People are confusing terms.
Commodities: products that are owned, sold and distributed.
Portal networks are a service, like an airline.
As fascinating as the conversation about the various metas in this thread is, I thought I should try to address the original topic.
Calling portal networks a “commodity” isn’t entirely accurate. Still, the definition that Google gave me when I asked for an actual definition of the word does include “time” as a useful-or-valuable-thing that could be considered a commodity. So since portal networks do save me a lot of time, the term is close enough.
If therefore we consider portal networks a useful mechanism for saving time, the interesting thought experiment really is to think of ways to differentiate them.
I will limit my observations to Portal Seekers vs Aquatopia, as those are the only two that I have spent much time exploring so far.
One difference is how the two try to organize the planets. Portal Seekers is a distributed network, with only a handful of planets connected at any one node. (This observation omits all of the shop and city portals, which does tend to blur the line.) Aquatopia tries to have a few mega nodes, joining together as many planets as possible. Both approaches are ways to make it quicker for people to navigate from one planet to another. One isn’t necessarily better than the other – both have merits. Other approaches for organizing the universe could be used as a way to start to differentiate.
Another difference is that it looks like Portal Seekers in general is only worrying about the relatively small plot-wise hubs they create, whereas it seems that Aquatopia is as concerned with making “cities” around their hubs as they are with the hubs themselves. Again, here is a place to start to differentiate: the seemingly more organic growth of settlements around a small hub vs a seemingly more organized group settlement plan. The small-hub with the shop portals thrown back into the mix is one way to try to save people time – there are a lot of shops connected with little walking between them. The big city on the other hand, could lead to a more organized shopping experience, which might save more time in the long run.
Obviously, my observations and analysis could be way off, but hopefully they’ll add food for thought on the original question.
-R
(edit to add in the missing “how it saves time” to the second differentiator)
1 Like
No. Don’t like portal hubs go play Minecraft 
this is a jest. Don’t get angry
I like how you differentiated between the two.
In terms of ease of upkeep I’d have to disagree here, with the current game mechanics i think PS is much more sustainable for 2 reasons:
- They have shorter gate lengths. This means less oort to connect all the planets, i.e cheaper to maintain.
- They have more nodes, owned by different characters. This may be slightly less convenient for travel time, but it does mean that they can collect more footfall (in theory) and should be easier to maintain.
I’d like to propose a third hub - a decentralised one. There are a few, with skyworld coming to my mind first. There is a single “hub” with a bunch of portals. Buy then when you take 1 to a shop, they have a bunch of portals. And many of those shops have a few portals to others etc.
This decentralised, cell-structure is great and terrible for its own reasons.
- If you put in the time to explore the branching portals, you could end up with a shopping run where each stop has its use and save a lot of time (yet it takes a lot of time to work this one out.)
- the portals are managed by completely independent people. This takes away a bit of the cost of running a centralised / formal hub, but also limits the distances these can cover if people are only willing to put up a few 1 or 2 shard portals.
- it’s chaos. Each portal relies on the owner to maintain it. This also means that they run out unexpectedly, people close / change them and in general the architecture isn’t as reliable.
Yeah didnt add to the OP question sorry, just wanted to add “guerilla networks” to the pot.
You’re right. Ultima isn’t very efficient. We gave up efficiency for comfort. We wanted people to have central locations to meet up, with easily marked portals to whichever planet they needed to go. This is our continued goal for as long as we can handle it.
4 Likes
yeah, I’ve been an Ultiman since it was just a floating slab in the sky pre release 
Love the goal and the implementation, just pointing out it incurs a heavy cost and requires dedication for that extra bit of user convenience
1 Like
I am angry. I shall retaliate by doubling the cost of meat sold in my shop. Starve.
2 Likes
The hub itself is pretty easy to deal with. It’s just making room for new portals and keeping portals open. It’s the Public Relations where things become difficult. It’s impossible to keep everyone happy, and it’s a daily thing where someone is mad about something and we have to do our best to fix the situation or calm them down usually with me telling them to shut up
So even though lately there are a lot of anti portal hub people with pitchforks hunting us down, we will continue to do what we do as long as there are those who are happy we do it. Viva La Resistance!
2 Likes
I use PS and Ultima for different things.
If I want the fastest. most efficient way to get somewhere I’m familiar with, I use PS. If I’m going more exploratory and want to see all my options, I use Ultima.
Yesterday, I wanted one of my alts to visit every planet. You know, just because. That would have been a nightmare with PS. Far easier to do in Ultima.
Of course…I use PS to get to Ultima. 
1 Like
I love ultima hub 
(You PS guys as well, ultima is connected to my capital though)
Keep doin what you’re doin
Of course, the biggest problem with Ultima is Finata, which is about as stable as a 3-year-old’s lego building.
2 Likes
Good point. I was just thinking from the perspective of a potential portal hub user, rather than as a portal hub maintainer. I can see pros vs cons for either organization, depending on how I might want to “explore the universe but save time getting somewhere in the end”.
-R
1 Like
portal networks are easy to maintain if u keep the distance low. For higher distances i connect to the hub and from one of the exits further to my bases. Hubs are essential for me to keep up my own network with low cost.
I donated some to my hub of choice and im sure i net some footfall, so it is a symbiosis id like to maintain.
Really 2x1 portals are as easy to keep up as beacons
1 Like
Portal networks are great. Without them i certainly would have never seen even half of the 40 so awesome worlds the game has to offer.
All that needs to be said is thank you all for giving up your free time to keep them going for the benefit of everyone else. Much apprecitated.
1 Like
I mostly skimmed this (Because WOW this blew up fast) so I’m not sure if someone already mentioned this:
Another thread talked about planet clusters so far away you can’t use portals to get there, you have to warp.
I can see this. I can see initially warping there, then a portal network within those clusters.
Because I love the portal networks and the ppl who run them. Without those, I’d have probably quit within the first two weeks. You don’t have to go to all the planets right away. I can’t even remember the last time I went past a t4. It’s a choice, but I appreciate the choice being there.
Please don’t make portals harder to run, or tax them, or whatever.
As a traffic reporter, I find the different approaches really fascinating.
Ultima just feels huge, and impressive. You feel like an itty bitty bug. Everything is at your fingertips all at once. But it can be really confusing to find anything outside of the main world portals.
PS’s “loop” design is, frankly, brilliant. You can always get back to where you came from and once you find the planetary hub, getting to shops is a snap. But you better know wheer you are going. Trying to find a world you have never been to is a chore.
1 Like
Imo easiest way to explain the hubs is this:
Portal Seekers = map
Ultima Hub = Bus Station
So depending on the situation, you can either take a bus to where you need to go, or use a map to get there. Both ways are effective.
3 Likes
Glad I already made my 80 hops to transfer all my items from finata to alnitans then
Sucks to be you, future new guys!
i hate ps, mostly because of one thing: i need to go through boori to get to the aqua hub. and boori is in australia and apparently all the traffic from me to this server is going through the great firewall of china or something
Quick story that I’d like to share and this is slightly off topic but I"ll circle back to the main point:
There was a guy who had a reputation for being a total jerk to the opposing side. And I was on the opposing side within this area of space in that game. His ingame local smack and forum postings made him look like a jerk. Flash forward to a couple years ago, I was now fighting for the same side he was on. On several occasions, I had ad hoc fleets that consisted of microgang PVP. He would fly under me. He was one of the most competent pilots I ever flew with and quite frankly, one of the most chill guys I got to know. I never once had a problem with him.
In fact, I find some of the biggest jerks ingame to be some of the most chill guys when you get them on comms. I’ve played a few MMO games over the years and to this day, I never found a game where the level of camraderie was as tight as I found in that game. There’s just something about a group of strangers banding together towards a common goal and overcoming major challenges that helps form friendships. I’ve made several friends outside of the game that I constantly keep in touch with via Facebook, Steam, Teamspeak, or email. People still share all sorts of crazy fights and stories with me in the hopes of getting me back into the game. I just don’t know of a game that can rival the social aspect of that game. I have tons of amazing memories and stories that I could share.
I definitely agree that there are some degenerates in that game who take things too far. And from what I can tell of your posts, you don’t particularly care for the community. And that’s totally fine. But just thought it was worth sharing my own experience. From a macro standpoint, yeah, lots of a**hats. From a micro standpoint, probably one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I ever had. Both due to the social aspect and the challenging nature of the game. Lots of cool dudes and dudettes (and yeah, girls do exist in that game 
) Judging how some of you old timers reference Ultima Online in such a great light, I guess this is my version of UO.
I like the community here even if it’s sometimes a Jekyl and Hyde personality at times. We’re very helpful at times and then at other times, we are at each others throats I also enjoy the complexity with and without the grind. I hope the devs can continue to iterate on the game and find many ways to extend the longevity of it especially as they find a way to introduce the end game worlds and content
1 Like