Sakray Server: Now Open for Beta Testing

First off, thank you to everyone for your patience while we got things up and running. As you can imagine, things can take a little time when you've only got a part-time staff to handle the mountain of work required to put up our server. Anyways, here's some information you need:

Preparing your client:

Please see the second post in this topic. Thanks!


Getting Access to Sakray

Now, make an account. Select "Sakray" from the server list. The first time you log in, you'll need to create your account by entering your desired username with the suffix: _M or _F for either male or female, respectively. Then enter your password and hit connect. After this, just log in normally using your username and password.


Being a Beta Tester

Once you're in game, we need you to test everything. Just go in there and do you're usual thing. Poke at stuff, especially the stuff that looks different. You'll notice right away things are different. If you notice a problem, let us know by posting here. If you were around for the old Sakray Testing times, you'll know the drill. If you were not (which I suspect is the case for most of you), here's what you do:

[1] Look and see if someone else has posted your issue. If they have, read their thread and only make another post if [a] you are adding something new that the other person has not added, or [b] we specifically ask people to post if they are also experiencing the same issue. Duplicate threads will be deleted/ignored.

[2] If no one has posted your issue yet, make a new thread. Provide us as much information as possible so that we can figure out what's going on. The more information you give us, the faster we can address your issue. Posts like "I'm having problems logging in" or "this item does not work" suck. If you do not give us more information, you risk getting ignored. It happens.


Word to the Wise

This is not the complete, ready-to-go server. We're migrating things over in phases, but we need testers at each phase to let us know what's going on. We've decided this will be the best way to go, since there is a lot different with this server version than our previous versions.

Keep in mind, as well, that there will be a lot of changes from now until we officially open. Plan for things to change, or things to be lost, and most importantly, for sporadic instability. It's part of beta-testing.

Finally, keep an eye out on this topic. We'll be posting here when we're about to migrate over new changes.


What you're testing for, now

This is the server in its most basic form, with a few minor additions for custom content. For example, we've removed the "Isle of Origins" and now people will spawn in an OOC area that will always be accessible throughout your time in game. Make sure to walk around this area and get familiar with all that we've put for your usage. There's quite a bit that has been centralized so get familiar with it.

Beyond that, run around in game and interact with your user interface and all the new bells and whistles. Fight things. Level. Do the quests that are available. And let us know if something seems wonky.


Okay, so then... what are you waiting for?

The new installer for the open beta testing of Aeon's Sakray server has now been released. You can find information on downloading the installer and any additional instructions here.

Please note this is a mandatory download for anyone interested in continuing to participate in the open beta. A number of bugs have already been discovered that should be fixed with this new installer. Therefore, if you participate in this beta without the proper installer, you may experience bugs or glitches that will not be addressed from today's date. Not a happy piece of news!


Moving right along, here's what you can expect to be implemented within the coming days (that requires the new installer):

Fixed Palettes
Includes dye packs for hair, cloth, and custom dark/brown skintone.

New Hairstyles
for Males and Females (replacing some old, out-dated and/or fugly styles)

Smaller RO folder (we've cut the fat in some areas)
A few more files were cut out in order to slim things down for you. If you run into any 'missing file' errors, let me know.

Re-textured Lutie Map
Santa finally decided to clean up after painting the town Christmas post binge-drinking rage.

Fixed Missing BMP Errors for Skills
Part and parcel of updating the sdata.grf. Gravity made a lot of small changes that had residual issues.

Racial Headgear
Includes headgears for Fiends (horns) and Aesoptians (fox, wolf and antennae ear things). These will be available via origins/race npc, soon.

More!
Yes, more. Just won't be talked about, yet!

We will be making an announcement as each of the above items become available for you to test.




You should also be aware that we have now, officially, pulled Patch Support for the Aeon Main server. Therefore, new or updated content will no longer be released for the main server. If you attempt to patch your main folder, it should give you an error. If you attempt to patch your beta folder (without running our installer first), you will also receive errors while patching.

As always, any problems should be reported to the Sakray Support forum.

Thanks!

Update for September 3, 2009

We've released two patches for today that should correct some recent and reoccurring issues that people have been experiencing with hairstyles and cloth palettes.

The first patch, dealing with adding compatability for the extended hairstyle selection, has been released for the patch client in your Sakray folder. To obtain this patch, simply run "AeonSakrayPatch.exe" and allow it to do its job. Simple as that!

***Deleted*** Run your patcher to get this one.

As always, hit up our Sakray Support Forum if you encounter issues in your adventures.

Just a quick update to keep everyone in the community apprised of our progress. We've not had an update in a couple weeks, as we've been waiting on a new server version. Big thanks to Foxy for taking care of that for us. Hopefully in the next few days, we will be up and running on a server set-up that is much more table and reliable.

Why We're Switching:

To put it bluntly, the current Sakray server is just a giant can of ew. A breeze through the Sakray Support Forums will show you a number of random issues that will cause the server to crash. Unfortunately, we've tried to hunt down the source of these problems with no luck (it is especially difficult when no error is reported on the server's side of things).

As a result, we've decided to move to a much more stable server version in the hopes that we'll find something that will work for our community. The nice thing about this is that if all goes well with this new version, we'll be able to jump right into the final stages of beta testing. More on that later, of course.


What to Expect:

Since we'll be changing the server to a new version, current beta testing account information will be lost. Any progress you've made in your travails to date will be reset and you will need to make an account again, just like before. We know that this will likely frustrate a number of you, but we are hoping this is the last time we need to change our server versions before official release. Rates will be cranked up again so that our loyal testers can jump right in and start breaking things.

Also, we'll be closing down all of the old topics in the Sakray Support Thread, since they will no longer apply. So if a topic you've been monitoring suddenly goes inactive or missing, you'll know why!



So, that's it for now. We'll give you more information once the new server version is ready for testing. I should point out now that you won't need to do anything on your end, in terms of installation. At most, you will probably have to run your patcher once and then create your account.

Update for October 14, 2009

Gosh, it's been so long since the last update. But at any rate, guess what?! Yes, that's right. You guessed it. All your patience has proved worthwhile, as we're now ready to open up the Sakray Server in Beta mode again, this time with a new and improved SVN!

What to Expect

As we have had to update to a new server version, all character data has been deleted. There were just too many problems with the previous version and we did not want any bugs to carry over. Your login information should still be available if you were part of last month's beta test phase.

Be sure to log in with your patcher, as we've also released a patch this evening to give you support for the new server version.

If you were not or if you cannot log in, registration is simple - the first time you log in to the Sakray Server, you need to create your account by specifying your username + "_M" or "_F" at the end of said username in order to select the gender of your account. Then, enter your password. All other times, please log in using your username and password.

Once inside, everything should look relatively normal, with the exception of a few things:

1. The Originator NPC now gives race headgers!
2. The Warpra doesn't steal your zeny if a warp errors!
3. You can Bless Monsters! (though I don't know why you would)
4. You can summon a Homunculous! (Note: Alchemist / Creator Class and skills/items needed)
5. And so much more! (we think)

Sakray Support

Now that we've switched to a new svn and a whole host of bugs have been fixed, all old Sakray topics have been closed. We have left them up for your viewing pleasure and also for reference. Any new bugs or glitches discovered (of which we hope there are few), please start a new thread and provide as much information as possible!

Now. Here's the other big news...

Beta Testing is scheduled to last for one week. That's right, one week! In this time, please test the game to your hearts content (and then some), in order to ensure we do not have a lemon. If all goes well, we are scheduled to Official Open on Friday October 23, 2009. More details will follow as that date approaches.

For now, get in game, get testing, and get RPing!

AeonRO Staff -out-