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NPCs In my opinion, would be draining on a system like this, if they did NPCs im sure the subscribtion price would go up.
 
Players on One shard doing Countless Activities, then you add NPCs, thats alot of pressure in my opinion, im sure animals may be a future thing but only because Animals in some ways can be setup to be Dynamic Props, But an NPC would need Dialog and some sort of pattern
 

Missing the point a bit but ok. I know not to feed trolls

Hello Noveans!

Currently, screen unit content is an HTML page. We synchronize screen unit content between players by sending the whole HTML; however, screen unit HTML content can be pretty big and uses a lot of bandwidth and frame time to render when updated every frame by a programming board or control unit. This has a significant impact on client performance for players, especially when a lot of screen units are in the same area. 
Performance improvement is of paramount importance to us and an ongoing request we get from players. Consequently, it is something we will continually work to achieve. 
 
To address this, we are bringing a possible solution to PTS so that players can try it out. This prototype involves using a new API to draw screen units with a dedicated Lua script. This will use simple drawing commands like
drawRectangle(a,b,c,d) drawText(“Hello DU”) Simple actions like setTextContent will not be affected. 

In addition to performance improvements, this new tech also allows for some unprecedented possibilities to create even better screen displays than before. Check out this video to get a taste of what it can do! 
 

We realize that this change will mean that players won’t be able to use SVGs on screens anymore, and that SVGs are easier and more flexible than uploading static images. It’s important to note that the new Lua system will still allow you to draw complex images. You don't really need any Lua knowledge, and it’s easier than the DPU system.

Additionally, we added an option to deactivate HTML screen units for players who experience the worse framerate. We expect this to bring significant performance improvements in markets and parking areas.
Once the change is fine-tuned, thanks to your feedback after trying it on the PTS, we will announce a transition period to allow players time to switch over to the new API before we disable support for HTML-based screen units. We will continue to support both techs during this transition period.

We strongly encourage everyone to check out this change when it’s available on PTS and share your constructive feedback with us on the forum. 
 

Well put, and I fully Agree with every aspect.  I also would like to know its future because of the time ive put in and want to put in.  

Dear Noveans,
 
We would like to address the recent speculations that have arisen in our community, and openly disclose some changes that are happening at Novaquark.
 
First and foremost, Novaquark continues to be supported by its long term investors to allow it to launch Dual Universe in line with its original vision. It also puts us in a position to attract experienced talent to complement the team that’s already in place so that we can continue to improve the game.
 
Next week, we will share with you what we think our priorities should be for Dual Universe and how we hope to approach the development of the game with improved processes going forward.
 
An important change to note is that Jean-Christophe, the founder of Novaquark, has transitioned from the day-to-day management of the team to better focus on his position as a board member. Over the years since the creation of Novaquark, JC designed and set the standards for the structural and conceptual foundation of the game, and he feels now that a solid base is there for him to move forward as a strategic advisor. The recent changes in the administrative presidency of the company only reflect the transition of JC to his new role. We’re excited to have the team he has built deliver on his vision for the game.
 
Rest assured that Novaquark’s future is in good hands, and there is a strong partnership between our long-term investors and our team. We believe that the future is bright for the game and for the company, and we cannot wait to tell you where we want to take Dual Universe.
 
With our warmest regards,
The Novaquark team

I dont agree. 
 
There are allot of things working perfectly. 
Some we can see, others we cannot. 
The game deals with recursive referencials very well. ( a player can be moving on a construct moving inside another construct...) 
Lua part works well. The entire interconnection between lua and piloting has value. 
 
Server side to client data transfer works well. 
 
I dont think the game failed because of bugs. 
Other games with more bugs are being successful. 
 
The game is simply not fun to play. 
And it was made that way tnx to management decisions. 
 
 
As an example. Empyrion could use the client tech. They discart all the MMO part of it and also the dynamic voxels and use the client side of DU to render and calculate physics. 
That way players would be able to walk on moving ships. 
 
Even if the tech is unusable, it still has value for other companies to learn how it was done. 

So many inaccurate statements here.  6-7 years?  Nope.  The company may have been established for that long, then but you act as if it has been open to players for that long.  There was pre-alpha for a bit then alpha for about a year, and now beta.  NQ has kept a pretty good forward progress roadmap, especially when compared to other large games.  
 
"riddled with bugs that never get fixed"  Apparently you don't read the release notes or haven't been playing that long because that statement is just ignorant. Yes there are still bugs.
 
You say they haven't made changes in 7 months.  Again, you may not be paying attention to what is happening.
 
"zero experience in game dev" that statement is just a big middle finger at their accomplishments thus far.  Are you a game dev by the way?  How do you know so much about the devs, and what their employees think?  Are you an ex-employee of NQ?  What is your experience in the industry?
 
I can agree that this game that is still in development is not a finished game and has some issues to work out just like any game that hasn't been released yet, but you are stating a lot of things as facts that simply are false or completely assumed.
 
It always amazes me how much time and energy folks are willing spend to talk and write about something they seem to hate so much.  Like Lethys' comment above, he has been bashing the game in these forums for years, just generally being an ass and counter productive.  I have no idea why he is still here in this game or in these forums.  You think he would be trying find joy somewhere else by now.
 
As to the OP's question, I believe the game is not going anywhere and has great things to come.  I think the Mission system will be one of the biggest transformations to the game that we have seen in a long time and bring some folks back.  It will give some "game" to the game.  I personally am looking forward to making missions for players.  I have witnessed some folks leaving the game out of frustration of some changes which is understandable.  Some will come back at a later date when more features arrive (also understandable considering playing beta phase games are not for everyone).  There is a large core base of players that are not going to leave and are very supportive.  Please take some of these more salty comments with ...well... a grain of salt.  In the end, yes it will take more time and patience to get where the game is going, but history has shown that NQ has listened to players and made changes appropriately, and that is why I plan to keep playing. Some times it does go backwards a bit, but eventually gets fixed.

I will not answer this question and leave it as it is. Instead, I'll just list things so that everyone can draw their own conclusions since the soft launch in August 2020 (yes, a version that has subscription packages is a soft launch). Otherwise people might get the idea that I'm always negative and push my opinion on people. Also, I want to avoid sounding like an endless loop because otherwise people will think I can't think of anything else to say.
 
Here are a few things since the soft launch:
- Since August 2020, viewership has steadily dropped from 1000 average viewers to a staggering 60. The average channels have also dropped from 10 to 2. I've already noted this in various other forum posts over the last few months, of course with the current numbers at the time. I am sure that one or the other still remembers and if not, you can search for it in my posts.
 
My source that I have always used for these figures:
https://www.twitchmetrics.net/g/493826-dual-universe
 
- Speaking of which: There hasn't been a Twitch stream or AMA event since August that showed players anything new or streamed events. Instead, we have a (cheap) workforce that diligently tweets everything the players build in the game on social media. There is a deliberate lack of communication, let alone trying to say something with Devlog that should be long term but doesn't capture the spirit of the present, what is on the players' minds.
 
- As a final point on streaming, I would add that markeedragon has gone back to EVE and the last video I find is just a review of patch 0.24. Otherwise, his Twitch library is filled with EVE and Valheim. Worth mentioning for me because he was mentioned by NQ in the news every now and then.
 
- In the New Year video there was the outlook for this year that a lot of things will come like bugfixes and features that were not mentioned in the video. Nevertheless, let's take a quick look: 
1. first major release: Graphics improvements (more to come later in the year), mission system, wallets
2. early in the year: Already working on pvp overhaul
3. energy system, asteroid mining
4. later in the year: territory warfare
other features mentioned: voxel vertices, mining units, new solar system with new planets
 
We are now in April and have only received part of the big patch of 0.24. In four months we will be a year into the soft launch.
 
- With patch 0.24, things were introduced that were not there or communicated on the PTS server. They had to be deactivated on the same day on the live server because they had bugs. It can be assumed that it has not been tested.
 
- Players use the PTS server to do calculated mining, because the ore spots are on the same spot as in the live server
 
- Players were able to play free days in December and January because the billing didn't work. I don't know if the other players were compensated accordingly because they had already paid in advance. But it can be assumed that this is not the case because NQ has not communicated publicly.
 
- 2 community managers (Naunet and Nudbrokk) left after a few months at the end of 2020 / early 2021
 
- there is no support anymore on weekend, on the grounds that they can provide better support. No ingame gms either, everything has to through support tickets.
 
- 0.23 is a chapter in itself, you read and hear a lot of opinions that people have stopped playing and you are practically alone in the game. I won't say much about this because instead of cooperation, this patch has created dependency. That should not be the case in a mmorpg, according to my basic understanding.

Phew, actually I didn't want to write that much. I'll save this in case someone gets the idea of deleting it, like the 0.25 meme thread.
 

The game and the technology, yes. 
The management nope.