PetdCat

ohhh....shiney new website tastey

Given that it is a teaser showing just the edge of the planet, my guess is that it may be six days until they release a "fly through" of what the planet looks like--or something similar.

How many days we've been recovering from the Cinco de Mayo party?

Grin. A topic near and dear to my heart. I would love if we could have cantina/taverns/bars/club where you could actually have a DJ push their stream into the world. It just makes the world more social and more dynamic. Plus, it would allow me to aggravate everyone with my symphonic metal collection

I have been around for a good number of years (from back when MUDs were considered MMOs) and over that time I have lived in a number of "virtual worlds". Each one had a particular focus, and over time they all became rather tired because there was only one blade in that Swiss Army Knife--they were really a "game" and not a world. I have always thought, that if an MMO came along that did a number of things well, they would do well, a game is a focus on a single mechanic with parts added on. A world is in essence a place for people to live--play the games they wish, and make new ones if they are so inclined. DU is planning on being a Sci-Fi sandbox. We will (I assume) be able to build, travel, have combat, crafting, social interactions, economy....why not take the best examples in each area and use that as a starting point for each area? Here are just a couple of my musings to start the discussion. Storylines in a Sandbox: EVE Online is by far the best I have seen in this area. In EVE there are basic themes, guidelines, and arcs that are part of the game. You then have player stories that provide depth, differences in views, and a diversity within the parameters of the game that I have not encountered anywhere. Yes--it would require some oversight, but one you have your "main" writers that you are comfortable with--you do not really need to monitor them with a fine tooth comb. They will know what you want, and they will conform to that writing style. Then, you just need to keep an eye out for other talent. In the end, you get robust and diverse storylines (that will appeal to a range of players) and build a player base that loves to flesh out the world with prose. Economy: I am going to put the EVE things right next to each other--EVE has been one of the best player economies I have ever worked with. That however comes with a caveat--EVE only works because EVE is a brutal world. EVE is not a place for people who never want to die and lose everything (or a good chunk). The economy works because everyone is going to need to replace things all the time. It make for a robust player economy, but the basis for that economy is a mechanic that will turn many players off. I fully believe where that brutality makes for a great PvP game and economy, it in turn prevents EVE for expanding beyond that niche. Beyond EVE, auction houses are unassuming places for crafters to fight for relevancy. I have yet to find one that is makes both the crafters and players equally happy. In order for a sandbox to survive, it will need to have a robust economy. How to accomplish that? Your guess is as good as mine Skills: Again, I like how EVE does skills, you gain skills even when not online. But that only works with a P2P model. I may take a break from EVE for awhile, but I will still pay my monthly so my skills upgrade while I am gone. I need to login every now and then to select skills, but that is a small thing. Other games use levels building upon the last, or achievements. Skills can be something that some players live for--getting that next level, upgrading X piece of armor, Crafting can be huge--there are still people incredibly bitter over Star Wars Galaxies being closed just because they miss the crafting. After this many years, that is amazing. Combat: PvP, PvE, RvR, GvG,WvWvW...by far, the biggest draw to the game side of things. I think a balance between PvP and PvE is the best bet. It will need to be robust however for each and balancing is always a pain. I like the way The Secret World has handled their combat (which also ties to skills) but I know others that dislike it. Building: Originally I came from a polygon world of building and voxel world building was a whole different way of looking at the world. Not being able to create my own textures (or skins) and upload them took some serious getting use to. I think for DU you will need two layers of tools--Basic and Advanced. I say this because you will have those two types of builders. Basic builders are going to be interested in building their house, shop, spaceport, but their main focus will be in other parts of the game. Advanced builders will probably focus on just building with some side things. It is just how they are put together and get their jollies. They are going to want tools to handle everything from the biggest to the smallest and everything in between. They will also want tools to provide a level of detail--even if that mean that the tools and processes are difficult. To them, it will be worth it to make whatever is in their brain alive in the world. Social: There are worlds where this is all they really do. You really need to decide at the very beginning what "rating" you want, but there will be people who will find some ingenious way to turn parts of the world into a dating site. It is going to happen, you just want to make sure that you know what maturity level you want the game to be and have controls in place to keep it that way. Bars, Clubs, Venues, Games, are all large draws in many worlds. Online DJs, another big draw for these types of places. There is a thread concerning Marriage in the forums. That is another huge area for some with people providing support for those events (Justice of the Peace, Wedding Planners, Renting Venues, Building Venues, Decorating, Cakes, Music, Photography). There also needs to be Guild Management and from what I have seen on the DevBlog that all looks like it is on the right path to me. Anyway, just rambling thoughts, and everyone has a different view of the world This early in the game--I think these are really areas that DU could use the most input concerning

In some virtual worlds, the marriage component is a very large part of things. I have spent a fair number of years working as a DJ and Builder in Second Life and the Utherverse worlds. Granted, both of them tend towards the seamy side and are in many ways designed for "virtual hookups", but I would say that 50% of my business was DJing wedding receptions, or building places and renting them out for marriage ceremonies. From a gaming standpoint, these are people who tend to focus heavily on social involvement--as much as some people build, others love combat, others craft, etc.... To be honest, in many instances, those people tend to be "rocks" in a game. Players come and go, but all of their friends and social interactions happen in the game. They tend to run clubs (which are a major social center) and run social events. They may or may not be heavy roleplay players. They may, or may not, be in relationships in real life either. For some it is husband/wife teams--for others, they have no involvement outside the game. What marriage does is provide them an additional layer of interaction in the game. In Second Life, it is more of two people deciding they are married and all of their interactions and profiles reflect that. Utherverse on the other hand has a structured process where people apply for a marriage permit. When married, they are given an actual virtual marriage certificate that they can put in their profile. There are also wedding planners, wedding chapel rentals, licensed Justices of the Peace, reception hall rentals, DJs, Cake Designers, Wedding Dress designers, it is a whole economy unto itself there. But then there is not really a great deal to do in Utherverse if you are not there for 18+ entertainment in some form or providing the services those people would want. In a pure sandbox environment, I am not sure if marriage should provide some perk--or I cannot think of what type of advantage would be suitable. I do know from past experience that getting "married" is a pretty good indication of someone who is not planning on leaving the game for awhile. It is an interpersonal commitment--and also a commitment to the game, since without the game the first commitments doesn't exist. From a strictly personal standpoint, I would love to see marriage in the game just so I can build and rent out wedding chapels, glades, whatever, and then DJ the reception LOL

I think that what we are seeing is an evolution of Guilds as society has changed. There was a time when Guilds were basically there for people to get together and complete group content (like Raids) without having to deal with a PUG (Pick Up Group). You would always be working with the same group of people, you could be assured of the correct group make-up--when the Trinity was everything--and there were rules for the distribution of goodies. I think MMO communities have become more social, so the Guildspace has fragmented into Raid Guilds, Social Guilds, RP Guilds, Crafting Guilds, PvP Guilds, Enjoys YouTube Cat Guilds, and they all pretty much only deal with other like minded guilds. A good part of this fragmentation I believe is due to the movement away from the Trinity (Tank, DPS, Healer) in many MMOs. One anyone can tank, do dps, or heal a group, the specialization kind of went by the wayside in many games. Where I think there should be a robust single player game (there are many, many, casual gamers out there) there should also be content for groups. Things that are only going to be accomplished by a large group just from the sheer size. Titans in EVE Online come to mind when they first came out, you needed material, you needed skills, you needed someone to pilot, it was a massive undertaking. I think that guild content needs to expand beyond the 24 people to go spank <insert legendary monster of doom here>. I also believe that the entire guild concept has been rather one-dimensional in the past and should gather some depth to really make people excited about it. In DU, I would see the really large guilds as almost being governmental groups over an area, as they are in EVE. Even that however is rather one-dimensional, however, in a sandbox environment people will take whatever is given to them and make what they want. The secret is going to be to provide enough guild tools so people will be able to mesh together what they think will work best for them. If it breaks, they grow from that and try something else. I see it as DU putting the chess board down on the park bench with a box that contains chess pieces, checkers, marbles, Statego pieces, Lego blocks, and some wind up cars, and just says "Okay--have at it".

Color customization would go a long way to making everything not look like a repeat of everything else. Starting out, people look at five or six type of rock, some landscape, building materials, thinking that it will be plenty. But, when consider building something like a smallish town, village, outpost, it becomes obvious that one starts lookiing like another. It would be nice to not have everything looking the same starting out--modifying colors would go a good way towards preventing that. And organizational uploads will be a huge thing for groups--from a builders standpoint--being able to upload the sign for your shop, or bar, or guild/group hall is a huge thing. I know it was a source of consternation in some other voxel based games. Even if you limit the number of "signs" or emblems in a given space it would be a nice tool to have.

Basically, you are entitled to stream music that you own for your own personal use. if you are streaming music for profit, then it is the streamer's responsibility to track the licensing and pay the royalty. The way it works in Second Life, the Utherverse worlds, et. al. is the worlds allow users to bring whatever URL they wish into their "owned" property. This can be internet radio stations, youtube channels, whatever. All of the licensing royalties are the responsibility of the streamer (if applicable-see below). Second Life would be like the maker of the radio that you listen to, they are not streaming the music, or really have anything to due with it. They are merely providing the equipment to listen. Now, DJs that have their own stream (as myself) can have URL access to their stream. Normally this is considered "their stream for their personal use" and does not require royalty payments. However, if I were to take a regular gig where I was paid and using the stream to facilitate my service--then I would be responsible for paying royalties to the artists whos IP I am using. There is actually software out there to track that. That however is not the case with most online DJs. They are doing this for themselves or their friends and not receiving any payments or selling advertising and such. In that situation there are no royalties involved as long as they are not creating revenue. This is all pretty much settled law. Second Life has DJs that put on shows during the week--same with Utherverse. The Secret World actually has its own radio station with DJs. It has been going on for over a decade now. In the end, the virtual world is just the speaker system for the stream. It would be like saying that just because you log into the Metallica stream on YouTube, Lars is going to expect a check from you for listening to their music. YouTube (the streamer) could decide to no longer stream Metallica songs, but they are the originator and not the end user or the maker of the computer.

hehe.....pretty close The idea for the asteroid club would be similar to the "meteor miners" clubs in E. E. Doc Smith's "Lensman" series

Per a request, I am moving this idea over to the "Idea Box", which makes a great deal of sense and probably why I didn't think of it! I believe it would be an excellent idea to have a prop, or a setting, for someone that "owns" an area to be able to connect to an outside URL for music streams. It could also work for video, but in a voxel world I am thinking that would create a lagfest, but I do not know for certain. An audio or video stream is going to be limited by the streams quality--64 kbps or 128 kbps--anyway, but I have not worked with the video side very much. What this would allow is for Clubs, Bars, Cantinas, Dives, Social Areas, to pipe in whatever music they wish. For those who know DJs with their own streams--those DJs can have live shows during the week. It also opens up things like theme parties, and the like. For those unfamiliar with the possibilities, you can go to www.radiofreegaia.com. That is a radio station for people in The Secret World with multiple DJs and themes. The only thing TSW doesn't have is the in game ability since there is no "building" there and only common areas--so the streams are accessed outside the game itself. It is just not the same experience as "in game" music. There is nothing quite like walking into a place in a virtual world and having it have its own flavor of sound. Music is a common denominator for many and can be a focal point for many people's interaction in a game.

I am glad to see that there will be at least some use of meshes in the game. Experience has taught me that voxel creation really can carry alot overhead in a dynamic environment. Will there be an ability to submit meshes for inclusion in the the game? (Similar to Daybreaks Studios (previously SOE) Player Studio?). I have found that a good number of voxel builders also have experience in creating 3d meshes. Granted, again, you would have the overhead of an approval process--but the diversity of placeables available coupled with lightening of load on the Art Team for creation may balance that out. I understand the issue with the textures and keeping the "look and feel". I would just say, please do not underestimate the amount of diversity that makes builders happy with the palette. We tend to be a rather fussy bunch and a couple of metal textures, with some being shiny and some being dull will probably have some people screaming at their monitor

It has been my experience, that in a sandbox game, social interaction is a huge part of making a game successful. Dynamic gameplay is going to bring people in and bring them together to accomplish things, but social interaction will make them stay. Let's face it, Second Life has the "playability" of a turtle soccer match, but it still survives and continues just with social interaction between people (granted some of that on the more seamy side of the equation). The strength of "The Secret World" is not just in their storytelling, but also in the community they have created. Having that level of social interaction coupled with strong and compelling gameplay, plus the ability for people to create their own things and content, and I think you will have a winner. No one wants to run around for a half hour trying to find people, or trying to find something to do. Find a way to promote that interaction, in a world-centric environment, and you will not only have happy players, but also provide for a strong RP base.

Two parts here. 1. Will this strictly be a voxel world or will there also be meshes (for props and such). 2. Will we have the ability to bring in our own textures to use (an approval process is acceptable) so we can customize the textures covering our builds, or will we need to use a predesignated palette?

I would love to have the ability for someone who "owned" an area to drop a prop to bring in some URL stream. Either for background music, or DJ's (yes, this is a self interest post LOL). Such a thing is pretty much essential if you want to open a club, bar, cantina, etc....

Hello All, I see a couple of familiar virtual faces here I am Pet d'Cat, been around a very long time and will not bore you with a games list. I play a couple of MMOs, but I am mainly a builder and a DJ (in those worlds that support that). Looking forward to Dual Universe, it has a great deal of possibilities. I would love to open an nice little club, built into the side of an asteroid, that I can DJ from and provide a resting place for those wayward souls wandering the spaceways.

Waves at Kiklix