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Myth online gaming Deathwatch?

Late July and early August raised the hopes of many in the Myth community as progress was reported on the long silent but (promised to be) new and improved Playmyth.net website/server. Since progress is a good thing, many have been optimistic and looking forwards to the new Playmyth site.

BUT, at this point (9/11) the site has been down since at least early April, and the last status update was on August 1, and it's hopeful language indicating the site should be back up in 24-28 hours was written over a month and a half ago!

I am a big supporter of anyone who creates and/or maintains sites, maps, plugins, tournaments and other resources for the myth gaming community - and the PlayMyth gameserver and website has been a vital part of the myth community for several years. Blades and other playmyth admin(s) past or present deserve a lot of thanks and appreciation for all the work they've done over the years keeping the server up and running, hosting file downloads when the Mill died, providing valuable services for the community like forums, news, etc.

But - the longer that time goes by with no new site in view, I am realizing more and more that it's time for myself (and others) to acknowledge that PlayMyth as we all knew it (a combined game server and bustling community site) is a thing of the past. PM�s creator has admitted more than once in the past that he is disillusioned with the community who use the server and who (in the past) frequented the website, and that his current real world life is such that he has very little time for non-essential activities like coding/supporting a website. The original PlayMyth server and site were built and maintained by a team of people all very committed to Myth. It's time to admit that the site is unlikely to ever be restored to what it was by any one, no matter how well intentioned or talented the person happens to be, especially by someone who has little time or interest in the game or the community.

So...what to do? Start playing Myth on mariusnet TODAY! (http://mariusnet.com). Its stable, free, fast, easy to register (or you can play anonymously if you are too lazy to register) and the person maintaining it has said he is committed to keeping the server up and running for several years to come.

Don't wait till all the new players and long inactive players get discouraged from not being able to find anyone to play Myth online with because they can't log onto PlayMyth and leave for good, help the community grow (or at least stop shrinking so fast) by playing on mariusnet, and spread the word!

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[note: This is trying to acknowledge reality as it is, it is not in any way a slam or criticism directed at the current PM admin. imo no one has any valid grounds on which to criticize someone choosing to focus on his/her real life over that of a computer game, and I have no doubt if I had to listen to the amount of bitching and complaining that he received over the years for the FREE service he provided I'd be more than a little put off by the community too. But regardless of the reasons behind the site and new user registration being down, the fact remains that the site and new user registration ARE down, and the longer they are down the less good it it is for the future of the community to focus on playmyth as the game server of choice.]

very well said, but your apostrophes are borked and I felt that really detracted from the overall message.

Edit (iron): s'ok, I de-b0rked them

Yeah, let's do what we can to keep the community we have. New people are arriving through Mariusnet, let us go welcome them. The pmnet iceberg is melting fast and cannot grow.

Unless vr edited it, I don't see any borked apostrophes.

I could go to Mariusnet, but i would get fckowned in a nanosecond.

That was the reason i left Myth 2 several years ago.

So i made an account, it takes a few DAYS to get processed? WTF? D:

I've not played much Myth since about July. When I get playing again though, my plan's to try for MariusNet. The fact that my best real life friend (Trev) was my best friend on Myth too, and now we hate each other, means I'm kinda blue about Myth right now.

Thedutchjelle wrote:I could go to Mariusnet, but i would get fckowned in a nanosecond.

That was the reason i left Myth 2 several years ago.

So i made an account, it takes a few DAYS to get processed? WTF? D:

I think you might be remembering days gone past. ppe changed the mariusnet registration process so that when you register it automatically generates a password and sends it to you. then when you login you can change it.

From the front page at hrttp://mariusnet.com

"PrplPplEater (August 23rd, 2007)

In short, you can toss out your Registration Codes, we don't use them any longer and the server won't accept them any longer.

In its place are a couple of nifty new web interfaces for password changing and password retrieval. All new accounts are now created with a randomly generated initial password and it is emailed to you instead of the old Registration Code method. This means that you can get logged in the moment you receive your email without having to jump through the old Reg. Code in the Team Name trick.

All password changes take place instantaneously and if you have forgotten your password, all you need is your username and the same email address you registered the account with."

Im uh, not sure what fckowned means, but if you mean you'll get your ass kicked, you will find that mnet is much friendlier to new players these days. Much more so than playmyth has been for a long long time. You really should give it another shot, lots of good, laid back, just for fun sort of games.

Mnet truly is where the future of myth needs to be. But it seems not everyone sees it that way...we need some sort of "motivator" to get the apathetic sorts to want to be on mnet. Some ideas:

1) Continue having "nights" on mnet, IX night, Frumius r00ls night, and that sort of thing. This helps "raise awareness" and helps to keep mnet from being barren.

2) Encourage individuals to check mnet first, or to play on mnet when they are "able". This helps to build a standing player base, which is really all it needs to get going

3) If you are hosting, and there is a Demo player, play a few rounds of gimble. I know you can't play gimble every game, but do it a few times, just to show them how awesome the game is, and and that they need to go and buy it on ebay

4) When possible, encourage competitive ranked play. Some people seem to think Mnet is a lawless land of coop magic. Well yeah maybe sometimes, but lets try and make the ranked appealing to some of the old PMnet crowd when we can! Of course don't do it at the cost of excluding guests or demos. It's one of those balance things.

VIVA MNET!!

-DA

(http://tain.totalcodex.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3438 for what doobie was saying)

I have read that letter sometime ago at mything.org, and I agree 100% with it. Also, new players shouldn't get discouraged, most players aren't godly at the game at all.

Avatara wrote:I have read that letter sometime ago at mything.org, and I agree 100% with it. Also, new players shouldn't get discouraged, most players aren't godly at the game at all.

yeah i cross-posted it a couple of places hoping to get a player or two to consider that mariusnet is a reasonable alternative to the shrinking user pool on playmyth. most people who feel strongly one way or the other ("Mariusnet? Isn't that full of communists and co-op hippies?" vs. "PlayMyth? Isn't that full of WWII rank players?") aren't openminded, but maybe some non-declared players might see the light of reason or at least think about making the switch.

To make a critical mass switch, we need to organize an effort.

We know that people play where there are games. So, we should all come online on mnet on a specific night that we organize (as many of us as there are), and start playing actively on mnet. Then, we should send 2-3 people to pmnet to advertise and tell people to switch to mnet, saying that there's right now XX players playing on mnet, and that pmnet should be abandoned.

I remember, when people were skeptical of a new update of Myth II, and the majority were playing the old version, it took a similar effort to get people to switch. (Back when versions were not compatible with each other.)

In addition to all of this, there is something that I've been holding off on letting out because I didn't want to sweat deadlines, but perhaps it is more useful at this point to let it be known. For a while I talked of doing it, but now it is becoming a reality.

For the last several weeks (and then some) I have been working on a new Mariusnet website. I am basically merging Mariusnet & MythForums into a single site. The MythForums user accounts are being discarded in favor of the Mariusnet metaserver accounts. All existing forum posts at MythForums are being discarded as well.

I was going to hold off launching it until I had everything fully ported from MythForums to the new site, but as time wears on it is becoming increasingly evident that I need to get it 'Live' and then port things as I'm able to (Plugins Center, Film Uploads, Ranking & Stats, etc..).

Right now, I'm shooting for a "Live" date of no later than Sept 23rd, but I'm still holding out hope for getting it done sooner (life's a bitch and she gets in the way a lot).
When it launches, it will have full user support, you will be able to log into the site under your existing Mariusnet username & password, if you change you web password, it will change your metaserver password, etc.. Creating a new web account creates a new server account. At launch it will have full clan support for TFL, Myth II & Myth III. Also, as MythForums has always had, it will provide private forums for each clan. I'm also looking into the viability/necessity of Clans for Marthon/Aleph One.

In the coming weeks after launch, I will port the MythForums Plugin Center, Rankings/Stats and Film Uploads. As those things (and others) are ported from MythForums, the mirrored functionality at MythForums will be killed off. Until that time though, all existing functionality that is currently at MythForums will continue to be there. Once all functionality is ported, MythForums.com will be killed off and it will become merely a redirect to the all-new Mariusnet v2.

Hopefully, a new and viable community site will help keep things together and give folks a place to call Home.

Sounds really great PPE

Sure does, thanks!

Great news PPE : )

Will new site be equiped in all cool stuff that MythForums have now - like linked m.net gamertags, order logos etc ?

Yes, but even simpler.

There will be no need to "link" your game login to your web login like you had to on MythForums as they will all be the same thing. You will log into the web site with your Mariusnet game login & password. One username & Password will do it all.

Order Logos and all that other stuff is already in the process of being ported over (in fact, all existing Orders have already been ported).