Could you indicate in what period of time we can expect the next version of this EmuCoach release and are work on it currently underway?
We ran our server based on Cata and then switched to this edition of MOP. From what I see, Cata has recently received two major updates, hence my question about the status of this version and plans for its development.
I appreciate the current contribution to the development of this version of the server and thank you for your work. I just want to know if you are still considering the development of the MOP version. This knowledge is of great importance to both us and our players.
Thank you in advance for your answer.
I would not like you to feel offended by my question, because as I mentioned - I highly value your work and we are all grateful for the time you devote to the EmuCoach project.
My question stems mainly from a recent statement by Jack Sparrow in this topic, in which he pointed to his great commitment to other work and activities (after all, life writes different scenarios), and these probably have an impact on the progress of work on the MOP emulator.
Also, splitting your time into several projects - WotLK, Cata and MoP probably has an impact on the progress of work on each of them.
Hence the question about your plans. For example, are you going to focus on a specific release (the latest MOP which will facilitate the leap to the next, newer versions of the game - as was done on Ultima Online emulators), or are you planning to focus the most on a very advanced Cata (question - what then) or can take some other milestone.
I have experience in managing UO and LOA server projects, hence I know that creating several versions of the server at the same time - often based on diametrically opposed versions of code - in the long run can be a difficult undertaking, strongly involving programmers' resources. All the more so, I appreciate your work, no less perhaps the right way is to focus on the newer Mists of Pandaria which will allow a smooth jump to the next versions (WOD, Legion etc.).
Thank you for taking up this topic and I would like to discuss it with your team
Don't worry, we are not offended by your question at all - it's a fair question to ask.
I'll try to be as informative and clear as possible. Currently, the future MOP development is a little on "standby". Jack Sparrow is the primary developer on the MOP project and it's basically his "core", and at this moment he's focusing on other projects that caught his personal interest.
As his contributions and development towards Emucoach were community-made (in other words, free work without payments in return since there never was a VIP MOP repack version), this is of course totally fair in my eyes (especially given the circumstances) - meaning I don't expect him to continue working on it, if he is busy on other projects. While I could take over at certain points, it first of all would feel wrong as it's, as already mentioned, mainly Jack Sparrow's core and it wouldn't be right without him, not to mention there's a lot of networking and opcode related stuff that's yet to be done on the core, which is out of my usual knowledge, meaning that it would "block" for it. - as well as the fact we already have several projects in progress, and we are only a couple of people in terms of man-power
In regards to the future plans, we will continue updating the Cataclysm (4.3.4) repack, like we do now, and we still strive for the perfection, so that will continue to be updated. 5.4.8 is currently on-hold as mentioned, without knowing when the development will return. While that being said, we actually have stable plans for providing the requested Legion repack as well (more information on that soon). We could technically pick out the fixes from the Legion core and merge it into the 5.4.8 Repack, but that will only be "real" beneficial, if most of the general networking/opcode stuff are already done in 5.4.8, which I believe it's not.
While it's probably not the response that you were hoping for, it's the reality for now, and I hope it gave you the information that you were seeking.