Traceur
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Posts posted by Traceur
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The replicator swarm apocalypse event always seemed questionable to me. We have billions of self-replicating machinery attempting to eat anything in it's path for reproduction, their called organisms, and the world is largely fine with it, mostly because being made of certain things require that you'd consume those specific things, and also makes you particularly nutritious for other things that share the same goal, which you might be able to restructure yourself to defend yourself from, but then you'd need even more specific things to be made out of. Largely the problem comes from imagining a nanoswarm that can make any material out of any material, which would actually be a horribly impractical energy-intensive design that would make it even harder for it to reproduce. I for one welcome our robotic accidents into our fauna with open arms... As among the very few animals that won't be as likely to chew on my arms.
It's quite likely the same basic rules - of having to gather specific materials for specific components - will apply to anything we build in DU.
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The example we used in this case, EVE, is a "slow" reaction time PvP, where often you have multi-seconds to react, instead of mill-seconds.
And so is DU. They have already told us they are sacrificing FPS controls on the alter of single shard, and there would be no point in doing so if whatever system they kept still needed as many data packages and processing power as an FPS.
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The idea of in-game programming replacing the need for multiboxing will likely conflict with the RPG aspects of the game. Either they provide us with things you need a skilled character to do, or character skills become irrelevant since an LUA bot can do them for you.
...And if they provide us with things you need a skilled character to do, then those things become an advantage to multiboxing & macroing skilled characters over using in-game scripted LUA bots.
Still, arguing against multiboxing is a mute point, unless you think putting it in the EULA is going to stop it. I am going to work in a couple of hours in an office where I have 6 computers around me connected to 4 different networks. Let's pretend for a moment I wasn't a workaholic, what's to stop me from minimizing all their tasks and running DU on all of them while paying from one credit card and 5 different paypal accounts?
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@Traceur
Multiboxing is the act of having multiple player accounts ran by a single person. In the literal way, a one man army if you will.
Multiboxing is not something that requires support. I mean, I multiboxed 5 mage accounts in WoW for a raid. In this game though, I think you'll need some good keyboard, with macro-keys and a little bit of know-how to create cross-window targeting.
May I also add multi-boxing is lame? O.o
There is very little you can actually do against it other then leveling the playing field by removing some of the advantages it provides, which is what they seem to be going for, going around the use for multiple accounts by providing us with multiple characters per account and possibly letting us play them in the same time within some limitations on skill progression. in-game programming with LUA can also cuts down on a lot of the benefits multiboxing offers since you would probably be able to program a ship to do much of what you would othewise macro. Ofcourse any limitation they do place is another benefit for holding multiple accounts, and some advantages are always going to be there, in particular if a player wants the freedom to behave in ways they might otherwise get banned for, so that is a pretty awkward line for them to try and walk on.
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Hopefully, we get some form of physics, Floating islands are fun, but not realistic. As this game is aiming for realism, I can't see them going without physics.
I remain hopeful but skeptical. Anything that tends to result in server syncing issues is going to be much more of an issue when the same action can start in one server continue in another and finish in a 3rd. Much of the application of physics might go the way of FPS combat in the sacrifices they'll have to make for the continuous shard.
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If I remember correctly, it was said somewhere that we'll be allowed to have multiple characters but only one progressing in skills at a time, or something of that nature, which to me suggests we'll be able play them in the same time, or otherwise how would we create situations where multiple characters are doing things to increase their skills to begin with? Aren't the skills use-based rather then time-based?
Going by this, I am pretty sure it is already allowed.
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Planets are made up of voxels, so caves are already possible. However, I'm not so sure about physics. The Devs mentioned a need to test out your ship in a virtual environment available to players so there would be no loss in materials if the ship crashs. This indicates there will be some dynamics to flight. Which means aerodynamics, and maybe physics too.
I think it's a pretty safe guess that they will implement physics on a case by case basis, using it to calculate the speed and rotation of a ship doesn't mean you automatically get structural integrity applied to underground caverns. Frankly I'd be happily surprised if a chunk of mud falls to the ground when you've dug all around it rather then keep floating in the air.
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Well, if aliens do exist in the universe, which they probably do, it adds depth to the game. While you are exploring planets, rebuilding civilization, etc, you have to be careful not to run into another existing civilization that can tear you apart in seconds. Besides, the point of exploring is to discover new things. Not everyone will be satisfied with discovering only planets.
One way this can be done well is by implementing the gods & beasts approach. The basic tenant is that while aliens are likely, aliens at the exact same evolutionary stage as our civilization are not, so anyone we'd likely to find is either a lot more advanced then us or a lot less, with little to nobody waiting around to sit and have a conversation. What this would mean in-game is that you'll find alien fauna doing it's thing and you'll find alien machinery flying around and doing it's thing, one might be eating to survive and reproduce and the other might be mining mass for Dyson spheres or artificial black holes, but neither are particularly interested to talk to you.
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Considering the Human genom project, yes, it advanced extremely fast in the end because of the use of decentralised networks, but that was only possible because the work was done automatically by an algorithm, there was no need for intelligence. The development of a new race is something completely different, you need a lot of manpower for something like that. (yes, i know, it was just an example to make your point, but it doesnt really fit in this case because the work process is completely different) The longest time for research is the measuring and testing after the samples were created, and for the last straw of mankind it wont be cut short or reduced to a few series of cell-samples.
We have seen problems occuring because of insufficient testing in the past, be it because the amount of samples was to few or because humans had, unexpectedly, a different reaction than test animals, i repeat myself here when i say that such a thing wont do if the survival depends on it.
Yes, they'd never come up with algorithms to navigate databases of gene expressions and interactions.. That thing of building tools to automate processes as we understand them was totally a one time thing completely uncharacteristic of modern human society *He said using a computer*
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I agree that the system should favor the defender, but I am not sure how easy it would be to implement. If Ark survival waned, they could easily make weapons weaker and walls stronger, but this is not the case here. Consider that the most likely tool of attack (a ship) is built the same way as the likely target (base) with the same elements and construction tools, how do you add anything that favors one over the other? Any type of wall, armor, shield or turret you provide will be used by both, the attacker has the advantage of mobility and the most vital ability to determine when the fight ends.
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yes, indeed, i can't be sure about how long such a development will take, but a few estimations are possible. We just "recently" finished mapping the human genom, wich doesnt even mean that we know how all genes interact. Making changes to it that don't only target a few genes with single purposeses will take at least 10 to 20 years and you surely can't expect the creation of complex DNA strands which improve/change an organism in more than single properties within the next 50 years. The earliest date in which we would be able to create a seperate race, even if we only change human DNA and don't completely synthesize it, will be in something like 100 years.
What follows afterwards is throughout testing if the changes work properly and don't impact the person negatively, for something like that you need several generations of test subjects which have to be watched till they are at least 70 (wouldn't make sense to shorten the lifespan, so you have to see if nothing wrong happens in old age).
Lets assume you only test up to the 7th or 8th generation (which is far to few, but we dont have much time) that takes another ~300 years. and then you have barely a century left to get a big population of those people to ensure their survival? Very unlikely.
This is what I meant regarding approaching the problem like a fermi estimation. They tried making the same estimations during the human genome project, and they were wrong:
To do a better job at estimate with exponential growths, it's better to think of each point not as a rate milestone but rather as a tool for the next. Instead of thinking "we just now completed the genome project, took us this long, so this is how long it will take us now", think "we now have the tool to sequence and compare genetic differences between millions of individuals, in what new position does that place us".
The time it would take to make complicated changes that require more then one gene depends on our ability to understand how the genes interact. The more data we have the more comparisons we can make, and large scale collection is increasingly becoming economical viable with a flattening cost (Graph a bit too big to add as an image in a post). This is still turning humans into.. Well, healthier humans. But doing the same to animals and plants on a large enough scale to understand the specific interactions between the different genes is not far off after that. Some of those we understand statistically but not mechanically - but one tends to follow the other. For instance finding the genetic differences between people with sleep problems helped us know which genes to look for when we examined them for protein expression, and only later did we find out how genes can operate as a biological clock.
Next comes the question of testing, but the vast majority of modifications don't require a couple of generations of humans, they require a couple of generations of cells, which is actually a lot more cautious then any other industry. We didn't put a lot of cars together in a simulated city to see how it might effect us and predict car accidents and pollution, we bought cars. Their were years of push-backs against television, computer games, mobile devices and social media and how it can be harmful to children, people got it for themselves and their kids anyway. People will get GM kids because they want their kids to have better opportunities, their will be a back lash and demands for more testing as there is always, and yet people will still do what people do. What better means in particular will change periodically and from society to society, which is where history and in this case in-game lore comes to play. In some places it could just mean smarter and more athletic, in other places it could mean surviving a flood or a drought or lower food portions. Values can also be a big part of this, beyond health and survival - while right now we tend to see religions apposing GM, what could happen when its acceptable enough that a couple with faith will visit a fertility clinic and find a genetic combination that's statistically more likely to adhere to strict dogma? Alternatively, go to a reddit and ask what kin they want their children to be. The extent to which someone can change their own genes as an adult would probably be one of the biggest factors in the long run of how it plays out. If in one extreme it is entirely reliant on GM babies, on the other it can be subject to fashion trend. In your long estimate, you seem to be imagining a long careful plan specifically to create new species. All you need is to imagine people being people and employees looking to get paid.
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The main question is, when can you call something that you have created a new species? After the change of 1% of its genom, 5%, 10% or even 50%?
1% maybe even 5% would be pretty easy, the only thing you have to do is cleaning the genom of broken genes and the kind that would be likely to be mutating, and fill the created gaps with more stable and desirable genes. Is this already a new species or is it human because it is still made up of human genes?
Or a other question would a human with cosmetic changes on genetic level like a fox tail and ears (without the better hearing) still be a human or would he belong to a new species? This is probably a more philosophical approach but still valid i think.
In real life I would say the ability to mate would probably be a natural line to go by. although that can also be a risky line, what if isolationist factions try to superimpose mating limitations? My family wasn't too happy the first time I married a shiksa, I'd hate to see what they'd do if they had a viral gene modifications in their disposal
In-game it really just depends on where you want to draw the boarders in the character options menu, what differences in terms of gameplay abilities and roles you might want them to have, as well as the lore and history behind each archetype.
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So... The new seasons of KillJoys and Dark Matter are coming out in a few hours... You might remember them as those shows that make you nostalgic to the days of SG1 BSG and Farscape. Any gamble on one of them getting good enough to fill the space opera vacuum on the small screen?
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ooh, there's a long long way from these little playthings to actual genetic modifications where you could call the result a new race^^
Perhaps, except that your entire entire argument is now reliant on the minutia of project management scaling within a field that you yourself seem to describe to be in it's infancy. You are essentially stating that we don't know enough to do it and yet that you yourself know enough about doing it to predict how long it would take. Essentially - either consciously or intuitively - you are trying to apply a Fermi estimation to the problem. which requires a way to grasp reasonable linear estimates. It is fantastic for finding the scope of an atom bomb or the number of piano tuners in Chicago, but breaks down when you are dealing with accelerating technologies. You can not use a Fermi estimate to predict the size of the gaming market in the 2010s based on the data from the age of vacuum tube calculations.
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so, you think that humandkind which has pooled all ressources in creating a few ark-ships still has the opportunities to create a few thousand stable mutations which lead to completely new races? I'm honored that you give scientists so much reputation, but it is really extremely unlikely^^
The UK approved human GM embryos this February & Elizabeth Parrish announced that she has successfully modified her own cellular tissue this April.... Did the arkship leave earth in the Bush years?
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Empty placement spot: A modelless Item placement spot that would allow us to designate shelving area within our own voxel structures.
Empty sitting spot: A modelless sitting spot which would allow us to designate our own chairs within our own voxel structures.
Photos: Using in-game screenshots in-game.
Pots: Because alien flora needs a home.
"Aquariums": Not necessarily water, but recreating the conditions in which small fauna can survive in.
Holographic NPC: Using whatever player character creation system there is and taking it's animation commands from an LUA program.
Holographic ship model: Quite a bit more taxing but perhaps can be done efficiently with some good coding mojo, downscaled holographic representations of blueprints.
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sry, but no matter what you do, 500 years are nothing compared to the time a species neesd to evolve, you could argue, that they tried to engineer the perfect human to survive in the space and made different versions of it because they weren't sure how well it would work, but even that takes a long, long time for development and an even longer time to get a proper population base, so no, you can be pretty sure that the beings on the arkships are very similar to us now.
Seriously? There are still sci-fi fans out there who have somehow missed on the whole last 30 years of the transhumanism cultural movement? The Kurzweil personality cult? Singularity U? None of those ring a bell?
The point is - Regardless of whether you believe in it or think it's real life application is plausible or want it within the game - that the tropes of genetic modifications, cybernetics and possibly even uplifting and robotics provide the developers with plenty of common sci fi ways to provide us with different starting races even when we're all arriving from earth. Stating that it doesn't fit the lore provided to us so far is simply incorrect.
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Multiple-playable races doesnt fit lore-wise, but maybe they'll include it in an addon, far far far in the future.
I am not so sure about that one, just because we are all from earth doesn't mean we are all humans, or that humans are still one species 500 years from now. Look at Orion's Arm Terragen clade list for example, there's plenty of differentiation that can be included within the premise.
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While in the years since Sagan passed, we've confirmed no such beings exist on Jupiter, there's no particular reason the same types of life might not exist elsewhere in the universe.
It's having too much fun to notice us:
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I would absolutely love this, especially if I can send and receive information to internal LUA programs.
One thing to keep in mind though is using existing trading bots in market places. Perhaps a small cooldown period on transactions, at least to prove it's humanly possible (The time it would take an in-game player to access the menu system and do another transaction), and larger cooldown on how many transactions can be done within a certain time frame.
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wow, its been a while since I was in a real cat fight over pvp and pve. lol But here's my 2 cents worth...pvpers don't like pve because it gives some players a safe place to hide. Pvpers don't like that, they have egos to feed
I can see why that stance would derail into catfights...
Safe zones don't become a problem for PvP players because PvE players go there, they become a problem because other PvP players can go there, and thus exploit them in various ways that are often perceived as damaging to the PvP dynamic as a whole. This isn't a case of one play style demanding everyone else plays the same style, If this was a server-split game, I wouldn't care if their was a no-PvP server. But when it's all put together, when there's the potential for someone to blow up my base with ships built from a factory that I can't blow up back, that's going to be a problem.
Also, it's worth mentioning your perception of PvP is very much screwed to a rare griefer kind, usually of younger years. A lot of PvP players in sandbox games are social PvP players, they aren't looking for the next kill to feed their ego, they like taking part of large organizations with something to loose because they enjoy the politics, the large scale cooperation and strategy, the comradery, the sense of duty and the feeling that you are needed and perhaps most importantly, the sense your actions and choices have consequences. You are right that there's ego food involved, but while you are imagining a 13 years old troll getting off on a kill, it's more often a 35 years old taking a break from a life of circumstances to feel like something they are doing is of value.
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Hello fellow arkmates.
We all know the waiting times associated with space travel, and I am sure I am not the only one here who misses earth, who remembers the old stories of our ancestors.In the arkship's drive, I have found a fully detailed VR reconstruction of a pub from earth in the early 21st century, I am not a history buff but from my first impression it seems to be taken from an historical account straight between the break down of the united kingdoms and the crowning of the US's first orange dynasty emperor. Enjoy
(Consider this a place holder until we'll get an off topic section where we can get to know each other beyond gameplay preferences, so this is where you get to roleplay someone roleplaying as you)
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Just FYI - Ragdoll physics is very difficult to sync even with only one server, there's no promises they'll be able to do it within their all-in-one shard technology where an item might move between servers whenever it moves in the environment (Depending on how many people are there). Even if they do manage to do it for the occasional fall to your doom scenario, performance wise a solution requiring no calculations at all (a.k.a. cryo pod, disappearing into thin air or whatnot) is always going to be easier on the hardware.
On the other hand, the opportunity to use absent characters as Firefly style Reaper decorations for your ship...
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Greedy bastards, the whole lot. The other day I was out for coffee and the waitress ended up giving me a bill, and there was even this social expectation of a tip flying around the air, can you believe the greed on that one? I bet she was going to pamper herself with rent. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE WORLD?! Anyway I tried convincing her that they should use a 3rd model of coffee but with less sweatener options for... just the tip...
...But in the unlikely chance this is in anyway applicable to the underlining problem here:
Telling a gossip inclined co-worker that you want to try your chances at freelancing, apparently can result in your boss giving you a raise and a better contract to convince you not too.
(Also, for the more likely underlining problem:
if you are in college there's a good chance you'll be done with it and back in the work force by the time the game comes out).
Price model, SAY NO TO MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION!
in Idea Box
Posted
You know, this is only the 2nd most silliest common conversation I've seen in monthly sub games, and I keep waiting for that next step, so to rip off the band aid, can someone please make a demand that it should be priced the exact amount of 10 no matter if it's USD/EUR/CAD/RUB and presumably the Vietnamese Dong?