The State of Awakening

[Templar]

Ladies, Gentlemen and Random Humanoid Figures of Awakening!

We know we've been remiss in letting the player base know what's been going on behind the scenes. Not much has been changed with the game play, but things have been going on with the staff and admins of the server. As you are are all aware, even in your own lives, priorities change, time to be able to devote to a project change. People have children, change jobs, go to college, enter the work force and just don't have time to devote to something as they once did. You've seen various staff members leave us and new ones join us.

As you know Cynar has stepped down as Admin of the server. Ed had to retire to focus his interests on his new family, as well he should. We've been offered an amazing opportunity. The staff you know and love are going to be taking over the server. What does this mean for you? Awakening is going to continue to be run as it always has, but we need your help. In a previous post, Cynar mentioned that he and Icognito had been picking up the cost of running the server. As soon as we can arrange it we'll be adding a donation bar to the forums so you can see where we stand every month, but until then, we need your donations and we need them badly. If the bills aren't paid, the lights go out, it's as simple as that. Our monthly nut is pretty darn reasonable, as you will see in the near future. We want to keep things as smooth as we can without having to sacrifice hardware. None of us are independently wealthy and it needs to fall on the community as a whole to keep Awakening a place we can all enjoy. We will post an exact dollar amount needed to keep the lights on in the coming days.

What is going to happen going forwards? We'll be adding the donation bar so you can see where we stand each month. Every couple of months we'll make a state of the server address so you can see where the money is going, what we're using as hardware, we'll have a road map so you know what's being planned for the server. We do plan on developing new content, and overhauling some issues that have needed attention for a while.

We'll be accepting applications for new CSi's and are discussing a plan for a possible implementation of a Player Senate. Nothing will be arbitrary, and changes will be made slowly.

For now please be patient with us as we assume leadership of the server. This isn't going to be an over night thing and we'll need to redevelop our team. It may be a bit before changes start happening, but we have great things planned for you guys. Stay tuned for more updates.

[lassic]

Thank you for the heads up. Let me know if I can help in any way.

[Arzzet]

Templar thanks for the update. If you need anything please let me know. Be more than happy to help with anything I can.

Arzzet

[Suga]

Glad and thankful you guys are picking up the reins. We need you!

You also need us! If I can assist in any way, let me know. I'm usually at least semi-atk.

[Sphinx]

@Templar!! Can I be un "retired" now lol

[skyhunter11]

Player Senate. Sounds interesting. Is this a forum office or in game?

Narrk

[Templar]

The subject was brought up in the last 72 hours so we are in the beginning stages of discussing it. I would think there will be public input at some point once the idea begins to take form.

[Shucioh]

The donations bar and goal status gonna be a great help. I will keep paying a monthly fee (Even if you Dont update my forum title ) I pay for every mmorpg I play, and in this case i think its even more logical to do. The server and his comunity is great, and is a great game and the best pre CU server. Thanks for you hard working guys. Awakening is amazing.

[chriscorn]

Go team! I know we will survive!

[kithsyn]

Thanks for the update and the hard work!! We very much appreciate it.

2 things:
1- We heard months ago that a donation bar would soon be added. What are some of the obstacles preventing this from happening? Are there other options that would communicate the same info? If so, what would those be?

2- How does this impact the timeline for publish 9 and new content?

Thanks again for everything!!

[Lasod]

Player Senate. Sounds interesting. Is this a forum office or in game?

Narrk

The subject was brought up in the last 72 hours so we are in the beginning stages of discussing it. I would think there will be public input at some point once the idea begins to take form.

the SOE version of the player senate was just on the forums and had no standing in game, other than notoriety. there were senators for each profession/skill/specific sub-forum subject and each senator would organize that sub-community's bugs, thoughts, concerns and wants and present them to the development team in an organized fashion - with no promises that anything would be done about the list but it was there if/when the devs had time to work on things

the person that held the role was usually selected from within that sub community that was known to frequent the forums and be regarded as highly knowledgeable within that specific in game subject and while it was known they they were community elected** player volunteers and had no real authority their answers to concerns and questions would have an air of authority to it and give people the sense that they are being heard, these senators would be given some forum cleanup and orginzation controls so they could sticky posts or make "official" FAQs and polls for their specific role

what happens here is totally up to this team, they could do it by profession or just a group of players that are devoted to the life and longevity of Awakening

the system was interesting and had some really good aspects to it, but on occasion the role did go to some peoples heads and created forum drama





**Player had to be in good standing with the csr/mod teams to hold position regardless of vote outcome

Lasod - Former SOE Forum New Player Senator

[Templar]

Thanks for the update and the hard work!! We very much appreciate it.

2 things:
1- We heard months ago that a donation bar would soon be added. What are some of the obstacles preventing this from happening? Are there other options that would communicate the same info? If so, what would those be?

2- How does this impact the timeline for publish 9 and new content?

Thanks again for everything!!

I wasn't privy to past obstacles, so I don't know the answer to that question. As for publish 9 and new content, we are still preceding forward as we have time, but I wouldn't expect the transition to speed things up. We are currently discussing a roadmap for 2018, which you may see in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

[Sundodge]

Will defo start donating regularly. Thanks for your work.

[Sionix]

donation made

[Novro]

I certainly am looking forward to a new future with a more communicative administration team at the helm, it does wonders to keeping a community together and engaged. Keep it up guys, I can’t wait to see what’s next for Awakening! The player senate sounds like it will be very interesting.

[kithsyn]

Thanks for the update and the hard work!! We very much appreciate it.

2 things:
1- We heard months ago that a donation bar would soon be added. What are some of the obstacles preventing this from happening? Are there other options that would communicate the same info? If so, what would those be?

2- How does this impact the timeline for publish 9 and new content?

Thanks again for everything!!

I wasn't privy to past obstacles, so I don't know the answer to that question. As for publish 9 and new content, we are still preceding forward as we have time, but I wouldn't expect the transition to speed things up. We are currently discussing a roadmap for 2018, which you may see in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Makes sense....however, this was not a private conservation but a Public forum post....
by Cynar » Fri Oct 20, 2017 9:38 am
I want to take a minute to thank all of you who donated to keep the server alive and to those who have donated in the past. We will put up a donation meter soon and if people want to see a breakdown of costs, that's fine too. Every single penny of funding goes directly to hardware & software for the server/forums to work.

“Soon” is 3 months and counting...

I love the server and contribute to It, and I think it’s things like these that confuse many.

[L4TCH]

Thanks for the update and the hard work!! We very much appreciate it.

2 things:
1- We heard months ago that a donation bar would soon be added. What are some of the obstacles preventing this from happening? Are there other options that would communicate the same info? If so, what would those be?

2- How does this impact the timeline for publish 9 and new content?

Thanks again for everything!!

I wasn't privy to past obstacles, so I don't know the answer to that question. As for publish 9 and new content, we are still preceding forward as we have time, but I wouldn't expect the transition to speed things up. We are currently discussing a roadmap for 2018, which you may see in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Makes sense....however, this was not a private conservation but a Public forum post....
by Cynar » Fri Oct 20, 2017 9:38 am
I want to take a minute to thank all of you who donated to keep the server alive and to those who have donated in the past. We will put up a donation meter soon and if people want to see a breakdown of costs, that's fine too. Every single penny of funding goes directly to hardware & software for the server/forums to work.

“Soon” is 3 months and counting...

I love the server and contribute to It, and I think it’s things like these that confuse many.

FINALLY! we agree on something

[Templar]

I saw the same forum post you did, but I wasnt told why there was a delay. So if you re looking for answers you may want to discuss it with the guy who made the post. After talking to Incognito, the current issue is the website we use is a pain in the ass to add a donation bar too. We are working on one of two workarounds. Either we will add it to the launcher or we will make a regular post detailing where we are and what we need. Thats the best solution we have at the moment.

On another note, we understand many are frustrated we th the server and staff communication up until this point. It is unproductive to hash those issues out as we are moving forward. If You are fed up and are moving on, we understand and we wish you well. We cannot change what has happened, all we can do is put our best foot forward from here. We are making a concerted effort to be more open and transparent. Hopefully thats worth some good faith.

[kithsyn]

Thanks so much for exploring the obstacles - sounds like it's a website problem.

Sometimes part of working together now and in the future is trying to repair what has been done. And that is definitely worth a good faith effort on our part. Again, Thank you for your intentional and thorough reply to my post and everything you're doing to be more transparent. It's a welcomed addition.

Also, the player senate sounds very interesting and I am looking forward to the new content from publish 9.