There is a bright side Taymar, JGC has done what most MMO's cannot... survive 10yrs 🙂

We don't know the costs of keeping JGC servers online? And you never know they probably have good intentions and are just moving the servers and it takes some time.

If they are going to discontinue JGC they should give all users with over 2months of play a free 30 days subscription to JGE when it comes out for the inconvenience.

Totally agree, they have already tried the 'You can have BETA access to JGE if you keep your sub going', it worked up until November of last year where even some of the hardcore, long timers had enough.

As I've posted this is not a Gazillion decision it has been forced on NetDevil by the service provider for JGC closing the server down, so despite the negative attitude towards Gazillion, this isn't actually their fault but they'll carry the can and feel the backlash if they don't sort it out. I believe JGC will continue in some form or another beyond the release of JGE and as you say it's done what most games can only dream of doing.

Hmmm with the provider closing shop. You would think that the provider would had made arrangements for switchover for their customers so they wouldn't be left holding the bag. Put least they told people and just didn't shut the lights off come the end of March.

NetDevil should do what MSoft did with Allegiance and just give the source out to the community and let them host it. I'm sure there would be some takers and people could fix the issues and add more content.

But in another way you have too look at if NetDevil was able to release JGC as open source that it might actually hurt them because the fans of JGC would love it and they would dive in to fix up the game.

Nice idea and yes it would hurt them as the JGC vets would rather fix and play JGC than play JGE, if and when it comes out.

Istvan, the only GM JGC has was given one day a week to deal with some of the problems that the game and it's periferals has but that was soon stopped when JGE was delayed. From his posts on the forums the code and tools are seriously out of date and most of the time he spent was setting up this stuff so he could actually do something positive but due to time constraints nothing of any real value was dealt with. Again don't get me wrong I undrerstand why Gazillion don't want ND staff spending hours of payed time working on a 10 year old game when they have something newer and in their mind, better to finish.

Swings and roundabouts is the best way to describe this situation, if they spend time and resources on JGC, JGE doesn't get the attention it needs and given the small player numbers for JGC, it's a no brainer as to which has the highest priority.

But NetDevil/Gazillion also have paying customers that would like service as well. Even if only one dev was dedicated to JGC that would at least ease paying customers minds that they are important to even after 10 years 🙂

If NetDevil is understaffed and cannot afford to dedicate individuals to JGC then they just need to come out and end of life the game so they can focus on it and make the game play as it is and lower the subscription or make it free.

I hope they bring the servers back online for their sack because in their statement they said they would, you might make a few long and dedicated customers mad by not keeping your word. Which in the end is all a fan and customer really want is the companies word on their project features and dedication to giving the customer what they pay for.

But realism sets in and you have to see the writing on the wall that JGC was going to this end sooner or later. People do need to chalk it up as some good times and move on. You had 10yrs in a game... hey SSC will gladly take all those displaced by the JGC server disconnect and give them a home while they transition 😆

I'm doing my bit to help that happen, believe me.

More interesting comments on the JGC forums about how the GM would like to roll it all back to pre 2007 when there was a planned GFX update for JGC but instead ND decided to make JGE. I fully understand that JGC will come to an end and in some ways I wish that time would come sooner rather than later but I would like ND to create a 'Memorial Hall' for all the JGC pilots and their achievements to be part of the new Squad system for JGE.

In the meantime I'll keep spread the good word on this place and keeping he faith with ND.

With never playing JGC before. Taymar do you know if they will be using the same sectors of space in JGE that they used in JGC? I know three of the factions are coming over. In a way that would be some respect given to the first game and would be a nice touch to the JGC fans that users that played say over 6 months at any time are awarded either a special rank or title in JGE to give thanks for their dedication.

Ok, I don't want to sound like a know it all, so please forgive me if I do.

None of the sector names will be the same for JGE as they are in JGC, (As far as we're lead to believe at the time of typing this message). The basic story is that the three factions and their stations are 'Shifted' to an unknown part of a distant galaxy somewhere between the end of JGC and the begining of JGE, (The time difference has been put somewhere around 300 years, I believe). The stations will have familiar names and configurations but the locations will not be a replication of the JGC map.

There are many theories as to why it's been done this way but the current 'Best Guess' by JGC vets is so that vets won't be able to port over characters, stats and ships to the new universe. A fair point if ND want to keep a healthy player base that isn't unbalanced by vets with 'All the gear' from day one. So if you take the last point as read, then there's very little chance that anything done in JGC can or will effect your character in JGE, saying that I have signed an online petition asking ND to create a memorial hall that will show your JGC character stats and allow you to play as a decendant of your JGC character in JGE, if you wish to. There has been no official response to this request that I am aware of.

As I've posted the factions remain the same and it's rumoured that each nation's 'Advantage' from JGC will follow through to JGE, for example the Octavian's will produce the best and most destructive weaponry, the Quantar will have the most manoeuvrable ships and produce the most efficient mining lasers, Solrain will have the best shielding and better cargo capacity for the size of ship.

The enemy of JGC also remains - The Conflux, along with various NPC groups that you will no doubt encounter and have to destroy to complete various missions. The other main crossover, according to ND will be the games flight engine 'Dancer'. There has been a huge debate among vets and newer players regarding the 'Improvements' that have been made to the engine, the biggest change being the inclusion of Inertial Dampners that can be toggled on and off, (Without Inertial Dampners the mass of your ship and it's cargo are used to calculate the distance you would travel in the same direction after you've cut the thrust, allowing you to move in one direction while 'Flipping' your ship to point in another, once the thrust had been cut). With the Dampners toggled ON the engine would behave more like the flight system of Freelancer/X Wing Series/Other well known space combat games and spawned the phrase 'Custard Space' on the JGE forums.

The main reasons for the change to the engine have been explained by ND as them wanting to reduce the learning curve of fresh pilots to the franchise and give them a more familiar response from their craft rather than the at times frustrating JGC feel to space flight.

But I've rambled on enough . . . .

Oddly enough, I find myself being a smidge more positive about this than is usual for me.

The up side is that they're even thinking about a migration rather than a termination. This would be good. I've even kept my sub going even though I haven't played much, if at all, in the last few months because I want to come back to it where I left off (still hopelessly outgunned and outclassed in the middle of a conflux swarm knowing my luck).

The sector change isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as the original scope is kept. Some of the suggestions that all core worlds would be no more than a few jumps from each other would be bad and rather limiting but nothing concrete has ever been given, it's still just supposition. I prefer to err on the side of "prepare for the worst, hope for the best" here. It may turn out to be significanlty smaller but then again it could be 3 times the size of JGC. We don't know and until sector maps are actually shown we have no idea which it will be.

TBH it's not a bad thing to remove character migration. OK, it works beautifully in story driven games which are single player like the Mass Effect series but in an MMO? Maybe not. Yes, a hall of heroes wouldn't be such a bad thing (Taymar gets to keep his 'flux kill count so is slightly less grumpy for a few minutes - always a bonus 😀 ) and as long as new players are treated equally it's no skin off anyone's nose what past stats you have, just a little bit of extra history for the JGC vets.

I can see possible benefits to custard space - while it's fun to have a medium to heavy fighter pulling off insane inertial manouvres to get the upper hand (let's not even mention light fighters, OK? Obscene!) it's not exactly fun trying to get close enough to a 'roid with a heavy miner when you forgot to replace the drop tanks now, is it? Inertial damping will be the haulers and miners friend unlike the bitter enemy inertia is now. As long as I can switch it off I'm fine with dampers.

You also have to admit that the Dancer engine gives you a hellishly steep learning curve - less than half the squad tried anything more than the sim and over half of those gave up after the umpteenth time they did the "fly on a windscreen" impression when trying to dock. It's rewarding when you get it right and the "pucker factor" when trying to dock a fully laden hauler with less than 10% fuel left definitely adds to the tension but it isn't exactly friendly now, is it?

Much as I love JGC, there are times when I wish it was just a touch less unforgiving and a little bit more user friendly (usually after I've just pasted a heavy miner carrying 150+ units of antimony/platinum into the side of a station or caught a petal on the way out of a jump because I forgot to zero the @*!&ing throttle again!)

I am pleased to report that Jumpgate Classic has under gone a seamless migration to the new host, as of today 23rd March 2010.

ND have also provided full details of how to update your current game installation and have re-worked the downloads to take you to the new host of the server. I must say that it has been a painless experience for players so full marks to Istvan and the ND team for a job well done.

Details and information can be found here - http://forums.jossh.com/terminal_civilian.html

Hiya Taymar an Grimloon, Jumpgate is still going, most peeps on for PvP on thursday night; fight night 😀

Support still limited.....but it's always the players that make the game.

I've been playing for 4 years.....it's the hardest game to master that I've found. Plus for the price of a 4 pack I get a months worth of fun. 😉

This is probably one of the space sims I've played the most. Played on and off since the beta, and have loved it. Sadly, though, it's not as much fun with so few players on, but it's great to see it's still around. Who knows, maybe more people will play it once Jumpgate Evolution becomes vaporware. 😉