Svo is going free & open-source

Vadimuses

Hey everyone,

This is an interesting post given the topics of all the other posts in this category... but here we go. I've always maintained that I would convert my systems to open source, were I to step away. This is to allow the Achaean community to move on with maintaining, evolving and improving them. Well, the time is now to let others in on the fun of working on the best public system in Achaea there is today

So what'll happen to Svo?

Svo as a product known today will cease to exist, and instead a different one (Svo 2), based on Svo, but open-source and completely free, will appear.

What about support for Svo?

Personal support for Svo from me will go away with Svo. There will instead be community support for Svo 2 - clan, forums, people who work on it, and friends!

When am I going to stop completely?

I plan on sticking around for a while to get Svo 2 going.

What about the Svo API namespace?

It'll still be named svo. for backwards compatibility reasons.

What about other systems?

They're all getting open-sourced as well.

What'll be the open-source license used?

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, to ensure Svo 2 complies with point 4 in Achaea TOS (http://www.achaea.com/TOS).

What's the ETA?

One week from now, Svo will be taken off sale (8 August 2015). Two weeks after that (22 August 2015), another product, Svo 2, will be available in an open-source form and free. Later on, vadi-m and the old, old Nexus (not to be confused with the new Nexus client) system will be available.

Customer data?

All customer data will be securely wiped and not sold or transferred to anyone else. This is everything like emails, names, character names.

Thanks

Big thanks to everyone who was involved over the years - which is too many names to list, and I'm afraid I'll miss out someone. But you know who you are

Svo has outlived many curing systems in its lifetime, and I'm sure it's still got a strong future ahead as the golden standard in clientside curing.

Morthif

You've been a great pleasure to do business with over the years and hope this doesn't mean you will to far from us for long.

Draekar

Thanks @Vadimuses for everything you have done over the years. Using your systems has greatly improved my enjoyment and playing experience over the years, I hope you stick around and keep playing!

Vayne

Thanks Vadi, your work has really had a huge impact on Achaea and helped make playing more accessible for many players! Good luck on whatever endeavors you are launching into next! It will be neat to see what the community does with your source!

Zuko

Thanks Vadi!

I still remember the first time I installed SVO about four years ago! It was a warm August summer day that I spent trapped inside, trying to decipher how to use such an incredible system. Ever since then, playing Achaea became so much easier, especially in the times before Server-side came into play. 

You are in my eyes, the Bill Gates/Elon Musk of Achaea! Best of luck as you venture forward

Bronislav

Ffffffffffffffffokay.

It's been fun.   Thanks for all of the work you've put into this system. Helped me get up from shit-tier to low-mid tier.  

Sarapis

As I said in the announce #4398, thanks to @Vadimuses for all the work he's put into making MUDs easier for people to play over the years!

Razzlo

I'm scared! Change makes me anxious!

PS: You have made this game far more enjoyable to me. Thank you for everything you have done for me and everyone. I can only hope you are stepping away to take a Divine role in the game, like seriously...you have earned it. *Nudges the Sarapis*

Trilliana

Jeeze... I've used stuff by @Vadimuses since I first heard about Vadi-m, which was a few months into playing Achaea (next year will be 10 years, whut?). I somewhat figured out how to code in mudlet by doing the fishing highlight script (which I still get comments about, and I use it as a point that as someone who is very inept at coding, if I can do that, anyone can.)

SVO will live on through us, but what you've done, Vadi, is awesome in itself. Thanks for it all.

Dochitha

Why it makes me feel like Microsoft and Apple suddenly decide to close down?

Vadi, you completely enabled me into Achaea and big thanks to you. Frankly I am worried about it going open source. 

Skye

Wow. Thank you so much for all the work you've put into making Achaea more accessible over the years. Hope I'll still be seeing you around

Elazar

Much thanks Vadi.  So many scripts made things easier, name database for the win! 

Degas

and here I was thinking of getting Svo but now I see how its free, thanks for everything Vadi and I hope we see you a lot more.

Ognog

Thankyou @Vadimuses. You've put an enormous amount of time and effort into SVO and Mudlet over many years. I really appreciate it.

Dochitha

@Vadimuses you know you can open source it and still run paid support plans right.

Synbios

Thanks @Vadimuses. Without vadisystems and svo, I would likely have stopped playing Achaea a long time ago. May your future ventures be ever bountiful.

Mishgul

Without vadi nexus I would never have gotten into combat in the first place, and then never have won anything or had the motivation to build my own systems. Thanks for making the game playable during dark times.

Sobriquet

Would just like to add my voice of thanks for all the work you put into Mudlet and SVO.  I started playing Achaea over telnet, then moved to Zmud and Larkin's system which enabled me to actually -play- Achaea instead of just exist inside it.  You carried this forward 1000 fold and without Mudlet and SVO I'd never have been able to play to the extent that I did, not only that, your regular work on updates means I could come back from months out and slip back into things with relative ease.

The popularity of SVO no doubt acted as a catalyst for Sarapis to look into serverside curing, which in turn as made Achaea far more accessible to everyone. So, thank you @Vadimuses. Your actions have impacted many within the IRE universe in far more ways than I think you could have imagined when you started out and all for the better.

Matt

Alcreadia

I would have given up years ago if you hadn't have helped me, so thanks, Vadi!

Rangor

I Hope this means you will spend more time playing the game, instead of coding for it!

Alaskar

SVO made the game so much more accessible when I returned, and I'd have never made it without it. It's a shame Achaea seems to be losing one of the most influential players ever.

In short, thanks for offering such a service at such a price and with such dedication.

Itorvi

You've made a massive contribution to two IRE games. If it hadn't been for you, I would never have given these muds a thought past the first month or so of serious playing. As a matter of fact, the lack of a "Vadi" system is why I've never had any characters stay active in the games you don't have systems in.

We, as players, appreciate all your time and effort put into such stellar coding that has made the games more accessible to us all. I already miss you, and I haven't seriously played in quite a while.   

Trevize

Peace, Vadi.

Saeva

Hopefully this frees you up to spend time playing and doing things in game that you haven't felt up to engaging in for a while! Thanks for svo. It has been a stepping stone that kept so many of us involved when we would have otherwise been left in the dust.

Vadimuses

Thanks everyone for the warm wishes. Pretty good feedback for a guy who "destroyed combat in Achaea"

Dochitha said:

@Vadimuses you know you can open source it and still run paid support plans right.

No, see point 4 in Achaea TOS.

Bluef

Thank you, @Vadimuses for making Achaea accessible to those of us who don't code ourselves. I know some people are ecstatic about this thing going open source, but I'm not one of them. I'm going to miss the tech support I have come to rely on. I hope this change means good things for you though because all your hard work has meant great things for so many of us over the years. 

Achilles

Yea, Vadi charged a nominal sum for a product that greatly enhanced the game experience for the vast majority of the player base.  This is game with a steep learning curve and most people would move on well before getting into Achaea were it not for his public system.  So thank you for providing a very cheap solution that saved a ton of time and money for the general player. 

Draekar

Achilles said:

Yea, Vadi charged a nominal sum for a product that greatly enhanced the game experience for the vast majority of the player base.  This is game with a steep learning curve and most people would move on well before getting into Achaea were it not for his public system.  So thank you for providing a very cheap solution that saved a ton of time and money for the general player. 

Yeah I remember how frustrating getting in to combat and curing was.. I spent way too many hours of my life trying to tape together working versions of  the Acropolis curing system and ACP on early versions of zmud and cmud back in the day.

And probably when I was about ready to give up on this game for good and play WoW or playsation 1 and then 2 along came @Vadimuses with Vadi-m and then mudlet.

I have enjoyed my time on Achaea greatly but I would have never kept playing and coming back after breaks if not for Vadi-m and svo.

svo made coming back to Achaea recently after almost a year away a real breeze. It took me all of an hour to setup myself again. I hope the open-source goes well!

Masaryk

Thanks for all the hard work over the years @Vadimuses. I've thoroughly enjoyed the system you created.

Prythe

I would never have become a Dragon without Vadi-m. Plain and simple. Svo took some additional transition/getting used to but was well worth it. Definitely enhanced (and enhances) the experience. Thank you and the less/unsung heroes of your team.

Aelios

@Vadimuses is a hero among a lot of players, as I couldn't fight at all, or code to save my ass, without his expertise, system, and his help. 

That being said, @Makarios
Uh... What are the chances we can have more 'svo-esque' stuff integrated into server-side curing? Open source and all, nudge nudge.