I've gotten a little surge of people asking me about the state of the Omicron, so I wanted to post something about that, simply to keep from having to repeat myself. ;)

Yes, I am aware of the issues involving Omicron 1.4.  Most of these issues are the result of the physics engine Havok^® 4,  the left-handed blessing given to the grid in April 2008.  The specific implementation of H4 on the grid resulted in the "Nerfing" of many previously common techniques which were more accurately described as side-effects of the previous physics engine.  For the vast majority of these functions, there is no workaround to acheive the same results.

Specifically, I know people are upset that orbiting and destabilized physics attacks are ineffective.  H4 severly limited physics push, rendering most push-based functions duds.  It also doesn't treat avatars as normal objects, such that when a physical object meets an avatar in a way that would, in the real world, result in a high energy transfer (think of getting hit by a bus) H4 appears to temporarily exempt the avatar from physical law, acutely mitigating the effects.

Most people don't really know the finer details of how things work, and that's fine, they don't need to.  However, to say this as kindly as possible...  The most vocal people are often the most ignorant, and often infused with a very impressive sense of entitlement.  That's the real reason I haven't released an Omicron 1.5, because such an update would be more about removing functions entirely and replacing a very few with "works kind of like" functions, which would see me inundated with IMs, note cards, random friend requests and email.  Most of those messages not in a language I don't even have the fonts installed for would likely sound very much like, "wut is wrong my omaga dont work." (Seriously.)

So!  The point of this posting is to tell you in what direction I'm going with the Omicron.  As the current version runs on scripts, some of which are approaching 3 years old, I believe it would be a more efficient use of time and resources to end-of-life the 1.x series and move on to version 2.0 as a complete and total re-write.  The time and effort needed to update 1.x, used instead to build 2.0 will result in a better overall product, especially considering the tools and knowledge that I have now as compared to three years ago.

Excepting the six of you who have read the manual and noticed the words "You are eligible for all upgrades on this version, right up until version 2.0," many of the rest of you are now queuing your IMs to ask me, "Is this a free update?"  And it's a reasonable question, but one I need to answer in reverse.  Because whenever one needs a minute to explain something, the torch and pitchfork crowd is on the scene in seconds.

I have not finalized what kinds of upgrade paths will be available to Omi 1.x users, but there will be at least one.  No, it will not be automagically delivered via the updating system.  As I have the purchase records for everything for the past two years, I may implement a graded discount based on date of purchase, or a simple 50% off for all 1.x owners, or a free upgrade for those purchased in the previous 12 months...  I can't say at this point, I've not delved that deeply into that side of it yet.

And for those about to ask me when it'll be released,  all I can say is that I have a 'Omicron X2.0.0.730' on my bench, and expect that last number (which is the build number) to reach at least 2000 before I feel it's ready for prime time.  So you get the answer you hate:  "When it's done."  :)

-AH