Dark Moon Rises

Started a thread for specific discussion of the space change.

http://arkadiaforum.com/threads/removal-of-safe-zones-in-pvp-space-between-arkadia-and-moon.14689/

 

Warp ships are able to summon from Ark (not moon) if docked in safe space at the Arkadia Spacestation. They are unable to summon from moon as there is no docking.

 

Monria has docking... I believe... maybe Mindark will put it in to Ark's moon too? Makes no sense to not have it.

 

I was expecting it to be like monria, I'm not sure why or if I read that.

This is like, the opposite of monria. You enter and exit like a planet with thruster and entry fees. But there's no SS or safe zone.

I'm not clear on their intentions for travel around the Arkadian Planetary System but right now it's a giant gift to space camping pirates. I haven't visited the actual planet today but apparently that's spawning people into the same pirate trap at the moon.

If you would at least spawn somewhere random there would be something you could consider a challenge but, not right now.

Apparently MindArk says it's on purpose / requested and Arkadia hasn't commented so who knows how long this will last.

The moon is very colorful and very rocky, I've been using low graphics I'm not sure how I feel about the landscape yet. But you come to planet in the middle of nowhere and all the terminals are distant from the TPs, the only crafting terminals I could find are placed well away from any other terminals.

The look is cool. I'm not sure if I'm missing something with the intent or design theory but frankly, it feels like it's all set up to be just a little inconvenient and awkward.

Hunting loot was fine for me during the time I was able to hunt, a few random probes was a straight waste of PED. I did get one hit in about 10 or 12 triple drops in the rookie finder, and nothing in 5 or 6 triple drops of f-105. It looks like indoor mining though, finder range said 22m so a few drops like that doesn't say anything.

All in all, nice to see the servers up well within the target timeline and hope the tuning and introducing the new content goes well.

Please, PLEASE do something about funneling everyone right into a pirate camp. Literally not a single other issue matters if there is zero safe option to travel in or out.

I would pay money in fees. I don't mind jumping through some hoops to support the notion of separate planets and systems. What is the Mindark obsession with funneling our peds to

y'know screw it. I don't need to finish that sentence. I had some warning, I didn't lose anything today but really the more I type on the topic, the more I'm tempted to just abandon arkadia, frankly. In most games griefers like this would have just been banned years ago. Instead I have the same fucker taxing my SI For years.

\With the MA support quote floating around right now, it's basically true that while Mindark makes the platform decisions, Arkadia has literally invited these vermin to come make this their new home.

This is really going to sour things for a long time.

 

Some first impressions, please correct in case I overlooked something:

I really like the look & feel of it. Things like the insect temple at the dam hopefully aren't just there for meaningless decoration and speculation, but will be integral to the development of interesting story lines.

The way lifeforms are placed indicates some thought was given to a sense of realism, which is appreciated. Comparisons with Monria are somewhat inevitable but I think they rather lead astray, as Poe's fantasies are more like journeys into the inner world of human psyche where physical boundaries don't exist. I see this moon rather as the plausible simulation of a smaller alien world where conditions amenable to life exist in pockets rather than uniformly across the entire surface, and a credible human settlement would use technology to find its place in it.

That creature spawns, loots and content aren't finalized is a given and concentrating criticism on these is short-sighted. The space issue is subject of a separate discussion. I expect to retain a choice whether to include pvp into my game or not (other than the choice of not visiting at all).

I would suggest to reorganize the distribution of service terminals from a viewpoint of ergonomics, though. The landing point in the middle of nowhere is not a problem in itself. But after doing the straightest thing first, reviving to see where it takes you, you are in a room where there are only revive terminals and no other services. Often, coming from space and carrying all your stuff, you want to get to a storage terminal first to get rid of the excess weight. Having to find one while reduced to a crawl is an excitement damper. (Edit- major blunder: it is right on the back side of the quest terminal - somehow expected it with the others upstairs and then didn't look around outside) Also on further exploration, the walking distances between teleporters and service terminals are found inconvenient. The impressions of a Stargate better placed outside (or needing a specially constructed room like in the original series) and a service station wanting to have proper housing in this environment are conflicting though, hope we didn't paint ourselves into a corner here. Maybe just the basics Trade/Repair/Storage on a little socket next to the teleporter would be enough, as these are most needed by hunters and miners who want to get in and out to their field as quickly as possible. Ideally place 3 or 4 of them around each tp since the spawning points are random. (Edit 2: Looked again and Beta Portal is fine with service nearby. Maybe what I'm nissing is a consistent pattern between the four of them.)

I haven't found any new teleporters besides the initial four, but haven't been to every corner yet. I would have expected to see chatter about new discoveries though, and its absence seems to indicate that these are all for the time being. I don't know if the sparsity of teleporters is intended to remain as-is, but it's often advocated by players who still know the original, old Calypso. Maybe it's a good idea to keep it that way and see how players adapt to it. Makes tp chips more useful again and dying on a mob far out more costly, so better planning is in order. I have nothing against that, only if e.g. errand-type missions make you return to a certain place away from any tp again and again it becomes a nuisance and creates a sense of money-grabbing, which has become a bit of an issue on the later Calypso (cf. Camp Carter and Midway Islands missions). I suggest to try and avoid that. On the other hand, I have preferred iron mission givers to reside out there, ideally right in a thicket of enemies. But this seems not majority opinion and the opposite of Arkadian style preferring the convenience of mission terminals. The developing Smuggler story seems to go into that direction again though, which is cool.

Thanks again and looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds

 

Yep, I too at first thought it shared the Arkadia Auction, but then realized that it stated Planet Arkadia ...
When you look at the Auction drop down list you will notice that the are 3 Arkadia ones.

1. Planet Arkadia
2. Planet Arkadia Underground
3. Planet Arkadia Moon​

The ... mentioned above is thus the bit where the word Moon did not fit in the box.

This can be confusing and it would probably be better if they rename these auction locations in the future to reflect:

1. Planet Arkadia
2. Arkadia Underground
3. Arkadia Moon​

Hope this clarifies it for you.

(To add to the confusion, within 5 hrs of the Moon arriving it already had 10 pages of Auction stuff available, that is more than what is routinely found on many of the other planets. Awesome effort from the community and traders !).

 

Yea I found this out for myself this morning when I thought to check the list. Also was fooled by the numbers of pages already. I noticed that a lot of the stuff on there was mining related so I think that someone thinks its going to be another FOMA as far as mining is concerned.

 

I dropped some random probes while I was exploring, about 60 Peds worth, and ended up with over 500 Ped in mined loot (had a Terrudite Stone with a value of 424 PED! ) with NO AMP, using a Terramaster 3. All finds were size Ample +.

So I think the Moon is very comparable to the Underground, with perhaps just other Ores and Minerals (treasure was the same).
I suspect the the manufacturing BPs may use these Moon mined loot too, and would then affect MU and economy of raw materials and bolster trade between the planets too.

 

if it's on purpose to go with the whole smuggler theme, I kind of can see that... but if it's just making a pirate bottleneck, I suspect it should be rethought by both Planet Parnter and Mindark.

 

This was almost entirely just mining amps and the 'awesome effort' probably that of a few early birds hoping to cash in on the indoor logic.

 

I can see the logic behind it too, but in order to work in practice it would need a major rethink from MA's side about space spawning dynamics. Since going to space makes you: a) Spawn in the same spot so people can simply camp to kill you instead of 'patrolling', b) leaves you vulnerable while you are loading and on the same time visible from everyone already up there... yeah, that doesn't work.

 

I really do want to go to the moon but need to hear from the Ark team if this is a bug or not and if it's being fixed.

 

If it is on purpose, I am starting to wonder if there's a reason to it... does the decay on ships between ark and the moon in space add to the deed payout on the moon deeds?

 

Well, in expectation of the Moon , I have been busy crafting for Arkadians. So Ive stocked up Janitors closet with mining amps, finders, excavators, weapons, weapons attachments, faps and a lots more. You may want to take a browse first, and prep for a Moon adventure. Just watch it with stackables, when departing the moon, pirates have been very busy ,the minute the moon released. I mine amped so should you. Shop # 4 Sanctuary Cove TP

 

Jumping off the cliff here, made me fly for around 3 minutes.

Also there is a large crater with water inside it. A bottom has not been programmed, so if you wish to swim under the moon, there's your entry point.

I left the moon with a desire to go back to ark. I was immediately gunned down by three pirates. Half way dead to be able to move my ship a bit, to make them waste a bit more shots, but dead soon enough. From that moment I felt no desire to return to Ark. I will be on Cyrene/Caly/Rt/Toulan and will not return until safe zones are in place.

 

I am on cyrene now. I remember it was south west on.the map. A lot of holes with a big one in the middle

 

Is there an Ark mission broker somewhere apart from the quest terminals?

I just reached a mining mission goal but can't claim the reward via the quest terminal.

 

Its clear from this that the Ark mining missions can be counted on the moon as well. However, there are no mining mission terminals on the moon as yet so you'll have to go back to Ark to claim it. Or wait a bit to see if mission terminals are put in at the next patch.