Test Update 8/13/2024 - Patch Notes and Discussions

I don't either TBH and I do wish that the developers could be a bit more communicative on this topic. Many players, myself for instance, enjoy hearing about their work. But, I do realize that they have quite a lot on their plates and communicating may not be their first priority. Still, what's happening on the UI?

I mentioned this to a friend of mine who plays EQ and is also a pilot. He laughed and recited the pilot's maxim of aviate, navigate, communicate. So, I hope that they are developing, coding, and in time will be communicating.

You can keep track of their progress yourself by paying attention to patch notes. If they release new 'window.XML' that's the old UI, 'window.HTML' is the new UI.

If you remember it went from a bullet point on a producer letter. And discussion about how great it was going to be and how overdue it was happened here.

Then 6 months - a year later we were told they would be releasing the new UI window by window, a few each patch.

Then that cadence slowed to often having patches with no new window.

How many windows are there in total to be changed? How many are done so far? Don't worry about the maths. I'll show you how to know.

Here's an Oracle tip for predicting the future with high accuracy. The better you remember the past the more clearly the future comes into focus.

We can see from the history, the 'new UI' has never been a top level priority. And it was pushed even farther on the back burner over time.

There is only one person working on it, and they get pulled off for other things that 'take emergency priority', which is how they have worked since the Sony days. I've criticized them for the 'all hands on deck' mentality before. It's a matter of opinion, I've seen people here who support that in a software development house. You can formulate your own opinion of the effect that has on the UI getting finished.

Bottom line, after you do the calculation, you'll arrive at the same conclusion they reach.

They can't give you a time because there's no end in sight.

Are you thinking that DBG may be the Boeing of game studios with pieces falling off in mid-air?

That would presume they had the pieces in place to actually fly for a moment.

I'm thinking a new collection quest is incoming.

What should have happened was:
1. They convert the entire UI to use the new engine (preferably by using some type of automated process which they can provide to us to use to convert our custom UIs. I know no conversion will be perfect and some manual fixing would be needed, but that's still better than having to start from scratch.)
2. They put this converted UI on the Test server for several months to get feedback and to get all of the bugs worked out BEFORE moving it to LIVE.
3. Move the new UI to LIVE in parallel with the existing system. Take feedback, fix bugs, etc.
4. At some future point once the new UI is considered stable, by the players, say that the old ui will be frozen, no more updates, BUT will still be available if people want to use it, maintain it, etc.

This step would only last until the next expansion. New features would break the UI and if frozen with no more updates, then it would no longer work.

Not that bad. I've never heard of anyone dying from a bug in a video game. Boeing has blood on it's hands.

I agree. I am genuinely appreciative that the employees:

1. Set up the forum for feedback
2. Acknowledged the feedback
3. Tested the assertions of the feedback and didn't agree with the feedback
4. Continued to accept feedback on the topic
5. Re-tested their findings when time allowed and found that the feedback was correct
6. Implemented a testable fix ahead of schedule
7. Implemented the fix after testing on schedule

That's all work that requires multiple people and a lot of technological investment. I'm thankful for that.

You must have enjoyed it when your plumber said that there wasn't a problem with your toilet when you said it wouldn't flush. Good thing those Home Depot buckets were available ... for two years.

When Daybreak employees are wrong, they are just wrong. The fact that there have been so many of these types of things and seemingly zero changes in their QA process indicates a consistent issue with management.

P.S. Let me know what company you work for so I can be sure to avoid it or anything that gets products/services from it.

I, for one, smelled a lot of sarcasm on his post.

Golly. It's like you and live on different planets. EverQuest is a game for me, not a piece of infrastructure vital for the establishment of human civilization (like sewage). The importance of this fix is so low that, even within just within the realm of recreational entertainment, I am able to appreciate the fix instead of begrudge the fixers.

I genuinely hope that you can learn to prioritize these parts of your life in such a way that you cam shed that resentment and not get so carried away on the trivial bits. I think you'd enjoy everything (EverQuest included) a so much more that way.

Anything I pay for, I expect service. If I don't get said service, I make my unhappiness known. I didn't call for anyone's head. I didn't use profanity. I didn't threaten anyone. I pointed out that wrong is wrong and given the constant reoccurrences, management is to blame. I would have done the same for a pizza joint down the street who keeps giving me a mushroom pizza when I order a pepperoni one. I expect a working game. If something doesn't work and I go to the trouble of TROUBLESHOOTING IT FOR SOMEONE, I expect that information to be (a) believed and (b) acted upon ... especially when it has worked in the past.

Maybe you don't pay for Everquest ... that's your right as there is a FTP option. But as a 23+ year paying customer, don't tell me how I should react to shoddy workmanship or worse, people praising the shoddy workmanship.

And I still want to know what company you work for because clearly your priorities in work are not mine and I'd rather not be disappointed.

Are you seriously demanding to know my workplace? I really thought that was an off-the-cuff statement made in jest. That you continue to demand to know where to find me suggest a lot about you and I'm choosing to disengage.

I hope you find a way to be kinder and more understanding of others and their circumstances.