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Quick R26 update!

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by Chris, Feb 4, 2016.

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  1. Chris

    Chris Tech Lord Moderator Ambassador SOTA Developer

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    Howdy folks, just wanted to give people a quick update on some R26 stuff.

    First, before I lose your attention, we are now logging events on the server for several types of cheating. Starting in a few days, we will probably start warning anyone caught speed hacking. We pretty much have only been acting on these when someone reported them but it looked like there were people still speed hacking and just playing in single player mode to level up faster. As we get closer to final wipe, we are going to start taking a few steps to try and move closer to zero hack level.

    We had a quest exploit on the R26 launch weekend that sneaked through QA dealing with a quest book that could be duplicated (legally, through a printing press) and then turned in multiple times. We made sure and not only fix that quest, but also made sure and fix that type of exploit from coming up in the future, and it was also a good chance to verify we could shut that quest off through the server without having to patch. We also will start trying to keep a closer eye on metrics and set automated notification events, as that immediately showed up on our rewards per player per hour per scene metrics.

    Also, while it may not be completely obvious in all situations or scenes, the performance work last week paid off with pretty good returns. Average frame rate in the game as a whole are up at least 5 FPS. Also, for the first time ever, our lowest FPS scene, Ardoris, is above 20fps on average at around 22fps average for all visitors, up from 15 fps in R25. /cheer! Now to get that up to 30fps for R27!

    Finally, on the Linux front, we are still working on fixing the graphics corruption problems and random stray geometry. We have not forgotten you. It is just a slower process to work through solutions on linux. Also, I setup new linux test boxes for our internal testers and we'll be sure and do better testing on the non-windows platforms for future releases. My sincerest apologies for the issues and if we can't resolve them internally, we will be pulling resources from Unity to get them to address the issues.

    Take care and enjoy the release!
     
    Chris, Feb 4, 2016
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  2. HoustonDragon

    HoustonDragon Avatar

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    Damn, really? People are already trying to hack and cheat? That's discouraging :(

    Good news on the performance stuff, I'm hoping to get my video card chugging up there :D
     
    HoustonDragon, Feb 4, 2016
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  3. Lord Andernut

    Lord Andernut Avatar

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    People hack and cheat everything, no surprises there. I'm glad they are hacking and cheating now - allows Portalarium to start to react to it before launch. I'm also glad they (Portalarium) are now tracking and moving towards consequences for hacking/exploits.
     
    Lord Andernut, Feb 4, 2016
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  4. HoustonDragon

    HoustonDragon Avatar

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    Considering that people had to pledge RL cash for this, I expected a little higher standard of the playerbase, especially considering the background of the Ultima games. I'm happy that Port is not putting up with it.
     
    HoustonDragon, Feb 4, 2016
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  5. Link_of_Hyrule

    Link_of_Hyrule Avatar

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    You guys just need a nice Intel HD 3000 laptop to test in-house to optimize on LOL. Probably not but I unfortunately am not getting the FPS like I talked to you about. Hopefully I'm the minority. I'm also hoping my plan to run a desktop GPU externally (EVGA Nvidia GTX 750 TI SC 2GB) is successful to boost my FPS on SotA.
     
    Link_of_Hyrule, Feb 4, 2016
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  6. Drocis the Devious

    Drocis the Devious Avatar

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    Thanks Chris, you guys continue to amaze!

    One area I noticed that had unusual lag for me this release is Owl's Head. It's not bad, but it's more than I normally get and it's noticeable as I walk through the main path into town I get a few hiccups like I'm tripping over something, and then eventually I notice that a lot of the scene housing and decorations are still loading as if they're not keeping up with my normal character run (not sprint, not walk).

    In your quest to optimize, I wonder if you will ever give players an option to wait before entering the scene until everything is loaded? I have a powerful machine with tons of RAM and I don't mind the wait time. I'd much rather wait on the loading screen than have the lag early on while I'm trying to play the game.
     
    Drocis the Devious, Feb 4, 2016
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  7. Smalls

    Smalls Avatar

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    Why warn them, they know it is wrong. Instant permanent account deactivation. Unless there are harsh penalties up front you will still have those that test the water. Even by stating the fact that there is a warning involved your not preventing them from doing it once. As a loyal backer I demand swift justice to those who cheat. Even Jail in UO wasn't enough imo..
     
    Smalls, Feb 4, 2016
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  8. HoustonDragon

    HoustonDragon Avatar

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    :p
    [​IMG]
     
    HoustonDragon, Feb 4, 2016
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  9. Drocis the Devious

    Drocis the Devious Avatar

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    I wonder who gets their stuff when they are kicked from the game? :)

    (if only)
     
    Drocis the Devious, Feb 4, 2016
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  10. Waxillium

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    Excellent news.
     
    Waxillium, Feb 4, 2016
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  11. agra

    agra Avatar

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    Personally, since 2002, I haven't seen any fantasy-themed persistent multiplayer online game use permanent in-game bans. They're always temporary.
    I suspect, given the amount of money involved, Portalarium will not have a "one-strike, banned forever" stance on cheating in SotA.

    I will also point out that Elite : Dangerous, within 1 month of their 'launch' permanently, and by their own admission, erroneously, "caught" thousands of people in their anti-cheating fervor.
    Specifically, anyone that bought a ship at a particular planet was incorrectly branded a cheater, and had all their progress in the game deleted. Woopsie!
    Even after receiving emails both of the original error and the follow-up apology, that progress was never restored. To this day, that bungle still affects some players.

    So, it's possible, and in fact likely, that there will be some missteps in this area.
     
    agra, Feb 4, 2016
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  12. Leelu

    Leelu Avatar

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    Thank you for the update and may the cheaters find their krispy creme :rolleyes: donuts filled with corpion stew.
     
    Leelu, Feb 4, 2016
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  13. 4EverLost

    4EverLost Avatar

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    4EverLost, Feb 4, 2016
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  14. Senash Kasigal

    Senash Kasigal Avatar

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    Final Fantasy XIV Weekly Report of permanent Bans

    Time Period: Jan. 21, 2016 to Jan. 27, 2016

    ・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for RMT advertising: 674
    ・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for RMT/illicit activity: 3569
    ・Action Details: Permanent ban from FINAL FANTASY XIV

    ・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for participation in RMT/illegal activity: 43
    ・Action Details: Temporary ban from FINAL FANTASY XIV
     
    Senash Kasigal, Feb 4, 2016
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  15. agra

    agra Avatar

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    I played GW2 during that time, and those bans were not permanent. They were 30 days, and in some cases, with petitions, as little as two weeks.

    But, point made, I guess some companies have tried to turn away paying customers for cheating. I just don't see it happening here with a $2k-12k pledge at stake.
     
    agra, Feb 4, 2016
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  16. Drocis the Devious

    Drocis the Devious Avatar

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    I think one of the best options Portalarium has is to remove access to multiplayer (permanently) and confine confirmed violators of the TOS to single player mode.
     
    Drocis the Devious, Feb 4, 2016
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  17. Solstar

    Solstar Avatar

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    I like that. It's a pretty unique option.
     
    Solstar, Feb 4, 2016
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  18. Curt

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    Option could be to have a special 'friends only' mode for confirmed violators of TOS
    so you only meet people with questionable behaviour
     
    Curt, Feb 4, 2016
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  19. Senash Kasigal

    Senash Kasigal Avatar

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    New Online Mode: CPO = Cheater Player Online :rolleyes::D
    But without access to the online economy, please.
     
    Senash Kasigal, Feb 4, 2016
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  20. HoustonDragon

    HoustonDragon Avatar

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    [​IMG]
     
    HoustonDragon, Feb 4, 2016
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