I am presenting the following because there are still a few perhaps who continue to discount the fact that ND
made choices that gave us the end result that is experienced on both ROCKtropia and Next Island today. The continued defense for the struggles of the planets today is that systems were not available at the time.
This is accepted, but it does not account for the time period that they
have been available since the release of both planets, and the
choice to continue focusing on content delivery (new cities, and now a full-on prison?) rather than on basic systems that both planets sorely needed. Therefore, the comments by so many that Arkadia came along and knocked it out of the park in this respect.
The following is content quoted from the Neverdie interview I did for the Dec 2010 EntropiaTimes magazine:
In April 2010, Jon said they chose to do a soft launch of ROCKtropia in order to get it out the door. “This was somewhat revealing,” shares Jon, “because all of the new systems were not yet in place to create a stand-alone economy.” The timing was also not right to push for the dance battle system, which is the fundamental original game play element for the music planet according to Jon.
So it was absolutely a choice to move forward and release the planet prior to fundamental systems being in place to create a "stand-alone economy" and give the planet a chance at supporting a potential player base.
There was no denying that launching ROCKtropia in its embryonic stage proved extremely valuable to the studio’s learning curve, even though Jon shares that it also revealed its shortcomings to the public. “I like to think of ROCKtropia like a baby still learning to walk,” says Jon, “after all, this is not a game, but an organic, albeit virtual world.” Lessons learned from the ROCKtropia growing pains, the Next Island production was elevated to a whole new level according to Jon, keeping the team at Neverdie Studios working around the clock through the second half of 2010.
Despite the lessons learned from the RT growing pains, the same situation happened with Next Island when it was released (in whatever form they termed it) on Dec 8, 2010. Not even a proper newbie area in place, regardless of what systems were available or not. Next Island has also suffered from not having proper systems in place, and both planets are now playing a catch-up game, which is quite unfortunate, because both have great themes and great potential. I only hope the catch-up game is successful.
John stated that perhaps the most critical growth of ROCKtropia will be the introduction of blueprints for manufacturing, and quests, which are both planned for the end of 2010.
Arkadia started hardcore production in August 2010 ... obviously, systems were available between then and now for the Arkadia development team to implement them in time for the launch of the planet last week on the 25th. Next Island development is now in-house (not being built out by NDS), giving them an opportunity to focus on systems and content, and leaving NDS with their sole focus on RT. Hopefully, this will give both planets the attention they need going forward.
Question
Was the initial delivery of the planet what you expected?
Response
We launched ROCKtropia pretty much at the first moment it became possible to launch a new planet on the Entropia Platform. We had not anticipated so many production delays, and we couldn’t afford to sit on it indefinitely.
Almost all of the little things we had asked for to give it a unique flavor were not yet possible to implement, but we thought the intensity of Zomhattan and the darkness of Lemmy’s castle would prove to be enough to keep it entertaining while we added new systems. What we weren’t prepared for, was the impact of the 80 PED roundtrip teleporter fee to and from Calypso, and the lack of ability to generate any kind of local economy.
The planet was launched too soon to be self-sustaining. It was like delivering a premature baby that you have to
keep inside an incubator for months after. However, I think the flavor of ROCKtropia was distinct, and as we have
continued to add content, it has grown more tasty, but certainly, I am itching to give a more complete picture as we
add even more content.
The planet has gone through, and is still going through changes – new things have been added – including new cities like New Harlem. We added the city areas which are very important to where things are going, but they are far from finished.
New Harlem is my favorite vibe, and I love the Vixens, they are so naughty. Of course, when the male NPC characters are introduced to the urban environments, it will balance things out accordingly. But for me, the first thing I wanted to do was make sweating sexy!
What I find incredibly off about the above quote, is that the focus seems to have been on delivering more content rather than a focus on basic systems to give the economy a boost, and again, not only support the locals, but help promote population growth. We've seen a great deal of content introduced while critical systems are still missing.
Now we hear that there's a balancing issue with some items. It appears yet again that the finger is pointed at MA, when in fact the PP designs (scripts) items with stats, and then MA has to check everything to make sure balancing is in place ... and if you don't think PP or development staff have anything to do with the stats, then revisit the
docudrama that ND published and advance to the 6:40 minute mark where Michael is showing the new stats on a weapon to a young lady in the office. It stands to reason that if what is scripted isn't going to fit into the overall balancing of the platform, MA isn't going to release it.
Question
Is there an explanation as to why the blueprints didn’t arrive with the release of the planet?
Response
The system for individual planet blueprints simply still isn’t ready for Planet Partners at the time of this interview, but it
is an extremely high priority system, and I hope that it has arrived by the time this is published.
Obviously, the
individual planet blueprint system arrived, because Arkadia made good use of it and delivered well over 300 blueprints at launch last week.
Question
Do you feel that Neverdie Studios being involved in the development of more than one planet will hinder at all the progression of the planets?
Response
The plan was always to handle the workload. Once ROCKtropia and Next Island are both up and running, we will figure out the formula. For us, the focus will be more destinations for ROCKtropia, and more time travel zones for Next Island. Most importantly, we need to get their economies working so that they can support full-time development teams.
Shouldn't a formula be figured out ahead of time in order to support the needs of the planet(s)?
Side-Note ... again, the above is shared to speak to the continued defense of where RT and NI are, and to support what others have said about ND making choices. I would absolutely love to see both of these planets succeed, and perhaps now NDS having only one planet to focus on, we might see it happen, but ... I also think it's relevant that some are saying that responsibility needs to be accepted for the state that these planets are in currently.
I have to agree with those who say that ND's attitude toward those in the community who question his behaviors could very well be pushing people away, and ultimately hurting his planet. I hope this is not the case in the long-run, and that he can now give RT the attention it needs to elevate it to the next level.
Sure they`re responsible but doesn`t mean it`s their main priority.
