The Future of Freelancer
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We recently resumed server operations at Evolved, but I have been keeping up with FL developments and have been a little shaken by how things are looking for our game. With the one-two punch of the demise of both LancersReactor and the global server, our community has taken a serious blow. The future looks bleak indeed, most servers are now retired. The only ones standing are the ones who had a respectable membership in the first place. New players are becoming as rare as the Brown Quilrat of the swamps of Kusari. Something must be done. We can pull out of this tail spin, and make the Freelancer community vibrant once again. It’s going to take some things. I’ve made a short list, let’s discuss.
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Energy. We need to be excited, both here and on our servers. We need to be active because that’s what gets others to be active. Go to your servers and start making posts. Posts about everything. Get your admin teams making posts. Players will respond.
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Focus. We need to have focus, both on what our goals should be and where our energy is applied. We have several general Freelancer sites, but we probably need only one. If LancerReactor is no longer with us, then we need a replacement. I nominate The-Starport. I’ve registered on the others but I probably won’t post much on them. Since we lost a wealth of knowledge at Lancers, we should start trying to rebuild it here.
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Community. Not only do we have several general FL sites, we’ve got dozens of server sites as well. The-Starport should be promoted on those sites as the home base of FL for players, modders, and admin alike. Lancers was mainly for mods and tuts, this site has the potential to encompass everything from admin forums to utilities. We need to bring the FL community together in one place again.
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Purpose. Nothing gets people working together like working together. I suggest we begin work immediately on a general Freelancer uber-mod. A FL wide community project to remake the game. Along the way we’ll share knowledge and rebuild a lot of the lost tutorials. We’ll also create something that servers can use that will be compatible with other servers. No longer will it be either Evolved or Asgard, but you can take your ship and equipment and play on both Evolved and Asgard. I suggest we build this mod, and then promote it heavily as Freelancer 2 with Google ad campaigns, uploading it to bit torrent sites (just the mod, mind you), uploading it to game sites, mod sites, news groups, etc. The key to promoting it is to MAKE NOISE.
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Desire. We’ve got to want to succeed. We have to be hungry in order to eat. The traditional “I’ve got mine” mentality isn’t going to work anymore because server populations are steadily declining. We have to face it, Freelancer is a mature game. It doesn’t have the support of it’s creators, it hardly has recognition anymore except by the hardcores like us. We need desire to motivate us to get back on the frontburner of online gamers. EVE sucks. I’ve played it. It’s pretty, but that’s about it. If we can tap those gamers with a quality mod and active servers, we’ll see our community reborn.
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I’m with you Sledge, we need to do those 5 things in order to reinstablish our (falling apart) game. If it was up to me, I would NEVER let this game die, as to others out there, we all want this game to live on. Work together and mabe save this game from extinction.
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I played mech warrior 4 mercs for a long time and even though it’s still about it’s now just the hardcore fans involved. Freelancer in my opinion has a longer shelf life. The basic game provides a great framework to develope new and varied roleplays and themes and we need to take advantage of that aspect. I don’t think it’s a game on the slipery slope, what we are seeing the start of is the next evolutionary step. It’s now going to develope into a case of quality rather than quantity, which I don’t see as that bad a change. It’s a pity that the days of servers with 100+ members online will one day be a thing of the past but theres not a great deal we can do about this. Maybe one day we might actualy be blessed with a Freelancer mk2, til then lets just keep enjoying what we have and scream through the pain!
;D
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Focus. We need to have focus, both on what our goals should be and where our energy is applied. We have several general Freelancer sites, but we probably need only one. If LancerReactor is no longer with us, then we need a replacement. I nominate The-Starport. I’ve registered on the others but I probably won’t post much on them. Since we lost a wealth of knowledge at Lancers, we should start trying to rebuild it here.
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Community. Not only do we have several general FL sites, we’ve got dozens of server sites as well. The-Starport should be promoted on those sites as the home base of FL for players, modders, and admin alike. Lancers was mainly for mods and tuts, this site has the potential to encompass everything from admin forums to utilities. We need to bring the FL community together in one place again.
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Purpose. Nothing gets people working together like working together. I suggest we begin work immediately on a general Freelancer uber-mod. A FL wide community project to remake the game. Along the way we’ll share knowledge and rebuild a lot of the lost tutorials. We’ll also create something that servers can use that will be compatible with other servers. No longer will it be either Evolved or Asgard, but you can take your ship and equipment and play on both Evolved and Asgard. I suggest we build this mod, and then promote it heavily as Freelancer 2 with Google ad campaigns, uploading it to bit torrent sites (just the mod, mind you), uploading it to game sites, mod sites, news groups, etc. The key to promoting it is to MAKE NOISE.
I don’t think we have seen the last of TLR nor should we wish for or want this (not that I am saying you are doing this). However, I do believe that the recent problems TLR have had has highlighted the fact the community need more than one site to survive. With TLR down Modders and Codders have been looking for somewhere to gain help and advice. Universal Modding has been busy, Havens slightly busier than normal, but the main thing is this place has really taken off. When we set out to create The Starport we (FriendlyFire and myself (amongst many others)) didnt say ‘lets compete against TLR’. However we did say we would create not only a alternative but a back up to TLR.
You are right, we need to start collecting as much Data as we can. Tutorials, Mods, Tools, Guides, FAQ’s, you name it, we CAN host it and we will do. Anything that you guys have lying around on your PC that will help out others, please submit it. If you know of a Tutorial that is needed here, please submit it.
The Staff here will do what we can to gather as much as possible. But if everyone ‘chips’ in and does a little bit, our ‘resource library’ will grow quicker and will be effectively more efficent.
You have made a point about the Starport having the potential to encompass alot, I am pleased to say that is the overall aim. Not only do we wish to cateer to Modders and Coders and Texture Artists etc, but we wish to cateer to Server Owners, Admins. Our doors are open to players whether they be full time ‘hardcore veterans’ like many here, or even just the part time players. Iif anyone has any ideas on how we can grow to achieve this, please let us know. We are open to ALL suggestions. The Starport is here for you guys. You decide.
I like the idea of a ‘Freelancer Uber Mod’ especially if it included the entire (or as much of as possible) Freelancer Community. There are soo many talented guys around (many already here on the Starport) and I get excited thinking about the possibilities that could possibly come from such an extensive project.
However, I would like to see our community here grow first. Get the general Freelancer community behind us. Get everyone on the same wave length.
I would like to ask you all, if you like what we have done here and believe there is a future here as well as for Freelancer; please make a post on your server forums about this place. Invite everyone you know along.
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I think so too. But, the Great Wall of China standing the way of the idea is that all those servers are large and successful. They have nothing to gain by combining with everyone else into one common community with an ubermod. I think that if we can make a mod good enough and large enough (content wise), we could attract a pretty good base.
Maybe we could form an exploratory committee and approach some of the other servers with requests for talent and explain what we’re up to. We don’t want to “compete” with servers, just offer another avenue for increasing the longevity and enjoyment of our game.
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It looks like Lancers is slowly being revived. I hope to God they do, and the treasures they hold in experience and tutorials is intact. That will be a huge boost to the FL community.
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It looks like Lancers is slowly being revived. I hope to God they do, and the treasures they hold in experience and tutorials is intact. That will be a huge boost to the FL community.
It isn’t yet one hundred percent certain that the original forum database (which holds all of the tutorials, etc) can be restored. It is a very large priority however, and is not something that we will give up on without a brutal fight to the bitter and possibly bloody end.
Regarding the entire mess with TLR - things are being worked on with great haste, I’m in the process of writing a statement of sorts that will give a “brief” (re: overly wordy) outline of what has been going on, and why things are taking so long - for those of you that have been curious, it should give you a fair taste and show that we have no intention of letting the site go to waste.
We have several general Freelancer sites, but we probably need only one.
I very strongly disagree. As a certain Mr. Gump once pointed out on the silver screen, shit has a tendancy to happen. What happens when the One Site meets some manner of untimely end, or - as was the case with TLR - comes into a period of assorted tragedy that prevents it from properly serving its purpose as a community hub? If there is more than one well known and respected Freelancer community site the negative effects from such incidents would be minimized.
TLR seems to have attracted an image of being against or otherwise hostile toward “upstart” Freelancer communities. One of my jobs there is to prove that this is not the case by any measure or means, as I am very strongly of the belief that communities that are not centered around a single site are richer, more vibrant, and much less stagnant than those that do. I have repeatedly stated this opinion to the other staff members of the current incarnation of TLR, and they have agreed with me entirely. If they hadn’t, I would have beaten them with a baseball bat until they had the good sense to change their minds and agree with me but thankfully that was not needed.
Also –- viva vanilla Freelancer.
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It isn’t yet one hundred percent certain that the original forum database (which holds all of the tutorials, etc) can be restored. It is a very large priority however, and is not something that we will give up on without a brutal fight to the bitter and possibly bloody end.
Sion I was talking with Crazy yesterday and he says that the old ASP DB is on the DVDs, and once he has them he’ll code the DB as a read only archive, all that’s been lost is the VB DB from this year, and that ain’t a great loss as there was nothing on it we’d miss.
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I very strongly disagree.
I said “probably”. I’m probably wrong. Maybe we do need a dozen sites all offering the same thing. That way we have some redundancy, as Roo pointed out, when one site crashes.
And yes: viva vanilla Freelancer.
It isn’t yet one hundred percent certain that the original forum database (which holds all of the tutorials, etc) can be restored. It is a very large priority however, and is not something that we will give up on without a brutal fight to the bitter and possibly bloody end.
Post the database. I’m sure someone can crack it open and get the juicy stuff out. I’ve got some sql and postgre experience, maybe I could help.
Sion I was talking with Crazy yesterday and he says that the old ASP DB is on the DVDs, and once he has them he’ll code the DB as a read only archive, all that’s been lost is the VB DB from this year, and that ain’t a great loss as there was nothing on it we’d miss.
What about the files (mods, utilities, etc.)? Are they lost?
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Sion I was talking with Crazy yesterday and he says that the old ASP DB is on the DVDs, and once he has them he’ll code the DB as a read only archive, all that’s been lost is the VB DB from this year, and that ain’t a great loss as there was nothing on it we’d miss.
Ah, that’s good then - last I’d heard there was still some degree of uncertainty regarding if the database was on the DVD.
What about the files (mods, utilities, etc.)? Are they lost?
If I’m not mistaken, TLR’s complete (though somewhat outdated at this point) file archive was backed up onto the same discs that would have the forum database backup.
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good god…this is a good idea…imagine the void, asgard, crossfire, maybe freeworlds and all the other great mods combined!!! THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!
EDIT: tho the mods would need rebalancing
I think perhaps if we were to create an ‘uber mod’ it should be made from scratch… somthing with good potential for RP and Non-RP. I would like to leave the Nomads out of the main backstory/whatever. Come up with somthing Original…
In order for it to work, you’d need everyone contributing to it in some way though. -
Regarding TLR, the official word on its progress right now is –-
A lot of people have been wondering what has been going on with TLR, and for good reason - it really should not be taking this long for things to get settled. So, what has been going on? The entire ordeal started back in late November when Microsoft - which had graciously provided hosting to TLR free of charge for a long while - pulled their support of TLR with no warning. The site was working when everyone went to sleep, only to be gone the next day when they woke up.
Efforts to restore the site sprung up almost immediately, but from the start they were hindered by a number of issues - lack of communication, personal emergencies, and the assorted technical hurdles that are associated with transplanting an established site from one host to another. These issues, combined with several others resulted in the site being moved around among several different hosts before finally coming to rest in its current location.
I can safely say that the issues that have plagued TLR these last few months have been almost entirely cleaned up - we now have stable and secure hosting provided by an individual who is heavily involved and invested in the Freelancer community, we have a team of like minded individuals who are more than willing to spend their free time serving the Freelancer community, and we have a system in place to ensure that everyone is always aware of what is going on with the site to prevent miscommunication and to ensure maximum efficiency.
While there is still a fair bit of work that must be done with the site before it is ready to be revealed, please rest assured that it will return shortly and that it will be better, smarter, faster, and more efficient than ever before.
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Well. I’ve gone ahead and done it. I purchased a domain and am going to begin development of the next chapter of Freelancer. I’m going to tentatively call it Freelancer 2: Earth. I hope to strip the game to the bare engine and rebuild it back into the sequel of vanilla. It will be a mod, no shady actions like reverse engineering the game, and it’ll be open source. No profiteering. Hopefully M$ will not get mad at me.
Anyone is free to join me, I need talented modders for sure. If you’ve got the skillzorz join us at http://www.uberlancer.com and join the team. We’re in conceptual discussion now so join up and let your voice be heard. This is not a server specific mod, but a general community project. Since we’ll be generating the sequel storyline for Trent and Co., the entire FL community has a say in what it should be.
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Is everyone here? Good…
Ladies and Gentlemen, we need to start looking forward and growing this community and moving it to the next stage.
We have had a great start, and we have a solid member case now posting on a regular basis. Our Modding section of the forum is used a great deal, and it seems we are slowly building a good base of knowledge there. Our downloads are increasing and we have a small collection of tutorials on offer. But, I dont think this is enough.
Our new member rate has slowed down dramatically. And we need to look for ways to reach out to the thousands of people that used TLR. Not to take them away from TLR, but to make them aware there is another site that can be used as a second line of information and support. We need to make all Server Owners, Admins and players aware that we have now created a very stable foundation here, and now we are ready to start building and growing.
The Starport originally, back before christmas, began to take shape on the Universal Modding forums. A group of us started to discuss and brianstorm ideas on how to deal with the issues TLR was having and how we could move forward. Amongst the members on UM were PeaceKeeper and Grim Reaper. Names some of you will know of, but one of them you may not have heard for a while, that being Grim. Grim is the ‘Grand pa’ of Freelancer. A title was deserved. I dont think you will find a Server Owner who hasnt heard of Grim - or at least a Server Owner who has been doing this for a while anyway. Grim sort a few of us out from the Havens Admin forum, almost hand picked us to work on this project. A pretty clever plan really. It worked, after all - I was recruited from Havens and now here we are. That’s not all Grim has done, but needless to say, this gives you all some background into who he is, and what he is about. Universal Modding is run by Grim, PeaceKeeper and Lancer Solorus… the three names together go to show the kind of experience and knowledge we are talking about.
I have asked Grim to come across to the Starport and help us here. To move us forward, to grow and build. His ideas and suggestions are to me valid and well recieved. And I hope everyone else will see why. I can pretty much promise you, you will be invited to discuss the best path to take, and the best action to be made. After all guys, this is YOUR site remember. This site is about what YOU want.
As well as asking Grim to come across and help us, I have proposed a ‘merger’ of sorts with Universal Modding. I think what we have decided upon is anything on the UM forums can be copied across to here. This will greatly increase what we have to offer, and we provide you guys and future members with a lot more to satisfy your thirst for knowledge and help you with modding etc.
I really am writing an essay here… basically guys. We need your input, now more than ever. We need ideas, suggestions and even people to help us move this place forward. Each one of you has found value in this site so far, hence you being here and continually checking the forums and posting here and submitting news. So now we need to bring others in to show them the same value you have found.
I hereby open up the floor to everyone to discuss.
Roo
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Thank you Roo for that fine introduction. I am still reading this site to gain the knowledge of what all of you have been up to. Let me say that I am impressed by what i have seen so far.
I have a few ideas I will be discussing here over the next few days to few weeks. As for the merging of Starport and Universal Modding, I think that to be the best idea but it does not stop there. For a lot of what I am about to propose will take a changing of thought(s) of many of you. Let’s face it guys, we are truly talking about the future of Freelancer. More so than many of the conversations I have engaged in a year or so ago. This time MS has fully removed all support for this game and the Global Server is now gone. The time to come together as a working unit is now.
I recognize many of you here and that is a good start. For those of us who want to see all of this succeed it is time to role up our sleeves and get to work.
Grim
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The TLR ups and downs are a slap in the face of the Freelancer Community to be honest .
Therefore its nothing wrong to have as much FL related sites as possible, therfore i support The Starpoint , , always better than the situation we have now , surely TLR will be missed , and hopefully will get back soon , but its sure it cant be the only resource to keep Freelancer alive .
