I don't know how many more times Graal can shoot itself in the foot without killing itself.  

Posted by ethacon

all Unixmad cares about is gaining money from people buying servers

For the sake of argument let's suppose that this is true. There are a number of things that could be done to increase the number of sales, improve the experience of customers and prolong server rentals beyond the initial purchase.

The main issue which springs to mind other than the abandoned state of the game itself, is that information on the PlayerWorlds rental service is spread largely by word of mouth. The only information about the service provided by the website is how much it costs, and how long it lasts. It does not provide any information as to what the service entails, how it works, what options the customer might have or where they can obtain support or discuss their project. The information contained on the Wiki here should really be on the Graal website. Then there is the issue concerning advertisement and even lack of acknowledgement that the server rental service exists throughout mobile Graal.

Then there are a whole host of issues which concern after the initial sale has been made. In terms of basic support, there are currently no active PWA staff or designated support addresses for those who have purchased a server. Anybody who does not have their problem resolved (which I have seen happen even when Carlito was active) is not going to extend their server subscription. In terms of customer resources, there are of course many scripts/systems published by the community on the forums/Wiki, but these are largely fragmented and require a user to go in search of a specific solution; ideally there would be some form of organised list of recommended resources. I also believe it would be beneficial if official servers published some of their re-usable resources, which is something I'd be willing to do with GtA if the server was endorsed & promoted.

Posted by ethacon

they end up underestimating the amount of time they have to develop the server and the server ends up shut down and dead, and forgotten

One of the things which made Graal great to begin with was that just about anybody could get some form of content online and be able to easily show it to or play it with their friends, and it didn't matter whether it was a good quality or whether it was unique compared to other players work, the novelty was that it was "theirs". With the game being killed off and the global playercount becoming a fraction of what it once was, this is a novelty which has become almost impossible to reproduce.

Of course as a newbie developer we all like to believe we're creating "the next best server", and while this never comes to fruition, it is a learning experience which given refinement over time can lead to bigger and better things. I don't believe Graal is in anywhere near a good enough state to discuss it as a serious game development platform for those few who possess good coding ability from outside of Graal, and I say this as someone who codes for a living.  

You have to put money in to get money back. Unix does not like to spend as much as he likes to take. As we all know - PC side is complete and utter shambles. How hard would it be for him to, at the very LEAST, update the website? :thumbsdown:  

graal drove me to drink  

I'd personally would like a new app made for mobile players like android and iOS. This app would be a graphics app for those who like to design heads and bodies for Graal. It would be able to make it a lot easier and give more people the ability to try that aspect of graal out. Personally I want it because it would help make designing and uploading easier for me.  

Posted by Renzo

I'd personally would like a new app made for mobile players like android and iOS. This app would be a graphics app for those who like to design heads and bodies for Graal. It would be able to make it a lot easier and give more people the ability to try that aspect of graal out. Personally I want it because it would help make designing and uploading easier for me.

To be honest I’m suprised hape hasn’t gone for something like that already like graal gfx/level app even if published on ipad for size would be cool, I’ve seen a few ios level editors and got to use one - That was amazing for the ipad I actually preferred it(Ik alot of old pc players probably prefer other) but it gives more options for develops to work on the go etc and that can only bring more good than bad. sneaky bump but c’mon thread title relevant to getting anything done.  

k...  

Posted by G Fatal

k...

lol

Posted by G Fatal

To be honest I’m suprised hape hasn’t gone for something like that already like graal gfx/level app even if published on ipad for size would be cool, I’ve seen a few ios level editors and got to use one - That was amazing for the ipad I actually preferred it(Ik alot of old pc players probably prefer other) but it gives more options for develops to work on the go etc and that can only bring more good than bad. sneaky bump but c’mon thread title relevant to getting anything done.

even a graal gfx program on pc would be great since most free graphic design programs aren't as good and the good ones cost money. Also it's hard to find one that can actually do pixel art and not just drawing.  

HAPE WHERE YOU AT?  

I hate to keep repeating this, but people are supposed to believe some mysterious new client is going to magically save the game while there is a completely silent and invisible Graal administration, and the current client is being treated as if it doesn't exist?  

Posted by ethacon

lol



even a graal gfx program on pc would be great since most free graphic design programs aren't as good and the good ones cost money. Also it's hard to find one that can actually do pixel art and not just drawing.

You clearly never did actual research before making this statement.
There's a widely used tool by pixel artists called paint.NET (From http://getpaint.net) and it's one of the best tools out there even though it's free  

Posted by Thor

I hate to keep repeating this, but people are supposed to believe some mysterious new client is going to magically save the game while there is a completely silent and invisible Graal administration, and the current client is being treated as if it doesn't exist?

I don’t think it’ll save the game as such but it is a better step in the right direction to make client more user friendly and better in most departments(better editing tools etc) then make the game go forward by merging more into the newer stuff/devices else GraalClient will just be dead anyway unless the servers etc are merged onto Ios/Steam or something else otherwise it’ll never actually draw people in it will have the same community that will eventually dwindle down and become less and less.

I’m not sure if Graal Administration have ever not kept silent over things? I mean they tell you it’s coming but that’s simply it, it’s all a waiting game unfortunately I doubt they have a time limit on when they want to be done.
A point worth mentioning is that Alpho claimed he’d done all that he was assigned to do for graal, that begs the question when will we actually see any of this(Client/3d/worlds/editingios app) I feel they more playing a waiting game on other stuff, not that it would actually affect anything but probably want to re-draw players back into graal after a certain release than just releasing anyway as they’d still most likely stay around simply because of the community.  

Posted by Agonee

GraalOnline Classic with a NGS add on

How about bring back every old content, such as 1k hats or 5k hats or whatever

Posted by Ducati

I don't know how many more times Graal can shoot itself in the foot without killing itself.

U gotta shoot the central processing unit to kill it man. I doubt that's located in the foot :/  

Posted by G Fatal

I don’t think it’ll save the game as such but it is a better step in the right direction to make client more user friendly and better in most departments(better editing tools etc) then make the game go forward by merging more into the newer stuff/devices else GraalClient will just be dead anyway unless the servers etc are merged onto Ios/Steam or something else otherwise it’ll never actually draw people in it will have the same community that will eventually dwindle down and become less and less.

I haven't seen any indication that the new client is intended to benefit PC Graal. In fact the leaked screenshots I have seen only show mobile servers + Delteria (not so surprising given that the disgraced Carlito is hiding away on the DarkLink account and still in communication with Stephane).

Posted by G Fatal

I’m not sure if Graal Administration have ever not kept silent over things?

They've never been known for transparency, but it is only since the birth of mobile Graal that they have been completely silent on the status of PC Graal. There hasn't been any indication that they plan on supporting PC Graal since the release of V5 nearly 10 years ago. The continued silence suggests more that they have something to hide rather than something to reveal, such as the plug being pulled. Otherwise why is it so difficult for Stephane to say something on the lines of "I don't plan on removing the current PC Graal servers. I plan to support them going forward.".  

Posted by Thor

They've never been known for transparency, but it is only since the birth of mobile Graal that they have been completely silent on the status of PC Graal. There hasn't been any indication that they plan on supporting PC Graal since the release of V5 nearly 10 years ago. The continued silence suggests more that they have something to hide rather than something to reveal, such as the plug being pulled. Otherwise why is it so difficult for Stephane to say something on the lines of "I don't plan on removing the current PC Graal servers. I plan to support them going forward.".

I guess he wants it to die slowly, once no one feels like developing on the servers, he'll kill them. Literally every kind of support has been dropped, every graalonline email regarding PW is deleted and toonslab now only offers iOS help.

I can understand him though, he doesn't make money with PW at all to be honest.