i wasn't sure before that the staff were going to leave, I've become pretty certain now.
During this time, Shallow was trying to mediate the situation. I fail to answer a message on telegram. I get one back which seemed snappy to me.
At this point I snapped back. In return I get a message stating that she's done mediating and that I'm on my own.
I'm thinking well that's it then. I needed something in place for the staff leaving. So up pops "no moderator October".
On the back of that Nynx releases all the WIP patch stating that I have no intention of allowing it in game.
From my point of view this is simply a political release to side the community with the staff.
I ban Nynx on the basis of lying about my intentions and I kill the maps server side to stop the leak.
I remove Nynx's comment under my no mod October post on the basis that I'm assuming she's gone rogue.
The Staffs response to this was to walk out collectively. Which changes my priorities, even if i make no moderator October work, I still have no forum staff.
Time I was spending on coding is swapped for seeking staff. Hmm was created. And that brings us up to date I believe.
Obviously I made mistakes here. There was clear misinterpretation from both sides. But perhaps now there is an understanding as to why things happened the way they have.
Going back even further. 2 years ago my family acquired a new home.
But lets say it wasn't really a ready to move in home....
The first 6 months were spent acquiring building permits, gutting the place and arranging for builders to come in.
(When I say gutting I'm talking everything a couple of the interior walls remain and the exterior wall all plumbing, wiring, ceilings, even the roof came off.)
While this was keeping me busy it wasn't causing me to be so busy that I was losing much time with Feral Heart stuff.
Next, the builders came in. This is where I ceased to be able to work to my own time scale. Certain things had to be done at certain times.
So other work could be completed and I had to find time to do this outside of my job and my other volunteering commitments which consume a few nights of my week.
Basically if it had wires there's a pretty good chance I put it in from the electrics, lighting, network data points, the alarm system, for some reason I ended up wiring in the boiler too?
(Thought that was the plumbers job.. Where's Mario when you need him?)
I'm also a bit of a pyromaniac. I have both a fire pit and a log burning stove so took it upon myself to split and chop all the old timber that came out rather than letting it be ditched.
At one point there has a huge pile of scrap wood in the probably about 4m wide 4m deep and 3m high.
During this 12 month period, I was struggling to keep up with whatever was going on with Feral Heart and the staff.
I dumped Skype off my phone, which was the main method for communication.
Why? Because I was getting home incredibly tired, and the late night calls (all the staff at the time were American) kept waking me up while I was trying to sleep.
I didn't cut all communication ties though. My phone number has resided in the staff room for-pretty-much-ever, even if only on very, very rare occasion the staff have used it.
I also use Telegram (Russian free speech version of whatsapp). Sura had me added on there and was dropping me messages as and when I was needed.
The last 6 months on the back of that was/has been spent moving and settling in. We didn't use a removals service which in hindsight was a massive mistake.
I don't think I have ever moved so much stuff in my life. This continued the tired and need to sleep issue.
On top of that, during the build, we foil insulated the entire house. The upshot of this was upon moving in I discovered that mobile reception was patchy at best.
Basically, if you wanted to call me I need to go outside. You might say "What about the internet?"
I now have probably one of the most unique connections going. I'm bonding (legally I might add) a number of connections from around the neighbourhood.
I actually have a mast of antennas picking up signals from all over the place. While this is great and technically free in the long term (I did have to buy a shed load of equipment to do it).
The upshot of it is that it isn't very good for calls. The call jumps between connections of different latencies, which it seems no calling software is prepared for and you end up with a really choppy call(something else I need to work on).
I very recently installed a mobile booster on the roof so the issues I was having until now have been pretty much solved.
So if you have sat and read though all of this, you're probably thinking this is some huge ass excuse. Honestly this is kinda how life works.
In my position there's really no excuse I can make for disappearing for the best part of 2 years... But at the same time I don't have anyone else I can pass the job to.
Other staff would probably have left. But if I leave who else has the understanding of the server?
So that's the initial issue. Though it doesn't explain what actually went wrong.
Before my activity took a tumble I started a the next patch with the staff. As you all should know we called out for map makers among other things.
LaughingWolf and Lady_Alizarin were selected to produce maps.
They were provided a framework to work within but generally what you will see from these maps is there own work with little bits of staff input here and there.
I certainly saw almost all of Laughing's map go up and was able to make sure Lady's was on the right track before my activity dropped.
So X months down the line, after Christmas really, this patch was pretty much ready.
Sura contacted me so, now this is where I'm a little hazy.. I know from the conversation that I have been back and read in telegram.
Sura did tell me that the patch was ready! I did also mention in the same conversation that I had the flu. So I probably forgot.....
Again I'm not trying to make excuses this is just how it panned out. Following this was a number of contacts about a call.
I was either moving in or moved in roughly when these occurred, so it was either sheer tiredness, or because I wasn't going to stand outside at night in February/March time for calls.
I did, in that period though, answer questions about users and rebooting the server a couple of times on request over messages. Oh, and some broken Boards stuff here.
Months ticked by, other less frequent messages for calls arrived. Again, I didn't arrange anything. Website had an issue.
Other text based discussions about random stuff. But still I hadn't actually got into a chat with all the staff. Or really discussed what was going on with the patch.
Rolling round to start of august august I got a message about object groups here's me thinking "Blimey, they are still working on them maps".
It was a long message so I left it till later to answer properly. Again it was clearly forgotten as at the end of august I must have picked up on it and threw back an apologetic response.
This was also where my first concern about the patch was raised.
"There are a few meshes that need to be "private" and not accessible in Object Maker." I'm immediately thinking; this is what happened with the old markings that went in game.
People wanted to use them as in presets but the creators disapproved.
Since replacing those its been the general consensus that anything that goes into Feral Heart can be used by all of you. Realising there's an issue this is about when I rolled back into Skype.
In a Skype call I had with the staff, by staying back at work late, I discovered the work the staff had been doing went well beyond the original intended patch.
I was now looking at effectively 3 new maps and other changes throughout the Feral Heart world, including complete removal of the grounds.
On top of this the world logic (positioning of maps by maps in 3D space) introduced in the last patch looked like it was going, by the way.
I know a lot of people weren't and aren't happy with the last patch. But I don't see that the good things it brings to Feral Heart should be lost.
To me there's two issues with these maps. They need some additional fun elements and as role players you need more environments than are currently available.
In my mind this this had gone ahead without my consultation, and while I really don't like to see good work go to waste, I would really have to have a deep look at how I could fit these maps into the existing structure that the world provides.
The response I got back from the staff was that of huge disappointment, that they had worked for so long on these maps for them to potentially not end up in game.
Also a distinct sense that I was ignoring the benefits of what they had done, and how they had done it, almost by community request.
Please note at this point, even though I still hadn't been in the maps myself, I knew in the back of my mind that there's been so much work gone in to this that people are going to leave if I can't find a way to make it work in game.
I wasn't and I'm still not really prepared to sacrifice the world logic we have obtained for the old maps.
Its my belief that in doing so is no better than to revert that last patch. And that's going backwards not forwards.
So following this call I made it my mission to at the very least take a quick look around the maps at the weekend.
I was expecting an awkward integration from the call. But seeing the maps it was looking impossible. I couldn't in my head find a way to make them fit with the existing world.
The upshot of this is a 3 week argument with the staff.
I'm saying 100% these maps are not going in game unless we can find a logical place for them (I also made it clear that I was willing to let the staff leave over the issue).
I have the staff claiming that the logic was through out and while it loosely worked it didn't quite fit.
I also took issue with modifying existing maps which were not part of the plan to build these new maps inside them.
Maps which effectively became backdrops for the new maps; increased complication already complex maps, or were simply what I felt to be an improper representation of the original maps they were connected too.
So three weeks of battles roll by staff tensions are at an all time high. By this point I'm convinced that the staff are blind to what they have created just as a parent can be blind to an ugly child.
I'm dropping into late night calls that I was far to tired to really be in. The staff have setup another group chat and are having calls without me.
I have a solution to logical map placement and I've provide it in chat. It's simply been over looked or ignored.
(It's not until after the staff leave that I discover that they didn't understand what I was trying to layout.)
If i wasn't sure before that the staff were going to leave, I've become pretty certain now.
During this time, Shallow was trying to mediate the situation. I fail to answer a message on telegram. I get one back which seemed snappy to me.
At this point I snapped back. In return I get a message stating that she's done mediating and that I'm on my own.
I'm thinking well that's it then. I needed something in place for the staff leaving. So up pops "no moderator October".
On the back of that Nynx releases all the WIP patch stating that I have no intention of allowing it in game.
From my point of view this is simply a political release to side the community with the staff.
I ban Nynx on the basis of lying about my intentions and I kill the maps server side to stop the leak.
I remove Nynx's comment under my no mod October post on the basis that I'm assuming she's gone rogue.
The Staffs response to this was to walk out collectively. Which changes my priorities, even if i make no moderator October work, I still have no forum staff.
Time I was spending on coding is swapped for seeking staff. Hmm was created. And that brings us up to date I believe.
Obviously I made mistakes here. There was clear misinterpretation from both sides. But perhaps now there is an understanding as to why things happened the way they have.