March 19, 2023 Update

Greetings!

I will try to make this as concise and precise as possible.

Myself and the active admins have come to the conclusion and agreed, we are going to be taking a break and pausing the live server.

The donation pool has us evenly covered through the month of April (approximately the 23rd), and I’ve decided that’s a good place to cap it off. I’ve already removed the donation button from the website, and I’ll ask anyone with recurring donations to please cancel them. I will be refunding the donations that have come in past our last bill payment, as they are not necessary (donations that have arrived after the first week of March, there are 2).

I will be keeping the website and web server online. The website will contain all future updates for the Sunrunner II content and code. The web server will hold the databases of our current server (it is already our archive location). The server *will* be able to start again precisely where it left off. I’ll be turning off structure maintenance and any other decaying factors that use *real* time to calculate (city updates, etc).

This is not the end of it all, it’s just a way for us to:

a) Take a break, we desperately need a break. It has been 4 years for Sammies and Sin, and it has been 6 years for myself. I want to formally learn to code and reinforce everything I have *inferred* from studying and learning through SWGEMU for these years.

b) Look at the future. Do we want to start a brand new server once SWGEMU hits 1.0 and JTL is finished? Do we want to repair and resurrect Sunrunner II? We don’t know yet. We don’t know what the SWGEMU landscape will even look like at thas time.

c) Gain fresh perspective.

The website will be the touchpoint for this vision after April, and I’ll do my best to post updates when we have anything to share.

I want to thank every single person who came to Sunrunner II seeking a new Galaxies experience. I hope I gave you what you were seeking. The staff and myself have always taken our self-appointed responsibilities very seriously – we wanted to make this game shine and share it with as many people as possible.

I never imagined, when I was a teenager playing on the original Sunrunner server, that I would have the ability to add to this universe and help keep it alive. That short time back in 2003-5 was such a unique journey, it left such an impression on most of us that we’re still here, 20 years later, seeking it again. I feel like, during our first months, we came *excitingly* close to recreating that feeling, and it was one of the most thrilling and fulfilling experiences I’ve had in a computer game. I hope most felt the same.

I, personally, will be continuing to learn and design games. I hope to be able to take another shot with this game, once I know more, and we have more to work with! Keep in mind, SWGEMU is *still* not even finished! I consider this a very successful test and demonstration of what the future of SWG could and will be!

Again, the shutdown date will be around April 23, 2023. I do apologize for anyone who finds this abrupt or unfair, we are just doing what we have to. Believe that this decision has come after *much* discussion over a long period of time, and is the consensus of a majority. There’s nothing behind the decision but a desire to rest, regroup, then perhaps attempt to do even better. We feel that if there’s ever been a “good” time to do this, it’s now.

May the Force be with you,
Takh