Summary of the Creator Roadmap AMA (June 2023)

This summary will include all asked and answered questions, along with their response.


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Summary:


There are still some unanswered questions, including mine:

As well as a list of them that can be found here:

Hopefully those will be answered in time. I’ll try to edit this post if they get answered in the future.

28 Likes

Great post, easy for me to go through and look at the questions answered. Thanks!

4 Likes

Thanks for making this - super cool!

9 Likes

I wish they had elaborated a little bit more with the console support question. It would be pretty exciting to hear if Roblox will really be expanding from only having console support for Xbox to expanding to multiple different console devices, like Playstation 4 and 5 and Nintendo Switch.

Overall, this AMA was great, and cleared up a lot of questions that we had about the state of Roblox’s development. Thank you for this summary post!

3 Likes

Couldn’t fit it in the main post due to the character limit, but here’s a summary of the summary:


AI Generated Summary

Roblox has an exciting roadmap of feature improvements planned for the future. They are currently in the design phase of enabling file exposure from Studio (scripting) without inconsistencies, team create, or cloud APIs. One of their major focuses is improving Future Lighting to optimize it for all devices and unifying all lighting models for a better and more consistent look. They also aim to introduce new technologies like volumetric lighting and global illumination accessible to all users, not just high-end devices.

To ensure a fair and secure environment, Roblox is actively developing Hyperion for both client-side and server-side anti-cheat measures. While server-authoritative physics will take longer to implement, they are providing APIs for developers to create custom anti-cheat systems for their experiences.

A longer-term plan involves opening up an economy where anyone can create, sell, and earn on the platform. Roblox is dedicated to improving automated moderation, including duplicate detection, and ensuring the economy is open only to verified users with good standing. Sales data will be used to determine the legitimacy of transactions. They are open to feedback and committed to long-term improvements.

Roblox recognizes the importance of documentation and plans to enable the community to document relevant information for creators. They are initially focusing on enhancing the quality of existing documentation and will eventually expand to include community-generated libraries and frameworks. Once open source docs are launched, developers will have edit links on the docs site, leading to GitHub pull requests. All edits will be reviewed and approved internally to ensure accuracy and completeness.

Efforts are also being made to improve asset discovery through semantic search and rich media. Roblox is working on refining market economics and will provide more details later in the year. Additionally, they are actively working on built-in FPS unlocking, performance improvements, and enhancing fundamental Luau operations. Avatar load times have already been improved by approximately 16%, and memory usage in part of the physics system has been reduced by 70%.

To address alternate accounts (alts), Roblox is focusing on developing alt detection systems. Consequences for violations will be tied to all alt accounts, starting with the most serious offenses and gradually escalating. They aim to create a secure and fair environment for all users.

Improving UI systems is another priority, with a focus on performance and customizability. Roblox plans to introduce more controls such as sliders, enhance the stylesheet system, and implement dynamic layouts that automatically scale across all platforms without requiring additional work. These improvements are expected to roll out later this year, with dynamic layouts coming afterwards.

Creators will have complete control over their assets, both on and off the platform. The asset privacy feature will be extended to all asset types, protecting against leaks and ensuring authorized use. However, it’s important to note that DMCA takedowns are already available.

Roblox aims to age up the platform by expanding experience guidelines to accommodate older age ranges. They are aware that the fastest-growing demographic is the 17-24 age group, while the majority of users are currently under 13. To cater to this change, improvements will be made to avatar styles, experience genres, communication features, and search and discovery. The focus is on empowering the community and evolving the platform accordingly.

While Roblox has no plans to support other languages, they remain committed to improving the performance of the Luau interpreter.

The current affiliate percentage of 40% will not be swapped with the 30% creator percentage. Instead, the focus is on encouraging creators to sell their user-generated content (UGC) items within their own experiences to receive the full 70% share.

Roblox adopts an iterative process to continuously improve their recommendation algorithm and analytics tools for better user experience.

The goal is to make Roblox available on all relevant devices and platforms, including VR. While no specific announcements have been made yet, Roblox is actively working on improving the Universal App to function seamlessly across all devices. They are also prioritizing console improvements with more announcements expected in the future.

Roblox is working on a complete overhaul of the “groups” system to make it easier for collaborators to receive payment, potentially through per-game percentages. More details regarding this revamp will be shared later in the year.

Genres may make a comeback, and Roblox continues to focus on enhancing recommendations and guiding players to experiences and items that align with their interests.

Roblox is committed to respecting creator intellectual property (IP) and ensuring their AI model is not trained on user-generated experiences. They are continuously improving transparency as the AI gains new features. Creator data will only be used for training if explicitly opted in. However, they reserve the right to utilize all assets for training internal models to enhance safety, detect bad content, and provide accurate experience recommendations, including identifying copied and stolen assets and experiences.

Roblox is actively working on video frames but faces various challenges related to safety and global distribution at scale. The first version of this feature is planned for release next year.

There are considerations for introducing additional monetization methods for developers, including a potential subscription monetization model within experiences. While no concrete news is available, it is a possibility in the near future.

Automated moderation has seen improvements over the past year, allowing human moderators to focus on case-specific details. Roblox is also working on enhancing customer service, providing clearer reasons for moderation actions, and improving the appeal system for easier error corrections.

Roblox acknowledges asset limitations and is working on supporting them through engine performance and asset delivery optimizations.

Looking ahead, Roblox envisions a future where content created within experiences can be published back to the platform, including objects, avatars, places, and other experiences.

Roblox is investigating features such as SurfaceAppearance.Color and layered materials. They are also exploring systems for Robloxian foliage, set dressing, and scattering, while welcoming suggestions from the community.

Although there is no specific timeline, Roblox plans to adjust length limits for experience trailers when the video feature is eventually introduced next year.

A multi-year project is underway to develop global wind and full fluid simulation, which will include localized wind zones.

Improvements for in-experience networking are being worked on, although a specific release timeframe has not been announced.

MacOS design for Studio is expected to be available by the end of the year.

Roblox aims to provide better documentation for the website API.

An iterative process is employed to test different signals for home recommendations, enhancing UI efficiency, and improving discoverability of experiences.

In summary, Roblox has a comprehensive plan to introduce various feature improvements in the future. These include optimizing lighting models, implementing anti-cheat measures, opening up the economy for creators, enhancing documentation, improving asset discovery, unlocking FPS, refining alt detection systems, upgrading UI systems, extending asset privacy, catering to older age ranges, revamping the groups system, respecting creator IPs, exploring new monetization methods, improving moderation and customer service, addressing asset limitations, enabling content publishing, investigating new features, and enhancing recommendation algorithms and analytics tools.


(TL;DR) Manually Written Points (Used for AI Generated Summary)
  • Working to explose files from Studio (scripting) without inconsistencies, team create, or cloud APIs. Design Phase.

  • Focus on improving Future Lighting to optimize for all devices. Then unifying all lighting models to look better and more consistent. Lastly, new technology like volumetric lighting and global illumination, for all users and not just high-end.

  • Hyperion for both client-side and server-side anti-cheat. Server-authoritative physics will take much longer. APIs for you to provide custom anti-cheat systems for your experiences.

  • Longer-term plan to open up an economy where anyone can create, sell, and earn on the platform. Improving automated moderation, including duplicate detection. Only open to verified users with good standing. Using sales data to determine legitamacy. Open to feedback and long-term improvement.

  • Enable community to document anything relevant for creators. Initial focus on quality of current documentation. Will expand to community generated libraries and frameworks. Once open source docs launch, edit links will become available to developers on the docs site. Edits will result in Github PR, will be reviewed and approved interally, to ensure completeness and accuracy of information.

  • Improvements to discovery of assets through semantic search and rich media. Working on improving market economics with more to share later this year.

  • Working on built-in FPS unlocking, possibly with tools that allow developers to set an FPS cap. Also working on performance improvements. Improved fundamental Luau operations such as table.sort and math.floor/ceil. Improved avatar load times by ~16%, rduced memory usage in part of the physics system by 70%, and more.

  • Focus on alt detection systems. Cosequences will be tied to all alt accounts. Starting with the most serious volations and gradually ramping it up.

  • Working on improving UI systems, both performance and customizability. More “controls”, such as sliders, better stylesheet system, and dynamic layouts that scale for all platforms with no extra work. Expected later this year, and dynamic layouts afterwards.

  • Creators will be in control of all of their assets, whether they’re on or off of the platform. Extending asset privacy feature to all asset types. Protecting asset leaks and to ensure only authorized use. Reminder, however, that DMCA takedowns are already available currently.

  • Aging up the platform. Experience guidelines may have older age ranges. Fastest growing demographic is 17-24. Most users currently under 13. Improvements to avatar styles, experience genres, communication features, and search and discovery. Focus on empowering the community and aging up the platform.

  • No plans to support other langauges, but goals to continue improving performance of Luau interpretor.

  • The 40% affiliate percentage will remain as is and will not swap with the 30% creator percentage. Focus on getting creators to sell their UGC items in their own experience to get the full 70%.

  • Iterative process to improve recommendation algorithm and analytics tools.

  • Goal to make Roblox available on all relevant devices or platforms, including VR. Nothing to announce yet, but may be something in the future. Improving Universal App to work for all devices. Focus on console improvements, more announcements in the future.

  • Actively working to completely overhaul the “groups” system. This will include making it easier to pay collaborators, possibly with per-game percentages. More specifics later this year.

  • Genres may be returing, and again, focus on improving recommendations and getting players to the experiences and items that they’d be most interested in.

  • Roblox’s AI model is not being trained on user generated experiences and will overall respect creator IPs. Continued improvements and transparency as the AI gains new features. Creator data will only be used for training if opted in. However, reserving the right to use all assets for training internal models for safety and detecting bad content or experience recommendations, including copied and stolen assets and experiences.

  • Video frames are still being worked on, but has been a big challenge for various reasons (including safety, global distrubution at scale, etc). First version planned to release next year.

  • Goal to create more monetization methods for developers. Considering subscription monetization model in-experience, no news yet but possibly in the near future.

  • Improvements over the last year for automated moderation, allowing human moderators more time to focus on the specifics of a case. Improvements to customer service. Improvements to reasons given for moderation to clarify what policies have been violated. Working on improving the appeal system so that errors can be corrected more easily.

  • Aware of asset limitations and moving to support through engine performance and asset delivery optimizations.

  • Vision in the future where content made within an experience could be published back to the platform (possibly including objects, avatars, and other places or experiences).

  • Investigating SurfaceAppearance.Color, no news at this time. No plans to add Z-Index to SurfaceAppearance, but investigating layered materials.

  • Investigating Robloxian foliage, set dressing, and scattering system. No details to share at this time. Looking for suggestions on this matter.

  • No timeline currently, but looking to adjust length limits for experience trailers during the eventual “video” feature coming sometime next year.

  • Global wind and eventually full fluid simulation is being worked on as a multi-year project. Eventually including localized wind zones.

  • Working on improvements for in experience networking, but no timeframe for release yet.

  • MacOS design for Studio expected by the end of the year.

  • Working on the ability to transfer experience ownership. Transferring will automatically transfer all experience data as well. Plans to support all types of transfers, at least as far as experiences go for now.

  • Plans to create better documentation for website API.

  • Testing different signals to see what works most effectively for home recommendations and to make our UI more efficient and experiences more discoverable.


6 Likes

Nice well done quite useful for people who might have the same questions that were answered

3 Likes

Thanks for formatting this information! Exciting to hear that we might be potentially getting unordered packets + videos + layered surfaceappearance

2 Likes

The AMA was a great idea and I’m thankful they did it

But I do feel ignored by Roblox and heavily let down, not only did Roblox state it was based of like prioritisation but it was clearly ignoring on a full new level

Roblox should have at least said no they couldn’t answer it which I asked them to do or at least not said it was like prioritised, like why ?
Questions with two likes got replied but the highest ones got none or barely anything
Felt like they just ignored it and well sucks really because transparency at roblox is heavily decreasing in certain areas, to vague

The most liked question had to ask several times to be answered and the answer didn’t go into to much detail and the most liked questions after that ? You guessed it they were never answered

I’ve been wanting an answer for ages but Roblox just keeps ignoring and at this point it feels devastating, saying people wanted questions answered and even your questions wasn’t answered

I know it was two people but saying people with two likes got a response and with people with 20 or more got none was almighty disappointment felt like ignorance on a full new level

Seems the only way to get an admin to reply to a question , Oh wait ? They don’t.

2 Likes

All around felt cool to see a live AMA thought just wish it wasn’t stated it was like priorities
Really has caused feelings of ignorance for the most liked questions

1 Like

While it definitely is frustrating, I don’t think they were allowed to answer every type of question. But I definitely do think that they should’ve at least responded to those high rated posts by saying exactly that, or at least giving some sort of response to show that they’ve read the question.

It’s a rather common and negative trait of big companies to be silent instead of explaining things. While that may be good in law, that’s not good in terms of community. There was one final reply from a staff member after I wrote this post and it specifically talked about transparency. I hope there will be a follow up post that will cover the popular unanswered questions in some way.

3 Likes

Let’s be real it’s tragic

I’ve been asking for months straight and so has thousands of Roblox players

It seems admins just suck it all into a black hole and don’t listen, even with my question details way before we’re clearly ignored

If it couldn’t have been answered just say so

How do I contact an admin now ?
Painful truth is they feel like robots and the community are so disconnected it’s lacking heavily

I’m frustrated and heavily let down.

1 Like

What question(s) have you been trying to ask? I know it may seem that they ignore a lot of things, but there are privileged developers who have been able to talk to people behind closed doors. They don’t have permission to speak about it, but it seems as though there has been a lot of discussion about important topics. They definitely do care and they do listen (to some extent), but it’s the secrecy, despite saying that they will be transparent, that’s the problem.

2 Likes

What really sucks is how I’ve been waiting weeks for the roadmap to ask some questions and some posts with two likes get replies and ones with twenty or more Don’t ?

If they can’t answer it just say so?

How do I physically ask my question as I know everyone else is struggling to scrape answers together, it’s almost like working for an answer to put it painfully

1 Like

Sorry for the late response, I got busy with something. I do agree that all of these off sale items should become limited. I’m still waiting for the original BC hat to go limited (I had all but that one), and it’s weird that they only made TBC and OBC limited. I always thought that the original Roblox released limiteds would hold a higher value than UGC limiteds, however that might be something that Roblox doesn’t want.

But at the end of the day, Roblox’s goal is to open up the UGC economy to everyone. As far as the copies go, at least from my understanding, it seems that they’ll be training AI to take care of this. It seems that AI will be used, if not already, to take care of many different things. The catalog is part of it, but also to crack down on stolen experiences, detect alts, and overall improve moderation.

2 Likes

Honestly the roblox communication from the marketplace team is so bad, I can’t put it any better. This should be addressed.

1 Like

From what I can understand, it seems like they ignore posts with multiple questions during Q/A sessions.

They probably didn’t expect so many being posted at such a short time, which resulted in them only choosing questions that were short enough to answer.

Many of the posts that were left unanswered were also large enough to the point where it’d take a few minutes to read…so I guess it makes sense for them to ignore those aswell given the time limit they have.

So I think going forward, I guess everyone will just have to choose a single question to focus on whenever they do more of these…otherwise they’ll just be sidelined again.

2 Likes

I was thinking this might be the case. But I think it would’ve been good for them to respond to any remaining questions after closing the thread.

It does seem counterintuitive as well, considering there was a 10 minute reply cooldown, so it seemed better to post one loaded reply rather than slowly spam the thread every 10 minutes.

1 Like

It seems that I will need to move this to the #bulletin-board category, so replies will be locked from here on out or until this decision gets appealed.