Vice Underdogs

Discussion => VC:MP General => Topic started by: Charley on March 11, 2015, 09:19:59 am

Title: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Charley on March 11, 2015, 09:19:59 am
So I see a stable release of 0.4 is available now, and there are servers, but no one appears to be playing it.

Why do people think this is? And how should the shift to the new version be promoted?

For one thing it appears as though the official site hasn't been updated, and it took my quite some searching to find the new one... does anything know why that is? Does Stormeus no longer have access to the official one?

Speaking of Stormeus, where is he these days? Doesn't come round these parts no more?
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: WiLsOn on March 11, 2015, 09:50:33 am
Stormeus idling in irc like a boss.

and if i say forum so..

Last Active:
    October 31, 2014, 08:59:31 pm ...  ::)
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: GangstaRas on March 11, 2015, 09:53:31 am
LBRs are the only persons I've seen to make a considerable switch to 0.4. Other than that, it's either non-familiarity of these servers or problems getting 0.4 to even work in the first place. It's stable when it works but if I didn't do my own soul searching as to why Visual C++ Redistributive wasn't updating, I would not be able to play 0.4 to this date. And considering how long I've been absent to how long 0.4 existed, my pinned post on the fix for Windows 8.1 64 bit may be far too late for anyone to look back in the direction of what could have been a silent issue among the community.

But giving the benefit of the doubt, all it's going to take to shift is familiarity really. I have played a select few of the 0.4 servers but I could never bring myself to register to some of them. For example LBRs want your password and email like their registry is IRC......that's excessive and just spells trouble in my eyes.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: WiLsOn on March 11, 2015, 10:02:20 am
We[VUs] should make a move too :p by bringing VU server back ;) i don't only see 0.4 empty 0.3z also empty these days only LW gets some ppl somehow.


vcmp dying everyday.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Knucis on March 11, 2015, 02:41:58 pm
We[VUs] should make a move too :p by bringing VU server back ;) i don't only see 0.4 empty 0.3z also empty these days only LW gets some ppl somehow.


vcmp dying everyday.
I could say that there might be something on the works!
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: WiLsOn on March 11, 2015, 03:57:20 pm
We[VUs] should make a move too :p by bringing VU server back ;) i don't only see 0.4 empty 0.3z also empty these days only LW gets some ppl somehow.


vcmp dying everyday.
I could say that there might be something on the works!
If you ain't kidding then i think i know what you mean there.  :D
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Gohan on March 11, 2015, 04:26:03 pm
I think 0.4 version, when be open, will be death in little time... Because most of players don't like the mode of gameplay, 0.3z was the best version from my side.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Bart on March 11, 2015, 04:41:36 pm
0.3z is better for me 8)
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Knucis on March 11, 2015, 04:45:00 pm
I have to say 0.4 is amazing. It just needs good gamemodes and a good community/server behind it in order for it to flourish properly.

0.3z was buggy as fuck tbh.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Thijn on March 11, 2015, 05:14:31 pm
0.4 is way better then 0.3 when you get used to it. 0.3 is so fucking bugged it's a miracle there's actually still people playing.

Yes, 0.4 is still a bit off the radar because Stormeus has lost access to the old website. There's a new site along with a new forum up at http://vc-mp.org

Just like Knucis said, a VU server is most certainly planned.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: WiLsOn on March 11, 2015, 05:27:08 pm
Y'all hate 0.4 because you can't do the craps you do in 0.3z, 0.4 is better and always will be, try something new because new always better.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Anarki on March 11, 2015, 05:28:32 pm
I think 0.4 version, when be open, will be death in little time... Because most of players don't like the mode of gameplay, 0.3z was the best version from my side.
People are accustomed playing in 0.3 version. That's why you liked more than the new one.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: ferrari32 on March 11, 2015, 05:36:21 pm
Y'all hate 0.4 because you can't do the craps you do in 0.3z, 0.4 is better and always will be, try something new because new always better.
Why aren't we playing gta v then?
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: WiLsOn on March 11, 2015, 05:59:44 pm
Y'all hate 0.4 because you can't do the craps you do in 0.3z, 0.4 is better and always will be, try something new because new always better.
Why aren't we playing gta v then?
Lucky those who are playing, we can't afford such game, no big deal for me.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Gohan on March 11, 2015, 06:34:16 pm
I think 0.4 version, when be open, will be death in little time... Because most of players don't like the mode of gameplay, 0.3z was the best version from my side.
People are accustomed playing in 0.3 version. That's why you liked more than the new one.
Exactly, you understand me.  8)
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Knucis on March 11, 2015, 07:01:25 pm
Y'all hate 0.4 because you can't do the craps you do in 0.3z, 0.4 is better and always will be, try something new because new always better.
Why aren't we playing gta v then?
We should :p
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Charley on March 12, 2015, 02:42:10 am
vcmp dying everyday.

People have been saying this since I first joined VC:MP, 8 years ago. The average playercount around peak times now, as compared to then, is about four times higher. VC:MP is not dying. I went onto sky city a couple of days ago and found a server full of people, many of whom were able to fight quite well, and at least four or five of whom could speak fairly decent English. There are plenty of players out there, they're just not being brought into the community. What we had in 2008, what really brought activity to the community, was a set of driven, committed community leaders who were able to tap the (extremely limited) source of players; think Kill3r, Strike, HeAD, rulk, CoLa_Sky, Darfy, Ashay, Jack_Bauer, and our VU leaders. There are no equivalents in today's VC:MP.

People say that the problem is a reduction in English speakers. I disagree. Look at the list of leaders I just gave: in 2008, all but 4 of us had fairly poor English. It just takes motivation and collaboration. A few people need to start driving this thing. Maybe open up a new server that is open to new players becoming actively involved; host some events. I see people in the VU trainee and rookie ranks who would be more than capable of running a server with a community focus, just like XE back when it was good.

Anyway we're digressing. I guess my point is that the players exist, they're just not in the right place. What is the solution?

Should all server owners start sending messages telling people to upgrade? Should official servers be asked to shut and move? Is it possible for the R2 client to send people a message?

We risk what happened to VC:O and LU happening to 0.4.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: WiLsOn on March 12, 2015, 02:20:04 pm
I think server owners too lazy to move to 0.4.  :P
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: stormeus on March 12, 2015, 05:37:42 pm
These are all excellent suggestions. The fact of the matter though is until the player base feels a sense of urgency to migrate to 0.4, people will not migrate to 0.4.

This is a point I highlighted in the VC:MP forums at one point — 0.4 was revered as the solution to all of 0.3's problems until it was released, at which point it was ignored. No one will move en masse until server owners:

1. Migrate to 0.4.
2. Tell their players they are on 0.4.
3. Shut down their 0.3 servers.

We've already started by removing the 0.3 Squirrel server.

If we ever regain access to the 0.3 masterlist server we will forcefully accelerate this by phasing it out. Until then it's up to the community to facilitate this move.

PS: Welcome back Charley!
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Kelvin on March 12, 2015, 10:01:39 pm
How about a client that can make us join both 0.3 and 0.4 servers? I think this can increase the playercount of 0.4.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: stormeus on March 12, 2015, 10:54:53 pm
How about a client that can make us join both 0.3 and 0.4 servers? I think this can increase the playercount of 0.4.

Give us another five years to pull this off.



That wouldn't increase the player count on 0.4 servers anyway. That would increase the number of people using a 0.4 client, which they would use to join 0.3 servers that lack half of 0.4's features and fixes.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Charley on March 13, 2015, 01:16:09 am
These are all excellent suggestions. The fact of the matter though is until the player base feels a sense of urgency to migrate to 0.4, people will not migrate to 0.4.

This is a point I highlighted in the VC:MP forums at one point — 0.4 was revered as the solution to all of 0.3's problems until it was released, at which point it was ignored.

Yes, I agree. I always treated the presumption of the 0.4 panacea with extreme doubt.

It is definitely up to the community to start moving people to 0.4, and there is no better place to start discussing how than here (that is, presuming the same number of people who used to visit this forum still do).

Perhaps it would be a good idea to open up a bunch of ghost servers, with bots in them, whose servernames declare that 0.4 is here and point people to the new forum where they can download it. It is simply a matter of getting the message across, because I'm certain that 99% of VC:MP players simply don't know that 0.4 exists.

And we must pressure server owners to start moving and assisting in the shift. Does anyone know if anyone at Sky City or LWs has put into their scripts announcements about 0.4? That should be a priority.

Following a different prong of inquiry, how come access to the official site and the masterlist has been lost? This is perhaps one of the bigger obstacles, because when vcmp is googled, it is the old download page that is shown. If the website can't be changed, Stormeus, do you still have admin permissions on the forum? You could hide or archive all the boards except for that which pronounces the move to the new forum, and the release of 0.4.

What's perhaps most concerning if access has been permanently lost, is that if the 0.3 masterlist is to go down (which it often has done in the past, for a number of reasons), then VC:MP will certainly stand the risk of dying. I can't remember which year it was but there was a period once when the masterlist was down for a month or two, and the damage to VC:MP was gigantic. It took at least a year for the mod to gain a playerbase comparable in size to that which had been lost.

What exactly has happened?

P.S. Thanks!
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: WiLsOn on March 13, 2015, 04:54:42 am
I saw LW 0.4 topic in their forums but didn't read (ehm too lazy) and about sky i just saw irc channel for that, sounds to me that they are moving slowly.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Thijn on March 13, 2015, 06:47:16 am
Little something I made ages ago, clearly shows there are people playing but certainly not a stable amount or many.
http://thijn.ovh/vcmp/test.php
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: stormeus on March 14, 2015, 01:07:31 am
And we must pressure server owners to start moving and assisting in the shift. Does anyone know if anyone at Sky City or LWs has put into their scripts announcements about 0.4? That should be a priority.

I don't believe this has been done. I don't believe Sky-City has even started development on a 0.4 script, and XE development seems to be sluggish. I have no idea what's going on with EA, or the other, smaller multinational servers that tend to draw crowds at times.

Quote
Following a different prong of inquiry, how come access to the official site and the masterlist has been lost? This is perhaps one of the bigger obstacles, because when vcmp is googled, it is the old download page that is shown. If the website can't be changed, Stormeus, do you still have admin permissions on the forum? You could hide or archive all the boards except for that which pronounces the move to the new forum, and the release of 0.4.

About a year ago, bakasan moved the vicecitymultiplayer.com domain to an Amazon Web Services instance to alleviate downtime and hosting issues, but didn't share details with the rest of the dev team — not out of malice or spite, in my opinion, but solely because the thought may not have occurred to him that we may need to do something with it in his absence. I have no means of contacting bakasan and I'm not sure if anyone else does. If we were to regain access to the server and simply redirect the domain to vc-mp.org, Google's results would adjust accordingly.

Quote
What's perhaps most concerning if access has been permanently lost, is that if the 0.3 masterlist is to go down (which it often has done in the past, for a number of reasons), then VC:MP will certainly stand the risk of dying. I can't remember which year it was but there was a period once when the masterlist was down for a month or two, and the damage to VC:MP was gigantic. It took at least a year for the mod to gain a playerbase comparable in size to that which had been lost.

Simply agreed.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Knucis on March 14, 2015, 05:25:20 pm
And we must pressure server owners to start moving and assisting in the shift. Does anyone know if anyone at Sky City or LWs has put into their scripts announcements about 0.4? That should be a priority.

I don't believe this has been done. I don't believe Sky-City has even started development on a 0.4 script, and XE development seems to be sluggish. I have no idea what's going on with EA, or the other, smaller multinational servers that tend to draw crowds at times.
Sky-City already has started development afaik.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: stormeus on March 15, 2015, 06:54:46 am
And we must pressure server owners to start moving and assisting in the shift. Does anyone know if anyone at Sky City or LWs has put into their scripts announcements about 0.4? That should be a priority.

I don't believe this has been done. I don't believe Sky-City has even started development on a 0.4 script, and XE development seems to be sluggish. I have no idea what's going on with EA, or the other, smaller multinational servers that tend to draw crowds at times.
Sky-City already has started development afaik.

Then it's painfully slow. The 0.4 server has been available since July 2014, and was released precisely so scripters could get a jump start on preparing for its release candidacy and impending final release. It's been eight months since then and Sky-City still doesn't have a 0.4 server, while Littlewhitey's got one up for testing within days of the 0.4 release.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Klaus on March 16, 2015, 03:45:50 pm
Then it's painfully slow.
Yeah Storm, that reminds me of another certain server you might know of..
There are no equivalents in today's VC:MP.
Cheers.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: stormeus on March 16, 2015, 05:58:46 pm
Then it's painfully slow.
Yeah Storm, that reminds me of another certain server you might know of..

::)

Yeah it is pretty shitty I haven't been able to work on Argonath on account of VC:MP development and school/college prep. I'm pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: ferrari32 on March 17, 2015, 08:20:42 pm
Then it's painfully slow.
Yeah Storm, that reminds me of another certain server you might know of..
There are no equivalents in today's VC:MP.
Cheers.
Saying that Argonath has a very dedicated playerbase makes no sense, as the only people who haven't left it at some point are a handful of guys from your clan, and some guys from WS. I'm not saying the reason is because the server is bad or anything, but it might have something to do with it being down every once in a while, one time it was even offline for months.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Charley on March 18, 2015, 01:10:42 pm
There are no equivalents in today's VC:MP.
Cheers.

Klaus, I'm almost entirely ignorant when it comes to the RPG world in VC:MP, not less your role in it. From what I can tell you encouraged a small but dedicated group of players to stick around and contribute to the community, and for that perhaps you should be commended. However, in terms of impact relative to that which the aforementioned team of leaders from the DM side of VC:MP had on the growth and development of the VC:MP community, it doesn't seem significant enough to make a song and dance about. If you feel that I did you an injustice by not mentioning you as an equivalent now, then I feel that you have misjudged your importance and influence on the community.

After a long absence, I am essentially an outsider looking in. But what I see right now is the same elitism, defeatism and general apathy that existed towards the end of 2007 and through most of 2008, when the global playercount rarely exceeded 30, frequently idled around 0, and there was almost no community except to speak of - except for the old LWs crew who sat around on IRC patting each other on the back and telling each other how right they all were about everything.

If VC:MP is to develop and regain what it once had, there needs to be a new generation of leaders who are pro-active in making steps towards shifting the playerbase to 0.4 and in the re-invigoration of an inclusive community.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Charley on April 08, 2015, 08:15:10 am
Update for those interested:

Why do you people keep opening 0.3 servers?
Bite me if i am wrong, they don't even know new vcmp forum.  ::)

That's too bad, I actually managed to get a hold of bakasan and we might be taking down the 0.3 masterlist very soon. ;D

This is very promising!
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: stormeus on April 11, 2015, 08:01:59 am
http://forum.vc-mp.org/?topic=448.msg3002#msg3002
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: Skirmant on April 16, 2015, 03:33:36 pm
I think 0.4 version, when be open, will be death in little time... Because most of players don't like the mode of gameplay, 0.3z was the best version from my side.

That's funny because I remember familiar reasoning when people were switching to R2
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: stormeus on April 16, 2015, 04:23:55 pm
0.3z is better for me 8)

If we made 0.4 look like 0.3, would that make you feel better? Because that's what it basically boils down to aside from the crash fixes and new features.
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: aXXo on April 16, 2015, 06:27:22 pm
If we were to put a list of features that were better in 0.3, I'd contribute with:
- Player nametags.
- Entering vehicles as a passenger.

That doesn't make it better than 0.4
I'd like to see constructive arguments from players claiming that 0.4 lacks the fun that they had in 0.3
Title: Re: Shift to 0.4?
Post by: ferrari32 on April 17, 2015, 07:49:43 am
As I said, I find 0.4 great as it is. It looks great, feels great, and the sync is fantastic.