Sometimes the change is a new packet which has yet to be handled by the client.
Other times, and most importantly, the entire database becomes at risk to
a new type of server software, or a new gaming paradigm for that server.
An example was the data that would have been lost if the same game data were
made available to TMWserv at a time when active development and participation
was with tAthena.
Thus TMWServ became Manaserv and went on to be used for "Source of Tales",
"Whispers of Avalon"; as TMW seemed coded in stone by both the expectations
of players and the direction of content development.
A change of server would then have meant losing player data.
This game has and will have many new server features and possible rewrites,
so it is necessary for there to be a "universal export format" for player data.
An export format for player data would make it possible for a player to move
to another server and upload it as a snapshot of their progress, or for
another tool to translate into what is meaningful to the different server.
Code: Select all
<game-backup format="TMWATHENA">
<my-items>
<item type="Simple Knife">My's +9 extra sharp Simple Knife.</item>
</my-items>
<my-stats>
<stats
str="50" ... />
</my-stats>
<my-quests>
<quest name="Easter 2010">
<var id="" val="" />
</quest>
</my-quests>
<!-- ... -->
</game-backup>
A development team would not have to wait for someone to finish a
CSV to SQL script, or an SQL-db1 to SQL-new-db conversion script.
Instead, a user saves a copy of their stats to their own computer through
a client request, the response is exported as maybe Open Document Fomat.
That allows for a new server which does not have STR,AGI,DEX.. to see
that the format is "TMWATHENA" and possibly convert to the equivalent numbers
used by that servers paradigm.
It would allow unrelated games to interpret very different save files.
Maybe that game simply wants to check what the player on "TMWATHENA" was doing
during "Easter 2010", so to relate that information maybe unlocking a secret
room and nothing else, or maybe it sees "Simple Knife" and can determine
whether the item is implemented or how to translate the data field into what
the other server understands as a "Simple Knife", regardless of support for
the customizations to that item that might be supported in some different way
in the future.
The downside is that the file can be tampered with, Someone running tests
would have a use to change the key and val pairs.
The benefit is the possibility of swapping servers without needing a reset.
This idea is something I will be working on over the long-term as it does
seem feasible and I've already penned down my stats in proprietary games for
the unlikely event that I want to clone them or remember something about my time with them.