Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Saying Goodbye to Tickets
Saying Goodbye to Tickets 10/12/16
Dear ROBLOX Community:
In the next 30 days, ROBLOX will discontinue Tickets. This is one of the biggest changes we have ever made to our platform. While many of you will welcome this change, I know that many of you will be concerned. I want to explain our reasoning here, and also share details of the process we will go through with this migration.
Nine years ago Erik Cassel, John Shedletsky, Matt Dusek and I designed the original ROBLOX economy. At the time, virtual currency was a new concept, and typically only used in online MMO’s. Virtual worlds like Second Life and Club Penguin were popular, and social platforms like Facebook were just coming into existence. Smart phone mobile gaming did not exist.
In designing our virtual economy, we decided on two forms of currency, Tickets and ROBUX. ROBUX formed the backbone of our economy, while Tickets were designed to reward participation (building stuff and playing the game) without giving out free ROBUX (which would cause inflation for all users who purchased them). At the time, it was a common practice for many games to have two currencies.
We have come a long way since that time. Today, the economy in ROBLOX is more and more driven by developers, who create imaginative and creative games. Many of these games have their own currencies, and many of these games provide their own retention bonus systems. We’ve introduced a host of ways for our developers to make ROBUX. The ticket bonus for place visits has become a very small factor to most developers relative to the ROBUX economy.
Our catalog is going through a similar expansion over the next year, as we begin to allow ROBLOX developers to sell body parts, hats, gear, animations and other items.
We are removing tickets for a number of reasons. Although familiar to many of us, they are confusing to first-time users. We believe removing tickets will simplify our product in all areas, from the UI to the catalog to user-accounting.
We have many things in store for the majority of ROBLOX players who do not want to become involved with the ROBUX economy. In the catalog, we intend to provide more free items, so that avatar customization without ROBUX continues to be creative and rich. Today, we have introduced two free packages for your character. Going forward, we will feature the work of top creators in the community as we migrate to a fully community driven catalog.
There will no longer be any Ticket bonus for logging in daily. As our platform has matured, we believe the reason to come to ROBLOX should be the desire to experience incredible things with your friends. We do not want to incentivize people to “check in” every day.
For our deeply engaged users we want to be able to provide more valuable rewards that are not directly tied to login. While we are going through this 30 day transition, we will be making several gifts available to our users based on their engagement. We will be announcing these gifts tomorrow on the blog.
There is another benefit to removing tickets, and that is it removes the incentive to create alt accounts. We don’t believe it makes sense to provide a currency bonus to having multiple accounts, as this drives behavior that is not at the core of ROBLOX.
The impetus behind removing tickets is not to make more money. The primary reasons have always been product simplicity, botting, and not incentivizing certain behaviors.
For those of you who are clothing developers, we believe that over time you will have a richer opportunity as we expand our catalog to a next generation avatar. We will be lowering the ROBUX price floor on shirts and pants to help increase the volume of sales of these items for our creators. We have a roadmap for the future of avatars on ROBLOX, and as these new features roll out, new opportunities for clothing designers will follow, making the catalog more robust and high quality.
Users will have 30 days to spend down their Ticket balances on commemorative Ticket items, user ads, or to trade them using our currency trading system. In addition, ROBLOX will be awarding gifts over the next couple weeks. By completing tasks on ROBLOX, namely playing and creating, you will earn virtual items.
Here is a list of the current changes:
- Developers will no longer receive Tickets on place visit
- Users will no longer get Tickets for logging in
- Price floor is lowered on shirts and pants to R$5
- First gifts appear in the catalog shortly (future announcement)
After 30 days the following will happen:
- Trade currency will close. Users will no longer be able to exchange currency with one another.
- User ads will be available for purchase in ROBUX only.
- Users and developers can no longer sell items for Tickets. Items with a Ticket and a ROBUX price will be available for the ROBUX price. Items with a Ticket price will have their price converted to ROBUX at a rate of 17:1
- Tickets will no longer be visible or usable.
FAQ:
Q: I used to spend most of my time on ROBLOX earning the login bonus, and then shopping for shirts and pants in the catalog for my avatar. What can I do now?
More and more, the future of ROBLOX will be about experiencing things with your friends. Most of our work at ROBLOX is focused on making ROBLOX more immersive, and available on more platforms, and easier to play with friends. Removing tickets simplifies our efforts to expand in all directions. And it will simplify the introduction of our new articulated avatar. We plan to be free forever, so you will accrue these benefits as we expand to the living room and VR, and as we make our mobile experience increasingly more social and spontaneous.
For those of you specifically interested in character dress-up, more and more developer games are supporting this. Some of our games, like ROBLOX Top Model, have made clothing purchased in the catalog less important, because dress-up can happen in-game, with your friends.
That said, we will be making more free items available in the catalog, not just shirts and pants. We expect that all players will still be able to customize their avatar for free in creative and meaningful ways.
Q: Will anything replace the login bonus?
We want to continue to reward many of the other activities you do on ROBLOX. We are introducing three temporary achievements on ROBLOX. Check the blog tomorrow for details. We want to continue to celebrate your accomplishments – and you guys do so much more than just log in!
Q: I have a business making clothing on ROBLOX. Will I make less money going forward?
We are reducing the price floor on shirts and pants from R$10 to R$5. We are reducing the price floor to ensure that creators have more freedom to sell items at lower prices, now that tickets will be removed. We will also be holding regular contests for clothing makers going forward. They will be creating the clothing for our new users and we’ll also be featuring their clothing in the catalog for all users.
Over time, our catalog will be largely stocked with community created items for all categories, including body parts, animations and gear. All items in the catalog will go through a selection process where we pick the best items for sale, along with the best items that are freely available for everyone. For those items that are freely distributed, there will be fantastic rewards to the catalog developers.
Q: Tickets were a reward for developers who made great content. How can they be rewarded now?
Developers can now monetize their game with developer products, gamepasses, and the affiliate program. ROBLOX developers can cash out their ROBUX for dollars which can be spent in the real world.
Q: Without tickets, how can developers to advertise their games?
In addition to user ads, ROBLOX has introduced Sponsored ads which allow developers to more effectively advertise their games. User ads will continue to be available in the future for ROBUX and we believe this will increase the quality of user ads on the site. Both forms of ads are profitable for users who are advertising virtual items and games that sell developer products. We will continue to work on both systems to provide you additional stats so that you know just how profitable running ads on ROBLOX.
Q: How can new Developers get started without Tickets?
ROBLOX is a place where many game developers get their start. We are committed to making sure new developers get their games discovered. To that end we have created a new email address – featuredgames@roblox.com – for you to submit your up and coming games to. These submissions will be reviewed by our marketing team and submissions that meet our editorial standards could end up in the featured games sort. We’ve also identified the top ways our developers are making money in their games and provided this information to you in the Developer section of the site. Soon we’ll release more templates for budding designers to use when creating clothes and items.
Q: How will top ROBLOX developers be affected by this?
ROBLOX developers will no longer receive Tickets on place visit. Currently, only a very small portion of our top developers’ income is from Tickets.
We are committed to helping our developers earn money.
We plan to expose additional stats on best-selling products so devs have better insight into what is performing well. We will continue to provide new stats for devs and new platforms and users to help devs earn more. We think that this change will increase sales by more than the income lost and will end up being a positive change for developers long term.
Q: If it’s about simplifying the economy why aren’t we getting a small stipend of ROBUX for continued logins?
This would make it even more attractive to create alts and bots.
Q: If it’s about botting, why don’t you just implement ways to counteract that, like only awarding currency for spending at least x minutes in a game?
In general, anything we reward with currency will ultimately be botted.
Q: ROBLOX is greedy for taking away free currency.
Every dollar we make at ROBLOX gets poured back into the company. Unlike many other kid (and adult) virtual worlds, MMOs, and social networks, we are growing rapidly and have an enormous opportunity ahead of us.
Our vision is to Power the Imagination of our community, and to do it more immersively and more socially. Removing tickets is not about greed. It is about simplifying the platform, removing bots and alts, and paving the way for a ROBLOX that is bigger, more engaging, and more fun than ever before.
Q: ROBLOX doesn’t care about base-level players, the majority of our Monthly Active Users.
Every player who ever supports us through ROBUX or Builders Club was originally a base-level player. We understand this dearly. We understand that if we make ROBLOX less attractive for base-level players, over time we will have fewer monetizing players.
Q: Is ROBLOX in financial trouble?
We are profitable and will be hiring 40+ additional employees in 2016, 100% supported by our profits.
We have a lot planned as we make this transition. Every day will mean a new exclusive Farewell to Tickets item – be sure to check back in the catalog or check out our handy calendar with images, prices, and on sale dates for these exciting commemorative items.
I want to thank you for playing ROBLOX over these past (almost) 10 years.
ROBLOX Game Spotlight: Arcane Adventures
ROBLOX Game Spotlight: Arcane Adventures 10/12/16
Since the beginning of ROBLOX creators have always strived to make an engaging magic game on ROBLOX. From simply editing rocket scripts to look like different forms of energy, to Balefire, we have always sought to create cool magic games since the beginning. This week’s spotlight is the culmination of that desire: Arcane Adventures.
This game had me hooked from the get-go. Developer VetexGames knows how to grab your eye–so much so that I was able to use the title screen as the banner this week. From that art, to the level design, to the way the game looks and feels, the place is a whole different level of Massively Multiplayer RPGs. The game has story, it has cool spells and classes, and it has boats. There’s not much more I could ask for from an MMORPG.
What you’re here to hear about is the magic. Let me tell you that this is the best experience I’ve had with a magic-based combat system on ROBLOX in the ten years I’ve been playing ROBLOX games. When you start a new character you first get to design it. This is one of the most in-depth character creators I’ve seen on ROBLOX, and you can create some truly diverse characters in it. After that you can choose which element of magic you want to use. You can pick Fire, Lightning, Light and Wind, and each of these has their own skills to unlock and use.
After you create your character you wind up shipwrecked on an island with a bunch of fellow wizards. But they’re not right in the head after being driven crazy from the wreck and they attack you. You have to fight your way through them and escape the island. From there you can explore a massive world using your boat. Travel to different islands and discover their secrets, or follow the story and figure out the lore behind how the land ended up in such chaos.
Arcane Adventures excels at stunning visuals using dynamic lighting and particles to deliver on its fun magical combat mechanics. Every attack is visceral and seems to connect with impact. They could have been stale rocket clones but the developer took the time to create many unique spells which the player can use to interact with the world and to defeat their enemies. This makes the game truly unique and keeps me coming back for more.
I loved Arcane Adventures. It handles magic in a way that’s never been done, it has a compelling story, and its use of lighting and custom particles creates an atmosphere that keeps me thinking about it long after I put the game down.
Until next time, keep on magicin’ on!
ROBLOX is Having a Huge Sale This Weekend!
ROBLOX is Having a Huge Sale This Weekend! 10/12/16
Our annual Memorial Day weekend sale kicks off this Friday, May 27, and runs through the weekend! We’ve got over 50 amazing items going on sale, including some awesome new things, as well as some of the hats, glasses, faces, and gear that you guys have been asking for. If you’ve never experienced one of our big sales, be sure to watch the Catalog all weekend. Items will appear throughout the day and night, some only up for a couple hours! and look up https://youtu.be/nl-1Kq9i6Q0
We know you have lots of questions, and we’ve got some answers:
- Will items be going Limited?
- YES!
- I want very big heads, can I buy something like that?
- YES!
- I only have 1 ROBUCK, can I buy anything?
- YES!!!
- What about new wings, hair, headphones, and swords?
- YES TO ALL OF THAT
- I live in Europe, will cool items go on sale in my timezone?
- WE GOT YOU COVERED
The Memorial Day Weekend Sale kicks off this Friday, May 27th, and continues all the way through the end of Monday, May 30th. Be sure to follow ROBLOX on Twitter, we’ll be live tweeting the coolest items so you don’t miss anything.
Xbox One Gets Full Access to the ROBLOX Library
Xbox One Gets Full Access to the ROBLOX Library 10/12/16
As the world’s leading Imagination Platform, we are dedicated to maximizing the ROBLOX experience across all of our platforms. Since our launch on Xbox One earlier this year, the amount of user-created games and experiences available on the console has skyrocketed immensely from 15 to over 80 amazing titles. Brace yourselves – that number is about to get even bigger. We are proud to announce that the flood gates are finally open! Starting right NOW, developers can enable console access on all of their games moving forward!
If you’ve been itching to play your favorite ROBLOX games on console, today’s your lucky day! So long as the game is console-enabled, you will be able to play together with friends who are also on Xbox One.
Get ready to play some of your favorite previously unreleased ROBLOX games on Xbox One!
The process to permit console access to your game is simple. There is an option under your place access settings that enables Console play, as you can see in the screenshot below. You can access these settings by clicking on Develop on the top bar. Then, click on the gear icon next to the place that you want to enable console access. From there, click on Configure Place and then click the Access tab.
Before you check the “Console” box, however, we recommend that you consult some of our helpful development tutorials on our Wiki to ensure that you’re creating the best possible user-friendly experience for console players. These tutorials include best practices for updating your game’s control scheme, GUI elements, and much more. After you followed these guidelines, there will be a pop-up screen that asks if your game is controller-compatible and free of objectionable material. Only then will the box be checked and your game will be instantly playable on Xbox One.
There are a few more things to keep in mind when developing ROBLOX games for console. The Xbox One “Featured” list functions differently than the other ROBLOX platforms. New users must play at least five games on the “Featured” list before they gain access to the full catalog. Please review our Xbox Featuring Guidelines on the Wiki for more information on how to get your game featured on Xbox One. If you think your game is ready to be highlighted on the “Featured” list, send an email to XboxSubmissions@ROBLOX.com with a link to the place for our consideration. Featured games will be displayed on the Xbox One home screen, which greatly increases click-through rates.
Welcome to the console world, ROBLOXians! What are some games you can’t wait to play on Xbox One? Let us know by commenting below! We hope you enjoy!
VIP Servers for Group Games Now Available!
VIP Servers for Group Games Now Available! 10/12/16
VIP Servers have been an increasingly popular addition over the years. Since their launch in late 2014, more and more ROBLOX players have embraced this feature so they could easily connect and play with friends privately. Over the past several weeks, our engineering team has been hard at work implementing the next exciting incremental update for VIP Servers. Today, we’re answering the call for one of our most popular requests to date. All group-owned games on ROBLOX can finally support VIP Servers…starting now!
Prior to this update, only user-owned games, such as Work at a Pizza Place and ROBLOX High School, could support VIP Servers. We realize, however, that many of our most popular experiences also tend to be owned by groups, rather than individual users. As a result, we wanted to offer groups and development studios the same capabilities as individual users so they too could provide private servers, ultimately enhancing the social or competitive experience for their players as well!
How will VIP Servers for Group Games work?
VIP Servers for group-owned games work exactly the same way as they do for user-owned games. Developers can still set their own prices for VIP Servers, and they are free to enable or disable the feature at any time. Similarly, players can still use ROBUX to purchase monthly subscriptions to VIP Servers, provided that the game has the feature enabled.
Just as a friendly reminder, developers – active subscriptions will be canceled if you change your price for VIP Servers. Players who have had their subscription canceled will be informed of the price change via private message.
How to enable VIP Servers for Group Games
If you’d like to enable VIP Servers for your group-owned game, simply follow these steps:
- Go to the ‘Configure Place’ page for your group game
- Click the ‘Access’ tab under ‘Configure Place’
- Click the checkbox for ‘Allow VIP Servers,’ set your price, and then save your settings!
Lastly, a BIG thank you goes out to litozinnamon from Phantom Forces, berezaa from Miner’s Haven, and RBXKyle from TNT Rush for allowing us to use their games as a testing ground for this latest update. Your feedback has been invaluable, and we’re thrilled to now offer all group games another powerful option to customize the ROBLOX gaming experience!
We hope you have fun playing together! What else would you like to see in future updates for VIP Servers? Let us know by commenting below!
ROBLOX Physics Get an Upgrade with New Constraints
ROBLOX Physics Get an Upgrade with New Constraints 10/12/16
When we introduced our upgraded physics engine – the PGS Solver – last October, it brought new levels of physics fidelity and faster performance to game simulation. Developers could take full advantage of the PGS Solver to build robust, complex simulations with more rigidity and greater collision detection than ever before. To fully unleash the power and creative possibilities of our physics engine, we are excited to bring you a collection of new Constraints, also known as Mechanical Joints!
Prior to this update, ROBLOX only offered Hinge and Motor Joints which constrain the relative rotation between two parts about an axis. The new joints offer additional ways to constrain and specify relative motion between parts. Many of the new joints also have advanced properties to control the limits of motion. As a result, builders will be able to create complicated machines and mechanisms with super-realistic behavior.
Without further ado, let’s start by taking a brief look at each joint and how they look in-game. Afterwards, we’ll show you how these new joints have been used to create realistic vehicle suspensions and a vehicle mounted rail gun.
BallConstraint
This is the well-known ball and socket configuration which constrains attachments so they occupy the same position. The attachments can freely rotate about all of their axes by default. Cone limits are available for further customization.
HingeConstraint
A HingeConstraint constrains attachments so they occupy the same position and their x-axes point in the same direction.
RodConstraint
A RodConstraint constrains two attachments at a fixed distance, but they can both rotate freely.
RopeConstraint
A RopeConstraint constrains two attachments such that they are not separated from one another further than a specified distance.
SpringConstraint
When using a SpringConstraint, the points on each part will have an equal and opposite applied force based on spring and damper behavior.
Each of these joints can be used immediately to begin building realistic and incredibly robust machines and mechanisms, like vehicle suspension and a vehicle-mounted rail gun. Check out the two videos below to see these examples in action!
Imagine driving a buggy across sand dunes or valleys with improved handling and enhanced physical simulation: and look up https://youtu.be/hO3XIFZPNVM
Or using this rail gun to dominate your foes in a tower-defense style game, for example: and look up https://youtu.be/bMwkOwgZ1Hc
Based on popular demand, we will be looking into adding more joints so you can continue creating anything you imagine with even greater complexity. If you want to see something specific, please let us know in the comments below!
For more information on joint usage, please see our ROBLOX Wiki or the thread on our developer forum.
We look forward to seeing what you build with Mechanical Joints!
You Can Now Test Purchases in ROBLOX Studio Without Spending ROBUX!
You Can Now Test Purchases in ROBLOX Studio Without Spending ROBUX! 10/12/16
At ROBLOX, we strive to ensure that your developing experience is as robust and as convenient as possible. If you’re an up-and-coming game developer, one of the core features we offer is an ability to sell purchasable items so that you can be rewarded for all of your hard work with real-world currency. When someone buys an item in your game, you can receive the profits as part of ourDeveloper Exchange program!
We often hear from our developers that they would like a more user-friendly way to test in-game purchases. We’re more than happy to oblige. From now on, you will no longer be required to spend your own ROBUX when testing in-game purchases in Studio!
For more information, check out this thread on our developer forum. Let us know if you have any feedback by posting a comment below! Stay tuned for more exciting news coming soon.
Security Update
Security Update 10/
We have observed that someone recently may have accessed one of our test sites without authorization. This test site contained limited user information dating from 2012 and earlier.
We identified this unauthorized access promptly, began an investigation into the incident, and took steps to prevent any additional unauthorized access. As part of our response to this incident, we turned off the economy briefly to determine whether any accounts were being used without authorization. As an added layer of protection, we instituted a password reset process for certain accounts.
We are currently assessing and implementing additional security measures and plan to offer optional two-factor authority for our users soon. While we believe we have identified the full extent of this incident, our investigation is ongoing. We will notify users of any additional steps we believe are appropriate as a result of our investigation.
We regret any inconvenience this may have caused and thank you for your loyalty and patience.
You Can Now Chat with Friends on Mobile!
You Can Now Chat with Friends on Mobile! 10/12/
ROBLOX is getting some major upgrades on mobile this year. Given that mobile players are the fastest growing audience on ROBLOX, we’re committed to helping you find even more reasons to play and connect with your friends wherever you go. A big part of that initiative is implementing a way to chat instantly with friends inside the app, just like you can on desktop computers. We’re excited to announce that our latest update on smartphones and tablets now allows you to do exactly that. That’s right – we’ve brought chat to both iOS and Android devices!
After updating your ROBLOX app to version 2.257.84176 for iOS or Android, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Create 1-on-1 chats with friends by selecting their name from the list and sending them an instant message
- Join or establish group chats by inviting up to five friends to a group
- Send chat messages cross-platform to anyone on your friends list, even if they’re playing on a desktop computer
For easier accessibility, we added the chat function to the navbar at the bottom of the screen. You can still send, receive, and read messages the old way by tapping on the “More” tab and selecting “Messages” from the menu.
Make sure to update your ROBLOX app today to get your hands on this awesome feature! If you haven’t downloaded ROBLOX on your mobile device yet, you can grab it for free from the App Store (iOS), the Google Play Store (Android), or on Amazon(Android).
Staying true to our mantra of constant iteration, we have tons of other cool features coming soon that will continue to make chatting on mobile easier and more convenient. So, keep checking in to our blog or the official ROBLOX Twitter for the latest news and updates!
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