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NQ-Naerais

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    November Devblog: Construct Intellectual Protection & Blueprint Duplication

    in Announcements

    Posted

     

    Dear Noveans, it's time for another DevBlog!

     

    Dual Universe is a vast game. Its gameplay has layers, and we keep adding depth to them as often as possible (though not nearly as frequently as we would like to!). As developers, we love to dive into these depths. Moreover, we want to make sure everybody understands why we design features the way we do. DevBlogs are perfect to address these topics, so here we are!

     

    Today, we will tackle two major features which shall be released in an upcoming patch: Construct Intellectual Property Protection and Blueprints Duplication. Without further ado, let's jump right into it.


    CONSTRUCT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION

     

    The objective of this feature is quite simple: allow a player to protect their creations when they distribute them in game (whether it is by selling them or trading them). We want to make sure that no unauthorized player will access the intellectual property content of a construct they did not create themselves. In particular, we want to protect:

     

    • The possibility to create a Blueprint of the construct
    • The possibility to copy voxels from the construct to another construct (however, intra construct copies are still allowed)
    • The access to Lua scripts from Control Units
    • The access to HTML content from Screen Units

     

    This is how it works: each construct has a creator. A creator can be either the player or the Organization who deployed the original Core Unit. We can call this initial construct the “Master Construct”. When an Organization is the creator, any legate will be considered to be the creator.


    When making a copy of a Master Construct via a Blueprint, a set of Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection flags are set automatically, both on the construct as a whole AND individually on each of the Control Units and Screen Units in the Blueprint. The newly created construct can have a new owner, different from its creator, but it remembers who was its creator. When trying to access Lua or Html content, the DRM flag of the corresponding Element (i.e. a Control Unit or a Screen Unit) will be checked to determine if the new owner is allowed to do this action. The creator is always allowed to do that. 

     

    Similarly, when trying to make a Blueprint or to copy voxels, the DRM flag of the whole construct is checked. By default, since the original Blueprint sets all the flags to “not allowed”, a new owner will have no rights to do these actions.


    If you deploy a new Control Unit, or a new Screen Unit on your construct that is DRM protected, they will be deployed without the DRM flag activated; therefore, you will be allowed to modify these Elements in particular. 

     

    Moreover, the creator of the construct can also decide to come and remove the DRM protection of the whole construct (by right-clicking on the Core Unit), or of one particular Control Unit/Screen Unit if he wants to (warning: this action is not reversible). Make sure, however, to check if the DRM flag for voxels is global or not. If it is, and you add a beautiful sculpture to the construct, you will not be able to copy-paste it out of the construct. You should rather make your own Master Construct for this kind of action.

     

    BLUEPRINT DUPLICATION


    The Blueprint duplication will let players create copies of Blueprints, which in turns other players will use to generate a limited quantity of constructs.

    To understand this feature better, allow us to make the distinction between Core Blueprints and regular Blueprints.

     

    Core Blueprints
    When the creator of a construct, or any player owning the right to create a Blueprint from a construct generates a Blueprint from said construct, this is a Core Blueprint.


    Its creation is free. It can be used as the simple construct-save it used to be. But more importantly, this is what you’ll use to generate Regular Blueprints.


    It is stored in the player inventory and behaves as a regular information item. A Core Blueprint is never lost on death. However, a player can generate a core Blueprint only if he is the creator of a construct or if the DRM flag of the construct has been lifted.


    All ancient Blueprints (as in, Blueprints from before the Blueprint Duplication patch) will be converted into Core Blueprints.

     

    Regular Blueprints


    By right-clicking on a Core blueprint, a player can choose to generate a regular Blueprint, or just “Blueprint” for short. A regular Blueprint, is in reality a one-run Blueprint, and is always the result of a duplication of a Core Blueprint.


    It is a standard information item, and because it is a one-run Blueprint, it can only be used once and disappears on use.


    Once created, regular Blueprints are delivered at once in the player’s inventory as soon as he validates the duplication. Regular Blueprints are weight-less and volume-less.

     

    We hope this DevBlog gives you better visibility and understanding of what’s coming next in Dual Universe. Don’t hesitate to tell us what you would like to see next!

     

    See you very soon in Dual Universe ;)

    DevBlog (1).png

     

    Want to discuss this announcement? Click HERE. ?

     

    Pending Beta invites have been reset

    in Beta Updates & Announcements

    Posted

    Our website maintenance is now over and the site is back online. What it means for you is that all of your Beta code invitations previously in PENDING have been reset to AVAILABLE. You can send them once again now, to whomever you would like!

     

    To do that, once you've entered a friend's email address, hit SEND CODE. You can repeat this as long as you have Beta codes left as "AVAILABLE". 

    Happy gifting! 

     

    betacode.png

    Return of the Wrecks! (Salvaging is back!)

    in Beta Updates & Announcements

    Posted

    Gather your friends, empty out the cargo bay, and bring some snacks: it’s road trip time!  We’re pleased to announce the return of wrecks to Dual Universe. 

     

    In case you missed it the first time around, wrecks are an exciting new game play element for the adventurous miner. Scattered around the known universe are the long lost wrecks of ancient ships and transports. How they got there is a mystery, but they are valuable resources that can be salvaged for core elements and materials.

    There are over 100 ships to be found on unclaimed tiles. Once a wreck has been salvaged, its resources do not replenish, so you have a limited time to mine them. Dive in game NOW before it's too late!

     

     

    “Marketplace Heist” Response

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    Hello Noveans, 

     

    At this stage it’s hard to ignore that the “Market Heist” has definitely caused a stir of dialogue and reactions both in our community and on the internet.

     

    We have taken some time to look at the situation in more detail: the actions of these players are not ok, not condoned, and will not be tolerated. We stand by our decision, and we’d like to better explain it. 

     

    Most of what Novaquark builds within the game world, such as markets, institutes or the Arkship is not a player-owned construct. It is a part of the game play designed to serve all players. There are exceptions, like shipwrecks, which are designed for salvaging, and clearly communicated as such. 

     

    We did, indeed, state to players that if RDMS is not properly set on a construct, and it results in theft, it’s part of the game and we won’t act upon it. This is to acknowledge that treason can happen in an organization, for instance, and is part of the emergent gameplay we’re trying to promote. 

     

    Now, this does obviously not apply to NQ-built constructs, which are designed to serve a specific purpose in the game. It is obvious that these constructs, owned by NQ accounts or Aphelia, are not meant to be interacted with in the same manner as player constructs. Besides, they may contain some highly overpowered and unbalanced elements which were never meant to fall in the hands of players. So the situation with the market is clearly covered by section 5.2 of the EULA: “You must refrain from engaging in any behaviour that could harm NOVAQUARK’s image and/or reputation, that could harm one or more other Users or have a negative impact on their gaming experience, or that is detrimental to the proper functioning of the Game.”

     

    Finally, and for the record, the issue with the market did not result in a wrongly-set RDMS, but rather in a duplication bug. Part of what we use is the same tools as players to build constructs. We create one district, then duplicate it. Something went wrong in the duplication process of one of the markets, which resulted in players being able to edit it.

     

    Were we harsh? Yes. But we had previously communicated that we would no longer tolerate abuses of bugs and issues. We do realize that perhaps this started innocently enough in that someone pressed “B” while standing on a market. But it went beyond this, and that shows intention. The players involved indicated that they reported the issue, and after further investigation, one did, though not by following the proper feedback channel: they pinged a staff account on Discord in the middle of the night. We’ve clearly stated that staff do not respond to pings on Discord, and that the reporting method for exploits and bugs of this nature is either via our ticket system, or via a community manager on the forums. 

     

    Even a proper attempt to inform us about an exploit doesn’t mean that it’s OK to go on and abuse it. Communicating an exploit to the NQ staff doesn’t serve as a way to absolve the players, it’s only meant to ensure that we fix the issue - it’s not a free pass to use an exploit. The banned players destroyed a player market by dismantling it, and the fact that they communicated with us via Reddit with a request not to be banned shows that they knew what they were doing was wrong. They posted on Reddit, proud of their ‘achievement’ and of the destruction. 

     

    In the end, repairing the damage cost us hours of manpower across multiple departments, which could have been invested into further progressing the game. 

     

    That is why we take this seriously. 

     

    Here are a couple of things that we’d like to reiterate:

    • We are in beta.  Things aren’t always going to work as intended. But we have a persistent, single-shard universe, and altering its foundations impacts all players.
    • Bug Fixes aren’t instant. They take manpower time to find, investigate, fix, test and roll out. We try to make sure that fixing a bug doesn’t introduce a dozen more.
    • As beta players, we count on you to help us and report bugs, not abuse them. We believe that this is fairly standard for most games.  

    We genuinely hope this brings some clarity to the situation, and ask you all to remember this is a communal effort. We’re in this together.

     

    Sincerely,
    The Novaquark Team
     

     

    “Marketplace Heist” Response

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    Hello Noveans, 

     

    By now, some of you may be aware that unlucky number Market 15 has been stripped bare and left to create ugly memes for generations to come. We’re trying to look at this in good humour as, from the front, it appears to be an issue that was created when we moved the markets, making it editable by players. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (though we know there are a few of you out there) to understand that the markets are not a community construction, and as such not intended to be handled by players on this level. The destruction of the build isn’t a quick fix, and was clearly done knowing it shouldn't be. 

     

    An important aspect we are considering in all cases and investigations is intention. The intention behind this destruction is very clear to us. The players involved did not report this bug to us, but instead simply filled their pockets. Had this stopped with a single voxel removed it would be a different story.  This is, at its core, a violation of the EULA and against the intentions of beta. We have been as understanding as we can until this point, but there must be a line.

     

    Let us be clear, we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour during any phase of the development of Dual Universe.

     

    The players responsible for the destruction of the market have been permanently banned from Dual Universe, and all salvaged materials and assets gained will be removed without compensation.

     

    Sincerely,
    The Novaquark Team
     

    Follow up statement: 

     

    Marketplace Performance Improvements

    in Beta Updates & Announcements

    Posted

    Hello Noveans,

     

    We realize that the districts currently represent a performance bottleneck, as they are a choke point between markets, institutes and the starting zone for new players. Even though we have identified performance improvements that should help solve these issues, we have decided to make some immediate changes to prevent these issues from affecting the performance for new players, until we are able to roll out these improvements.
     
    So we are making some temporary changes such as relocating many of the services you have come to know and expect in the districts: 

    • New Stand Alone Markets will be moved approx. 2km from the associated district. 
    • All pending orders will be transferred to the new market building. 
    • All institutes will be removed from districts on Alioth and Sanctuary. 
    • A new single Institute will be created near the Arkship. 
    • Transport stations will be placed at all Districts to be able to get to the Institutes. 

     

    The institutes appear to be a heavy driver of performance issues, by removing them from higher traffic areas we hope to provide a better market experience for players overall. 

     

    Players who log out on one of the affected construct buildings may find themselves in a new location when returning post maintenance. We recommend bookmarking important places and construct locations. 

     

    As always, we appreciate your patience while we work, and welcome your feedback on the changes and performance improvements once complete.  We expect these changes will occur over the next few update cycles during October. 
     

    Sincerely,


    The Novaquark Team
     

    Clarification regarding Bug Exploits & Griefing

    in Announcements

    Posted

    Hello Noveans, 

     

    We realize there is some confusion regarding whether certain scenarios occurring within the game world are permitted or not, and would like to clarify these points for everyone.  In short, we’d like to ask our community to use common sense when encountering issues in the game;  If it looks like an exploit, smells like an exploit (do pixels smell?), or sounds like an exploit, chances are it is an exploit. Don’t DU it! Report it. (support.dualthegame.com)

     

    We are in a testing phase, and reporting these bugs/issues is important. Abusing them may lead to sanctions against accounts, up to and including removal from the game. We will not take ignorance as an excuse, especially in the following list of scenarios. Please note this is not an exhaustive list, and we will continue to expand upon it as needed: 

     

    •  “ALT + F4 Emergency Brake”: We acknowledge this is not an intended game play loop that is being intentionally used by players. We do plan to counter this action in the future but do not consider it high priority at this time. At this time, we will not take action against an account for using such. [Allowed]

     

    • Parenting Ships - Dragged to PVP Space: This is a hot topic and one we wish to be very clear on. Intentionally parenting any construct without permission of the owner is not intended for game play. A fix has been rolled out that will address the ability to parent constructs together via the maneuver tool. As we have not previously clarified this point, we will not retroactively punish this abuse, as of this moment forward abusing similar bugs/tools to replicate this maneuver in its current state can result in disciplinary actions on an account. [Not Allowed]

     

    • Attacking PVP Zone from Safe Space: Our team has been investigating complaints of ships being attacked in the PVP zone from ships outside of the zone. Our investigations strongly point to sync issues between clients. We will continue to work with this feature, but recommend players consider the zone lines for PVP to be somewhat fluid and not absolute. Our version of the neutral zone! We ask that you continue to report cases with positions, but will not action accounts at this time, unless an additional exploit is discovered. [Allowed]

     

    • Overlapping engines with other elements (obscuring): A fix will be rolled out that will prevent this from occurring. No action will be taken, unless additional abuse is occurring. [Allowed]

     

    • Theft Via RDMS: RDMS permissions and settings are the sole discretion of each player. We advise you take the time to get to know and understand the system and be cautious when making a construct or element usable by unknown players, including the use of your friends list. Not every player has your best interest at heart. We can not get involved with permission based theft, whether as an individual or an organization. We encourage you to review your friends list each time you add or remove someone and ensure your construct permissions are set accordingly. The context menu options that set public access currently do not have a confirmation prompt, be careful as setting public access to said construct will allow every player in Dual Universe to go into build mode and remove/place elements and voxels.  [Allowed]
       

     

    • Environmental Walls/Creations: Use of the environmental and voxel tools allows the manipulation of terrain on owned and unowned tiles. You may build walls or other structures up to the allowed height, however, said constructions must not: 
      • Block access to market places or tutorials
      • Must abide by our Community Standards (phallic/sexual, political, religious or otherwise offensive shapes are not permitted)
      • Must not be placed with the intention of interfering with neighboring players. When players can not agree, the final decision on what is and is not acceptable is decided on a case-by-case basis by Novaquark staff.
         

     

    • Marketplace Construct Parking: Players are permitted to park at marketplaces with their transport vehicles so long as they are not preventing use to other players or obstructing entry or exit points. Vehicles whose purpose is advertising (organization, service or otherwise) must abide by the following rules. 
      • Organizations and individuals wishing to advertise at markets may have one advertising construct per district maximum
      • Constructs may not be larger than “Small” sized
      • Constructs may not block access to any building, entry points or dispensers
      • Advertisements must not be placed/parented on constructs that don’t belong to you
      • Constructs that violate these terms will be removed from the game without warning or compensation.
         
    • Mass Manipulation in Transportation:  Players who utilize bugs to bypass the weight penalty of their inventory, other players, other constructs, etc to move mass through the game are not permitted. This includes:
      • Adding additional mass to an already piloted ship [Fixed]
      • Docking mass to an already piloted ship [Fixed]
      • Circumventing linked container range [Fix Pending] [Not Allowed]

     

    • Item Duplication: Any method of duplicating items or resources (including quanta) is not allowed at any time. Any incidents of bugs of this nature must be reported to the support team at support.dualthegame.com [Not Allowed]
       

    • Boarding without permission: As the deployment of the docking update is pending, the boarding of other players' constructs without consent will be considered an exploit. [Not Allowed]
       

      Offenders will be teleported away; repeat offenders may be subject to more serious repercussions.


      If you are boarded by another player and wish to have them removed, please report it either by creating a ticket here or by messaging @gm through the in-game Help channel.


    We do recommend you keep regular backups of your constructs in the form of blueprints in the case you lose a ship (through intended means (sale, give away etc),or undesired results such as in PVP, you can still recreate it later.    
     

    How to Blueprint (to save your ship/build):
    Enter build-mode on the construct, right click anywhere on the construct and click “Create Blueprint”. The blueprint will then be generated inside your currently active inventory. It is wise to keep hold of a copy of any of your blueprints inside your personal nanopack, as these are safe and not lost upon respawning.
     

    We realize this is not an exhaustive list, and we will expand upon it as time goes on. We also understand some members of our community feel that using a bug or exploit prior to acknowledgement by Novaquark is considered okay. We’d like to state that any intentional use of a  bug or exploit will be treated harshly going forward. This is the one and only warning we will issue on this topic. Please just don’t DU it! 


    On behalf of the entire team, we thank you for helping us make Dual Universe a better place! 
     

    Sincerely,
    The Novaquark Team
     

    How to Send Beta Codes

    in Beta Updates & Announcements

    Posted

    Hello Noveans,

     

    If you purchased an Alpha pack from our website or during our Kickstarter campaign, you may have Beta invitation(s) available to send to your friends! As a reminder, here's how you can use these invitations: go to dualuniverse.game and log into your account from the main site header. Once logged in, go to the ‘My Products’ page in the menu under your name. If you have invitations available, they will appear under the section "GIFTABLE BETA CODES". You can then enter your friends’ emails to invite them.

     

    betakey.png

     

    Once you've entered a friend's email address, hit "SEND CODE". You can repeat this as long as you have Beta codes left as "AVAILABLE".

    As soon as they create their account, they’ll be able to join you on your cosmic adventures throughout the galaxy!

     

    See you in Dual Universe!

    The Novaquark team

    Why does NQ-Sophon own 37 Tiles on Alioth?

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    For those who do not know, NQ-Sophon is the staff account of our CEO and Creative Director JC Baillie. Tiles that are claimed by staff accounts will be used to house community builds for events, cool unique structures, features, secrets, demos, testing and more. We may claim and reclaim unused tiles as needed for events.

     

    For clarification purposes, NQ staff are not permitted to play Dual Universe from their staff account (“NQ-” account). This is to prevent confusion between interacting with us as administrators and staff of the game vs as a player, and prevent favoritism or abuse from admin accounts.  We may take part in player functions (testing a ship/building/mining, etc) but never with the intention of personal gains. 

     

     

     

     

    A Note About Bug Exploitations

    in Announcements

    Posted

    Hello Noveans!

     

    We would like to thank you for your patience during the past few weeks as we have been incredibly focused on getting you all into the game. While we know there are still a few edge cases out there, we hope you’ve been enjoying your time in Dual Universe!

     

    A burning topic is known bugs surrounding duping, and their exploitation. We’d like to offer some clarifications on this. 

     

    We are aware of some bugs that were allowing players to dupe items and resources, and we are actively investigating  these. The process is however slow and labor intensive. Given how much time is involved, and how severe the outcome is, we want to make it clear that we are taking all exploits very seriously and they will carry heavy sanctions for abuse cases up to and including removal of player accounts and permanent bans.  

     

    We have a zero tolerance policy towards cheating and exploiting, as is clearly laid out in our Code of Conduct.
     

    • For those who have encountered these bugs and already reported them, we thank you. There will be no sanctions on those accounts. We may balance gains if deemed necessary. 
    • For those who have been knowingly abusing bugs, you have 48 hours to report your activities via a ticket here: support.dualthegame.com - your duped proceeds will be removed, but no further action will be taken. Please select Gameplay in the first form drop-down, select the “Rules & Policies” > “Exploits” category and use the subject “Self Report”
    • For those who continue to exploit, and do not report it, your account will be banned without notice upon completion of our investigations.  

     

    While every person has their own sense of fun, it is important to remember that this is an MMO and that rules must be enforced to keep play fair and even. 

    We thank you for being a part of the Dual Universe  beta and for helping us keep the game fair and entertaining. 

     

    Sincerely, 
    The Novaquark Team

    Website Update

    in Announcements

    Posted

    Just a quick update on the website.

     

    Though we encountered multiple technical difficulties, the dev team is deploying the website step by step: the account creation, the authentication system, the download of the game and the payment portal are currently working. Now the team focus on deploying the beta invitation system as soon as possible. Next step after this one will be the image upload feature.

     

    Thanks for your patience while we continue to work. 

     

    The Novaquark Team

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