Well, That Happened.
Posted by
Kit (#7244) on Jan 30, 2018
Hey, Guys.
Welcome back!
We are all set and honestly, I'm feeling good about this because, for once, everything worked exactly as it was supposed to - except that weekends exist and Alan doesn't work on them. For the first time in a long time I'm confident in the chain of communication and management of our staff and their ability to be definitive and get things handled quickly, simply and with authority.
The staff definitely deserves a lot of credit for doing exactly what I'd expect them to do in an emergency.
Now, lemme tell you guys what's going on.
First thing's first. Alacrity is NOT shutting down. Not even a little bit, not even kind of. We've gotten confirmation that the site has a future and we're stoked to be a part of it.
That said, it's gonna be an uncomfortable couple months.
I will be devoting about 30 hours a week to getting Ala back on its feet. I'll be doing this free of charge in addition to having 2 actual jobs, so mostly this is gonna hurt me a lot more than it hurts you. This will be a labor of love for this community, born entirely out of a desire to make right the things that have gone wrong for this site through no fault of any of its members.
I'm gonna be honest with you guys - I was never supposed to be the primary coder on this website. I didn't have the skills or the education for it. I was put on staff in 2009 specifically to work on the community side of things. I was a mod who was good at solving problems and I learned enough PHP to solve day-to-day problems you might have. I was only just getting used to riding with training wheels when someone put me on a motorcycle. That said, since it has become apparent that that's going to be my role now, on top of running the site's non-technical aspects, games and staff, I'm stepping it up. I'm getting the knowledge I need to be able to run this game, and Ehm will be my equally skilled, wonderful partner. I'm excited about the stuff Ehm's gonna throw to you guys once we get our feet under us, which I actually feel is finally happening.
I'm not buying Ala, yet. I'd love to. I think it's in our future, honestly. It's not the game I want to make, but it has a solid community and I'd like to grow it and keep it going, and I think, when we do get to a place where I'm making my own game, you guys will like to visit it, even if Ala remains your primary home. When I do buy it, I'm going to pay a coder just dripping with qualifications so we never have to deal with having someone like me working on major code. :P
So, what's on the agenda?
First, we need to fix the dog image bug. I'm working with Alan on that. It really is step zero. Bug fixing is going to have to be a priority right now, as uninteresting as it is for us to not get any new features immediately.
After that, I'd like to implement my new trial script and bank interest feature.
The Trial Script Will increase the range of possible outcomes of a trial (both positively and negatively) and make it more dynamic. This script will not be a permanent fixture, as eventually the trial system will have to be entirely rebuilt to make it more fun and accessible, but I think it's a good stopgap measure and will take us to a more enjoyable place.
The bank interest issue has been less ironed out, but, basically, we need something for the multi-millionaires of Ala to do with their money, so that the site continues to be interesting for everyone. What, after all, is the point of striving for progress if the top is meaningless? Right now I'm not sure what form this will take, but it will probably involve a high cap on the amount of interest you can collect weekly, but also give you a feature like a stock market or some sort of dog agility investment system. Again, these are just ideas, but I really want people to not get to a point where they have so much money there's no sport in the game anymore.
How Can We Help?
I want to hear your suggestions - especially about the interest features I just mentioned. I spend a lot of time thinking about the ins and outs of site improvements and carefully weigh their benefits, but I'm only one person with only one brain, so my ideas shouldn't be the only ones we go with. When you submit your suggestions to the forum, I'd like to see you've considered the following:
How will this increase the enjoy-ability of this game?
Will it make the game more interesting? Will it make it harder to the point it's not fun anymore? Will it make it easier to the point it's not fun anymore?
Who would be the most negatively affected by this? Would I be okay with this if it was me?
Will this help Alacrity gain users? Will it make the site more profitable? Does it make the site more profitable at the expense of something else?
That's pretty much all I have for you right now. I'm trying to make sure we don't put too much on our plates so that things get completely solved before we move to the next thing.
I hope this finds you all well and I'm sorry, again, for the outage.
Thank you for your time and continued support. You guys are awesome.
~Kit
Posted on 02-10-2018 at 6:22 AM
I confess I was very genuinely upset when Alacrity disappeared off the face of the internet without warning, because I was heartbroken that - of all the virtual pet or animal type sims out there - one with such amazing artwork, such a wonderful and generous community, and most of all, so much potential, end up as just one more good idea that was inevitably given up on.
Over the past twenty long years I've sought out these kinds of online games, I've seen a lot of sites like this come and go (or go belly up, rather) and many just stagger along in limbo like a ghost town barely scraping by - but few (arguably none) that could hold a candle to the kind of quality that has been invested in this one.
In short, this news post was a real breath of fresh air for me (and probably a lot of my fellow quiet, introverted hermit type players like myself who are often present but tend to lurk about and observe much more than we socialize) and the invitation to offer some suggestions, or even just some input, on how to potentially improve the playability of the game is really nice to see.
As awesome as it would be to see the Trials system expanded on or otherwise remodeled - and I'd greatly look forward to it because I've never been able to hold the slightest interest in them and there doesn't seem to be much else to offer for anyone who doesn't - whether to earn funds or even just provide an alternate source of entertainment to use our virtual dogs for.
I realize it may not be a plausible option, but the agility courses seen in video games like "Nintendogs" would sure make for an awesome way to renovate the system (or just provide a second, more lively variety of it) but I'm not sure how it would be pulled off as anything other than a flash game, unless perhaps it was designed similar to how Flight Rising's "Coliseum" operates.
I know the site focuses primarily on agility based gameplay, but I feel it would also be a welcome change to offer other activities to engage in with our dogs -- such as an exploring feature like walks or hikes or virtual dog parks to find items or interact with NPCs as events in order to gain stats or other, perhaps something like a new take on Wajas' "Mining Cave" feature or even options for hunting, retrieving, herding, obedience or other such side-games to engage in, invest in and benefit from.
In terms of more general improvements, the current function for feeding, grooming and otherwise caring for our dogs out of our inventories is kind of a frustratingly grueling process and it would be wonderful to see it get a face lift (so to speak) that makes it not only simpler, but maybe even fun, rather than a downright miserable chore.
I know these are just a few basic concepts, but hopefully at the very least I've provided some food for thought if nothing else.
No matter what new direction the site is taken in, I'm thrilled it's not closing down and I definitely look forward to seeing it finally blossom! It deserves to grow and flourish and I would love to help in whatever small way I can, even if it's just by spreading the word and promoting it to other people.
: )