Legal Stuff

I've been approached by a few folks interested in using my module as a premium module on their DNN hosting sites. To respond fairly to all, I'm posting my response here.

In regards to profit driven venues related to this module, per the licensing, everyone is permitted to leverage fees for such services provided by this module pursuant to the regulations of the license. This is a fundamental principle outlined in the core of GPL.

Let us be clear on the intent and full requirements of the license though. Any modifications to this distribution's source that would facilitate the use of this module must be made freely available to the public. This is a core requirement of the GPL. If in an attempt to protect profit driven venues related to this module, the modified source is not made publicly available, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

My efforts are for the community at large. If you manage to make some money off that, great. If you manage to find that you can make some contributions to the project, even better; but I will not tolerate violations of an already generous licensing arrangement.

Project Demo

Curious about the look and feel of the module? Check it out here.

Project Description

DotNetNuke DKP is a self-contained module for tracking and guiding loot distribution. The module's language is VB. Net and is developed in Visual Studio 2008. It is designed for the DotNetNuke Content Management System. While the module targets the World of Warcraft game, this project's goal is to produce a module that will cater to a wide range of MMORPG's.

Installation

Installing DotNetNuke DKP is simple. Just like any other DotNetNuke module, upload the Private Assembly package to your site and place an instance of the module on the page of your choice. Once the module is displayed, any user group that has module edit capability will be able to manage DKP data.

Continuing Development

If you want to tinker with the source, feel free to download it. My development environment consists of a run-time version of DotNetNuke 4.8 at C:\DotNetNuke, and the module solution located under the DesktopModules folder in a folder called tssDKP. Place the source in that location and you shouldn't have any problems compiling as soon as you open the project.

The database is supported by a system of constraints and triggers that prevent malicious application logic. The DAL and application layer are also well-defined. Explore both of these when determining what is and is not allowed.

Technical Notes:

Database Overview

Source Code Change Log

Some Caveats

This hasn't been confirmed, but it is possible that this module's database structure will not be MS SQL 2000 compatible. Until otherwise verified, consider installations on sites using MS SQL 2000 to be iffy.

Re-installing the Private Assembly may produce some weird results. The SQL script that installs the database does not perform any EXIST checks prior to executing CREATE's, so there might be some errors during the PA's installation. The recommended solution is to install the PA once, then change the PA package to have an empty SQL script file for installation.

Future Development and Commitment

This module is not a fly-by-night operation. I'm an active WoW player and have over 8 years of end-game experience in EverQuest and WoW. I also have a Masters in Computer Science and a desire to make a truly useful module for a wonderful CMS. If you're considering using this module for your guild, rest assured that this project will be supported today, tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future.

At some point, the module will have an in-game component that will aid in the extraction of raid rosters and looting. The module will not be dependent on this component though. Game patches can disable in-game components, and this can be a threat to module stability if it relies on these components.