Violet

What is the point? One of the basic ideas behind the block chain is to create "p2p" transaction history. Something totally un needed in this game. Its an MMO with authoritative servers thats going to use (probably) traditional databases and logging. There is nothing to gain by using blockchain schemes other than nerd wankering.

This is something common in regular multiplayer games but I feel in a game with crafting, it can become somewhat of an issue. What I'm suggesting is to not make a 'best version' of anything. What I mean is, since most items will be craftable, don't make there be that one greatest version that everyone aspires for. A standard model for crafting games is starting with the lowest tier, with each upgrade above that increasing all of it's stats, to the point where at some point you get the ultimate form of that item.
 
You hear it all the times in games; people say they have "max everything". Whether it be full diamond armor and tool set, a 48 slot ship, or the 'black hole gun', they go for it as an end goal and once they reach it, they have nothing left to do.
 
I think it is important for a game like this to avoid that, and to do so I suggest everything has at least two different stats which are somewhat inversely proportional to each other. This is of course not a new idea; racing games see cars with fast speed and bad handling (and vice versa), multiplayer games have different weapons that all have varying amounts of different stats, but none that stands out as better than the other. It's just preference and application. 
 
And this by no means is a suggestion only for weapons! They're just a good example. I am suggesting this for all types of objects and items; mining equipment, scanners and communication equipment, ore refining equipment, engines, reactors, etc. All of these objects, if given even just two stats that cannot simultaneously be maxed out, ensures that there will always be diversification and a rich economy.
 
What this does is:
1) Take away an end-game goal for people. Many might aim for the top-tier items and, upon obtaining those, be at a loss for what to do next and grow bored.
2) Add growth and variety to the economy. This is what we don't want, and I can see it now... "Max stats" a search term in the ship store, and the most popular ships and structures (the only ones people are interested in) are those that contain the top-tier of everything.
3) Add strategy to factions of any and every size and skill level. No faction can ever reach the point of being as good as they can be, because there are always different ways to use different items.
4) Basically, ensure that no one can ever be the best. (Sorry Ash)
 
I think it is important, if it is agreed upon, that this become implemented at the beginning of the games life. Because if it is not, it might get very difficult to implement later on.
What are some thoughts of yours?

It isn't premature at all, because we certainly need the time to develop everything, set up our structures, create the the tools we need, until the game launches. The Terran Union is no less ambitious than Dual Universe itself. What we want to create is something that is normally provided by the developers of a game, a nation within the game.
 
When the devs implent these nations, they normally provide services to the players so that they can do what they want to do. But Dual Universe won't have this kind of dev created nations, so the TU is there to take this place, but because it isn't supported by the devs and the game mechanics we need not only to plan the services we want to provide, but also the means to be able to provide this services and to support our structure. This means a lot of bureaucracy and this needs a lot of planning. Even with our most optimistic estimations currently we come at a needed member count of 1000, alone to run the complete government. Not to mention the time that we will need to set everything up and get running.

That idea is great, but please note that sensors are not using magic to detect, they use EM waves, and those can be absorbed and/or reflected and/or detected.
In the case of detection, pure passive scanners (like cameras basically) can be used to prevent detection, but those give quite lower resolution or ark of detection.
You can detect active scanners with active and passive scanners, because those light up in the direction they detect in.

Good day to you too
 
I really hope what you are saying is true, ever play Factorio or Buildcraft MC. Would be amazing to have to plan out logistics and have it require skill to be efficient.

I want to build a frontier trade outpost and saloon.  It would be cool to bring people together in game and start a township on the edge of explored territories and watch it grown and progress overtime, fighting off bandits and eventually developing our own customs and politics.
 
The way I see it, without NPCs or fast travel the only place to get equipment will be the ark and the only place to get resources will be the frontier, people will be forced to work together or spend hours and hour hauling inventories of unrefined ore back to the auction houses at the ARK.

that is not true, the warp drive works by removing space before you and putting it behind you, this allows for great absolute (because relatively you still accelerate slowly, but the smaller space multiplies the effect) acceleration without G forces, the only drawback is that you only can go in a straight line, as it does not reduce rotation based G-Force. 

He means the territory claims.
 
Devs stated there would be a Territory Unit that would have to be protected, so if a territory had been abandoned eventually the shield/energy would run out so it would be vulnerable and someone could break in an destroy the TU.
 
We dont't know how expensive TU are going to be but I suspect that most territories would be controlled by medium to large organisations due to the cost, maintenece and defense required to keep them going. I suspect individuals will either build bases in the wild and try and keep them hidden or rent space in an organisations territory.

Could do some handwaving with a magic hand (ha!) replicator. Your on person inventory is converted to energy on stored in your battery (I haven't thought this fully through).
 
Another point in low gravity you can store more mass because the weight is the same. And zero gravity you can store as much mass as you want, acceleration becomes more challengine though.

I understand that upkeep cam be difficult for some, but there must be some way for people to reclaim abandoned structures.
 
I was under the impression that hacking TCUs and ships gave that mechanism. But maybe it wont in a safe zone.
 
I wouldnt mind a decay mechanism, so long as it can be automated when the resources are provided. It would be tedious regardless of how well you are organized if you were to have to do it manually.
 
Eves system for this isnt bad. POS require fuel, without it to power them and form the shield anyone can take it over. TCUs could require a power source, ajd the same goes for ships. Ships require a low amount of power for baseline systems and without it the computers shut down allowing anyone access to scrap it.

afaik the plan is to make sold software (execute/move only) a black box that cant be changed by the buyer.
 
I'd think that direct code access can also be sold, though.

Looking at what the devs have achieved already, I'll gladly pay a monthly sub. Steady revenue is required for something of this scope...I don't see why this is hard to comprehend

I want to build a frontier trade outpost and saloon.  It would be cool to bring people together in game and start a township on the edge of explored territories and watch it grown and progress overtime, fighting off bandits and eventually developing our own customs and politics.
 
The way I see it, without NPCs or fast travel the only place to get equipment will be the ark and the only place to get resources will be the frontier, people will be forced to work together or spend hours and hour hauling inventories of unrefined ore back to the auction houses at the ARK.

How are inventories going to be limited in game?
How much will I be able to store in my ship or my suit?.
 
This has huge implications on game play, on one hand you could make it totally realistic you can only carry like 20kg of anything in your backpack. like in real life or you can go the minecraft route and be able to carry 300 million tones of gold if you fill every slot with a 64 stack of gold blocks.
 
Since you don't control the creation of ships you need to put design constraints on ships, I suggest that items should have a realistic mass and density, want to ship 300 hundred tons of ore? You should have to craft a  sizeable "cargo bay element" that would be big enough to hold the volume and mass of your construct would change based on how much was stored in that inventory at any time.
 
Cargo ships should have to be massive to be economically viable in terms of profit margins versus fuel costs. Slow lumbering ships should be more vulnerable to pirates and when the individual cargo bay elements are damaged they should drop their contents as 1 dimensional sprites a'la minecraft
 
Stations would have to be massive sprawling constructs with huge enclosures for cargo bays that service the market place. Major planetary settlements would have a reason to have large structures apart from vanity houses and public art (not that they cant be both). There could be a mechanic where if you get close enough on foot to a pod you can scan it to find out whats in it, so you attempt a break in or blasting it from space.
 
Refining should be "realistic" in that it should be slow and require massive (and vulnerable) refineries (at least to get the best efficiency), and have waste products that need to be disposed of even if its just dumping slag piles everywhere, similar deal with building elements and other products.
 
 
Really excited about this game, I have enjoyed the Dev diaries. I'm really interested in "systems based" approaches to game design as that is how you create great emergent situations. Two of my favorite games of the last couple of years RimWorld and Prison Architect are based on this idea and I'm really pleased to imagine it in a multiplayer environment. 
 
Balancing this game is going to really tricky, make things too realistic and people will not want to play but make it "fun" in the wrong way and you will have real problems with economics and the individual power of a new player versus an established veteran or everyone would get super rich and not have to do anything

Having drones stay alive when the player is logged out will cause a lot of stress on the servers. It will keep parts of planets, or even whole planets loaded when no players are around.
 
Think of it in terms of Minecraft, how laggy the server gets with (for example) chunk loaders keeping a 1000 chunks loaded with "machines" working with no one online. Unneeded stress on the server.
 
In the same scenario with DU, what's stopping me (and others) from making a 1000 drones to mine a planet dry and me not logging in for say 7days? It's adding a lot of stress on the server and it's sort of cheating.
 
The people that can create the complex drones to do this would be instantly rich and unbalance the economy instantly.

Arguably one or two organisational schemes are doomed to fail but not disallowing them will be half the fun. But the dev's should expect some serious acrimony when the Red System Socialist Republic collapses in a screaming heap. Technically all org taxes would be club dues; not totally enforceable because you can leave the organisation. The same with some other ideas, minimum wage, etc.  
Unless an org is able to actually trap players in a system and enslave or tax them these governments can't exist in any game.
It would be fun to watch some idiot try.