I know I haven't been very much (probably minutes at a time with several weeks between instances), but part of that reason is the vastness of the universe. Granted, part of the Vendetta universe is the exploration and uncharted sectors. Yet, until we go into the stress testing, is it possible to limit the universe? I'm thinking no more than 50 - 100 (tops) sectors.

Why? Well, our universe increased exponentially, and our active player base dwindled. Right now, there are four players ingame, and one is a bot. I think we'd see a lot more players if the universe was a bit smaller. Sector 9, 7, 4 (circa 3.0 universe) and 18 made great hangouts. It's sad to see that go.

So, for the current user base, I think the universe is a tad too large--by several thousand sectors.

there are times when the universe is filled with more than just 4 people, quite often its 8 or up, which is almost the same as durring the gap between major versions. its not the size of the universe its just that there is a lack of content. we have all been botting since the stat system came out, and many people probably feel that there is no point because sooner or later there will be a reset. another reason is that we have all had the ships that we work so hard to get now and for many people its just not worth it. there is no "reward" per say at the end of your skill tree. participation will increase ingame once we have new players who will get that reward at the end of the mission, and appreciate it for what it is, a new ship/weapon/batt. and many vet players might start again to help along the new players so that they arnt all overwhelmed by everything that is happening around them. removing sectors will only impeed progress, we should let the devs focus on adding new content, missions, gameplay types, ships, ect. all we have to do is give them time.

and if you are having problems staying ingame due to lack of content i suggest that you set goals for yourself, dont let the game do that for you. for instance ill be damned if by the time stress testing starts i dont have at least 8/9/9/9 and at least neutral with NT. so im working my ass off trying to up my stats and my faction rating. suddenly even botting becomes fun again because i know ill get my reward at the end of it all.

I guess what I miss is the human interaction. It's a known fact that MMORPGs depend on that second "M"--multiplayer. In the old universe, it was easy to talk to people and either meet someplace for fun or attack something together. Now, human interaction is nigh on impossible, unless you're in the same system. The problem with 8 players in a ~30 sector universe and 8 players in a 7000+ sector universe is obvious. If we're going to go from 30 to 7000, let's go from 8 to 1800 players. I'm just suggesting we trim the systems a little. Maybe from 16x16 to 6x6 (you realize that still leaves 36 sectors per system, fairly large). I'm also suggesting that this be temporary, until Guild gets into the stress-testing phase of everything.

What about temporarily making some sort of global chat, without any time penalty? You know, just like in the old universe - so you can atleast chat with other people while botting/trading alone...

It's called channel 100.

Quoth a1k0n:

"The chat system is completely open if you figure out how to use it. /join 100. Use capital T to talk to channel 100 (or click on the Channel button at the bottom of the station screen). Both of the other players online are most likely on channel 100.


One thing that we did add that I haven't even seen used is the Serco-Itani nation combat missions which direct you to system 4 to duke it out. Last time Waylon and I tried it, it mostly worked"

Actually, they only work if you are itani. Last we tried it Itani players get Serco bots spawned, whereas serco players (who probably have the more difficult situation as they have to negotiate NPCDEF as well) can only fight players or some NPCDEF. (however, the mission computer doesn't tell you about the npcdef)

FYI, this STILL isn't a MMORPG. It's a test. :)

(Just thought I'd remind certain people of that. LOL)