DarkHorizon

The following is strictly my opinion. I hold absolutely no weight inside NQ nor do I believe I have any influence over their decision making. I also do not claim to know about what goes on behind the scenes as far as decisions are made. Alpha Team Vanguard is the furthest extent of my knowledge that could be considered outside the public eye.
 
TLDR at the bottom.
 
 
No wipe until after beta and before release or unless there is something seriously holding the game back from further development. Those are the only scenarios where I see it acceptable to perform a full wipe and planet reset.
 
I also maintain my position that a subscription beta was a terrible idea and that whomever put it forward may have put Dual Universe and by extension NovaQuark in jeopardy. I don't say it to be dramatic, but if we were still in an alpha like state where people simply bought into the testing phase and with BIG LETTERS told to expect things like bugs, glitches, incomplete content, and the occasional wipe, I feel it would have better set expectations and people would be way more tempered in their opinions.
 
We should be beta TESTING, a 'soft launch' should have never, ever been in the cards regardless of the financial situation. When I heard NQ stating that we'd be 'soft launching', I immediately questioned what happened to NQ's interoperation of the alpha and beta phases being proper test phases and not things like steam early access where the game was basically 'released' while not actually in its release (v1.0) state.
 
How NQ handles its ATV team is regrettable. I don't feel like an advance tester with an opinion that will be considered along with fellow ATV testers. Suggestions for how these test s should be handled in various instances have gone unanswered for months or are given some half solution that doesn't do much in the way of assisting with the testing process, hence my involvement in said testing is minimal.
 
If I was not leading my own organization.
If I was not a lifetime subscription holder.
If I was not ATV.
If I was not a moderator of the official discord.
 
I don't think I'd be here right now. Yeah, weird flex on basically the entire community I know, don't tell me.
 
All of that (somehow) fell into my lap because I was here for the kickstarter, and every time I log in, I wonder 'why me'? All I saw was a great game that I really wanted to be a part of. You beta testers that just plopped $20 down probably see those four things as a lot to loose and to some, maybe it is. Now flip that view and see things from my perspective, for all you beta testers with only $20 on the line and nothing to loose except enough for dinner for one, a few months time, and even some hopes and dreams, I'm surprised more of you haven't left already. If I was a new tester and was VR'ing around and looking at all the amazing stuff people have already created, forget the economics of it all. If all that was subject to a wipe from players that felt like they were behind the curve, I wouldn't bother subscribing until after release.
 
Ever since beta launched, we've been bumbling and stumbling around like drunks after last call.
 
I am forgiving of all the bugs we're experiencing. Alpha has sharpened me on that. Beta has not turned out how I thought it would. To be fair, alpha didn't either, but we're beyond that now... aren't we?
 
Am I dissapointed, yes. Am I still here though, yeah, I am. Do I have my complaints and grievances, I do. Will I air them, sure, if NovaQuark wants to hear them, most definitely. Do I think they'll listen, to me or anyone else, no.
 
Hope yall enjoyed my word vomit, that's all it probably is anyways. Cheers.
 
 
TLDR:
I think I'm a sepshul person in the community? (atv, discord mod, lifetime sub...... somehow)
Beta is a catastrophe
I'm unhappy with NQ and ATV
Things would be different if we were still testing and not a paid beta
NQ said alpha and beta would be proper testing phases and not early access

It erks me to no end that the ATV people outright TOLD NQ the problems of the patch. Said what needed to get addressed and NQ didn't listen, and went ahead with their plans anyway.
 
Then AFTER the community said "Fuck this shit" and started mass exodus the game
NQ back peddled on the stuff ATV said to back down on. Like NQ:
 
WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU LISTEN THE FIRST DAMN TIME?!?!?!?
 
Then pushed out a statement saying "We heard you".... no they did not.
NQ only listened when people started to unsubscribe and NQ started to lose money.
 
The sequence of events unfolding couldn't be more "Bass Ackwards"...
 
Like seriously NQ is only listening to the things they want to hear.
Catering to a niche carebear crowds when the larger portion of the community stays silent because they don't feel like writing full length articles on what sucks and why.
Thinking the game needs to be made harder and BARELY HAVE A GRASP ON HOW TO MAKE MONEY BY MAKING A GAME FUN.
If you wanted a true simulator then put that into your description in the game so that you draw in the crowd that buys into a simulator.
 
The PvPers... the THOUSANDS OF PVPers who want to spend money on a game that offers fun and challenge (NOT TEDIOUSNESS) will go to games that are WORTH spending their money on.
 
OTHERWISE, save your game by adding shit that will draw in the crowd and make them want to play the game.
T4 - T5 mega nodes in Asteroid belts PVP space only AVA - STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM LOCK AND FIRE, you will lose sooooo much interest if you do it that way There's barely much PVP going on now, applying AVA by way of lock and fire when the server is barely getting stressed out from ANY PVP in space today is just a cop out. Quit trying to take the most challenging path for NQ to develop for AVA and do it the same way it's always been done. A physical projectile being shot from one location and landing at another with AvA. All this calculation based AvA may seem nice on the beginning but by making the game less enjoyable/fun there will be less and less of it happening over all.
Or
If this is TOO much of a complication then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE find a better alternative to lock-n-fire shit. As it stands so many people are turned off by the way PVP is now. Having lock-n-fire first person shooter is just only going to add to one more reason to NOT play this game. Tractor beams and Harpoons and Interdiction for Warping ships Space anomalies to encourage exploration More wrecks rather than the crumbs we have today Ability for people to develop their own schematics to sell on the markets ( A FUN WAY TO MAKE THEM, instead of some overwhelmingly complex implementation that is AIDS to even bother getting into) 2 - 3 NEW SOLAR SYSTEMS If NQ does this, then it will be the defibrillator NQ needs to bring the crowd back to the game and more money to be generated. HANDS DOWN.
Because there's nothing to do, people see no need to subscribe. It's causing less cashflow to get into the game and more people to walk away because they're pushing shit that makes the game worse and less fun.
 
Instead make shit that energizes people to play the game not want to gag on a baseball bat at the thought of having to mine to craft to indi to build to fly to .... ugh... fuckin hell ... to just do anything at all.
 
If there was 2 or 3 new solar systems in the game with exotic planets to check out, I'd happily command my people to gather the fleet for a "Great migration" to the new system. Fight anyone for the new elements and happily mine and craft and all the crap just because Flying for days and weeks just to explore somethign new is a LEGIT reason to stay in DU.
 
With PvP? I'd love to board someone else's ship at 5-10,000km/hr with harpoons and tractor beams. Pulling someone out of warp to kill the crew and take their stuff.
 
With exploration? IF WE HAD deep space probing abilities and better notifications about random celestial events to give us a better heading of where shit is so we can explore it then yeah. I'd gather a crew to go explore the new thing.
 
With T4-T5 mega nodes on Asteroids? OMG would you see some heavy activity in the community.
but with what they've done? there's literally ZERO reason to play... ZERO reason to fight... ZERO reason to even bother doing anything in the game.
 
Those 7 points above = CONTENT that the community is unable to and unwilling to try and create themselves. NQ needs to do it or people will trickle out the door more and more.

If a wipe is required at all then most likely that would be a time to do it. Especially if they can do working magic blueprints. However it is not the ONLY time a wipe could be needed. There are of course other factors into what may require or prompt a wipe as a better idea then struggleing on.
 
For example i doubt anyone here with common sense would complain much if NQ came out and said for example "we figured out how to fix the code base and heavily optimise the game, however we need to wipe to impliment it due to several under the hood changes being imcompatable with the current save" That would be a situation where a wipe would make sense.
 
Another example of a wipe condition is to implment new features. For example they may tie in several new systems such as mining vehicles or player avatar gear. However said systems would break or be broken by current builds. That is also a wipe condition.
 
Lastly something may corrupt. This is supposidly an entirely new way of running a MMO i.e sharding. Its not at all unlikely they will go to do something eventually that works great in their private test world. But when deployed live makes the game go boom but only after enough time the backups are overwritten and said problem is unfixable.
 
That said i may be against a wipe NOW, but that is only because it makes no sense and serves no real purpose other then to "punish" a group of players who got ahead and in the grand scheme and does otherwise nothing good for the game and only harms it in the long run.
 
Currently as i said before if we wipe now any "fairness" issues are only going to be 10 times worse and most of the players calling for it will be worse off then they were before and those who could care less if BOO flys around in giant L core golden toilets with guns and M aggs or whatever else goes on. The ones they want punished wont care and will take massive advantage of the current lack of content and avalible progression to lock down the game even more.
 
And for those rustys calling for no safe zones. No. There is a reason even your vaunted eve has them. You want pvp and a healthy game then you need the prey to have safe places to hide. If you want them to venture out then you need to have reasons for them to WANT to go out, forcing them to pvp for the sake of pvp just drives them off and puts another cut into the game so it leaks lifeblood faster. 
 
Right now those lures dont exist and with the game the way it is, a "no safe zone" game would fold up wither and die on the vine. This is because you would gate 95% of the content behind months of grind and mandate mega orgs while killing off a huge percentage of the games population as they throw in the hats and leave. Especially as new orgs would have zero chance against established ones who basicly blocade systems.

I'm really curious to see how the wipe vs no wipe debate continues to unfold! This has been a really fascinating thread - I'll be keeping my eye on it.

As it stands now, we're not planning on a major wipe. 

0.23 and What We Learned

In reading through the reactions from our community regarding the recent 0.23 update, we’ve gained some valuable insights. 

Before we talk about the changes we’ll make in our processes going forward, let’s get back to the fundamental reason behind the update itself. What we did in 0.23 is at the heart of the vision for a game where a society of players is interacting directly or indirectly with each other through an elaborate network of exchanges, cooperation, competition and markets.
 
As it was, the current state of the game consisted mostly of isolated islands of players playing in almost full autonomy. A single-player game where players happened to share the same game world but with little interactions.
 
It’s hard to imagine how the appeal could last for more than several months for most players once they feel they have “finished” the game. It is also a missed opportunity to try something of larger proportion, a society of players growing in a fully persistent virtual world. For this to work, you need more than isolated gameplay. Players need to have viable reasons to interact and need each other.
 
In many single-player space games, you have ways to make money, and the game then offers you ways to convert this money into whatever you need in the game to progress, mostly via markets. This is the state in which we should end up for Dual Universe once all the necessary ingredients are in place, You get into the game, you farm a bit of money in fun ways, and you buy more and more powerful ships, equipment, weapons, etc., to help your character grow. The difference is that here, the ships or equipment you buy have been made by other players, instead of the game company. On the surface and during the first hours of gameplay, to a new player it would look similar to any of those other space games, but it would in fact reveal itself to be much deeper once you spend a bit of time in the game. Everything you would do would be part of another player’s or organization’s plan, everything would have a meaning. And soon you would realize that you too could be part of the content creation and, somehow, drive the game in the direction you want.
 
In its current beta stage, DU doesn’t have enough ways for people to make money because we haven’t yet had the opportunity to implement all of the necessary features. There’s mining, of course. Trading is not as good as it will eventually be because markets are not really used to their full potential. As a consequence, players rightfully turned to a solo or small org autonomous game mode. 
 
We tried to nudge people out of this with the changes introduced in 0.23. While necessary, many players expressed that the changes of 0.23 came too soon because it lacked a variety of lucrative ways for people to make money outside of mining.

What We’ll Do Now
 
The vision expressed above still holds. We want people to consider going through the industry specialization only if they intend to become industrialists and not necessarily to sustain their individual needs; however, we understand that it’s too soon to press for intense specialized gameplay considering the lack of sources to earn money. 
 
Here’s our plan for now. We will modify the formula of the schematic prices to make it considerably more affordable for Tier 1 and still challenging and worth a commitment but less intense for anything Tier 2 or above. 
 
This will allow most factories focused on T1 to resume their activities rapidly while keeping an interesting challenge for higher tiers, spawning dedicated industrial facilities aiming at producing to sell on the markets. We will also reimburse players who have bought high-priced schematics since the launch of 0.23 (please give us some time since it may take a few days as we go through the logs).
 
We will keep monitoring the price of schematics to see if it makes sense to increase or decrease the costs. The right approach to set such a price would be to evaluate how much time it takes to recoup your investment by selling the products that the schematics allow to produce. It should be a few months so that the investment is a real commitment and it makes sense to plan for it.  We currently lack the metrics to properly assess this return on investment time. We need a player-driven market price for the components and a market price for the products to assess the profit made by each run of a schematic. This will come when the markets start to work as intended, and we can gather more data about them. 
 
Feedback and Testing

The release of 0.23 also taught us that we need improved ways to test new features, both internally and with community participation. The Upvote feature on the website was a good start, but it’s not enough. 
 
To address this, we have two courses of action that will be taken. The first will be to set up an open public test server, hopefully with shorter release cycles, for players to try out new features. This will also allow us to explore ideas and be more iterative. If all goes according to plan, this test server should be introduced for 0.24, the next release. It will mirror the content of the production server with regular updates to sync it. 
 
The second important initiative is to revise the role of the Alpha Team Vanguard (ATV), getting them more involved in early discussions about new features and the evolution of the game. We are still defining the framework, so more information will be released as available. 

What is to Come
 
In the short term, we will push a few corrections to improve 0.23, which include:
 
Ships will now stop (be frozen) when their core is destroyed in PvP, making them easier to catch. Element destruction will impact the restoration count only when it occurs through PvP, at least for now (not when the ship is colliding/falling as we want to avoid having players penalized simply for crashing their ships because they’re learning how to maneuver them, for example). Recycling of un-restorable elements through a recycler that will take an element as input and grant a small amount of the schematics required components as output.
The next major release is already in the making and will be about the mission system, a first step toward giving players more fun ways to earn quantas. We will reveal about it shortly so that we can get as much feedback as possible.
 
We also want to reassure you that the mission system is not the only answer to offering more varied ways to earn revenue in Dual Universe. Things like asteroid mining and mining units will be introduced in the next few months. 

This list is by no means complete, but should be a good jumping off point that gives players reasons to fight and to explore, opportunities for pirates, new ways of making money, and a plethora of other activities our creative community will think of even if we didn’t. 

That’s it for now! We want to thank you again for your support and patience as we progress along this beta road! See you soon in Dual Universe!

Want to discuss this announcement? Visit the thread linked below:
 
 

Bi-Weekly Update - September 14, 2020
 
If you may please, a moment of silence for the fallen in the September 11th attacks…

412, that’s the number of emergency workers who perished that day. Over fourth-fifths of those were firefighters, many of whom rushed into the buildings to escort the able-bodied out and carry the injured. They didn’t know it would be their last day, only that a fellow citizen needed their help, and that they had the tools and training to provide such.
 
Present in the towers at the time of the attack was Welles Crowther, if you haven’t seen the story of the man with the red bandanna, I’d recommend it.
 
To all those serving in the role of a first responder, and to everyone that keeps us safe, you have our utmost gratitude as we look back on this harrowing date in American history.


 
Huh, SAR is orange (others say yellow). I always identified E&E with the coast guard which apparently falls under red. I am conflicted...  
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Now, onto DU related things.
 
26 rescues were performed over the past two weeks, that’s 31 for Beta 1 and 170 overall!
 
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I could throw in a few stories here, but, for those not in the loop. I’ve given up on working on the current website, the back end design software I’ve used for over two years now has just too many problems and I’ve moved on for my sanity. The additional restrictions that have been thrown in over the past year also didn’t make much sense so I’m out.
 
Instead of the drag and drop template work I’ve become accustomed to for quick and easy deployment, I’ll be taking a much more fine-grained approach to site design where every element will be hand placed. Just so long as my brain juice flows fast enough, I should have something out later this year, no guarantees though. Most of the content will be recycled but I hope the new deployment will make things feel ‘fresh’. It’s still not pure code, but its more involved than I’m used to.
 
To make up for the lack of stories, I’ll just be pulling feedback straight from reviews that are submitted.
 
8/31 - Sophilautia 
I ended up stranded on the ground on Sanctuary Moon after my ship spiralled out of control and got stuck in the air on relog while trying to get to another of my ships. I contacted Eyes & Ears and they immediately responded, sending someone to help transport me asap for a very modest fee. I was very pleased with the service! It's great that Dual Universe has emergency services like this available.
 
9/2 - Malkazaar
I had this amazing idea while was mining at Sanctuary.. lets try my luck on this moon..seems close.. patched up the dragonfly and godspeed... after a while I was staring the Moon4 from my base at Sanctuary in despair.. most of my newbie efforts are crashed up there... In this despair with no real knowledge of the game..  "Deus Ex machina" Eyes & Ears Search & Rescue advertisement on discord.. They do fulfill their services and more! Solidarity!
 
9/6 - Barneylee
I did not have enough Kergon after a server restart to get back to Alioth - i was about 8 SU out.
Wolfpilot - responded: I did not have to wait long - 45 mins at the most. He kept very good patience amognst all the internal errors/inventory errors/rights of transfer errors etc (we tried everything to get my fuel) - once the servers came back on - i had access to his tanks - took enough to get back - realized vertical boosters needed kergon but i was dry again - Wolf once again came to the rescue.
I paid a total of approx 48K (with a tip on top) I would recommend Wolf to everyone who needs rescue - Thanks again bud!
 
9/7 - KernelBeep 
All around brilliant service, the response was quick, my rescuer (DarkHorizon) was amazing, both patient with the DC's and i even learnt a few things on the journey. Well worth the money, will use again and highly recommended!
 
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Some more changes hit our discord server since the last update.
 
We now have a channel (#emergency-role-assignment) where non-members can exchange their ‘Guest’ role for another role designating them as a victim. The ‘Victim’ role grants access to our ticket system for filing emergencies that are privately handled by our dispatchers and disseminated to our rescuers. No longer do you have to venture through our website for a special discord link, just join our discord, swap roles, and file your ticket! 
 
The Victim role restricts access to all guest accessible channels in an attempt to streamline communication and notifications from our discord so that way players only get a notification when our dispatchers have communicated with them inside their ticket. Swapping back to the Guest role hides the ticketing system and restores access to the previously hidden guest channels.
 
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With the launch of Beta, I mentioned in a previous post that we were switching over from free service during the alpha phase with wipes, to paid service during beta with more or less permanence.
 
The previous pricing structure was a bit of a hassle since we intended to use a custom Lua script present in each of our ships. This script is designed to log our mileage and gas consumption among the more dynamic trip-based aspect while other things like scrap, elements, and fuel sold, rescuers involved, players rescued, and so forth could be input manually at some point during the trip. Work on this script has progressed and it’s very much barebones, but it hasn’t been deployed, nor to my knowledge has it been tested by anyone in the organization.
 
After some discussion on the issue of pricing, I decided to simplify things. 6,000 quanta would get you one rescuer dispatched who would bring you whatever resources you needed to get fixed up and rolling again. Since most of the quanta was going towards the purchase of materials and only 6,000 was profit plus whatever tips, this was obviously not going to get us anywhere, but my lowballing was deliberate on this.
 
After seeing what the team came up with and a bit more discussion, we implemented an improved pricing strategy and put it to work. Now our prices are starting to feel somewhat realistic for the time and effort involved on the part of our rescuers, especially with the current UBI taken into consideration.
 
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While this is good, I wanted to improve this somehow and while back of the envelope math was suggested, I knew we could do better. With no Lua, I fell back on a previous suggestion of implementing a pricing calculator vis-a-vi google sheets.
 
It’s still a work in progress but this is what we’re working with. How it works is very simple.
 
The cost of something, say dispatching a rescuer (10,000) is built into the calculator. Input two rescuers, output 20,000 quanta. Other variables of which are mostly trip-based like transitioning from an atmosphere to space, cargo mass, player transport, and the need to stop (yes it can happen more than once in a rescue) are all factors that can influence the final total. Yes, even our dispatchers have a fee associated with them, they need to be paid too!
 
All these factors have a set price, a rescuer just needs to add in the variables and presto, a total is provided.  
 
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As a part of an update to the calculator, yesterday I rolled out a similarly basic payroll system. Take the final total, and break it down between dispatch, a 5% service tax, and everything that goes to the rescuers and pilots. Divide the rescuers and pilots portion in half, half goes to the rescuers, half goes to the organization for future expenses. 
 
To tighten things up a smidgen further, I included a variable that would divide the rescuers and pilots portion equally among them all. If only one was involved, they got the whole pool, if three were involved, they’d get three equal shares.
 
This will probably further evolve over time, but for now, it’s what we’ll work with.
 
If you’re interested, the calculator is public so feel free to fill in the gray boxes and see how things add up.
 
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For those of you that are seriously and completely out of the loop as far as Eyes & Ears goes, a bit of bad news. PVP caught up to us quicker than anticipated but this was not something unexpected, it was simply a matter of when it would happen, and it turned out to happen one week after the official Beta launch.
 
While flying between planets, one of our rescuers got caught with their proverbial headphones on and the music cranked. While the destruction of this member’s ship was disconcerting since the antagonist in question could clearly see ‘RESQ’ in the video that they shared, it did shed light on some necessities and changes that would need to be made should something like this ever happen in the future.
 
All rescuers are encouraged to have radars equipped to their constructs. While our current constructs are all privately created and run by individual rescuers, official constructs will sport such measures to allow us to identify potential threats from a distance and take steps to evade any hostilities intended on us by a third party.  
 
Secondly, and perhaps most abruptly, all rescuers are required to record their rescues from start to finish. Even if nothing is going on, even if you’re in a safe space, even if you’re stopped at a red light. Outside the game, the police wear body cameras to protect themselves from false accusations, this also protects the public from undue or excessive force by the officer. The mandate to record rescues is in the same vein as the mentioned real-life counterpart.
 
This has of course the unintended consequence of cutting down our rescue team somewhat as not everyone has a powerful enough computer to both play Dual Universe and record at the same time. While unfortunate, this is a needed measure as this experience has readily proven that even in a virtual universe, being a universal good doesn’t grant you universal protection.
 
The day after the incident was made public, I had a small showing of support from some members of the community. One organization offered us safe harbor (the second of two in a weeks time)  while another offered quick revenge. The latter was immediately turned down, not only does Eyes & Ears not publicly call for revenge, we are more of the mind in letting karma do its thing.
 
While a public blacklist of players who are barred from our services (we will have a blacklist, public or private is the question) might go against the whole ‘revenge’ thing, that does not mean we will tell people to simply ignore those who find pleasure in attacking the unarmed without provocation.
 
I know the Fuel Rats experience the same thing in Elite Dangerous, it wasn’t a matter of if, only when. We’ve taken our knocks and learned a few good lessons from it. We appreciate and thank everyone that’s shown their support for us during this bump in the road.
 
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Previously I had mentioned that two organizations had approached me with interest to host Eyes & Ears bases and outposts. While I do drive a very hard bargain, I’m always open to talking and might even reconsider past rejections with a few remittances on my end. Hit me up in Discord or here on the forums and we’ll discuss.
 
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That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

By design.
 
Vertical engines used to be just as fuel efficient as horizontal engines but that got nerfed by about 50% way back when.

Dual Universe Classifieds - Clean, Crisp, Concise, Advertising
 
Discord:
https://discord.gg/chef9Yc
 
Community Page:
https://community.dualthegame.com/organization/3975/

CTRL+F the bolded text to jump
What we do and the benefits we provide: We centralize many advertisements onto a single construct. This provides you with quality leads, consumes fewer cores, reduces overhead, improves everyone's game performance, creates fewer obstacles at the marketplace, and makes for a cleaner game world. What is and isn't allowed: Just a few rules and limitations when advertising with us. Pricing: Completely free, for the time being. Setup: Instructions on how to start advertising, the intro steps are simply setting you up in our discord, mostly for my sanity. Future Plans: Where the future may lead along with our next big step if this is a hit. Final Thoughts: Wrap up.  
 
 
What we do and the benefits we provide:
 
Dual Universe Classifieds (DUC) seeks to improve advertising inside Dual Universe through the consolidation of individual advertisements into bulk platforms on a single extra small core. Unless you've already seen our construct at the ten marketplaces around the Arkship (against the marketplace near the onramp and elevators), you can watch a quick 2:37 tech demo of the platform we're currently working on. The design and code are a work in progress and not final.
 
Inspired by advertising that occurred during earlier Alpha testing phases,  DUC's methods of gathering in-game ad's onto a single platform solves the problems we've identified:
 
     Quality Leads: Players that specifically search for your advertisement are more likely to be interested in your offering over random players.
 
     Fewer Cores and Materials Consumed: When every construct counts, having additional core slots for advertising forces a choice to be made; either get your name out there or have more constructs available to your organization. Offloading your advertisements onto us frees up these cores and materials so you can build more constructs.
 
     Reduced Overhead: No one wants more work to do. By letting us handle your organization's in-game advertisement distribution, we take some of that burden off of running your organization so you can focus on more important things.
 
     Better Game Performance: Everyone knows that fewer constructs lead to improved game performance on all player's systems. With fewer screens and individual programming boards running, Dual Universe's servers have more resources for what counts while players can enjoy cooler and quieter desktops.
 
Our platforms can combine a large number of otherwise separate constructs with screens and Lua, into a single construct, with a single programming board (one per terminal, up to four on a construct) that runs on demand when a player wants to interact and view ads.
 
To view the ads at any of the four terminals on the platform, a lower touchscreen functions as a menu while an upper screen displays a selected advertisement in the form of an image or text, accompanied with any Lua for animation, custom font, etc. Lastly, at the top of the construct is a group of screens that flips between random ads every time a player deactivates the terminal below it for a total of 12 screens.
(the above benefit is theoretical and based solely on my perceptions both on and off the game, I do not claim to know if this actually has any perceivable impact on either the players or the servers)
 
     Fewer Obstacles at Marketplaces: From ship shops to fuel stands, Lua pitches, and resource dispensers. It all takes up space in the game world, in particular, where players will frequently travel. Marketplaces are already victim to abandoned ships, advertisements shouldn't be making the situation worse, but they do by the simple act of taking up more space. If ads were all neatly organized on one construct, landing at the markets will be a little less scary.
 
     A Cleaner World: While subjective, a cleaner gaming world feels more immersive than one filled with jarring advertisements competing for attention.
 
     Better Reputation among the Community: Organizations that advertise with DUC and our more appealing solutions might gain more favor with other players than organizations that don't.
 
With all of the above in mind, the more advertisements our organization hosts, the more visible impact our efforts will have. Already over half a dozen organizations are running live ads with us. Eight might not seem like a lot, but would you rather have more constructs to navigate at the marketplace?
 
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What is and isn't allowed:
 
Getting set up with advertising on DUC's platforms is easy. Before we do that, however, we need to specify what is and isn't acceptable.
 
AD REQUIREMENTS:
- For pure images, just a link to the image. Players are viewing our advertisements up close, so upscaling will not be a problem.
assets.prod.novaquark.com/###
- Complex advertisements with both text and associated images may have Lua code included with them.
- Purely text ads may feature text with or without Lua formatting.
 
AD RESTRICTIONS:
1. Ads can be plain text, images, or both with Lua code. Additional support may be added as NQ allows.
2. Links can be included, but they must be DU relevant. Links will be checked before going live.
3. We are a neutral platform. Friendly banter is allowed with the other organization's or players consent, but do not use your advertisements to antagonize them. 
 
Above all, use common sense when submitting an advertisement. If you think your ad will pose a problem with other players or breach any rules enforced by NovaQuark, it probably will. If you think you've landed in a gray area, please DM @DarkHorizon for clarification.
 
----------
 
 
 
Pricing:
 
Currently since we're only drumming up interest and cleaning up the marketplaces is a major objective, our service is entirely free with no surprise charges. With so few advertisers running live ads and a couple dozen orgs indicating some form of interest, applying a cost to our services doesn't make sense unless we're massively successful.
 
Once we reach that point, I may turn this into a monthly subscription with perhaps a couple of purchasable options like an instant update where if you change your ad, for an additional fee, we can send someone around to have the update applied right away as opposed to some point during the month where the monthly bill is sent out and all queued updates will be applied. Again, this is wholly dependent on our success, this isn't something I saw myself doing so we'll see where it takes us.
 
----------
 
 
 
Setup:
 
Now that we know what is required and what isn't allowed time to start advertising! If I haven't messaged you about this, it may look like a lot, but I assure you that the first steps in the first spoiler are only done once so I can get you set up in our discord server as long as you advertise for the same organization. Changing old ads for new ads is easy as it only requires the final two steps in the third spoiler.
 
Step One: Join our discord server since it will serve as our communication platform for any announcements or discussions. We will not be DM'ing announcements.
https://discord.gg/chef9Yc
 
Step Two: Direct message me on Discord with the following:
 
If I have previously DM'ed you and linked you to this topic, I likely already have the info I need and will fill it in unless directed otherwise:
 
If you have an advertisement ready:
 
----------
 
 
 
Future Plans:
 
I'd previously stated that for now, we're just doing an initial run of ten platforms at each of the ten central marketplaces on Alioth. Further expansion around the planet and eventually other planets and even spaces like player cities as demand grows.
 
I'm working with my partner, @eldrake, to update the underlying inner workings and UI. What you currently see displayed on the terminals is still a work in progress, and further updates will come in due time. A couple of those ideas are:
 
Pagination Categorization (Recruitment, services, sales, twitch streamers, etc) Scrolling through the ad menu with key presses. Submitting multiple ads while retaining a single space on the menu. A random ad might come up with each press from the menu, or you might be able to toggle through ads the same way as menu pages.  
As far as more physical ad constructs go like ship shops, dispensers, Lua presentations, and everything in between, I'm planning to further expand things into a center that I'll run in my territory on the Sanctuary Moon. Advertisers would be able to place their constructs just like they currently do at the markets, and they'll be allowed to edit their constructs without needing DUC's consent though it remains to be seen if the player will still retain the core, or if ownership will be transferred with edit permissions given. From there, players will be able to VR or walk into the center to observe and interact with these constructs in the same way as they would now. Since only one construct is advertising whatever the advertiser is pushing, the same benefits apply here as they do at our terminals.
 
If the current idea is a hit and interest shows up, then this may very well come about in the future, and that should help out at the marketplaces even more. I'm excited just thinking about it.
 
As previously stated, I may monetize things in the form of a monthly subscription, but that all depends on how things turn out. Removals will cost less on demand but likely be free if not. Again, I might even do updates strictly on a once a month basis to keep things under control. It depends on how many advertisers we get and how far we spread. Who knows, when the mission system finally drops, updating these terminals would be an excellent side quest for random players.
 
Unless and until I start charging, donations of quanta and materials will always be appreciated, especially if/when I start working on that physical advertisement center.
 
----------
 
 
 
Final Thoughts:
 
You do not need to be a member of the organization to advertise with us. It will likely be limited it to the staff anyway. Joining won't accomplish very much and be more or less an association and show the extent of the organization. Especially with the limit on the number of organizations you can join now, I don't expect anyone to anyway.
 
Advertising might not be a problem now, but I don't want to see this become one in the future, which is why I'm acting now to ensure it doesn't happen.
 
 
If you like the idea and wish to advertise, CTRL+F 'Setup:' and follow the steps.
 
If you have any questions or suggestions, I encourage you to comment down below.
 
If you want to collaborate and join in on the project, let me know, and I'll do what I can to arrange things.
 
 
Updates and announcements will be posted here as they arise. I can't wait to see where this goes!

By design.
 
Vertical engines used to be just as fuel efficient as horizontal engines but that got nerfed by about 50% way back when.

By design.
 
Vertical engines used to be just as fuel efficient as horizontal engines but that got nerfed by about 50% way back when.

Dual Universe Classifieds - Clean, Crisp, Concise, Advertising
 
Discord:
https://discord.gg/chef9Yc
 
Community Page:
https://community.dualthegame.com/organization/3975/

CTRL+F the bolded text to jump
What we do and the benefits we provide: We centralize many advertisements onto a single construct. This provides you with quality leads, consumes fewer cores, reduces overhead, improves everyone's game performance, creates fewer obstacles at the marketplace, and makes for a cleaner game world. What is and isn't allowed: Just a few rules and limitations when advertising with us. Pricing: Completely free, for the time being. Setup: Instructions on how to start advertising, the intro steps are simply setting you up in our discord, mostly for my sanity. Future Plans: Where the future may lead along with our next big step if this is a hit. Final Thoughts: Wrap up.  
 
 
What we do and the benefits we provide:
 
Dual Universe Classifieds (DUC) seeks to improve advertising inside Dual Universe through the consolidation of individual advertisements into bulk platforms on a single extra small core. Unless you've already seen our construct at the ten marketplaces around the Arkship (against the marketplace near the onramp and elevators), you can watch a quick 2:37 tech demo of the platform we're currently working on. The design and code are a work in progress and not final.
 
Inspired by advertising that occurred during earlier Alpha testing phases,  DUC's methods of gathering in-game ad's onto a single platform solves the problems we've identified:
 
     Quality Leads: Players that specifically search for your advertisement are more likely to be interested in your offering over random players.
 
     Fewer Cores and Materials Consumed: When every construct counts, having additional core slots for advertising forces a choice to be made; either get your name out there or have more constructs available to your organization. Offloading your advertisements onto us frees up these cores and materials so you can build more constructs.
 
     Reduced Overhead: No one wants more work to do. By letting us handle your organization's in-game advertisement distribution, we take some of that burden off of running your organization so you can focus on more important things.
 
     Better Game Performance: Everyone knows that fewer constructs lead to improved game performance on all player's systems. With fewer screens and individual programming boards running, Dual Universe's servers have more resources for what counts while players can enjoy cooler and quieter desktops.
 
Our platforms can combine a large number of otherwise separate constructs with screens and Lua, into a single construct, with a single programming board (one per terminal, up to four on a construct) that runs on demand when a player wants to interact and view ads.
 
To view the ads at any of the four terminals on the platform, a lower touchscreen functions as a menu while an upper screen displays a selected advertisement in the form of an image or text, accompanied with any Lua for animation, custom font, etc. Lastly, at the top of the construct is a group of screens that flips between random ads every time a player deactivates the terminal below it for a total of 12 screens.
(the above benefit is theoretical and based solely on my perceptions both on and off the game, I do not claim to know if this actually has any perceivable impact on either the players or the servers)
 
     Fewer Obstacles at Marketplaces: From ship shops to fuel stands, Lua pitches, and resource dispensers. It all takes up space in the game world, in particular, where players will frequently travel. Marketplaces are already victim to abandoned ships, advertisements shouldn't be making the situation worse, but they do by the simple act of taking up more space. If ads were all neatly organized on one construct, landing at the markets will be a little less scary.
 
     A Cleaner World: While subjective, a cleaner gaming world feels more immersive than one filled with jarring advertisements competing for attention.
 
     Better Reputation among the Community: Organizations that advertise with DUC and our more appealing solutions might gain more favor with other players than organizations that don't.
 
With all of the above in mind, the more advertisements our organization hosts, the more visible impact our efforts will have. Already over half a dozen organizations are running live ads with us. Eight might not seem like a lot, but would you rather have more constructs to navigate at the marketplace?
 
----------
 
 
 
What is and isn't allowed:
 
Getting set up with advertising on DUC's platforms is easy. Before we do that, however, we need to specify what is and isn't acceptable.
 
AD REQUIREMENTS:
- For pure images, just a link to the image. Players are viewing our advertisements up close, so upscaling will not be a problem.
assets.prod.novaquark.com/###
- Complex advertisements with both text and associated images may have Lua code included with them.
- Purely text ads may feature text with or without Lua formatting.
 
AD RESTRICTIONS:
1. Ads can be plain text, images, or both with Lua code. Additional support may be added as NQ allows.
2. Links can be included, but they must be DU relevant. Links will be checked before going live.
3. We are a neutral platform. Friendly banter is allowed with the other organization's or players consent, but do not use your advertisements to antagonize them. 
 
Above all, use common sense when submitting an advertisement. If you think your ad will pose a problem with other players or breach any rules enforced by NovaQuark, it probably will. If you think you've landed in a gray area, please DM @DarkHorizon for clarification.
 
----------
 
 
 
Pricing:
 
Currently since we're only drumming up interest and cleaning up the marketplaces is a major objective, our service is entirely free with no surprise charges. With so few advertisers running live ads and a couple dozen orgs indicating some form of interest, applying a cost to our services doesn't make sense unless we're massively successful.
 
Once we reach that point, I may turn this into a monthly subscription with perhaps a couple of purchasable options like an instant update where if you change your ad, for an additional fee, we can send someone around to have the update applied right away as opposed to some point during the month where the monthly bill is sent out and all queued updates will be applied. Again, this is wholly dependent on our success, this isn't something I saw myself doing so we'll see where it takes us.
 
----------
 
 
 
Setup:
 
Now that we know what is required and what isn't allowed time to start advertising! If I haven't messaged you about this, it may look like a lot, but I assure you that the first steps in the first spoiler are only done once so I can get you set up in our discord server as long as you advertise for the same organization. Changing old ads for new ads is easy as it only requires the final two steps in the third spoiler.
 
Step One: Join our discord server since it will serve as our communication platform for any announcements or discussions. We will not be DM'ing announcements.
https://discord.gg/chef9Yc
 
Step Two: Direct message me on Discord with the following:
 
If I have previously DM'ed you and linked you to this topic, I likely already have the info I need and will fill it in unless directed otherwise:
 
If you have an advertisement ready:
 
----------
 
 
 
Future Plans:
 
I'd previously stated that for now, we're just doing an initial run of ten platforms at each of the ten central marketplaces on Alioth. Further expansion around the planet and eventually other planets and even spaces like player cities as demand grows.
 
I'm working with my partner, @eldrake, to update the underlying inner workings and UI. What you currently see displayed on the terminals is still a work in progress, and further updates will come in due time. A couple of those ideas are:
 
Pagination Categorization (Recruitment, services, sales, twitch streamers, etc) Scrolling through the ad menu with key presses. Submitting multiple ads while retaining a single space on the menu. A random ad might come up with each press from the menu, or you might be able to toggle through ads the same way as menu pages.  
As far as more physical ad constructs go like ship shops, dispensers, Lua presentations, and everything in between, I'm planning to further expand things into a center that I'll run in my territory on the Sanctuary Moon. Advertisers would be able to place their constructs just like they currently do at the markets, and they'll be allowed to edit their constructs without needing DUC's consent though it remains to be seen if the player will still retain the core, or if ownership will be transferred with edit permissions given. From there, players will be able to VR or walk into the center to observe and interact with these constructs in the same way as they would now. Since only one construct is advertising whatever the advertiser is pushing, the same benefits apply here as they do at our terminals.
 
If the current idea is a hit and interest shows up, then this may very well come about in the future, and that should help out at the marketplaces even more. I'm excited just thinking about it.
 
As previously stated, I may monetize things in the form of a monthly subscription, but that all depends on how things turn out. Removals will cost less on demand but likely be free if not. Again, I might even do updates strictly on a once a month basis to keep things under control. It depends on how many advertisers we get and how far we spread. Who knows, when the mission system finally drops, updating these terminals would be an excellent side quest for random players.
 
Unless and until I start charging, donations of quanta and materials will always be appreciated, especially if/when I start working on that physical advertisement center.
 
----------
 
 
 
Final Thoughts:
 
You do not need to be a member of the organization to advertise with us. It will likely be limited it to the staff anyway. Joining won't accomplish very much and be more or less an association and show the extent of the organization. Especially with the limit on the number of organizations you can join now, I don't expect anyone to anyway.
 
Advertising might not be a problem now, but I don't want to see this become one in the future, which is why I'm acting now to ensure it doesn't happen.
 
 
If you like the idea and wish to advertise, CTRL+F 'Setup:' and follow the steps.
 
If you have any questions or suggestions, I encourage you to comment down below.
 
If you want to collaborate and join in on the project, let me know, and I'll do what I can to arrange things.
 
 
Updates and announcements will be posted here as they arise. I can't wait to see where this goes!

If you follow the Church of the Holy Wreck instead, you also get free parking and excused from being a human sacrifice.

Yet another subtlety long awaited change from my perspective. I do have to ask though, what is the distance at which another player needs to be at in proximity to the construct in order for its physics to reactivate?
 
I imagine someone being in a PVP related situation where they are leading the chase and log out which causes their ship to stop, but how close would the tailing player need to be in order for it to return to its previous trajectory? If this distance is too short, it could cause people following behind to crash into the ship before the server and client have a chance to update. Since physics based damage is applied to the construct moving faster, this would result in the person following to have their craft likely be destroyed so what should have been a net gain possibly now a net loss or break even at best.

I have no sympathy for people with AGG. It's a broken element/mechanic in the first place. Being able to float forever without using any fuel or energy?  Ya I highly doubt its gonna work that way forever, so basically don't get use to AGG in its current form anyway. 

For everyone that seems to be making an issue about instability and crashing their ships (yes I do acknowledge that this is very good for people like me in the business of rescue and repair) some player able mitigation techniques are to carry scrap on you and better yet to have a friend that can access your pilots seat in the event you are pulled out of the game. I know its not the best solution and if its not broken don't fix it, but its what we got right now. Adapt and change or get left behind.
 
The current repair system we got is an easy catch all, lord knows how much that might change in the future but the current three lives thing is actually a bonus compared to what we used to have prior to now.
 
You drive with a doughnut in the back don't you? Why aren't you flying with scrap as well?

Yeah, good luck with that. Hype's members find a lot of bugs, some of them I hear are pretty egregious from the man himself but you won't be able to pry any knowledge from them about it.
 
Besides, if it is something that's harmful to game play like an exploit, then let the exploiters exploit while they can. You can tell them that they shouldn't do it and report it to NQ, but as NQ has already said, don't take to doing it yourself or you're just as much of a rule breaker as they are and subject to similar sanctions. Don't press 'B'.
 
While I'd like to hear of and understand these bugs myself as a fellow tester, humans being human will take any advantage they can get, including unintended game play. This is just one of the reasons why I advocate for a wipe on release and why I think a paid beta is such a bad idea.
 
You submit your side, let them submit theirs, do your job as testers, and all the players that will come after us will be better for it.

Wow, first NQ ends indiscriminate teleportation, now we're getting element destruction 'soon'?
 
My org is becoming relevant again! 
 
I am naturally for all these changes as it relates to element destruction. When I read about container destruction loosing all of its goods though (in the final instance), I was initially skeptical but I can see that this would add a benefit to PVP gameplay overall. Now instead of indiscriminate shooting on sight, haulers might be given somewhat of a chance and be ordered to surrender their cargo before the killing begins.
 
Lootless PVP is exciting to a degree, now all we need are some big ass explosions when fuel tanks are punctured. Do you really want to shoot my fuel haulers? Maybe they got scrap and elements for some big lad stuck in the middle of no where, or maybe the job is already done and we're returning home?
 
Cargo scanners when, container obfuscation when, rotating engines when?

Wow, first NQ ends indiscriminate teleportation, now we're getting element destruction 'soon'?
 
My org is becoming relevant again! 
 
I am naturally for all these changes as it relates to element destruction. When I read about container destruction loosing all of its goods though (in the final instance), I was initially skeptical but I can see that this would add a benefit to PVP gameplay overall. Now instead of indiscriminate shooting on sight, haulers might be given somewhat of a chance and be ordered to surrender their cargo before the killing begins.
 
Lootless PVP is exciting to a degree, now all we need are some big ass explosions when fuel tanks are punctured. Do you really want to shoot my fuel haulers? Maybe they got scrap and elements for some big lad stuck in the middle of no where, or maybe the job is already done and we're returning home?
 
Cargo scanners when, container obfuscation when, rotating engines when?

Wow, first NQ ends indiscriminate teleportation, now we're getting element destruction 'soon'?
 
My org is becoming relevant again! 
 
I am naturally for all these changes as it relates to element destruction. When I read about container destruction loosing all of its goods though (in the final instance), I was initially skeptical but I can see that this would add a benefit to PVP gameplay overall. Now instead of indiscriminate shooting on sight, haulers might be given somewhat of a chance and be ordered to surrender their cargo before the killing begins.
 
Lootless PVP is exciting to a degree, now all we need are some big ass explosions when fuel tanks are punctured. Do you really want to shoot my fuel haulers? Maybe they got scrap and elements for some big lad stuck in the middle of no where, or maybe the job is already done and we're returning home?
 
Cargo scanners when, container obfuscation when, rotating engines when?

I hope we'll be seeing a set of skills to train into that extend the lifespan of elements influenced by them, or reduce the impact against repair limits, etc...
 
What I'd love to see with regard to element size limits on the various cores is to have it done via a capacity limit, similar to how chairs currently have a fixed amount of PVP capacity which is taken up by radars and weapons and such. Do the same thing for element limitations. Each core size has a particular element capacity, balanced such that using lots of appropriately sized elements remains possible (perhaps XS cores get unlimited XS elements and so on, or else just number tweaks until it feels right) but using larger elements will quickly consume that capacity. Like, maybe the numbers work out in a way where an XS core could technically accommodate a single Laser L, but it wouldn't then it wouldn't have any remaining capacity for other parts making it functionally pointless. In this scenario it would make sense to have a set of passive skills affecting both the core capacities and the capacity cost of various elements, so perhaps someone who put in the weeks of time necessary for a level 5 skill could squeeze that big gun in there.
 
This would allow clever ship builders or those with higher skill levels to produce more effective ships within the core size. Someone with more experience and a higher level would be able to shove just a little bit more onto the XS core fighter, making it more lethal than someone without those skills can produce. Or engines, or containers, you name it.
 
Further, this whole concept would allow for specialty cores, or even unique cores. That is, cores that you can craft with high level stuff or find out in the world that selectively ignore certain core capacity limitations. Perhaps you find a special rare gem while mining that can be used in the production process of a core that can mount engines one size larger with the same capacity cost, or cores that reduce the mass of anything attached to them, or cores with more health or more repair capacity, etc etc etc. There are more ways to iterate this than I can possible think of here. (even if you don't like my capacity idea, pleeeeease consider specialty cores separately I think they'd be super neat)
 
I really think this would be superior to just setting arbitrary limits based on size alone. Something like this stands only to widen ship building horizons while adding an important set of constraints to the build process. Constraints that don't feel forced upon us but are a natural outgrowth of the building system.
 
Whatever changes are made, the game should (in my opinion) absolutely be avoiding arbitrary rules like the ones being proposed. Certainly there will be places where they're just going to be the only realistic solution, but limiting what goes on core sizes at least can be done far more elegantly than just saying "no big thing on small thing cuz we say so." 
 
Thanks for reading.

Are there any future plans to allow recycling of elements to scrap and/or disassembling them (to a reduced return of parts)?

[Updated Nov 19, 2020 @ 3:02 PM EST]: The rules outlined below apply to teleporting both avatars and constructs. This means that, outside of the list of approved scenarios, we won't be able to fetch your ship and bring it to your location. 
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good day fellow Noveans,
 
I come bearing support-related news! More specifically, I’d like to address teleportation requests with all of you.
 
For a while now, we’ve allowed players in need of a port to say the word on Discord and - voila - your wish would be granted! ✨
That worked well for a time, but our Discord support channel is now beginning to slip under the veritable wave of port requests… and we’d like to rescue it and all those in need of a ‘lift’.
 
As of November 19th, we would like everyone in need of teleport-related assistance to use the in-game chat support, or submit an official support ticket. By using the in-game chat function instead of Discord, you’re likely to receive an answer quicker because our GMs are ready and waiting for you there!

Having said that, we’d also like to inform everyone that we will no longer grant port requests if you’re simply out of fuel, stuck in one of your own constructs, or just generally stranded. All port requests will now be investigated, verified and potentially denied if the request falls outside of approved scenarios.

Some examples of when to ask for a port (approved scenarios):
 
if you’re stuck in an Aphelia construct if you’re trapped in any other player-owned tile (unable to dig) if you’re unable to get past the loading screen upon logging in
  What to do if you’re just stuck/out of fuel/stranded: 
 
Don’t forget: there are plenty of player organizations available to assist in your travels through space! Be sure to check out the organizations and services provided on Discord and our Forums. Some organizations will be happy to provide you with transportation, refueling, repairs, building help and so much more!! ?

How to contact support:

To access in-game chat support, simply click the “support” tab in-game, as depicted below.


 
From here, it’s as easy as typing up your request, starting the message with "@NQ" and sending it off!
 
To submit an official support ticket, please click HERE. ?

Then, select the hyperlinked text that says “submit a request” in the top-right corner of the page. Once you see the screen featured below, select the appropriate category for your issue and go to town!


 
(Quick note for those submitting crash reports: PLEASE do not forget to include a crash log and/or XML logs with your ticket!!)

And there you have it! Let’s all do our part to keep the Discord server free and clear of port requests so that players with big ol’ bugs and other issues to report can receive the visibility they deserve.

~NQ-Naunet

PS - I want to give a special shout-out to all of our support staff for everything they do!! Thank you, all!!
 

I wouldn't entirely suggest a limit of pinned posts, just a removal of pinned material that is out of date and no longer relevant. If similar pinned topics can be combined, then combine them.
 
Maintaining Pre-Alpha and Alpha content for the relevant backers would be a nice way to look back at the past. I'd segment content into its relevant subs once we reach the post release phase of Pre-Alpha/Alpha (sort of impossible since a separate Alpha section was never created but both are unified under NDA so it really only matters to a very small segment of testers such as myself) and Beta. I might also suggest a section post Kickstarter but pre-Pre-Alpha but that's likely a stretch. Historians can always flip back to the first few pages of the relevant forum sections if they'd like.

I've brought this up a few times already to NQ but beta forums when?
 
I think the 'Innovation Station' idea wouldn't hurt and would make a great addition to the discord gallery and even help NQ in finding good stuff for social media (although remember to put more time into game dev than social media).
 
No opinion on themes present or future, I usually just go with what already exists and pick what I like.
 
An 'Organization of the Month' selected by NQ would be... interesting. My only suggestion is to not pick from the top twenty organizations as they get enough eyeballs by the community already. Pick those diamonds in the rough, the ones that are developing and help them make a splash in the collective minds of the community.
 
Also, hello Naunet. I'm probably one of the few that didn't say hi in the ATV server. If you'd like more of an introduction, you can find me moderating the DU discord from time to time. Even though I almost always display as busy, as long as I'm online and its not sleeping time here in the central US time zone, feel free to poke me. 

Can we get a dislike button?

I've read this thread from top to bottom now (ending at this point, whose to say what's happened in the time I've taken to write this), while my take is nothing special and has been said several times already, I'll offer it anyways:
 
I'm inclined to agree with this statement particularly.
 
Was it in bad taste, I agree, it was. I don't think anyone would disagree with you on that point.
 
The decision to leap straight to a permanent ban has me taken aback. I haven't seen anything personally, but I've heard plenty of reports about people's entire bases being stolen out from under them, even live right in front of them.
 
This blight went on for nary a time before NovaQuark finally gave us some guidance on the subject. People stealing your construct due to misconfigured RDMS is on the construct owner, and that such theft would not result in any action on behalf of NovaQuark.
 
Okay, I can understand pinning the blame on the player tester for misunderstanding the system or handing out permission willy nilly, or even setting perms to 'all', which now has a window advising players testers of the potential hazard. This, to me, is reasonable. The player tester needs to clean up their act and take it as a learning moment no matter how bitter the pill is to swallow.
 
I can even understand NovaQuarks position relating to interference with the game test. One of the marketplaces on Alioth was destroyed, and some player's testers orders were interrupted.
 
What I fail to understand here, is how NovaQuark can tell players testers who had their constructs "stolen" from them on account of faulty RDMS be given no action, only to turn around and permanently ban players testers for taking advantage of faulty RDMS on NovaQuarks own constructs.
 
It was also laid out a few days ago to that theft as a result of bad RDMS will not be actioned on by NovaQuark.
 
Did people's orders at the marketplace get interrupted, yes. 
Did a marketplace get destroyed by some players testers, yes. 
Did stuff get stolen and sold for profit, yes. 
Did some people get inconvenienced, yes.
 
Guess what:
Come atmospheric PVP and player-run markets, this kind of activity will be a daily fact of life which we'd all best get used to it.
 
Maybe for laughs, they even wrote out "Plz don't ban" in voxels when the crime was finally done. All right, perhaps it wasn't a new person that stumbled upon this but someone with experience that knew what they were doing, and the profit-seeking crime is premeditated. Instead of a seven-day ban, make it a thirty day one.
 
Sure, the beta experience got sullied, I agree. And while it was an NQ marketplace that got the wipe, it's not like it's the only marketplace on Alioth.
 
While I do agree the destruction was overboard, I think the response to this from NovaQuark was equally so. I believe NQ should take this as a learning experience, the players testers too, but more so NovaQuark. The players testers learned that no one is immune from bad RDMS, and NovaQuark probably learned a thing or two about marketplaces that should come in handy for the future feature of player-run marketplaces.
 
Dare I say we should celebrate this moment in Beta as "Hey remember that one time in Beta where a bunch of people tore apart a marketplace?" and we can all laugh around our campfire years after release...
 
Instead, what are we watching? A two-tiered justice system; rules for thee but not for me. I don't like it, not one bit.
 
Don't get me wrong, I still think something should be done in the end, but I think the justice served here outweighs the crime. Meanwhile, the justice other testers are seeking for the constructs that got stolen from them is being delayed if not denied entirely. If that was the case, we'd have a month-long backlog by now (to clarify, on that issue alone on top of everything we already have) sadly, NovaQuark is in no way treating equal actions with equal outcomes and consequences as far as this particular topic of theft goes. If we're being honest with ourselves, then scoopers, dupers, and exploiters would have already gotten the boot before this event even happened. No great Quanta reset, no publicly nerfing the ice cream scoops, just bans.
 
The fact that this scenario played out the way it did, it makes me question what is safe. If I'm questioning what is safe, that doesn't exactly make me want to test anything out of fear that I might end up in the same fate. Maybe the only winning move is not to play test?
 
In most circumstances, I can see and understand in NQ's favor on crime and punishment, but this is not one of those times. Sorry to say, but you do not have my support in this, and I've also been given some things to think about as a result of this. I don't think this topic has met its end, which is what I'm waiting for before I come to my definite conclusion. Know that I'm still just a user like anyone else commenting on this thread. I can't sway NQ's opinion in any manner, and that is not my intent with this post.
 
You have my thoughts and I'm curious to see what the future holds.
 
Oh, and I'm not joining anyone's protest or movement on any communication medium. I'm simply offering my opinion on the matter which is what these forums have allowed me to do.