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Items Personal Colonist Assistant Device (PCAD)

Discussion in 'Wishlist' started by unicorn, Mar 12, 2012.

  1. unicorn

    unicorn Active Member Pro Users

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    Hello,

    since some people had the idea of the blueprint tablet pcs I thought it would maybe make sense to connect it with makeing a Personal Colonist Assistant Device.

    The Device could be able to contact a satellite in the orbit of each planet or the local wirenet which is holding all type of information about weapons, tools, creatures, vehicles and so on.

    The device decay 1 pec per use and is able to provide people with data which can be added by players like the wikis now.

    It make people able to find all sorts of information directly from ingame without moveing outside the game to grinding the wikisites. Everytime a player add information the Avatar Name is saved in the article.

    There might be people who like to discover all on themself but i think the majority of people playing a game would prefer access to information on demand instead of inventing the wheel on themselfs again.

    If the planet partners dont like to give out a device which point new players to another planet it could be possible that every player can unlock a planets information by entering it for the first time or buying the planet app there.

    The programming afford be on the developers ofc so if its needed to not make a craftable device it could be available from the TT also.

    It could also be possible that people with big computer or scientist skills can craft more apps which are available per blueprints then or you buy more apps from the TT.

    Like "blueprints app" "MU calculator app" "advert app" "inventory/storage MU calculator app" "advanced friendlist app" "screenshot app" "decay hud" and so on and so on.

    e.g. people applying the advanced friendlist app would unlock more functions to the friendlist and so.

    We are in the future but people calculate their loot return by draging all in the tt window and such.

    After every hunt you leave the game to calculate your MU outside the game.

    It be more enjoyable to keep yourself ingame doing your things then playing in window mode to change to excel or pen&paper or one of the many tools the community programmed by themself it reaches a point where its not handy and the taskbar grows and grows.

    People who want to use their own tools do it anyways but if you are a new player inside you be surprised on what many different sites and tools you must register yourself these days to get useful basic functions which support your play to not run blind around.

    I thought about that device as it would make people be able to discover things from the start and buy the device if they want with buying a economy produced item or from the TT.

    Make it customizable so it can be colored and textured.

    I would make that.

    Greets
     
  2. Neil

    Neil Adviser Pro Users Arkadia Adviser

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    Might be a good idea, but I don't think it would work, primarily because Mindark has not shown much interest in sharing information that helps players maximize their profits, or in sharing ANY information at all, for that matter (in case you haven't noticed). :) And on the practical side of the matter, I'm pretty certain they don't have extra developers sitting around twiddling their thumbs looking for extra work to do when so many bugs in existing systems need fixing :)

    Entropedia works well as a repository of information. I do, however, wish they would provide the basic stats for each item they release (decay, etc.) instead of leaving it to players to "rediscover the wheel" every time.
     
  3. unicorn

    unicorn Active Member Pro Users

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    i dont care if mindark did a thing until now and yes i saw that they didnt provide not much info in the past thats why i posted the thread to make a suggestion to improve the situation.

    the fact is they make people to create all different things outside the game which get more and more and that make people to get themselfs outside the game while playing it and the taskbars grow more and more it gets unergonomic to use so and if a entertainment product gets unergonomic it has impact on the new player experience. it not happen few times that new players ask "what can i do here" "where can i see what i can do here" and the first you can do is to point them out of the game to external tools. good impression someone gets of the product^^ it be way better to introduce them and show them a cool PDA device they can aquire for their personal assistance.

    and if mindark has enough developers or not and what they tell them to work on and what not that must they decide and not the players think about to make it a criteria if someone even tries to send in a suggestion.

    if i would never suggest anything to others cause i personally think that something could might eventually be in a way that it could not might eventually be not possible then i will end to never communicate with anyone about something and will never try something new.

    i would keep stuck in a situation forever.

    mindarks current goal was to improve the new players experience and to that belongs to think about changes in the ergonomical usage of the product. if you have serious plans as a company you are glad to get any kind of suggestions of the customer base on reaching current goals.

    so the only thing here to comment is if its a thing someone would like or not and why.

    and not if someone personally not believes that its done without insight into what is going inside MA. thats just smoke grenades which is leading people in false direction to not believe in a thing from the start on. these are irrelevant infos.

    greets,
     
  4. rick_janson

    rick_janson Well-Known Member Pro Users

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    One minor thing... It was Arkadia that had the goal of improving the new player experience.. Not MindArk. But Neil makes some good points. There was a utility called "PE Assistant" that worked pre-VU10.. But my understanding is that it got abandoned and is designed to work with the old engine.

    Also, any application written by a player cannot interfere with EU functions. In that respect, it's actually kind of impossible to implement what you're suggesting.. So it's down to a question, not of if someone likes the idea, but if it's possible to do without being in trouble with MindArk. What I understand of your proposal would have a 3rd party application (if not put in directly to the platform by MindArk) directly interacting with the platform or its graphics engine.

    On the Friends List, I'm not sure what else you could add to it... Other than maybe having soc list and friends list separate.. But now that the FL is unlimited, that's kind of a moot point...

    MU Calculator... Just keep a calculator on the desk next to the computer (they're cheap and doesn't require leaving the game window).

    What kind of "advert app" would you be looking for?? To post advertisements ingame? They already have that system, just hasn't been implemented on Arkadia, yet.

    Screenshot app.. Yeah, okay.. I can see that.. But you can use the free version of Fraps (and I think someone else mentioned another free screenshot application). It doesn't require leaving the game window. You can use Entropia Tracker.. It doesn't require you to leave the game window. I personally don't really see a need for it.

    And for the record, I prefer playing in Window mode for things like browsing the forum, doing some other things on the web, chatting, etc. Those aren't part of the game and I wouldn't expect them to be. Maybe if your whole life was ingame, that'd be a different story. But very little of my life exists inside the game, so these extensions don't really make sense to me.

    I don't think we need a PDA... No other game does that (that I know of)... If you listen to Dobson's last interview (with Isclay) he says they wanted to create a basic tutorial that doesn't hold the user's hand. EU is kind of a "sandbox" type game. It's not a game that has a user manual because of the possibility of major changes. I don't expect MindArk will do any of that, but I don't really want them to. Part of the fun is the exploration and learning things for yourself. Sites like Entropedia exist to share that information with the other players.

    Great idea, but I honestly don't see a need for most of it.
     
  5. Calin

    Calin Member

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    If we were to have a device like this it should be very similar in function to Oceanic. Maybe with an easier mining tracking function. But, MA doesn't want us to have easy access to any information, so it won't happen.
     
  6. unicorn

    unicorn Active Member Pro Users

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    ye:
    this should be important for new players. see they know that they must do something and want to also...

    1. My Idea posted has nothing to do with a tool which was running in the past
    2. I dont want any third party tools. i want less third party tools thats why i made the suggestion.
    3. Because it be a ingame device its just a question if someone likes it or not or if its useful or not. and not tech speculations of players without insight.


    There are many things which are not there what is in other games just common. like to check when someone was last online, possibility to host a special group chat for soc leaders. such are examples of functions people solve with workarounds now like someone makes a team to chat with people in private... that involves all leave their current hunting teams and such. there could also be functions soc related ofc. alot ideas can be found in the wishlist of PCF since month or years.


    That is exactly what i want to avoid and the reason i made the initial thread.
    My solution is the PDA ingame. who ever wants to use other methods can.
    Im just thinking of my experience of being in a disciple soc.

    you can use you calculator on the desk or use tool on ingame pda which opens and show you items in your inventory and the current MU, you just enter a TT value of it and get shown the price.

    there can also be a reverse calculation function then. you enter the price someone offers in peds and the amount of TT ped you are about to sell and get calculated the MU which it be then to compare with market price easily so new players get help to not be ripped of so fast.


    An advert app people can activate the PDA and watch ingame adverts on their screen full size.
    I know that there are already advert screens hanging around and that they are not on arkadia atm but this has nothing to do with the possibility to add a PDA steered app which can show adverts of players businesses..

    See just because i post things in the wishlist must not mean that i am not aware of current alternatives or that other things cant be added also.


    See my answer to the adverts. same for that.


    that is a valid point I can follow and accept cause here you write what you personally really think for a real personal reason. good!

    for me that is a good point i dont had on the screen as i use my mobile phone for my RL friends communication only but of course an ingame pda would not include to make it impossible to play without it or to not use any other things. people who want to use other things can do that ofc. noone dictates someone to use the device and no other tools.
    but if i can use a ingame pda which make me use like 5 third party tools less beside browser or chats externaly i would use it.

    the pda offers usable apps and information system and be a addition to the ingame economy maybe. is not meant to be a manual where you can lookup how to sweat or mine or so. mindark can only leave a handbook away because the software is free to download. if they would sell the software in a store or via downloadshop they would have to make a handbook. cause when you sell software or any other kind of device to people you must provide a handbook. that is the law. if you dont provide a handbook which describes all functions of your product the customer has always the right to step back from a deal. (at least in the European Union its like that) and the fact that there could be changes to a software in the future is for no company in the world a argument to leave a product without handbook.

    so a pda with useful tools would rather engage people for activity instead of holding their hands.
    the pda would not recommend any activity to the player just support them by doing them.
    they are a assistant and not make decisions for you what to do next. people will still need to use their own minds to play.

    whoever wants to explore things can do that. i can just tell what i see inside a big disciple soc. and that is that the majority seems not to have fun inventing the wheel for themselfs again when they arrive.

    The fact that alot other games dont have it should be a reason more to do it. cause the more your product offers what others dont have the more arguments customers find to use your products.

    and these arguments are for real sales arguments people can touch and see with their own eyes and not just always these untouchable smoke grenade arguments that a product might could eventually make your become rich by playing a game junktalk...

    see imagine mindark make a nice promotion day at a fair and players come and have a look at the game and the embassadors are able to show a interest not only the ingame functions but also show them what kind of functions the game offers to support the gameplay of the RCE environment and can tell then "this game offers the possibility to purchase a ingame PDA like the one you use in real life with all kinds of function to support you, beside these all functions its even customizable you can apply the color and texture you like to make it more personal..."

    what do i think then as customer? i think "wow these developers really make them a thought about and provide real detailed helpful thing ive never seen such PDA thingy anywhere else. that pda supports me on activity, events and so"

    i believe it has positive impact.

    i would make such device.
     
  7. Hideo

    Hideo Active Member

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    i think in essence it´s a good idea, BUT as was mentioned before: the calculater, we still don´t have such a tool in-game, a notepad, mail system(pm´s to offline players). these are, in my eyes, essential systems but still not here and i guess not that much of an effort to implement.
    i don´t like the 3rd-party-registration-marathon, too but until these aforementioned easy and convenient systems aren´t here we´re left to ourselfs and have to use what some community members did in their freetime for us.

    as i said, in essence it´s the best we can hope for. one source for in-game info of all kinds, this really would be awesome and make it much easier to come around but i don´t see it coming from MA

    regards,
    hideo
     
  8. Xandra

    Xandra Active Member Pro Users

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    Hi,

    If MA would be smart, they'd have a look at WoW and would realize what has been done there.

    A simple API, a simple programming language like LUA, and a clearly restricted access to some not-important data, and a community that makes the most astonishing tools out of it. Would work quite well with a personal assistant tool as OP proposed.

    This could be most beneficial, it would awake the creative potential withing the EU community, it could once and for all kill the need to use external 3rd party tools, where you never know for sure if it wouldn't yield you a ban using it.

    But - MA and smart? Fire and ice, day and night.

    Have a good time! :)
     
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  9. unicorn

    unicorn Active Member Pro Users

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    ye why not?

    people send in their own made apps and the platformholder or planetpartner makes a blueprint for it and throws it in the lootpool.

    someone with computer developer profession level high enough for the blueprint lvl could craft a one time usable memory card as attachment for the PDA which you can put on a slot of the PDA and the PDA unlocks the app and the memory card is dispensed from your inventory then or can be sold back to the crafter who needs it for makeing a new one as component.

    or so or so or so :D

    i would make such device.

    greets
     
  10. Neil

    Neil Adviser Pro Users Arkadia Adviser

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    I'd rather see the important functionality built into the game interface, not in another item that has to be equipped, purchased, upgraded, etc. Why require newbies to pay for a device that only gives them information about the game?

    I'd like to see the existing interfaces updated and some of your features added directly into them, for example, calculators can be added into the trading window (including settings to set your own MU or to automatically align them with daily/weekly/monthly MUs, or, in my case, to enter your own complex formula based on official planet MU into the calculation field). I don't want to have to equip another item to do this, I want it right in the trade window where it's useful.

    In my opinion, a complete overhaul of the interface is desperately needed, especially the inventory window, trade window, friend list and messaging center (for offline messages). Seriously, what is with all the teeny tiny non-resizable windows, they're such a pain to work with. Why is there no search bar to help us find misplaced items?

    Mindark does not make ergonomic interfaces, and so, to be honest, I'd rather use 3rd party tools like entropedia than an information center designed by Mindark. I'm not saying it wouldn't have benefits, but would you really want to have to wait for them to update information or add needed features? If something's left out of entropedia, you can just go and add it yourself instantly, or change wrong info. You'd have to wait months or years for Mindark to do it, and you could do absolutely nothing to make them do it faster. You may think my reasons are baseless, but they're based on our collective experience with Mindark's development style, so in my opinion, it's relevant to the issue.

    Now if they had the extra manpower to devote to this project and were dedicated to sharing lots of information with players, making it a great, up to date system, then I'd say go for it. But I still wouldn't want newbies (or me either) to have to pay extra in order to use this system. It should be integrated into the interface, not a crafted, purchased item.