FAQ: Information Regarding Desertia, its Universe, and anything else

[Col. StaR]

This thread will answer any questions that people will have. Any serious questions will be posted for further referral.

Go ahead and POST in this thread with your Question, and I'll be sure to answer it by modifying the post. Be sure to check your question soon afterwards to see if it has been answered!

[Zstan]

I'm sure you've been asked a thousand times but is there a ETA on the server being up and stable?

ANSWER:
It'll be ready when it's ready. We really can't give an ETA at this moment, because there's a lot going on at the moment in terms of development.

So the only thing I can say right now: Standby, and thank you for being patient.
We're an anxious to play as you are, but we want things to be perfect first.

Also, please don't bug the dev staff. They'll get things done, and aren't working any faster with constant distractions. We all appreciate it.



What about PAC? (Hat Maker) It adds alot of character customization.

ANSWER 2: We worked with Hat Maker a little bit beforehand when the STOOL first came out. The result? A lot of lagging and more OOC Boxmen than actual RP. It proved to be a great help when it came to adding simple aesthetics such as holsters, slung weapons, and even a robot AI player, but it was decided that it just wasn't worth the tradeoff of RP.

Now, if we could use the same function but in a script (i.e. if you've got a weapon in your inventory it'd show on your back), that'd work just as well.



I was lurking on your old forums, and I saw Areta.

So..what about Areta?

ANSWER 3:

Areta was an old idea, basically a side story or a complete travel where everyone would go to a small, forested planet in the Xenon System, Areta (Greek for a struggle against Great Odds, or something like that).
At this point, there is no plans to continue that.

[Lucidius]

Do ya'll plan on making some sort of promotional machinama for when the server drops, or anytime shortly after it drops?

ANSWER: Unfortunately, there haven't been any such plans for that as of now, primarily because minor development is still being done. Once that is complete, however, then all the marketting can begin. Machinima, eh? I like that. Anyone have any experience with that?

Also, do you plan on re-writing most of the information stuff in this forum with an In-world esque touch to it? I think that'd ehelp abit with the immersion myself.

i.e TImeline can bea collection of news clipping over the years as the events happen, Information about the rebels can appear as a corruped media (private or local), etc.

ANSWER 2: I actually planned on doing that to compliment Munroe's Timeline of Events in History, but I didn't consider it very necessary. Plus, I guess I've always thought about it as a sort of objective telling of history, so that the reader gets a good, brief grasp of history, as opposed to a lot of scattered IC text which may be obscure or ambiguous. But I also like that idea.

Things in the UWN newsroom will always be IC, and anything in the IC stories section will/should be IC too.

[Cutch]

I might work something out for a promo for HGN as a whole.

[Cobra]

1. Will there public transportation in Desertia?(This will create some jobs) From what I mean by Public Transportation is a bus or something that can run from the town to the mines or a taxi service that can take people around Desertia for a fee (Puts people to work eh) Or Mining trucks that go to process facility's?

ANSWER: This is a really tricky question to tell the truth.
+ On the one hand, WALKING is really boring, especially on large maps like CSC. Plus it's pretty unrealistic to have people walking/bunnyhopping out into a desert like they're going outside to the mailbox. It seems like we need some sort of transportation, right?
+ Plus, it promotes player business. I'd bet XEM would have some sort of public transporation system.

But, on the flip side,
- Transportation requires Vehicles, something which requires both ToolTrust and VehicleTrust. I don't want to give those away to anyone, especially since VehicleTrust has the potential to be exploited.
-In addition, we can't guarantee transportation would always be around, so what's the point of it then? If there's a whole server full of people and no bus/taxi drivers, who'll cart 'em around? What if there's only 1 driver for a server full of people?
- Plus, who wants to play as a driver?
- In addition, once one person has a vehicle, it soon becomes a sort of pandemic. Next thing you know, everyone and their grandmother has some sort of vehicle. It kind of takes away from the desperate, material-striven struggle of Desertia when there's so many cars that you'd expect Gerian to double as a Ford dealership.

All in all, though, I think that we should have some sort of transportation. I'll need to pan out the rest though. Suggestions can be PMed to me!

QUESTION OMITTED

Cobra, I omitted your last question because it reveals stuff about S16, which is a plot point and faction I'd like to bring in later on as a sort of plot twist.

Rest assured, S16 will return in small scale when the time is right. However, feel free to PM me to discuss the matter.

[Afromana]

In Reply of cobras transport thing, i could bring back my invention, the dune drifter,
(a large craft which drifts over the sand, invented by mistake)

[Ping-Pong]

Sorry Afro, I made something a while back... Dune Shifter... A lot of people can actually confirm it.

[Afromana]

I made mine before you even joined :V

[Cobra]

About the Vehicle trust being abused and or tool trust, this is why you have admins(Yes I know admins won't always be on but there are always player who report them and if there isn't well no one will really care because the server probably has 2 or so people on it.) . If someone is going to abuse it, remove it.

[Zstan]

Let's just use the hoverbike.

http://www.garrysmod.org/downloads/?a=view&id=37580

[TheHawk]

Hmm I need one (its from the Star Wars ?)

[Zstan]

Will we be able to create our own factions?
Look at the SRP loner groups for example, they are basically just a group of friends.

(MINOR-NOT-RELATED-TO ANY-OTHER-FACTION)  

ANSWER:
The term used for a group like that was... Group, actually. Just as you described, they were organized groups of people who were not actually affiliated with any one organized faction; examples of groups could be a gang of bandits, a mercenary guild, an only-child club, news correspondents, and a politically vocal group. One perhaps mandatory group was once the Survivalists, a group of veterans who volunteered their time to let newbies get acquainted.

Under our own forums and supervision, groups would have gotten their own section on the forums for discussion, planning, and organization. Right now, though, the best networking would be through alternate methods, such as SF or IC meetings.

Will there be weather?
(Like fog, sandstorms, etc.. It would be awesome on the flat maps, more immersion, actually makes you feel like you are in a desert.)

ANSWER 2: Since we currently don't have any proper weather code or map function, weather will purely be RPed. Since it IS a desert, don't expect much other than a serious sandstorm, which would force people inside for a period of time.

Will there be actual ore entities?
(For mining)

ANSWER 3: I remember Stingwraith once coded a mining system, but the only problem with that was that it disobeyed the laws of matter (You could create an infinite system where you'd have an ever-increasing amount of a material. It was actually pretty funny, considering we had broken the universe). I hope to put in some sort of actual mining system which would call for IC participation and such, but we lack the coding personnel to do so. Nevertheless, it's on the ToDo list. For now, RP it.

[deluxulous]

What happened to miners after "Mining Fever?" I read the entire Megathread, and searched this thread for it, and it hasn't come up, or the info wasn't there. Did they get what they wanted? Better wages, equipment, and safety regulations? Or were they ignored yet again, and strictly punished?

ANSWER:
That question has actually never come up before, nor has the answer actually been stated. It's a good thing you asked.

In the beginning, when the revolts were relatively new and seemingly isolated incidents, the more flexible corporate heads decided to compromise, and some of them did receive better wages, equipment, and regulations. At the cost of a few lives, the miners' message was heard.

Then, after other groups saw how successful these revolts were, they either fought harder for even more benefits, or fought to vent some frustration at the society that pretty much abused and exploited them. At this point, it was clear that the miners, who were cleaning out entire colonies, could not be calmed by a pay increase and environment suits. PMCs were called in, and those who did not submit were eliminated.

After the efficient, "quick and clean" usage of violent, paramilitary force was seen, most corporations decided not to consider compromise at all. Now with the gun in their hands, their message was, "Revolt and you will die". Any of the smaller uprisings were quelled completely, and almost no benefits or relief was given to the stricken miners.

Yup, it's a cruel galaxy.

[Akira]

Will you add the Wire Addon to the server? Of course it shoul only be available to very trusted members, something like Advanced ToolTrust. It can be used to create some very epic roleplay. I would know several ways to improve roleplay with an E2 chip. I know, it can be abused. But anyone, who abuses it, should be permabanned from TT without any discussion.