Afar ~ 1,000 Players

[Ellie]

DOWNTIME

Afar.ws is planned to be down for approximately a day while we migrate servers. We are moving to our own VPS, which will substantially improve both uptime and usability. You should find the game faster.

The main wait is, once more, waiting for DNS to update - anyone who's had to change DNSs will know how horrible it is.

The server will take a short while to set up - but it will be worth it.

vengeance-rpg.com is being retired and being allowed to drop. It is not owned by us, but by the previous web host.

afar.ws is our official domain name and the one to be used in all circumstances.

I repeat, please update your bookmarks to afar.ws.

Thank you.

I have some news - but I will post it when the game is back up so it's not just vaporware. It's exciting!

 

[Ellie]

Our Own Server

Afar was previously on shared hosting, which was proving both inadequate and unreliable, involving even being hacked through another site on the system.

We are now on a Virtual Private Server, at a cost of course. This is essentially our own server which only we are on (for information on VPS systems and how they work, see Wikipedia/Google). While this means we are paying more, and are also responsible for our own maintenance, it does mean we aren't sharing resources with potentially thousands of other websites as before.

You should see faster load times and such, and better uptime. I understand there was quite a bit of downtime while I wasn't online.

I must stress the importance of this switch however with regards to bugs. There will most likely be bugs we haven't caught yet pertaining to the switch. I am sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.

Should you encounter any problems, please feel free to post on the forums here or to chat with AmyPond on the IRC channel (irc.synirc.com #afar). We appreciate any concerns you have and are happy to help.

The new server by the way is hereby christened "Miranda".

-------------------------------------------------------------------

May 25th Updates

- The Barbarian set is now rare and no longer given away
- Community points have been backdated to people who had taken part in the community previously
- Bug fixes, mainly relating to recent updates

Behind the Scenes: June 2011

The past month has been weird update-wise. Firstly, with University coming to an end, it was exam season once more. Secondly most of the updates being worked on were behind the scenes things which you don't necessarily notice.

Well, this month is going to be a Big Monthâ„¢.

Plans in a nutshell:

Client

The standalone client will be released this month. It is just a way of playing the game outside of the web browser - so without the toolbars and bookmarks and whatever else cluttering up your game. It will also have a few useful features in it on top of that.

Graphics

Towns, outposts, and other World Map spawn points are going to be given a graphical facelift, with hand drawn maps digitally coloured. They might not be very well made, but they are distinctly Afar and unique to the game. They are currently being worked on and we are seeking C&C on the various forums we post on around the web.

Expansion

The world is going to be expanded rather vastly, in every direction. I know that might not interest people much - but with the other updates this is a Good Thingâ„¢.

Forced Battles

Bosses. Battles you have to fight to get from map A to map B. These are going to become more commonplace, at least when traveling to higher leveled areas of the world.

Quests

There are ten quests planned to be added this month, if all goes well.

Knighthoods

Knighthood will launch - paid content. The cost will probably be $12, current thinking. This money will help pay for a better server to run the game, and keep us going strong. Knights get no ads, more areas, more quests, etc. With the two quests in the game currently, there will be seven free and five paid quests on launch of Knighthood.

More enemies

There are over 30 planned enemies if all goes well.

More advertising

We plan to try and spread the word of Afar more. We haven't been putting much effort into getting people to play, as it's not "finished" to the standard we want people to remember.


----------------

Say hello to the new town graphics. They aren't particularly good - I am no artist - however I think they do add a bit of originality to the game. In the future we may be able to afford a good artist to remake them; for now they just make it a bit more Afar-y.

The new graphics are currently at Tiben Port, Tiben Town (3 scenes), West Gate and the Base Camp. New graphics are currently being made for the missing towns, including Damascar.

 

[LiquidMetal91]

Ah, lost my question..
So i'll ask again :D

How's the rates for the free membership goin?

 

[Ellie]

Hi liquid - the link in your sig is still going to vengeance-rpg.com, which is now gone. You will need to update it to claim points, sorry. This is only as of yesterday (I have said for a while to update :smile: but it's not a problem until now.)

Points - nobody has any, which is leading me to believe the system is in fact broken. I am going to do some more testing, and if that doesn't work, I will simply hold a sweepstakes (a random draw involving everyone who has logged in in the past month).

Sorry for failing you there. I will try and test it and see if it works.

---------------

It isn't working - I am going to come to a compromise. I will post it shortly. It will be fair on all those involved so far.

 

[LiquidMetal91]

K, tnx for the notice ;D

 

[Ellie]

Ok, I think what I am going to do is have a box where you can type in a user who referred you, since the contest system wasn't working.

I keep track of links in by watching the ad space, and I know that you and Holder at least have one referral each from that.

 

[Ellie]

There are times when programming for Afar that something big is created that reshapes the game. Today was one of those times, with the creation of Interactive Scenery.

Anyone who has roamed the fields of Tiben knows that a map is basically created using just a simple image - usually detailed a bit, some trees here and there, but in the end just an image.

Interactive scenery uses the notion of map objects, which are placed in certain spots. They are interactive in that they can be clicked, performing various actions depending on what type of object it is.

Trees can be cut down for logs. Treasure chests can spawn in random places and be opened to give items. The implications are huge, it just all needs to be programmed and added.

At the moment, trees have been created, which can be placed on maps. Each tree is a unique object. You can cut a tree and it will take a set amount of time to grow back. You get logs for cutting down a tree.

This, in a way both replaces and compliments the "Time Events" system of the past where you can obtain items from certain spots in the game.

As always suggestions are more than welcome.

Oh, it's worth pointing out that the system is done but nothing has been mapped yet! Watch this space. The first update will be to switch out all the static trees for "real" interactive ones in the near future.

 

[Ellie]

As before, this set will be available until 50 more members have joined (from 510 - missed it a bit!)

The set will appear in your inventory when you do certain things.

 

[glorious caesar]

this whole post is excellent dude and imo it's exactly the direction that you needed to take this game. continue working on this kind of system and once it's fully implemented you will be so much closer to this thing being an actual mmo. that kind of variety and INTERACTIVITY is exactly what people want, not to mention the addictive nature of these kinds of things.

idk if you did this because you always had it planned or if any of it came from what we were talking about on irc but dude either way this is a great idea man and will totally take Afar to the nest level.

 

[Ellie]

I realise I've neglected Afar somewhat over the past few months.

We just reached 550 members - a nice milestone - but the game hasn't really progressed much in terms of updates and such.

I know I promised a lot and that's bad since none of it came to light.

Yesterday I tried to get my ass in gear a bit. I sat down for a few hours and really got down to making a lot of new maps interactive, as that's a start. I've created some new map object types as well. Yesterday and this morning about ~20 maps were made interactive (clickable things that do stuff).

For the mamoth task this involves, red is maps currently done in the new format. Black haven't.

Spoiler

____________________________
Maps only - red: now interactive

area-tiben
area-myre
area-basecamp
area-seafortress
area-port
area-westgate
area-straupuft
area-darkforest
area-darkforest-west
area-darkforest-east
area-vampireclan
area-narrowpath
area-marsh
area-tibeneast
area-prison
area-woods-1
area-woods-2
area-woods-3
area-river-1
area-woods-4
area-river-2
area-river-3
area-river-4
area-farmland-1
area-marsh-1
area-marsh-2
area-marsh-3
area-farmland-2
area-farmland-3
area-coast-1
area-coast-2
area-coast-3
area-coast-4
area-myre-1
area-portglade
area-fields-1
area-fields-2
area-fields-3
area-fields-4
area-fields-5
area-fields-6
area-fields-7
area-fields-8
area-fields-9
area-snowfields-1
area-snowfields-2
area-snowfields-3
area-snowfields-4
area-ivancamp
area-desert-1
area-desert-2
area-dungeon-1-1
area-dungeon-1-2
area-dungeon-1-3
area-dungeon-1-4
area-dungeon-1-5
area-dungeon-1-6
area-dungeon-1-7
area-woods-5
area-woods-6
area-woods-7
area-river-5
area-woods-8
area-sewer-1
area-sewer-2
area-sewer-3
area-darkforest-south
area-desert-3
area-woods-9
area-woods-10
area-woods-11
area-woods-12
area-damascar-1
area-desert-4
area-desert-5
area-desert-6
area-desert-7
area-desert-8
area-desert-9
area-desert-10
area-desert-11
area-desert-12
area-desert-13
area-damascar-2
area-damascar-3
area-damascar-4
area-desert-15
area-desert-16
area-desert-17
area-desert-18
area-desert-19
area-oasis
area-docks
area-desert-14
area-coast-5
area-coast-6
area-coast-8
area-coast-7
area-marsh-4
area-marsh-5
area-marsh-6
area-farmland-4
area-woods-13
area-woods-14
area-dungeon-2-9
area-dungeon-2-2
area-dungeon-2-6
area-dungeon-2-3
area-dungeon-2-1
area-dungeon-2-4
area-dungeon-2-5
area-dungeon-2-8
area-dungeon-2-10
area-dungeon-2-11
area-dungeon-2-7
area-snowfields-5
area-snowfields-6
area-myre-3
area-myre-4
area-myre-5
area-myre-6
area-myre-7
area-myre-8
area-tiben-south
area-tiben-north
area-tiben-castle
shop-tiben-books
area-coast-9
area-coast-10
area-coast-11
area-coast-12
area-coast-13
area-fields-10
area-coast-14
area-fields-12
area-fields-13
area-fields-11
area-coast-15
area-coast-16
area-coast-17
area-coast-18
area-fields-14
area-great-lakes


____________________________
Stores and amenities


shop-faygrin
merchant-farmgirl
merchant-archer
merchant-woods
shop-vampireclan
shop-tiben-general
shop-tiben-weapons
shop-base-soupkitchen
shop-straupuft-market
shop-port-fishing

 

[Sir Ver]

I'm havinig a hard time going from page to page. It's taken nearly 10 minutes to accept the terms (which is surprisingly very short.. it's great!)

But this MMO looks great. I'm a big fan of MMO's

EDIT: It seems to be going faster: Checking it out now

Oh wow, I'm impressed. I believe I could enjoy this game. I particularly like the free soup :biggrin:

When i get more free time, I will wander further into those woods :biggrin:

 

[Ellie]

Thanks man. I know not everything's perfect and a lot of work needs doing but I'm really ready to work on any suggestions people have (nobody gives any lately).

It's annoying because I have so much planned story-wise in my head but really don't know how to apply it to the game other than books :/

I think I've successfully created the feel of early (2002-3) Battleon, which is what I was going for.

 

[Sir Ver]

@Amy Pond

Well, actually I'm the sort of person that loves letting the imagination lose, I've only played a few minutes worth, but it was enough to let my imagination free, and get that free soup and walk through those woods. It's quite good, I enjoyed the little amount I played. And I will honestly play further when I have spare time. I love MMO's, but nothing is better then something that can capture your imagination.
With the simple system and graphics and what ever have you, with that few minutes, you captured my attention, and that I will say congratulations on. Only a few MMO's have captured me in the first couple of minutes of play time.

Well done :thumb:

I know this isn't critique, but I will add some as soon as i find something to critique on, but this is my kind of game, and I'm not sure I will find many things to critique on :biggrin:

 

[Ellie]

An update!

I am a chest

Chests are a new minigame in Afar.

Chests randomly spawn in one of a few set locations on the map.

On finding

a chest, click it to open it and obtain the goodies inside. Items, gold, etc.

The items found in chests are generally quite valuable!

On finding a chest, it will then disappear and appear on one of the other set locations on the map, for the next person to find (or you, if you feel like a walk).

Why set locations?

Because the chests have to be drawn in the right place on each map to look good. Yes, I know. But new locations will be added all the time.

What can I find in a chest?

That's a secret!

Any plans for the future?

Yes.

1. Chests guarded by boss enemies
2. More locations for chests to appear (there are currently 7 spawn points, with more added as I feel like it)
3. More items in chests, some unique to chests
4. Different chest types, some requiring keys etc
5. Points for opening chests, with a leaderboard

 

[Ellie]

Free for All

The original plan was for Afar to be a paid game. It would cost around £10 and there would be a free version, to draw people in and allow everyone a chance to play the game.

Various factors have meant this will not be the case. The cost of official rating being one of them - stopping me getting it into stores - and a general feeling that "it would be better if it was free".

This puts me at a difficult situation: the game costs £20 a month to run, and we don't get that from advertising alone. Perhaps ad revenue will pick up if the game is free?

There are currently two people, not including me, who have paid accounts in the game. These are for various things, (creating art for the game etc) and I will discuss their future with them as they are good friends.

Being free has it's benefits immediately to free players. I think there are about 50 maps, about ten enemies, and lots of items which are only available to the former premium "Knight" accounts.

If you have any ideas for to make money to keep the game running, let me know. In the meantime, I am going to think long and hard over this and possibly start turning the paid areas over to being "free" (or normal, now, I guess).

 

[Jason]

Why not just make a cash shop or something?

 

[Ellie]

I guess I just don't feel the game is worth paying for, is all.

I just think maybe letting people play it and then deciding for themselves whether it's worth donating for might work better, I dunno?

 

[Xilef]

I guess I just don't feel the game is worth paying for, is all.

I just think maybe letting people play it and then deciding for themselves whether it's worth donating for might work better, I dunno?

Limited free-to-play option, donate more than £5 and get upgraded to the advanced game, where you get a new location and cool armour or name tag and a lot of in game cash $$$?

 

[Daxis]

I guess I just don't feel the game is worth paying for, is all.

I just think maybe letting people play it and then deciding for themselves whether it's worth donating for might work better, I dunno?

Limited free-to-play option, donate more than £5 and get upgraded to the advanced game, where you get a new location and cool armour or name tag and a lot of in game cash $$$?

never do microtransactions or payment systems where you limit your customers from content. It sorta takes away from the fun. Reason why I never got into runescape.

Also, don't sell power

 

[Ellie]

I don't know what to do.

There is of course the fact that if I charge people I'll be obliged to update the game regularly - whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, forget money for now.

I have a 13-map dungeon planned for a quest; finding it hard to get the motivation though.

Noticed something depressing (well somebody pointed it out on the forums); someone got onto the leaderboards in Afar after playing for five minutes...

...when the leaderboards only hold ten people.

That includes me.

So only eight people have played for more than five minutes.

Well, fuck.