ECO RESET?! EOC?? SERVER RESET!? ALL ACCOUNTS DELETED?? DONOR STORE DELETED?!
No.
We are not taking the easy way out of this, ladies. Na, we are going to do this the right way.
We heard you. The outpouring of feedback & support is being addressed.
This will not be a one-size-fits-all solution - but this is the start.
First & foremost I want to thank each and every one of you who felt compelled enough to give their opinion.
Your feedback is what matters the most to us -- this is YOUR game after-all.
Thank you to everyone who's continued to show undying support for Ely even during these times.
So, what is changing to address the pressing issues?
The most reoccurring issue in the "Current State of Ely" thread was updates & a lack thereof. Therefore, the most pressing & immediate change we needed to make was at the top of Ely's management. This means mostly the development field. We house some of the most talented people I've ever worked with. However, life changes. Life outside RSPS moves on. This caused quite a gap in the love needed to keep Ely happy & fulfilled. With that said we've all worked together & came to a conclusion in which benefits the players of Ely the most. Our beloved developer @Matt has stepped down from being a full-time developer and remaining on as Co-Owner but will still fulfill his duties when needed. He will continue to do his work behind-the-scenes and on the extremely important stuff our player's don't see. Our beloved content creator @Luke has also stepped down to Administrator. Both of these fine fella's have a life & job outside Ely which require much of their time and find it difficult to make time to do what is required on Ely. I'd like to point out again, the obvious -- these fine fella's are not leaving us. We are simply readjusting the roles in which individuals fill to better suit the betterment of Ely as a whole.
Who is going to be the Head Developer, then?
We will be scouting new talent to fill the full-time position as Head Developer. This does not mean there will be a continued gap in updates. Part-time & service-based developers will be filling the role during this time. There is no ETA & wouldn't be realistic to set one. However, we will be making sure work is getting done & updates will begin to show up at a daily & predicable pace.
How will this fix the issue?
As mentioned above the most reoccurring issue mentioned was updates. The solution to that is simple -- more frequent updates. Our current Team is struggling to deliver so we are adjusting that. We have already began on this process and you'll read more about what we've done below. With all that said - going forward we will do our absolute best to be transparent about the updates that are being worked on & what is coming in the future. This means more communication, polling, & involvement by YOU overall in the direction of the server.
What about the diminishing count of active players?
This is a double-edged sword. We are currently in what is known as the slowest time of the year for RSPS as a whole. This doesn't just affect Ely, this affects all areas of RSPS, development forums such as Rune-Server, RuneLocus, Toplist sites & everything else. This is my 3rd Winter running Ely & every year, at the same time -- this happens. It's nothing to worry about. Another facet of this is during these times I am very frugal on all (if any) ads we buy. Due to the declined traffic during these months the value advertisements bring to the server equate to much less -- but their prices remain the same. Therefore spending money in this area during these months is as good as throwing it out the window. Taking these two things, declining RSPS traffic overall + less active ads = our current state. This is not to say the pace of updates has nothing to do with this -- sure it can affect it. This is why the first thing we addressed was our development above. Everything mentioned above is changing. In late March to April traffic picks up, many more advertisements will go live & starting now the development team is back on track.
What are you doing to address other issues outside development?
Overall, the largest & most pressing issue is in fact, development. That has been solved as of the posting of this thread. However another reoccurring theme that was somewhat prominent was the Exclusive Mystery Boxes. It is believed that the economy is struggling in-game and while I believe there is some truth to that -- it's not the full story. After taking a closer look at the economy we noticed items are coming into the game at a significantly faster pace than they are leaving. Where are they meant to go? What are you supposed to do with all your extras? We needed to remedy this immediately and as of now we believe we have a solution -- one of which has been suggested for a long time. The Well of Goodwill will be available very shortly. More information on this update can be found below. However, the Boxes are not the sole cause. To refer back above mentioning the reasons why the player count seems to be diminishing; another part of this is 75% of the active players are loyal players who have been playing, grinding & stacking bank while purchasing boxes for the past year. So what you guys see is not the whole story. It's a conglomerate of the results of slowed growth, item influx, lack of cash sinks & little development all in one. With that said, we believe the Well of Goodwill is the most appropriate solution to the Box issues that we're mentioned - you will be able to donate your items in return for server-wide benefits that give everyone an exciting boost. They will no longer serve no purpose building up within your banks - you can now use them to benefit everybody while doing your part in cleaning up the economy.
Some last words in regards to this overall..
We are making a lot of changes. We are re-hauling everything to better suit you. We are shaking off the loose pieces. We are giving Ely a new home & throwing away Lunar Isle. We are returning to the basics. We are going to focus a lot more on community involvement & events. To fulfill this we are incorporating some basic skilling abilities right at the new home. We are introducing a brand new Staff rank known as "Event Manager" - this individual will be creating, managing & hosting daily events, activities & will have the ability to trigger server-wide events such as drop rate boosts in certain areas, massing events & more. We are adding monthly voting rewards to the top voters. We will be pushing out updates and fixing bugs at a faster pace. We are adding the Well of Goodwill. We killed a bunch of bugs and fulfilled a bunch of suggestions. We sincerely hope this remedies your worries about the direction of Ely. We believe this changes everything. We are changing the core of Ely. We are adapting to what you asked for.
This is only the beginning.
The Next Update
The next update will be including some incredible changes. Take a look below at what's to come..
Going Back Home - Edgeville
We have packed our stuff and moved back home to Edgeville. What are some of the benefits of this?
- Incorporated more skilling at home, more togetherness.
- Added a permanent Bonfire
- Added Ivy to the walls of the Bank
- Added an Anvil in the Furnace Building
- Making the centerpiece of this home a Well of Goodwill.
- More familiarity for everyone from Vets to new players.
Most Sought-After Update; the Well of Goodwill
This has taken longer than it should have.
You can see a more full picture above where the Well is located at home.
So, let's get into the details..
This will be a 3-Tiered Well of Goodwill. Each Tier achieved will start a server-wide bonus.
Each time a Tier is achieved it triggers the respective event for 1 hour.
The Well accepts both items & GP.
Tier 1 - 500M Donated - 25% XP Boost
Tier 2 - 1B Donated - 50% XP Boost
Tier 3 - 2B Donated - x2 XP Boost + 10% Drop Rate Boost
When Tier 3 is achieved, no more can be donated until the 1 hour passes.
Once the time expires, you will be able to donate again for another hour of benefits.
This is only just the beginning. We will tweak, advance & adjust the Well to what best suits our players & economy going forward.
Event Manager, Staff Changes & Elysians
The new Staff position; Event Manager. This role will be tasked with creating, managing & hosting server-wide events.
The possibilities of this role will be endless. Their main purpose & responsibility will be bringing the community together.
This will include having the ability to trigger server-wide events in specific locations, new notification system to organize & more.
They will also be tasked with creating events a couple days a week. Expect to see a lot more activity & exiting things with this update.
Who will be the Event Manager?
@Jordan
Staff Changes
@Callum has been demoted.
@Masoud has been demoted.
@IttzKaotic has been demoted.
@Enzyme has been demoted.
@Kemi has been moved to Moderator.
Thank you to each & every one of these fine people. Due to the lack of need of Staff, activity, interest & more we are sorry to let you go but what you've done for us in your positions has not gone unnoticed. Thank you for the privilege of working with yous.
A Word about the Elysian Rank
The beta-testing role has been removed. We are no longer going to provide more rifts between the players and the development of the server. We are going to become more transparent and involve all our players who'd like to be involved in the development of Ely going forward. Therefore; Elysians are no longer needed. Thank you to those who were apart of this program - it was really beneficial during it's time.
Punishment Log Reset
What's a revamp without a second chance for the gone & forgotten players who have been IP Banned, Mac Banned, IP Muted and so on?
The posting of this thread signifies a lift & removal of all bans & mutes across the board.
Monthly Voting Rewards
The top 3 voters of every month will now be receiving rewards for their support towards Ely.
This is still in the early stages and yet to be finalized.
This will however be done by the time this update goes live.
Bug Fixes & Suggestions (Still being added too)
Few bugged cave horrors have been replaced by the proper NPC
Gargoyle that spawns in the abyssal demons room in slayer tower has been removed
Purple slayerhelm withdrawn as note has been fixed
Toktz-xil-ul have been fixed
Added 1 more iron dragon to ancient cavern
Celestial items now have a base value of 50m gp
Cannonball packs (1000) can now be purchased from the slayer point shop for 300 points
Added noted butterfly jars to the hunter store, you're welcome iron men
Soft clay has been added to the construction shop
Items made tradable:
Boogie Bow, Rainbow Afro, Xmas Sleigh, Suitcase, Coloured Gnome Scarfs, Eggsterminator, Fancy Boots,
Basket of eggs, Barrel hats from Lepprechaun, Grim Reaper Hood
Final Words
First I'd like to point out -- NONE of this is live in-game yet. This is more a start to our plan to become more transparent to the community about what is currently happening behind the scenes. Second, this is not a COMPLETE list of all the changes. There will be more & hopefully just as exciting things to be added come time to update. Third, this update will be coming out really soon - but cannot provide an exact time.
Overall, we are hard at work at addressing the concerns of the community and I absolutely hope you can see that in this post. We are trying our best. Lastly I must say again -- this is only just the beginning.
Owner
Kaotic's topic in Goals & Achievements
LOL
