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  #1  
Old 02-05-2016, 09:38 PM
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Default Wyvern is coming back!

https://www.reddit.com/r/wyvernrpg/c...his_year_2016/

Update from Rhialto himself - tl.dr. he is now the sole owner of Wyvern and is currently producing a mobile version of Wyvern to support potentially millions of players. Projected early fall - December of this year (2016). Huzzah!
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  #2  
Old 02-05-2016, 09:58 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhialto
Hi folks,

Thank you so much for your patience and loyalty over the past few years. There were many times I thought it might not work out. But I am pleased to announce that I am finally -- as of last week -- the full and sole legal owner of Wyvern!

Last year I took a little time to create a mobile version of the game just to see if it worked at all. It turned out to be fun and addictive, with the potential to be a lot better than the desktop experience (surprisingly). Then I took a year off while we negotiated with the old company stakeholders. Then, once we got ownership, I started work again.

Wyvern is going to be a mobile game -- iPhone and iPad only for the first version this year. Android will come next year. In the following years, we will consider launching versions for consoles and even the PC. But the game needs to be able to pay its own bills, and mobile is the best way to accomplish that at first.

I know it's hard to believe that the experience on mobile is as fun as the desktop. But I've played the game on my phone and iPad for 3 or 4 months, and my wife (character name "Wifey", frost giantess) has been completely addicted to it on her phone for the past 2 weeks. And she doesn't even play games like this normally! She plays day and night and tells me she dreams about it constantly.

So we know it's going to be a big hit. Basically the only thing that gets harder on mobile is communication, which becomes similar to texting. Everything else actually gets easier because you can just point and click, and the right thing magically happens. In fact, we have both noticed that it is actually more fun on the iPhone than on either the iPad or the iPad Mini for some reason, probably because it's easier to hold in your hand.

I have decided that the game will eventually support building your own homes and areas even if you are not a Wizard. I will implement support for this as soon as I can, but I am not sure yet if it will make it in before launch. But Fallout 4 has convinced me that personal world-building is very important. :-) Wyvern has had support for this forever, for Wizards. Now I will make it available to every player. You will start the game in your own house, and customize it with as many maps and features as you like.

The game will of course support in-app purchases. However, I want to assure you that you will ALWAYS be able to play the game as much as you want for free (after you purchase the initial client, price TBD.) This will NOT be a pay-to-play game. There may be pay-to-play aspects someday, for instance separate high-score lists for the paying and non-paying players. But if you want to put in the time and grind, I will never stop you from leveling up or enjoying the entire game just because of money.

I actually learned playing Candy Crush last year that when they got too greedy, I spent less. I would have bought more of their power-ups if they were cheaper. So you will be able to do things like purchase Quest Points if you don't want to do quests, and it will be pretty cheap. But paying will never be a requirement.

There is a tremendous amount of work left to do before I can launch. The work falls into three broad categories.

First, I need to productionize the game for potentially millions of players online at the same time. The game will still support approximately 100-200 players per server (or less for PK arena servers, which use more CPU), so that means lots and lots of servers. I know how to do this, using Cloud Computing, but it is a lot of work, and I am only just getting started.

Second, I need to do a lot of polishing on the iPhone/iPad client. You WILL have to log in using either Facebook, Google+, or Twitter. I might add other login providers in the future, such as Amazon.com or Yahoo!, depending on demand. But this is the best way to verify that you are a real person. There will be a limit on the number of characters you can have, but it will be a high number (maybe 50 or 100 characters per email). The client works, but needs a lot of love and effort before it can go into the App Store.

Third, the game needs a lot of bug fixing, effort for making it more mobile-friendly, and content curation before it's ready for prime-time. I will try to engage the Wizards in alpha-testing and beta-testing phases before we launch, so that they can help clean up their own areas.

There will be some differences from Old Wyvern, because we have learned a lot over the years, and also because when you have a million players online, you just can't do things the same way. Wizards will NOT have any administrative powers. A Wizard is simply a player whose content is high enough quality that we allow them to be featured in the main game server content.

There is basically no such thing as cheating any more. There are things that we prefer that you not do, so the software will try to prevent you. But you will not get in trouble. You might -- after your player warning level gets high enough -- get moved over to a special server group just for jerks, but you'll still be able to play. It will be very rare for anyone to get outright banished, and even then it usually won't be permanent. Instead, we will put incentives in place to reward players who report bugs, exploits, abuses, and other misuses of the game.

You will be able to keep your old character for the new Wyvern, but you will not keep any of your stuff or skills/experience. You'll have to start over at level 1. Everyone who played before will get some special rewards for playing. I have not decided yet what these perks will be, and I am open to suggestions. If you were in the HoF you will get to keep your old HoF image. Wizards from the old days will have special titles and possibly other perks. But the game is getting rebalanced, so we need to start fresh.

The content is all the same as it was in 2011. All the old areas will be familiar to you. I have been making some improvements to the game that you will notice right away; for instance, we now support "tall" objects that you can walk behind but not walk through. This improves both the realism and the navigation in maps. There are many, many other little changes and improvements that you'll discover in the new game. But on the whole, it will be very, very familiar.

I will have more to say about the game as things progress. But for now, just be aware that the game is coming this year -- hopefully in early fall, but it could be as late as December depending on how things go. And we will launch a beta testing program before then if you want to help smooth out the rough edges.

We are using 99designs.com to create logos for the new company (Ghost Track Inc) and for Wyvern itself. We will show you the finalists for the Wyvern logo and let you vote the ones you like.

With that, I'm going to get back to work on the game! I work on it every day now, and I work extra hard on weekends. It's coming along pretty fast now that I'm working on it again.

This is going to be fun!

Rhialto
His words, in case anyone is curious.
  #3  
Old 02-06-2016, 05:29 AM
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This is... disappointing I guess.

I suppose my dim hope had always been just to be able to set up my own little wyvern server and fiddle around with things, much like I've done in the past with Crossfire. I just enjoy modding games more than playing them, and this only increases as I get older.

I'm happy for Rhialto. He's got a plan, which in all honestly is firmly grounded in reality for what his vision now is, and he will likely be perfectly successful. But this direction and everything involved is the antithesis of anything I want to do with.

I now recall that there was mention of this before, but I never suspected it was anything other than a joke. Oh well.
  #4  
Old 02-07-2016, 09:48 AM
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*sigh* Stupid reddit. Some of you can be annoyingly literal when you want to be. Just to clarify, (since apparently I need to clarify everything) I am not at all against the game returning. Things like me cheering for the game never coming back is me teasing you. Meanwhile, my "spiel" about not wanting the game to return so I didn't have to do my organizational work was just me saying that I didn't want to do that work (which is no longer an issue thanks to Bullfrogz).

I feel bad for you guys who want to play again (which I can relate to since I've been in similar situations with games I enjoyed) and so I would, of course, like you to be able to do that because I am not really a heartless Arilou monster. However, the point that I was trying to make was that as it concerns only my own personal self... I don't care. I've retired and moved on so there's nothing for me, personally, to look forward to about the prospect of the game's return since I won't be involved.

Remember, I never played the game and I have never been interested in doing so. My only thing was working on it and I've since redirected my creative interests elsewhere. Why is this so difficult to understand?

Also, just a general fyi; it's not even a matter of choice any longer. I'm deeply engulfed in this other pursuit right now and so I wouldn't be able to return even if I wished to.
  #5  
Old 02-07-2016, 01:07 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arilou View Post
Remember, I never played the game and I have never been interested in doing so. My only thing was working on it and I've since redirected my creative interests elsewhere. Why is this so difficult to understand?
What have your creative interests turned to? Byzantine history? I'm genuinely curious.
  #6  
Old 02-07-2016, 01:28 PM
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Byzantine history actually has inspired my work before. You wouldn't know because I didn't get a chance to release it but I based a major plot point in Wyvern's history on the Battle of Manzikert, and the Morgos hierarchical structure would have been based off of the Byzantine military one. For example, the plan was to have you meet a special Morgos that went by "Morgos Dux" with the latter word signifying it as the leader (or, more specifically, the former leader) of the Morgos corps.

However, no; history is an interest of mine and while it does inspire my creativity, it is not, in and of itself, a creative pursuit. Right now, let's just say that I'm creating fiction at a higher, more substantive level than I was with Wyvern. Unlike with Wyvern, it's not a side, at home project. I've committed to a multi-year "thing," which I literally just started last week and I am very excited about it. I'll maybe get into more details in future but for now I just wanted to emphasize that Wyvern is in my past.
  #7  
Old 02-07-2016, 01:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arilou View Post
Byzantine history actually has inspired my work before. You wouldn't know because I didn't get a chance to release it but I based a major plot point in Wyvern's history on the Battle of Manzikert, and the Morgos hierarchical structure would have been based off of the Byzantine military one. For example, the plan was to have you meet a special Morgos that went by "Morgos Dux" with the latter word signifying it as the leader (or, more specifically, the former leader) of the Morgos corps.

However, no, history is an interest of mine and while it does inspire my creativity, it is not, in and of itself, a creative pursuit. Right now, let's just say I'm creating fiction at a higher, more substantive level than I was with Wyvern. Unlike with Wyvern, it's not a side, at home project. I've committed to a multi-year "thing," which I literally just started last week and I am very excited about it. I'll maybe get into more details in future but for now I just wanted to emphasize that Wyvern is in my past.
Ah. It's unfortunate that we didn't get to see that. It sounds interesting, though I think the link between them and Byzantine history would have been lost on those of us unfamiliar with it. Would have been an interesting note once pointed out though!

As for why you're not going into detail on what you're doing now, I'll just chalk that up to some sort of privacy deal with your current project. I hope in the future you'll drop by the forums and let us know what you're up to.
  #8  
Old 02-08-2016, 12:27 PM
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Am I the only one highly disappointed by platform choice? I understand wanting the game to pay for itself, but iOS only for the first year? That's a little ridiculous, and will give a monstrous advantage to those with iPhones, iPods, etc.
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  #9  
Old 02-08-2016, 02:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nodlove View Post
Am I the only one highly disappointed by platform choice? I understand wanting the game to pay for itself, but iOS only for the first year? That's a little ridiculous, and will give a monstrous advantage to those with iPhones, iPods, etc.
Honestly, I think his strategy is sound. Wyvern has always been meant to be a mobile game. It seems like first starting with iOS takes all of the kinks out of the way and makes a smoother transition to Android.

iPod touches are pretty cheap in general, and older versions of iPhones can be acquired for a low cost. There are also iOS emulators available for those unfortunate enough to not be versed in the Apple community. People in general are resistant to change and are bad at adapting. Availability will not be a huge issue.
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Glacio (Frost Giant Axeman) (level 30)
Then (Human Mage) (level 28)
Shoot (Rakshasa Caveman) (level 26)
Magiz (Halfling Enchanter) (level 26)
Patron (Human Conjurer) (level 25)
Dboss (Halfling Rogue) (level 25)
  #10  
Old 02-10-2016, 09:39 AM
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I don't mind the mobile aspect - it just seems like a strange way to begin to me. While I probably will buy an iPad, iPod, or iPhone, the emulator idea is extremely flawed - most emulators of that nature that I've used are really difficult to work with, slow, and buggy (I used to use BlueStacks Android emulator on my computer and it ate up all of my system resources, and I couldn't find any other good emulator for Android at that time. I know iOS isn't Android, but it's a similar platform, and I would expect just as many difficulties, if not more, due to copyrights and the like).

On the subject of emulators, has anyone linked to an actually functional iOS emulator? I use a Mac, and I can't find anything that seems credible on a few initial cold searches.

The majority of the remaining user-base is probably tech-savvy enough to play it on a phone or other device, so it's not a huge issue, but the assumption that utilizing the iOS first approach will generate more revenue for anyone other than Apple is baffling to me.

Regardless of all this, I am still highly disappointed. :P
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  #11  
Old 02-10-2016, 12:44 PM
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Well, I personally do not support Apple myself, although I do develop for it. It's a HUGE market, and a smart move on R's part. I"m just going to drop this little tid-bit here for you all so you can still enjoy the game from home.

http://www.xpadian.com/

This is a very solid iOS emulator for the Windows PC. I'd be surprised if it wasn't going to be able to run Wyvern on it. See you in the game!
  #12  
Old 02-10-2016, 12:49 PM
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While the apple's market is huge, from what i can gather many of us here are android user. While I myself dislike the iphone and ipod choice just as much since I probably won't be able to get a hold of an ipod or pad anytime soon.
It seems like to me many of us who have been dedicated to the return of the game for these past few years won't have access to it at initial launch. :c
  #13  
Old 02-10-2016, 05:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raiza View Post
While the apple's market is huge, from what i can gather many of us here are android user. While I myself dislike the iphone and ipod choice just as much since I probably won't be able to get a hold of an ipod or pad anytime soon.
It seems like to me many of us who have been dedicated to the return of the game for these past few years won't have access to it at initial launch. :c
Yeah, it seems many returning players wouldn't actually have the means to play the game and I feel like he kind of needs players who already have somewhat of an idea of how the game works for beta testing.
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Old 02-26-2016, 01:20 PM
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I'm a bit disheartened by it being ported over to mobile, but I'm on such a nostalgia trip right now that it doesn't bother me too much. It's just always fun to hear that R hasn't forgotten about Wyvern, and it is very interesting to see him talk so enthusiastically about a future for the game. I feel like there are some inconsistencies going on with some of the things that he's saying, though. For example, if I remember correctly when we were all messaging him trying to get the game back several years ago one of the frequently brought up subjects was how people could help fund server costs through micro-transactions. At the time he was against this because he didn't want to give people a pay-to-win feel from the game. Perhaps he was on a binge with Clash of Clans or Candy Crush and decided that it could be very economic to turn wyvern into a such a game. Regardless, I'm still excited about it because I would pay money to be able to relive some of the memories from so many years ago. I'll be using that iOS emulator that was posted in order to play if it's viable. I'm not entirely sure how playing my mage is going to work anymore considering my entire keyboard was aliased. It's unfortunate because I read where he had to dumb the game down a bit to port it to mobile, and that is one of the things I hate about most video games coming out nowadays. Comparing Skyrim to Morrowind or Vanillla WoW to WoD is just breathtaking. I've never been in favor of simplifying a game's play-ability to be more appealing to casuals. A Steam release would be golden.
  #15  
Old 02-26-2016, 04:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rarkvar View Post
For example, if I remember correctly when we were all messaging him trying to get the game back several years ago one of the frequently brought up subjects was how people could help fund server costs through micro-transactions. At the time he was against this because he didn't want to give people a pay-to-win feel from the game.
Could someone kindly see if they can produce a quote that supports this for me? I know micro-transactions have come up in discussions he had wizards before but I wasn't aware that he brought it up to players. It's actually for something I'm working on and not just for my own curiosity so your assistance would be much appreciated.
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Old 02-26-2016, 05:27 PM
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Okay, but it's gonna cost you!

This is what I found, though I don't believe it is exactly what I was referencing.
"B) I don't really want to have to charge people to play, if I can help it. So in the initial launch of Cloud Wyvern, I may only allow connections from mobile clients: iPhones, Android phones, and maybe iPads. Why? Because it dramatically cuts down on server costs, since people move and chat more slowly."

found here: http://www.wyvernrpg.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3524

Another thing I find interesting is how it seemed like he was talking about releasing it to Android first and iOS later because he'd have to rewrite it in Objective-C.
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Old 02-26-2016, 06:46 PM
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I would pay you in reputation points but saying he doesn't want to charge people to play outright and saying he doesn't want to give people the option to either play for free or pay for bonuses are not one in the same thing.

Obviously, at that time, he wasn't planning to expand Wyvern many fold completely out of pocket.

Quote:
Another thing I find interesting is how it seemed like he was talking about releasing it to Android first and iOS later because he'd have to rewrite it in Objective-C.
Yeah but now he only has Apple devices.
  #18  
Old 03-12-2016, 03:02 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frosten View Post
Honestly, I think his strategy is sound. Wyvern has always been meant to be a mobile game.
Oh, that's right! I never really paid it any mind, but the main site always had information about how Wyvern was compatible with palm pilots and other archaic handheld nonsense.
  #19  
Old 03-13-2016, 07:07 PM
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It coming to mobile is worse news than someone saying it will never come back. Id pay $15 for this on steam any day. But mobile? Well.
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Old 03-13-2016, 08:24 PM
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It coming on mobile is a slow transition into a steam game. R said in a statement he intends to have it on steam in the long run but open on mobile to help support the server costs. It coming out on mobile is a good sign that it isn't completely in the dumpster like many had thought.
 


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