Rhotan
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Posts posted by Rhotan
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Gloves off, knives out....
The 'vision' you speak of... can we get something explaining precisely what the vision is? I don't want to be an activist on the issue. But a player driven economy and a few vague points is not a vision... it is a blur. I would like to see, myself, what the endgame goal is as far as this vision is concerned.
I am happy to see something to the effect of NQ stating some behind the scenes information. Information that is relevant as to why things are the way the way they are. I would assume that the optimization will take place before the upgrade in hardware would hit the table as an option. But it is pleasant that information is being put forth. Something that should be the norm... clear concise communication without vagueness or generalizations to make it sound any better than it is. This is as close to that as I have seen in a long time.
On this 'vision'... I should have drowned numerous times now. Starved to death a few thousand times over. Been pancaked, burnt to a crisp, asphyxiated, decapitated, rag-dolled, poisoned, crushed, electrocuted... Are any of these part of the 'vision'? I mean, I am aware that they can make a meat substitute out of sewage... but the realism is... we don't have any of that survival element so far. I want to see some skill based killing based on something other than computational or statistical RNG.
On the issue with performance... derelicts which are not abandoned and littering the landscape, the airspace, the lakes and oceans, and space itself... it needs addressed. Not talked about, not a balance of aesthetics and performance, but addressed. I do not find it aesthetically pleasing to walk around a District Hub or a Marketplace in game seeing ships smoking from damage, seeing ships belly-up, nose-up, arse-up, or in any other sense than what they should be. This includes sitting on top of one another. We, as players, cannot fix this.
There should be some attention shown to these AGG towers stretching into the sky as well. Indestructible... razor thin frames capable of withstanding an impact from the Deathstar at lightspeed it seems.
I digress... I am happy that the truth is being put forth on the technical end. I want to know what this 'vision' is precisely. I would like to see some realism added to the game itself. And, I want to see an information flow that is honest, reliable, and responsive. On player suggestions, there have been a a large number of suggestions. They may be more tailored to the 'vision' if we knew precisely what that was....- Elusive_Voltis, NQ-Naerais and DrDerp
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On 2/9/2021 at 6:35 PM, Mornington said:
two weeks later there is still e.g. one person selling 5 schematics for advanced precision railguns at 4 million less than the 16 million asking price
maybe that's just someone who had way too much spare cash, bought 80 million worth of schematics more than they needed (for full price) and needs a quick sale to recoup the loss
or maybe this issue was never just about warp beacons, but affected the whole range of schematics? I don't know, I wasn't online when it happened, or just didn't notice, if I was
but until someone tells me otherwise, a deal that looks too good to be true is probably goods that fell off the back of a lorry (in case you're not familiar, the phrase implies stolen)
unless NQ seriously take a look at folks selling schematics for less than NQ are selling them for and ban the exploiters then this joke of a game economy is dead before it draws it's first breath
To me, the best action is, if you see something that is suspicious, report it through the ticket system. Just mark the ticket in a way that refers to the possibility of an exploit from the mistake that was made.
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I've made my rants. I have been hypercritical of the way things are done at NQ. At one time I thought that NQ was swirling into the toilet of Oblivion with this game. I was hoping for a roll back when the mistake with the schematics happened, to which, never came to fruition. Sure, a small number of people took advantage of a situation caused by an error by someone at NQ. How many people took advantage of it? Does anyone know? Who took advantage of it? Does anyone know? Speaks a bit about character to have taken advantage over it. Is it game breaking... not at all. They can build a pool of resources in quantas, spend it on items, afford more territory... yeah they have more and can do more from it. And for all of the folks raging over it, do you know of anyone who made like a bandit off of this? You had 30 minutes of error, at least one person noticed, who would take advantage of it anyways and maybe a few they would tell.
NQ erred by not immediately doing a rollback, that's my opinion. I held out hope for a short while, but after a short while... a rollback has much more devastating effects than the error would have in the first place. Construction by players, as well as any other action would have been reversed. Anything the staff would have fixed would have been reversed. All transactions made by players.... reversed. That would have a more devastating impact if you ask me. So, NQ bit the bullet, owned up to the issue and the missed opportunity, and did nothing.
Here's a new way to look at it. They sell for 841 million apiece, at 1 percent, still 8.4 million apiece, a few people bought some up... Sure you can manufacture them, but at 299 million a pop, how many are you going to sell? You can't really offload the schematics in bulk at the markets for a low, low price... because you just told on yourself. You can't really profit like mad from the production of them, they cost too much. Orgs share beacons with members, and other folks... just what demand is there? If people buy them straight from the market, from the bots, if NQ would make them untradable and unsellable between players at barter.... someone just lost a boatload of money and are stuck with what they thought was a clearance sale. Perhaps make it where they have to have staff authorization to trade or sell the schematics. Add in an "Amnesty Dispenser" that would give the same amount of quantas that the bug had them selling for and give the folks a chance to right a wrong. There are still ways to mitigate the issue possibly. It is not the end of the world.... Too many people are way too fast to come to a conclusion on matters. It's the world we live in today.
On another note.... I sit in the help chat quite often and see the daily goings on and problems that arise. The number of tickets are way down, particularly for the market related disconnects. Maybe the player base is disintegrating over this last error by NQ. Needlessly might I add if that is the case. Ticket teams are busting their butts to catch up and are making good headway. The last game bug, the industry stopping, took 2 days to correct, and that was on a weekend. They listened... There are good things coming down the pipe people.... I would not abandon all hope just yet.
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Greetings,
That's quite a contribution to the community that would like to experience the racing or even spectate it. I mean, if you can cram 100,000 people into a huge arena and watch people do left turns for 200-400 laps (NASCAR) or any of the racing circuits... why not DU?
An overarching goal to this game is to progress it through community initiative. Player built citadels and factions, cities and hubs of engagement... all community driven. Burble is ahead of the curve and took the time and tasked themselves (along with others) to achieve something. To Burble.... much love and respect! You have the vision, I think, the game designers want to see progressing.
I hate to see the salty ones come here to complain about something unrelated. I've plenty of salt myself but have decided to not to sling it. The "error" on the schematics issue was just that, an error. Rolling back the server may have been idea at ground zero of the discovery of the error, but the opportunity was missed. They acknowledged the error, weighed the options, and made a decision not to do a rollback. Implementing procedural controls to prevent the recurrence of the error were carried out.
On the flip side of it, it is my understanding that the mountain of tickets are being sculpted down to a masterpiece of teamwork and the ticket team is gaining ground. New ticket submittal is in decline. There is the backlog as well but it's being carved on. They listened... give it time. A lot of improvements can be made, expect some errors or setbacks to happen occasionally, and apply yourself to the greater goals of building your empire.
The big ticket items such as the markets and other problems are seeing steady debate on resolution. If you have an idea, submit it here https://upvote.dualuniverse.game/ or in the idea box.
But give Burble the props they deserve as well as those who have contributed to make it happen.
~Rhotan~
"Do not walk in front of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside of me and be my friend." - Albert Camus
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I applaud the decision to correct the issue. NOW.... NOW you seem to have heard us. You advertise a player created universe, or alternate reality. Even this one small step validates such claims as the players have altered their realities, in game, through voice. I think everyone involved, from the highest staff to the lowest newbie, has the same goal in mind.... to be part of the best gaming experience possible in Dual Universe.
I would think we all would rather sing the praises of a wonderful game with a clear-cut, hassle-free evolution (at least as hassle-free as possible) of a wonderful game with great potentials. An evolution which developed through collaboration of player and staff alike. A staff which is attentive and responsive, which also has the authority to make judgement calls to 'fix' the little things that do not require investigation due to loss of large sums of quanta or value. For example, bugged fuel tanks, where they cannot remove the fuel to pick up the tank. Staff should have the ability and leeway to make that judgement call. If you need the ticket, request one, after they get the number, provide the relief to the player.
From my perspective, of haunting the help chat and terrorizing staff and players alike... I personally believe that the next big thing which would have the absolute most impact in every facet from server stability, a reduction in lag for players, reduction of 'hard' crashes (which results in crashes all the way around, and thus, tickets flying in) are the massive amount of constructs surrounding the marketplaces. To this end, I offer the following suggestion as a resolution:
Flatten the immediate areas around the marketplaces, populate that pre-built structures that can be "rented" to players/orgs for utilizing and running their advertisements and businesses from. 'Dot' that with parking spaces for xs/small/med size craft, and push the larger craft to the outer ring of the aphelia owned areas. While you are at it... fixing the docking with either software or hardware would be a good thing, or put in transit teleporters to the marketplace or 'neighborhoods in the aphelia 'cities'. I know it has been mentioned prior as well, but 'digital garages' may be a way to go as well. Doesn't even need to be flat... could go all Sim City on it...
In closing, to JC and the dev team, thank you! THIS, this shows you listened. If you happened to perform that "self-help" exercise, don't worry about the ring around your forehead, it will disappear in time. Occasionally, we all have to perform it. Just some will not admit it....
'Do not walk in front of me, I may not follow. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Instead, walk beside of me, and be my friend...' - a paraphrase of a quote by Albert Camus
Rhotan
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NA-Naunet, now that I know a little more about the general workings and how the workflow goes... I applaud you. You interact with the community and that is good. I thank you for your efforts.
Now, I turn my ire to the one I think that needs it. @JC I understand you have a vision... but to achieve your vision, you need support. Support from the player base in particular. Yes, you heard us... but ignored us. Since it is fixed now, I will speak on the matter. My ticket, 41868, was about the 'exploit' and restoration of element lives. I stumbled across it, promptly reported it, and added the twist that if it did not compromise protections on player creations, such as custom lua, we be given a green light to give this information to the players as a way stemming tickets, boosting morale among the players, retaining players, and otherwise putting a cherry on top of the sh*t sundae we have been served. Not only did I request this, I followed up regularly through different channels. I got nothing but static.... no response, no reply, no guidance. Not only have you spent the time on fixing this 'exploit'... but the players are still faced with the exact same dismal service from your end of the business.
I used to think there was a room where the "big-wigs" or departmental heads would gather once a week and have a meeting with the more important issues taking precedence on how to continue, which policies need amended, reversed, strengthened and such. I was wrong. It is not the entire management of NQ... it is YOU @JC. I posted once you should be glad that I am not your boss... I double down on that... you would be in a wheelchair after your legs had fallen off from where I chewed your arse so badly. If you cannot take the time to answer a simple question with a viable reason and take someone else's suggestion to heart, admitting that the path you have taken may have been in error... it defines you as an effite snob who looks down on the player base.
Why am I so harsh? I lay the blame of the descent of a potentially great game at your feet. Your actions have increased ticket submissions exponentially, swamping the help chats and support channels, with new bugs while not remedying the old bugs. And when the people who work the front lines as Staff and GM's get asked about how to fix these issues, a lot of times they do not know. Instead, they take the info 'up the chain' and wait sometimes days before we get word about fixes. Even then... we have already figured it out.
How many tickets does one require of a certain instance or bug, let's take the adjustors sticking, before your department can pinpoint the cause of the issue and work for a viable solution to the problem? It did not take long at all for you to fix what you refer to as an exploit. Players face exploits that you have put into this game all of the time... from your end. Your department is responsible for the development of code correct? You code it, we play it, we report it, and you are all over fixing a potential workaround while allowing the underlying causal to remain.
I could go on for a couple of more hours... I will end it with this... you are failing the player base. Your vision means absolutely nothing if you cannot get other people to share it with you. I humbly request that you bend over, count to ten, raise up swiftly and yell "POP"! If you are brave enough to perform this standard self-help exercise... congratulations, you have just pulled your cranium from your crack.
These elements can no longer be stacked, they can no longer be used in blueprints, and since you cannot stack them... you have to place each and every one of them manually... going into your inventory, equipping the element, and then placing the element. Were you aware of this part of it? You may have heard us, but you sure didn't listen to a word that was said.... and have not been listening to what has been said.
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Well, missed any notification on the quote from NQ-Naunet above. Would love correspondence from the appropriate member of the "Team" in regards to ticket 41868.
My posting of Stormeye was not intended to shame him or anyone else. It just gives relation to what I may be referencing or why I may be referencing it, but I get the message. The language thing is no issue, I got the gist of the comment about "false positives". I've even switched to google translator if needed to help someone. Even google translator will butcher translations if the sentence structures are out of context.
Your communication reduced a full page of rant to a short post. See how wonderful communication can be? Still, I ask for response from JC or someone in that area on ticket 41868. If we can use it as a tool to reduce tickets and get players back in the game and still safeguard RDM items... I suggest it be disseminated to the player base. I also suggest the repeal or a moratorium on the "Keeping the port in Support" until some of these bugs can be worked out by the devs. Get the ticket, do the needed action, repair, teleport, etc... and get players up and running. They can't afford constant bugs crashing them and such. Thanks for the Kudos...
~Rhotan~
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On 12/18/2020 at 9:41 AM, NQ-Naunet said:
Gah, you're awesome. Thank you for lending your support to other players!!
I understand what you're saying about the teleportation changes, and I will share your write-up with the team. As always, I can't guarantee anything (especially given how recently this particular decision was made), but I can at least re-open the discussion and see if we need to make any adjustments.
Thank you for spending the time to type that out, Rhotan!Well, I hung that hat up last night.I got an answer to my question. I need rid of slowmode still though. And, I am apparently not an OFFICIAL helper. Is there a program for that? That is open for discussion though. Why did I stop supporting the community as a helper and deflector shield in the Discord? Yesterday, there were issues with players crashing in game due to apparent bugs. We got a visit from NQ-Stormeye which went one step below riotous, but was fairly cordial. After all was said and done, I did not know who NQ-Stormeye then, and I do not know now. I inquired to three staff throughout the rest of the day and into the night even the simple question of what position does NQ-Stormeye hold at the company. I never received a response. In fact, one of the staff "pinged" NQ-Stormeye to mark the conversation and alert him to the query.Why do I want to know? I would like to know if I am talking to someone from the CS department, a lead, a manager, a department head.... or the janitor. It was like I was trying to out a CIA operative. To not even get a response, such as, "It is preferred that we ask them if we can give you this information.", or "I will let him know to contact you if he can."... instead... silence. I have no intention of "doxxing" his position to get him targeted by a wave of 'pings' from disgruntled players. And, if you are going to step into the line of fire, as NQ-Stormeye did, have some common courtesy... such as identifying yourself and taking the feedback received up the chain instead of asking I fill a ticket out on it and submit it.
I have an issue with some of his answers as well.
I question the logic. How many tickets are required to provide enough data on a specific situation, let's say, spontaneous combustion of a players construct (which is happening) does it take to get reaction and redress from the devs? How would requiring a player to submit a ticket, with logs, be any different if their ship was repaired or not by staff? This is where review comes in. If a player was flying while intoxicated and smacked into one of those space elevators around Alioth... submits a false support ticket and gets a repair, and it is determined that nothing happened on the game side to cause it... then maybe some reprimand is needed. If you cannot determine whose fault it was on your end to begin with, you all are in beta, early beta... a subscription beta at that... I think that benefit of the doubt should apply.
It is no secret about the AVT existing anymore. Maybe it never was a secret. I spoke with a member of this AVT and queried with them some of the basic things as to how that process worked. To my dismay, they stated that they felt their feedback was cherry-picked. The bad was washed away and the good things were looked at. That was their personal feelings on it. It may be correct, it may not be. Worth an inquiry in my opinion.
What comprises "The Team". Who constitutes it? How are issues decided? What is the chain-of-command at NQ? Can we get clarification on the reporting processes and who does what in that process? Meaning, a ticket is filed, where does that go first? What is the chain of custody on it? How about the in-game @NQ in game chat support channel? Who gets the notification first? Where does it go?
Here is another good one from today as to either a possible lapse in judgement, an ignorance of file structure, or a total disregard for the player base.
The patch for today deleted their scripts from their installation folders.
Here is the last screenshot I will offer in today's write-up. And yes, I enjoy thorough communicative write-ups...
This is one of many I have seen with this narrative.
This started not just after the "Keep the port in Support", as many could fly and would own up to their errors if they crashed, but it took off after .23 and the bugs released by that patch. I have tried to direct people to the forums, I have spit some venom myself, but if you look at the server load statistics.... it should be going down from a mass exodus. Entire orgs have reportedly left the game. People are streaming the carnage caused by these bugs. Youtube has some nasty videos as well. Your advertisements also offer a 1 month subscription while anyone visiting the site has a three month option to start with.
I've had 8D problem solving courses, a ton of industrial continuous improvement training, even serving as the head of an entire department before as a coordinator. I do not know the manpower of staffing constraints you all have. Nor do I know funding constraints placed upon you. I do know that my eyes are locked on the dev department seeking accountability for wanton failures in released content. They are either releasing bad content willingly, through ignorance, or being forced to do so. As a result, tickets pour in, swamp CS, months old tickets are buried and people are fuming over that already... and we are told that NQ cannot help players because of possible "false positives" generated by the release of flawed content.
I suggest putting the brakes on anything but the simplest of content changes, roll back the restrictions of on NQ repairs and teleports for players to get people back in action and up in the air AFTER they have submitted a ticket with log files on new crashes caused by "bugs" so that devs have their info, the player has their repair, and the issues can be addressed without patches going on top of bad code to further complicate the matter.
As for me putting back on a 'Happy Helper Hat', and feel free to stop in the discord and ask about my time in there, or ask the GM's I have worked with, I would be happy to. I would take it a step further and volunteer to get out there and repair those ships and such had I the powers to or sit in the chat and help others freeing up the GM's. Slowmode.. I would request it be removed for my account. I have had to switch back and forth from chat to DM's which can interfere with being able to hand a chatlog over to a GM for further help if I cannot. Not to mention, answering people more rapidly in the chat. Perhaps create a program to recruit helpers with stipends of a special title or something. So many possibilities exist.
I look forward to your response.
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On 12/14/2020 at 4:26 PM, NQ-Naunet said:
Hi @Rhotan,We take your requests for more timely information very seriously. Despite doing our due diligence by posting Monday downtime information on Sunday, it seems that a server crash thwarted our original plans somewhat.
Please see the screenshot below for the full sequence of updates:
Having said that, I can certainly identify a gap here. Another announcement reminding players that the scheduled downtime was about to begin would have been helpful - next time, I will assign another colleague in a different timezone to keep watch and ensure everyone is informed at all times.
I am aware NQ-Naunet, I was helping in the discord help chat when it went down. I put a lot of time in the help chat to unbury GM's from responses and to allow them to possibly correct in game issues. On this day the server crash did come right before the scheduled downtime. I know I have hammered management, and will continue to do so probably. I know my expectations will not align with others. The restrictions placed on the front line guys have decapitated one of the best things i have ever saw in a game though. Frontline, we can help you in just a second support.
Reverse the keep the port in support until devs get a handle on spontaneously combusting ships. THAT, at least allows response to players and eliminates a break in information about a lot of other things. The bugs are overloading the CS team with tickets, slowing response, players are getting the smelly end of the stick. I do not play much anymore due to staying in the chat room helping people, which I do not mind at all, but at times it takes 3 ppl to answer the questions.
From my perspective, I am just a player... from that perspective, I humbly request you return the power to get these other players back into the air and underground. Allow the GM's discretion or even free will to fix destroyed ships with a ticket number and logs. CS can set some of these off to the sides and work on other issues such as the talent points and so forth. Even recruit some players to be able to do it if nothing else. We are in Beta as you well know. Paying to play a Beta... when it gets hardcore and we get close to launch, bring back the restrictions. We all come here to have fun and destress. Recent changes have taken that fun away from a lot of people. Please, for the good of the community, press this return GM's being able to fix and teleport folks. We are not ready for such restrictions to be implemented due to the "shoddy" patches what are spawning more issues than they are fixing. I would be having a strong talk with the dev team to get feedback as to why things are getting broken.
Like I said, I volunteer my time in the help chat in discord... I see the issues, help find workarounds, and get people to ticket their issues. I am there frequently I am commonplace. The being able to fix ppl's ships that detonate when sitting down on the controller seat is imperative to maintaining a player base and promoting community - NQ relations. Open it up... let's restore the faith and joy people had before that directive.
If anyone wants to have a debate about it.... I am GAME.
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What we need NOW... is the repeal or lessening of the restriction from the keep the port in support directive. The game is way too buggy with people sitting in a controller seat and their ship encountering spontaneous combustion. Ships need to STOP upon disconnect, intentional or otherwise, until some of these bugs are fixed such as sticking thrusters, failed engines, etc... this usually caused by scripts or Lua. Let players file a ticket, with log files, when their ship instantly explodes... the CS team can review it to see if it happen or if someone is exploiting just to get a free repair.
While the lessening of t1 schematics are a good thing... that will help a lot of people, waiting to introduce different forms of revenue such as a 50k quanta bonus daily (ROTFLMAO) and some bots which people are exploiting through market code needs to be reinforced with some meaningful and decisive actions.
THe front line guys like NQ-Blacksun, NQ-Wokk, NQ-Gallion, and those wonderful folks that are out there taking the brunt of the beating from players should be able to use discretion and get these players back airborne when bugs caused by a shoddy patch cause them to lose their ships, time in creation and repair of those ships, loss of element lives, and even the anguish it causes.
BUT, AGAIN, relax the restriction on front line employees and let them keep folks in the air, repaired, and happy. When the programming gets revamped, optimized, and put forth in a manner that the bugs are near eliminated, ramp up the restrictions.
The DRM changes... voxel libraries... voxelmancy tools being put together and sold by a player as his niche has now suffered the DRM setback. People who own them cannot use them anymore. That is quantas they have rightfully spent to purchase a product created in game by a player. I do not expect this man or their org to fly to each and every house in the system and ask if they need rights, and neither should NQ.
The Dynamic Properties being locked on elements from screens of various sizes, to engines, to potted plants on constructs makes blueprints undeployable with any of these items, furthermore, it is making the items unusable in other constructs... the DRM on top of that affects placing an item from one construct to the next. Buy something from a player, well, you paid for it, but you can't get sick of it and tear it apart for elements.
Make cores repairable again with scrap. Until you have a solid system with little to no bugs, make them repairable.
Remember... it is your leadership that stands to be accountable and also an inspiration to players in the game. I speak of JC... your vision may not be the same vision as we all have. Do NOT force us to have to band together out of necessity. If the game is indeed meant to build empires, they start from small groups.
Two more things... to JC, be thankful I am not your boss. We would have had a really serious discussion after the .23 patch about your future. To the rest of the upper echelons, including JC, arrogance, if it applies (if you just got that 'hair on the back of your neck standing up' feeling this may mean you) and pride have slain many a great minds. The most convincing form of communication as to a buying option is word of mouth from someone who has had the experience. Make things happen, as I have listed above as some examples, or you all will be finding yourselves the talk of the town on Reddit and elsewhere.
Fetch, I do not understand why it was removed. The maneuver tool changes, could have been max elevation by planet. Exceed that, and ship fall down and go boom. STOP taking the "everybody is a cheater" attitude and punish those who are exploiting. Now, you can't fetch you ship, the GM's cannot teleport your ship, the SC are trying to dig out of the chaos of botched patches.
Watch that server counter... it should have been on a steady decline after the recent fiascos. TIs a shame to see such a potential being thrown away. Communications... engaging the players and giving them good (WORKING) content, moving towards that implementation, and executing the implementation of that content flawlessly or as close to flawless as possible... Communicate, move, shoot... three most important elements.
This is a shot of a fellows ship that he had JUST completed. He climbed in... and this happened. Put the support, back in the support with ports/repairs/ and assistance that means something to these folks.
IF you have heard us... get 'er done....
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Here is a good example of a lapse in communications. I post it here due to the fact the community is still reeling from the issues caused by the .23 patch, my previous post calling out the communications issues, and the continuation of those issues.
I argue that the Keeping the "PORT" in Support should be relaxed for GM's to be able to repair the carnage caused by such instances without lengthy processes. If a player can submit the ticket, with log files, they should not be have to wait to get back running in game. The ticket and logfiles would be for review of possible exploitation by players. If they are exploiting a situation, for example, they file a ticket to get a repair supposedly due to a crash caused by NQ through some means, and did not suffer damage from the event but are seeking to get elements lives restored due to another cause of damage (PvP, bad pilot), they should be held accountable. Once NQ has that ticket number and verifies the existence of the ticket, GM's should be allowed to get a player back in the game.
Also, the fetch tool is another way to help players help themselves until a sense of normalcy is restored. Unless it was causing huge server performance issues of course. Changing it back to constructs lose all velocity in the event of a disconnect would be another thing that would be imperative to assist in the lessening of requests for repairs and teleports. Tie in something to ALT+F4 to stop exploits (if you have not already).
@NQ Management, it is ultimately on the leaders to whether their nations or dreams thrive or fail. This may be a paycheck to some, but it is outlets for social interaction, enjoyment, relaxation, and the creations of empires for so many more can live out their dreams.
'Do not walk in front of me, I may not follow. Do not walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside of me and be my friend.' - Albert Camus
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One of the most troubling aspects of patches and any maintenance is the communication between NQ and the community. This last patch has created such chaos that it is a warzone in the Discord help channel. Communication between the various levels of NQ staff seems to be lacking as well. Like it or not, at the end of the day, no matter how good or how bad the day is.... management is to blame. The military taught me three important points of action... SHOOT, MOVE, and COMMUNICATE. Communication is the most important of those three, it controls so many variables of the other two. You need to know how to move and where to shoot. Translated to this application it would mean communicating a clear and concise point of action, moving toward that goal decisively, and 'shooting' or executing that action.
The front line staff such as NQ-Wokk, NQ-Blacksun, NQ-Stargazer, and so many others work hard to tackle issues that are popping up after these seemingly bungled patches. A lot of times their answer has to be generic, sometimes they may go out on a limb, and only then because of management seems to hinder their abilities to resolve issues. My suggestion is, relax those rules for these frontline employees because they are keeping a lot of people from up and leaving.
The "Keep the 'port' in support" has put a stranglehold on your front line staff. I understand why it was implemented, there was a broad abuse of TP and repair as well as taxing the front line staff to execute it. But those ships that they could save, which are destroyed by bugs in the game, a lack of optimization, and 'advancements' in gameplay through patches such as this one (which is HORRIBLE performance wise) could prevent a mass exodus of the player base.
I suggest the following after spinning the narrative up to this:
1. Work, and I mean WORK, on communication between the different departments and levels of staff. Your goal should be to ensure, 100%, of information regarding issues cropping up after patches are transferred to your front line staff AND posted as announcements in the DISCORD. So that the information players, who are just as important as any executive or manager at NQ receive that information and can understand that information WITH timelines to resolution. I see it day in and day out, players want to know a timeline. They do deserve one, they are 'working hard' on their dream within your 'dream'.
2. Establish roundtables between the Devs and the community. Let some of the community members have a say in how this progresses going forward. I am sure that JC is as sharp as a tack intelligence wise, but this is not just HIS game. That is the feeling I get when I watch him and read the notes and meetings. He has an end goal, it is ambitious, it seems wonderful, but so far the path to getting there is a digital 'Trail of Tears'.
While he and others may have timelines to adhere to, it is all for naught if he is being forced by some higher entity due to greed at any level. EA has destroyed more than I have ever wanted to see in the gaming industry with rampant greed. Do NOT follow that business model. Allow some of the community, selected through either an applicative means to find some of the sharpest members of the community (there are some truly brilliant members that I have seen) and some of the analytic members which act as buffers to brilliance sometimes AND/OR through random selection through applications taken from the community. You could easily compensate those selected through some meaningless code such as a special title, skins, it does not have to be based on anything which is of monetary value in game or out.
3. Back to communications... some of the tooltips in this game are... well, TRASH. I do not know if it is something lost in translation of languages, a lack of thorough planning and execution, constraints by timelines and deadlines, or any other means... but NQ has to improve their communication on their in game assets. I have witnessed the rage when someone has purchased a honeycomb schematic for exorbitant prices when they wanted to purchase the refined schematic. The wording of the items is horrid. Might I suggest tabs to break it down to the industry element that uses it, material, etc. (ie. STEEL-Honeycomb Refinery, STEEL- Smelter)
Another good example of communicative sacrilege is the fact that a lot of us were shorted talent points... it took a player crying out about it to start the momentum to GET the information from NQ management... front line workers were thrown under the bus and repeated ran over as if it were a NASCAR or Formula 1 event.
You also need a COMPLAINT channel in DISCORD. The help channel gets too many people coming into it just to complain. It only causes helping others to be less effective due to chat scrolling. Here is after this maintenance. (minus names and times)
1. Restored old behavior with large mega-nodes showing up on territory and mining scanners againdoes this mean i have to go rescan 100 territories to see if they actually have mega nodes now ?
2. yes
as this game is trying to drag everything out over the most time possible it should be 1 active scanner per player at a time(edited)
3. please kill me now
4 .Did talents get refunded again or just that one time yesterday?1
5. before this patch my ship was fine , now I log in and my core is broken, wtf.
6. thats jc wiping1
NEW
3. Patches - Stop the kneejerk reactions, engage the communications venue, and stop seemingly compounding the work for devs and front line staff members. If you break something with a patch, instead of TESTING this thoroughly, the flood of tickets coming through the pipe only exacerbates wait times for the community as a whole. RELAX the restrictions of TP's and repairs until you have some semblance of normalcy after patches. If you post we are having a maintenance, even if it is in an hour... some people will be flying through space without warp drives, I was one of them at one time. I took a nap once during the journey even which was more than 3 hours long.... but I got there. Now, you try that and a maintenance rolls up... we see cores destroyed, ships spinning out of control and crashing, HUGE lad spikes for some causing overcorrection and crash, and they are sitting there with their thumbs sizing their rectums because the "TEAM" has to review each and every ticket. That's counter productive.... One fellow posted a video of his ship suddenly spinning out of control, his fighting to control, followed by an impressive nose first crash.... the reply from help... Please file a ticket and let the team review it....
Changes in calculations, without informing players in the community, is a crime in my opinion. Seems people are busting their landing gear while landing now, they cannot dock their ships which compounds this through the efforts. If you change something... get it out there so the community, which is equal to any manager or executive, knows.
4. Mechanics - this whole space thing as far as a derelict flying through space uninhibited is a great idea! Realism... until something that NQ has done through patches has caused the derelict in the first place. Fellow came into the help chat and asked that his ship be returned, TP'ed, to his base. Of course, keep the port in support took effect, I suggested that someone fly him to his ship so he could snag it with the 'build mode' or maneuver (changes made this null), or possibly fetch (changes have made this null). Of course, this is what I would do if it was my ship. The part that was not communicated was that his ship was at a speed of 5000 km/h... sort of takes the build too lout of the equation doesn't it. Now, his ship, and quite a few others, are at the mercy of a 'team' that is getting swamped with work while management must be enjoying fine coffee and croissants. Leads back into the release the stranglehold on your front line folks so they can make some judgement calls. Have a ticket submitted, with logs, to verify the instance... and a stern warning to anyone trying to exploit it that if it is discovered they are cheating the system, they will be penalized. Let the front line staff stop the stupidity and madness... let them do some teleports, repairs, get the players back to playing instead of fighting the system... They grief the front line staff over things that management is responsible for. You get your logs, the team can review, cheaters get banhammered, and players get to play. It should be a win. When you get your act together, then go back to stricter rules on tp's and repairs.
Consider this part one of a series which could end as large as War and Peace, but with war and not peace.
Farewell, for now....
in Off Topic Discussions
Posted
At this time, I regretfully have to leave the CH role and the community in itself for an indeterminate period of time. Nothing that NQ has done, nothing none of you have done. As a matter of fact, there will be the folks out there who will ask... "Who the hell is this guy?". But for those who do know me and those who could care less than to know me... I bid you a fond farewell for now. Real life issues concerning one of my siblings is demanding about all of the mental bandwidth I can muster. Times like this have a compounded effect on me for other reasons... and cause me to be less than sociable by means of automatic defensive nature. Presently... I am real short with folks. I do not wish to project that upon others and this will allow me to destress a little more.
Lot of good people, lot of good memories... a few pricks, but hey, that is how it is globally. Bless you all, be safe, treat the volunteers with love and realize NQ is working to make the game great. Maybe there will be a Rho reboot in the future.
Farewell, for now...
~Rhotan~