I always see threads about the number of players in this game, and it is low right now.

People talk about how when this game is advertised, we'll see a lot more. But it doesn't change that right now we're paying for a population density of 0.

And that's the big problem, there are enough players right now to make this game interesting, but we're spread so thin.

When making the universe smaller was suggested in the past, the initial response was "NO, what about when we have more players?"

Well, that's what the expansion patch is for. We should be so pressurized by the time it comes out that we'll spread and explore just to get away from eachother.

But that's not the way its looking right now.

We need to cut at least half of the systems right now, and connect the remaining ones in interesting ways. We shoul have 3-4 nation sectors, all interconnected, none of this linear crap, and grey space should be a web, something you could wander into and get lost.

There's nothing wrong with having too high a density right now, we can always make the universe larger, but we can't arbitrarily make the playerbase do the same.

Please devs, leave the large universe for expansion.

Shape,

with all respect, but I do not agree. The universe is great fun as it is now. Lets not mess with it. The fact is that many people are not online because they are hoping for some bigger game changes.

I for one come on once in a while and I keep hoping for updates. A lot of players are at high levels, nothing to look forward for even higher levels, nothing unknown to explore, nothing to conquer or fight for, money easy to come by etc.

I would like to see rare items, unique items, and the things the devs have talked about such as sectors to be conquered and larger battlestar type ships to give guilds something to do and fight for. The universe at the moment is non interactive in a large way. I still consider myself a beta tester for a long time to come and I fully support what the devs are doing. You guys have my support.

I agree that there are way too few players online though, but I believe that is because partly they think it isnt that interesting for higher level players in the VO universe. Once you are done leveling up somewhat you like to do more advanced things, Pvp is one of them. Even pirates found out that shooting noobs isnt fun.

Instead of making it smaller I would make the universe "larger" and "deeper" and give the paying users more to do, like explore unknown areas/sectors, make them find wormholes, etc etc lots of new things that can be implemented easier it seems.
Man, I would love to set up our guild with a large ship and head to some dark sector to find new stuff, or go attack a pirate guild station sector and take it over. I hear of things in the past like capture the flag that I never witnessed.

Lt. M. Duncan

I'm all for depth, but lets have a better structured depth, most of the expanse we have right now is unused and just serves as a time sink.

We need to get people together, and that means eliminating a lot of time sinks in place, make it easy to meet other people. Apart from the channel 100 banter we have now, which tends to prevent people from coming in contact.

Its too lonely, and I, for one, don't want to wait another 6 months till we start seeing a trickle of players in, when we're seeing a trickle of players out right now for these very reasons.

Well, the original message was a bad idea, so I'm changing it to something more "constructive!" Hurrah me!

Mining is to blame. Really! There are a lot more people on all the time than most people know, it's just that most of them are mining or running the trade missions needed to feed the gaping maw of the faction system (which, by the way, happens to be the second most disagreeable thing about the game! Wee!)

I for one would much rather see a smaller universe with more detailed sectors (such as i've heard from the days of alpha) rather than a large universe, not as detailed, with a smaller playerbase.

One of the reasons I rarely ever do Border Patrol is because it takes so incredibly long to get there. And it's not like the trip is forcing me to see more of the universe, it's the same old stuff. Wh in, go to next wh, see a few trader bots, wh out. All the way to deneb. The trip just isn't worth it right now.

If the playerbase became more compact, player interaction would increase making things a whole lot more interesting.

I too would support a smaller universe.

For RP reasons maybe have some WH just randomly close, and a few others randomly open due to Hive interference.

I'm with shape. I'll post more extensively later...

I've been wishing for this for a while, actually.

Yea make it all smaller.
And get rid of the background...
Cause it gets all pixelated when you zoom in and that's annoying.
And yes I know I can turn it off but then there's no stars.
We should get an option to put some white specs as the background cause right now it looks kinda fake.
I mean there's no DARK!
NO DARKNESS TO SPACE!
WHAT GIVES?!??!?!
ARE THERE NEBULAE'S EVERYWHERE?!@??!?!

I'm against shrinking the universe.

Shrinking the universe can happen one of two ways.

1) It actually shrinks... OMG! BLUE SHIFT!!!

2) The playerbase all congregates it a certain area... this pretty much happens already... most higher levels are in grey space... and by higher level... I mean 4/4/4... kids who aren't n00bs anymore.

-Zoras

I'd like to see more shortcuts...instead of basicly a circle with a line across it, make it more of a blob, or at least a circle with a cross in it...more crossroads i think will increase player interaction...

Please don't shrink the universe!

--Mar Ani and Papasan Mani Mansfield.

Well, let me pose something to the "don't shrink the universe" people.

How many sectors do you generally traffic? I doubt you use even a fraction of this universe.

I don't want this to be permanent, like I said, that's what the expansion patch is for. But I think the devs could do a lot better with fewer systems, rather than spreading themselves out on trying to keep people interested all across the map.

I don't *want* to use a significant fraction of the universe. Space is big. You may think it's a long way down the street to the corner drugstore, but that's just peanuts to space. If I'm regularly traveling to a large percentage or the locations in the game universe, then it really doesn't feel like much of a universe.

Leseee... overall, once a week, I visit every sector in the game at least once. i'll do a single 10 to 13-jump trip, and then hop sector to sector buying and selling. About the only sector I only visit to pass through is Sedina, and that's mostly because sticking around there is inviting some dumb PvPer to take shots at my moth.

I LIKE the feeling of emptiness the game offers, I LIKE drifting in the vast expanseness of a sector with nary a soul in it. I would really HATE it if the universe got shrunk and suddenly there was people everywhere. Please leave the Universe as it is.

As far as the established players are concerned, I think a shrink in the overall dimensions of the universe would help create a more "populated" space.

But!

I think that for new players coming in, the immensity of the universe is one of the draws. I know when I started, I took one look at the map and was wowed.

I'm neither for nor against. Just an observation. Most of the people I want to meet I do meet.

The one thing I do think should happen is the proverbial fog... no, must not derail thread......

eh, the universe is big. making it smaller will draw people together. yeah. so what?

if you want to spank a horse, spank the lack of content. no matter how small the universe is, we need *something* to do in that universe. clustering up people won't help, since if people *wanted* to hang out together, they easily could today. chat on 100, agree to meet. the reason people don't is that people are looking for different treats and don't really want to participate in PvP or what-have-you not. clustering people will help PvP, but very little else. yeah, we lack content, but that's slowly getting there.

/me spanks the content horse.

Once you decide to meet people I don't think that there is a problem finding others. I mean, all you have to do is complete the tutorial, tool around a little bit in the start system, and then make your way around elsewhere.

I understand you point Shape and the points made by others. But some of don't want to intereact with other players all the time.

And like others have said players know where to go to find players if they do want to intereact.

Making the universe smaller seems like a step back. i for one think the universe should stay the same.

PLus, keeping the universe the SAME is less work than taking the time to downsize it right now.

Jex: wha.. take out the skybox? No way! Waylon's skybox art rules! Plus it's so cool to watch the position of the suns and planets change according to your location in the system.

I'm all for shrinking the universe, provided it's not too much work and it can be easily re-expanded.

My recommendation would be:
Serco: 3 systems
Itani: 3 systems
UIT: 2 systems
Grey: 4 systems

12 in all. I'm against making everything interconnected. It goes against the backstory and reduces nation border defensibility.