I have not written about the new client for RLC (now 'Utherverse 3D Client') mostly because I didn't feel that the new version was quite ready to be done, yet.  Then, they officially launched the new client and started to shut down the old one yesterday.  They are shutting it down to only 2 regions, and I am not sure why they are doing it, but I am sure they have a reason.

I had been playing around in it for a few weeks before now, and there were a lot of issues in it.  I didn't feel it was really ready for prime time, and that they had rushed to get it out there.  I am not alone, there were a lot of blog and bulletin postings out there saying that it pretty much sucked.  But, being a programmer, I knew that they just needed some time and feedback on it, and it would get better.  So I gave them some time to get things sorted out.  I was even skeptical on the release of it up until yesterday.

I am completely impressed with the progress they have made in the last couple of days.  It is a much better system than before, even though things really haven't changed in the eyes of the end user.  Let me explain a few of these differences. There is the way the chat 'feels', jumping (no longer an issue), ignores, and dancing.

In the old RLC client, the chat text would show up immediately after you typed it, and now you can notice a delay, sometimes the delay is rather long.  Although it is annoying, I am sure they had to do it this way.  In the old, when I was lagging behind, my chat would show up and look normal to me, but to everyone else, it showed up later, and seemed completely out of context.  They re-wrote the chat so that you see your chat at the same time everyone else does.  Although it seems annoying, I bet it will cut down on the confusion, and miscommunications.

There was a huge commotion in the forums and bulletins about the jumping.  In the old, there was a Super Jump.  It was actually a bug, but many people used it, and used it well.  The problem was it allowed them access to places that were not supposed to be accessed.  The new client took that out, and that really pissed a lot of people off.  I was a bit perturbed myself, and hoped the higher ups would get the hint, and put it back in.  They did.  It was a smart move, they actually listen to the users, and try their level best to make them happy.  There is now just a check box for super jump in the options menu.  AND, you can even jump higher than before :).  Here is a little note... the taller your avatar is, the higher you can jump :) (at least that is the case today).

In the old RLC, there was a huge bug with the ignore system.  After awhile, the people you ignored would start showing up in the general chat, and you could even see them.  Sometimes they could even PM you.  That seems to be fixed now.  In fact, you can no longer PM people from the local list, except for in a few places.  That is a good and bad thing.  I think it is a good thing, mostly.

Then comes the really cool stuff, the whole reason that they had to do the new client.  New ways to interact.  We can now slow dance and salsa dance.  I am also sure that there will be more dancing to come.  The old client/server architecture would not allow this type of interaction at all.  This is the core reason they had to re-write the client and server software, almost from scratch (from what I have ascertained). There will be so many new things that it will make your head spin.  VIP members will be getting their own apartments (Zaby's).  New region, and new cities.  Threesomes have been a much anticipated feature, and with the new architecture, it will happen.

In a nutshell, all of the waiting and listening to complaints is going to be worth it.  The new system will allow the network to grow exponentially.  In programmer's lingo, we call it scalability.  This is a great time to be member.  It has been a long time coming, and I am glad to have been a part of watching the whole community, including the users, programmers, and higher ups, grow to what it is today.  I am looking forward to watching continued growth, and hope to meet many new people in the process.

I hope to see you in there!
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