and it'll still be just as cool and unique as it was before, even if it's a different model and texture.

That part's not up to you, actually, and if more "exclusive" content is offered by GS in the future I know at least I will be remembering that what the ship actually looks like in terms of its model -- not its detail resolution, not how many color shades are included in its skin, but what its size, shape, stats, and number of wings are -- is not actually part of what will "always be in the game."

The idea that gamers don't know what a 'unique skin' is, versus a 'unique ship', is laughable... I can think of half a dozen games just off the top of my head that offer special skins in some exclusive or unlockable capacity... and call them skins without any confusion. If you try saying what you mean, we won't have these issues.

I have refrained from commenting about how mindboggingly stupid this concern with replacing functional and good looking content with better looking versions of the same thing is, given how far behind VO is in terms of actual content progress, because despite that thing on the first page looking pretty silly to me...I expected I'd never have to fly one if I wanted to fly a Vult. So I'm a bit grouchy to see someone talking out of both sides of their mouth to contradict that.

It's not like it was ever released as a 'unique ship' i.e. with different stats and properties, it shared the stats with the current vulture all along. Sounds to me like you're more pee'd off with the new ship design more than anything.

On the last point I have to agree. Surely we've made it clear that the problems are lack of end-game and lack of incentive to retain players. Graphical content is just early game impression stuff and it may be important for conversion but it feeds into the impression that the priorities are to churn new subs rather than actually build a community. Which surely isn't the case because then you'd do more marketing, right?

I don't know at this point. It's fine in principle to work on graphics alongside new game-play. But that's not what's happening is it.

I forbid you to change the Annie vult. I like it the way it is.

Old stuff needs replaced. Early conversions translate to end-game candidates. Outdated art creates a bad first impression. It has been stated that Curt is working on art only, these enhancements can be ongoing without detracting from end-game content creation.

change all the vults but the Annie. it isn't ugly or plain, a pink, yellow or white one looks stellar

On the last point I have to agree. Surely we've made it clear that the problems are lack of end-game and lack of incentive to retain players.

+1

New skins are all well and good but not important

new gameplay and NEW ships soon(TM) are important

my 2c

Old stuff needs replaced.

Not for exclusive, no longer obtainable ships that were promised to always be available to older players. And the fact that older models can easily be left as they are is proven by the retention of the EC-88 and Axia Wraith. Just leave the damn Anni vults as they are.

I want the new and improved Annivult.

Thank you.

Attempting to be as Zen as possible here..

So I'm a bit grouchy to see someone talking out of both sides of their mouth to contradict that.

I am NOT talking out of both sides of my mouth, or attempting to "spin" something. I did expect the vulture-replacement to be controversial, but I really DIDN'T expect this AE-skin-thing to be an issue, let alone over pedantic word choice.

The idea that gamers don't know what a 'unique skin' is, versus a 'unique ship', is laughable...

Really? I'm not laughing. You should see some of our support requests. Let alone our fascinating mobile reviews. I spend a lot of time on word choice with announcements like that, trying to consider people from other languages and regions. I really don't give a rats-ass what some other game does. Good for them.

More fun facts!

1) We cannot keep all old assets around forever. Game download size directly impacts new user acquisition and other business well-being (and we've actually been bitten badly on this already). Visual consistency is nice too. Yes, we've kept things around in the past. No, we're not going to do that as much in the future.

2) Curt cannot fix the game by himself. It's fine to complain about my overall priorities, but it's ridiculous to complain that we're releasing art when we have an available artist to.. make art. The guy has a lot to learn, I'm trying to make the game better and teach him at the same time. If he's going to help me with capship-stations and the zillion other assets, he's got a ways to go.

It's not like I sit around saying "everyone wants new gameplay changes, but instead we'll take a beloved ship and totally change it and piss people off! MUAHAHAH." I also don't sit around sticking my hand into a blender.

3) Stuff is going to change. You've all been asking for this for years, and despite the lack of recent evidence, it's my main goal. I'm building towards a period of rapid change, even without a successful Kickstarter, and I've spent a lot of effort enabling that in ways I can't make public (private deals, leading to relative radio silence).

A lot more change is coming. I'm sure some parts of it will be chaotic and piss someone off, but in the big picture.. it's what we all want.

Any news on the possible debut event? Thanks to my Aussie time zone, I'll need to plan ahead to participate (based on usual player-made event times), and could use as much for-warning as possible...

Event Update

FYI, I'm feeling about 50/50 on whether we'll actually get to ship the Vulture tomorrow (Fri). Some development took longer, some went awry a little bit and needs re-working, and I'm not going to push the assets unless they're all "there" and finished.

So the associated event might be pushed back as well. We have a bunch of different timelines coming together on this (some ours, and some external), so we do want to push the assets ASAP. I just don't know if it'll be tomorrow. Better to do it right than to do it quickly.

We will do the initial rollout as an "alternate" ship, available.. somewhere. And then swap it in as the replacement at a later point.

Do what you need to do, Inc. and by all means, remain zen. Lecter had a good point that the ship, not the skin alone, was the prize, but didn't bother highlighting this clause of your promo post:

This is our first time doing this sort of promo, so forgive me if it's a little kludgy, we're still working out a lot of the mechanics of this sort of thing. Still, I wanted to do something cool and "unique/special" for the 5-year, and I think this is a good start.

So sure, keeping the old model for the anni-vult would be cool, but if part of "Kludgy" means painting yourself into a corner with unwieldy and dated assets, then we have to be understanding of the change.

+1 CD.

I'm less concerned with when the event is as I am about getting some fore-warning so I can plan for it. The Vult is by far my favourite boat, and I want to be a part of the debut event.

As for my desire to see the AnnyVult or CorVult remain as-is, I have also been on the design side of game development, and know that what is popular is not always what is best, especially when trying to stay true to a specific vision for the game.

Faille.

Have to agree with CD and Faille here. On one hand, I have every desire for the annivult to stay as-is, because, you know, it's the annivult. On the other hand, I can see how it could potentially be detrimental.

I don't know how feasible this is, but what about creating an "updated" version of the current asset? A model and texture that closely/exactly mimics the current asset in form and detail, but is more "current gen" and in-line with newer ships like the raptor or the new vulture in terms of fidelity. It could be a good option for the annivult or a "legacy" vulture of sorts.

The Wraith and the EC-88 could also both benefit from such a treatment.

"everyone wants new gameplay changes, but instead we'll take a beloved ship and totally change it and piss people off! MUAHAHAH."

Roflmao!!!

Made my day.

Personally, I've always preferred the original Vulture skin. The anni skin just looks messy to me. I'd like to see the original Vulture model (or a close but updated facsimile) kept, but I'm not going to throw a fit over it. I am very glad to see that Curt is finally reaching the point where he can do new models.

Visual consistency is nice too. Yes, we've kept things around in the past. No, we're not going to do that as much in the future.

I think what's really upsetting people the most about this ship replacing the Vulture is that it is more visually consistent with what's been "TPG's" (Luis') design style the last few years.

The Vulture, Prometheus, and Heavy Assault Cruiser all share a lot of the same aesthetics and the in-game descriptions give them a common Serco origin. This one looks more like the Teradon and Raptor than either of those ships.

Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing some new stuff in the game. Thanks for keeping us posted, Inc. :)

tracker = less disgruntled vets!

I see a lot of contradictions here...

1. Cannot keep old ships as they use resources.
-> So we cannot have more ships? How is that?

2. Curt cannot fix the game
-> But can he work on NEW content, instead of re-re-re-polishing existing assets? Like make this Vult2, new ship, instead of replace existing content. A new ship worth much more than a new model replacing an existing ship.

3. Stuff is going to change
-> great!

Other than that, good luck and grats!

I did expect the vulture-replacement to be controversial, but I really DIDN'T expect this AE-skin-thing to be an issue, let alone over pedantic word choice.

What's not a good idea and what's controversial (i.e., worth fighting with a dev over) are two very different things. Your decision to replace a perfectly good ship with a new asset, when VO badly needs actual new ships like the one that new asset could be, is pretty dumb IMO.

But it's not controversial to me because there's never been any question that -- absent some promise to the contrary -- VO is yours to grow, reconfigure, and build as you see fit. The problem arises because regardless of what you wanted or assumed, you said we'd always have a specific ship. Giving it the same name doesn't make it the same ship, regardless of what you'd like to think. Since it's the only point to argue, that's the one I picked ;)

And again, keeping old ships in the game hasn't been a problem for years. If you'd like to remove all other old assets (including old 88s and wraiths) as they're replaced, and never promise to keep a specific ship around again so you have more flexibility going forward, cool. But don't insult anyone's intelligence by implying that the annivult will be the straw that broke the camel's back.

End of issue.

it's ridiculous to complain that we're releasing art

Nice try, but no. The complaints have been about what you're choosing to do with that art, and about the fact you've chosen to combine the release of one thing with the removal of another.

But don't insult anyone's intelligence by implying that the annivult will be the straw that broke the camel's back.

I'm not. It wasn't a magical unique object in the world, it was just the same vulture with a different skin. Now we're updating all the vultures, including it, and the skin. It's still as unique as it was before, life goes on. You're still being a pedantic grouch ;). There is no way I'm ever going to agree with your super-militant definition of "unique ship", but rock on..

Nice try, but no. The complaints have been about what you're choosing to do with that art, and about the fact you've chosen to combine the release of one thing with the removal of another.

No.. that's what you're complaining about. Other people were complaining generally that I was adding art/ship stuff when we need broader gameplay-related changes. That's what I was responding to.