Blockquote In the case of the wipe people have way too much invested in their builds. Hell, so do I. That is fine and understandable and I would support that 100% if the game didnāt need something else. But, people need to mature their view and look at this from a development perspective and put the game above their needs. Way too many people donāt put the game and fairness in front of their needs/values/etc. (e.g. the P2W plot discussion, etc). The like the unfair advantage because they hold it in this game and in so many others they cannot. So they think it is just fine to allow it here.
My question stands Why?
So the answers I keep getting are the typical its standard operation procedure mentality, the Just because your suppose to wipe before release thought processā¦ I donāt believe in that type of development at all. And wiping or not wiping wouldnāt change enough reviewās to merit either way.
Again people seem to have some weird belief that this huge influx of players is going to happen the day of release because:
Release
Well thatās a great reason but people arenāt sitting around waiting for boundless to release, they are simply getting the game on steam and trying it out. If its release or not really is not taken into consideration as every game in the world these days is in Permanent Development and every fan of the game uses this as a standard defense Moto: āBut the game is only in Betaā As if 6 years of DayZ Beta forgives the fact its a ā ā ā ā product that will never release. ā One example.
I have seen plenty of games that have Not wiped on release day, and plenty that have. But neither of these things made those games a great success.
When I am asking why, should we wipe I expect something like:
Because at this starge of development the rarity of gems was altered to speed up the testing of gem mechanics and thus those players that were around at that stage have a huge stack of gems that were not available to others.
^^^^ This is just a made up example I have no idea if this is true or notā¦ But I am trying to get to the point of Why meaning Why does a wipe make sense?
Because wiping simply because your suppose to before release is NOT an adequate answer.
There could be other more logical things to do like simply deleting every Gem Tool, Block, equipment and power coil.
And that could be enough to balance the playing field because at some point there actually was an imbalanceā¦
Honestly as a newer player I have found this game for the most part to be pretty flawlessā¦
The only issues I have had has been my town randomly deciding to not be a town which was eventually fixed thru a method that doesnāt really seem to make any sense but thatās a different issueā¦
And some minor issues with skills perhaps needing some tweaking but those tweaks are supposedly already in the works. But from a play ability standpoint a fun standpoint a feeling of a polished finished product standpoint this game feels completely polished stable and playable right nowā¦ Its got the best economy I have seen in any game since Ultima Onlineā¦
From my perspective I see no reason to wipe, I certainly donāt feel like the-mobieus or sly or anyone else has some special advantage on me simply because they have been here longer.
And finally why thank your supporters who helped you develop a great game bye deleting there world?!? If anything you should support those who have supported you thru development bye not wipingā¦
I think it would be desirable from point of view of development and game testing to have a wipe before release so the final content can be tested (balance of progression and such).
Between now and full release I would expect:
More content including new worlds and all planned resources, recipes and creatures as well as atmospheresā¦ you know yourselves. No wipe after any of the big updates - just playing through testing all new features until all (or most) 1.0 content is checked for bugs and balance.
Wipeā¦
Playing with all (or most) 1.0 features from scratch to simulate release moment and check balance of progression, get a final shape of tutorial and tips system as well as economy etc.
Release - new universe comes in. Itās not wipe per se, as we donāt play in the same worlds. More of a replacement of old planets with new ones.
I would be fairly surprised if there will be no special influx of people, considering that there will be a contemporary launch on PC and PS4
As it is now Boundless is not even advertised
And i agree also with a pre-wipe or at least
to switch the test server with the main, and wipe it, this way you can play with your stuff untill release in the test (ex-primary) world or start brand new in the primary (ex-test) world where you have all thats new to test as a new character.
this should give devs a massive amount of data and responses on every and each stage
I agree that a wipe at the point of the 1.0 release (as is planned by the developers) is good for the game. I agree with @Tarahyumaro that with the release of Boundless on additional platforms the developers should expect an increase in players and need to plan around this. If the existing environment is not cleared then you do set up the existing players with an advantage. The advantage comes through the footfall = income mechanic. You have large cities and existing portal networks where some of the plot owners have a substantial income stream that new players cannot compete with. There are also planetary capitals with prestige of over 8 million. Kinda hard for a bunch of newbies to compete or overtake something that large when the existing settlements continue to expand. I know I also have a substantial inventory of materials that would give me a leg up over someone new.
The existing players are going to have a certain advantage since they already know the game mechanics. This is true in any game. The players who get the game earlier always have a certain advantage since they know the game and may have already developed alliances (or joined Guilds in the case of Boundless) that give them certain advantages over players that are brand new. This cannot be helped, but the advantages I noted in my first paragraph certainly can be blunted.
I do understand some players have invested large amounts of time into builds and are not pleased about loosing them. I certainly support the developers in archiving the existing planets before the reset (maybe people will like this word better than wipe). I do think that these archived planets should not be playable. I would prefer it if they are accessed differently than the live environment (maybe through a selection at launch) and should be in stasis where nothing can be changed, mined, brought into the live environment or deleted.
I honestly might have. Iāve had some barbs thrown my way and it put me on a defense mode. But I also didnāt really need to be called out because all people have their own views and it wasnāt relevant to the discussion on plot = income. Either way I do agree the tone I had comes off harsh at times and I could communicate better at times too.
At this point I think a lot of people on all sides have taken something and let it all get blown out of proportion. A simple post about a P2W concern (that was maybe a bit dramatic) turned into a huge fight with people calling others stupid. Then I went and posted my views on the subject in response to James and that āheatā boiled over into that discussion.
We all want to game to be a success. Some have it for selfish reasons. Some have it for more noble reasons. Some of us just want it to be fun and fair for as many as possible in the simplest form possible.
I hate text because context and tone can be missed or inferred where there wasnāt anything. There is bound to be conflict in that situation but people do need to spend time learning to active listen and try to understand peopleās context and perspective a lot more than just trying to prove others wrong.
Completely FAIR questions. You donāt just do it because it was always done but you do it because it makes sense. Too many people focus on that versus the WHY.
In a simplest way I know to answer is you do it because it shows actual progression and gives everyone a reset to show where things go wrong and how the balance works. That can only be done in a zero day scenario. Additionally, game play has changed since the last wipe and you cannot see truly how things work out unless you do it fro scratch.
All things are not equal any more and in any IT program development you restart to prove out workflow, process, execution, etc. It is like a scientific test you do to make sure what happens.
Just so you know in regards to me, it is done because it is the best scenario and happens for all the right reasons. It helps you really see what happens and removes personal views and experience. Like you said in your last sentence - balance playing field because it is imbalanced now at a basic level.
It is more than balance in the basic form. I really cannot go into all specifics but I see many dynamics in the game mechanics that need to be tested from a zero day scenario. Like no portals, can people survive T1 planets, how will cities be created, etc.
I thought at first no portals would be a problem when I heard there would be a reset at all.
But honestly now I know what i am doing. Iāll have portals in a week, where will be worth going will take longer - re exploring the galaxy will take longer, resetting up my mining network longer.
No shops will be a MUCH bigger issue for longer than portals, so iāll be asking one of the bigger cities players if I can join them, collectively weāll get started much faster than I would ever on my own. So yeah a total wipe of all shops and all portals will be an issue for a time. My advice to anyone new in the first weeks will be to find a community and setup a basic set of plots near them, and if history is anything to go by keep those plots for when the city gets busier.
No cities. Ah. That will be hit and miss. Some will be designed well some will be chaotic, like anything I suppose. Itāll be a ā ā ā ā shoot whether I pick the right group of people to join.
Though all this seems to be arguing against a total wipe. Some players will enjoy being frontiers men and women at launch, and perhaps the devs can use that notion to sell a few more copies in their marketing, colonizing the galaxy etc.
If you think about it, this definitely is not the first time everyone was new. None of the current portals and cities would exist if people had not started a new civilization from scratch. This time will be much easier as the game has progressed thanks to developers, now there are many experienced players, etc. The difference is far more people get to be in on the creation of civilization this time. Recreation is always far easier than creation. New worlds and everyone starting new is a good thing which many of us have been planning on the whole time we have been playing. All we have been doing it so far is make mistakes to learn from so that we can do things better while not worrying about the mistakes as we knew we have only been practicing. We learn how to build and what designs work well as well as how much space we need for the equipment, etc. Other than that we have been testing to help improve the game for when we do start for real. We have essentially been in school and graduation is coming so that we can start our new lives with the knowledge we have gained. I for one canāt wait to no longer be a Practicing Oortian and instead be a real Oortian from birth. New worlds, new characters, new creations, new and larger society to go with the new and larger universe. What an exciting time to be an Oortian when we have āthe big bangā!!!
But I do agree that the wipe is needed thanks too Prome3us share in a PM wish he would have added it to this thread the Why I asked so many times earlier forā¦
According to Prome3us, Fiberous Leaves were far easier to obtain in the past and so elder players have huge stack of these
Also according to Prome3us, There is indeed a gem disaparity between the more veteran players and current as it was indeed easier to obtain these matsā¦
I believe there were a few other things he listed but these ARE reasons for a wipe!!! Good reasonsā¦
The buildings and footfall dribble thatās been floating around lately is NOT. The thought process that these older builds are so prestigious no one can catch up is flat bullā¦ Sparta is all of a month old and Its passed up Black Light on Berlyn and is #4 rapidly gaining on the 3 position.
Not to mention the whole someone started before me is at an advantage is a DUH! Statement anywayā¦ Do we need to wipe the server everyday so that new players joining will always be on an even footing?!?
This whole footfall is pay to win is just a garbage discussion! Footfall is such a MINOR amount of income that its NOT really relevant at allā¦ Not to mention this is Not a game you can winā¦ There is no Winning in boundlessā¦
Basically the wipe reasons that make sense is various different resources were easier at some point and these resources make a big impact on the economyā¦ The buildings however are minor and its a shame to see them wipedā¦ Its too bad there is not a way to wipe Storage and Inventory without the buildingsā¦
I was merely pointing to the fact that there was a disparity at some point during development, so whatever we see today is basically a repetitive play over what has come before.
It would be akin to expecting da vinci to only ever use one canvas and end up painting the mona lisa on top of them all. My motivation for a wipe pre launch remains for the developersā benefit to see that everything behaves as they expect without any possible legacy interference
I agree with the change of planets and entire fresh start being necessary. I also agree with a point I didnāt quote about how footfall is such a minor amount of money it isnāt even necessary as most people will make more in daily and weekly bonuses in a week than they make in footfall in a year. Footfall is just a big deal to the wealthy city dwellers. You are also correct about how quickly new communities can bypass even capitals. Groups who wish to create new capitals can always do so if they store materials and then one day start building as a group. The last month or so a few capitals have fallen. I think itās Vena V where the former capital is now #7 or so (I just got active again there and discovered that trivia). It looks like former capitals are not being maintained now that they are not the capital and so land is being reclaimed and buildings disappear and portals are gone. That is passage of time in any civilization. Former cities of glory become dust bowls and forests. Former mighty empires become ancient tales in books and movies while the land becomes third world countries. It is the same in the land of the Oortians.
As for existing buildings when we start anew? If people love them they will have screenshots of them. Those who built them can build again if they really loved them and probably do it more effeciently with fewer mistakes now that they are experienced. Other people might build copies of existing buildings using screenshots they saved as their guide and correcting differences. New players will be bringing more skill and more ideas to our universe. We will have more buildings on more planets and the most spectacular are likely not built yet in the history of the Oortians. The future is bright. Those who have been in for years on the practice have the biggest advantage due to experience and others have a smaller advantage over those who will be coming, but, there are new generations who will be determined to outshine the brightest stars we have had in the practice era. Income or no income, the best is yet to come from those who are artists and enjoy building for the fun of building.
I think the plan is to save buildings and the planets for later like a museum. Which makes sense. The game would lose a lot if all the old landmarks vanished into smoke, along with a portion of the playerbase that invested all the time into it.
Itās not a small thing to recreate thousands of hours of work :D.
Would this same logic apply for the next expansion? Or patch? With any luck the game wont stop to change once its released. I would hope that we dont need to restart the world to deal with change or to somehow verify its value or accuracy - that doesnt sound like a persistent world to me.
I think those 4 steps would be ideal
Boundless 
- re exploring the galaxy will take longer, resetting up my mining network longer.
