The PvE community will never allow a PvP server to exist, they don't like PvP, but they don't like creative servers either, these players like to live the illusion that they are preparing to be pvp players in the future, when they have more skills, when losses can be allowed, when the game works better, or any other excuse that allows them to postpone that decision in the future, staying on a PvE server when there is a PvP server would put them in an emotional situation that is difficult to accept. They just want to keep the illusion of a future with PvP.
I think it is time we have an honest accounting of the real problems here, cause there is more than one elephant in the room, but there is definitely an Elephant King!
While the developers are sitting here both refuting/ignoring criticism and saying they know what is best,
does NQ stop to think about why members of the community "provoke"(vocally criticize) their developers, vs. NQ just treating their critics as bad apples?
1. Could it be that the players feel their trust has been betrayed by the developers?
2. Could it be that the developers have ignored players, and players see themselves being blatantly ignored?
3. Could it be that players feel disrespected by the developers after years of funding/subscribing to & testing their product?
4. Could it be that every time the community sounds the alarm, the devs continue to plow right into development icebergs like the Titanic?
(game breaking/buggy/forced updates, that ruin our ships, make our work obsolete, or further erode the little incentive/purpose there is to do things in game currently.)
5. Could it be the destabilization injected by the developers announcement, and delay to wipe/wipe timeline?
6. Could it be the "fight club" we aren't allowed to talk about, where criticism of developers results in forced removal of those critics?
(As they are discounted as trolls, unconstructive, and undesirable rule violating members of the community, many which were once die hard defenders of this game in the beginning)
7. Could it be NQ keeps replacing things that were promised to be community driven, with NQ curated and controlled perks that will eventually give an advantage to NQ pets and fanboys. (vs. actually giving us more tools to socially connect, say a better chat system, the ability to send messages to offline players in game, and more capability to build and manage our own communities/host events.) Ya know things we have wanted for years now, and you refuse to implement.
Meanwhile...
8. Could it be that anyone that has been here more than 3 months, knows developer decisions have resulted in a massive shedding of players.
THE KING ELEPHANT
The truth is the developers advertised, took funding, and sold a different promised game vision,
and now for a couple of years held a death grip on their own broken vision of the game they actually wanted to make instead.
A bit of bait and switch isn't it? The crux of the problem, the dissonance between developer and community.
What we have in common now is that both players and developers feel disrespected, and that isn't something you see with...
Kenshi, Slime Rancher, Valheim, Satisfactory, Kerbal Space Program, Astroneer, Monster Sanctuary, etc etc etc...
We were promised and even given something very different in the beginning than what we have now. A universe that used to have us excited and invested, and even devoted to Dual Universe, every time servers came back online. Now we are being given something VERY VERY different, and we don't like it, and all those that have left the game may have liked one or two changes, but overall disagree with overall pivot of development.
Those of us still here still see the bones of the game we were promised, dying to a slow necrosis of development decision cancer that is killing what gameplay we loved best about Dual Universe. The community debates/speculates helplessly back and forth between each other in the back seat, while developers say " I hear you, now hold my beer" and continue to drive off the cliff.
So here is my CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK to our dear dev's: (Not that it will change their behavior)
1. Go back and review what people loved about Dual Universe at the launch of BETA.
(When people would spend all day building, and flying and mining, even when the servers were like gimpy hamsters with epilepsy.)
2. Go back and review what you promised people during Kickstarter, when you sold packages, when you made promotional material and we were saying "take my money!".
Then look at the contrast and see just how far you have strayed from the world you promised. If you still think you are delivering what you said you would, then ask yourself
why you feel you are saying one thing and we are hearing/playing something very different?
3. Go back and review the community members that used to defend you, and encourage you, and support you.
Ask why old allies now seem to be enemies, and loyal followers and masses alike have abandoned your current crusade.
If you can still justify all those you have lost, then ask yourself who will remain, who do you hope to replace them with?
and then be very clear about which type of players you want to attract from here on out and which of us should go find another game.
It isn't that we see you as less than human, it isn't that we want to hurt you as the developers, and we surely don't want to see Dual Universe fail.
What we do want is posted every day by members of your community, it is no longer just a few rogue players demanding change, it is the majority of people posting.
There is a darn good reason that the "INTERNAL DISCUSSION thread has 42 PAGES of disheartened community members posting mostly negative feedback/criticizing NQ.
That new threads are about problem 1,2,3 and a,b,c... and that we sometimes create our own threads for topics vs. the pinned threads that you unpin and bury acting like it never happened.
If you want feedback, YOU ARE GETTING IT, and your actions need to reflect you are paying attention vs. "we hear you" <continues same behavior>.
It is the same as saying "I'm Sorry" and then the very next moment committing the very same offense.
Right now your request for feedback, seems like a request for praise and gratitude, and then you are upset with us, when we don't feel or express either.
CONCLUSION:
You act like we are turning our back on you the developers, but if you continue with the bait and switch, and tightening control on the narrative and in game replacing player driven features with NQ managed/controlled things that can be leverage/perks to promote an elite few (64) teachers pets "DU Oligarchs" (influencers/promoters), then the gaming community will ultimately turn its back on you if you continue this path.
Then everyone will lose, the developers, and the community, and Dual Universe will fade away to be forgotten along with all those before that made these mistakes and suffered similar fates.
Games that have players sharing positive experiences about them, have those posts because that is what the community feels about the product/service. DU used to be one of them. So stop vilifying your community for telling you over and over again how they feel because it isn't what you want to hear and it doesn't offer another solution that you will ignore, time and time again.
Create an experience that your community loves, and you will see it reflected in our communication.
I think you understand that current situation of the game is terrible. My idea to give a feedback from MMO player with 20 years of experience with many many friends what we can do to increase player base. I love an idea of this game and I want it to develop. I respect other opinion and if Devs chose a way to peaceful building simulator it will be ok. but I think in this case this game will be nonprofitable.
no one is playing. game is stagnating. wipe is ahead. the is nothing to lose for now. lets try more PvP everywhere (except Haven and Sanctuary). lets try planetary PvP according space rules. lets try in now because after release it will be impossible to do global changes.
if this game is THE SPACE MMO ENTIRELY BUILT AND DRIVEN BY PLAYERS why I can't control my guns everywhere where I want to? if it's peaceful minecraft in space why here are weapon?
finally some sane thoughts. I totally agree.
I offered in another thread
1. reduce safe zone only to zone around Alioth, moons and 2 initial planets and interplanetary space around them.
2. remove all save zone around other planets
3. turn on planetary battle according space rules (Construct vs construct)
4. Add powerful shields and base weapons to protect planet and orbit bases
5. make T3-T5 production possible only in PvP zone. (for example in safe zone all strong power sources are blocked by some suppressor, including weapon and T3+ production)
Huge safe zones where you can't wage war. Pvp pushed to the edges for a a few niche plasma 99% of the player base doesn't care about. No player markets, and now NQ making showrooms and exchange because captains customs and all the countless others weren't good enough? This game has 0 npcs or real pve content and was marketed as player driven, yet every patch they restrict what a player can do in the universe. I don't see this game lasting 6 months past "release".
