Prospective RISE merger

[JumpyWizard 91]

Hello players!

A few days ago TLX was contacted by RISE, who had a proposition of a possible merger between the two communities, which would benefit both. During this time a RISE server was also set up, for TLX staff and friends to see what it was like and if we wanted to be a part of it or not. For TLX, that would mean getting access to the RISE server files, which unobjectively, has way fewer bugs than what we are used to on TLX, besides the obvious bug fixes, the RISE mission files also have some much-needed features that have been promised on the TLX servers for so long, some included are: An in-game tablet, stock market, FOB's for factions, faction ranks, simply being able to move zip-tied people, an improved prison system and all in all, a better opportunity for roleplay. As an added bonus, TLX would also get Montel Williams to develop on the behalf on TLX to further improve the mission files
 

Smidge Griffkin had a meeting with Montel Williams, where they discussed the terms and how it would all play out. I am not aware of the full extent of these terms, but I do know it would be a shared ownership between the two, where Smidge would be the active Director and Montel would be doing the developing behind the scenes.

Smidge Griffkin announced in Staff chat that he had some thinking about it, and decided even with a majority of staff voting for the merge, that it wouldn't happen. This has the TLX Staff Team split, between those who support the merge and are possibly willing to switch to RISE, in case the Staff team has to choose between the two, and those who think that TLX is fine as it is and that TLX does not need the support of RISE.

Regardless of where a person stands everyone can agree that a split staff team is definitely not a good thing for TLX and could, therefore, escalate the situation even further until a solution is found.

Disclaimer:

I am writing this due to me believing in transparency between Staff and the players, as this will give the best results in the long run. I am keeping my opinions on this topic a secret, as I want this to be nothing but an informative post about the current situation that TLX is in.

I hope we can keep the discussions proper, no shit talking. This isn't a kindergarten.

Wizard

[Abdullah Al Arganeen 79]

Sounds good, nothing to lose, much to gain.

[Sheev Palpatine 87]

I've heard many good things about rise but the most common bad thing about rise is that the staff are uhh... less than stellar with the way they treat people. I've always liked TLX because the staff have, in most cases, treated players with respect. 

My concern is that if what's said about RISE staff is true they will drive away players. I love this place and I'd hate to see anything bring down the playercount. 

My second concern is more anecdotal, but I've been around many communities in many different games over the past decade and I've seen many communities merge and every single one has gone down in flames. The mixing of two "cultures" so to speak is incredibly difficult to pull off. I don't mean to be a naysayer but my outlook is a bit grim in the long run. But hey, I'm always up for something new.

[JumpyWizard 91]

12 minutes ago, Sheev Palpatine said:

I've heard many good things about rise but the most common bad thing about rise is that the staff are uhh... less than stellar with the way they treat people. I've always liked TLX because the staff have, in most cases, treated players with respect. 

My concern is that if what's said about RISE staff is true they will drive away players. I love this place and I'd hate to see anything bring down the playercount. 

My second concern is more anecdotal, but I've been around many communities in many different games over the past decade and I've seen many communities merge and every single one has gone down in flames. The mixing of two "cultures" so to speak is incredibly difficult to pull off. I don't mean to be a naysayer but my outlook is a bit grim in the long run. But hey, I'm always up for something new.

I get where you are coming from. I myself was staff on RISE, however, I wasn't there for the final months of RISE, but I do know that there were some staff members that should've been removed but weren't.

[Mike 4]

I've heard some similar things to what Sheev said. I think that it's a good idea to merge, it gives us more mission content and a developer to work on a mission that hasn't changed since the last time I player here almost a year ago.

If transparency is important I think it'd be good for us the community to know exactly what the merger would entail, would we keep the same Staff or have previous RISE Staff become new staff members? A merger seems like it might save the server from dying in a couple of months but it needs to be executed perfectly.

Sure, TLX is fine and doesn't need the support of RISE to keep going, but are we really going to turn down more features and a developer because TLX is just "fine"? If the merger is just what you mentioned as above, a new mission and a developer then I think it'd be foolish not to merge, but as I said above perhaps we could use a more detailed post of what the merger would specifically mean.

[JumpyWizard 91]

6 minutes ago, Mike said:

I've heard some similar things to what Sheev said. I think that it's a good idea to merge, it gives us more mission content and a developer to work on a mission that hasn't changed since the last time I player here almost a year ago.

If transparency is important I think it'd be good for us the community to know exactly what the merger would entail, would we keep the same Staff or have previous RISE Staff become new staff members? A merger seems like it might save the server from dying in a couple of months but it needs to be executed perfectly.

Sure, TLX is fine and doesn't need the support of RISE to keep going, but are we really going to turn down more features and a developer because TLX is just "fine"? If the merger is just what you mentioned as above, a new mission and a developer then I think it'd be foolish not to merge, but as I said above perhaps we could use a more detailed post of what the merger would specifically mean.

I am unaware of the full extent of the merge. I am doing this because I feel like you guys just need to know what is going on, since I am not a fan of keeping things behind closed doors unless it's very necessary

[Isaac 112]

38 minutes ago, Sheev Palpatine said:

I've heard many good things about rise but the most common bad thing about rise is that the staff are uhh... less than stellar with the way they treat people. I've always liked TLX because the staff have, in most cases, treated players with respect. 

My concern is that if what's said about RISE staff is true they will drive away players. I love this place and I'd hate to see anything bring down the playercount. 

My second concern is more anecdotal, but I've been around many communities in many different games over the past decade and I've seen many communities merge and every single one has gone down in flames. The mixing of two "cultures" so to speak is incredibly difficult to pull off. I don't mean to be a naysayer but my outlook is a bit grim in the long run. But hey, I'm always up for something new.

Jumpy no flame but 6 say no merge vs 4 who say merge

[Elijah 91]

I am very hesitant about this for a few reasons.

1. My first and main concern is that this would change the server to much. I enjoy playing TLX not RISE. If we just use the RISE server files the server would just become RISE with the TLX name added. If I wanted to play the type of server that RISE was I would have played RISE rather than TLX. The simple fact is that I like TLX for being TLX and I don’t want it to be RISE.

2. Drama with RISE. In the past TLX and RISE were competitors and during this time we had many less then good interactions with RISE. To put it simply, I don’t trust RISE. TLX is doing great and we have people who can actually work on the bugs now so I don’t think we need this deal.

3. It will split the server. We already see people with the RISE tag grouping togeather on the server and I believe that if we continue with this the server will become even more divided. There will be the group that supports TLX and the group that supports RISE. We don’t need to have our player base divided between the two groups. The reason I believe that these factions will emerge is largely because of our bad history with each other. Some of the older players who played TLX for a long time will not trust RISE and people from RISE have already separated themselves from the normal player base by putting [RISE] in their name when they play on TLX.

Please don’t accept this deal and keep TLX, TLX and not RISE

[Isaac 112]

40 minutes ago, Sheev Palpatine said:

I've heard many good things about rise but the most common bad thing about rise is that the staff are uhh... less than stellar with the way they treat people. I've always liked TLX because the staff have, in most cases, treated players with respect. 

My concern is that if what's said about RISE staff is true they will drive away players. I love this place and I'd hate to see anything bring down the playercount. 

My second concern is more anecdotal, but I've been around many communities in many different games over the past decade and I've seen many communities merge and every single one has gone down in flames. The mixing of two "cultures" so to speak is incredibly difficult to pull off. I don't mean to be a naysayer but my outlook is a bit grim in the long run. But hey, I'm always up for something new.

I agree with you sheev the mix of the "cultures" would burn both sides

[Isaac 112]

1 minute ago, Elijah said:

I am very hesitant about this for a few reasons.

1. My first and main concern is that this would change the server to much. I enjoy playing TLX not RISE. If we just use the RISE server files the server would just become RISE with the TLX name added. If I wanted to play the type of server that RISE was I would have played RISE rather than TLX. The simple fact is that I like TLX for being TLX and I don’t want it to be RISE.

2. Drama with RISE. In the past TLX and RISE were competitors and during this time we had many less then good interactions with RISE. To put it simply, I don’t trust RISE. TLX is doing great and we have people who can actually work on the bugs now so I don’t think we need this deal.

3. It will split the server. We already see people with the RISE tag grouping togeather on the server and I believe that if we continue with this the server will become even more divided. There will be the group that supports TLX and the group that supports RISE. We don’t need to have our player base divided between the two groups. The reason I believe that these factions will emerge is largely because of our bad history with each other. Some of the older players who played TLX for a long time will not trust RISE and people from RISE have already separated themselves from the normal player base by putting [RISE] in their name when they play on TLX.

Please don’t accept this deal and keep TLX, TLX and not RISE

I agree with you 

[Supersahen 61]

4 minutes ago, Elijah said:

TLX is doing great and we have people who can actually work on the bugs now so I don’t think we need this deal.

Who?

 

I've seen some pretty major bugs that i could fix in about 20 seconds that are still there from ages ago.

[Elijah 91]

2 minutes ago, Supersahen said:

Who?

 

I've seen some pretty major bugs that i could fix in about 20 seconds that are still there from ages ago.

Isaac is the current developer...

[JumpyWizard 91]

10 minutes ago, Elijah said:

I am very hesitant about this for a few reasons.

1. My first and main concern is that this would change the server to much. I enjoy playing TLX not RISE. If we just use the RISE server files the server would just become RISE with the TLX name added. If I wanted to play the type of server that RISE was I would have played RISE rather than TLX. The simple fact is that I like TLX for being TLX and I don’t want it to be RISE.

2. Drama with RISE. In the past TLX and RISE were competitors and during this time we had many less then good interactions with RISE. To put it simply, I don’t trust RISE. TLX is doing great and we have people who can actually work on the bugs now so I don’t think we need this deal.

3. It will split the server. We already see people with the RISE tag grouping togeather on the server and I believe that if we continue with this the server will become even more divided. There will be the group that supports TLX and the group that supports RISE. We don’t need to have our player base divided between the two groups. The reason I believe that these factions will emerge is largely because of our bad history with each other. Some of the older players who played TLX for a long time will not trust RISE and people from RISE have already separated themselves from the normal player base by putting [RISE] in their name when they play on TLX.

Please don’t accept this deal and keep TLX, TLX and not RISE

I can't foresee how it will actually become, but I will make a qualified guess saying that it won't just be RISE rebranded. The key infrastructure that makes TLX what it is, will likely stay the same. By mentioning the features that RISE currently has was to show what was POSSIBLE to get, not something that needed to be. 

TLX in its current state is inferior to the RISE mission file, alone by bugs, often the bugs simply remove roleplay possibilities 

[Giovanni 196]

I agree with the RISE merger for several reasons.

The TLX mission is extremely lacking in comparison. RISE is several years ahead in development whereas TLX has seen very little change other than bug fixes here and there. Many of the features that people have been asking for are present in the RISE mission file, including many quality of life changes and bug fixes.

I think the main thing preventing a merge is the prejudicial idea that RISE players are "evil" and trying to "invade the server". Some people who haven't even played on the RISE mission have commented about it being faulty and/or buggy. I think everyone can agree that there were issues with staff on RISE in the past but beyond that I don't see any real issue.

I think the real problem will occur if TLX does not merge. A large portion of the current playerbase is from RISE whether people believe it or not. 4 of the staff members, including the current Community Manager and Administrator, are former RISE staff. If RISE were to come up as a competing server, not only would we lose an enormous portion of players and staff, but the TLX server would be dead in the water as people find out that a competing server has all the features they've always wanted. Remember what happened when BGA came up last year, fragmented the Takistan Life community by splitting the playerbase in half, and then both of our servers ended up dying? It would happen all over again.

To those who say they don't trust RISE, have you noticed that the management of this server is effectively RISE staff?

I think if everyone put their past experiences aside and collaborated together to make the last Arma 2 Takistan Life server a great experience then we could all be happy.

[JumpyWizard 91]

Just now, Elijah said:

Isaac is the current developer...

TLX is currently running an older version of the RISE mission file, which was built by Montel Williams. I highly doubt Isaac has the skill to develop features that are much needed, and if he is capable of doing so, why isn't it changed yet?

[Elijah 91]

1 minute ago, JumpyWizard said:

I can't foresee how it will actually become, but I will make a qualified guess saying that it won't just be RISE rebranded. The key infrastructure that makes TLX what it is, will likely stay the same. By mentioning the features that RISE currently has was to show what was POSSIBLE to get, not something that needed to be. 

TLX in its current state is inferior to the RISE mission file, alone by bugs, often the bugs simply remove roleplay possibilities 

If TLX is really inferior than why do people play on here? When both RISE and TLX was around at the same time why did anyone play on TLX if it was inferior? The reason people play on TLX is because they like TLX and not RISE.

[JumpyWizard 91]

1 minute ago, Elijah said:

If TLX is really inferior than why do people play on here? When both RISE and TLX was around at the same time why did anyone play on TLX if it was inferior? The reason people play on TLX is because they like TLX and not RISE.

Now that you mention both the servers at the same time, if I am not incorrect, for the majority of the time, RISE seemed to be the number one server, right?

[Supersahen 61]

2 minutes ago, Elijah said:

If TLX is really inferior than why do people play on here? When both RISE and TLX was around at the same time why did anyone play on TLX if it was inferior? The reason people play on TLX is because they like TLX and not RISE.

A large amount of the TLX community were people who were banned or didn't agree with the rules on RISE. I can't remember the exact timeframes but when DNICE and RISE were up at the same time, the map files weren't as much different; a lot has changed since then in the RISE mission file however.

[Giovanni 196]

13 minutes ago, Elijah said:

If TLX is really inferior than why do people play on here? When both RISE and TLX was around at the same time why did anyone play on TLX if it was inferior? The reason people play on TLX is because they like TLX and not RISE.

There's no skirting around the fact that RISE did have issues with staff that I believe ultimately led to its downfall near the end, but I don't see how that would impact us now. The only reason TLX is up right now is because every time it's died, it would get revived by someone else. That never really occurred with RISE because those that had the mission/server files were not interested in bringing it back.

[Isaac 112]

13 minutes ago, JumpyWizard said:

TLX is currently running an older version of the RISE mission file, which was built by Montel Williams. I highly doubt Isaac has the skill to develop features that are much needed, and if he is capable of doing so, why isn't it changed yet?

Jumpy for real how about the fucking 1 year of promises. i put up the server 1 week with 4 guys. TLX is my baby and i'm going to try my best to fix issues as fast as i can i'm one guy working my ass of to fix issues. i know i'm not a good dev but i try my fucking best okay.  

 

[Slimbone 165]

2 minutes ago, Isaac said:

Jumpy for real how about the fucking 1 year of promises. i put up the server 1 week with 4 guys. TLX is my baby and i'm going to try my best to fix issues as fast as i can i'm one guy working my ass of to fix issues. i know i'm not a good dev but i try my fucking best okay.  

 

Also its kinda hard to get all this done when you've only had access to do so for how long now? I'd rather a Dev with heart and a drive for our community rather then someone who wants to slap out something "Better" cause it would be easier.

[Kane 99]

2 minutes ago, SlimBone said:

Also its kinda hard to get all this done when you've only had access to do so for how long now? I'd rather a Dev with heart and a drive for our community rather then someone who wants to slap out something "Better" cause it would be easier.

I agree with slimbone

[Giovanni 196]

6 minutes ago, Isaac said:

Jumpy for real how about the fucking 1 year of promises. i put up the server 1 week with 4 guys. TLX is my baby and i'm going to try my best to fix issues as fast as i can i'm one guy working my ass of to fix issues. i know i'm not a good dev but i try my fucking best okay.  

 

You seem to forget that I walked you through every step of putting the server up because you couldn't figure it out even when I handed over all the files on a silver platter including readmes on how to get it all working. Don't pretend it was all "you". 

I admit that there were promises I made during my ownership last year that I could not fulfill due to my lack of motivation and commitment, but if you think that you or anyone else you bring on as developer will be able to match what RISE has put together over years of development with a dedicated team, you are simply wrong.

I also want to add that the "I agree with so and so" posts are anything but constructive and that's what the like reactions are for.

[Isaac 112]

Just now, Giovanni said:

You seem to forget that I walked you through every step of putting the server up because you couldn't figure it out even when I handed over all the files on a silver platter including readmes on how to get it all working. Don't pretend it was all "you". 

I admit that there were promises I made during my ownership last year that I could not fulfill due to my lack of motivation and commitment, but if you think that you or anyone else you bring on as developer will be able to match what RISE has put together over years of development with a dedicated team, you are simply wrong.

you were one of the 4 btw i thank you for the help

[JumpyWizard 91]

Giovanni was nowhere near perfect in terms of development, but let's remind everyone that the topic isn't about developing.