A discussion about the news from v1042.
=== Update ===
As noted in the What’s New [http://www.deltatao.com/clanlord/news/new.html], Clan Lord has been around for almost exactly 20 years now. It’s been a fantastic run, but it is time to admit that lately we’ve been playing on borrowed time. We don't believe the game can or should continue to limp along in its current form for very much longer, so our inclination is to terminate it as gracefully as we can, sometime in the next few months.
But we recognize that you, the players, have invested just as much time and care into the game as we have, and we think you should have a chance to offer your thoughts and opinions on our future options.
However, we need to be clear that there are limits on what will be possible. Some of you will suggest that we publicly release the game’s code and other assets, in hopes that new volunteers will come forward to maintain and enhance them. But that requires permission from Delta Tao, the company -- which in practice means, from Joe -- rather than from us, the volunteer GMs. Unfortunately, it’s not obvious how quickly, or how completely, such permissions will be forthcoming. Some assets (e.g., the Windows client) may not even be in Delta Tao’s gift.
Others may suggest that we just keep it running as-is forever, and would the last person to leave please turn out the lights. But please remember that there’s a non-zero cost to keeping it alive, for server hosting if nothing else. And without a functioning Account Portal, it’s very difficult to bring new players aboard. So the player population will only accelerate its present decline. We would prefer to just pull the plug rather than suffer that sad fate.
Still, there may be brilliant solutions out there that we haven’t thought of, but which we hope you will. We’re all ears!
=== Update ===
As noted in the What’s New [http://www.deltatao.com/clanlord/news/new.html], Clan Lord has been around for almost exactly 20 years now. It’s been a fantastic run, but it is time to admit that lately we’ve been playing on borrowed time. We don't believe the game can or should continue to limp along in its current form for very much longer, so our inclination is to terminate it as gracefully as we can, sometime in the next few months.
But we recognize that you, the players, have invested just as much time and care into the game as we have, and we think you should have a chance to offer your thoughts and opinions on our future options.
However, we need to be clear that there are limits on what will be possible. Some of you will suggest that we publicly release the game’s code and other assets, in hopes that new volunteers will come forward to maintain and enhance them. But that requires permission from Delta Tao, the company -- which in practice means, from Joe -- rather than from us, the volunteer GMs. Unfortunately, it’s not obvious how quickly, or how completely, such permissions will be forthcoming. Some assets (e.g., the Windows client) may not even be in Delta Tao’s gift.
Others may suggest that we just keep it running as-is forever, and would the last person to leave please turn out the lights. But please remember that there’s a non-zero cost to keeping it alive, for server hosting if nothing else. And without a functioning Account Portal, it’s very difficult to bring new players aboard. So the player population will only accelerate its present decline. We would prefer to just pull the plug rather than suffer that sad fate.
Still, there may be brilliant solutions out there that we haven’t thought of, but which we hope you will. We’re all ears!
