opinions on the current state of pr2
#1
Am I seriously the only one who thinks that some of the additions to the game this past year have been absolutely atrocious and pointless? 

There's the change to Artifacts for example; you cannot find the Artifact on an account under rank 30? What the hell is that? What kind of purpose does that serve? If you find the artifact you should be allowed to do whatever you want with the prize, and find it on whichever account you desire.

The account deletion script is completely unnecessary as well, who thought it was a good idea to automatically delete accounts based on some requirements? It kind of sets the standards for what an account is allowed to be, according to the Staff Team, instead of allowing users to choose what they want to do with their accounts without fearing that it might get deleted, showing them that an account is basically useless unless it is above the rank of 15. There are so many Rank 0 accounts with countless amounts of good and important levels that have been deleted recently, just because of inactivity. 

Not to mention that this script is a direct spit in the face of people like me who owned A LOT of low-Rank accounts with the Bubble Set that have been deleted from the game with no compensation at all, just because I didn't make sure to log into them because I wasn't aware of the revival of the script. 

The aforementioned script has been broken for as long as I can remember until someone in the Staff Team decided that it should be fixed. These changes have made the game much less enjoyable for me, who has lost so much thanks to these decisions, and I'm sure that I'm not alone in thinking this. The current state of Platform Racing 2 is much worse now than how it was a couple of years ago, and at times I honestly wish the source code was never re-discovered, as we would have been without these outright draconian decisions today.
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#2
lol salty
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#3
(6th June 2019, 5:14 PM)Camer the Dragon Wrote: lol salty

Thank you for this mature input, I appreciate it thoroughly.
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#4
I do completely agree with your point about the script; I agree that we're deleting history and that's why I never voiced my unpopular opinion on the topic.

about the artifact I think there are two different viewpoints, one being your own. the other would be built out of frustration that actual insignificant accounts keep claiming the prizes, and it does come down to the way you look at it.
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#5
the worst thing is that i am not mod tbqh
life can be cut short. try to enjoy it.
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#6
I would go to Ask a Mod to ask about those lost accounts
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#7
Just in case the admins forgot where the mod button was
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#8
(6th June 2019, 5:11 PM)Saurus Wrote: Am I seriously the only one who thinks that some of the additions to the game this past year have been absolutely atrocious and pointless?

Most likely. It's an eleven year old flash game on life support at the moment, with a sequel on the way. You should be grateful that the game is receiving at least a modicum of attention, even updates, no less.

Quote:There's the change to Artifacts for example; you cannot find the Artifact on an account under rank 30? What the hell is that? What kind of purpose does that serve? If you find the artifact you should be allowed to do whatever you want with the prize, and find it on whichever account you desire.

The purpose of the limitation is to prevent those who have already found their artifact on their main account to snipe the Bubble Set with a fresh alternate account that more than likely won't be touched. This is also to allow other users who may be less fortunate in their time trying to find the artifact (e.g., timezones can get in the way, lack of time to play the game, etc.), which means they may never have a shot at the Bubble Set at all. And considering that simming/macroing is a large part of why people play this game nowadays, getting to Rank 30 on a fresh account shouldn't be an issue at all.

Quote:The account deletion script is completely unnecessary as well, who thought it was a good idea to automatically delete accounts based on some requirements? It kind of sets the standards for what an account is allowed to be, according to the Staff Team, instead of allowing users to choose what they want to do with their accounts without fearing that it might get deleted, showing them that an account is basically useless unless it is above the rank of 15. There are so many Rank 0 accounts with countless amounts of good and important levels that have been deleted recently, just because of inactivity.

This is certainly arguable, I'll give you this one. However, from a developer's standpoint, it may be better to clear up database clutter and to free up usernames.

Quote:Not to mention that this script is a direct spit in the face of people like me who owned A LOT of low-Rank accounts with the Bubble Set that have been deleted from the game with no compensation at all, just because I didn't make sure to log into them because I wasn't aware of the revival of the script. 

Yeah, but...why do you need so many alternate accounts with the Bubble Set in the first place? What does this achieve, other than taking away what other users could've gotten? With the new system in place, you get a 10,000 EXP bonus when you get the artifact again after finding it for the first time, which is much more rewarding than just making a new account you will never touch because its only purpose was to find the Artifact first.

Quote:The aforementioned script has been broken for as long as I can remember until someone in the Staff Team decided that it should be fixed. These changes have made the game much less enjoyable for me, who has lost so much thanks to these decisions, and I'm sure that I'm not alone in thinking this. The current state of Platform Racing 2 is much worse now than how it was a couple of years ago, and at times I honestly wish the source code was never re-discovered, as we would have been without these outright draconian decisions today.

Considering that it was an intentional feature made by Jiggmin that was fixed, I guess the game was always supposed to be a draconian hellscape. And you also failed to mention many of the awful new game-ruining features, like a hat/part completion catalog, a new effect for the Moon Hat, and two new sets.
And it's indeed a shame that those sub-Rank 15 players' levels that haven't touched the game since 2010 have been deleted. Those 100% unique trap levels, hotels, and block spam will certainly be missed.
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#9
(6th June 2019, 5:11 PM)Saurus Wrote: Am I seriously the only one who thinks that some of the additions to the game this past year have been absolutely atrocious and pointless? 

...

First off I actually want to thank you for speaking up about current state of pr2 in a pretty civil manner. There has been lots of people who have disliked the updates and staff activities, and have "flamed" the mods and admins on discord and such, spreading hate more so than anything. And usually they get banned or some sort. As a result, many of my friends who have once played pr2 have quit after being banned/following the lead of others who have also quit. 


But yea, I also agree that some of the latest additions to this game were pretty controversial. If this occurred only a few times, I think pr2 would not be in the state it is in. However, there were enough controversial updates that they would sometimes overshadow the good updates. 

For example, here are some controversial updates/things (this is very opinionated so yea): 
  • Changing the size of text (its larger than before, and it made a lot of levels seem a bit off)
  • Changing the undo/redo button for placing players in a block (luckily there were other methods to do place players in a block besides the default "mapleleaf" method)
  • Blocking pr2 from being played from non-approved locations (this prevents naxxol, the advanced level editor, from working, and lots of team sites)
  • Right clicking for quality low/zooming in (luckily this still be done by clicking settings after right clicking, then right clicking again for the familiar menu to appear, tedious though)
  • Error: Slow down a bit, yo. (maybe prevents botting, but controversial tradeoff)
  • Fixing that account deletion script
  • Fixing cowboy+speed burst (not really fixed, but before if you hit an item block only once, you would be able to use speed burst just fine. If you help up under an item block, then you would have speed burst, and your acceleration would not 100, but would be the acceleration of your stats before you entered the level. Made a level with this mechanic before) 
  • Patching 200+ speed santa hat (idk was a cool glitch)
  • Making the code for newer pr2 levels incompatible with the tas (only affected 3 or 4 people so no biggie)
  • Patching the item glitch (well it does make luck tests ok again, but pretty bad for speedrunning. controversial tradeoff)
  • Changing how bubble set is awarded (although I do not really dislike this update, some people do)
  • Preventing too many levels from being published from the same ip
Some pointless/not really impactful updates (imo/in my opinion)
  • question mark next to the sets
  • changing the descriptions for awarded parts, and items
Good updates (imo)
  • moon hat
  • campaign tabs
  • new options menu
  • clickable links in chat and non-case sensitive commands
  • larger level editor
  • feels like there's more but can't really think of any atm
There has also been some controversial staff activities, especially regarding the pr2 banning system. People are easily warned these days, as there are more chat rules, and people get warned or banned if they break the chat rules regardless of the context. A lot of people that I know have been banned before (at least 70%), and I believe that if too people you know have been banned, there starts to be hate towards the mods and admins. 

Overall, imo, pr2 is in a mess, and its even tiring to talk about it. A primary reason I believe is that, sure the staff act for the betterment of pr2. However, forcing their good intentions upon others is a bad thing to do.
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#10
I was going to reply to OP, but Northadox nailed it. I'm going to respond to bi3liu instead. Responses are bolded, inline.

(6th June 2019, 11:36 PM)bi3liu Wrote: For example, here are some controversial updates/things (this is very opinionated so yea): 
  • Changing the size of text (its larger than before, and it made a lot of levels seem a bit off) - this is actually a bug and not an intended change. I'm working on a fix for this in the next version.
  • Changing the undo/redo button for placing players in a block (luckily there were other methods to do place players in a block besides the default "mapleleaf" method) - this broke in decompilation and I have no idea where to even start looking as to how to fix this.
  • Blocking pr2 from being played from non-approved locations (this prevents naxxol, the advanced level editor, from working, and lots of team sites) - I actually allowed naxxol a few months ago. I understand the concern, though. If embedded properly, the SWF should work on any site and say the referrer is pr2hub.com.
  • Right clicking for quality low/zooming in (luckily this still be done by clicking settings after right clicking, then right clicking again for the familiar menu to appear, tedious though) - this hasn't been there for a few years, but I have no problem adding these options back.
  • Error: Slow down a bit, yo. (maybe prevents botting, but controversial tradeoff) - this error appears in a few different places; to which instance are you referring? I can look into increasing the threshold for that error to be triggered.
  • Fixing that account deletion script - see Northadox's response. Since it was Jiggmin who made this script in the first place, I would have to speak to him about his wishes. I feel it important to note that this script only triggers if the user hasn't logged in for three years. Additionally, I wasn't even the one that fixed this. Another user wanted more names to add to his arsenal of over 200 accounts, so he not only fixed the script, but increased the rank required for the account to be saved.
  • Fixing cowboy+speed burst (not really fixed, but before if you hit an item block only once, you would be able to use speed burst just fine. If you help up under an item block, then you would have speed burst, and your acceleration would not 100, but would be the acceleration of your stats before you entered the level. Made a level with this mechanic before) - if I'm understanding correctly, this sounds like it's related to the good ol' fashioned stat block with speed burst glitch. This is also on my list to fix. Perhaps someone can make a video to give me a better understanding of the glitch? Intended, actual effects, etc.
  • Patching 200+ speed santa hat (idk was a cool glitch) - sorry
  • Making the code for newer pr2 levels incompatible with the tas (only affected 3 or 4 people so no biggie) - it is never my intention to inconvenience anyone in the TAS community; is there a specific problem?
  • Patching the item glitch (well it does make luck tests ok again, but pretty bad for speedrunning. controversial tradeoff) - I'd like to work on a way for users to select the items they want in a level on the tournament server. That fix would solve this issue.
  • Changing how bubble set is awarded (although I do not really dislike this update, some people do) - see Northadox's post
  • Preventing too many levels from being published from the same ip - this is a spam prevention thing; it only applies to page one, since people would spam level creation for a full first page in newest. I'm open to suggestions on how to better solve this issue.
Some pointless/not really impactful updates (imo/in my opinion) - most of the awarded parts never had descriptions; I added descriptions for the heads/bodies/feet, and IIRC the hat descriptions were only changed if their effect changed (moon). what's the problem with these?
  • question mark next to the sets
  • changing the descriptions for awarded parts, and items
There has also been some controversial staff activities, especially regarding the pr2 banning system. People are easily warned these days, as there are more chat rules, and people get warned or banned if they break the chat rules regardless of the context. - I think the reason people think there are more chat rules is because PR2 had no official rule set after JV went down. These rules, for the most part, are the same ones that applied in 2015 (with small updates made as situations arose, e.g. artifact level editing).

A lot of people that I know have been banned before (at least 70%), and I believe that if too people you know have been banned, there starts to be hate towards the mods and admins. - It is never our intention to upset anyone with our decisions, but ultimately we will end up doing so when disciplinary actions are involved. If anyone feels that they've been mistreated, they're welcome to appeal the ban in Ask a Mod.

There's a lot of really good stuff here and I want to thank you and Saurus for sharing your thoughts. Please, if anyone else has any concerns, don't hesitate to let us know.


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#11
Rest in peace, julls.
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#12
(7th June 2019, 2:10 PM)bls1999 Wrote: I was going to reply to OP, but Northadox nailed it. I'm going to respond to bi3liu instead. Responses are bolded, inline.


There's a lot of really good stuff here and I want to thank you and Saurus for sharing your thoughts. Please, if anyone else has any concerns, don't hesitate to let us know.

I'd select the specific bit but quoting is only 1 deep here I guess

For the item selection on tourney server, make it so you can set stats other than 65/65/65, maybe just give rank 45 stats that you can adjust
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#13
(7th June 2019, 2:10 PM)bls1999 Wrote: I was going to reply to OP, but Northadox nailed it. I'm going to respond to bi3liu instead. Responses are bolded, inline.


There's a lot of really good stuff here and I want to thank you and Saurus for sharing your thoughts. Please, if anyone else has any concerns, don't hesitate to let us know.



I can see your viewpoint behind why many of the updates were passed. The thing is, the tradeoff for some of the more impactful updates are pretty controversial, and I am able argue for both sides for a lot of them. The unintended bugs also do not help. 

I know a lot of people who dislike the staff, and I am able to emphasize with them. A lot of them deal with bans. Well about appealing bans, in my case, I was banned for spamming levels back when there was no limit to publishing them, and I was reluctant to appeal them, as they did not last very long. However, a lot of people I know also had these minor infractions, and were did not appeal them, and would rather wait day or so. The thing about this is that there are a lot of people who had these one-off bans, and they are able to relate to those who got those longer ones. And I believe if too many people you know have gotten banned, and there are a few of them who really speak out about it, there starts to be a negative viewpoint about the mods/admins. 

The reason I say pr2 is in a mess, is that there is like a division in how one views the staff. There's some people who really dislike the staff members, due to their personal run-ins with them, or how the group they are in share a similar mindset, and for them, it is really hard to justify the actions of a mod/admin, because it is easy to point out all the bugs and mistakes they have made. There's also some people who look up to the staff members, as they were not as impacted by the actions of staff, and despite the small incidents that were made on the path, the staff members all have good intentions, and in the end there are tangible results. Kudos to you if you do not share either viewpoint. 

Anyways, I would like to thank you guys for still going on to update pr2 despite all the criticism and the fact that it's a 11 year old flash game. I feel that it sometimes must suck to be a mod/admin. But hopefully you guys keep striving to improve this game (tho idk what will happen when/if prf comes) and somehow make amends with each other.
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#14
the game is ran by a bunch of idiots. they should of just left it how it was. the staff are laughin jokin numb-nuts . they made the game worse lmao
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#15
I dont like the account deleteions no wonder i couldent find a couple of my friends levels..
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