Novean-32184

Exactly this. Many of us have been playing in a way that made sense with the existing mechanics, NQ actively drove the action of claiming tile to "embed" your (groups) main base by surrounding this tile with owned tiles, preparing for TW to come where an attacker woudl need to come through any surrounding tiles to get to the main core tile. Many groups, both big and small, have followed this suggested path and prepared for the coming of TW that way. Now NQ is basically throwing all that out he windows, TW is but a distant memory and seems to be off thetabel fo rthe foreseeable future at best. And our (group) efforts to build a secure place for all of the members of the orgs is not "punisshed" by a level of taxation which pretty much demands constant griinding and activity in game. And do not eventhink of taking abreak or for whatever reason not being able to play for an extended period of time.. you will come back finding your territory gone and your stuff handed to someone else. The looming org changes, which are still mentioned and I'd expect will still arrive, mean that most woudl be weary of any serious dependency on the org as you never know what NQ may pull off next. Personally, I set up my tile and my stuff in a way I can come back in once the game is at a level I want to. Right now, I'm just forced to pack up and move everything to Sanctuary. And then there is the mentioned issue of a good many players sitting on billions, many of those obtained through exploits, meaning they can just pay these taxes for years and hardly even notice while other will have to grind their way through this every week. It all just reeks of yet another system that NQ really has not given much though to the fall out for and they are not allowing the time for both proper feedback or possible action on their end. If we're lucky they may find some time this coming week to make some changes and have anoher weekend of testing. More likely, we'll just see them drop Demeter on the live servers in two weeks or so as they need to rush to the next update before Xmas to be ready to annouce they are releasing the game (at least that is the feeling I have of what is happening)

Saying that brakes are not really needed is just silly really. The problem is the basic design choices made early on and the way NQ allowed players to go to extremes and are now taking that away. If brakes had worked "properly" from the start and had NQ designed the game in a way where you haul large volume/mass in space and then smaller mass on to planet surface things woudl have been very different.. For one we woudl have had way more space stations with player run markets and traffic there. NQ by their design focussed everything planetside and around their markets. But player run markets have been taken off the table long ago, space stations really serve little to no prupose and the game loops really mostly focus around Alioth still because outside of maybe mining (and for some pewpew), there is really no reason at all to leave the planet.

You mean you have not watched the last two NQ videos or paid attention over the past 18 months where pretty much every video has a reference to them having to cust cost and things being too expensive for them? The mining changes are brought in with one of the mentioned and direct drivers being the (financial) cost NQ incurs serverside on the current mechanic. I'd say NQ committing to just one weekend to test Demeter on PTS is another signal they can't afford to keep those servers running for longer. Demeter is a crucial update for NQ, not opening the PTS for a good amount of time, allowing the changes to be properly tested over some time makes no sense other than not havin the means to provide that .. I see no other explanation but feel free to offer one if you do.. Can NQ still deliver the game they set out to create? Of course they can but the chance of that really s not very high. I do still have some hope NQ will make a fool out of me and make me eat my words.. And I wil lhappily do so if that time comes. But I do prefer to take a position of logic and common sense, based on clear signals and events. --those who just dismiss anything I say outright may as well stop reasding here-- As you asked for "proof", here's my reasoning; Facts: NQ opening up the game to the public with "beta" last year was at least to a considerable extent driven by the need to start making money, JC said as much in the announcement. It was never the intention to go public until release (kickstarter/post kickstart campaign, backer pledges during (pre) alpha, every indication up to April last year) The main investor replaced JC as CEO, taking over NQ in March this year JC has since left the company entirely (as per a post by NQ-Pann) The last injection of capital was June 2019 (NQ announcement and crunchbase) NQ has a total investment of around 24M, including backer pledges, and has been running on that for about 7 years now. A simple calculation would show you (on an optimistic budget) NQ will need to generate about 350K a month to just pay the bills. Known factors: Office in Paris Office in Montreal Around 65 staff that we know of from LinkedIN 24/7 fairly complex serverinfrastructure rented through AWS At least two PR/marketing companies we know of XSolla The offices are (mostly) rented desks so those cost may actually be lower currently, which may well have alowed NQ some serious savings. But just the employee salaries will gobble up the majority of the 350K I am going with here, salaries in the Paris and Montreal areas are considerable. There is no indication whatsoever that there was a new investment round or that one is coming. If it was/is, that would be a big positive and reassuring PR newitem to share, so silence here to me can only mean that here is none. A reasonable and simple calculation from the above would lead to NQ needing about 50-60K steady paid subs to just pay their bills, and I am just not seeing those numbers.. There is 41K tiles claimed on Alioth and from a conservative number of about 20K backers and their alts or invited players on beta keys they handed out, none of whom are paying a cent until release. The numbers are just not there. So yes, while there is no direct proof for any ofthis, the circumstantial evidence, the signals and straightup logic would lead to a reasonable assumption NQ currently has some severe financial limitations at least. Of course I can always be wrong, but I see no reason to believe I am.

I actually reinstalled PTS to check this update and can only agree with OP. This update will pretty much kill what's left of the game. To do anything interesting, you need territory, to own territory you need to put in a _lot_ of effort, to the extent there is not much time left for the fun part, just to keep it. I fear that due to financial limitations though, NQ will just go with this one weekend and push the update.

That would mean NQ understand fairly porecisely why some constructs would not be handled well by the meshing system. from the way it was worded, it soudn more like they have a general/broad idea and created a threshold which should catch any potential cases based on that. It would be great to get a bit more information on that as I see the reasoning fo rNQ but I'm not sure they are actually solving a problem here or more doing their usual carpet bombing.

I'd really like to be more optimistic about the final stretch to release which I am sure is being pushed, if not rushed, hard internally. My biggest concern is that everything seems to be focussed on saving cost and not on creating the best game possible with what's available. The very limited access to what was "sold" as a massive opportunity for all to test and provide feedback during the latest vlog. Facts are that it's one weekend, announced a day in advance with a single potential further test weekend (mentioned as "if needed"). so much for making an effort to get as much feedback as possible. Meanwhile, you can still sprint and get inside locked buildings/ships as you will get in before the frekkin door spawns in. over the past year not a single time has NQ given any sort of response to this rather major issue in game.

The big question for me here would be ho wthese changes will affect existing constructs. WIll these limitations be applied to these as well and what happens if they exceed the limitations? Maybe @NQ-Deckard can elaborate on that. I just fear we'll have a repeat of the stacked items fix.. going from "allowed" to "must be removed, not allowed" overnight. Also, what happens to designs using voxel tricks to get special slopes or curves, will those count towards these limitations and potentially go poof if they exceed those?

The whole territory taxation scheme kind of forces people to log back in if they want to have a chance of keeping what they have just in case the game gets back on track for them.. I guess the increase in logins will produce data which looks good on paper.. I assume Sanctuary will remain "tax free" and so I guess I'll just pack up my stuff and park it there.. Maybe @NQ-Deckard can confirm whether or not Sanctuary will remain as is and not require taxes to be paid on the one tile you have there.

Just one weekend of PTS and maybe a second if NQ thinks it's needed? Announced a day before the first session starts? That feels like NQ will go with the current patch unless something _really_ major pops up and then still only has one more weekend to test. I feel this may be the make or break patch for DU, and it feels like NQ is not really giving it time to perculate. But it will be interesteing to see what happens. I was considering reinstalling PTS for this to give the update a fair shake but this very limited access makes that impossible.. which is too bad.

This looks good "on paper" and makes me very cautiously optimistic for one of the unique aspects of the game. It remains to be seen how this plays out but it certainly is a positive, one of the first ones in a long time for me personally.

Does the music change to different tracks in the OST there when you do that or do you just keep the one short loop that is part of the login screen as is the normal way in which these kind of games handle that? But it's really not a big deal. So let's drop it..

Where is this music stored? SFX are there sure.. So are UI sound elements. Mu in gam emusic is not stored locally.. Feel free to show us otherwise. And I actually reinstalled to verify, just incase I misssed something.

It was always beta1 .. The roadmap at the time clearly labeled it as such

Adding an "apply points to current queue" button is hard.. It would make respec easy enough on a point reset to the pool if you can just drop talents in the queue and hit a button to apply points but.. that is very hard to program indeed.. /s

Streaming music costs money..

The engines you see on the white ship on the loading screen were pre-pre alpha and ever in game. I seriously doubt we wil see much more change as NQ does not have the funding to do that. all they can do now is release and hope for the best.. it's a sink or swim situation for them. TW is going to be pushed beyond release as will any of the features mentioned a yeear ago which have not yet been implemeneted. The name of the next update (after Demeter) will be... RELEASE

XSolla is linked to one of their investors and I can only assume using them (and be bound to them) was part of the investment deal.

I have no doubt schematics were always going to come in but yes, they were rushed following the "database rework" shortly after beta launch to control cost for NQ more than anything else. The reasoning given for them at the time was so off the cuff and made very little sense. NQ has practically just been on a cost cutting rampage since beta and they are not done. It's all about the survival of NQ and not about building a proper game anymore and has not been for a year or so now and they are not even hiding it.

True, had NQ looked at the activity of pre beta backers during (pre)alpha and translated this activity to the number of players they expected to need to have a viable revenuestream, it should have been fairly clear upfront what the cost would be. That this apparently never happened and NQ got caught entirely by surprise on how expensive running the servers became just shows that they never had a long term strategy and only thought short term. This is really no surprise to many backers as the signs were there very early on, it also seems that even a year into this mess, NQ still has not worked out such a long term starategy. Although, at this time it may just be too late to make those changes.

Not the first time NQ carpet bombs an issue to cover it up instead of actually fixing it or create solutions. Many initial incentives have been undone, many delayed responses now just are put in place with no regard for the created exceptions and allowances. The game has become pretty much a spreadsheet simulator where everything is done by playing a numbers game, not by introducting actual gameplay mechanics. There is no money to do that, changing numbers in the database through another UI panel is the easiest and cheapest option. NQ seems to not have the time, ability or resources to actually create solutions. Just slapping taxes on anything is really a cop out. Designing proper solutions would have required groundwork early on, something NQ choose to not do despite many suggestions and ideas offered by the comunity going back several years.

That is semantics really. It's $7/month with a minimum of 3 months. A monthly sub at $7 would probably be too costly in fees which is another reason why it was a bad idea to set the subsciption this low. The whole 3 month minimum is just another one of those weird choices NQ has made.. just opening up on $10-12 per month would have been fine. It woudl have also offered a possibility of making mult moth subs more attractive by offereing a bit more of a discount $12 per month, 3 months $33, 6 months $60 and 12 months $99 would have been fine and might have seen quite a few yearly subs being taken.. It's all speculative obviously but from where I stand it would have been very possible. in fact if and when DU gets to release those number could still work.

There is always a chance, yes. IMO one of the bigger mistakes was the $7 subscription. In poker it is often the case that people overbet to get information where betting/risking less would have yielded the same result. Here I believe the opposite is actually true. NQ may have thought that going with $7/month would bring in more players while in fact, the offset would not be as massive and it's likely they would have seen the same numbers going with $10 which would in turn have given them nearly 45% more revenue on subsciptions. not having the shop ready shortly after start of "beta" and only now starting their referral program is another missed opportunity. It is IMO not unreasonable to assume that even at $15 the revenue would have been higher overall as that was the amount they pretty much advertised up to the moment they announced the $7 price which is really silly low. It seems a typical choice made by someone who really does/did not understand the scaling of those numbers. Many of the pre "beta" backers have left by now so the fact they pretty much cut the value of the backer pledges by 50% due to this decision became irrelevant. I have well over 4 years of free playtime in DAC coming so yeah, I fulle expect my available DAC will outlast the game. So yes, there is a chance, but at $7 I really do not see how NQ will be able to generate enough money to sustain their operating cost as they will not be able to attract enough of a playerbase to get there, let alone continue their development. They are already on a very small staffing base and there is no indication that any of the positions that really only cost money are being reconsidered. A quick scan of the employee list on LinkedIN shows that the majority are in middle/high level and that is where the biggest expense is (in salaries). The pandemic may actually have been a blessing for NQ as with people working from home and their "offices" being rented desks (and not owned office space) in both locations, the saving on that may well have kept them afloat for a bit longer. Not owning their own server infrastructure is also part of what is doing them in right now. At leeast, that is what I expect and take away from the comments to that effect during the two latest podcasts.

As NQ does not say anything about where they actually are as a company, we can only go on what we see happen and do know. Here's my POV; NQ is likely out of money, there is no indication whatsoever that they have received additional funding from the investors or have found new investors. making such announcement would boast the reputation and viability of the company, keeping that quiet woudl be counter productive. So not seeing a single announcement on the financial situation of the company since the one back in June 2019 is really far more telling that the fanboys and probably NQ themselves would like to deny it is. The changes seen currently indicate that severe compromises and changes were required to even stay alive. It is IMO not unlikely that there will be a "Hail Mary" release coming sooner than expected and certainly not with a game that is complete or ready. The excuse will be that "an MMO is never done". That the release is with a feeature set not even close to what was pretty much committed to earlier will be ignored, as will the fact several game mechanics that would have been in before "release" will now be pushed out or have been pulled entirely. NQ runs two offices in very expensive locations, they employ maybe 80 people at this point, many of which are "senior" and/or mangement and will need to be paid a matching salary. Many of the bottom end has already been eliminated (like outsourced support) or are being cut (server operations), all we see and really all we hear is about actions designed to cut cost. NQ will go for the hope that a release will bring enough new subscribers to survive. I personally do not think they will be able to make that happen as basic and modest estimations would come out at a monthly operating cost of maybe (a very optimistic) 250-300K. That's 45-50K paying subs every month and they'll need to get more to continue development. It's a simple matter of money, will they be able to secure enough revenue to keep going? I expect the answer, unfortunately, is no. As a compare, CCP has about 320K unique paying and active accounts, their revenue from subs and store is roughly 5M a month. NQ only has one possible revenue stream right now and that's subscriptions. Knowing the massive exodus of players over the last year and seeing the number of claimed tiles on Sanctuary (currently 41K), even if you take into account a good many will not have claimed one for their alts, the paying playerbase is just not there to sustain the running cost for NQ. I'd love to see NQ prove me wrong, but the numbers just do not add up. And that is a real shame as the promise and potential of Dual Universe remains immense if it was in the hands of a company with a sustainable revenue stream.

So besides this announcement ending up on page THREE in the announcement section due to the insane amount of pinned announcements (who's managing the forums these days, it seems NQ-Naerais has left us pretty much). Best part, the Discord link on the main web site front page is expired (quality content management again) From the looks of it, all references to "beta" being removed, NQ is starting to prepare for "Release".. Still on track for a "sink or swim" target there and will you push the update following "Demeter" as release? As NQ-Sesch, who seems to be pretty much in charge these days, said it would be a "few more months for beta" in the Q&A with Pann and Deckard, a "release" around the holidays this year would not surprise me. Not that it will make much of a difference, but there it is..

So,. what else is new /s