MacroQuest64

This has nothing to do with mq2 but its doesn have to do with the macroing mapping community.

Taken from mySEQ

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Announcement
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To the MySEQ Community:

The Dev Team would like to announce many new and exciting changes in the very near future. Things such as a Macro Engine, Raid Planner, and Zone database are but a few of the upcoming applications in store! The entire team has decided to devote even more time to this project and possibly expand into other games as well. We have discussed this since the move from SourceForge many months ago, but we wanted to try and gauge the interest. This community has certainly expanded beyond our wildest dreams.

As with anything in life, one change leads to another. The manhours spent on this project by the Dev Team of MQSEQ, MrDoh, Xeeman, and Magictiger totals in the many thousands. Add to that the other fixed expenses such as bandwidth (we are currently at ~40GB/month) and software, and you can definitely see that this is much more than a hobby now. With that said we are going to transition to a subscription-based system very soon. Even with the recent donations, which are very much appreciated, the expenses greatly overwhelm the cash available. The difference is made up among the main 4 devs, but we can no longer afford to do so on our meager salaries in our real jobs.

For those that have donated previously, we will be offering automatic free subscription times based on a tiered system of donation level. Everyone in the community owes a debt of gratitude to those who have donated as they are the ones who carried this burden on their shoulders for all of us this long. For those who are yet to donate, we will release a limited free version with very limited support. In this manner, those who are under-18 or do not have a credit card or paypal account can continue to enjoy the benefits of our software. This also allows us to continue to give away things to the public, and hopefully continue our growth.

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FAQs
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- What about my existing installation? Will it continue to work?

After the upcoming EQ patch, most likely your MySEQ version will be broken as new offsets will be required. We will be launching a new MySEQ product to coincide with the next patch. Anyone with a subscription will be able to download and install the new client/server and receive the autoupdates. We will also release offsets for the free version as well.

- What about service and support? How will that change?

The existing service and support speaks for itself. Response times to valid request posts are usually under an hour, and in many cases they are under 10 minutes. Support will continue with the following avenues: Message board, IRC Chat, IM (All major protocols), and direct email. We plan to continue this level of support and hopefully improve for all subscribers.

Free version members will receive very limited support from the Dev Team but can use the message board for community support.

- What about piracy and the existing code out there?

We are well aware of the fact that users can share files or develop their own software. After all, that is what the Internet is all about - sharing information. However, to protect the interests of our paid subscribers we will have several features built into the software and website to help keep piracy to a controllable level. Likewise, source code will not be provided.

For those that want to develop their own software, we would wish them well in their endeavor.

- Do I need a credit card for a subscription?

We will be accepting all major credit cards, echecks, and paypal. You will also be provided with a snail mail address for money orders and personal checks. Please be aware that echecks and personal checks will require an extended time for bank clearance.

- Well, how can you guys justify doing this?

Seriously, take a few minutes to think about life in real terms. We have offered a great product and fantastic support for free for over 6 months now. Except for a relative few, most of the community lives off the time and sweat of 4 main people and the financial generouscity of a relatively small number of the userbase. This has to come to an end at some point in time. Besides, there will be a free version. Hey, we like free software too.

Sincerely,
The MySEQ Dev Team

MQSEQ, MrDoh, Magictiger, Xeeman

but its doesn have to do with the macroing mapping community

Uh... how?
*points at MQ2MAP*

missingfiles wrote:This has nothing to do with mq2 but its doesn have to do with the macroing mapping community.

I believe what he meant was..
This has nothing to do with mq2 (directly), but it does have to do with the macroing mapping community.

Ah, k. Makes sense now.
Kinda surprised somebody cross-posted it to this board.

Thats a shame, it seems to be a growing trend of many of the open source projects I have been using or watching for a long time. I'm proud of ShowEQ and Gallery for remaining free and totally opensource.

It's what happens when people either don't contribute their code modifications or donate to the developers.

if you dont like it, youre always free to fork the last free version and continue development on your own. a decision like this only works if everyone capable and willing to continue development is in on it.

I am not saying that I could fork it (or any of the other projects that have done the same thing) or that it is neccessarily a BAD thing that it happens. I just mean its a shame, in different ways. That people can't contribute enough to cover their costs, that the developers couldn't find someplace that had a lower cost or perhaps that there were not simply more developers spreading the load / cost enough that it wasn't neccessary.

I think of the different ways of doing things, I like MQs the best. Of course, I find totally free and open source to be the best... but having added bonuses to donators is 2nd best in my book. Leaving a fully functioning product for the "masses" to use while giving donators a little bit extra is quite a good balance to me.

Closing up the source is probably the worst of it, in my humble opinion. I just feel that the whole point of this alternative way of doing things is the open source code. It lets people learn and has the possibility of attracking new developers at the same time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

ShowEQ has gone through a lot of active and inactive stages, quite a few main and alternate developers and even did a switch from almost all open source (LibEQ.a anyone?) to fully opensource. A good step, I think.

Gallery has always been opensource and free, with the option of donating of course. They have a HUGE installation/customer base and to me it seems like they also have a lot of developers and random passer-by's submitting code.

All that said, when I am no longer unemployed I look forward to making a modest donation to a few of my favorite projects on sourceforge :)

The manhours spent on this project by the Dev Team of MQSEQ, MrDoh, Xeeman, and Magictiger totals in the many thousands

Official response is that we don't care, MQ goes on going on. What I ought to do though is put MQ structs into a dll file so that projects that make money like Magelo,MySEQ, etc... can't leech from my work. At the very least if you take structs from MQ, at least share what you have that we don't.

Anyway, there's nothing to see here. Go chat on the MySEQ boards if you have opinions.

It's what happens when people either don't contribute their code modifications or donate to the developers.

I would like to formally state that to the best of my knowledge, none of the MySEQ developers are MacroQuest supporters, and to the best of my knowledge, MySEQ borrows code from MacroQuest and other projects that I *ahem* have provided.

Personally, I find MySEQ's absolute disdain for the developers of MacroQuest2 (and EQPlayNice) while using us quite revolting. You're more than welcome to distribute your copy of EQPlayNice, but first off it is not "EQ PlayNice" it is "EQPlayNice" and your stupid ass graphic has it wrong:

I think it's ridiculous that you're going to subscription-based system while spouting anti-macroquest, anti-lax, etc (although in perhaps slightly different wording) all over your web site, and have the gall to say that people who take from others should make up for the time spent by paying the bills. I don't get it. Hypocrisy at its finest.

For anyone confused, here's a quote

You will find full support for the MySEQ project and a community willing to help you get MySEQ running without flaming you for being a newbie!

The entire MySEQ project is volunteer and run very similar to other Open Source projects. We are here to help you get MySEQ running on your system without the hassle you may receive from other similar projects. We realize that you may not be a computer geek.

without flaming you for being a newbie wee! .. well i sure hope not if you're moving to a subscription system!