We’ve had some great discussions going right after the fifth alpha test launched, but now that it’s been live for a few weeks, the forum has become pretty quiet. We know that some of you are still playing and enjoying the game, and we’d like to learn more about what you’re currently up to. To those who already dropped out, we’d like to know why and when you quit and which changes or additions you’d all like to see in the next test.
That’s why we’ve set up a Twitch account to allow for more immediate communication sessions with all of you. We’d like do our first stream very soon to allow you guys to provide feedback on the current alpha and ask any questions you might have. So please, if you’re interested in showing up, let us know which of these dates works best for you:
Saturday, May 19th 4 pm CEST
Sunday, May 20th 6 pm CEST
Monday, May 21st 11 am CEST
0voters
I’ll post the definitive date here soon. Regardless of the exact day, @molp, @martin and I will be there. We’re looking forward to chatting with you soon!
It’s settled! Feel free to swing by, whether you’re a veteran tester or just now heard of the game, whether you’re actively playing or dropped out long ago. We want to know what you think and are ready to answer your questions.
The stream is now available online! The original on Twitch had a couple minutes of us setting it all up in the beginning, so we decided to edit it and re-upload it on Youtube:
The current test has the fundamentals of the game in it.
The next test will include: 1. Corporations, which can engage in both civil and military* group projects, 2. advanced space flight and 3. a heavily improved and extended material tree. (* the military component won’t be in the next test yet and will always remain optional)
We work on the game constantly, but we’re a small team and can’t make any promises regarding a concrete timeline. We don’t know when the next test, the beta, or Early Access will start.
The biggest game design challenges concern balancing, resource drains, and distribution of goods and money. Resource drains will include upkeep, depreciation of structures, and war.
The game’s universe can be extended in the future, possibly by collective player efforts.
Other than that, we had a bunch of more detailed questions. I can’t do an hour-long discussion justice here, so to everybody who missed the stream: Go check it out if you want to know more.
Thanks for posting this! I couldn’t arrange my schedule to be present as it happened.
I prefer Discord for communications, it is a thing I check frequently. I think that at some player population larger than current it will become more useful because of things like channels, pinned notices, search for user or text, image sharing etc.
What am I still doing in game? I am just trying out all the things that it is possible to do. I still want to start a base on a gas giant for example.
To those who are still playing, what are you up to in the game? What keeps you playing?
To those who dropped out, why did you stop? What would you like to see in the future that would’ve kept you around longer?
And: Which communication channels (Discord, forum, in-game, social media etc.) do you use to keep in touch with us?
I teamed up with another player and we set some goals. Haven’t reached them yet. So still playing.
I only use in-game chat, the website, and this forum to keep in touch. I have used discord in the past but I am not a fan. Same with streams and youtube. I much prefer to read a well-crafted post to a website or forum. Being “immediate” is much less important to me than well written, thorough and informational.
I’m currently building LLS because the only people who have currently gotten to LLS are teams who are only selling to their team members. So I basically built an entire 2nd industry just to build colonies.
What keeps you playing?
I’ve set a goal to provide all 3 markets with a surplus of every ore(refined) in the game at a reasonable price. When I complete my goal i’ll probably just maintain it and try to boost my profits(as well as help some newbs out)
To those who dropped out, why did you stop? What would you like to see in the future that would’ve kept you around longer?
Right now I think the largest problem with the game(beyond lack of content, bc that’s rather usless info imo) is corporate collusions. Its just rather demoralising to have a product that no one is buying and then watch as someone sells it for 1 ingame money and then to watch those same people then demand absurdly high prices from everyone else and refuse to even compete with the market simply because they don’t need to. What’s the point of playing a market simulation if people don’t even bother with the market?
And: Which communication channels (Discord, forum, in-game, social media etc.) do you use to keep in touch with us?
I just use the forums to communicate with the devs, but I have used Discord in the past to chat to devs. As with ingame chat unless their is a specific place to message the devs I feel its better left for game related information.
I honestly wasn’t aware that corporate collusion was such a big issue, we’re going to look into that at some point. On the one hand, I agree that the market should be used properly in an economy sim, but players grouping up and collaborating is also something that will naturally occur and isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At the moment, however, there are so few players in the closed alpha that a couple players’ actions have a huge impact on the overall experience. I think that when a critical mass of players is reached at a later stage, this won’t be as big of an issue any more. In other games (like Eve Online, for example), guilds are huge, but the public market is still very active. Still, we’ll have to think about implementing mechanics that encourage public trading over private collusion, at least in some cases. Thanks for bringing it up!
I feel a bit offended here and forced to state some things.
Who says i’m selling LLS only to team members?
There are no buyoffers on the market, this means no demand for me and therefore no reason to produce more than i need for myself.
That’s another point for having private trades
And about absurdly high prices, i always thought my prices were somewhat reasonable and no rip-off, i never charged as much as other players did, who already stopped playing, plus i made a lot of calculations about my prices.
For example, i could have charged a lot more for DW and if you don’t like my prices at all, why don’t you fly to Promitor and buy there cheaper or take the effort, produce it yourself and then sell it.
Maybe you should read a bit about economics and supply and demand.
Because you think prices are absurdly high, doesn’t mean everyone else thinks this too, tell you what, my stuff gets sold and i don’t have unlimited production capacity, so my prices depends on demand and what purpose the stuff serves, i see no point in giving away building materials for free and supporting future competitors.
Did you ever asked yourself, why those players don’t need to compete with the market, maybe they’ve done something right in the past and now are wealthy enough for not needing to.
And speaking of prices, what are about absurdly low prices of buyoffers, where no one sane will sell for and are only there to annoy other players.
All i see here is envy, why is it my fault having a monopoly on some materials?
It took me a lot of effort and passion to build everything and now i’m just reaping what i sow.
And i also think i should answer the three questions, because i’m already here and missed the livestream.
I’m secretly working on getting my business partner independent from me, so i can quit playing, but don’t tell him.
This means i drop a cubic shitton of stuff on him and let him build all the colonys, i only have a little colony on Montem, for gases and some farms/FPs, because i almost got no space left on Vallis.
I don’t want to let my business partner down and i still have to establish that gold colony, to get people just more jealous, than they already are.
I stopped by in Discord a couple of times, but i see no point in having a third possibility besides in-game chat and the forums, which i use quite regularly.
Second of all, please take it down a notch. Nobody called you out specifically. As I stated before, it makes sense for players to group up and help each other directly, and it’s not something we’re going to make harder in general. On the contrary, Corporations will be a very official way to do it. However, as you said yourself, private trades are essential to that, so we don’t have those weirdly over- or underpriced offers on the market.
As for the different perceptions of prices: That as well should regulate itself with more players in the game. Right now, demand for products can be as little as 0 or 1, which means that there is little orientation (apart from calculations, like @Prosac said) on how to set prices. Plus, with few players in the game, supply and demand flip-flop a lot more than they would in a big, slow-moving economy.
The bottom line is: Collaboration is good, both inside groups as well as between those groups. With a small market and a small player count, who works with whom has a bigger impact than it will down the line.
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