Year of Silence

[Rapsey]

So... It's been a while. This is by no means an "I'm back" post. Truth be told I wouldn't make such a post even if I was back, I've always preferred to let the actions do the talking rather than making some announcement which may or may not be followed through on. But I don't want to give false hope so let me just state that explicitly. Consider this more of a clarification post.

2024 was a shit year for me, pretty much in line with the downwards trajectory of the preceding years. After Lieven passed things got particularly dark. Some other stuff happened to me that I prefer not to talk about. Things between Mike and I haven't been great either, although they are currently in a stable and tenable state. Him being patient and supportive in my difficult times did a lot to help with that.

We both remain committed that the continued existence of PkHonor takes priority over any interpersonal issues between the owners. That may be a small consolation to some, given the absence of activity, but I for one am very grateful that the server has kept going through it all. We may have done our small part to keep everything online but most of the credit goes to all of you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has stepped in to fill the void we left behind.

As some of you have noticed I've continued to stick around and keep an eye on things, albeit silently. I intend to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. Currently I don't have any plans to return to active development, my focus is on salvaging the mess of my own life right now, but I will continue making sure that everything keeps running.

One thing I do want to comment on (because I've seen people talking about it) is the financial side of things. I'm not sure why Mike felt the need to reiterate that we no longer make any money from PkHonor, leaving the impression that this was a recent development, because that has been the case for years now. Broadly speaking I would describe the financial history of PkHonor like this:

2014-2016: it earned enough to pay us both the equivalent of an entry-level IT job, which is why we decided to work on it full-time fresh out of college.
2017-2018: flipping burgers equivalent, pretty stupid for 2 IT graduates to keep doing it but we did it anyway.
2019: little to no excess funds for us, at this point we were forced to get other jobs and do some drastic cost-cutting measures (e.g. with the big server move in June 2019, reduced DDoS protection etc).
2020-present: slight covid boost for a few months but not much better than 2019, then quickly down further which forced a major reduction in advertisement (which is where everything over operating expenses went). The sharp decline was hardly surprising since we now had much less time to spend on development.

Needless to say the inflation / cost of living increases in recent years didn't help with that either. Even if the revenue had remained the same we would've been going backwards. However, after a lot of cost optimizing, we did get to a point where the current level of donations should be enough to keep things running indefinitely. Not much excess for advertisement, but enough to cover the technical operating costs with a decent safety margin. I hope that clears up some of the confusion surrounding the finances.

What about the future? Well... I don't know. Along with the upcoming Project Zanaris / OSRS community servers, Jagex has been employing legal firms to crack down hard on RSPS. They are essentially trying to force RSPS to hand over control of their communities/websites/... to Jagex, and coax RSPS devs into becoming Project Zanaris contributors. So far we have been able to evade their legal pursuits and keep our servers out of their reach, and we will keep up that fight, but the future is never certain. Don't be too alarmed though. Even if Mike and I were forced by legal action to permanently cease all involvement in RSPS, I'm sure the PkHonor source code and account DB would somehow find its way into the hands of someone who can carry on the torch. But as it stands there is no indication that this is going to happen.

Lastly, I have heard it said that we have people who could carry the server forward but they haven't been given the ability to do so. This is undoubtedly true, and I believe this is where we should focus our attention. So although I'm not currently looking to get "active" again myself, I do still want to look into what steps we can take to set PkHonor free. Seeing this server and its community stay alive for a long time to come is the best legacy I could hope for.

Thank you for putting up with all our struggles, and I wish all of you a bright new year.

Yours truly,

Rapsey

[Kash]

Hey @Rapsey, thanks so much for the honest update—it really means a lot not only to me but to the community. I can’t imagine how tough 2024 has been for you! We're def grateful for everything you and Mike have done to keep PkHonor going despite all the challenges, especially with the financial and legal hurdles. It’s reassuring to know that the server is running sustainably thanks to the community’s support, and I completely agree that empowering others to carry the torch could ensure its legacy lives on. Your openness about everything, especially regarding future plans, is really appreciated, and I think I speak for many when I say we’re all rooting for you and hope 2025 brings better things.

If there’s anything we can do to support you, don’t hesitate to ask. Wishing you all the best in this new year!

[Ktm drip]

Hey Rapsey,

A post like this comes a long way and as a community we appreciate the post and hope you can battle through the dark times you’re facing.

I think I can speak for most but I don’t think we want you guys to completely step away from Pkh as you and Mike for the majority of Pkh life cycle have carried this game and kept the game alive for as long as I can remember, But I do believe it’s best to let somebody else or maybe two other people ultimately have full access to everything and give them full permission to make the big decisions where is normally they can’t, with this you guys wouldn’t need to “pass the torch” over as much so whenever you guys are ready to come back you can and hopefully you guys do.

Hope you have a great new year and wish nothing but the best

[Monys]

Much love, buddy. Hope things get better for you in your personal life

[Raj]

Much love, buddy. Hope things get better for you in your personal life

[Nolan]

Full respect, adulting sucks! Let's kick 2025's ass!

[Uim legolas]

Anyone claiming people do/did this for their own profit, has had his head up his own ass for years now.

The one thing we love about Pkhonor, is that it's been here for ages, and seems to be staying here for quite another few. Every other server, no matter how popular they got, died down due to dropping playerbases, bad management or owners/devs only caring about a profit.

Now that the legal issues seem to be taking down the few that were left, we can only hope Pkhonor is once again the one that stays standing!

[Ephriam]

Hope things get better for you man.

[Will be ok2]

Hope things get better for you man.

I hope you can prosper this year and things start looking up for you, as cliche as it sounds. Keep focusing on yourself and doing what you can to be happy. Everyone who is here now will be here when you get back!

[Patel]

Happy new year to you as well 30-50 online consistently is still the dream for many servers, and people will pretty much always cycle through if the server is up. Focus on yourselves first, I think answers will present with time. Someone needs to take a leadership role is all.

I'm sure the PkHonor source code and account DB would somehow find its way into the hands of someone who can carry on the torch. But as it stands there is no indication that this is going to happen.

Hope there's some sort of dead man's switch or something that would keep the dream alive! Or a pre-conceived agreement. I know Zanaris will be community splitting, and that some folks have plans to make a PkHonor community Zanaris server. I was wondering if that/other pkhonor servers are permitted to be embraced on here. I think that would be good for the longevity of the community and thus the server, but I can understand if there's some liability in allowing the communities to mingle. Either way, I think it can be a good thing for our communities to be able to interact or even bear relation.