Something I have to say [NO LONGER SETTING WRs, NOT LEAVING COMMUNITY]

Hey all, StewMan46 here (or as some of you know me in real life, Stewart Inglis). I'm here to say that I'm quitting playing for World Records (but I'm not leaving the community). I was going to quit permanently, but I've now changed my mind. I'll still play MB but WR's are no longer important to me. That said, I'll still Skype and play some MP once in a while too.
Thanks for reading.

StewMan46 wrote: The reasons I'm quitting are;
- Engine is from 2001/2002
- WR setting is hard work
- Game is also very buggy at times
I'll continue until 4th January or whenever the community dies (which is very likely before that).

Somehow, I feel that these reasons don't exactly justify quitting the game. Real life aside, the fact that the engine is old doesn't make much of a difference in terms of playability. The only reason we'd want a newer engine is to get better graphics and to fix bugs. Graphics for a game like this isn't super important for Marble Blast in my opinion, and the MBP team are fixing engine bugs as we speak. Wait until after MBP 1.50 officially releases, or at least RC1, before criticizing bugs in the game. For WR's, there are many people here that stay here without wanting to have a WR, myself included. And finally, for the last statement, you seem to have very little optimism for the community. We have had many more visiting members since the new MarbleBlast website, with future updates still in store. I'm quite willing to wait for the future changes that are to come around.

Just my thoughts.

~PM

For the WR's, my point is that they cause huge amounts of stress/anxiety for me (part of autism). The engine probably won't be supported long after I quit and the game just doesn't have any consistency for me anymore anyway. Your points are very clear PM, but I'm just gonna quit anyway. Thanks for making my experience a good one PM.

Hey StewMan,

Sorry to see you go, you're another one of those members that's consistently online and always available for a quick match or two. Just wanted to jump in here and provide some more clarity to some of the points you brought up:

- The Marble Blast Gold / Platinum Engine is an early "test" version of Torque Game Engine, and has been unsupported since the release of Marble Blast many many years ago. It is also the only engine we have the rights to use for releasing Marble Blast modifications. If we wish to transition to a new engine, it would have to be custom scripted and all of the scripting for Marble Blast would be overhauled. That's not to say we haven't thought about it, and the staff are definitely interested in making a more modern version at some point in the future.

- The Marble Blast Community is certainly far from dying. We've seen an almost 250% increase in new user registrations and website logins since the launch of this new website in January of this year. A majority of these users choose not to post on the forums or interact in the shoutbox or webchat, but nonetheless they consistently login and play the game from time to time. The average new user plays roughly an hour of marble blast per week. I have no doubts this activity can only increase as we near the release of a stable version of MBP 1.50 as well as the open beta for MBF.

- As for game bugs and unresolved issues, the current Multiplayer version of MBP is in it's Beta stage. The very nature of a beta client is to expect bugs, expect issues, and expect crashes to go unresolved until a major update is released. The current client does not support real time updating for files, so as a result the majority of users have to live with these issues until a more stable and finalized package can be uploaded and tested by users on the site. I am currently working with HiGuy to develop a launcher application that should hopefully fix this issue by allowing users to grab the latest changes in real time when launching the game in order to reduce the download time and increase the usability experience.

I hope this provides you some more insight into the issues you brought up in your original post (both for you and other concerned community members). I also want to make it clear I find it acceptable that you wish to move on from Marble Blast - after all, there's lots of other exciting games on the market that are just craving for our attention, and of course your education, family, and friends outside of the Internet should come as a priority over what you choose to do in your free time

I wish you the best of luck in wherever your travels take you, and Mega Marble, kids.
~Aayrl

Regarding WRs... here's a fun fact: I hold none in MBG/P. That's right. None.
Custom levels? sure but who ever plays the levels I do? WRs I did held in customs on LBs were long since gone (last one was one of AoMP's). Best part is I don't care I'm having way too much fun in MB to even care about records.

Engine support hang on, since when did it have support? we don't have source code for it. What we're doing are modifications by debugging it for dozens of hours to even figure out what's even in it and then hours and hours of trial and error to implement changes.

Game not having consistency is probably why. It is an interesting point of view but it's yours.

Stew, I wish you the best of luck in the future, but I know that you will be coming back to this game eventually. I've 'quit' this game about 3 times, and I haven't been able to really let go. It's just too damn fun .

Thanks guys!!! Edited the first post so it wouldn't be so negative.

Awwww, sad to see you go. I totally understand that real life always comes in the way of MB, I myself had quit MB 3 times due to busy studies and exams.
But

RC wrote: I've 'quit' this game about 3 times, and I haven't been able to really let go. It's just too damn fun .

totally reflects my experience in MB. No matter it's loss of interest or real life, MB's extreme fascination is never forgotten. I look forward to seeing you back at some point.

I also hold the same view to Matan regarding WRs. I am usually not even close to many WRs, but as long as I'm having fun with playing, why bother?

I agree with Imperial, it would take me probably 2 years playing the same level strait to get a world record. So I like doing custom levels, where WRs don't matter.

Bye/See you later

I quit working on MBP 2 times, I quit playing this game....4 times?

Look where I am now

This game you can't just leave and get away from. See ya within a few months of your departure.

Edited first post as I'm no longer leaving community.