blazemonger

The biggest problem is that NQ has used or broken game lore as they see fit and where it suits them, effectivively invalidating the little lore there is/was. They deny perfectly sensible suggestions as "outside of lore" and at the same time make stuff magically exist while completely ignoring the lore. And IMO that is actually a major issue with he game. There is no (and really never has been a) real plan at all and NQ mostly just thows stuff at the wall, hoping something will stick.. in many different ways.

It's been the way NQ has operated since pre-alpha.. It's terribly bad communication and they refuse to understand it. It's really impossible to make sense of this obvious deliberate choice of being vague and creeating both speculation and confusion in the playerbase.

Frankly, the whole situation just confirms the dire situation NQ is in financially. If they have had to resort to removing constructs form inactive accounts due to the fact that they can't afford to pay for them taking up space on the servers is rather depressing. If they just let the construct ownership expire and leave it for othe players players to take ownership then I could understand that. But outright removing them can really only be explained by NQ not willing or able to carry the cost for the constructs server side.

Fair, misread and updated my post ..

It's more like "We have a vision but wil not tell you what it is as we're afraid you will call us out when we deviate from it ourselves. That said, if you deviate from how we feel you should play this open world sandbox MMO where you can do anything you want and be anyone you want, we will manipulate and change the game and/or rules to force you to play by our rules." Emergent gameplay FTW.. as long as it meets the vision of NQ

I'm not sure this is a devblog.. it's mostly a very generic description of what will be introduced at Athena and the only thing that is somewhat specific is the timer on shields.. Which issues? UPDATE: Not sure how I read minimum as maximum but the text does say minimum.. so let's see how this plays out. I removed my comments for now.. Then on the stasis weapon: This is NQ ticking the "we have provided ECM as defense" box.. How this would as a counter is entirely unclear though as it does not in anyway actually provide an out and still forced a non-combatant into PVP engagements. It is a nonsense argument. On PVP voxel improvements So, what is the issue and how have you been able to improve the system? And the banger: NQ: "play the way we want or we wil make you" First off, so much for player driven content and gameplay. That seems to only apply as long as you play nicely with what NQ wants. Second, would be nice if NQ actually shared their vision for Dual universe, not just for PVP but in general, as it would seem to me that it is entirely unclear what that vision is and frankly, I have to doubt that there is such vision.

The biggest challenge for NQ is how they will pull in enough new players to be able to complete the basic game features post release. And the number of players that joined at beta, besides beta keys or streamers who got their keys for free, is not all that many relative to other games. DU is a nice game in a niche game corner of the market. For NQ to succeed, NQ wil have to be able to rely on their existing playerbase and have them advocate for the game and invote peers to join. Unfortunately, NQ seems to be more inclined to alienate their existing playerbase and remain vague and tightlipped on their plans. By dismissing their community and refusing to both understand and utilize the value of their community (in many ways), NQ is pretty much eliminating the one resource they have which will allow them to promote the gam eon the limited budget they have.

No it's not, as the wipe will not achieve that. The day after the wipe, the few big orgs that are left will have a good part of their infractructure back up and running while the "little guy" will still struggle to get his base foundation set up. And that is fine, there is power and advantage in numbers and there always will be.

HQ tiles are safe "for now", NQ has made it very clear that the status of NQ tiles may change. Only your personal constructs placed on your personal tile on Sanctuary will be safe until the wipe occurs.

Don't reverse the argument. Some claim that NQ has made the commitment not to wipe and that is simply not the case. The option of a wipe has always been on the table. Besides that, what JC did or did not say is irrelevant as he has said a lot of things we know to be fabrications, he was fired and new management has set a new course. I do not buy NQ has not made the decision to wipe yet. For a game expected to release this year, unless NQ really is clueless on basic business with regards to their way forward and internal gameplan/roadmap, they know whether they will wipe or not. There is one public document (a beta release press statement) which does say that there wil nt be a wipe, every single comment about it has left the option openif not directly hinted at it and looking at the current situation it is entirely reasonable to expect a wipe to happen as withholding a "we will not wipe again" statement makes no sense while holding out on announcing the wipe does.

You are not wrong I fear and not because of the state the game is nowIMO, which may be a surprise.. The problem is that I expect NQ thinks they can salavge the DU by keeping their "what's next" announcements to the last moment prior to "release of DU into early access" to create the idea af much "great new content and features" yet to come, hoping to be able to draw it the many tens of thousands they will need. Problem there is that this will not work and so yes, at that point NQ is done for as they wil have run out of funding and not able to secure more money. They are trying to squeeze a MVP out the door at this point.

I do not agree with what you describe as guardrails above for most objects, The 30K speed cap is a technical limit which is needed to keep stuff in sync. What are guardrails is actually the speed cap based on Mass NQ is about to introduce. The calibration mechanic on mining units is not really a guardrail. It is a very rudimentary implementation of a potentially good part of this system For markets, bots are really needed but they need to be used in a smarter way. Schematics are to Industry what calibration is to mining units, they are a good idea implemented in a very basic manner and by not having any sort of tie in from other mechanics it becomes a very bland system, The whole territory system is just a weak and useless implementation. In general, DU is not yet a game, it has some of the components which may eventually make it a game. And a lot of what is in game is still the "this is our first version, and we will iterate and tweak it over time". Problems is that pretty much in all instances, things are still at their "first iteration" and never saw any refinement at all. And that is true for mechanics, elements, the blueprint system and more in game. Even now, the DU really has all the signs of being very much alpha in development stage, maybe even pre-alpha.

@RugesV The loophole of using a larger core to gain more capacitor and thus be able to fit more elements is a risk which seems valid enough. There is fairly simple ways to close that loophole though, one is to simply not allow using elements in a size class on a larger size core, which may be undesirable as these elements may be chosen for design reasons. Another would be to have a penalty in place like reducing effectiveness of said elements if placed on a core above their size class. This would not impact dessign option as in that case the elements are cosmetic in nature but would prevent what you describe. Such options should really be very simple to implement.

If that wipe coincides with the deactivation of beta accounts and activation of DAC it would certainly have that effect in many cases. And franklly, i believe this exact reason to ba a big factor in the decision NQ will have made by now.

Pretty much @Novidian Prime This feels like two different teams or devs comeing up with a releted mechanic, eneither of which really has much value over what exists in game and can be tweaked. And then tehre seems no one in NQ who questions the purpose of this at all

How does this relate to a comment about FTUE ? Problem is that some seem to not really understand what FTUE is and how it affects new players in a game, specially an MMO. If CCP spends more money on research and updates of just the EVE FTUE than NQ has ever seen and still loses 90% of new players within 90 days, you get an idea why this is so vital. FTUE is not just a tutorial or a first impression, it is what the new player experiences when they first enter the game. How often have you started a new game and after a minute or two you just give up.. or you find that you get dragged along for so long you lose interest. And both of these mistakes apply to the current FTUE in DU. I do not really see how NQ can create a truly inspiring FTUE which will draw players in to a point where they can be let go and be on their way, feeling confident of what they need to start doing. That will be insanely hard for NQ to pull off, simply because of the very limited tools they have in game to make that happen. And on top of that, I expect NQ is certainly part of the group I mentioned previously, the group that does not really understand what a FTUE is and what it should achieve. I'm most likely away the weekend of PTS and so probably can't have a look at what NQ has come up with for the new FTUE.. But I expect it will not be that different from the current one with a lot of button-clicking, reading, listening in the same old dull and unimaginative UI/UX and very little actual interaction with the game or other entities.

Yes, I realize that. I kind of called it capacitor to move away from the "we need power management" a bit.. even when it mostly does exactlyy that I'd say, call it what you want butI believe the basic design of what I suggest is both sound and doable in a fairly small amount of time and wiith low dev cost

I think you underestimate the importance of the FTUE, which is not just the introduction and tutorials. It is what either draws the player into the game if it's good or makes them lose interest and leave if it's not. The FTUE being good is vital to the success of DU

@Snipey @FerroSC Backers have spent money on the game early on, they have enjoyed free access during (pre)alpha and beta as a perk, On release is where the game is supposed to start for real and that is where their pre-purchased gametime (the DAC included in the packs, which is what actually represents the pack value) will come into play. beta key accounts are accounts which have not spend any money on the game, they are literally freerolling during beta. You may speculate that many of these will just sub sure, I think it is far more likely that many of these accounts are already inactive and the player has left since they do not have the "attachment" the backers have. Also, many backers have used these keys for alts and of those alts some will live off of the DAC on the account, some will simply stop, and some may start a sub. Many backers bought additional packs to gain many alts in order to enrich their main account come release, based off of the (IMO incorrect) assumption that there would not be a wipe beyond beta. I actually think many in the "if NQ wipes, I quit" camp are such backers. They pretty much exploited the backer packs to build (extreme) wealth to eventually move all of that into their main account. And not just the wipe is a threat to that, the changes to orgs, the taxes, the core slots, it all plays against these exploits and thus the same group of players will rage and make lots of noise against it. Nothing new here, it happens across most sub based MMOs, but I am fairly certain this is a factor. And it is a factor which is not good for the game and part of the reason why I believe NQ will wipe prior to release. Personally, I have four backer accounts. I bought them as I wanted to support the game. of all the beta keys I had, I have used 7 myself and gave the rest away. On release I have well over 4 years of DAC and do not expect DU to be around that long (I also expect NQ to either up the sub to $15 at launch or compensate backers for the devaluation of their packs by adding 30$ of the total DAC amount at launch), If I continue to play, I will probably keep 4 or 5 accounts active and drop the rest. A wipe will not have any relevance to "a level playing field" as backers will keep their talent points and blueprints so they are well ahead anyway. It is about cleaning up the world and taking away a (misplaced) sense of an equal start for many who may otherwise not jump on as new players. And yes, eliminating the massive stockpiles and quanta account some have amassed during beta plays into that too. I really believe it will be in the best interest of the game for NQ to wipe and am pretty sure they have made the call to do so some time ago. However, whether they do or not will not really impact me much. And I believe most who are in favour of a wipe are of the same mindset. So, this is not really a "yes/no" it is a "preferably yes/no" situation. And if NQ had decided to not wipe, they would have come out and say so by now as it makes absolutely no sense not to. And from that, it is entirely reasonable to assume that NQ either does not know yet, which would be really bad with release mere months away, or they will wipe and so will hold off on announcing until shortly before the moment it happens for justifiable reasons business wise. And that last option is the only one which makes any sense at this point. As it stands, what is far more concerning to me than the question of a wipe is that NQ is going to go to release with a game which really still has not reached actual beta stages (frankly it's still in a pre-alpha state) and still has a lot of core features, many of which were part of the initial KS pitch, to get implemented. If the game survives long enough, it wil take them years to just get all that in with the way NQ operates. Their tone-deaf attitude towards their community which is still very much alive, despite many "we heard you and will do better" promises is another problem.

This.. very much and it seems this is another point NQ just refuses to acknowledge and seems to continuously try and spin into something else. What many of us expect NQ to deliver at release is a game at least in the general area of what was pitched during kickstarter and pre-alpha. That clearly is not the case and as it stands a good portion of vital features in that pitch have now either been swept off the table or are being pushed to well beyond "release". What seems to be going to release is hardly worthy of a "beta" label. We're still, and from what the latest announcmeent shows will remain, knee deep in Aplha territory, if not pre-alpha. There really is no "game", and what DU is right now is pretty much a collection of game mechanics without much, if any, glue to bring it all together.

Not really, beta keys were perks and the cost of a pack was mostly coveringthe included DAC Besides that, it's really not the point of the discussion whether the key was free or not.

Not really. a good portion of currently active, or inactive with assets in game, beta key characters have no subscription. What they have in game will be abandoned at release as their accounts have their access removed. The idea that this will all be taken care of by the remaining players is skewed as it would pretty much only benefit the existing player base who have an understanding of this. Then there is the ever-present perception, however much invalid, that the tens of thousands of new players NQ needs to show up at release will have an insurmountable level to catch up to compared to the existing players. Well, in a way there is some truth to that as the experience alone will be a very big advantage existing players have, even on a full wipe. Fact is that no matter how hard you will try to explain that this is not as severe as thought, many will not join up because of it. and NQ needs every single player they can get. There is a lot of cool stuff to see in game yes, there is more junk and trash all over the place and not only is this looking bad, it's also hazardous, especially for new players who need to be able to get a foothold to stay with the game and not rage quit as they fly into some junk or a needle tower left behind somewhere. Everything together it's just too much that would need to be cleaned up and so a wipe simply makes sense. If existing players get to keep and respec their accrued talent points and have blueprints from their constructs, they have a massive headstart either way. To get back on topic though, if NQ has no intention of wiping then so be it, I feel the majority in favour are just that and they prefer to see a wipe. Not making the announcement, while I am certain NQ knows what they will do as I'd hope they have their plan towards release in place, only makes sense if the decision has been made to wipe.

So you are not really for or against, you'd prefer to not see a wipe but if ther is one you'd like t see it basically not impactamuch of what you now have, if anything. Did I understand that correctly? As if I did, I'd say you are actally against a wipe.

It's a multitude of factors and not as straightforward as you make it out here. Late last year, Sesch actually announced that more detail ona wipe woudl be shared in January. That never happened and any ask for clarification met with silence. I'll be honest with you, knowing you must keep your CM hat on at all times, but I find it very hard to believe that NQ has not yet made the call on whether to wipe or not. at this stage that question really should hav ebeen answered internally. Those of us who have been around for many, many years now have a pretty good handle on the NQ-isms and how to translate what is being said. You, as CM will always have to publically say that it's just speculation sure, I get that. But I am pretty sure you know more/better and I am not far off the mark. For me it seems very obvious that NQ will "release" this year, I've said many times that my expectation is that will happen end of the year. If Athena is the last Major update and there may be a few smaller ones after it then that timeframe still is very viable IMO. I also could actually see a massive incentive for NQ to wipe prior to that release as it cleears out all the stuff that belongs to beta accounts which will go inactiev at release. It also offers a big opportunity to monetize a headstart option which would be a good incentive for those beta accounts to actually sub and so they will be asked to do so for a period of 6 or 12 months in exchange for the same early start as backers will have. Lastly, while I believe that to be incorrect, a lot of potential new player will not like comeing into a two year old world and the "no way to catch up" arguiment will be hard often. Again, do not agree with that idea, but it will be there and I'm sure NQ knows it. So, as all that makes perfect sense from a business perspective for NQ, I believe a wipe is inevitable. That said, going on the expectation that the yes/no question for a wipe was ansswered internally, staying quiet on "we will not wipe and let players deal with abandoned constructs as well as have chosen to let the game absorb the damage done by exploits and other instances as we expect it will even out over time" would simply not make sense as making that call now would end the debate and mostly be accepted just fine. To be honest as far as a wipe I'd be fine either way but think that a wipe is the better option and based on the above expect that NQ shares that opinion.

Sure, As all cores would have a set capacitor value relative to core size, NQ could tweak "consumption" of available capacitor so that small core elements would have a relatively smaller requirement and could be easier to train buffs for using talents. It's generally fair to expect that flying a smaller craft would be "easier" and the effect of a buff more direct. For high mass, larger ships that becomes a much more measured effect, taking more effort to achieve and master. In terms of talents, it could be so that larger core buff require for smaller core ones to be trained first to a certain level. Say L IV of XS unlocks the talent for S cores and so on. From the initial Talent you’d then also train extended specialisation talents for specific buffs like engines, shields, cargo etc. It can be made as complex as desired but in essence and the baseline is simple. It would take some tinkering to balance but the ground level implementation could fairly easily allow for those tweaks without much additional work. And with the relation between the core and the elements you place on them it becomes much more of a gameplay / engineering effort. It also takes care of potentially OP XS or S cores running big heavy weapons as you could design the system in such a way that this would not be an viable option as you would not have the capacitor space to then fix the XL engine to accelerate the ship with those weapons even when the building space in the core's build area would be there.. It would then up to the way the weapons are designed to create a possible meta for small ships to be able to play a role in combat with bigger ships.