So it's been a while since we've talked about progressing to EE and a lot has changed since our last time. You guys have questions and I have some more answers.

We'll start and end with the same question first:

ETA?

None. In all honesty we're unlikely to give an ETA until the move is almost completely ready to go. I'll get back to it at the end but I know immediately upon reading this you'll want to know this.

What's the hold up?

So to put it simply: Most of the players see the front end and we see the back end. If the move to EE was a simple copypaste, we would have done it long long ago. I'd go in to it more but most of you know the story. NWNX, the primary feature we use, allows us to store a lot of information using databases. The magnitude of how these databases work can be seen in sheer filesize alone, this is just one thing being stored in our system:



We have many categories of what needs to be stored. The issue isn't the amount of what's being stored, but rather how the game talks to it needs to be completely changed to move over to EE.

We use these databases for things like subraces, quest progression, job system, tracking logins, bans, PKs, area visits, assigning monster spawns to areas, bind points, idols, domains, hak updates... there's a massive list of them. A LOT of our systems in game use it and these are systems we value to give our server a unique identity that other servers may competitively struggle to 1:1 replicate (that is not to say they don't have systems we are missing). Because of this issue regarding NWNEE, this is a massive undertaking that effectively is us rewiring the entire server. You couple this alongside the people who know how to do it, ensure the system is running the entire server is allowing complete communication without error, then running it in an alpha form to make sure we're not going to lose everything or roll back broken systems... THEN actually publicly releasing the server... you have to remember we're doing this in our free time which I'll put at the end in a more elaborated form.

Our server is massive, it's just shy of 67gb:



So getting this working is gonna be a pain.



Why are there Devs working on both 1.69 and EE?

So it's easiest to split this in to three categories.

We have devs who are:

-Working on the current game, ensuring we have content to last until EE without stagnating.
-Working on EE, in that we have our new content ready to launch. This is Mav with his classes and our other devs compiling a new HAK for EE.
-Working on EE, transferring the 1.69 server over so we can actually play.

So we're making sure you guys aren't just sat waiting for EE, we're making sure you have new EE content to play and then we're making sure you guys can actually play EE.



ETA...?

One thing I'd like to say is the magnitude of this work is going to pay off. We originally were opting for a complete wipe of Amia and creating it on EE without ANY of the things listed in the databases. The general feeling was we'd rather let it die in 1.69 than kill it prematurely by playing a barebones module, so we've been pushing since this time last year until now. We'll be having a new host who will remain anonymous so we can move from Disco's host, as well as having DMs nearly wrapped up their pre-EE plots, so you can expect a new frontier of when Amia comes to EE.

WHEN being the operative word.

I'd really like you guys who are playing now to please read this next sentence properly.

Please stop, even in a jesting/joking way, asking when EE is going to be released. While we completely understand the hype, it's adding potential burnout on to our team which are doing something that, if we were to employ someone to do, would cost a lot of money. Please just be patient and when we have updates we shall let you know immediately. If you want to help, please live-test the EE test module currently live to help Maverick and the team test new EE content.