Murmandamus

Dear DUdes and DUdettes,
 
Today, we have an announcement that should make our Alpha testers happy! Due to our internal development process and by popular demand, we decided to bring some modifications to our Alpha test schedule.
 
So, from now on, next Alpha tests will happen as follows: three times a month, a 96 hours test session will occur, spanning from Thursday, 14h00 UTC to Monday, 14h00 UTC.
 
That means there won't be any test session once a month. This way, it will be easier for us to better plan production. We'll continue to analyze your feedback and the data produced by your crazy adorable in-game behavior It will allow us to better refine things along the way on our road to Alpha 2.
 
Overall, we think it's an improvement: longer test sessions covering weekends every time. This should be more comfortable for many of you!
 
Our Server status page remains the best way to get informed on when tests happen. It's up to date for next month and still here for you to visit (if it's not a bookmark in your web browser already): https://www.dualthegame.com/en/server-status/
 
Cheers, 
The Novaquark Team

Would be nice to have some kind of element that facilitates docking/connecting/attaching constructs together in various ways.
For one example scenario, it could allow for otherwise inert container units to be swapped out between hauler ships and warehouses and such.
For another example scenario, it could allow two or more connected constructs to all use their engines and fly as a single craft.
And of course another obvious scenario is to allow players to walk between ships and bases and space stations etc. without having to step out into the open.

I miss Landmark.
 
A little context for that video.  In case anyone is wondering what a "Mr. Voxel" is.
 
Mr. Voxel was a machine built by players inside the game Landmark, that helped other players visualize and create unique voxel shapes that would require more advanced voxelmancy knowledge and many more steps otherwise.
 
It basically did what is suggested in this trello for DU.  https://trello.com/c/wXSJEWVx/35-building-tool-voxel-control-points-edit
 
It was pretty awesome what people accomplished in Landmark in terms of gaining control over the voxels.  And it was a lot of fun discovering new stuff.  But I do hope NQ just gives us a voxel editor.  It's so silly that we could have had full control over the voxels in Landmark all that time and instead we had to figure it out for ourselves. 
 
By the end in Landmark we were using huge vector libraries that looked like this to build shapes.
 

must wait.....
 
 
 

2 years sober now.

Magneton used Agility!

As cool as it would be to use countermeasure devices to that extent, it might be "simpler" to only leave it up to armor/weapon type advantages.

....Like in Pokemon!

It's not very effective... ShinyMagnemite fled!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_balloon
 
Nothing new

we do, some are cloaked as tv sattelites while in reality they are and send just garbage^^

As you know, assumptions and interpretations are free, partial and subjetive and I'm not concerned with yours (even not concerned with mine).
Anyway, have fun and thanks for the feedback!

In all honesty I don't think you really understand the role of government and political systems in general. A lot of what you say seems like you're beating around the bush a bit. It's hard for me to address direct points because of this.
 
My understanding of your outlook on politics is you see anarchy as some form of lawless system. That is untrue. Anarchy is not a system. The word is used to describe a collective of disparate and distinct systems perpetuated by individuals. It is describing an absence of centralised control. In example, the world is in anarchy as any nation can act off their own accord. But when you describe one system that is not anarchy. That is describing a presence of centralised control. It all depends on what you're looking at.
 
DU is anarchy. But within the systems that operate within it justice is enforced.
 
There is no objective basis for justice. This is because there are no two individuals alike. Philosophy is the manifestation of ego in thought. Politics is the manifestation of philosophy in the environment. Therefore politics is the manifestation of the ego in the environment. Your government is exactly this. Your politicians argue from their own egotistical standpoint like everyone else. The 1% control your society because of their mutually shared ego for dominanation. Hippies preach peace and love for their mutually shared ego for harmony - the idea they are 'enlightened beings'. There is no 'angelic' basis for human thought. We are apes.
 
A globalised administrative power is no different from a localised administration. The differences in labeling only imply one is part of diverse whole and one is part of a homogeneous whole.
 
There is no need for a central government in DU. In real life the state is useful for public services and to protect the specific interest of its civillians. Too much fragmentated and specialised entities will decay on their own. In DU all the orgs take on a governmental role. They are not specialised. Or they operate as their own syndicate as part of a larger whole. Take BOO for example. They abide by the same code of conduct yet operate as independent organisations able to disagree and exchange services with the other.The very word BOO only describes their moral code. BOO is their governing set of principles. Their government.
 
If someone wants to make a united nations org then they can do that. If people want to sign up to it they can do that. There is simply just no need for NQ to force a UN org if the players can do it to exactly the same effect.
 
Edit: I tried to steer the discussion towards giving players tools to facilitate their systems. But I see it was quite the digression.

Also 20 000$ medical expenses. That is your real problem.

Welcome to America!  Where you too can sue a company for giving you hot coffee if you burn yourself on the hot coffee you asked for. I'll seriously never be able to reconcile that level of idiocy. 

Just to voice my opinion:
 
1. Any automatic reputation system is going to fail at identifying who's really the bad guy. And I don't want such easy to go around system to decide on quite core game mechanics (like ark safe zone).
If I see someone building dirt around my base (or right outside my TCU), I gonna shoot him dead, as it's only way to stop (or at least slow down) his vandalism. And IMO I shouldn't be punished for that.
And don't forget that safe zones are not spread all around the universe. They are around ark, and on moons around Alioth. Pretty far (by that I mean - time consuming to travel) from all other planets. Thus they can be used by pirates quite rarely anyway.
 
2. Protective bubbles are not meant to protect from PvP. They are meant to force PvP, rather than PvOfflineBase.
 
3. Main game mechanics to discourage attacking everyone on sight should be economy.
For example: If ammunition is more expensive than you can ever earn by destroying ship (unless it holds or protects cargo) then griefers will be able to destroy others much less frequently (because they need to earn monies to buy griefing tools).
Or for extreme example: ammunition required to destroy ship is more expensive than said ship. Thus you need really good reason to attack the guy. Otherwise you waste more of your own time than his.

It is important for NQ to say that DU isn't a "PVE" game.  So people understand that there won't be monsters or raids to beat or whatever.
 
But in some ways I feel like DU is actually even more PVE then those games.  By the literal definition of the words at least.
 
I mean there will definitely be an environment.  And it's probably not going to make things easy for us.  But PVP is a part of that.  Not something separate. 
 
It's not a PVE game in the sense that the point of the game is to beat the environment.  And it's not a PVP game in the sense that the point of the game is to kill other players.
 
It's just a game.  You do whatever you want.  
 
Edit: It may be impossible not to alienate the type of PVE and PVP players who need a clearly defined and usually easy to attain goal to go for.  But I don't think  that is alienating PVP or PVE players.  It's just alienating people who aren't ready for a different type of game.

The term "griefer" is a bit subjective. To some it simply means a pirate because they cause you grief by taking your stuff, right? I would rather go with what NQ have defined in their EULA for what defines a griefer. Intentionally killing the same player over and over again is an example, though they will still need to look at it on a case by case basis. Another is having in-game unpleasantries spill over to the real world. Don't do it. This is how people get banned.
 
Point is, some players will be villains. To have good heroes you need great villains. And honestly, if a pirate robs you in such style that you are left amazed, that is the start of a legend.

There's only one thing that will stop DU from becoming "Rust in Space", and that's very careful game design.
 
That does not imply "rules to prevent PVP", but rather mechanics that make it less attractive as a primary game activity.
 
Let's face it, if destruction is easier, cheaper and more fun than building, we'll very quickly establish a dominant playstyle in DU.
 
Very few players are going to last long in DU if they never leave the arkship safezone. There are only basic resources there, and it represents... maybe 1% of DU's entire game world ? The MSA's have no resources at all, so what will anyone do all day if they don't leave that safezone ?
 
I have no idea what NQ have planned with regards to keeping DU balanced, but a handful of safezones is certainly not going to cut it.

Counterintutively, not moderating the simulation can lead to the simulation strangled by the players. Well, strangled by one type of player that goes around harming all the other players, leaving with only that type of player and a shrinking playerbase thanks to the one type of player driving all the others out.  On the other hand, an argument can be made about this being natural and humans naturally being jerks

I would agree though that if DU turns into 'unless you are in a safezone we will try to kill you and destroy your stuff for no reason but because we can', it will not last long and NQ will need to ensure that does not happen.
 
PVP in DU is not a main component in the vision NQ has, it is not going to be implemented as a pure 'pewpew anything for whatever reason'  I hope and believe. Combat (which would be a better way wording for the 'PVP' mechanic in DU) will hopefully be available as a means for organisations to resolve conflict when all else fails. We will have to see how this goes, but the plethora of warmongering based orgs (as seen in their descriptions and recruitment text) does not bode well IMO even when I fully expect many of these to implode the moment the game actually starts once the 'leadership' of these finds it actually takes a lot of effort to run and manage an org.
 
In the vision of NQ DU is a community and building environment before anything else. In that respect it's very much like Sid Meier's Civilization games where yes, combat  and conflict is part of the  game but it is not the main driver. It is a means to an end, not the (main) purpose of the game.
 
 
So yes, if DU goes the route ARK did, where you basically can and frequently will be met with a firing squad the moment you step out of the spawning area, it will not end well and quickly. The warmongering PVP thirsty crowds need to realize that they only shoot themselves in the foot if they adopt these tactics.

You can discuss everything in the internet as long as you stay with facts and don't get offended if someone has a different opinion. Having to moderate discussions about any topic, as controversial as it might be, shows only that either the community members are unable to control their emotions and have a proper argument or that the moderators suffer from the "I'm offended because others might regard the topic as offensive"-syndrome. No topic by itself is offensive!
 
If you want to test if a community is able to have proper arguments just ask them to list some positive points about something they most likely hate, be it a different religion, the third reich, genocide, communism or whatever. If they can give several positive arguments despite being absolutely against it then you can proper discussions about most topics. If you get answers like "nothing is good about that" or "you can't talk about that" then you're in presence of people who are unable to be reasonable and you should probably try not to be to engaged in that community.

As an avid Linux user myself I figured I should chime in with my two cents on the topic. While it would be amazing to see Dual Universe have native Linux support I do agree that it should not be a top priority at the moment. I want DU to succeed and to me that is more important than getting all the features that I want implemented right away. There are core features that must be in the game for it to become the smash hit we want and Linux support is not one of those features its a bonus. Although you raise the argument that lack of this feature locks out part of the demographic I do not feel that is the case. Most Linux/Mac users acknowledge that their OS selection is limiting when it comes to playing games (slowly changing but still a long ways to go) and so many compromise with various alternative solutions like dual booting or emulation. I also fall into this category, personally I dislike windows but I simply liked DU much more so now its running on a dedicated windows SSD with nothing but dual universe and discord installed. Sure some might have extreme views and condemn the game for a lack of Linux support but this is a small number of people and I am willing to bet most will bend their ideals in order to play the game. I do hope that NQ tries their best to incorporate additional OS support in the future but I feel their target should be a quality working release first and then add in features afterwards. I like your idea of showing our desire for additional OS support financially but I still feel that all funds should go towards a strong foundation first. The main reason I feel this way is because history has shown that when devs delay their release to cram in more features it just makes the players unhappy and gives room for the competition to walk in with some other amazing game and steal the show. For now I think we should focus our efforts towards assisting alternative OS users with the conversion as much as possible. Speaking of which I keep hearing these rumors of players successfully getting DU to work with wine, if anyone happens to know where these geniuses are please get them to contact me, perhaps together we could create a guide or better yet a convenient package for running DU on Linux.

I) About Dual Universe (and/or a DU Organization) Advertisement
 
(a) It's fine to advertise the game and/or your DU Organization(s) to players you already know or with whom you have already played with in other games without harassing them. If they aren't interested, do not insist.
 
(b) It's absolutely not acceptable to enter other gaming communities with the only intent being to randomly advertise Dual Universe or your DU Organization to players you don't know. Being polite isn't enough. Participating in said group with the intention to legitimize your advertisement is not enough either. You won't fool many people with this method. While one player may be convinced to join your Organization, it will most likely antagonize significantly more players, making them hostile toward you and Dual Universe due to these cheap and inappropriate practices. 
 
If you don't understand why this is wrong, just imagine players coming from 10 different game communities and invading your Discord, subReddit, or Steam group, falsely pretending to be interested in the game you’re playing while instead being there to make advertisements for the game he plays in your channels. Any person would quickly be tired of this behavior and ban them all, as well as form a negative image of the game that has been advertised. Please don’t do this.  Not only is this rude, this can be considered harassment in addition to brand damage, which could result in a ban from Dual Universe for such behavior.
 
(c) While it didn’t seem clear for everyone so far (despite being in our EULA and in our forum chart here), here is a strong reminder: impersonating Novaquark staff is a serious offense. This will result in a permanent ban without further notice or discussion. There is also no limitation period for this offense (meaning: if we got proof of Novaquark staff impersonation several months or even years later, the sanction will still be applied).
 
(d) While this has been some kind of grey area until now, there won’t be sanctions applied to involved Organizations for the past actions. However, from now on, Organizations that will benefit from the aforementioned bad practices could see their member list reset at Novaquark’s sole discretion. We wish to make it clear that there is nothing to gain from such advertisement and recruitment practices as well as inform other gaming communities that the Novaquark staff will not tolerate these methods of advertisement and recruitment.

II) About Gifting Practices as a Recruitment Incentive
 
Novaquark has not enforced any strict rules regarding gifting practices so you are free to gift DACs or Supporter Packs as you see fit. However, we don’t encourage use of this freedom as a recruitment incentive unless you are perfectly fine with the definition of "gifting" (giving something for free to someone else without expecting anything in return for this gift). 
 
Before gifting a DAC or a Supporter Pack, you should carefully consider that a player could leave your Organization or simply never join it at all. In this situation, this will be your responsibility and we will not refund nor reverse the gift you made to another player. The Novaquark team will not step in to oblige the receiver to fulfill his part of the bargain either (if there was any).
 
So choose and gift wisely.
 
If you have any further questions on the topic, please let us know.
 
Best Regards,
The Community team.

I intend to make my ships so beautiful that to shoot at them will cause the aggressor to die from shame.   
 
The Aesthetic Aegis, if you will.

I quite like this idea, however I'm a strong believer in the "First Sale" doctrine. Once an object is sold, it should be freely modifiable by any further purchasers. 
To wit: I love the idea of having Deltas, however I hate permissions preventing modifications.
 
I think Blue Prints only need to have a Master/Copy designation. Masters can produce both Copies and more Masters. Copies can only produce the construct.
 
Additionally, Deltas should be able to be made from any other Blue Print, but should still be dependent upon the original. The dependency should nest for each Delta made from another Delta. If someone has several Master Deltas, they should be able combine them together to make a new Master Delta. If someone has both the Original Master and Master Deltas, they should be able to combine those together to make a new Master.

There's no shortage of land in DU... is there ?
 
If farming requires sizeable fields to grow crops, that could throw an entirely new light on the value of "good land" on planets. Barren planets would have to import food, etc., or could possibly grow crops commercially that don't do well on "earth-like" planets. Perhaps some exotic alien cactus-analogue has amazing medical applications !
 
If food and medical items become popular and sought-after in the game, then the means of producing the raw materials to make them can become a significant part of game play, and would provide an alternative to the current "mining is everything" scenario that DU will be starting with.
 
Agriculture and Forestry could also be used as a source for raw materials/chemicals needed in general industry, it doesn't have to be all about food and/or medicine. Various plants could provide sources of biofuels, acids, textiles, etc. that can be used to make and power ship elements.
 
Our civilization on Earth started with agriculture, after all.