[FAQ] Modules

Q: What is a module?
A: A module is a collection of patches representing one piece of content that is released into a Maplestory version. Think of it as a FAQ for every new piece of content.

Q: Why have modules?
A: Although having patch extractions are nice and wonderful, there are problems that can occur with these extractions:

- Later extractions can contradict earlier extractions. This requires that people read more in order to stay updated.
- Some extractions which only change a few items are never posted, being deemed "not noteworthy". In this manner, all extractions will update the module thread.
- After KMST moves on to a new piece of content, people can now have a place to discuss old content for which there is no current relevant forum.
- There is no central location for up-to-date patch data with traditional extractions. As new information is learned or released about a given piece of content, the relevant module can then be updated without affecting extractions.
- Each patch is quickly outdated by the next patch. Modules stay relevant for far longer than an extraction - all the way to the release date.

Q: What do the prefixes mean?
A: It lists where the content originated from. So Greece would be listed as KMST, but the Alien event would be listed as GMS.

Q: What if there are two similar, yet different pieces of content?
A: If there's a Neo Tokyo and Neo City, they will each get their own modules.

Q: So if KMST releases content X and GMS releases content X too, what happens?
A: A full extraction is always, always posted. It will then link to the module thread, and then users will be able to see how it differs (if at all) from the KMST version. Unless the content released is sufficiently different, no new module will be created. A new module is not created to fix the language barrier. The old module is not updated to fix the language barrier.

Q: What if you can't fit everything in one topic?
A: Links will be placed at the header of each relevant thread so that they all link together. Multiple module threads are then created.

Q: If a later module contradicts a previous module, what happens?
A: A new module is created with the new information and the old module is untouched. The idea is that each module is timeless.

Nice concept, Fiel! :f2: Will definitely be very useful. Will you be only doing this for future patches, or for past content as well?

Only future patches. Past patches are a sunk cost.

This is exactly what I was looking for :f2: Thanks Fiel.

Pretty awesome. Althought it would be fun for last patches too but i understand it need a lot of work so it's ok :f2:

Sorry I'm Clueless I read over everything but what EXACTLY is this?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SwordStaker

Sorry I'm Clueless I read over everything but what EXACTLY is this?

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one week greece gets added, a topic for greece is made
two weeks later they add a new area and make some changes to greece. there would be a new topic for the new area and greece topic would be edited with all changes.

there are also small patches that fiel doesn't post. if they make any small changes to existing areas, fiel will update their topic. it's just meant for people to keep up-to-date in the event that we ever see the same happenings as when the rebalance was made and there were 40 topics about the same skills being changed over and over and it was really difficult to keep up with.

or that's my interpretation of it, at least.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Polka

or that's my interpretation of it, at least.

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Or another example, say, Masteria content.
If you're one of the those annoying players who comes in and says "tell me everything that's changed in NLC since 2002 when I last looked at Maple" you could be pointed at the Masteria Module and see how it currently is without having to wade through every single extraction to see how it got there and seeing all the bits that were changed in subsequent patches and are no longer true.

Now replace Masteria in the example with "all future content" since he's not backfilling. Done.

Close, Eos.

NLC is one module. CWK is another module although it's an addition to a previous module. The general idea for determining dividing lines between modules is how one would generally picture Nexon releasing content. Are they likely to release NLC and CWK at the same time? If yes, then they belong together. If no, keep them separate. The area of the game is not important, the way it's released is important.

So let's say they release a piece of content, and included with that is the accuracy change for poison mist and powerguard. Where does it go? It goes with the content that makes that change.

I dont see how it is any different than what you are doing now with the Extractions...

Did you read the second question?

More than once. lol

Wait, ahh I thought Modules were replacing Extractions, not being additional and complementary.

FANTASTIC system, Paul. Definitely would have been great for Big Bang, obviously, but with just how drastic the "module" there changed the game, and how quickly and thoroughly information was viraled around the world, it worked out in the end. But hey, now we have it!

Get ready to allocate a lot of bandwidth to this subforum. Perhaps the biggest complaint I had when directing people here to research particular facets of the Big Bang patches was that the information was spread out, and they didn't feel like sifting through everything to get the latest news. To say these modules will become major traffic locations is an understatement for upcoming game-changing content.

With the server my static content is running on, bandwidth isn't even close to being an issue. Server load is non-existant. I could easily take 10,000 - 20,000 downloads of PNGs at a time which is more than enough for here.

Another issue before is that everyone here reads my topics, so they all stay as updated as I am, but realistically not everyone outside of these boards reads my topics. So these Modules should be good for people who just want one page to view about everything.

So in a nutshell, if we view extractions as the horizontal lines, modules should be vertical, correct?

A patch extraction lists the content in the newest .patch file, which may or may not contain update(s) on various things.
A module is a history of updates of one of those things throughout multiple patches?

I'm asking because, if it is as I think it is, we should have about a hundred Modules by now, not one. Unless it's not retroactive.

Not retroactive. I do not have the time to backfill that far.

One thing I'll probably end up changing is that when a module is created the extraction will point to the module instead of having duplicate information. This also means that more people who want to refer to Southperry will reference the module (good thing!) and that it just allows one thread for people to discuss the content (good thing!).

My only questions are with the advent of Big Bang coming to GMS. Do you think it will be covered in depth with the adding of a module? Or will it just be a quick little log of what was contained in the section with the capability to be brought up to date with what ever changes have come since the introduction of certain content with newer additions? Otherwise I haven't got much reason to complain about the presentation of the content being added or if there is much more to come that we don't quite know yet.

The problems with creating a Big Bang module would be:

- It would take a lot of time for me to cover all of the changes that happened.
- I would be simply repeating what other sources have already aggregated from this site.
- There is not much else that is left uncovered by other sites. What already exists is fine.

I don't want to copy work for the sake of making sure that there's a Big Bang module. What's done is done. Use the resources already available to you.