Hello, I'm Stickman Sham and I've been playing on KR for a couple years now. I once went by the name [TNA]Samurai, and across three years, I have 160 hours of playtime on the server. Lately, I've been convinced that both the KR server and the entire NA playerbase would greatly benefit from switching KR server to JApro.
As we all know, KR currently runs JA+, a legacy mod made back in 2004 and supported until 2011. This mod allowed servers to run with advanced admin abilities, ideal for clan servers and overall skirmish servers like KR, Jawa, and countless others across the years. This mod has been endured the test of time as shown by KR's endurance as the most popular NA server across the years thanks to this style of play. JA+ also featured an overhaul of the saber, attempting to make duels play more like JK2 1.04 rather than use single player saber damages that base uses. However, in the current climate of Jedi Academy, high level play is relegated to base servers while JA+ endures with a greatly altered saber. As many high level players have noted, JA+ upsets the balance of medium style and especially staff style, while nerfing the effectiveness of strong style as it can be idle blocked indefinitely as long as the opponent holds up strong style in return. Additionally, red style can no longer get extra damage through poking, making it significantly less threatening against yellow. This has made the mod undesirable for competitive play and either turns players away or forces them to duel on a worse version of the game.
However, JApro has been shaping up to be a superior alternative to JA+, as it boasts the same admin features as JA+ while adding numerous more, such as the ability to request full force duels or even gun duels. Additionally, it rebalances the saber to be more like base, except with location based damages, so the quality/aim of your hits matter more. With this feature, KR would be able to host base, ja+, and full force players, as well as allow newer players to experience the game with force. Since the force is such a staple of Star Wars, many new players are disappointed to find that not many populated servers have it enabled in any capacity, but with JApro, it would open up the game to both new players seeking the full Jedi Academy multiplayer experience as well as seasoned players who have duelled on full force for years. Essentially, KR would be expanding its player accommodations greatly by unifying multiple communities into a single server environment. Previously, if you wanted to full force or even fight with guns, you'd have to join either a full force or lugormod server, but as those have fallen out of favor due to declining playerbases, it's currently impossible without arranging a match externally. To clarify, this feature does not bleed into the free for all, it simply allows players to enable force or guns in a closed-off duel shell. Switching to JApro would do a great deal for these communities and help shake up the server in a positive way and allow the more competitive side of the playerbase hang around the same server as the ones who don't mind either way. If your personal opinion about the JA+ saber is "the saber doesnt really affect me" or "I wouldn't mind either way" or even "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", please note that a significant percent of the KR population doesn't see things the same way, and are disgruntled about JA+.
JApro is also designed to be compatible with OpenJK servers like KR, and it also doesn't require users to download a plugin similar to how JA+ servers don't require the JA+ client in order to play. However, if players do choose to download the JApro client, they will get access to the same JA+ features and more. In fact, the mod is so robust that admins can even change settings to simulate Jedi Outcast 1.02's combat on the fly if they wanted to. I find it hard to consider a change like this a bad thing, since players will either agree vehemently for KR to switch to JApro, or they'll have no opinion/say they don't mind either way. Many have expressed their frustration with JA+, and while it has worked for all these years, JApro greatly improves upon it, and its features would do a great deal to shake up the current stagnation in Jedi Academy. KR has endured as the most active NA server, and I believe it has an obligation to do everything in its power to accommodate and unify the enduring playerbase.
As we all know, KR currently runs JA+, a legacy mod made back in 2004 and supported until 2011. This mod allowed servers to run with advanced admin abilities, ideal for clan servers and overall skirmish servers like KR, Jawa, and countless others across the years. This mod has been endured the test of time as shown by KR's endurance as the most popular NA server across the years thanks to this style of play. JA+ also featured an overhaul of the saber, attempting to make duels play more like JK2 1.04 rather than use single player saber damages that base uses. However, in the current climate of Jedi Academy, high level play is relegated to base servers while JA+ endures with a greatly altered saber. As many high level players have noted, JA+ upsets the balance of medium style and especially staff style, while nerfing the effectiveness of strong style as it can be idle blocked indefinitely as long as the opponent holds up strong style in return. Additionally, red style can no longer get extra damage through poking, making it significantly less threatening against yellow. This has made the mod undesirable for competitive play and either turns players away or forces them to duel on a worse version of the game.
However, JApro has been shaping up to be a superior alternative to JA+, as it boasts the same admin features as JA+ while adding numerous more, such as the ability to request full force duels or even gun duels. Additionally, it rebalances the saber to be more like base, except with location based damages, so the quality/aim of your hits matter more. With this feature, KR would be able to host base, ja+, and full force players, as well as allow newer players to experience the game with force. Since the force is such a staple of Star Wars, many new players are disappointed to find that not many populated servers have it enabled in any capacity, but with JApro, it would open up the game to both new players seeking the full Jedi Academy multiplayer experience as well as seasoned players who have duelled on full force for years. Essentially, KR would be expanding its player accommodations greatly by unifying multiple communities into a single server environment. Previously, if you wanted to full force or even fight with guns, you'd have to join either a full force or lugormod server, but as those have fallen out of favor due to declining playerbases, it's currently impossible without arranging a match externally. To clarify, this feature does not bleed into the free for all, it simply allows players to enable force or guns in a closed-off duel shell. Switching to JApro would do a great deal for these communities and help shake up the server in a positive way and allow the more competitive side of the playerbase hang around the same server as the ones who don't mind either way. If your personal opinion about the JA+ saber is "the saber doesnt really affect me" or "I wouldn't mind either way" or even "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", please note that a significant percent of the KR population doesn't see things the same way, and are disgruntled about JA+.
JApro is also designed to be compatible with OpenJK servers like KR, and it also doesn't require users to download a plugin similar to how JA+ servers don't require the JA+ client in order to play. However, if players do choose to download the JApro client, they will get access to the same JA+ features and more. In fact, the mod is so robust that admins can even change settings to simulate Jedi Outcast 1.02's combat on the fly if they wanted to. I find it hard to consider a change like this a bad thing, since players will either agree vehemently for KR to switch to JApro, or they'll have no opinion/say they don't mind either way. Many have expressed their frustration with JA+, and while it has worked for all these years, JApro greatly improves upon it, and its features would do a great deal to shake up the current stagnation in Jedi Academy. KR has endured as the most active NA server, and I believe it has an obligation to do everything in its power to accommodate and unify the enduring playerbase.
