***Official Merge 6.0 Client Update Thread*** - UPDATE June 22nd, 12:45am EST

[CarbonRyan]

******UPDATE******

Hi all,

As you have more than likely noticed, the lag performance issues have been resolved, and the client is operating far better now. Here are some updates directly from Merge:

LAG ISSUES:

The performance issues were found to be caused by a very specific bug. When this happened, it was looping a process continuously, which would then cause all games on that particular server to suffer performance issues until the server eventually shut down. This is why some games were playing through perfectly while others were not, as some servers were operating normally while others were being affected.

ISSUES REPORTED AND CURRENTLY BEING WORKED ON:

1. errors while playing and client shutsdown.Running windows xp
2. Lobby > Account > Player Avatar - Takes 5+Minutes to load
3. starting balance in the HH doesnt update - Stays on your initial buy in for that table
4. Hand History brings up a directory? Will default to last hand played
5. Inability to see tables Im currently at with ease (the old blue button denoting a currently occupied table).
6. The little clock that would show up next to a SnG once you registered as well as when you were on the waitlist for a cash table.
7. Removing the 'My Games' widget makes it very tough for players to have any idea what they are signed up for.
8. Tournament coupon area revamping
9. Cash game defaults are not consistent, will make the defaults more consistent
10. Tournament filter is having issues. Unselecting satellites does not remove all the satellites. Similarly, removing full ring does not remove the FR tournaments. Haven't tried this with SNGs. Unselecting the "VIP Points Entry" option will sometimes remove tournaments that can be bought into with cash
11. Blind issue in short handed games that go to heads up. Fix is being developed now
12. Dealer button issue. Inconsistent placement will be resolved to ensure it is always placed just to the players left.
13. Stopping popups coming in over the game table.
14. Some of the drop down menu items at the top do not work in Win XP 64, when I run in Win XP compatibility mode they work ( Player to player transfers is one of them)
15. Main lobby does not display amount of time for late registration. The drop down triangle shows "Start Time" the same as "Registration End". When a tournament is in late registration, the drop down that appears after clicking the triangle is incorrect -- the "Late Registration Ends In" box is completely blank.
16. can only open Player to Player Transfer, Player to Player Transfer History or Real Money Ledger once. Once I open one of those options, close the popup, and attempt to reopen any of them, it won't load.

FEATURE REQUESTS ALREADY ACKNOWLEDGED BY MERGE:

1. Main lobby does not show when late reg will end.
2. Any consideration to being able to expand the client horizontally?
3. Game statistics tab does not show VIP points earned. The old info tab did. This is very useful info for promotions that require such tracking.
4. Player notes require a click and a dropdown menu to activate where as a double click used to bring them up. This new implementation requires more time and concentration and is bad news for multi-tablers playing hundreds of hands an hour.
5. Tables not showing the players seated simply by clicking it. There could be an option perhaps to auto-expand any highlighted table.
6. Two options that were removed from the old software are the register button in the lobby and the info tab in sng's. Both of these features are huge for sng grinders.
7. Auto Post Blinds button: If I am sitting at a 10 max limit table by myself, a guy joins to play me, there is no auto post on the tables. I have to click post bb or sb every hand we played heads up.
8. Highlighting Tables You are seated at in lobby: When you sit at a table it does not highlight it or color code it in the lobby. So if you open 15 tables and sit down right now and then look at the lobby I cannot see what tables I am actually sitting at.
9. Hide Empty Tables (in lobby) feature is gone.
10. Bringing back mini mode, very popular.
11. there is no reason AT ALL why I would not want my time bank to be activated by DEFAULT. Having to click away the 'red X' is annoying and a waste of unnecessary time.
12. Info tab removed from MTTs. Please add it back. I'd like the info tab to include, Your Stack, Average Stack, Number of People Remaining, Total Registered, Blind Level, Next Blind Level and Time Until Blind Increase.
13. 'Info' tab in SNG and tournies on the table (showed what position in chips you were, how many players left)
14. Having to right click and then click again to access notes is difficult. There needs to be a one click/double click option available.
15. Client cannot be made wider. You can only increase/decrease size vertically
16. Being able to view players at table in lobby



Ryan

[CarbonRyan]

Resolved issues:

Below are the most recent updates that have been put out by Merge today, but some feature updates and fixes have been in place for the last couple of days.


Lag Issues

As everyone should now know, the lag issues experienced last week were resolved. In contrast to what is being said here on 2+2, this was not caused by servers being overloaded, but by a bug relating to antes which caused an infinite loop on the game server that the table belonged to. Many of the issues being experienced immediately after the release such as games crashing, tournament tables not balancing correctly, and table action being delayed, was a direct result of this bug and as such were no longer an issue after this bug was fixed.



Cashier Issues

To our knowledge, all cashier bugs have been resolved. Players may still experiencing problems due to stale files in their browser cache though we have just released a workaround in an attempt to mitigate that.



P2P Issues

To our knowledge, all P2P issues have been resolved.



Client Crashes / Trap Errors / Quicktime

Our expanded use of browser content in 6.0 is resulting in a high number of crashes in the IE browser engine which is unfortunately beyond our control. The currently suggested workaround of installing quicktime is merely a shortcut to getting the webkit browser engine installed which is then used instead of IE.

To provide a more permanent fix we will be removing banners from tables entirely and converting the promo panel on the left side of the lobby to a static image in an effort to reduce our reliance on external browser controls. Once the dust settles we will re-implement the table banner as a static rotating image, but the lobby promo content will likely remain as a static image.



Inline Game Details

After reviewing player feedback, and in light of the problems inherent in the promo panel in the lobby as per above, we are considering implementing an alternative lobby view similar to the 5.0 client. This change entails moving the game list to the left, with the initial view upon login retaining the lobby promo image on the right hand side. When a player clicks on a game it will replace the promo content on the right of the game list rather than inline like it does now.

We will need to retain the inline game details version of the lobby for smaller screens, and may retain it for new players with the option to switch via an option in display settings.



Mini-mode

Mini-mode never went away, and we never had any intention of removing it, however the negative player feedback relates to two specific changes.

The first is the lack of the "large" card fronts as was used in 5.0 mini-mode. This is being returned via the addition of an additional customisation option for card fronts. See the attached mockup image for further explanation.

The second is the mechanism used to enable mini-mode. In 5.0 there was a button on the table to enable it, but in 6.0 it is enabled globally via the display settings dialog. To satisfy players we will be adding a table specific mini-mode shortcut option to the "Window Options" drop down on the table to enable it, similar to how it worked in 5.0. Additionally, we have already added a page to the embedded support section of the client to further explain the changes to mini-mode and how to use them.



Auto-post Blinds

For non HU tables, the "Sit Out Next Hand" option on the table is almost identical the "Auto-post Blinds" functionality that players expect, though we have received a valid use case for the return of auto-post blinds with heads up play. The logical solution at this point would be to replace the "Sit Out Next Hand / Sit Out Next Blind" checkbox with "Auto-post Blinds" only for HU tables, though this is still under discussion.



Sit-Out Next Blind

This is being changed to "Sit-Out Next BB" as per player feedback.



Wait For Big Blind

This works identically to how it did in 5.0. The player confusion is caused by the addition of an option in settings which governs the default state when joining a new table. We are looking at ways to alleviate the confusion.



Auto-timebank

Auto-timebank is being changed to be on by default. We are also addition a global settings option which governs this default state for people who would prefer that it remains off by default.



Hand History

The change to hand history viewer is the result of a bug, not a planned feature change for 6.0. It has already been fixed for ring games, and a fix for tournaments is in the works.

Additionally, bugs relating to starting balance and location of hand history files on mac have been resolved.



Pre-Action Checkboxes Too Small

The actual text and hit area is larger in 6.0 so this is only a perception issue. We will be adjusting the actual circle checkbox graphic slightly.



Dealer Button Location

We acknowledge the need to review dealer button locations. Fix is in the works.



Tournament Filters

There are a few issues with tournament filters which are being addressed.



Timezone Issues

We acknowledge the incorrect times displayed after selecting some timezones. Fix is in the works.



Funsteps

To our knowledge, all Funstep issues have been resolved.



Sounds Muted

We have uncovered a bug resulting in upgrading players having their sounds muted unintentionally. We are in the process of fixing this, but it will only apply to players who have yet to upgrade to 6.0. Existing players will need to manually remove the mute.



All-in Button Removed

Related to the sounds muter as per above. Will be fixed at the same time.



Player Notes

We are adding the ability to open player notes with a double click.



My Tournaments / My Games / Highlight in game list

The "My Tournaments" and "My Games" windows have been re-enabled. Additionally we have added a new icon game lists which highlight games that you are playing in. Both of these changes are live as of a few days ago.



Stud Games / Bring-In

We are aware of and working on a fix for the issue with Stud Games and Bring-in.



Late Reg Not displayed in Lobby

We are aware of and working on a fix for the amount of time for late reg not displaying in the main lobby.



Info Tab on Tournament Tables

We acknowledge the desire for this to return and are looking at options.



Game Stakes Filter

We acknowledge the player requests to be able to filter to a single stakes and will be addressing it in due course.



Avatars

The issue causing avatars to load excessively slow on the change avatar screen has been improved significantly, with further improvements to come. The issue with incorrect avatars displaying for some players has also been resolved.

[CarbonRyan]

The Merge Gaming software will be down for maintenance on the 16th of June from 01:00am to 02:00am server time (1 hour). During this time the poker software, casino admin, cashier and player signups will all be down as well. We will also be cancelling any tournaments that are scheduled to run during this downtime.

Below is the complete list of changes players will see upon their first login after this update:

- Added a "Whats New" popup on login
- Auto-timebank is now on by default at the tables
- Added an option under display settings to change default auto-timebank state
- Added the ability to launch player notes screen by double-clicking a player box
- Changed the "Sit Out Next Blind" checkbox to "Sit Out Next Big Blind"
- Performance improvements relating to loading and changing avatars
- The "I am playing" icon now clears correctly when leaving cash games or tournaments
- Times showing incorrectly for some timezones during daylight savings is now fixed
- Late Registration now renders correctly in inline tournament details panel
- Tournament hand history now correctly defaults to last hand
- Hand history viewer now correctly shows both hole cards and drawn cards for draw games
- Font size increased for chat text shown in the hand history viewer
- Added a confirmation popup when choosing to "Delete All" in Hand History settings
- "Invert Mouse Wheel" betting slider setting now persists correctly across sessions
- "Player wins" sound setting in Poker Sounds now persists correctly across sessions
- NL and PL tables no longer have focus set to the raise button on first load
- Incorrect total player counts shown in tournament lists is now fixed
- Right Click => Sticky now works correctly in tournament & sitngo game lists
- "Player Remaining" in tournament lobby incorrectly showing players remaining is fixed
- Issue with sounds muted and all-in settings being inverted after 5.0 -> 6.0 update is fixed
- Issue with some tournaments (eg 45 man sitngos) not showing in the game lists is fixed
- Funstep tournaments now list correctly when using the advanced filters (under play money SNG)
- Table banners removed (temporarily) to improve client stability
- Guaranteed tournament panel on left side of lobby replaced to improve client stability
- Antes now update correctly in tournament lobbies
- Wait for BB checkbox removed from stud games
- Tournament running time fixed for completed tournaments
- Reinstated tournament completion popups, but with the option to never show them again
- Activating player notes field no longer selects existing text to prevent accidental deletion
- Moved the "Show Friend Notifications" setting from Lobby Settings to Friend Settings
- Reinstated the "Hide my games from all players" option to Lobby Settings screen
- Arrowing up/down game list no longer expands each row
- Page Up, Page Down, Home & End buttons now work as expected in game lists
- Fixed issue with client failing to run on Mac OSX with a version 1.6 32-bit JVM
- Multibyte characters no longer allowed in custom game names
- Fixed incorrect window title for tournament buyin window


Ryan

[CarbonRyan]

The Merge Gaming poker client will be updated in approximately one hour from the time of this email at 00:00 22nd June server time or 01:00 22nd June eastern time. Any players logging in after that time will be automatically updated to the new version of the client without any interruption to existing players online or other services. Just to reiterate, there will be no server downtime required for this update.

The changes included in this update are as follows:

- Auto Post Blinds has returned to the table in response to overwhelming player feedback
- Dealer button locations have been changed to always sit to the left the player
- The "Total Pot" text has been moved above the community cards and font size increased slightly
- Hole cards are now displayed side-by-side, where possible, rather than overlapping
- Fixed issue with blinds being posted out of position in some circumstances
- Allowed stakes selector to select a single stake in the advanced filter panel
- Fixed issues with "Invert Mouse Wheel" option and small blind betting increment not working in some circumstances
- Fixed issue with "Don't Ask Me Again" checkbox not working for tournament completion popups
- Improved "Poker Settings" screen to better differentiate table defaults from global table settings
- Refresh button added to "My Tournaments" and "My Ring Games" screens
- "Hide Completed Tournaments" on "My Tournaments" screen now also hides tournaments you've been eliminated from
- Fixed issue with antes being obscured in tournament lobbies
- Fixed issue with "Player Wins" sound setting not being applied across sessions
- Fixed issue with hand history not saving on Mac OSX after clicking "Delete All" on "Hand History Settings" screen
- Fixed issue with timezones not applying to the display of "Today", "Tomorrow" and "Yesterday" in tournament list
- Fixed issue with draw counters not moving for draw games when using preferred seating
- Preferred Seating now supported on 5-seated Badugi tables
- Fixed issue with players not being allowed to rejoin a limit table with previous balance
- Fixed issue with "Forgot Password" link not working for some brands
- Added an "All" option to the basic filter when selecting "Stud" or "Draw And Other" in the previous column
- Chip stacks are now only rounded for totals in excess of $100K. Precise totals displayed on mouseover
- Fixed issue with stakes filters not working correctly for SNGs in basic filter view
- Fixed issue with auto-timebank being disabled after sitting out and sitting back in again
- Fixed issue with custom games not showing in hand history viewer when name includes certain characters
- Fixed issue with lobby VIP balance displaying points earned rather than balance
- Fixed issue with betting not allowed in Stud games in some circumstances



Ryan