blazemonger

Also, DU, like most MMOs, would really not be suitable for the 'a few hours per month' kind of player. The expectation is, and NQ has said as much, that DU will follow the general norm in subscription fees so $15/mo is reasonable to assume to be pretty close. The argument how one can spend many hours and someone else can't while paying the same amount IMO is completely bogus and irrelevant. Eve _if_ NQ would consider a solution to that which can only be a metered price and would be totally impractical, that would result in the few hours user paying a _lot_ more per hour that someone spending more time if only because the argument than can and will be made that he contributes more and thus is entitled to a discount. Even if you play 10 hours a month, your cost per hour is $1.50 and I mean seriously, how is that even an argument? This is all trivial and pointless to debate though as NQ has been very clear that the subscription model is not up for discussion. So if it's something you can't live with you know what to do.

You do not own games just like you do not own music. You pay for a license to use the game/run the code in a way specified by the license. As such a subscription is basically just a license which (generally) renews on a monthly basis. I'll take the monthly model for MMO games always..

@Mod-Meldrik @NQ-Nyzaltar It would be nice to know if there is any progress on the considerations NQ has made towards how DAC would be handled in game. Such as, will there be something like the PLEX vault in EVE?! one more item for a SOON™ devblog perhaps

While I agree there has to be vault system of some kind where DAC can be kept in game, safe and untouchable. If you choose to carry it on you or with you in your ship it should be lootable and potentially be destroyed. Pretty much like this works for PLEX in EVE Trading DAC will/should be like any other commodity. You put in a sell order and the DAC will be kept in storage as long as you keep the sell order up. It will be returned to you if you cancel or it a set 'sell by' time expires. If you fall for an in game scam that would be on you and there should not be any protective systems in place to prevent this. If you offer DAC at X and prices trend up because of how the market works it is your responsibility to adjust the asking price or you will be providing a good deal to someone. Same with buy orders, it's your responsibility to make sure what you offer o buy for is in line with what the market value or you'll undersell yourself. Again, not for NQ to control. All this will probably be much like how EVE markets work and that is a good and proven system.

afaik they do not allow for this anymore

That's quite the post TL;DR 'I expect': Subscription to be around $15/month, likely with discounts for 3, 6 or 12 months subscriptions when bought 'in bulk' (Like EVE) DAC will be around $20 and when bought will then be available to you in game. You can use it to extend play time or sell it for Quanta which will allows you to buy other stuff ingame which can't be bought using $$ (but may be bought using Quanta, the in game currency). Again, like EVE's PLEX. Oh, and Starbucks sucks.. Worst coffee on the planet.. A Nespresso machine is cheaper AND makes better coffee. (IMO of course.. Always IMO)

Speculation this is for sure yes. That said, I would not expect the cluster to be able to expand or shrink unlimited. It would simply be a cost issue to allow for that. I can see how within a set maximum size cluster nodes can be created to accommodate the need for more or less depending on how many people are in a certain area. From the previous comment it seems the idea is that a node = a server and this I do not expect to be the case. I think it would be more like the universe is a cluster running VMware as host OS where new guest OS virtual machines are patched in as needed for areas where population (suddenly) grows to 'load balance' the number of players per machine. This technology in itself is not new but the application in a gaming environment with the required sync and speed being the main challenges would be afaik.

To what end? NQ has no obligation to share any details on this and they are not in the business of developing DU at minimal revenue. Besides having secured 4 years of playtime already for myself, IMO a monthly fee of around $15 will be fair and in line with industry standards. Knowing what the EVE infrastructure is (servers are just a part of this) and assuming DU will eventually run on similar dedicated hardware, combined with staffing they should be able to make that work.

These 'calculations' are just silly, show a complete lack of any real world business comprehension and reallt are nothing but fantasy.

Apples, oranges. Your argument would maybe have a very, very slim point here is DU would sell each expansion as a new game, asking for another 'one time payment' Besides that the server requirements for both games is completely different. NQ will not charge for expansions when they are released, just like EVE. They will just integrate into the game. If people want to make a one time payment they can do so and then work in game to not pay for sub with $$ again. That people do not understand the subscription model and can't be bothered to even inform themselves it may be better they do actually stay away.

It's not one server, no one ever said as much. The cluster will probably be quite extensive and cost considerable already, only to 'get worse' as the game grows There's no need for us to know details here though.

Updated the decal.. Much better..

Quite fun seeing these drive around in the sim..

NMS is pretty decent as it is right now. The launch was so horrifically bad it may never fully recover no matter how good it gets though.

It's a fairly basic average gaming setup. One would expect to be able to run DU on a single monitor setup (except for 4K) like this TBH.

Then getting a new CPU will probably make very little difference TBH.. Maybe pick up an i7 3770 when you can get one cheap sometime but that's about it.

Biggest jump in performance you'll see when you upgrade the CPU (and system board and memory) is that the bus speed for the GFX card will go from 5 to 8GT/s That said, going for an i7 3770 will probably already show a good boost and may generally be more than enough against what you'd need. Unless you run a multi monitor setup with more than two 1080p monitors it's not going to really make a difference though and frankly the 1070ti is really not meant to be used with at most 3 1080p screens.

NQ has been very clear that there is no NPCs/AI in the game with the exception of the markets early on following release to allow a kickstart of the economy. No AI, no NPCs, no developer created PVE.

NQ states a few posts up they intend to follow rates as usual. Expecting them to 'undercut' is at best unrealistic if only because their cost will likely be higher .. A monthly €15 sub fee is perfectly reasonable IMO

If NQ follow CCP in cost a monthly sub would be €15 with DAC at €20.

Bad plan..

You must have missed this game called EVE Online then I guess

There is such a mechanic, organize, manage and work hard to become better or at least be able to be better at crucial areas. Ah, and I feel you are overthinking this by quite a bit.

No, it does not. It destroys the value of effort and doing the work. What is the point of spending time to get to a position where you can reap the benefits of the work when Joe Bloggs can come around and just push your work down the toilet. Games like DU will give you back what you put in, there's no free lunch here and if you want to be better than the other guy you'll have to work for it. Small groups with smart members who manage to capitalize on what they know best is what will keep the bigger orgs sharp and focussed. That is not the same as ' it should be fairly easy to disrupt an industry'. Disrupting an industry does not come easy and is not simple to achieve. Not in RL and it certainly should not be in DU or any relevant game.