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I received a message two days ago from a friend: Fortnite is going cross-platform. Ok, lets see if this story is true, I thought. I went to their website, and the Epic Games team leaved this message for us: we believe that cross-platform is the future of gaming; play with your friends where you want, with any device you want. And everyone is going crazy about this news: oh my God, cross-platform, this means that you can play from your phone with people playing on pc, this is crazy, you can’t imagine...
I want to start by saying KUDOS to Guild Software. And I think that the comparison with Epic Games is far from inadeguate: both companies have developed their own games engines and started their operativity in the nineties. VO is cross-platform since 2011 (info: Wikipedia) with the inclusion of Android devices. I mean: 2011. Want to talk about employees? We know how much employees Guild Software has. Epic Games had 600 employees in 2016 (info: Wikipedia). Wanna talk about money? Unreal Engine is a “commercial available game engine” which has been named “the most successful videogame engine" by Guinness World Records (info: Wikipedia).
That being said. I know I’m probably being naive, and childish, to be this excited about the cross-platform effort of VO compared to Fortnite’s...I know I maybe sound too much impressed about this story. But that’s my story! I looked for years for a game that could offer me such depth, and such passion. Because yes, the only word behind Guild Software, for me, is passion. Not money, not power, not celebrity or fame. But passion. And it is passion that moves the real core of our society, that moves people to reach for their dreams. I discovered VO only this year, in 2018, through a video on YouTube about “the best space-games for iOS”...yes, because I was upset to see such tecnological power in my iPad and seeing no one trying to use this horse power to push some serious, graphically and story-wise advanced game. And VO is not only that, but its also cross-platform, giving me that wonderful dream of the one and only big universe to play in. I didn’t knew about VO simply because no one of my cirlce ever mentioned it...and because VO hasn’t much voice in the gaming community. And, hear this, it is a since-2007 (now retired) Eve Online player that’s writing here. And to never had heard about this pearl in all those years, is such a shame! I even successfully involved my 16-year old sister in VO, having fun together destroying some bots and learning to master this “Newtonian Mechanics” flying our ships...a kind of entertainment that would be otherwise impossibile in too-complex games or even without having an access from iPads (all in my family has one!).
So yes, Epic Games, cross-platform is the future. But Guild Software has figured it out much earlier. And with half of your economic power. Thanks only to their PASSION and thanks to its amazing player base, which has supported them with such vision for the future. I know the games are different, I know the technology is different, but this is what I think. I’m not simply talking about technologies; I’m talking about Vision! And VO has it in spades.
I hope that the launch on Steam will happen soon, to give VO the player base it deserves! Sorry for this long long post. I like to talk ‘:)
Cheers o/
I want to start by saying KUDOS to Guild Software. And I think that the comparison with Epic Games is far from inadeguate: both companies have developed their own games engines and started their operativity in the nineties. VO is cross-platform since 2011 (info: Wikipedia) with the inclusion of Android devices. I mean: 2011. Want to talk about employees? We know how much employees Guild Software has. Epic Games had 600 employees in 2016 (info: Wikipedia). Wanna talk about money? Unreal Engine is a “commercial available game engine” which has been named “the most successful videogame engine" by Guinness World Records (info: Wikipedia).
That being said. I know I’m probably being naive, and childish, to be this excited about the cross-platform effort of VO compared to Fortnite’s...I know I maybe sound too much impressed about this story. But that’s my story! I looked for years for a game that could offer me such depth, and such passion. Because yes, the only word behind Guild Software, for me, is passion. Not money, not power, not celebrity or fame. But passion. And it is passion that moves the real core of our society, that moves people to reach for their dreams. I discovered VO only this year, in 2018, through a video on YouTube about “the best space-games for iOS”...yes, because I was upset to see such tecnological power in my iPad and seeing no one trying to use this horse power to push some serious, graphically and story-wise advanced game. And VO is not only that, but its also cross-platform, giving me that wonderful dream of the one and only big universe to play in. I didn’t knew about VO simply because no one of my cirlce ever mentioned it...and because VO hasn’t much voice in the gaming community. And, hear this, it is a since-2007 (now retired) Eve Online player that’s writing here. And to never had heard about this pearl in all those years, is such a shame! I even successfully involved my 16-year old sister in VO, having fun together destroying some bots and learning to master this “Newtonian Mechanics” flying our ships...a kind of entertainment that would be otherwise impossibile in too-complex games or even without having an access from iPads (all in my family has one!).
So yes, Epic Games, cross-platform is the future. But Guild Software has figured it out much earlier. And with half of your economic power. Thanks only to their PASSION and thanks to its amazing player base, which has supported them with such vision for the future. I know the games are different, I know the technology is different, but this is what I think. I’m not simply talking about technologies; I’m talking about Vision! And VO has it in spades.
I hope that the launch on Steam will happen soon, to give VO the player base it deserves! Sorry for this long long post. I like to talk ‘:)
Cheers o/
Thanks so much! Glad you're enjoying the game. :)
Mobile was a mistake.
People can say mobile was a mistake, but how many active pilots would never have discovered VO had it not been for the mobile port? How many have left only because mobile pilots became a thing?
I'm here because of mobile, and while mobile pilots do tend to lack in maturity and internet stability, they are also our source of fresh pilots to enjoy VO with.
I'm here because of mobile, and while mobile pilots do tend to lack in maturity and internet stability, they are also our source of fresh pilots to enjoy VO with.
I rather have 100 subbed PC players than 10000 subbed mobile players.
blaqk, let's not be bitter and give inc the spotlight that he deserves.
Two words.
Player retention.
Player retention.
Heh. I've said it a dozen times, point blank: Without mobile, this game and company would no longer exist. It would have died out around 2010, no question. But people still post "mobile was a mistake!", because they have the luxury of self-righteous ignorance.
I don't get to have that luxury, I'm required to face the brutal realities of maintaining payroll for a small indie studio.
If you actually want this game to exist at all, be grateful we supported mobile. This is different from being "not-bitter". I mean actual gratitude. Learn to be thankful.. or learn to not post about it.
Is it so difficult to let someone post something upbeat, without dumping all over it?
I don't get to have that luxury, I'm required to face the brutal realities of maintaining payroll for a small indie studio.
If you actually want this game to exist at all, be grateful we supported mobile. This is different from being "not-bitter". I mean actual gratitude. Learn to be thankful.. or learn to not post about it.
Is it so difficult to let someone post something upbeat, without dumping all over it?
Heh. Anyone who truly believes we should have gone out of business, rather than add support for mobile, should probably go find something else to play. They don't belong here.
I personally think VO is a great game, and I don't see any logical explanation behind 'mobile being bad enough to kill player retention." I've met a lot of mobile players who only discovered VO because it was available via mobile, and have been long term subscribers on mobile.
If the main issue with mobile players is lag, and that's why some feel they shouldn't be allowed... well, suck it up, buttercup. Not everyone has the luxury of great internet connectivity. I play on PC, and lag horribly sometimes due to my internet.
Incarnate and gang, you have a great game here; I know a lot of people feel this way too, we just usually get edged out by a bit of salt. I've been subbed for most of the year and a half I've had my account, and despite real life pooping on me a lot and causing disruptions, I intend to stay subbed for the foreseeable future. Keep up the good work.
If the main issue with mobile players is lag, and that's why some feel they shouldn't be allowed... well, suck it up, buttercup. Not everyone has the luxury of great internet connectivity. I play on PC, and lag horribly sometimes due to my internet.
Incarnate and gang, you have a great game here; I know a lot of people feel this way too, we just usually get edged out by a bit of salt. I've been subbed for most of the year and a half I've had my account, and despite real life pooping on me a lot and causing disruptions, I intend to stay subbed for the foreseeable future. Keep up the good work.
@Inc: And yet, they keep coming back. In some cases, from beyond the alleged grave! Clearly, there is something VO has that few (if any) other games have.
I've said before that I too only found VO after searching for something other than Eve. VO was not the first space game I tried after Eve, but it is the one that had (almost) everything I wanted, and its the only game that has ever held my interest for more than a few months. I'm now 6 years old in VO years (and there are other still around that have been here MUCH longer than me).
VO does not get anywhere near the credit it deserves (it barely even gets the credit it needs right now...).
I've said before that I too only found VO after searching for something other than Eve. VO was not the first space game I tried after Eve, but it is the one that had (almost) everything I wanted, and its the only game that has ever held my interest for more than a few months. I'm now 6 years old in VO years (and there are other still around that have been here MUCH longer than me).
VO does not get anywhere near the credit it deserves (it barely even gets the credit it needs right now...).
"If the main issue with mobile players is lag"
That is kinda spot on as far as I am concerned. At this time, I have no idea what can be done about that.
The issue of lag specifically in VO WILL improve over time, as mobile and WiFi speeds are increasing faster then the data usage demands of VO. Guild has gone WAY out of their way over MANY years to try and be hardware and data efficient. Which is probably why they were able to introduce mobile play as early as they were.
That is kinda spot on as far as I am concerned. At this time, I have no idea what can be done about that.
The issue of lag specifically in VO WILL improve over time, as mobile and WiFi speeds are increasing faster then the data usage demands of VO. Guild has gone WAY out of their way over MANY years to try and be hardware and data efficient. Which is probably why they were able to introduce mobile play as early as they were.
Nibba four years ago I discovered this game on mobile, in my shitty tablet (but boy do I miss that shitty tablet) and now im subbed and laggeroo 4 u ^.^
Yeah, while I may not be the biggest supporter of the mobile platform, I see why it was done and do think it is great that VO runs on just about anything. Heck, when I first started playing, I had a voodoo2 card and it even ran on that!
I think the main issue with the mobile port is it was never really intended to replace or even be on par with the full PC experience. I could have a faulty RAM module, but I do seem to recall Incarnate even saying something like "The mobile version will be great for things like doing a bit of mining, or maybe even running a trade route, but would not recommend it for combat." People tend to forget this, and want the full experience when using such devices.
Ain't gunna happen, no matter what. PC players will always beat mobile players as it will always be easier for them to play. No matter how much dev time gets spent on making it better; which takes away dev time from the larger game.
Just my 2c ofc.
I think the main issue with the mobile port is it was never really intended to replace or even be on par with the full PC experience. I could have a faulty RAM module, but I do seem to recall Incarnate even saying something like "The mobile version will be great for things like doing a bit of mining, or maybe even running a trade route, but would not recommend it for combat." People tend to forget this, and want the full experience when using such devices.
Ain't gunna happen, no matter what. PC players will always beat mobile players as it will always be easier for them to play. No matter how much dev time gets spent on making it better; which takes away dev time from the larger game.
Just my 2c ofc.
PC players will always beat mobile players as it will always be easier for them to play.
What if you hook up bluetooth peripherals to a mobile device? There are mobile players who have beaten me in combat and I could have sworn they were playing on PC, but they were not.
What if you hook up bluetooth peripherals to a mobile device? There are mobile players who have beaten me in combat and I could have sworn they were playing on PC, but they were not.
You can replace your inferior mobile hardware with superior bits of pseudo-pc hardware and you'll gain pseudo-pc levels of capability. But then you're not really a mobile player anymore; you've become a spork.
I could argue with you all day on semantics but I'm gonna let it gooooooooooooooooooo
To be fair Joyless, I used to think a little bit like you. Heck, I even (frequently) use the same controller on a PC that I use on mobile. There are still bigger things at play, like the inherent lag mobile devices tend to have (this can be an advantage for some, but never seems to be for me), screen size, resolution, frame rate? I dunno, I have found while I do OK on mobile, I still do much much better on a full PC sized screen. Add hardly any lag and a much better FPS, input devices that give better control precision (mice, mechanical keyboards etc), better situational awareness and you get a better overall experience.
If you are very good on mobile, you may even get good enough to best some PC players, but these PC players would never be considered the best. A great mobile player may even beat a mediocre PC pilot (like yourself), but a good PC pilot will always waste a brilliant mobile pilot.
Anyway, my point was not that the mobile port does not have it's place - it would be silly for me to say so since I use it quite a lot - rather that it should be expected that PC pilots will always have the more fuller experience. Of course there are exceptions to every rule (Nyscersul is a bloody good example of this), but there has been thread after thread complaining about how PC users have the upper hand, and this is where a lot of the negative feedback lays (lets not get started on TBS's rants). And trust me, these people do not like to hear the phrase "get a controller".
If you are very good on mobile, you may even get good enough to best some PC players, but these PC players would never be considered the best. A great mobile player may even beat a mediocre PC pilot (like yourself), but a good PC pilot will always waste a brilliant mobile pilot.
Anyway, my point was not that the mobile port does not have it's place - it would be silly for me to say so since I use it quite a lot - rather that it should be expected that PC pilots will always have the more fuller experience. Of course there are exceptions to every rule (Nyscersul is a bloody good example of this), but there has been thread after thread complaining about how PC users have the upper hand, and this is where a lot of the negative feedback lays (lets not get started on TBS's rants). And trust me, these people do not like to hear the phrase "get a controller".
People need to view "mobile" as a long-term investment in the longevity of Vendetta Online, and not as specific to "phones", or "Android", or anything like that.
The UX work we did for touch still can translate over to many things, which is going to become even more important soon, as the Universal Windows Platform construct becomes required by Microsoft for "Windows 10 S" (or S Mode, etc), Polaris, and other Windows Core OS projects.
Computing paradigms can change super fast, much faster than software companies can evolve their user experiences. Iterating on things earlier is super helpful.
A lot of platform/electronics companies are working on a lot of emerging ideas, and having the game "be there" in advance puts us in a great place not just to be compatible.. but to be the premiere showcase of those new ideas, and often get paid decent sums of money for the privilege.. all of which goes to support further VO development.
Remember, we aren't in a position to purely slog it out on PC, trying to out-spend CCP or Star Citizen on marketing. We're still pushing to expand on PC, but it's a huge benefit for us to have more revenue and marketing options.
I know, touchscreen UX doesn't have parity with mouse+kb. We'll continue to improve touch, and try to evolve on ideas like DroidButtons and the like, but it will probably never be as good as a gaming desktop with a mouse and keyboard. But, that being said.. that doesn't make it pointless.
I mean, GearVR with a BT game controller is a pretty awesome experience. I never imagined that when we started on "mobile" with the Droid 1.
The way I've always seen this is.. different platforms and UX-paradigms are all different "windows" into the Vendetta Online universe. Some windows may be big and clear and amazing, and others may be small and dingy, but they're all viable and useful.
They don't all have to be created equal. I don't have that expectation.. this was a PC game, after all, built in the era of crap video-cards and modem-dialup: PC has always been hilariously un-equal as well.
Mobile is good for the company, good for the game, good for the player base, and anyone who wants to switch platforms can do that trivially. Sounds ok to me..
The UX work we did for touch still can translate over to many things, which is going to become even more important soon, as the Universal Windows Platform construct becomes required by Microsoft for "Windows 10 S" (or S Mode, etc), Polaris, and other Windows Core OS projects.
Computing paradigms can change super fast, much faster than software companies can evolve their user experiences. Iterating on things earlier is super helpful.
A lot of platform/electronics companies are working on a lot of emerging ideas, and having the game "be there" in advance puts us in a great place not just to be compatible.. but to be the premiere showcase of those new ideas, and often get paid decent sums of money for the privilege.. all of which goes to support further VO development.
Remember, we aren't in a position to purely slog it out on PC, trying to out-spend CCP or Star Citizen on marketing. We're still pushing to expand on PC, but it's a huge benefit for us to have more revenue and marketing options.
I know, touchscreen UX doesn't have parity with mouse+kb. We'll continue to improve touch, and try to evolve on ideas like DroidButtons and the like, but it will probably never be as good as a gaming desktop with a mouse and keyboard. But, that being said.. that doesn't make it pointless.
I mean, GearVR with a BT game controller is a pretty awesome experience. I never imagined that when we started on "mobile" with the Droid 1.
The way I've always seen this is.. different platforms and UX-paradigms are all different "windows" into the Vendetta Online universe. Some windows may be big and clear and amazing, and others may be small and dingy, but they're all viable and useful.
They don't all have to be created equal. I don't have that expectation.. this was a PC game, after all, built in the era of crap video-cards and modem-dialup: PC has always been hilariously un-equal as well.
Mobile is good for the company, good for the game, good for the player base, and anyone who wants to switch platforms can do that trivially. Sounds ok to me..