blazemonger

Source? True An educated guestimate regarding concurrent daily logins is about 600 and about 65-ish K unique active accounts (backers, beta keys and subscribers), those numbers are based on the numbers on MMO-population divided by a factor 7 as that is a fairly consistent factor for other MMO games on that site where we know actual numbers so we can compare. Again, source? I see no path for NQ to gain that many subs, it woudl take amiracle iof they hit half that, which may be barely enough for NQ to stay alive. That is because you are not on my friendslist, you appear to not have the same interests as mee and possibly are in a different timezone than me. I know very well what a Shadow PC is, I am paying for one and have for a long time. There will always be whales and NQ willprobably need a lot more than they have currently. Also, I never said there weren't any, I said not in the numbers you seem to be claiming "If" being the keyword here. Again, you have nothing to actually back up your claim so it's really just speculative assumptions to try and justify an otherwise baseless opinion.

That is not an argument here, it never was. ANd yes, I am pretty sure NQ knows that as they have not made that claim or floated that idea. It's something some players have come up with, mostly because they simply have no idea about how the talent tree works and hwo their assumption is just nonsense. Except no one is doing that, whether they wipe or not

Source for this statement? It's not an exploit Again, you clearly have no idea how Shadow PC works.. and I very much doubt that there is players who spend $30 a month per shadow account just to dualbox several alts in PVP in DU. That idea is just silly as there are much better options in PVP games to do that cheaper and easier. You make a lot of assumptions and statements for which you really have not presented anything that validates them.

The statement made there is what has been said by JC, Sesch and several others from NQ in public, so it's hardly under NDA NQ will do a full wipe at beta, which is intended to be the last one. There may still be partial wipes which may be needed for any number of reasons. If such a wipe occurs any assets that can be retained will be in the form of blueprints and talent points accrued will be returned to the pool. So yes, NQ has said that they will not do another FULL wipe after the one they did prior to beta but they reserve the right to do a partial one at any time between beta and release as they deem needed. That is and always has been their position. Based on the many statemens NQ staff have made the one mention of a "no wipe" in a press release can safely be seen as missing the FULL part on that, so it shoudl read "no FULL wipe". True but what is missed in the case of DU is that the Talent system(which is designed -exactly- like the skill system in EVE) will allow a new player to really get very close to more advanced players fairly quickly. Talents are tiered with a time multiplier and if a talent takes 10 days to complete, it will take 2 days to train L1-L4 and 8 days for the 5th level. So while an experienced player, 2 years after beta started, will be at a point where he is mostly training L5 talents which take a massive amount of time, a new player will be able to "catch up" to on the same talents to L4 in about 5, maybe 6 months. And they will get there for the lower tier talents (x1-x3 multipliers) even faster while the more tenured player is training higher tier (x4-x10) L5 talent levels which take weeks to complete. Effectively, at this pointg in time, a new players will complete several talents to L4 in the same time a more tenured player completes a single L5 train.

There is no actual evidence of a good number of players multiboxing in PVP with several Alts, unles you can show that, your argument falls flat. And if you actually understand how a Shadow PC will work in this regard you'd know that it really is not a viable option for multiboxing PVP. A group of players against a muiltiboxing solo player will always favor the group in a massive way. INstead of complaining about this, even if true, get a group together and go punish them.. Alts in general are not a NQ or DU issue, besides it not being an issue at all IMO, it is a general occurence in MMO games.

Well, they fired JC on the spot and with immediate effect little over a year ago, Quanta Nick took the role while a new CEO was being looked for and Nouredine then became the new permanent CEO second half last year. Not really anything special from a business perpective there.

Except they did not state any such thing. Those under the impression that there would not be further wipes post beta start really never paid attention and/or choose to ignore the many hints NQ gavce they just might wipe and it was never "off the table" and just took what others than NQ, starting with the intial announcement of beta where JC specifically said there could possibly be a wipe at release as well. At best NQ has said they had no intention to wipe again at the time unless they have to. That however is not "we will not wipe unless we have to" and on tpo of that, NQ "really has to" by now for anumber of reasons. In addition NQ has said that IF they wipe, players would retain blueprints of their constructs and on top of that after charging money for subscriptions, the accrued talent points ove rthe beta period really can't be taken away. So a full wipe, no. A partial wipe is very likely and for me something I expect will happen shortly before release.

During alpha or beta stages of the game? plenty.. NQ specifically has said several times they may wipe if damage done can't be repaired without a wipe. You can obviously discuss what woudl be that damage but IMO there is plenty going around in game atm to justify a wipe just based on that. But that will forever be a subjective debate so no real point in arguing it.

That is not what was said and on top of that, across the existence of comments on a further wipe, outside of a single mention in a press release, there is nowhere NQ takes the option of the table, in fact it is put on there quite clearly several times, especially in regard to the need to wipe as ameans to reset the economy. Furthermore, this post IMO really sets the stage for a partial wipe with the excuse being the removal of schematics, in NQ's warbled sense of "how can we try and get as many people to come back as possible", they now seem to thin kthat removing schematics will do that. And they probably now see it as "the perfect excuse" to justify what they have decided on all aloing and all they wanted was to find a reason instead of just having a spine and come out with the announcmeent as-is. NO WIPE: They less dedicated will stay, the ones who prefer a wipe will probably just shrug it off The game will consitue to suffer from exploit fallout, skewed economy and the have and have not status quo will remain. PARTIAL WIPE (Get normal blueprints for constructs, keep the blueprints you have and talentpoints back to pool): Some will leave, NQ is left with a playerbase which is more dedicated to the game and it's success than before. IMO this will provide a better foundation for the game long term in many, many ways.

True and in fact , NQ has rerserved he right to perform a wipe anytime anyway and anyone playing has agreed to the T&C stating as much.

True. Objectively speaking, based on the comunication so far you woudl eexpewct a wipe to happen as not announcing a "no wipe" makes no sense. But this is NQ so who knows.. As I am certain they will do a wipe, they will really not get away with a ful lwipe due to the fact that they started charging subs at beta and especially talent points are no longer an option to wipe, putting them back in the pool is fine as players can respec. Taking away talents will destroy the value of the sub entirely so that really is not an option. So resetting the universe, markets and erasing quanta yes. Talents will needs to go back to the pool and players get a bleuprint for their constructs excluding container contents. Problem there is that many will just place valuable items on constructs if NQ provides "magic" blueprints so BP will be regular ones. And I see no issue at all with that as it presents a massive advantage to existing players once NQ wipes, which I do expect to happen shortly before "release".

BTW NQ, this post really is not shedding light, it is mostly just fanning the flames of debate, confusion, argument and uncertainty for some who still want to cling to their hopes of a no wipe..

I do not get this post at all as it really does nothing as far as answering any of the questions. It is a PR/marketing answer which really does not help at all. As NQ plans to release the game in a few months, it would be _really_ bad if NQ has not yet made this decision and is working towards release with that choice in mind. It also makes things more convoluted and complex as in reality NQ has only two options: No wipe Not the prefrred option for me for most of the reasons explained in the post and in general I believe it woudl hurt the game long run and cretainly at release. But I could live with it if it happened Partial wipe Players get to keep blueprints and accrued points are retunred to the talent pool, world is wiped This I prefer to happen, it maintains the benefit for existing players in tha tey wil be able to jumpstart a new world with their tal;ents to be reassigtned as wanted It also allows players who used beta accounts to change their choices if the wipe happens shortly before release. A full wipe wil not be an option as NQ has charges people to play and taking away that time by removing any benefits from that woudl be at best unethical. A parallel server is just a very, very silly idea as NQ hardly has the resources to afford one cluster, let alone two

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call filler content.. Serves no purposes really and is mostly irrelevant to the game as a whole but is an "easy win"as far as "look, we are adding more stuff". NQ needs to bring the player markets they have promised, allow players to run their own marketplace and sell multiple goods through a single element. So far, Athena is pretty much a number of "new things" no one really needs and only add fluff. When the new skybox is what appears to be the best part of the patch.. it kind of says it all.

If 90% of the currently paying playerbase is effectively a handful of people, creeating better oppportunity to draw in many, many more by performing a wipe will offset the loss of a few quite easily. And as said, anyone currently playing, especially if you play with agroup, will have a massive advantage once the wipe happens. By actually working a s a group and organizing a structural training plan for talents in the group, you will have a greatly functional org very quickly again.

A poll on the wipe is meaningless as NQ has made the decision some time ago and it's really hard to not expect to see that wipe happening for a number of pretty obvious business reasons. For one, not announcing a "no wipe" makes no sense at all which points to a wipe coming. Effectively, most of us who are in favour of a wipe will not agree to it not happening but would not threaten to "leave the game" because of it. That said, a majority of "no wipe" campers are just making empty threats I am sure and will stay on with the rest of us when the wipe happens. So, if a no wipe was decided there really is nothing that would make sense to not announce it well in advance The game being reset just prior to launch makes sense at it is a justifiable expectation for incoming players AT LAUNCH to enter a cleared world and not the massive mess we see now i many placed. Then, the expiring beta keys will need to see their assets removed from game for one and NQ will seek opportunity to incentivise these accounts to convert to a subscription. A wipe and head-start is a good tool for that. The notion that abandonment will fix the above really is not justified, it will only mean that some players will have a massive lead going into launch which also goes back to the first point. And no, this is not the same as resetting each year after launch.. NQ really has only once said there would not be further wipes in a press release around beta, every single comment or indication around this has left a wipe squarely on the table. I can see one possible reason for NQ to hold back on the no wipe and that is they may be trying to get the new planet design into the game at launch, that would guarantee the need for a wipe and they may want to be sure they can/can't add that for launch before making the announcement. Anyway, a wipe would not be a full one as prior to beta because that is not something NQ can do as they have started charging players for access and they can’t take specifically the accrued talent points away so these will go back to the pool. Finally, “a level playing field” is not an argument or issue here. Too many try and pull that in to dismiss the wipe. This is not about that at all as even on a full wipe, the pre-launch players will have a massive advantage over new players and the talent points will only seriously amplify that.

I paid €240 for saphire which includes 40 DAC .. DAC was expected to be sold in the store for around $20 back then, with straight gametime at €15 (same as EVE). Yes, I would expect NQ to compensate us for the devaluation o fthe packs as they went live with a silly amount for a sub and currently are stil well below the expected by about 30%. Although I can see them go to release on $15/mo for subscription. Anyway, none of my value in the pack is currently being consumerd, that will only happen until after release. Access during Alpha (and initially also beta) was to be backers only and free as aperk for your pledge.

https://store.markeedragon.com/index.php?cat=360 Buy gametime there, any payment method..

While I get that you may see it that way and certainly some will have pledged to gain access "now", effectively access prior to release has been a perk for backers and not paid for. The payment on a pledge was represented for by the DAC inclusded inthe pack which only come into effect on release. So from that, and effectvely, as long as the game is not being released backers have access (and play) at no cost to them which I woudl say implies they play for free (upto release). TL;DR Your payment only comes into effect on release, anything prior to that is abonus and free access.

Always interesting how some will randomly add context not to be found anywhere in someone else's comment because that is where their mind is at.

Let me nitpick right back.. Backers effectively pre-ordered game time as the cost for packs mostly coveres the DAC included, at the then expected proce of $15/mo or less depending on how far back you pledged. Access to the servers upto and including beta for these packs was a perk and still is really as the backers will not pay anything for acceess until release. So yes, anyone currently playeing who did not have to sub is playing for free.

Absolutely and they shoudl have most of these general occurances included in the tutorials.

What the devblog says it could be a good start and I will certainly do a run though. I'm a bit afraid that his will be much lke the oldskool EVE FTUE, basically going "hey, welcome, here is a ship and now F off" The first impression I get is that it's not enough and it will just drive ne wplayers up a wall if they even can find it in themselves to stay that long. The tutorials are still mostly as they are form what I read and frankly, those are not great and very rough. The UX for them is also plain bad as the result of NQ not having the room to really let the players run around and figure it out.. it's mostly a "click the buttons" experience. But we'll see tomorrow..

Absolutely @blundertwink The first thing that will create communities are markets and having players create and run them would gravitate others towards them if the style and products fit their needs. Having the sterile and "one size fits all" market design for the Aphelia markets really only detracts from that idea. Player created markets and hubs of trade and ideas is also what starts the "cities" NQ so desperately wants to see. It's really baffling to me how NQ seems to really have no clue about how their dreams could be made real and they actively work against their ideas with their "fixes" and changes. So much has been taken away from players just because NQ lacks the ability to remove what does not work so they just cut everyone off from functionality instead. It's sad really, seeing how NQ structurally undermines the basic concepts of the game and be blind to it themselves.

Agreed, the whole idea was that markeets were there to fill the gap in player driven markets while NQ built the game. It's one of those "placeholders" that over time have just become part of the story as it suits NQ and allowed them to bypass some of the more complex develolpment as well as quickly offer a supply of elements and materials. They completely forgot what it was they were building and so here we are..