Lachenlaud

Uhm... according to lore... we emerge from the Novark on Aphelia... wouldn't that make us Aphelians? Just a thought...

It happens... there are literally a butload of pre-made themes out there, some of them work for formatting certain topics and some don't... most wouldn't take a theme for a flower shop and turn it into (or try to anyhow) something for a space rpg... LOL It boils down a bit to great minds thinking alike in some cases... in others, it might in fact BE imitation (which could be construed as a form of flattery)... all intentions for building a good site are admirable, but the only way you can guarantee that your website will be truly unique is to spend hours creating your own theme... Most good CMS systems, including Wordpress and others have a basic 'generic' template... but for some it may be too time consuming, for others, just beyond reach of technical skills. Whatever the case, eventually both sites will diverge enough over time to eventually look unique all on their own

Ya know... I've been playing MMO's for a long time... and I've seen LOTS of different things happen that, for me personally, made the game less interesting... over the years I've coined a term for it --- pablumizing --- Pablumizing is what happens when a games features are replaced by over-simplification... So I played WoW back when it first hit the scene... I favored certain aspects of the game... one of the types of characters I really found myself enjoying was the Hunter class character... and there were aspects to those hunters that made them a challenge to play effectively. As time passed, Blizzard, in their infinite wisdom, chose to water down some of the aspects of playing a hunter character... they changed how you skilled, they changed how you skilled your pet... they changed how quickly you would have a pet as a hunter to help you along... they made it so you had fewer weapons you could carry (ranged vs melee) etc... they even introduced an 'expansion' that to many were the equivalent of 'Facebook Games' where you'd assign an 'NPC' to run missions for you and then reap the rewards... and in the process you got to build a mediocre 'Garrison' you could call 'home' in a sense... but one that was 'instanced' in the same physical location every other player got to build their garrison... it wasn't really an effective place to invite your guildies to hang out in (in fact they couldn't really enter it unless you were there with them).... Eventually... they pablumized my interest right out of the game... I'm all for a certain amount of automation... I think auto-turrets with a certain amount of 'automation' built in to them would be 'ok', but that a 'crewed gun' SHOULD be able to do better... A large ship might be flown by a single pilot, but to operate effectively and to its potential should require someone to crew it... I would HATE to see someone be able to 'eventually' build something like a 'Death-star' and then single handedly be able to pull it up to the planet I'm living on and blast me, my base, and my friends into oblivion... LOL I've seen plenty of people cry boo-hoo on forums about "Oh wouldn't it be cool if we could make this simpler...." and the obverse of "OMG WHY DID YOU MAKE IT SO SIMPLE!?!?" Frankly a game that holds my interest for any length of time is one that challenges my abilities to think, plan, and prosper.. something that requires More than just point and click and if I happen to have the higher level or the better gear anyone that stand in my way is dead meat.... That's what drew my interest in wanting to play this game. If ya want point and click click click click click go play the Family Guy Quest for Stuff or Disney Magic Kingdom... or better still, <insert name of choice>Ville on Facebook. 'nuff said!

It might take a while... but wow that would be an awesome creation achievement... Wonder how many planets we'd need to chop up to accomplish it...

All joking and kidding aside... I've been a long term scripter in a VR sim called Secondlife... the devs of DU are going to have to be VERY careful if they allow any kind of device/construct/whatever to be self-replicating. They require limits or they can quickly get out of hand and overrun things. In Secondlife there is a scripting language called LSL (Linden Scripting Language). You can create primitive objects using a build tool. These objects do not require resources to make and they can be set to have different permission aspects (Copy/Mod/Transfer). You can also add textures to such objects from outside, and they can have different resolutions. You can also add sound effects in the form of .wav files and such. Primitive objects can have different attributes for shape, appearance, color, glow, shine, etc. Herein lay the problem. Through scripting you could make a primitive object with full permissions to copy. You could then place that primitive object inside another copy of itself. Next you could script it to spawn a copy of itself, pass the script to the copy, along with a copy of the internal primitive object.... rinse and repeat. So you start with one... it spawns a friend, then they both spawn two more, then all four spawn new ones, and so on and so on... all the while each object is covered on as many sides as possible with different high-res textures... each one is playing as many sound effects of max allowed size as possible at different speeds.... Pretty soon you have what used to be referred to on the Secondlife grid as a 'grey goo' attack... basically a self-replicating DDOS attack... and since objects could cross linked simulator lines it would propagate across what was referred to as the mainland area of the VR Grid until it either brought the sim down or crashed the viewers of those who were near enough to have their client try to render it.... As has been pointed out in these forums many times... VRAM isn't forever. If and when the devs allow some type of self-replicating devices (if at all) there are going to have to be considerations taken into account for limiting just how far-reaching such self-replication technology will be allowed to work, or it could be used as a devastating griefing tool by those that wish to make game-play difficult. "Oh, you won't let me play near your colony.... well watch THIS!" BAM! Enjoy your infestation of self-replicating nonsense voxels from H-E-double-hockey-sticks! 'nuff said!

Lets all try to build a Dyson Sphere around one and find out! It could be EXCITING!

*BLINKS* OW! OW OW! OW OW OW! LOL *Note to future self: Do Not Read Posts from Cybrex upon first waking EVER again! Well said however!

'nuff said!

Interesting argument... by current theory something like a space elevator in real life might be a difficult prospect due to potential collision issues and such with satellites and meteoroids and such, unless such problems could be addressed... such a construct Would turn with the planet. Of course, in RL most active satellites are capable of orbital maneuvering and could be set up to avoid predictable collisions, or even be set 'above' the level of the top end of the elevator. Stability wise, we'll have to see how the game mechanics work, and how far out the servers will consider an object to be a 'part' of the planet (or even if in the final cut planets will actually rotate at all), as the devs may set limits on how large a structure can be depending on what type of 'core unit' is used, if multiple structures with multiple 'core units' can be strung together, and if it is at all possible to make such a thing. (I'm sure there are those that WILL try regardless of negging in this forum!) Other factors involved could include game operated weather systems, building decay concepts (i.e. will structures eventually 'break down' through normal environmental wear and tear, fatigue from age, etc...) not to mention, how would the physics engine handle it if someone blew a supercarrier ship through the top end of the cable just below the orbital station its attached to! Heck, the whole concept might be rendered moot because the devs give us a skill tree that includes the incorporation of Mass Teleportation devices ala the Transporter System in Star Trek.... who needs a space elevator when you can just beam stuff up? But I can assure you of this much... we're gonna find out in the not too distant future!

HAI MUNNEY! Welcome to DU!

OMG... why do people assume that this is going to be ANYTHING like any other game they've played? I mean, yes, its sorta like some other games, there are survival elements, there are elements of politics and factions and warfare and such, and there are elements from other games like being able to build and such... Warcraft, Eve Online, Minecraft, Secondlife, Ark Survival Evolved, and a whole bunch of other things just rolled together... OMG... that must mean its going to play like them, lag like them, and crash like them too! Folks... its a unique, new, interesting world the folks at DU are creating... YES there are going to be issues... that's what Alphas and Betas are for... YES there are going to be different things that will have to be addressed before the game can successfully become something fully playable by just about anyone logging in for the first time... and YES, there will even be those idiots out there that try to deliberately ruin it for everyone and anyone they can get in front of just to experience the joy of watching you spaz out about it. LOL But here's the fact of the matter, you can debate on perceived issues ahead of time, but you really won't know WHAT the "Real Issues" are until you sit your butt down at the computer for the first time, click the cute lil DU icon on your desktop, wait for the game to load, and step off the Novark ship for the first time... Instead of debating 'perceived issues', focus on concepts you'd like to see that aren't already apparent from the info the Dev's have been gracious enough to give us... Postulate positive ideas and suggestions... and for the sake of relative sanity (yeah right like gamers are 'sane' by any definition LOL) stop worrying about what ain't yet determined to be broke yet! 'nuff said!

So here's my thought on this... DU is going to be doing an Alpha... and a Beta period.... This will give them time to decide whether or not multiple spawn zones (perhaps player selected) are a requirement for the game to operate. After all, if during Alpha it sorta smells like a Zerg, then during Beta it starts to look like a Zerg... they can then decide if it really IS a Zerg and go from there... Frankly from all I've observed, the folks putting this show together have put a LOT of careful thought into the mechanics of the game, and probably spent many an all nighter debating what they should and should not be like. I personally could reasonably see the Lore changed so that several Novark ships landed on the same planet, perhaps with a small smattering of unsuccessful landings as well (oooh... mystery to solve!) and having a user driven choice allow players to select which LZ they want to initially spawn in. This way if there are groups that want to spawn in the same spot, they can do so, and if there are folks who just don't give a flip about which zone they spawn in they can take whatever the server recommends due to load at the time of initial entry. 'nuff said!

Personally I can't wait to see what people come up with... I'm envisioning everything from Starfleet style ships ala Star Trek, Star Wars type ships like the 'Falcon, and even Flying Toilets with the Tidy Bowl man hanging off the rim! LOL

BWAHAHAHAHA!

Ok... lets talk waste of time... and resources! A Space Elevator offers several advantages to a player or player group for several reasons; From the demos I've watched on vid (YouTube, etc.) I've seen that there is going to be some sort of 'fuel' powering vehicles. Presumably that 'fuel' won't be something that just 'magically appears' in the tanks of said vehicles. Power may, based on hints given in the stories and lore surrounding this game, be generated via Solar (and presumably other sources, perhaps windmills, etc... see the story at this link: https://dual-static-web.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/Dual-Universe-English.pdf) Assuming that power can be generated without the continuous use of consumable fuels, a 'Space Elevator' might be powered by such. If that is the case, then there is a possibility that resources could be saved by using such a device to ferry materials such as metals, people, etc. to an orbital platform. In one of the demo vids I observed a 'different' fuel guage for atmos vs in-space flight... theoretically mass could be a factor in getting items out of a planets gravity well.... if thats the case, then carting up extra 'fuel' for space flight would also consume additional fuel... thus if that theory holds true, it would cost more fuel to get fuel out of the planetary gravity well.... So a Space Elevator concept offers ALL KINDS of potential advantages... its just a matter of how much the game designers are going to incorporate resource usage into game-play reality... Of course, for now... its just speculation, so we'll have to wait an see... but the possibilities are endless!

Lets face it... DU has quite a few possibilities that other 'similar games' don't offer... and I'm sure there's going to be features in those other 'similar games' that won't ever be found in DU... The bottom line is this... it's an amazing concept with all sorts of possibilities and I, along with many of you I'm sure, are looking forward to exploring those possibilities. There will always be trolls of some sort in any game... people's who's only goal is to annoy others... but there will also be those for whom the game becomes a profound and enriching experience of culture and delight. The game will be what anyone makes of it for themselves, and what they allow others to make of it for them. I've played Eve... I played in several of the larger Alliances and I ran a couple of different corporations which were quite successful. I met some awesome people doing that, and I met a few who deserved to be at the wrong end of my guns. But all in all, while I played, I for the most part enjoyed the experiences I had and I'm looking forward to seeing what experiences will await me in DU. DU, like Eve, will be an evolving and changing Universe of emergent possibilities... I can't wait to see things in action first hand!

You might be somewhat optimistic here. Goonswarm and BoB both had support networks of SOME sort in place to supply them with the resources they needed in EvE to harass and harangue people... if they didn't they wouldn't have been able to continue to replace their ships and equipment, mods, etc... not to mention implants for their skills, and such. It would not be 'impossible' for a group like that to exist in DUAL, in fact, the basic fact is, it will be LIKELY there will be folks wanting to stomp on other people Just for the fun of it. It might take a bit of effort, but don't think it can't, or won't be tried. Folks will need to have good defenses and in some cases, be forced to take the offense in order to survive intact. If PvP is possible, folks will find ways to play merry cobb on folks not interested in such, regardless of 'safe' zones, and such.

Well you'd also have to figure on how that would affect the market and such - they'd have to take things into consideration like; 1) does the build belong to a player or a 'group/corp/guild/alliance' 2) How would that affect longer term players who 'have' developed something like a Blueprint for a really cool ship who leaves the game.... market orders, etc, etc... Asset control would have to be smart enough to take into account who owns it, who created it, (perhaps even who 'previously' owned an item, etc.)

Wonder if the folks over at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) would have anything to say about someone stealing their Replicator idea.... ala Stargate....

At the very least I would very much like to see an API that allows for interaction with an external website to verify that a person signing up for my website is actually a player of dual universe. This will help to prevent spammers and scammers from affecting my game related website since they would have to first sign up for dual Universe account in order to verify an account on my website. That would be an awesome feature. To add to that if we could set up API keys in such a way that players could provide them voluntarily to third party websites in order to pull bios or extracts on that character that would be awesome as well. For example, if I wanted to sign up for a website and be able to display my in-game profile on that third-party website I would have been have to provide a custom API key to that third-party website which I generated the other dual Universe website for that specific purpose, at which point that third-party website would be able to use that API key in order to read in my in-game profile to display as part of my website profile.