Dr Rhubarb

Looks good. The only thing that strikes me as a bit off is that the icons of the planets all have rings. My suggestion would be to make a little planet icon without rings (as opposed to just a dot).

Thank you NQ for the posts recently. There are several items in there that I am looking forward to. Mining: So I am not a miner in this game, I am a builder. I didn't really mind the way mining works in this game, but after you get your talents up, that's it, it is still mining. I have always liked Minecraft's progression with mining (in certain mods) where you dig to get resources, build faster and more efficient tools to dig, then automate mining so you can concentrate on building your empire. That process always felt good to me, so I look forward to see how the mining units work. My hope is that they stay balanced and don't get to an end-game level of resources too quick. Also, searching for asteroids in empty space seems like a good expansion for folks who scan hexes, although they have to be somewhat quick about securing it/mining it if it becomes public knowledge after a bit. Missions: I have been looking forward to missions so players can create jobs, but hearing that there may be some NQ missions is even more exciting. I am curious as to what kind of specialized missions we can expect. Territory Control: I am a little concerned about how the territory control in space is going to work. I hope that when it gets implemented that, the "pipes" between planets don't instantly get clogged with territory control. Maybe that is intended, but I hope there is a balance there. Adding some "fun" into the game is definitely desired, but also performance enhancements is what is most needed. I hope the new screen adjustments do that for everyone.

Seriously, why are you still here? You ask for more communication, and you get it, but it's not good enough for you? There is some truly exciting news about the game in those three posts and you don't have one single good thing to say? They give you some concrete intentions and plans and you say it's just fluff and filler? Are you a paid troll? Move on with your life if nothing NQ says or does make you happy. Can you be more miserable?

Sorry, but your post is just the next iteration of you complaining, just to hear yourself complain.

"need a working server tech which doesn't shit itself when..." That's kind of exaggerated and not productive. " If that works then change studio and let others with knowledge and experience get game mechanics right." This is a bash that the game is not good and they should hire others with knowledge which is just such a great approach. "Oh and hire a god damn UI dev" You feel the need to use GD there? You don't think that is assy. The post is counterproductive because a new player that is reading you post will get the impression the game is bad, the devs are bad, and the community is negative, and they will likely leave. But I assumed something there. I assumed you want the game to succeed since you have been here since the beginning and are so active. So if you want the game to grow and succeed, then why aren't your posts more productive, positive, or encouraging for new players of the community? You seem to have a lot of knowledge of the game and you should, but your history of posts show that you really are a terrible ambassador for this game. You asked me to respond and I appreciate it, but I don't expect you to really get where I am coming from because you had to ask me to explain that to you in the first place.

I guess this is a matter of semantics now, but yes he has not previously published a game before this one that I know of, but that does not automatically mean he has zero experience. Plus he has been working many years on this game, so technically that is many years of experience on a big game. But I know I am being semantical at this point so I won't push it. Again speculation is fine, I just don't appreciate when people pretend or present that they know what is going on better than the development studio.

Thank you for the well thought response, and I will conceded to some of your points. I am certainly not trying to be a white knight here, but there is just so much speculation with player bases in games, often without an ounce of understanding of how game development works and without any knowledge of the inside workings of the dev studio, that it bugs me. Even when employees put out public comments about what is happening "behind the scenes" I always take those comments with a grain of salt because it is only part of the real picture. So speculation is just that, but I guess your post was presenting speculation in a way that came across as factual statements. So for me it was more of the tone.

Naerais is still at NQ as community manager. Not sure where you heard that. You can find her active on Discord.

So many inaccurate statements here. 6-7 years? Nope. The company may have been established for that long, then but you act as if it has been open to players for that long. There was pre-alpha for a bit then alpha for about a year, and now beta. NQ has kept a pretty good forward progress roadmap, especially when compared to other large games. "riddled with bugs that never get fixed" Apparently you don't read the release notes or haven't been playing that long because that statement is just ignorant. Yes there are still bugs. You say they haven't made changes in 7 months. Again, you may not be paying attention to what is happening. "zero experience in game dev" that statement is just a big middle finger at their accomplishments thus far. Are you a game dev by the way? How do you know so much about the devs, and what their employees think? Are you an ex-employee of NQ? What is your experience in the industry? I can agree that this game that is still in development is not a finished game and has some issues to work out just like any game that hasn't been released yet, but you are stating a lot of things as facts that simply are false or completely assumed. It always amazes me how much time and energy folks are willing spend to talk and write about something they seem to hate so much. Like Lethys' comment above, he has been bashing the game in these forums for years, just generally being an ass and counter productive. I have no idea why he is still here in this game or in these forums. You think he would be trying find joy somewhere else by now. As to the OP's question, I believe the game is not going anywhere and has great things to come. I think the Mission system will be one of the biggest transformations to the game that we have seen in a long time and bring some folks back. It will give some "game" to the game. I personally am looking forward to making missions for players. I have witnessed some folks leaving the game out of frustration of some changes which is understandable. Some will come back at a later date when more features arrive (also understandable considering playing beta phase games are not for everyone). There is a large core base of players that are not going to leave and are very supportive. Please take some of these more salty comments with ...well... a grain of salt. In the end, yes it will take more time and patience to get where the game is going, but history has shown that NQ has listened to players and made changes appropriately, and that is why I plan to keep playing. Some times it does go backwards a bit, but eventually gets fixed.

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Ha, I was just eyeballing the Elgato last night for streaming. The game is still in early 'development", hence Alpha, and the developers can still control the narrative. Once you let slip the dogs of war, it is much harder to real them back in. I believe that you do not have to go full bore with marketing right now. That effort is better served when the game is out of alpha and has all of its features. I know it is tempting to feel anxious about the possibility of losing players, but it feels to me that NQ has heavily considered the missteps and pitfalls from other recent (or not so recent) sci-fi games and the nightmare PR issues that have arisen. Extending the NDA into ALPHA 1 and maybe 2-3 is a smart measured approach. Believe me, I want to tell everyone about the fun I having with this game. Having played in this past holiday extended period has me very excited for the future of this game and I am not panicked about losing players. One of the reasons that the forums have seen a little reduced traffic is because many of those folks are now able to play in the Alpha and that chatter has moved to the NDA section of the forums.

I am currently under NDA, but these early alphas are limited in players and will increase with each release stage as NQ has said. I can say that I am happy with the amount of player interaction I have had so far, every time I logon. So I am excited to have even more folks gain access.