Dark Orbit Staff... are you still there? ...hello?

Dear Dark Orbit.

I have tried to log into game today but I can't so I decided to post this thread asking some questions. I am a player of about 4-5 years now and I have invested over 2,000 into my account and I would like to know a bit more information before I make my decision to continue to invest in the game.

I did put up with the painfully slow responce of the bot issue and I decided to stop playing when the boxing rates were decreased while they claimed to have "increased" them. I don't trust Dark Orbit staff to follow through on there promises, as time after time they seem to not be so forward with there true intentions.

My question is what is being done to encourage new players?

I see many new smaller ships but they seem to never be able to advance considering the extreme level of Uridium needed and the constant harrassment of FE ships that hit so much hit points they destroy there ship in a few seconds. I seen a YouTube video stating a plan to bring in new players but can you please explain the efforts that are in the plan?

Is the New auction system working as you planned?

Every hour I see so often Goli ships selling for under 100,000 credits! With a ship price of 40,000 URI. Wouldn't it be a better idea to bring the price down to say 5,000-10,000 URI and switch the Goli to daily auction? Same thing with many of old chips such as the S04 CPU chip with a price tag of a massive 250,000 URI price tag I also see it going for under 1 Million credits as well too. Granted these issue are mainly due to lack of players but shouldn't the prices of chips all the old players already have be dropped to allow new users to be able to catchup faster?
Which seems to be the logic with allowing people to bid on same designs I paid over $100 for when they were first released. I do think giving out one a week is a fair way to allow free players and new players to catchup to the rest of the pack.

Why is there such a massive lack of communication with staff from Dark Orbit/Big Point? How many people work on Dark Orbit full time? (not including players who help with forum mod's and chat mod's)

It seems like at time nobody is at the helm driving the ship. Granted there are many servers so my playing experience may be unique due to the small amount of players on USA East 1 server. However I would really like to know what is the plan for the future and to know more about the game. Is there a way to contact Big Point more directly to get more answers about the future stability and plans for the game?

Does Big Point have a employee model that staff change focus from game to game creating improvements while not focusing on another game until new updates are planned? It seems as if for long periods of time nobody is in charge of the game except during time when new updates are happening.

How important is Dark Orbit to Big Point?

Are there other games that have that are much more higher in player usage and there for needs to be focused on more? Would you like to use this time to encourage player to migrate to that game instead?

 

Very good thoughtful questions. I will be looking to see what the responses are.

 

I hope that when they reset it this time, it will start at 1pm to 2pm server time and not 11am..

 

(To the thread starter)
I agree with your questions totally, the internet is very untrustworthy these days with a number of ways to get the consumers money. The questions raised are factual, formal and therefore should be addressed. Moreover, (CM) keep this thread open until all the matters are resolved please?
On the other hand, (With no disrespect to the team) recently I have noticed queries dealt with in an obscure, bias manner.
Okay, we have server issues, but like you have stated; things are way to outdated now and the overhaul is past its sell by date (hence the DO Reloaded launch).
I can sum it up for everyone that cares to read;
Players want the game to become cheaper, user friendly and without technical issues e.t.c e.t.c.
I anticipate what is actually happening behind the scenes.
.

 

I agree with Saint, the biggest issue for people who enjoy this game is the lack of new or active players. I fly around maps sometimes for more than 10-15 minutes before I see anyone (not on a port). This used to be a fun PVP game, now its just a PvZero game.

But who would want to join a game where you have to spend $2000-5000 to have a competitive character. You could buy a game console and many new games and still have enough for a new tablet and many good apps (and MMPORGs) for that kind of cash, and never get stuck playing the same boring game of pounding NPCs or digging into your wallet to buy more Uri. Or you could buy a fishing boat.

Perhaps a server merger, as challenging as that might be to make fair, is a reasonable route to pursue. The lack of support, server maintenance, would also be enhanced with fewer servers. Seems like a pretty simple solution.

Tizzy[FFK]
USEast1

 

Love this post.I used to be a player on East 1 and quit back in 2010.Decided to start from scratch on East 2 just about a month ago,then realized server is dead..This is after I put good $1000 into it within 2 MMHs.Now I am on GA5 because server is so active.I can kill people with 8 drones and all lf3s with no problem.I hope your questions get answered and they actually merge east servers so we can have some fun.I love GA5 but that's not where I come from,so I hope you are HEARD.

~EvilWifey

 

I'm afraid, more players wont stay until all issues are resolved.

 

Hello,

As I have been involved here for a number of years now, I have seen (and share) many of the same concerns as you have stated here. I will address these to the best of my ability , but also keep in mind some of the questions you raise here can only be fully answered by the development team, who periodically release information in the dev blog and official announcements sections, or involve info which has not yet been made public.

My question is what is being done to encourage new players?

This has been a concern for some time, and is something that has been advanced more recently with "Re-loaded" campaign, and the various items/quests which are given to help new players begin. Also exposure in some gaming conventions,new events as well as advertising in different forms are being used to attract new players. It has always been the case that new players will be at a strategic disadvantage to older veteran players, but this is common for most games of this type (and has been the case since i was popped in x-1 in my first 5 mins of the game years ago). Lastly the new auction system, while not perfect, is better and does let new and older players alike acquire high level items for much less then normal which i really think is a benefit.

Is the New auction system working as you planned?

This is something I can only answer with my observations and opinions, but I really think it does help even though it could be made better. Many games only offer payment items or grinding items, and the chance to obtain high level items with credits ***in my opinion*** does not make them less valuable or take away from those who paid for them but does benefit everyone as a whole. The pricing in general could be adjusted better, and is something that is being looked into by support closely for future updates, and is one reason why it is moving slowly as they are concerned with the balance of helping lower spending/new players vs what the older players have already invested. Again ***in my opinion*** I do not feel offering expensive items which were formerly uri items in trade de-values them, as I feel you either pay to get them early and easily, or can choose to grind for them in-game and with some difficulty. I cannot speak for the dev team here, but from what I see it does help, but again can always be made better.

Why is there such a massive lack of communication with staff from Dark Orbit/Big Point? How many people work on Dark Orbit full time? (not including players who help with forum mod's and chat mod's)

That is difficult to answer, and depends on what you mean by communication. One of our duties as the moderator team is to be the go-between between the players and various dev team/supporters. One of the reasons for this is simply with a game this large, if they personally communicated on every server for the multitude of things needed then they would not be doing their own jobs of working and developing the game. Keep in mind their are something like 10 language teams, with over 50 servers (not exact but you get the idea) which all need addressed on a daily basis. We do make many of your concerns known in addition to passing along game issues and modding the chat/forums. Also much of the info requested cannot be given out, as they do keep the future additions pretty close for a number of reasons. I am hopeful however, that in the near future you will see an increase in the direct communications, and a better flow of information in general as we have brought this very subject to the dev team in hopes of improving the communication as much as it can be. There are no secret or other ways to contact support besides the support emails, and getting future info will always be difficult until its released as I said above.

Honestly I'm not sure how many people work on DO full time, youd have to go to the office i suppose to find out.

Does Big Point have a employee model that staff change focus from game to game creating improvements while not focusing on another game until new updates are planned? It seems as if for long periods of time nobody is in charge of the game except during time when new updates are happening.

To my knowledge each game has its own team of devs and support staff. There are periods, as with any team, where the leadership changes for different reasons, but those in the current roles mainly focus on one game. I could be wrong here to a point as I do not personally know the devs daily habits lol, but this is what I observe from my dealing with the supporters I have. As I mentioned above, there are plans to have some better communication with the dev team, and hopefully get to know them better, but I cannot say exactly when/how this will be implemented.

How important is Dark Orbit to Big Point?

Again I do not personally know or live in the Bigppoint HQ or deal with other games, but I do know it is very important to Bigpoint, as it is one of the largest and most diverse games, and if you look at the total number of players and mods at all levels across all languages, it really is a large community compared to many others.


Are there other games that have that are much more higher in player usage and there for needs to be focused on more? Would you like to use this time to encourage player to migrate to that game instead?

As above, from what I have seen, DO is one of the larger games with a high number of players. I do not think either that is a direct relationship to focusing on a game, as each game has its own team who look after it and while the larger the game, naturally the more people who would be needed to run it, I wouldnt say a smaller game would be less focused on, it would just be by a smaller team (hope that makes sense, it did when I thought about it but maybe could have been worded better, cant win them all). I do think they want to make each game regardless of size be the best it can be, so I feel they are all worked on well, keeping in mind were all human and not perfect lol.

Would a "bigger" game be better then a smaller one? That would be up to each individual and their particular tastes. I myself have played a number of online games ( and other BP games), and while all have merits DO is my favorite, but that is just me. That question could go many ways depending on who you ask lol, but I would not encourage anyone to do anything. Find what you like and enjoy it wherever it is, for what it is, and have fun. Hopefully its DO tho

I realize this will probably not relieve you much (if at all) but I hope the time I took to address some of this at least helps a bit. I will conclude by saying after a long time here, and seeing good and bad, I do think efforts are being made to address a lot of the things that have concerned many of us. It will not happen overnight, but I am hopeful. Time will tell, but do know many of us here care a great deal about you as a community, and this game and are working to make it the best it can be.

Best regards,

Hyp