So, BSF2000 promised us some updates in his ‘2000 Characters’ article for last week’s Buzz, and he delivered! We’ll overlook the lateness of the updates, it’s possible that deadlines change and you think something is finished or ready when actually you find a bug that has to be fixed and tested etc. The important thing is that we have updates!
Not only do we have updates, we have a proper page dedicated to updates! The small update log from the previous home/news page has been removed. The updates page now lists bugs, features and updates to the code. I think it is a very good addition. It allows players to clearly see when and what has been added or changed. It’s like a built-in change log. The important thing here, we think, is that this page is used as much as possible. If the Elite Guard use it to keep us updated as much as possible then it will be an excellent thing to have, otherwise it could fall into disused and be rather useless.
To the home page, we now only have our player character/image and all of our stats due to the removal of the updates menu. The character image now updates to show money status, as well as what gun you have. I think that this is a minor change that doesn’t really affect too much. However, it is still a nice addition. I would class this as ‘bells and whistles’ it doesn’t do anything exactly, but it adds depth and makes things more visual. One thing we thought curious was the decision on what amounts of money should be what image "stacks of cash ($250,000/ea), brief cases ($9,000,000/ea), and duffel bags ($72,000,000/ea)." We wonder where $72,000,000 came from!
The main update has to be the addition of more missions. Players have been waiting for quite some time for new missions and judging by the first new mission, things are going to get interesting. It’s the first kind of mission that requires you to involve another player. It is a very interesting step and I think it’s a good step forward in terms of testing whether it works, whether it’s popular, and whether more of this kind can be added later.
The first mission requires you to find a person to find out details regarding a car. You then have to pay off the person ($25,000 via the Federal Bank) to get information about the car, and then find another player to team up with to steal the car. One player acts as a lookout, while the other acts as a burglar and attempts to steal the car. Reports thus far suggest it takes about 15 attempts and you receive a car worth $90,000 as a reward. Another update to missions is the 24 hour timer between completing and starting your next mission. I’m unsure whether players will be too keen on this. However, I see the reasons behind its inclusion in the game. It requires players to wait before simply flying through all of the missions. There is also speculation that this is because some missions will be repeatable, in order to keep the missions ongoing, and this will stop them being done constantly. The Elite Guard "can neither confirm or deny this".
An interesting update for me is the ‘QuickConnect’ feature. If you haven’t read what this does then we'll tell you; when you sign up you automatically add the previous two and the next two players that signup as a friend. It is useful in that it could help new players make friends, get help, rank up, and possibly to encourage players not to register and simply disappear. It is an encouraging feature that could work to the advantage of the game and new players. It is the first real attempt we've seen by BSF recently that suggests he is really working hard to keep new players, which is an excellent thing!
A few minor updates are the availability of now using Bootleggers.eu as well as Bootleggers.us, and also the fixing of escrowing witness statements. Quite an important update as it helps to rule out the falsification of screenshots and witness statements.
In our discussions within the Buzz, our only query was whether there was a need to release all of these updates together. We thought, that as there are a rather large number it would have been an opportunity to release one or two at a time in order to prolong the feeling of improvement. However, that is a rather small complaint, and a ridiculous one really, considering that we've just been given seven updates.
Overall, I think everyone is very pleased with the updates and on behalf of the Buzz I’d like to say thank you to BSF2000 from the Buzz team.
