Feral Heart

Before I get into this topic, I want to note that I'm aware this is an extremely sensitive topic at the moment-- and this may contain my opinions. Odd I know seeing it under "Game Opinions & Ideas" but yes these are suggestions and views--not a personal assault. I know it may sound like I'm hammering this into the ground but please read this with an objective view and do not take this analysis as something personal because it's not meant to offend anyone and I apologize if it does so.


The event that occurred bringing the server down was awful, of course, but you do have to recognize the individual motives for launching this 'attack'. It doesn't provide any sort of excuse, but there may be some bit of reason to their actions. Change is difficult, and no one will ever have a perfectly satisfied playerbase no matter how hard you try, however I do feel that some opinions have been ignored and neglected.


While it's true without the source code you may not be able to directly edit things in the game without compromise, the active community has shown that the game--while it cannot be completely 'updated' can be effectively modified! Player animations, textures, lighting, items, markings, and maps--it's almost impossible to fully enjoy the game without these modifications being provided by the community.  But this is where I believe the issue is, 'updates' are completely reliant on the playerbase to make, and while it is wonderful to see a community pitching in to make the game better this really is a fatal flaw. Because the game isn't a good standalone anymore, everyone uses different item packs, texture packs, and marking packs to improve it, causing a lot of inconsistency between players and those that aren't tech savy may struggle joining in rps because these modifications are spread everywhere with many different versions.
I'd personally like to see the staff construct a formal development team--perhaps even consisting a lot of the hardworking people already within the community producing these modifications--keeping the 'classic' FH up-to-date. Of course you couldn't pile on 80 HD textures with complex water reflections and lighting, because while those may look nice and many players may use mods like these, the 'classic' FH should still be something the general playerbase should be able to use without fear of their computer not being able to handle it. But small things, like consistently updated markings and items would keep the core game new and fresh--because FH has been stagnant of any sort of semi-development from the staff for over 3-4 years. We as the playerbase don't have the source code much like the staff but we've developed work-arounds out of our own love for the game, and I haven't seen this same strong-willed nature to try and work-around these issues to update and renew this game within the staff, and it's something I really feel needs to be addressed.


In June about two years back, the General chat was removed. Please do hear me out on this one, while it was a long time ago some conversation regarding it stirred up again in light of the recent 'hacking'. Of course it hasn't been going on in the FH forums, rather on social media like Tumblr. Many anonymous members of FH are now coming to the hackers as a last-ditch effort of bringing the feature back to the game. I can't say this is right, but I also can't completely alienate them for it either, considering all topics regarding the general chat are immediately locked and trashed and any discussion regarding the matter results in a ban. These kinds of actions are stifling the community and restricting any kind of possible resolution to the controversial issue. Just because the topic may cause users to disagree should not make it a bannable offense to talk about. If anything I strongly believe this is an issue that needs to be brought about again, re-evaluated with the player's input in mind. This is a conflict between the playerbase and the staff that has been festering over 2 whole years, and because it's still coming about now we clearly have not just 'forgotten' about it. Locking an issue away and refusing any more discussion about it only causes sour feelings toward the staff that lead to these kinds of rebellious acts that threaten the security of the game. I feel that if brought about again in a calm and collected fashion, perhaps even setting up a poll for the playerbase to vote upon may bridge the gap felt between the players and the staff. I'm sure many would be willing to sign on as mods-in-training to help assist in the extra care needed to monitor the general chat--perhaps even a specific mod role, a general chat moderator to focus on the issue at hand. This community has done so much in the forms of mods, rps, community activities and more that I believe when put to the task could step up and handle this responsibility.


While these conditions now may not be ideal, I believe it's tough situations like these that have the possibility to bring about a great change, improving and strengthening both the players as well as the game--and this is what I would like to see come out of these rough times!


Again, I'd like to say that I do not intend to offend any members of the staff and that I by no means want to 'glorify' the hackers as what they did is still wrong and I do not approve of what they did, rather I would like to see a change come out of this situation for the better of the game as a whole.