Any fun speculation on the potential content of the August 16th, 2022 livestream?

[Pleione]

Pure speculation but:

1. I expect, would like to demand, at least an announcement of when an actual date for the wipe is going to happen
2. Tied to (1):  Perhaps an actually announcement of the PTS server being reset for launch testing
3. A statement that there will be zero new features released prior to launch - all effort is currently focused on bug reduction and production readiness - this, of course, is weak, since they tend to fix "bugs/gameplay issues" with feature releases. (e.g. rework of mining, rework of combat, rework of honeycombs, etc.)
4. I have heard some are speculating that at release, DU will be sold to a 3rd party, and this will be announced.  Sad, but oddly elated, but this potential.
5. Fear they will announce major new features, like player driven markets, with little if any PTS testing, or perhaps yet another rework of PVP

 

Cheers!  Let the guesswork begin in the spirit of fun!

[Zeddrick]

You'd think it would be to talk about the launch (+ date).  But NQ have a longstanding habit of totally ignoring the elephant in the room and talking instead about something completely different while pretending that they are communicating helpfully.  See the last 12 episodes of 'ask Aphelia' for example.

 

I'm going with an announcement about pets.

[Ghangi]

My guess would be release date along with what's expected to be included in the launch update. Plus a loose idea of what they plan to work on for the releases after that in no particular order.

[Zarcata]

All I really want to know is the release date.
But I can imagine that everything that was already in the forum will be retold and perhaps a few questions that were unclear in the forum will be asked.
At the moment I don't expect anything, then you can't be disappointed.

[Gillwin]

I am sure they will  answer all the important questions like:

 

how many plants have been placed?

how many chairs have been placed?

and how many tables?

 

you know all the things people really want to know.

 

[huschhusch]

English (Translator used)

I think NQ announces that the T-shirts have been sent out. Nothing else.

 

Quote

 

German (original)

Ich denke NQ gibt bekannt das die T-Shirt verschickt wurden. Sonst nichts.

(natürlich alle XXS, weil nie die Größe abgefragt wurde) 

 

Die Waldfee
 

[le_souriceau]

20 hours ago, Pleione said:

1. I have heard some are speculating that at release, DU will be sold to a 3rd party, and this will be announced.  Sad, but oddly elated, but this potential.

 

I doubt it.

 

Problem is, that people who may be genuinly interested in DU (all kind of Metaverse con artist clowns) do not have such money to waste, they need them to steal after. 

 

And for people with money (larger companies) DU is quite toxic asset -- endless delays, questionable state of game, small player base, bad rep in industry.  So I doubt anyone (like Ubisoft) will dare to be entangled with niche, problematic and financially risky project.

 

So probably some sort of ROI will be achieved with ultra agressive "burst" monetization for first year after release, with maximizing new players, squeezing as much alts as possible for as long subs as possible, all kind of micro cosmetics etc. After tiping point they can go typical MMO rip "oops". With great sadness we inform you that...

[Candyman]

They hired Jonathan Blow and Casey Moraturi

[cerveau]

you dont do special announcements to announce mundane things like - changes to Lua or mining units.

 

The special announcement means only one thing, they are announcing the launch date.

 

And ill go further it will be VERY soon, sooner then you think. if i had to put money on it id say 4 to 8 weeks away, maybe less

[Thunderchrome]

1 hour ago, PopsiclePete said:

My hope:

Announcement of a buyout of NQ by someone like Ubisoft

or
a new VC investment round of 40 -ish million (while it may seem unlikely at first sight, I'd not exclude this one)

or

a publisher like Coffeestain steps in (their experience woudl be invaluable)

 

 

My fear:

"NFS/blockchain will be the future and Novaquark is putting DU at the forefront of this innovation"

 

 

My expectation:

"DU will launch 1st September"

Steam and Epic availability

 

 

Honorable mention:

Deal with Shadow

ubisoft? one of the worst publishers in the entire gaming world?

[Pleione]

9 hours ago, Niemand said:

ubisoft? one of the worst publishers in the entire gaming world?

Worse than NQ?  Wouldn't anything be a step up?  (Shy of someone buying it just to milk a few dollars before shutdown)

[Thunderchrome]

59 minutes ago, Pleione said:

Worse than NQ?  Wouldn't anything be a step up?  (Shy of someone buying it just to milk a few dollars before shutdown)

if you look it that way... but then NQ has to make some changes. new (fake) genders need to be added. the game will need persons of color and no white ppl. also a much better chatfilter so nobody and their grandma or any alien lifeform can be offended. too much work for NQ. i forgot the most important change: homosexuality needs to be promoted everywhere in the game because thats whats ubisoft is all about today.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Niemand

[Pleione]

13 minutes ago, Niemand said:

if you look it that way... but then NQ has to make some changes. new (fake) genders need to be added. the game will need persons of color and no white ppl. also a much better chatfilter so nobody and their grandma or any alien lifeform can be offended. too much work for NQ. i forgot the most important change: homosexuality needs to be promoted everywhere in the game because thats whats ubisoft is all about today.

Off topic, but sounded like you were describing Netflix...

[Thunderchrome]

yeah they are all the same now. sorry for being offtopic

[Koffye]

i think we will see cat gifs

[NQ-Nyota]

I predict there will be a livestream.

 

(Hoping many of you will be watching it too!)

[Pleione]

2 hours ago, PopsiclePete said:

In another response I wrote just now a very possible option jumped into my mind. The cash shop may well get announced.

Interesting.  Thinking cosmetic only or a jump to pure Pay-to-Win (aka Black Desert Online)?

 

Maybe all that thorium is now available, via RNG of course, in magic chest...

[Thunderchrome]

2 hours ago, PopsiclePete said:

In another response I wrote just now a very possible option jumped into my mind. The cash shop may well get announced.

i prefer shop + no sub. i would even pay full price (60$) just to not pay a sub.

[Shredder]

1 hour ago, Niemand said:

i prefer shop + no sub. i would even pay full price (60$) just to not pay a sub.

If there’s no sub, then there’s no guarantee of further content, without further content the game dies.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Shredder

[NotReally ApheIia]

6 hours ago, Shredder said:

If there’s no sub, then there’s no guarantee of further content, without further content the game dies.

Which is why every major MMO has moved towards FTP + Monetization like cash shops. The subscription model is not dead, but evolved to be sold on top of offering free to play options(Game passes for example, like a sub, but not- and tied to content releases for a game)

 

Though at this point it may be a better play to hard sell people on a year of subscription time that renews, so if/when they stop playing the game they'll probably forget about it and we can profit from players that arn't playing! It's a win-win! No need to develop a game, just sell falsehoods in marketing to get people on that subscription train that they'll forget about for a few years.

One of these models works when a game has content that draws people in and keeps them playing, monetizing their time investment into a game that is fun for them to play. The other model is predatory and prays on peoples perceptions, and doesn't require a fun game to make money long-term, arguably. 

[Zarcata]

19 hours ago, NQ-Nyota said:

I predict there will be a livestream.

 

(Hoping many of you will be watching it too!)

It will certainly be seen by many, and there are also high expectations, especially for information about the wipe and a release. For many, it is probably the most important stream of recent times, which will also decide whether a player will continue to play or disappear. I therefore very much hope that NQ has made more of an effort this time.

[Thunderchrome]

8 hours ago, Shredder said:

If there’s no sub, then there’s no guarantee of further content, without further content the game dies.

yeah no. sub based mmos are not the future and it doesnt fit the goal of DU. DU needs alot more players to feel alive again and they will NOT come with a sub based model. F2P + cashshop is a much better option for this super niche game. yes alot of ppl will leave quickly after release again because they realise that DU is not finished at all but some will come back later after a few updates. nobody likes to pay just to login for 5mins to see what changed. eve and wow are dieing dinosaurs and DU is a fly compared to these two.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Niemand

[Zarcata]

Abo games are my favourite, you have an overview of your costs and can enjoy the game without any problems. Even such alleged titles as TESo have the subscription itself, because without the subscription it is considerably more difficult to play, I only say the bag for resources.
WoW isn't a dying dinosaur either, supposedly it's been dying since day one. Eve would be lucky if it ever got to the player count that WoW once managed. The problem, players there are bored because there is no innovation anymore. That's why players are spread out over so many games. The problem with f2p is and remains an enormous risk for the developer, because he cannot foresee how many players will buy what in the shop, one mistake and a large player base is gone from the game and the house of cards immediately collapses - the best example was Archeage. Because of the lack of players, more and more cuts had to be made, a cycle that only works in one direction. The subscription is much better, especially since you have better planning security with 6-12 month subscriptions. Even if the customer for the annual pass is gone after a month, the money has already been collected. If a good neutral shop also comes in, there's extra financing money.

At the moment, DualUniverse as an f2p would simply mean death. If NQ were to reveal something like that, you'd know how bad it is. no one would invest any more, except for a few extreme fanboys who would stay until the server was shut down anyway.

[Thunderchrome]

"Abo games are my favourite, you have an overview of your costs and can enjoy the game without any problems."

 

you can have that with F2P aswell, what a stupid comment

 

"WoW isn't a dying dinosaur either"

 

yes it is, every statistic shows that and blizzard started to hide the sub numbers because they are horrible

 

The problem with f2p is and remains an enormous risk for the developer, because he cannot foresee how many players will buy what in the shop, one mistake and a large player base is gone from the game and the house of cards immediately collapses

 

yeah one mistake and a large player base is gone from the game you mean like patch 0.23 in DU? another stupid comment

 

Even if the customer for the annual pass is gone after a month, the money has already been collected.

 

sounds almost like a scam/cashgrab strategy. im not surprised that you like that kind of strategy

 

At the moment, DualUniverse as an f2p would simply mean death.

 

who says that, you? laughable. i tell you what death means: extreme low player numbers like the game has for a year now. NQ talked alot about new players in their wipe video and i highly doubt that alot of new ppl will sub for game that has not a good reputation and is unfinished.

[Pleione]

10 hours ago, Shredder said:

If there’s no sub, then there’s no guarantee of further content, without further content the game dies.

 

I disagree.  Plenty of games out there, like Space Engineers, that have survived without subs.  They add cosmetic things from time to time, and price them so low people buy them just to support the game (like $3 "packs").  Rimworld is another example.  Admittedly, neither is an MMO, but both are well known games.

 

On the other hand, I fully support something like a $15/month sub.  On the other, other hand, asking people to sub for 13 months is a stretch and clearly just a "We need cash NOW" thing.  Also, if I sub, they bloody well better not offer a cash shop with anything other than cosmetic items.