HangerHangar

If devs/publishers aren’t bragging about numbers, they’re not happy about them.

So, you want to copy EVE Online and move your industry to a schematic production model, fine. A couple of salient points.
 
1/ EVE has a massive missioning system that gives pilots a wide array of possible paths to take, DU has mining ore and building a small factory set up....... cool (so lets remove 50% of that, players have far to much too do)
 
2/ EVE has a vast array of ships and items produced by players and corps available from go, DU has flying coffins built with a bent nail with a rubber chicken for a hammer...... cool
 
DU is not ready for a schematic based production system, it has many systemic issues to solve first. Don't get me wrong, i am enjoying it atm but, but. Your about to destroy a months work and make my small factory set up worthless and give everything to the massive cash grab groups who are only going to dominate more. Not sure i'll be playing in the medium term, there's very little player engagement as it is and your about to remove 75% of that for most players.
 
Good Luck
 

Honestly I just want all my talent points back as this tool is totally flipping useless now.

I can put it quite succinctly why I decided to put the game on a long wait.
 
essentially the devs put themselves in a position where they can not keep/make anyone happy.   The people currently playing love the hell out of the building system (IE: aerospace expos), but content for updates require major overhauls.   Likewise there are a hell of a lot of PvP fans who’ve barely even gotten their systems implemented.   The devs don’t have the resources to keep both happy, and based on the design skills they’ve displayed whichever system they work on first will be pretty "off”/"wrong” requiring time consuming babysitting by the devs.

Only need to look at Worlds Adrift's player  bleed to see the fate of an MMO that has too little content, chooses PvP focused community as the "advisers", and has massive future promises (territory control, and new regions in the case of Worlds Adrift and here).
 
WA even had the same PvP problems of time to kills being too short (especially for level of grind), building/design aesthetics being a PvP disadvantage, and over engine-ing ships being the meta.
 
Also had the same issue of being a game that advertised as being about more than PvP.  Just to have dev focus and obsess on PvP.   (Along with the PvP community chasing out other communities, and lack of nonPvP updates causing those that aren’t  concern about PvP/being hunted to walk away as well).
 
————
 
it’s like the Devs didn’t  bother to analyze what other and especially similar companies have done recently.  
 
Especially in this game’s cause because they have truly atrocious design insight/skill.  demonstrated by believing That each tier of ore has 5x difficulty, a 2 year puzzle getting solved in 2 weeks (believing players won’t use tools available to them is an absurd design oversight), and being surprised at how quickly players can grind through industry/to space/optimal builds (mmo players are expert grinders there aren’t any loops in this game to surprise anyone).

Only need to look at Worlds Adrift's player  bleed to see the fate of an MMO that has too little content, chooses PvP focused community as the "advisers", and has massive future promises (territory control, and new regions in the case of Worlds Adrift and here).
 
WA even had the same PvP problems of time to kills being too short (especially for level of grind), building/design aesthetics being a PvP disadvantage, and over engine-ing ships being the meta.
 
Also had the same issue of being a game that advertised as being about more than PvP.  Just to have dev focus and obsess on PvP.   (Along with the PvP community chasing out other communities, and lack of nonPvP updates causing those that aren’t  concern about PvP/being hunted to walk away as well).
 
————
 
it’s like the Devs didn’t  bother to analyze what other and especially similar companies have done recently.  
 
Especially in this game’s cause because they have truly atrocious design insight/skill.  demonstrated by believing That each tier of ore has 5x difficulty, a 2 year puzzle getting solved in 2 weeks (believing players won’t use tools available to them is an absurd design oversight), and being surprised at how quickly players can grind through industry/to space/optimal builds (mmo players are expert grinders there aren’t any loops in this game to surprise anyone).

Only need to look at Worlds Adrift's player  bleed to see the fate of an MMO that has too little content, chooses PvP focused community as the "advisers", and has massive future promises (territory control, and new regions in the case of Worlds Adrift and here).
 
WA even had the same PvP problems of time to kills being too short (especially for level of grind), building/design aesthetics being a PvP disadvantage, and over engine-ing ships being the meta.
 
Also had the same issue of being a game that advertised as being about more than PvP.  Just to have dev focus and obsess on PvP.   (Along with the PvP community chasing out other communities, and lack of nonPvP updates causing those that aren’t  concern about PvP/being hunted to walk away as well).
 
————
 
it’s like the Devs didn’t  bother to analyze what other and especially similar companies have done recently.  
 
Especially in this game’s cause because they have truly atrocious design insight/skill.  demonstrated by believing That each tier of ore has 5x difficulty, a 2 year puzzle getting solved in 2 weeks (believing players won’t use tools available to them is an absurd design oversight), and being surprised at how quickly players can grind through industry/to space/optimal builds (mmo players are expert grinders there aren’t any loops in this game to surprise anyone).

Only need to look at Worlds Adrift's player  bleed to see the fate of an MMO that has too little content, chooses PvP focused community as the "advisers", and has massive future promises (territory control, and new regions in the case of Worlds Adrift and here).
 
WA even had the same PvP problems of time to kills being too short (especially for level of grind), building/design aesthetics being a PvP disadvantage, and over engine-ing ships being the meta.
 
Also had the same issue of being a game that advertised as being about more than PvP.  Just to have dev focus and obsess on PvP.   (Along with the PvP community chasing out other communities, and lack of nonPvP updates causing those that aren’t  concern about PvP/being hunted to walk away as well).
 
————
 
it’s like the Devs didn’t  bother to analyze what other and especially similar companies have done recently.  
 
Especially in this game’s cause because they have truly atrocious design insight/skill.  demonstrated by believing That each tier of ore has 5x difficulty, a 2 year puzzle getting solved in 2 weeks (believing players won’t use tools available to them is an absurd design oversight), and being surprised at how quickly players can grind through industry/to space/optimal builds (mmo players are expert grinders there aren’t any loops in this game to surprise anyone).

I mean....that alone would be a start.
 
You think mining would be what it is today if JC had to mine all the ore to build his castle?

I can put it quite succinctly why I decided to put the game on a long wait.
 
essentially the devs put themselves in a position where they can not keep/make anyone happy.   The people currently playing love the hell out of the building system (IE: aerospace expos), but content for updates require major overhauls.   Likewise there are a hell of a lot of PvP fans who’ve barely even gotten their systems implemented.   The devs don’t have the resources to keep both happy, and based on the design skills they’ve displayed whichever system they work on first will be pretty "off”/"wrong” requiring time consuming babysitting by the devs.

I can put it quite succinctly why I decided to put the game on a long wait.
 
essentially the devs put themselves in a position where they can not keep/make anyone happy.   The people currently playing love the hell out of the building system (IE: aerospace expos), but content for updates require major overhauls.   Likewise there are a hell of a lot of PvP fans who’ve barely even gotten their systems implemented.   The devs don’t have the resources to keep both happy, and based on the design skills they’ve displayed whichever system they work on first will be pretty "off”/"wrong” requiring time consuming babysitting by the devs.

Those interviews are happening on YouTube and Twitch so that they are not easily accessible.   Having easily accessible plans would make it pretty obvious how quickly the devs are changing their minds.
 
industry Lua:  no -> this is a design/balance problem not technical.
 
Safe areas: just Sanctuary -> having half of Alioth be safe would make for interesting interactions -> we’re keeping the blue triangle
 
auto turrets:  extreme no -> no -> they’ll be weak
 
auto mining:  no because it would hurt newbies -> it’s on the list -> oh yeah it’s going to use a new land rating to make some areas more desirable for Territory Control.
 
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The interviews being hard to access, and being extraordinarily hard to search is an intended feature.   Probably the best way to make them go away is to make the stashed org summaries publicly accessible.  The devs are down to Streamers that can only pull in 200 viewers anyways.

The devs are continually under estimating players, this time they did not even expect them to hit 'B' .

The devs are continually under estimating players, this time they did not even expect them to hit 'B' .

The devs are continually under estimating players, this time they did not even expect them to hit 'B' .

The devs are continually under estimating players, this time they did not even expect them to hit 'B' .

The devs are continually under estimating players, this time they did not even expect them to hit 'B' .

The devs are continually under estimating players, this time they did not even expect them to hit 'B' .

I think the puzzle does a good job at displaying how much the devs underestimate the players.   five weeks to solve a two year puzzle means that the devs under estimated the player capability by 21 times (104/5 = 20.8).

Post your very brilliant suggestions here! I'll go first c=
 
Bath tub with functioning water faucet element for extra immersion

Insurance relies on being able to invest in other places to come out ahead.  There is not really somewhere to invest in this game if you have “Insurance Company” scale access to capital.
 
At best you might be able to pull off some industrial capacity to take advantage of some market deals where your own production time produces 2-4 times the value of input ore.   Or have the capital to chase update changes to supply/demand/industry.
 
though right now it’s probably the worst time to try to start this, since everything is inflationary.  Since there are extra Q faucets from NPC orders (so the insurance company gets screwed from material replacement contracts, or the client gets screw by a payout that buys less than the start of the contract).  And there are likely to be “supply” shortages in the future based on what we know of the Territory Control roll out ATM (atmospheric combat will change mining ship designs fundamentally.   It won’t be worth the risk to run 3 scanner units for most ORGS, something currently doable on the individual level.   Much the same for multi large cargo container ships), so after that hits there will be a massive loss there (either in customers from getting screw by the useless program, or the program taking massive losses at those changes).
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On the other hand it’s a matter of why bother.  If you’re going to set up an actual large org.   You might as well set up an actual large org that uses actual game mechanics like Territory Control.

Cat Ears and Tail as an avatar customization option, obviously.

....and if it were - that would NOT be a good thing!
 
Alright, this is something that's been bothering me for some time from JCs interviews - and yesterday's Easter Egg interview pushed me over the edge to where I really have to say something...
 
First and foremost - lets face the reality that Ready Player One would be a horrible game for most people nor would the events of the book be enjoyable for the majority of the player base.
 
If you're looking at your game and going "Hey look it's just like RPO!" - what I hear is "Look just a handful of no lifers got to have all the fun!". That IS the plot of RPO. A tiny group of players who take the game WAY WAY WAY WAY too seriously get to enjoy the content while the rest may as well not exist.
 
The puzzle fit this perfectly. A tiny group of players with tons of NDA covered information going back to pre-alpha solve a puzzle while the rest of the community doesn't even know it exists. Yup  - very RPO.
 
JC - The takeaway from the puzzle event should not be that "Look it was just like RPO! I did a good job!" - it should be that "The event was a complete failure and did not involve the majority of the community in a meaningful way, and was solved largely due to a bug and alpha knowledge that was not available to the bulk of the community."
 
Please please please for the sake of DU - stop trying to make this game like a fictional book about a fictional game. You need to take a serious look at how other games have done community events and have managed to involve much larger groups of players. Everything from opening the gates of Ahn'Qiraj to the Elite Dangerous Alien events - yes they were flawed in their own ways - but by and large involved more people.
 
 
Finally, this doesn't just cover events. The general game mechanics cannot be based on the mindset "Just like RPO!" - because I repeat - RPO would be a horrible game. In fact, I would go as far as saying if you are looking at any upcoming part of the game like AvA or Territory Warfare or Atmospheric combat and can say "This is just like RPO!" - then it probably needs to be reworked to NOT be like RPO but to be like an actual game that would be fun for more people.
 
Once again - face reality - RPO was a no life simulator where only the no lifers mattered.
 
This means designing things in consideration of players who are not willing to play DU 16 hours a day - and entire teams of such players.
 
Players are not going to want to spend hours waiting for an attack on a territory to man the manual guns because you refuse to consider automatic defenses.
 
Players are not going to want to fly dedicated gunners or escorts for every single hauler just because they may get attacked.
 
Players are not going to want to sit in their ship for hours watching the radar while their orgmates mine out an asteroid.
 
I could go on and on, but the core point is that the game mechanics need to be designed around giving people who do not no life the game a chance to have fun and stand a chance in pvp vs those that do.

The Alioth/Thades/Madis safe zones really shouldn’t drop.   The actual hook of the game is a newbie seeing the scale of the game by managing to get into orbit, across a couple hundred SU of space, and to manage to land on another planet.  and the current three newbie planets is a nice amount that offers some choice between "bioformed temperate"/"unnatural disaster desert"/"algae ice ball".
 
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If anything the current PvP “vets" should be up in arms that current “PvP reward ores" have the same risk as newbie region “PvE reward ores”.  Considering planets with the most interesting rewards should have some combination of atmospheric PvP or territory control.   Along with the expected hoarding of those high end rewards when the “price of risk” for them are at the lowest they will ever be.

Essentially I'm predicting that each new ship feature like Shields and anything Ewar will all require a new chair type.   Essentially the same way where if you want more than a single gun on your ship you will be required to have a specialized chair, to use each new piece of equipment.  This in my opinion is a path towards madness, where to even simulate a "shuttle" you'll need a half dozen people.   
 
Or at least try to take lessons from other "crew" games like the board game "Captain Sonar", where stations can formulate their own plans/deductions to increase their effectiveness or where stations can force other's up/down.   Right now the gunner seat style mechanic feels more like an "alt account subscription profit" design, rather than a gameplay/thematic necessity for the game.