GFUNK's plea to Nevrax and the community...

[grandma]

[Edit: Check out my Unofficial Linux HOW-TO!]

Greetings fellow homins!

Many of you may know me from here or there around Atys, or may have participated in one of our guild's events. I always try my best to be a contribution to the community, and try to be helpful in whatever way that I can. I enjoy helping the other people learn aspects of the game, or help them with whatever problems they face in the game. What many of you all don't know is that I play this game under Linux and have been since Beta 1.

I've been around prolly longer than almost anyone in the community and even some of the GM's. I've always been as helpful as I can, I enjoy organizing events for the community. I am a very active bug reporter, which I try and detail bugs as much as I can. (Some of the GM's have run out of responses to my bug reports, some I wouldn't be suprised if they had a "Thank you for the bug report, Gfunk." reply macro'd.) This post isn't a rant, rather a pro-active plea for Linux support. For us linux only users "...just install Windows" is not an acceptable answer.

Every patch since Beta 1, I have had to manually rip patches apart as well as troubleshoot almost all problems I have had by myself. Also every major patch (Retail Launch, Patch 1, and now Patch 2) has caused me to not be in the game for several days until I figure out how to hack and slash my client to get it working. The response I got from GM's is "I'm sorry but I cannot help you because you are in linux." not because they don't want to help, but because they aren't familiar enough to help me, or some of my questions about getting the game to work involve manipulating files manually.

I've seen many posts back in beta and even in retail asking about a Linux client...there are people other than myself calling for it. I've seen at least 25 posts back in beta 1 asking for linux support...and these are just the people who tried to get the game working and posted for support. The only reason I'm here was from a search months and months ago containing the words "MMORPG linux". There is a playerbase there just waiting, and this would be the FIRST major MMORPG with linux support. I've ticketed many times asking for a linux client, but have never received any glimmer of hope. The game is soooo close as it is right now to a linux client!

Who knows, one day there may be a patch that causes me to not be able to enjoy Ryzom at all :0(.

I plea to Nevrax and the community to support my cause, help get more players into the game I love! I ask you all for your support by taking 5 seconds of your time and sending in a suggestion ticket asking for Linux Client support.

Thank you,

[lyrah68]

AMEN brother. I HATE windows. My mother worked as a type setter for Dow Jones Wall street journal for ten years, when their typesetting system when computerized it first when Unix, then shifted over to Linux. Guess what, NO troubles, NO daily restarts, NO crashes, NO errors. Once the system was worked out and set up...smoothe as SILK. (DJWSJ ran for more than four years in late 80s without a system shut down or restart, just the weekly routine "clean ups" and those didn't even slow down the DAILY newspaper schedule.)

I won't get into my opinions on Billy Gates or his monopoly, let's just say, if he went bankrupt and ended up in a soup line...I wouldn't shed ONE tear.

I tried Lindows (I forget the new name), which is the ONLY Linux product that runs Win 32 aps. Trouble is...it does NOT do games.

All I can say...to those IT/techno Geeks out there, SAVE US FROM WINDOWS. If you come up with a Linux product that can run ALL windows products that does NO hose up like Windows and does NOT have all the security HOLES and big brother SPY ware BUILT IN....let's just say YOU will be richer than GATES. And I will be the VERY first person to buy a copy. Well me or my hubby.

[grandma]

thank you for your support! as soon as I am able to (if i am able to) get into the game, i am going to send in a ticket... as it is right now, I am still trying to get it working :0\

[atrax]

Hey, While your at it,

Can you also get them to fix world hunger, stop ozone degradation, and find a solution to what will be a very over populated earth in about 100 Years.

My Point you ask?

If devs wanted the game to run on linux, they would have built it for linux.
I use linux too, i like it, I'm a Fedora person myself. But when it comes down to it, i would rather spend days playing a game, then trying to hack it into what might be a unstable config.

I'm not saying this because i like windows, Quite the opposite. I work on Mac's all day (They are BSD/Darwin based for those who don't know), and would avoid using windows at home whenever possible. But there's some things that just aren't going to happen.

And as for the story of the archaic machines running in the 1980's... Well, The more complex the OS gets, the more bugs it'll have. Of course the OS is going to be "Smooth as silk' when all it does is display text and run a few background threads. Dos was Stable And windows 3.1.

Gfunk, not that i don't understand where your comming from, But to start a post, that you *know* is going to cause extra aggravation to devs and gm's, and still not have anything done about it is just flapping your gums and complaining about how miserable it is to be you.

[xcomvic]

I dont know much about LINUX, other than the words RED HAT... but maybe all you need to get is a VIRTUAL PC thing like APPLE or whoever made for MACs, a program where you could run window program and such. But of course, if that was the answer, you would have already gotten it and wouldn't have typed up this post So, right now I am just wasting your time reading this... ah well, maybe someone is making such a program for LINUX... maybe opensource? trying SourceForge...

[bizango]

I would love to see a Linux version.

And, if as Gfunk says it IS sooo close to being functional, I wouldn't be surprised if it is on the dev's list - just hasn't floated to the top of the priorities yet.

Remember, Nevvy is in two businesses - developing Ryzom AND developing a MMORPG game engine.

[tetra]

I originally considered posting something about how making a linux client was a silly waste of resources, but decided against it due to the fact that Gfunk was able to make his plea without calling out the pathetic ranting that Lyrah just wheeled out from the basement.

So instead I'll say this....

there is another MMO that does have a linux client.

Linux users make up somewhere in the area of .015% of the players.

[sydius]

I want a client that works in Windows. Or how about just a client that works. What a novel idea, eh?

[thexdane]

i'd love a linux client, tho i'd need a new vid card in my linux box

i'm tired of playing nwn and the few loki games i got for my linux box

nel is ported to linux so a client would be easy

[lyrah68]

I was calling for a windows replacement, NOT another game with a linux engine.

Granted I haven't looked into the state of Linux, but when I did. The games for it were umm graphically challenged would be a kind way to put it. When I did look, Linux was the best way to go...business apps wise, but for games, it was a sad state of affairs.

But then I am a full time mom and business owner, I don't have time to spend looking for something better than the latest MS bovine scatology.

And thanks for that cartoon, *smirk* just because we are crazy doesn't mean we aren't RIGHT *smug look*