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I personally prefer managing account creation directly through the client, as it provides a seamless and integrated user experience. The website, in turn, should focus on aesthetic and informative content — such as server details, a wiki, client downloads, and general updates. There's no need to include account registration or ranking systems on the site itself. This approach not only simplifies the player's onboarding process but also allows the website to serve as a potential source of passive income through traffic-based monetization, much like blogs and content-driven platforms that earn revenue from visits and ad engagement.
Wait what? i did not....... maybe you should read what i said better.
I never said nostalgia. i said its better because when expanding to a playerbase beyond otland or whatever having an engine that is plug and play download and run without needing to install a website etc because that can be a lot for people is amazing. and not even that in game account creation is also pretty neat when done correctly as i have big plans for it without needing the website to create account etc.
Wait what? i did not....... maybe you should read what i said better.
I never said nostalgia. i said its better because when expanding to a playerbase beyond otland or whatever having an engine that is plug and play download and run without needing to install a website etc because that can be a lot for people is amazing. and not even that in game account creation is also pretty neat when done correctly as i have big plans for it without needing the website to create account etc.
Me Again definitely gave the exact reason that we do need an ingame account manager... maybe Open Tibia servers don't need an ingame account manager, but you have to remember my goal is not to make an Open Tibia Emulator, its to transform the current Open Tibia Emulator into a full fledged custom game engine instead..
When was the last time you had to setup a server on a remote VPS? Do you recall there being a skill gap? Are you experienced in dealing with the sheer volume of steps required to take just to be able to start the server up and login to test? This skill bar is something that blocks thousands if not millions of potential users of the engine... and to say something along the lines of "if they aren't smart enough to set up an ot on a remote vps they shouldn't be trying to run an ot" is just an ignorant retort that holds no bearing on this conversation if someone were to say it... The fact is, there are plenty of smart people in the world who may come across such a project and stop even trying before they really get started simply because they don't think it's worth the time or the effort...
What years were Open Tibia most popular? Many would say something like 2007 - 2010, some might even go to say it was still very popular all the way up until 2012.... Well, when open tibia was most popular in game account managers were still in OT servers.... the same time the decline in popularity hit is the same time that the ingame account managers were deprecated and completely removed and used...
It is true you as well as others could argue that it was because of how popular real tibia was, or that it just in general had nothing to do with the in-game account manager, but the truth is neither of us can prove the reason behind each and every visitor who declined interest in becoming an OT dev, their reason for doing so... we just don't know...
Here is what I do know, when I started OT development, I had believed it might be difficult to start one and was slightly discouraged by that thought until a friend told me "you can't run an on OT on one computer"... and I hate being told I can't do something, and so I sat out to prove him wrong (without those motivations, the intimidation of setting up a game like that might have been enough to drive me away).. Once I downloaded my first OT and it ran without any problems and I made a few adjustments to the config.lua I was captivated! It was so satisfying to start making small edits like the "server name" change, or "message of the day", until I got to where I was editing my account for gm access and creating cool talkactions for myself! I was completely hooked, and here I am almost two decades later and I'm still in it!
What's my point? The community isn't "dying" it's dead already. Clearly the goals of emulating tibia to make money, and some bad decisions and drama within the community has lead to this direct death of the community because tibia itself is actualy thriving (regardless of what people in this community's feelings are about the state of the game at this point)... The only way to reverse this decline (or build up a new community) is to get back to what appealed to "new users" in the first place..... and I can tell you right now, a 30 minute guide on how to compile, followed by a two hour guide on how to set everything up properly so they can login IS NOT APPEALING TO ANYONE.
What is not needed for any reason at all... is a cast system. There is literally dozens of free or open source software (not to mention paid softwares) out there for achieving that exact goal... streaming. Why the hell should I add in bloated overhead to both a server and a client, just to add a "feature" that is already freely available with your choice of software or even platform (like discord and twitch for example)?
So while I appreciate suggestions and requests, I don't need anyone telling me that what I am doing is "not needed", "unnecessary", "pointless" or just "not wanted"... The ingame account manager will be able to be enabled or disabled via config.lua, so there is no reason to dislike it being added as an optional feature.
I really appreciate the way you explained it — and I completely agree. Having an in-game account manager is a crucial step toward making the engine more accessible, especially for newcomers who might not have the technical knowledge to deal with databases, websites, or VPS setups.
It's not just about nostalgia — it's about usability and lowering the entry barrier for future developers and players alike. When things are simple and intuitive, people are more likely to stay, explore, and contribute. I also believe a well-designed account manager inside the client makes the game feel more complete as a standalone project, not just a Tibia emulator.
As for streaming systems or other heavy features, you're absolutely right — we should focus on what's essential and unique to the engine itself. Keep doing what you're doing — it's inspiring to see someone committed to improving the core experience.
I recently wanted to add this to my project. Reason being is allowing further classes to be picked in the future and not forcing players out onto the website besides creating the initial account(which can also be solved using this system)
a general advice in life: Its not automatically bad just because you dont see an immediate benefit of something.
I was pushed to the limits to discover what was possible, and it seems we can actually create the account manager to operate completely within the client, at least, we don't need to have a player in the world to do so... what do you guys think? Is this the way to go or what?
If your goals is to make this engine not only for Tibia then you have to start building your own client fork with this as well too. This account creation is very not user friendly for non-tibia player. For easy run & play simply make sample characters gm, non game with admin/admin credentials. If you think you can reuse later this logic within your own custom client then you're wrong- everything will have to be deleted later and this will be a wasted time apart of a good time having fun. The best approach would be to make account creation through HTTP API so later it is easy to integrate with google play, steam and etc also you can think in-advance how to make creating new vocations, descriptions and etc configurable for the developer.
Furthermore, to answer the question is the "account manager" old-school approach? For sure not, only TIBIA players are used to do anything via the website. Normally people never use any websites to do any in-game stuff. Do you imagine that you download a game from play store and creating the account via some fishy website link? Or watching highscores through a web interface? This is all nonsense for every other game player. Same is applicable for computer player- you don't create accounts. You use same account from steam and interact with the game only through game client. Using the website for making in-game stuff is a legacy approach that ended in the early 2000s. FYI: The same is implemented in my game or OTS w\e we call it.
I remember times of 7.6 where half of the servers used in-game accounts managers OR predefined accounts (this one for war servers). I've might be old tho
If your goals is to make this engine not only for Tibia then you have to start building your own client fork with this as well too. This account creation is very not user friendly for non-tibia player. For easy run & play simply make sample characters gm, non game with admin/admin credentials. If you think you can reuse later this logic within your own custom client then you're wrong- everything will have to be deleted later and this will be a wasted time apart of a good time having fun. The best approach would be to make account creation through HTTP API so later it is easy to integrate with google play, steam and etc also you can think in-advance how to make creating new vocations, descriptions and etc configurable for the developer.
Well for starters, I disagree with your statement about this account creation not being "user friendly". Not just myself, but many others, you can find us in the discord if you want to see for yourself. I talk with people, and there has actually been a lot of positive and negative feedback about this topic to say the least... but let's just agree to disagree on that opinion about what is or isn't more user friendly.
Addressing other points: To tell me I won't be able to reuse the code I write now is assuming a lot, too much in fact; I say this because to also address your other point about a client, is that I am making a client from scratch. I don't care how long it takes, I don't care that there are plenty of good clients already. I don't care that other's won't contribute to it. I care about not just learning, but mastering all the skills that are required to create not only a game server, but a game client as well. So with that in mind, my goal is to match the tibia protocol myself from ground up to the 10.98 so I learn everything I need to change EVERYTHING. YES, this is indeed the longest route I could take on such a path... it's that way intentionally.
So, you see... Once I have my own client written the way I want, to match the tibia protocol, who says I can't enhance the modal window code? How do you know I won't extend the modal window api to be extremely robust? You don't. You are just presuming many things.
As for the perspective about what is the "norm" for how games are played and accounts are made on PC, I believe you are again, assuming a lot. Steam is not that popular as you think, and the most popular games in the world actually allow you to signup in client via linking of a social media account. This is the norm. Creating accounts, through the client. That's what players are used to doing! My approach is just a step towards the right direction.
The most important thing is that every single person who comes at me about what is "user friendly" or "why I shouldn't do this", is that you guys overlook the most important reason I am doing it, and that is to get the server one step closer to being standalone, download and run... The way it's supposed to be!
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P.S. I appreciate everyone's opinion, but the people who tell me I shouldn't do this, are those who don't use my software... mostly. My users are excited about this in progress feature, and it's gonna happen regardless.
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P.S. P.S. Those users who are not creating through the client because they are using a launcher like steam.. I would say, steam is software, not a website, and those users are able to play many games by quickly signing in through their software <--- this is what a client is, software.
Its obviously in-game and meant to be placeholder until actual in-client acc making can be done in otc/custom client.
Now its in-game as skeleton and to allow it to work in limited 10.98 cip client
Still, this primitive acc can be used by people who dont know how to setup website (a lot here on otland barely know how) and 2nd case if somebody wanted to make tfs into singleplayer thing. I had such plans but decided instead to just make my engine from the ground
Well for starters, I disagree with your statement about this account creation not being "user friendly". Not just myself, but many others, you can find us in the discord if you want to see for yourself. I talk with people, and there has actually been a lot of positive and negative feedback about this topic to say the least... but let's just agree to disagree on that opinion about what is or isn't more user friendly.
Addressing other points: To tell me I won't be able to reuse the code I write now is assuming a lot, too much in fact; I say this because to also address your other point about a client, is that I am making a client from scratch. I don't care how long it takes, I don't care that there are plenty of good clients already. I don't care that other's won't contribute to it. I care about not just learning, but mastering all the skills that are required to create not only a game server, but a game client as well. So with that in mind, my goal is to match the tibia protocol myself from ground up to the 10.98 so I learn everything I need to change EVERYTHING. YES, this is indeed the longest route I could take on such a path... it's that way intentionally.
So, you see... Once I have my own client written the way I want, to match the tibia protocol, who says I can't enhance the modal window code? How do you know I won't extend the modal window api to be extremely robust? You don't. You are just presuming many things.
As for the perspective about what is the "norm" for how games are played and accounts are made on PC, I believe you are again, assuming a lot. Steam is not that popular as you think, and the most popular games in the world actually allow you to signup in client via linking of a social media account. This is the norm. Creating accounts, through the client. That's what players are used to doing! My approach is just a step towards the right direction.
The most important thing is that every single person who comes at me about what is "user friendly" or "why I shouldn't do this", is that you guys overlook the most important reason I am doing it, and that is to get the server one step closer to being standalone, download and run... The way it's supposed to be!
Post automatically merged:
P.S. I appreciate everyone's opinion, but the people who tell me I shouldn't do this, are those who don't use my software... mostly. My users are excited about this in progress feature, and it's gonna happen regardless.
Post automatically merged:
P.S. P.S. Those users who are not creating through the client because they are using a launcher like steam.. I would say, steam is software, not a website, and those users are able to play many games by quickly signing in through their software <--- this is what a client is, software.
I wanted to congratulate you on the great work you're doing.
Remember, you're not working for the people who post here; you're doing something great, and I'd like to contribute my little bit.
Account and character creation on the client is the most important thing to consider on a private server, especially if you don't want to have a security flaw on the website. Even if the website were to be attacked, it wouldn't affect the game or the server. Great.
The next thing I would look into is moving away from Cipsoft regarding sprites and copyrights.
Otherwise, congratulations and I will continue to follow the development of this project.
