HELP CHANGE DC!

[hippyjoe2]

hey all..im hippyjoe2 if you couldnt tell already, so i think its about time a major change has come to dragon court, and well..just read this message and tell me what you think..

ok, now that i have your attention, i would like to propose to you an idea, one that struck me a few days ago...you can read the original post at SOIA...apparently i cant post links but anyways...the idea was to create a game similar to dc, but would be run by active dragon court players...another couple people mentioned that we should buy the source code from fred and change it that way(requiring much less work) we could update almost everything to how we like it, and make the game much more fun in general (possibly bringing newer players back into the game) one of our members has been able to come into contact with Fred and he would like to know what we have to offer basically. So if you are interested in this cause, or you would pledge some money to donate or something, please shoot me a PM on soia, or help spread the word! i beg you!

thanks for your time
hippyjoe2

[Ominous]

Cool! How much money would it cost?

[hippyjoe2]

we are not sure yet..but atleast we have Fred talking, this is still in the very beginning stages, so this is why i ask for your support

[jadewik]

From what I've read other places and what I personally feel, I don't think it's a good idea. So far, Zwack from FK said it best (and I paraphrase here)... that creating a "new" and "different" DC would divide the game players into those who play DC1 (the "Fred" version) and those who play DC1 (the "player" version).

Another point that was brought up is that people CAN volunteer to code for DC1. It's easy. I've actually done some code for DC1 in a couple of the new areas for the game. I haven't had the chance to work on it lately because I have a full-time job and other things that I need to do before I play. So I also offer perspective being one of "those people" who ARE volunteering to help change the game.... for free... so it's somewhat insulting to me that the work I've done for the game "isn't good enough" because I can't code fast enough in what little free time I have to code.-- especially since I had to first learn to code Java.

Do you know anyone who codes Java? Would you be hiring someone to work full-time? Would you be asking for volunteers? If you're asking for volunteers, then why not just keep the game code as is and get more people to help work on the game?

So, I personally won't be supporting this option... though I wouldn't mind a little assistance coding for the "Fred Version" of the game.

[Curulan]

I would only support this as a last resort (and I have previous expressed my willingness to host the game on this site, as long as someone can tell me what is necessary to host it).

As long as Fred is willing to host it himself, I say we should keep DC as it is.

[hippyjoe2]

thanks for your thoughts jade...what I am not techinally sure of yet is if we want to create a NEW dc or just revise the old one, and if we did revise the old one, we would just want to be in more control because it IS hard to contact fred, and yes maybe we could hire some java programmers..i have not even thought about that. but thankyou

hope there is no hard feelings
hippyjoe2

[jadewik]

It's actually not difficult to reach Fred at all... if you know HOW to contact him.

[hippyjoe2]

ok, well since we can talk to him now. what do you think about revising the current DC?

[Ominous]

If there was a big fan effort (several full-time coders) to help Fred revise DC, I think the community's role would be to pay them. If all active DC players donated 5 or 10 dollars, I bet we could put together a good week's salary to pay two or three coders to team up with Fred and make improvements on a larger scale.

Though my estimates are admittedly very generous.

[boywonder]

I speak to Fred daily. We have tin cans strung from my office to his. Its effective. However I'm pretty sure that (as Jade has stated) there will be a LOT of old-school DC players who won't want change. I myself won't move to a "new" DC version, what's the point? I've already got a built-up char that I don't want to lose. I know how the game works, what the limits of my char are, and I love the community I'm in now. Not to mention the fact I KNOW I'm not the only one who feels this way. If you do manage to make a "new" version of DC or a "changed" version, you'll only succeed in bringing half (if that) of the members over with you, leaving a smaller group for both servers. That really seems more harmful than helpful, seeing as how the game is dieing as it is.

[mikey taylor]

how much longer can we keep a text based game of clicking going? This game has been outdated for years, and although it's fun, putting this much effort into changing it is wasted. what changes do you want to make anyway? the ablity to use mandrake roots again so you could play forever? without fred and his professional team, the new dragon court would be easily hacked, unless you did hire someone to look after it constantly. you can't expect Fred to put much effort into this game because, well, this game is free! poor guy is just like us trying to make money, yet looks after this game almost as a hobby. yes it promotes his site, but you can't expect him to keep updating the game regularly after 10 years of running it. i don't think you would get players to switch over and start over with this new game.

[hippyjoe2]

after much thinking, i have decided that all i REALLY wanted was for DC to be active again, and by adding new areas(NOT making drakes useful again) or something of that sort seemed like a good idea to get people playing again.

thanks all.

[mikey taylor]

i understand, i didn't mean to be offensive. it would be awesome if we could get people active again... and i hope you have success in your efforts