Vendetta Online 1.8.426

VO 1.8.426 includes:- New test-content in sector Latos F-12, featuring dynamic ship debris and a damaged Constellation "hulk". The new dynamic debris can be pushed around and impacted by explosions, and will physically interact with objects in the sector. The new "hulk" objects are intended to be used for upcoming dynamic gameplay of discovery, rescue, salvage and other situations.- Fixed buffer overrun that could cause crashes at exit on some platforms, mainly Windows.VO 1.8.426.1 also includes:- Fixed a problem with Mac game launchers (if the launcher locks up, you may need to reinstall).- Fixed a crash related to joysticks on recent Windows 10 installs.The most interesting thing here is likely the new "damaged spaceship hulk" in Latos F-12 and the physically-modeled interactive debris field floating around it. The debris can be pushed off into space, so if you fly in when others are around, that may account for a reduction in visible debris. We're looking at adding a lot of different cases for this type of content, along with old "hulks" and "battle debris" that can be flown through and interacted with, which will play a major part in future missions and other content. Check it out!

Policy Clarification: Vote Muting.

In view of some recent issues, it seems a clarification in policy is needed.The purpose of the "/vote mute" function is to allow the player base to exercise some immediate action against individuals who are spamming the channel, making egregious racist remarks, and similar extreme behaviour that is "VERY obviously over the line".The purpose is NOT for groups of players to use mute-voting and guild organization as a secondary weapon to publicly silence people they happen to dislike. Individuals who engage in that may face much longer-term mutes themselves, along with losing their voting ability.The first response to avoiding chat you dislike should be the "/ignore" command. If an individual is being particularly abusive, but not deserving of a "/vote mute", then you should be opening a support ticket.Because of the combative nature of the game, we do not historically take action on mild trash-talking, nor should this be a use-case for a vote-mute. That's a case for /ignore.We are aware that 100 has been getting out of hand for some time, and we are working on solutions to help mitigate and improve that in the future.- Guild Software, Inc.

Vendetta Online 1.8.421-425

VO 1.8.421-425 included- When chatting while warping out, the virtual keyboard no longer disappears.- Increased accelerometer deadzone for mobile devices.- Advanced Options menu buttons now support the Touch-Hover feature like the main Options menu.- 'Enter Game' menu buttons now support the Touch-Hover feature.- Moved General tab's touch settings into a 'Touch' tab in the Controls menu.- Tabs are now larger in the Controls menu.- Tilt Sensitivity slider is larger in the Tilt tab in the Controls menu.- Fixed green texture on station docking bays on iOS.- Hide the 'Don't show this again' check for the Swipe to change menus message when entering station/PDA for 3 times.- Removed the 4:3 HUD option for mobile devices.- If a mission becomes unavailable just as you attempt to take it, it no longer says "error".- Renamed Input tab name to General in the Controls menu.- Renamed Accelerometer tab name to Tilt in the Controls menu.- Renamed Sensitivity to Tilt Sensitivity in Tilt tab of the Controls menu.- Removed Mouse tab in the Controls menu on iOS and Android.- Removed Keyboard tab in the Controls menu on iOS.- Fixed Samsung GearVR remote controller issues.- Optimized multi-threaded rendering.- Added basic Oculus Rift Touch controller support.- Fixed tutorial text for GearVR.- Increased the quality of dynamic shadows being cast onto the cockpit for Rift and Simulated VR mode on PC.- Adjusted the positions of HUD displays when using the Alternate 1 cockpit in VR.Many small changes in tonight's update, along with a few added to this post from other recent updates. iPhone users on our TestFlight group will also receive an updated version, as we continue our march towards iPhone release.As always, please let us know if you run into any issues (via the Bugs forum, filing a Support Ticket, or using the TestFlight Feedback feature).If all goes well, we may be able to start experimenting with some new graphical content next week. Fingers crossed!

An Indie MMO’s perspective on Network Neutrality

I generally avoid posting about any political issues, as I see my role as creating an environment for the entertainment and escape of our players.However, today 80,000 different online sites and services are speaking out against the United States FCC's plans to eliminate Network Neutrality, and this issue directly bears on our ability to operate this game.If Network Neutrality is removed, it will be harder for small companies like us to stay in business, delivering innovative new online games and services.Basically, it places network providers in the position of "negotiating" which players can connect to what games or sites, and at what speeds or ping-times. You might buy "50mbit" service, but actually have a much slower and intentionally rate-limited connection to our game, and many others.An example of this is when Time Warner Cable ("Spectrum") clamped down on League of Legends player-bandwidth during negotiations with Riot Games.As a small indie that doesn't have the revenue of Riot, we cannot afford to pay every ISP for "special treatment". Frankly, it's enough of a burden for us just to host our game. Everything beyond our servers is supposed to be a flatly-billed "Internet". I can specifically speak to this, as a former engineer who helped create a sizable national Internet network (AS3857, AS4323) that's now a part of "Level 3 Communications". On the end-user side, just look at when AT&T blocked Facetime on iPhones in 2012, demanding that users upgrade to a more expensive service package (even blocking their "unlimited data" subscribers).There may well come a time when you go to connect to our game, or many others, and get a pop-up from your provider requiring you to buy a costly new "Gamer Internet" service package.The argument from the large cable and telecom providers is that repealing Net Neutrality will allow them to better "re-invest" in their infrastructure. But big shops like AT&T have a pretty spotty history of actually improving infrastructure the way they claim (especially with limited competition), while also killing municipal broadband in rural areas (even when they don't serve those areas), and gleefully fighting to collect and sell your personal internet usage information.Fundamentally, it's unlikely any of these big providers will substantially "re-invest" in their network infrastructure while their profit margins are incredibly high, they lack serious competitive threats, and they don't see a clear value for their high-cost investment. Why bother giving you gigabit internet for $60/month when they can charge you the same price for a dozen megabits, without having to change their network? There's no reason for them to start spending their profits, with or without Network Neutrality. They'll continue to make "show" upgrades in a few locations, and announce them loudly, but mostly the infrastructure stays the same.T