Open letter to NQ

[NAMECAPS]

I wanted to thank Novaquark, I think the whole team has managed to create something truly unique. Challenging to describe to my friends, difficult to even categorize for all it's ambition. In an ever-growing sea of independant sandbox/survival games, anybody who gives it a fair shot will see it stands on it's own. Is it lacking in some areas compared to other titles? Sure, but it's still in development, with a lot of the foundation not even mixed up yet, much less cemented - and the plot they've chosen for the whole place is in a different world anyways.

 

That foundation is what I wanted to talk about. What I feel sets DU apart from every other title is it's ability to balance on the fine line between quality and quantity, and how every feature of the game focuses on player freedoms.

 

I see a lot of cynicism directed at NQ and cries for "more, more!" in the NDA forums, and while I'm guilty too of being  impatient or impulsive about stuff I'm passionate about, I want NQ to see this and know that even now, as a skeletal test-bed, the canvas they've woven for all of us to leave a brushstroke on (or tear in ) is monumental.

 

Anybody who plays games as a hobby has come across one or two games that featured some mechanic that enthralled them, a unique and unforgettable facet that outshines ANY competitors for the time. Half-Life 2's gravity gun and facial animations. Shadow of Colossus' climbing of monolithic, LIVE monsters. Saint's Row 3's "Streets of Rage" parody level where your comically busty and topless protagonist has suddenly become every 80s kid's bouncy, pixelated dream game, no cheat code or microtransaction necessary. Enthralling ideas made manifest by visionary producers and driven, talented developers.

 

For me, the ability to manually mold a shape, color it, fill it, hollow it, refine it, equip it, animate it, tune it, adapt it to different roles, change it up in an instant, make it mine and actually climb inside and pilot the damn thing, then choose my own adventures with friends in real time (and soon lay waste to anybody who thinks they're BETTA THAN US) is the blinding light that, while surely catering to some smaller, possibly niche tastes and demographics, is just so f#$*@n' brilliant that I haven't even finished Red Dead Redemption yet. Whack, right? 

 

A lot of us know what it's like to be drawn to original, ambitious products only to be let down when they fail to live up to their own expectations. Doom 3, No Man's Sky, Duke Nukem Forever...that time your younger sister offered to make tacos for dinner but didn't say it'd be with tofu-based beef substitute seared in a hot pan of water instead of oil...DU is not one of those stinky fermented waterlogged tacos. It is a steaming hot, well-seasoned pile of deliciousness towering in a fresh, crisp shell, just missing all the veggies, sour cream and cheese on top. One might think that, "what's the point of eating it if it's only half-done? You can't compare the two."

 

Oh, but I can, because through a haze of carnival fumes I smell what NQ's cooking and it's drawn me by the nose like a cartoon. I dip a finger in that simmering sauce and lick it so homoerotically  clean that China censors me across the continent. Even incomplete, I know that mofo is tastier than anything else for miles - because of the time, care and refusal to compromise for lesser ingredients all bringing out the best in the foundations of that tac--er, product.

 

Do y'all want another Ark? I don't think so. There's a perfect example of quantity over quality. New content always available, but the infrastructure (virtual AND physical) is worse than games made a decade before it and the devs refuse to work on anything but new dinos and maps. It makes me appreciate the fact that while DU lacks any tameable wildlife or stuff trying to eat me whole, what it does have works well, and with lots more customization, ample room for personal touches and flair to set yourself apart with more than just clan numbers and force multipliers.

 

For all the involvement that NQ wants - and needs - from us, I feel sometimes that all our criticisms, while aiming to be constructive, can end up being so pervasive and numerous that it becomes a burden. I may just be another basement-dwelling dork with delusions of being a space cowboy, but from my perspective I can see that for every hour any backer or sponsor or grizzled, platinum-tiered Kickstarter donor has spent waiting for the next update, the next test, the next phase, Novaquark has spent three times as many hours and as much effort pouring their livelihoods into making imagination reality. For that, We thank you.

 

For all the freedoms you endeavor to give us, I think some of us can forget about them when voicing our thoughts & oppositions to what's been implemented (or is intended to be) and try to impose our own limitations on what should be. It seems like a raw deal to put real work, gruelling long hours into building such an open medium so many other people can freely create upon with such depth and jolly cooperation, while enduring endless opinion pieces you gotta wade through that only seem to impose barriers and boundaries or cry out for more features, more toys, more purpose when a player's found themselves floundering for something to do because somehow all of it still isn't enough.

 

I guess I just wanted to say that despite the long road ahead, you've already accomplished what no other studio of men and women have even conceived. My first exposure to DU, I just wasn't interested. Coming from primarily playing AAA competetive shooters, RPGs and the occasional racer or roguelike, minecraft in space didn't interest me, especially not a $60 alpha build with zero NPCs, zero guns and zero quests...but I DID think that building my own spaceship could be pretty cool, so I actually did a little research and what stuck out for me was the proof that the whole team was capable of putting their money where there mouth was, of aiming high AND hitting your marks with consistency. I didn't believe the single-shard system would work, much less in sync with everything else planned, but after nosing up and getting the starter craft over the treetops with some light modifications I felt accomplished, even more so after learning to land without busting my nose. Knowing that almost any of those blobs out on the horizon were exclusively player-built bases, and those shapes hovering miles over my head were their cruisers and carriers, and those billboards at the giant space banana were their outstretched hands, beckoning:

 

"Come build a new world with us" 

 

It's been enthralling, and while I can't wait for what's next, I respect the path NQ is taking and the pace at which they lead. Here's to you, the greatest thing to come out of France since Camembert or Gojira (the band, not the beast)!

 

[[BOO] Sylva]

Well said. 

[plmkoi]

My interpretation of this thread (correct me if I am wrong) is people being impatient with the development. If that is, the only thing I am going to add is that if people are impatient in regards to a game that is developing, it is time they put their time into something more productive. I remember when people were impatient for Trion's Rift and End of Nations when it came to testing and development of extra features that were half baked. Well one wasn't too successful post launch and the other was scrapped before many people can play the open beta. 

 

If people can wait for Star Citizen, I am sure we can be patient with DU.

[Lavayar]

Well said

 

Devs must make powerfull foundation for game world first. Put maximum effords in things that makes whole game world running. Cosmetics can be done later. No matter how players want them here and now.

[blazemonger]

2 hours ago, Lavayar said:

Devs must make powerfull foundation for game world first. Put maximum effords in things that makes whole game world running. Cosmetics can be done later. No matter how players want them here and now.

 

Very true statement