Novaquark is riding a fine line with Dual Universe’s ability to destroy and rebuild player-constructed objects. If the studio allows for indefinite reconstruction, the economy takes a hit because demand for materials will plummet. But if the studio goes for full-on perma-destruction, then players will be grumpy when their hard work vanishes during a PvP ambush.
The solution according to the studio’s latest dev blog is to allow for limited reconstruction: “The change we’re making will limit the number of times an elements can be restored, i.e. three times for an engine and five times for a container. Once an element has hit its maximum amount of restores, it is destroyed and can’t be repaired anymore. This will be less brutal than an immediate destruction, allowing you to manage a critical situation during combat, yet give you the opportunity to plan for a long-term replacement strategy as your restore counter is approaching the limit.”
Fully destroyed elements can only be deleted or replaced. Novaquark said that it has other plans in the works to introduct “other forms of degradation.”
