le_souriceau
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Posts posted by le_souriceau
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On 12/29/2022 at 9:55 PM, CptLoRes said:
We don't have TW because anything but some turned based mini game for TW would be to costly to host, and implementing TW as a mini game would just further highlight how flawed their technology is.
Same with air combat and AvA, not possible with the technology in this game..
TW and AvA are historicly greatest NQ con artist move (even to compare with JCs usual "millions of players this or that"), they just promised it I think without any idea how it actually can be implemented in techical terms. Initially to sqeeze fundraising and later it just sticked.
I still think its theoreticly possible with endless amount of concessions, like range, damage models and all kind of artificial limits to "rules of engagment" to keep it cheaper. But it will be sad spectacle indeed.
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20 hours ago, Zeddrick said:
IMO what is needed in order to reverse the current decline (as opposed to just flatlining for a while before resuming it) is for there to be a longer term roadmap of big and exciting features to retain the interest of the player base.
Its long talk about DU demographics, but in short -- its not much left to retain. And this on itself will not switch viability in green.
DU started like rather niche thing -- with limited number of people in world who can be interested in such product, but because of years of failures, gradually burned over most of potenial player base, who was alienated over all kinda of dissapointments. So, issue is how to return thousands of "sandbox space mmo" loving people who tried DU, but had enough and now have negative (sometimes very negative) opinion over it.
I can't formulate it well in english, but in marketing terms its like limited volume market, where you can't "create/convert" consumers in any meaningful number out of raw population, its harsh competition for rather static number of existing ones.
I think this is main thing in DU demographic doom, that people kinda trying to ignore all the time, imagining how some features or right action suddenly reverse so much catastrophic loss.
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5 minutes ago, Peregrin said:
Actually, Alain Damasio gave his 5-part story to JC, for free, as a personal token of appreciation and to help kickstart the public interest into the game.
However, since Damasio kinda overdid himself, NQ had to retcon some parts of his work.
Then i just got my usual cynical variant by default from depths of brain. Good to know it was actually good will thing.
Anyway, it feel like if it was some positive effect initially, it all kinda dessipated over all these years almost without trace.
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6 hours ago, ColonkinYT said:
What we see in places in DU suggests that this supposedly "science" fiction was written by the humanities.
I remember initially they bragged about that some mega_french_sci-fi author involved name of whom i'm always forgetting. But it seems NQ had only enough money to make him interested for couple of short texts, that become irrelevant somewhere in first years of endless changes.
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DU setting is kinda dystopian nonsense.
Starting from fact, that while its all posed as players doing their own thing and choices, building civilization (hahah) -- in reality everyone slaving for omnipotent AI.
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3 hours ago, Bazzy_505 said:
Let's be honest here, DU never really stepped out of Landmark's shadow, with only exception being VPT. And that shadow wasn't even that long considering that besides voxelmancers, nobody really even took notice it ever existing.
Well, its not exactly true.
People looked, discussed, even tried. DU had some chances to interest, chip-off more PvP-oriented space-games fans, like people from EVE, etc. But its miserable and overall loopless PvP perfomance, pre-mature "Beta", all this completely riped any chances.
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3 hours ago, ColonkinYT said:
If you have access to the test server, then nothing else is needed. It is unlikely that there will be different planets on the test and in production.
Yes, this how some people got immense ammount of good stuff from first "wrecks" attempt too. Just going for same sports as test seedings.
Its endemic problem of DU, that system is always rigged against not just new or casual, but just mid-tier players. Not only they need to survive tense, but legit competition againts active organizations and just 24/7 veteran players with lot of alts, but also exploiters and people with huge insider edge.
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19 hours ago, Atmosph3rik said:
It would be bad if NQ was leaking stuff like this, but there is zero evidence that they did.
All previous major updates/economy-sensetive changes were leaked before. People knew weeks before and used this inside, including big RMT schemes. So, its less about evidence, more like about hope anything changed and NQ so to say plugged the gap. I personally doubt it.
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On 12/15/2022 at 2:28 AM, Cergorach said:
But look at the cool Dustball physics and rendering!
I see potential on this road.
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On 12/15/2022 at 3:41 AM, blundertwink said:
If people honestly believed their feedback might be seen by devs, the tone of this forum would likely be very different. There's thousands of posts that go into pages and pages and pages of detail, but communication has never been bi-directional. There's no reason to believe this will change after so many years.
I think fundamental reason for it, that NQ is much more constrained both in terms of internal hierarchy and developlent capability (to actually afford any "additional" ideas), then people imagine. I can see few actual devs just sitting and doing what they were told to do by managment, crawling in pain to another cost-cutting feature or something. There is simply no room for any other things players fantasising about all the time. So comms are token at best.
Its like annoying guy at cheap hot dog stall why there is no 3 stars michelin wonders of taste. What he can do.
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I suspect NQs workforce historicly being bit on dodgy side.
This why they opened (despite obvious financial liability and little other reasons) Montreal office -- to try to poach some people from rather lively local gamedev market. Because it was more realistic, then have people relocated to Paris for NQ.
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25 minutes ago, Rokkur said:
ONLY BUILD WITH T1 AND STAY ON PLANET! ☠️
In Dual Universe, you can for example:
- Build a giant space station the size of a moon with your friends
- Create an intergalactic political Empire
- Gather along with thousands of others in player-made cities
- Get hundreds of players inside space exploring ships
- Mass-produce your custom designed ships to sell them in-game
- Become a trader, a logistician or an industrialist
- Program complex behaviors for your constructions
- Live in a secret base 1km underground on a remote moon
- Make a name as a spaceship designer or outpost architect
In other words, in Dual Universe, you can invent a new life for yourself in a world without limits, where almost anything is possible. We aim to make a massively multiplayer roleplaying sandbox on PC like never seen before.
- DU Kickstarter
- Wyndle, Aaron Cain and GraXXoR
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Well, I was in same boat like 3 years ago, but now I kinda fell out from deck in very salty waters.
Reality is, demographicly game is in clinical death state:
https://steamdb.info/app/2000270/graphs/
NQ currently likely seeking ways to integrate what left of DU into some kind of new "metaverse" project they lately intensified talking about. So, this why there is no solid roadmap, because its not about DU itself anymore as stand-alone MMO. Its asset to cannibalize.
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On 12/6/2022 at 9:06 PM, blundertwink said:
I wouldn't be shocked if an announcement comes sometime after the CEO is done trying to hawk whatever scammy metaverse / web3 project they have been cooking up (e.g. "3d blogging stack") and are only keeping DU online until they can sink their hooks into some desperate vestige of business opportunity elsewhere.
I think actual plan is: once they have their metaverse bs (whatever it is) rolling, they will merge DU into it, using local builders as sort of advertising machine for whole thing.
So, while DU obviously (at this point) non viable as stand-alone MMO, its still very useful asset to incoporate to any metaverse scheme to boost it credability as something working. Like look at all stuff we have, and its proven by time, blablabla, vibrant community, blablabla...
Eventually we likely see some abomination frankenstein of what left of DU, attempt to go Second Life again + some of this google maps selling metaverses scam. 3 in 1.
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11 minutes ago, Kezzle said:
... how about making that scale for the number of territories that the entity (player or org) holds?
Joke of DU balance, that all limits are meaningless, beyond of limiting casual players, because "invested" people just make alts. And more alts. And more. And alt orgs.
NQ interested in people having as much alts as possible (for $), so any real "honest" balance is impossible -- its anyway be latent pay for win (at least on level pay for grind/pay for having everyoning on 5 characters, etc). This why all this talks "no one need do anything" is pure bs double standards too.
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As was mentioned several times in diffrent topics, NQ tech was quite impressive, lets say in 2016, but time grinds on and this edge exponantionally fades away.
By now, with enough money, time and motivation, larger studios can currently reproduce and very likely even surpass what NQ can offer -- so with every day its less unique and valuable.
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8 hours ago, blundertwink said:
It's easy to see this unfold on Steam, the world's largest PC gaming market, with active player maximums barely even breaking 200 concurrent players anymore (just 25% of its "peak" of only ~800 2 months ago).
Its mostly legacy thing.
DU in way exausted/alienated potential demographics in long years before with very slow and troubled "Alpha" and largerly failed "Beta". Game belongs to quite sensetive genre niche, where number of convertable players with specific tastes and qualities in world somewhat limited. If they dissapointed (or not imporessed to try) with game, its end of story -- because its simple no way to just create new players with such portfolio in needed quantity out of "raw" people.
Even Beta start was borderline "passable" in demographical terms, this release was like at least 3 times weaker on numbers. Not sustainable.
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On 12/5/2022 at 3:46 AM, Pleione said:
The main intent over the years was to force us to become specialized.
Game simply lack content for actual specialization. Sure, there is 2-3% who can somewhow always can make themselves busy with (usually) metagame and creative pursuits, but its irrelevant in larger picture. Majority of (more casual) players just doing same thing as everyone without any interesting niche in gameword or long term rewarding interaction. So they voting with feet after initial novelty fades.
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1 hour ago, CptLoRes said:
Call in an morbid fascination if you will..
I honestly percieve its more like societal research (bit cruel one).
How population behave under stress of being exposed to both chronical and new problems, who leaves, who stays, how people change their position (openly admiting their mistakes or sneaking around), who keep hardline stance with their old ideas to the last, etc, what kinds of coping narratives dominate.
I noticed, maybe, wrongly (because i given up on DU Discord), that old one of "give NQ some time", transformed more to "enjoy what game is". Probably considering time already given since 2016 this trusty thing to say lost quite a lot of shine.
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Well, its somewhat larger issue, that game (as it is) gravitates toward disign, that presumes "ideal" player has unlimited time. Like, unempoyed, retired, who knows what. Its not unique for more hardcore MMOs, but DU kinda pushes it hard.
This why I argued back then with some retired boomers, who argued no one understands game economy, because its just takes 10 hours of flipping on markets a day to be rich.
So, not suprising, that casual retention is so deadly low.
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2 hours ago, CptLoRes said:
When it comes to NQ I think Hanlon's razor is a better explanation for most things that happens.
"never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
In way you right. It was not about malice, but self preservation. They needed game to stay somewhat populated until they were ready to go on wipe and launch. If they were like, hey, guys, we will wipe in 6 m, its 100%. Who will be playing?
Was it honest? Ofc not.
Was it making sense from NQ position. Yes.
Gamedev is buisness. And buisness is not usually good or bad, its just cynical.
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11 hours ago, Wyndle said:
Any EU members who are familiar with consumer law?
If you asking why i'm think you asking, then, in short, you likely be wasting money (and your time) on lawyers with rate that at best x10/x20 and more money then you can realisticly hope to claw back.
So if you millionaire with super hard principles, yeah, otherwise its just math that not in your favour. Not worth it. Make honest review on Steam and thats it.
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23 hours ago, Aaron Cain said:
Also the next thing happening was an error on schematic prices that was seen by "some" and was used to make billions what was not acted upon even external sell sites were shared to block players but nothing happened.
Im sure at this point (of schematics prices exploit) NQ already knew they will be 100% wiping, so they just outwaited whole thing, tanking damage, because it was unrational to waste energy to deal with this stuff, considering it all go to fire anyway.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
in General Discussions
Posted
Yep, especially considering it can be last year we will have reason to be together : )