Never Thought I'd See This Again

MadBomr
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:01 pm

Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby MadBomr » Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:23 pm

When RoK went offline for good in 2007, I was saddened. RoK wasn't a fancy game but it had a definite appeal that was unique due in no small part to its simplicity. I've played other games with vastly more spectacular 3D graphics and animated gameplay. By comparison, RoK was the runt of the online gaming litter. But like so many runts, RoK had its own special personality and offered something the fancier games didn't -- a true sense of personal interaction within the community.

I always likened RoK to a chatroom where you could also PK each other, compete in tournaments, and go on quests. Like a chatroom, you could talk and interact with people from around the world in real time and make friends but then you could cap off the discussion by backstabbing them for 500 hit points. It was a chatroom that condoned senseless violence for the fun of it. Talk to people, make friends, do things, have fun together, kill your friends. What's not to like?

I figured after it folded that was the end. At least I'd had the opportunity to participate back when it was humming. But all good things must come to an end so I observed a moment of silence, said goodbye, and got on with things. I hadn't played for several years prior to its end anyway.

That was over 10 years ago.

So imagine my surpsrise earlier this week when I stumbled onto a game that looked just like RoK. I downloaded it and instantly recognized that this was a true RoK clone. I created a crit, started leveling and I'm currently at lvl 14. It was like RoK had been raised from the dead. So I contacted some other players from the past to let them know it was back. I expect they'll download it and try it out as well.

Despite the bullsh*t that went down at the end of my tenure with RoK, it's still one the great online memories for me. I wish the developers of Ember Online all the best luck with this game. It has all the same potential RoK did.

- Pinch(weasel)

User avatar
NiteHawk
Site Admin
Posts: 3120
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2016 7:33 am

Re: Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby NiteHawk » Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:28 pm

Hey Pinch, good to see you 8)

ROK actually came back for 4-5 years but was ultimately shut down because of hackers and Lance didn't want to spend time on it since the coding was so old it was tough to prevent the issues (Super chars for example.) Lance didn't really want to work on a new ROK so I had decided on doing my own thing now instead.

Game is doing fine but there is a lot of things to add/balance. Got a big update coming soon too.

Hope you continue enjoying the game though. :)

MadBomr
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:01 pm

Re: Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby MadBomr » Sat Jun 23, 2018 7:47 pm

I assumed you had done this with Lance's approval. I expect he supplied the base code. Lance had good intentions with RoK but he often didn't have the time to put into it and, after awhile, I'm not sure the interest was there either. I could be wrong but that's the impression I got.

Now that it's under new management I'm hopeful more time can be put into it and it can be developed more fully. I'd like to see it live up to its potential by embracing what's unique to it. For what it's worth, I had a lot of ideas for RoK that never saw the light of day. If interested, I'd be happy to share them with you. If they can be of use to the game, groovy. If not, that's fine too. They've just been taking up RAM in my head for years so I'll put it out there.

Either way, very good job.

- Pinch

User avatar
NiteHawk
Site Admin
Posts: 3120
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2016 7:33 am

Re: Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby NiteHawk » Wed Jun 27, 2018 3:08 pm

MadBomr wrote:I assumed you had done this with Lance's approval. I expect he supplied the base code. Lance had good intentions with RoK but he often didn't have the time to put into it and, after awhile, I'm not sure the interest was there either. I could be wrong but that's the impression I got.

Now that it's under new management I'm hopeful more time can be put into it and it can be developed more fully. I'd like to see it live up to its potential by embracing what's unique to it. For what it's worth, I had a lot of ideas for RoK that never saw the light of day. If interested, I'd be happy to share them with you. If they can be of use to the game, groovy. If not, that's fine too. They've just been taking up RAM in my head for years so I'll put it out there.

Either way, very good job.

- Pinch


The client and server are pretty much mine ground up. He did have good intension with ROK but I think his interest ran out a long time ago. I don't have any ill on Lance except I do wish he let someone help him at that point. I like the guy, and we had some good chats but ultimately I think his RL made him busy and it often took up his time to the point of vanishing. He does know about the game since originally I bothered him about getting assets (which didn't happen in the end because he wanted to work on his 3D game instead and offered me to work on it with him and Acumen... But then he vanished there too and I worked on my own project instead.) I didn't really bother asking for source as it was done in VB6 and ultimately would have to be re-coded anyways. I would say the attack system/leveling/etc are pretty similar in looks but we've gotten past ROK now which is good. Most of the game skills/spells use LUA which doesn't require compiling obviously, it's pretty nice though but needs some touch ups.

The client is similar to ROK, but it's configurable via INI files, aka you can move everything. The client is old though, it's from an old game of mine and a new one is going to be in the works (there is a example of it in the development/client section if you want to see. It's quite improved from the current one. I'm not a fan of the current client skin because I want to break out of the 'ROK shell' people seem to have and it's hard to improve the current client cause it's messy in all honesty (aka no proper structure). The assets are from games that have supported us (Can check the list in the text file in the programdata/ember online folder, theres a text with credits). So none of them were from ROK either. You might also remember is Silverone, shes an artist for us but she comes and goes right now due to IRL I believe. She's awesome for art though

For ideas, defo. I can't say when things will be implemented but it's progressing still. Feel free to PM me them 8)

MadBomr
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:01 pm

Re: Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby MadBomr » Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:31 pm

I think most people would be in favor of breaking away from the RoK shell. As long as the game's being upgraded at the code level, the GUI could stand a revision as well. I always thought more horizontal real estate should be utilized but that's just a personal preference.

I'll write up an outline of the ideas and PM it to you in the next day or two. If you'd like to discuss any of them in real time, we can take advantage of the game's real time chatroom functionality and have a discussion in-game. The ideas included a variety of improvements I thought could benefit RoK and involved simple ways to increase player immersion, as well as gameplay concepts, increase the user base by partnering with complimentary sites, and monetize the game while keeping it free to play. There's even more opportunity for expansion with the advent of crowdfunding now available -- an option RoK didn't have.

I do remember Silverone. A nice woman and talented artist I was always fond of. Tell her I said hello.

- Pinch

User avatar
NiteHawk
Site Admin
Posts: 3120
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2016 7:33 am

Re: Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby NiteHawk » Thu Jun 28, 2018 5:26 am

MadBomr wrote:I think most people would be in favor of breaking away from the RoK shell. As long as the game's being upgraded at the code level, the GUI could stand a revision as well. I always thought more horizontal real estate should be utilized but that's just a personal preference.

I'll write up an outline of the ideas and PM it to you in the next day or two. If you'd like to discuss any of them in real time, we can take advantage of the game's real time chatroom functionality and have a discussion in-game. The ideas included a variety of improvements I thought could benefit RoK and involved simple ways to increase player immersion, as well as gameplay concepts, increase the user base by partnering with complimentary sites, and monetize the game while keeping it free to play. There's even more opportunity for expansion with the advent of crowdfunding now available -- an option RoK didn't have.

I do remember Silverone. A nice woman and talented artist I was always fond of. Tell her I said hello.

- Pinch



Discord would be your best bet if you have it. You can join here https://discord.gg/RBCsgxN . You can use the web client for that too but I'm pretty sure you need an account at minimum. I prob won't be able to chat for a couple days anywho so works out.

User avatar
JadeFalcon
Posts: 383
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 8:29 am

Re: Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby JadeFalcon » Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:08 am

I have no idea of what you are talking about BUT I SUPPORT THIS THREAD :D
Don't take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.

Proud member, Halfling Appreciation Club

HAC Tip of the Week:
Roast Halfling leg with rosemary, garlic and white wine. Ideal for that family dinner!

User avatar
Kruell
Posts: 254
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 10:35 pm

Re: Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby Kruell » Thu Jun 28, 2018 1:03 pm

JadeFalcon wrote:I have no idea of what you are talking about BUT I SUPPORT THIS THREAD :D

New client to take advantage of new features. It's a good time to be alive!
If you look like prey you will be eaten

User avatar
daedroth
Posts: 1178
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2016 5:53 am

Re: Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby daedroth » Fri Jun 29, 2018 4:19 am

*sips his tea*
Disclaimer: Any ideas I come up with may not even meet my approval. I am just posting an idea based on the topic I have just read.
I love sheep.

MadBomr
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:01 pm

Re: Never Thought I'd See This Again

Postby MadBomr » Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:51 am

PM sent.


Return to “Archive Chat”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests

cron