Pleione

Well.... it worked for about 45 minutes <evil smile>

Confirmed. I converted 1 of mine a few minutes ago.

New client is available now. 1.2GB download. Took an unexpected 15 minutes to extract though (longer than I typically see on my SSD). Launch is expected in about 30 minutes. Steam download is NOT free, they want you to buy a 1 month subscription to download via Steam (~$15).

Client update available now. 1.2GB, takes awhile to extract though (over 15 minutes on my SSD). Long enough that I launched diagnostics to make sure my SSD was healthy.

1300 UTC is the official launch time, about an hour and 15 minutes from when I posted this. No client update available yet. Steam is saying 5 more hours.

Not arguing any of your points, but as a Patron at least you can play for free via your DACs for a year. Perhaps not immediately, since the DAC system was still offline the last time I checked, but presumably soon.

Better - they sent the Twitch notification just as it started. Fortunately was available. No real information other than confirming the launch TARGET time. Rest came across mostly as a reunion, complete with snaps from some of the steamers reactions when unexpected things happened in the past (like getting single shotted).

1300 UTC is now official. They announced it via Twitch this morning. New client expected to be downloadable from Steam about an hour before that. For the non-Steam users, it was implied to be something similar, but we did not get an absolute on that.

The Markeedragon link above still has the old prices for the next few hours (changes sometime on the 27th, not sure when)

Personally having to take sleep aids for the past 2 nights. Not sure that will work tonight... because, you know, it might launch as early as 6pm here (0 UTC)... Is it really so hard to commit to a launch time the day before when you nailed the launch date weeks ago? And when will we be able to download the new client (or will "launch" still say 0.31 Beta?).

Back in early 2018, having digested the Roadmap, and played a round or two of 72 and 96 hour monthly test windows, I had a dream: I wanted to build the Stargate Universe ship and, expecting to do so rather slowly, go explore the Galaxy and when I found a suitable star system, spend a month or three and build a Stargate to it. Bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece, that dream has been dismantled. First big hit: Industry would no longer run on Dynamic cores. Second bit hit: Galaxy? What Galaxy? ONE separate star system, some day? Third big hit and I was out: Schematics (left after they were introduced in 0.23). Ok, so they fixed schematics so I don't need to visit a marketplace routinely. Still feels like I'll never be able to run a full factory again - simply not enough hours in the day to make all the schematics required to keep it running. On Demo, I've run out of Tier 1 Product schematics (to make the alloys) multiple times and that's just a few days into a run on a S core factory. What are the chances I could spend a year and build a real factory on a L core (or the once rumored XL core - remember when we were suppose to be able to build the Death Star?) Fine. I need to drag some friends in and form an Org. How many? One thing to have a half-dozen friends playing (good luck finding 6 industrialist that don't want to PVP), but I doubt 6 could make enough schematics. Need 100? Did that in real life (use to have a crew of 50 reporting to me), not really interested in doing that in my virtual fantasy/recreation game. How could you recruit? "Need people to log in daily and feed a few dozen machines schematics. Only people willing to commit to doing do daily for at least 3 months will be considered..." Yeah, right. My HOPE, and pretty much the only reason I'm returned, is that over the next year they see the error of their ways and fix this thing. In the meantime, me and a few friends will do what we can, until it just becomes a grind. Or Starfield comes out...

Suggest the $9.95 today and just buy a months worth. You still can for a few more hours. Its the path I took for my Patron account. Look, this is NQ we are talking about. Its less than 24 hours before the rumored launch time and we still dont have A) a new client to download or B ) an official launch time. These are the same guys that "Announced" the Demo server over a day AFTER it went live on Steam.

Join the crowd. Alas, the PVP community is very loud, and JC endorsed it as a well of consuming resources and keeping the economy alive. Alas, it requires balance, and thats something PVP in DU has been struggling with. I seem to recall a time when you could take an XS ship and simply stop in front of a moving L core ship and destroy it without taking damage. Those type of issues. Or my favorite, which sounds reasonable on the surface: You can lock onto a L core ship from a greater distance than an XS ship. Makes sense right? Its larger, should be easier to lock onto. In practice, it meant an XS ship could mount a L weapon and fire at L ships with the L ship unable to fire back since the XS ship was out of range for locking.

I will... when I'm otherwise just hanging around waiting for a factory to pop something out.

Yeah... back in Alpha/Beta days GTFO of Alioth was my number 1 goal. I use to like to set up camp on Jago (pretty water world). But at least as of PTS RC1.0, Jago no longer has the basic 4 ores - so it would be hard to bootstrap there. Edit: I should note that ore distribution is rumored to change at launch from what they have shown us in Demo & PTS.