Why the change to startup age

[calroger]

I know there were copyright issues with some of the startup code and screen displays and that this supposedly affected all shards. Now, why is it that the only shard where I see changes is TOC-Moul. Gehn, Moula, and TPOTS don't appear to have any changes. I'm not sure about Minkata. I went there once and didn't like what I saw so never went back.

I think TOC-Moul is a better place, now, especially with so few people actively working on it. It still has problems and probably always will but it is still my favorite place to visit.

[Ehren]

Gehn, Moula, and TPOTS don't appear to have any changes. I'm not sure about Minkata. I went there once and didn't like what I saw so never went back.

That's funny, I found the Minkata shard is the best MOSS shard in terms of overall how well it works. What didn't you like?

[Nicole]

I like the Minkata Shard also.
Very stable.
Spend some more time there, and you may see that it is great to visit.
It doesn't have all the magic that Open Cave has, but it is fine to me.

[Annabelle]

Each shard is unique and serve a purpose of its own...

Deep Island, UAM and TOC TPoTS are URU:CC-based shards for deep exploration as they hold most or every available fan ages. You go there mainly for exploration. You have the "offline-KI" functionalities to cheat. You don't have access to admin commands.

MinkataTesting Shard bears in its name its main purpose: testing. It's the last step before MOULa shard's update. You go there mainly to test the next functionalities that will be pushed eventually in MOULa. You cannot cheat there because you cannot anyway on the main server.

Gehn Shard has a more ambiguous purpose. You cannot cheat there. There are some additional ages over MOULa. You are missing the ability to do marker games. The shard's admins are working on improving the whole gaming experience and they can leak their finds to TOC MOUL & Minkata Testing Shard. You can see it as another testing shard in a way.

TOC MOUL doesn't advertise as a "testing" shard. You have more cheating abilities than any other MOUL-based shard since...that's the only one offering you that. The updates tend to follow Gehn's updates so in a way TOC MOUL looks like Gehn. There is COD in here which is unique (on TOC TPoTS too). You can make marker games except they are not readable, preferably do them for yourselves. TOC MOUL would be more like an exploration shard. You can explore more in here with simple KI commands.

Knowing the purpose of each shard helps. If you are not a tester, preferably stick to the exploration shard mainly. More testing, more bugs. More exploration, more stable. TOC MOUL upgrades to Gehn's standards with a time gap so it doesn't take the "issue" updates from Gehn.

[calroger]

Annabelle, thanks for the info. However, that doesn't explain why the "emergency" updates to fix the copyright problem apparently only took place on TOC-Moul when the problem supposedly affected all shards.

[Annabelle]

Oh I see what you are trying to understand.

The new startup age is more an added "fan made" thing (Christopher played a role in this startup age) than anything else. The copyright issue is something else. I don't think TOC team moved from the original startup age to this new startup age thinking about the copyright issue. They just changed it because it something that has been developped and has to be tested somewhere. Minkata & Gehn don't seem too crazy about testing it.

You can test it actually. If you create a dummy avatar and delete it right after you will see "how hard" it is. It was made after some discussions on GoW's forum around the fact that many explorers deleted their avatars (or have them deleted by let say their young children) by a simple click of the mouse. If you do try to quit the game on any other shard and don't pay too much attention, you can easily delete your avatar instead.

I think it's great that TOC MOUL changed it to make a move toward uniqueness. The less the shards will look alike, the more interesting the whole shard scene will be. Why going to shard A if shard B is exactly the same?

[Scarchu]

I was with the impression, that TOC team done that cause the copyright problem with the bink player, by RAD game tools...
As you can see, now there is no video, only static picture.

[Mystler]

Correct.

[Annabelle]

ahh ok...

I still think it's a great iniative to have put the startup age made by fans rather than the old one created by Cyan which is really dangerous.