[Oort Clouds]

May I ask what you would expect to mine in a Stellar System's Oort Cloud that would be any different from closer in to the parent star?

[How far can empires expand till they colapse and if there are possible ways to prevent such things in DUAL.]

This is a very, very complex question, with both intrinsic and extrinsic factors to take into account:

 

Off the top of my head:

 

Intrinsic (In-Game Variables).

The volume of space occupied (simplest being spherical). I guess this would be inversely proportional to the cube of the distance?

How far do troops and/or resources have to travel?

How many troops for each cubic light year of space?

How occupied is each standard volume (x number of cubic light years) and is this homogeneous around the Universe?

Time taken to counter incursions. Mobilizing troops and travel time?

The number of Allies involved?

The number of enemies on your borders and their population densities?

 

Extrinsic (Real Life Variables).

Communicating with players, absent or otherwise.

 

All our history has dealt with Empires being two dimensional in nature due to the Earth's surface. Space? Solar/Stellar Systems .... mind blowing!!!

[WAR AND ITS AFTER EFFECTS]

Dragoon, on 13 Jul 2016 - 7:29 PM, said:Dragoon, on 13 Jul 2016 - 7:29 PM, said:Dragoon, on 13 Jul 2016 - 7:29 PM, said:

 

"What will you think will happen to any Civilization in this game after a war? Have an internal breackdown? A Coup or Civil War? Or even Poverty after Using all of you're valuable resources?"

 

Surely this depends whether you are the winner or loser? And also the extent of the damage caused either side, plus the politics that may come into play?

 

So for instance:

• Will it be possible to destroy other people structures that took time and resources to build?
• Given this is a "game" and not RL can you really trust allies to help you if you lose (You can't exactly take their sons and daughters captive as in "hostages"  now can you, so how could you enforce loyalty, etc., etc.?                                                                                              

So many unknowns.....

[What brought you to Dual Universe?]

One of my very first MMORPG's was Star Wars Galaxies (SWG). This was in 2003 before the Combat Upgrade (CU) or the New Game Enhancements (NGE). The gameplay footage was very reminiscent of SWG. Massive, Open World (Universe?), Exploration, Player Driven Economy, Emergent Gameplay, Non Theme Park and Player Built Structures and Spacecraft. I have not played such an immersive game since, even though I have played them all (WOW, EQ2, LOTRO, RIFT, SWTOR, EVE, to name just a few). The real attraction for me I suppose is the fact that you can explore both Space and Planets as was done, to a lesser extent, in SWG: Jump to Lightspeed, which for me at that time was epitome of all I desired in such a game. I am hoping this game will pick up where SWG: Jump to Lightspeed left off.

[Subscription should not be its pay model]

I see valid arguments for all three models. Personally, I feel that a subscription model suits me the best and am happy to see the majority of posters apparently agree.

1. FTP. Great if you do not want to pay for anything.
2. BTP. Great if you want to play a game that has an end (not for a MMORPG with no end).
3. PTP. Great if you want to show continuous support. (Good for a MMORPG which needs regular updates).

The only issue I would really have would be if the game was PTW.

[DevBlog: Monetization, player happiness and economic viability]

By Optional PTP I simply mean there should be an incentive to subscribe but it is not mandatory. I do not ascribe to PTW, btw. I think the incentives should be Quality Of Life rewards only.

[DevBlog: Monetization, player happiness and economic viability]

Let me begin by quoting the OP:

 

We have synthesized a bit all the things that were taken into account, but you have here all the main reasons why we are aiming toward a Pay to Play model. In a nutshell, here's what we have planned:

• Free Trial period: between 2 and 4 weeks.
• Monthly subscription (optional with a PLEX-like system)
• Possible (cosmetic only) Cash Shop. If deployed, we will make it in order that every month, players who have paid a subscription will be able to get some cash shop items for free.

 

At the moment I am playing Wildstar which I would describe a "Optional PTP" and similar to that which has been proposed  here. I think an Optional PTP, with incentives to do so, is a very viable option for both the Player Base and Game Company.

 

I have personally played many an MMORPG in the last 18 years or so (SWG, WOW, EQ2, RIFT, etc., etc.) and the ones just listed are not only PTP but also the ones I have spent the greatest time playing. Some died and some went in directions I did not like but in their original forms were extremely viable products.

 

Now it may be an outdated concept but I gain great pleasure knowing that in this small way, I "constantly" support a game monetarily, via such a PTP model.