As we'd like to reach optimal impact with the Steam release, we still have to tune up the tutorials and the new player experience, so that will take some time. Target is currently early 2013.

I promised a dev blog about the current development, and I'd like to have that one out before the end of the year. This will be of the proposal kind, when we offer you some ideas and you tell us what could be wrong with it. But we still have to settle a few things for this before it can be published.

However, just so you have something to look forward (and theorycraft about), here are some bulletpoints:
* Instances (first for the tutorials, later on for certain other mechanics)
* Completely revamped research and knowledgebase (keywords: point-based, selectable goals)
* Revamped assignment system (keyword: random)

Yes i would be glad if ArcheAge starts the next year... I have a big hopes on this game. Big community, teamwork, PvE content... ah wait. Is this perpetuum forum?... nvm then...

Thanks for the Sign...

But now wondering if I should stop eating kernals. Let the speculation begin...

Good GOD THEY HEAR ME!!!!

Nice things, Zoom, really nice, and even more nice that you said 2 words about them! Keep posting news from time to time in such manner - it's enough for keep players informed.

Screw Steam, "We are planning to deploy our pending changes early 2013" sounds good.

Agree with this to an extent but I think low level assignments of the sort that players would typically take in their first weeks should be safe. It would be good if such assignments were "hackable" for some extra goodies that might be contained therein but still alpha safe.

In whatever form they implement this I’m sure that it will allow all current research to be kept. There was suggestions for this in another thread.

It went something like this:
Kernel Points n (All Factions + Industrial)
T1 Light / assault / mech / heavy mech = 5 / 10 / 20 / 30
T2 Light / assault / mech / heavy mech = 10 / 20 / 30 / 40
T3 Light / assault / mech / heavy mech = 20 / 30 / 40 / 50
T4 Light / assault / mech / heavy mech = 30 / 40 / 50 / 60
Observers
Light / assault / mech / heavy mech  = 300 / 400 / 500 / 600

I don’t remember how many points it was suggested to research one T1 item but I was scaled to the current amount of kernels something like 750 to 1000 points
Hopefully this is what they have in mind.

Pourquoi?

Good stuff

Wow, I'm shocked, just because I'm not online for a day or week turns such things into mystery?

Disclaimer: my reasons are for the current lookout of the game - if there's greater changes in gameplay, player base and DEVs ressources/count they loose their value.
+ this wall of text is just a direct response and isn't directly connected to the Threadtopic, so dear Mods/DEVs please move it into an according topic if necessary

To the basics - with those several islands we already have some kind of instances BUT everyone is able to enter them whenever they want (aka no alternate dimensions) and can be part of the selfwritten storyline in Perpetuum. This goes also along with the basic features of Perpetuum - remember that "one scene, one story, persistent universe" stuff.
So here's the first most basic argument against any instance that separates from the general Perpetuum world or even goes as far creating alternate dimensions for it: it's against the game's basic!
If we want to have that changed - we have no reason at all to keep ANY of a games basic features at all.

Okay, this part was really obvious, wasn't it?

• Obvious point 2: our small islands are already a kind of instance - you have for each favorite playing style an island (safe PvE, PVP/PvE, MPC, factions, difficulty). No need to have separated instances for something we already have.

• Obvious point 3: mapping. Even if you were told the terrain would be done fast - adjusting it to its purpose and making it playable without bugs takes away many ressources (working time, money, testing, nerves). Unless the DEV Team grows or gets a huge money influx each island is hard handicraft. Even more so if you want usable "random maps" or scripted instances.

• Obvious point 4: low playerbase - right now, if every single player that has subbed would be online with ALL his accounts at the exact same time we still couldn't fill even half of the discovered Nian isles (my opinion after seeing over 1000 players online before gamma expansion). A condition that will hardly be met in the nearest future.
  ^^^^ in italics because of lowest priority and the still existing hope that massivly more players will come in the future

Now to get to some ideas for the use of instances: training isle (also mentioned by DEV Zoom), missions/squad missions, NPC siege, special arena fights.

• Training Isle:
  long overdue and more than necessary, but if its anything near my proposal the access restrictions make it a borderline instance to fit the basic feature of Perp. Even so, one island to start out and train is really really needed - no doubts.

• missions/squad missions: why should there even be a need for mission instances?
  Given a working squad assignment system, a healthy random mission generator, evtly an improvement to orefield system (recognizing a field instead only single tiles for example), mission npcs with mission loot ONLY spawning per assignment trigger,... there would be neither overcamped mission sites (do we even have some atm??) nor problems with empty orespawns.
  BTw - if you want to grief an alpha isle mission - it's an APLHA mission!! Forgotten that alpha is a safe zone even for missions? If you don't like it, play on Beta/Gamma the missions or ask for the comeback of police zones to get Perp even more hardcore PvP - instances don't have anything to do with your boredome and the will to griev with your t4 fitted high specced bots some lower players that just want to have peace. (sry, raged a bit here)

• NPC Siege - Nian MPC vs Sndicate MPC - more activity to the AI. Originally this was an idea for separate isles/instances but it can be applied to every existing isle and enhance the PvE environment even more as an instance of this kind would do.

• Arena instances:
  don't we already have gamma? oh waaaait, there are two tings we don't have with gamma: capture the flag and PvP without losses, how could I even have a single thought that we don't need such things in Perpetuum ... (/hah got the cynism to switch off again )
  Honestly, I'm not a PvP'er, so there might be a purpose to arenas (perhaps even with according assignments) but that's one of the reasons Gamma exists. If there's an arena on training island to give a short look into PvP no problem, but a scripted PvP arena outside, dunno, honestly.

Ideas and improvements mentioned here can be found in the Perp-forums again and again in one way or another - instances are in most cases a worse choice for an open world sandbox game.

@ line
that would be some nice ideas beside the "separated instances" which my post was for. like i said at the end there are much better choices - yours one of them.
No need for new maps, grieving mission runners still restricted by the island you are on...

for op2's reasoning - it's the players choice, there are restriction that makes those areas harder to access because of other players there, if they allow it even trials could walk around and work on gamma; my emphasis here was on restrictions set by the game itself like maximum players, squad count, faction bots,.... Every game has areas where missions are hard to get/do, here in Perp it would be beta and private transports from/to gamma.

Also only mentioned the player base as side complement being a general reason for instances in other games. Like in case of really high player counts where servers are completely overloaded, instances are seen as common choices (even if its just the separation to local servers like US playground and EU playground)