The question of whether or not Dual Universe would have a wipe before launch has been asked for some time, and the Novaquark team has finally answered. Yes, the game will be reset almost entirely, but there are a few things that will remain or be accessible later.
The team released an announcement video with a definitive answer today, where devs break down the decision process and many details that went into what will ultimately be happening. The question has been asked among the community for a while, and while the team acknowledged this numerous times, they said that an answer would be coming. Even the team had internal debate over what to do when the beta was over. There's also a new blog from NQ-Kyrios breaking down the full decision.
So what will happen?
Because players have dedicated time and money into the game during the beta, resetting the persistent single shard game was a huge decision. First, when you are starting a new game, having everyone have a fresh start is an advantage.
Since the game has been running and changing in beta, there are bugs and exploits, and things that need to be improved throughout the system. This extends to the in-game economy, which needs rebalancing, and a reset will do this. In addition, a recent will let the team fix performance and clean things up. Additionally, this will let the team improve planets, add things that were left out of beta and essentially give the team time to have extra features and character when the full launch happens. having the huge amount of existing structures and terraforming already happening during beta continue, that is lost.
Almost everything will be reset, except players’ names and contact lists, core blueprints, and organization ownership. You will have to reform your guild but if you were a leader, you'll stay one.
There will be a six-month launch event where everyone starts at the same place, but at the end, beta veterans can claim Pioneer Packs. These are special packages of talent points, quanta, schematics, and more that you’ll qualify for based on paid subscription length or crowdfunding support level.
For details, head to Dual Universe.
