Future Next Island Content

David Post = CEO and owner of Next Island
NDS - studio developing Next Island
Meg - social media, or you could say Community Manager

Meg can only relay to us what she's been told, and that information comes from development (NDS), or from David Post, who actually may get development updates from ND and/or someone from NDS.

I have to agree about Calin ... I've known him to be a very calm and level-headed person, and able to give the benefit of the doubt, but ... with all that's happened since the labeled beta release on Dec 8th, I don't blame the frustration level of many, nor that some are/have left Next Island.

Even on Dec 8th, the planet was not fully functioning as a beta test because so much was missing from the main planet, and there wasn't a proper newbie area let alone blueprints to help get the economy started. The planet is pretty (I've seen pics, haven't been there), but that doesn't make it functional. The only thing basically functional at that time was ND's island, and even then there were issues.

Now we have Ancient Greece which should never have been opened up (but it's being publicized). The time travel blueprints shouldn't have dropped (or however they were gotten), and crafting the crystal to actually do the time travel never should have happened ... especially given the number of failures and ultimate expense. And if that wasn't enough, there's no functionality at Ancient Greece at all, except hunting, which requires spending PED of course ... quite convenient that this aspect of game play wasn't left out.

Sure, Ancient Greece is pretty (according to pics posted by Kitten), but again, that doesn't make it a functioning environment. And now, we're told that this current release had no fixes, nor have we been told when there will be a VU with fixes.

How can you blame community members for being frustrated, upset, and even furious. The sad thing is ... it's all being publicized as being ready for players when it's not. That's the part I just don't get ... how can anyone representing Next Island with a clear conscious say that this planet is ready for an influx of players in its current state.

I'm not pointing fingers at ND, but at the overall management of this project. However, I'm sure that ND is happy with his section of the planet, but the truth is, this is David's planet, and what happened to the plans that he spoke of in the interview I did with him last year in the Sep issue of the EntropiaTimes, and what happened to him saying that he didn't want to release something that wasn't finished?

Next Island was rushed live just like ROCKtropia was, and in the long-run, there is no doubt in my mind that it has hurt both planets. Perhaps work is being done now with regard to the basics (newbie arrival area, blueprints, missions), but these should have been in place at the beginning. These systems have been available to all PP, and FPC (now SEE) is testament to that, as well as Arkadia who will be launching their planet with plenty of blueprints and missions, not to mention a fully functioning newbie arrival area. PPs make a choice as to what systems they will use based on availability and what they can fit into budget, and why these basic systems wouldn't be at the top of the list is beyond me.

I also agree that there is great potential, and I really like the concept a lot. I also wish for the PPs to succeed, but from my perspective, too much needs to be done all at once, and my fear is that ROCKtropia is getting all of the attention right now as a result of the 2.0 release that's coming up April 12th, and NDS being at SXSW right now (or this weekend).

I really do hope it all works out, because it would be a shame to continue operating at this level. I also agree with Calin that more communication needs to be forthcoming with regard to what we can expect, and when.

Thank you for your efforts Meg ... I know you can only share what you are given, or allowed to share.

 

Yes, thanks Meg for the update! Next Island is my home and I love the work you all are doing.

 

sooo, to get back on topic ;)

meg, i understand other issues caught your attention, but i would still like to know if the first post in this thread refers to the patch being installed now, or the next patch
(since today's patch doesn't seem to be an expected patch, but rather an unexpected to fix the pvp issue on calypso)
so.. you talking about this patch or the next one comming? :)