Development Critique: Dev's View On the Game

[jorb]

A lot of people are feeling frustrated that their suggestions seem to have no response from the devs, or the ideas being implemented way too late (when they have quit). It is quite hard to generate ideas and help with outlining the gameplay problems without knowing the dev's point of view: what is their ideal gameplay is like, what they want to achieve and etc.

It would be great if J&Lo would initiate a Q&A stream dedicated to the future development plans and vision.

Hi, nice to see you!

I agree that we -- I -- am slow in following up on C&I, and since the last world reset I have built up a big backlog. That isn't ideal, and I would like to change that.

My only excuse is: We are very constrained on time. Developing and building an MMO with only two people, pushing weekly-ish patches, and whatnot, will necessarily imply that some areas do not get the attention that they perhaps deserve. I should arguably be playing the game more than I do as well. Not much I can do or say except try to work harder.

Yes, I should do another livestream.

[jorb]

fo course the risk is creating expectations and vaporware vibes

This is a thing too. I don't like running around being perceived as promising things left and right, and then create frustration when the actual implementation may be two years away.

I have an ambition to read all C&I threads, and will most often also reply with something, if only a grunt of approval or disapproval, so if it's any consolation I don't think good ideas posted will be lost.

As a matter of personality I think we both prefer quiet work over talking about grand visions, but I recognize that some of the latter may be necessary as well.

There's a thin line between building reasonable hype for things, and building castles in the air that come crashing down in disappointments.

[APXEOLOG]

This it's only cause the "technical" part of the game is not super modern, easy and fun for 2017. Not for the idea behind it.
I mean, if this game would have at least 100 people working on it, modern graphic and gameplay, controller support, action combat and that stuff ... it would be super popular.

Oh please. Of course there are some technical issues with the game, but it is not what i am talking about.

Let me talk about one simple issue:
Just remember this world's start. 800 playes online day one. 600 after one month. 500 after two. 300 after three. So it's like 2/3 of the playerbase left after 3 months. This is fact.
Why? Because this game only has content for 3-4 months. Is it enough? Yes, more then enough. Modern MMOs doesn't even have 1/3 of H&H content, yet they still retain players better.
So what can we do? For example i see at least two solutions here:

• Make worlds shorter, make it like 4-5 months game session with endgame goals and rewards for every player type. Focus not on the content (it's more than enough) but on player interactions and achievable goals
• Leave world length as-is, add additional abilities to explore and interact with the world. Focus on random-generated content, PVE encouters, probably stronger survival component

Each of this solution is just a direction. You can think of billion ideas in each direction to achieve concrete goals. But this ideas are not random, all of them should be connected with each other to achieve balance. And it takes a lot of time and effort to suggest a well-thought-out idea. That's why, before even working on it, it would be nice to know what are the goals for jorb and loftar.

Personally i have no idea what do devs want from their own game. I feel like the old credo "We specialize in permadeath and forum drama" is not a case for the last few years. I feel like this game become more casual (which is not bad in my opinion, but some type of players need that hardcore component, they should always have it imo), I feel like all this patches are not what this game is truly need to be successful.

Well, i also feel that i wrote another pointless forum post here. I feel nothing but sadness.

[sMartins]

...

To me it's easier than you can tought.
At the start of the world there are a lot of player, simply cause the "new" thing. They want to check what's being added to the game,etc.... also seeing that there are many player online they keep playing for a while.

The lack of retention, i think it's what i was saying to you ... it's the fact that the game has old features and dynamics in a 2017 game, so people want to play more new and interactive games. It's simply like that to me.
New shitty MMO that have 1/10 features of H&H keep people playing simply cause the feeling, they can active play with their chars, combat .. and so on.
Instead H&H to work has to rely on old architecture, where to chop a tree, for example, a pop up appear and only then your action will take place ... it's not you, the char, that actively chop down the tree.
It's this, mainly, to me that drive people away .... people want action fight, want controller, or at least WASD type of thing ... while haven has point and click and pop up window ...
Simply like that to me. On all the other side Haven it's one of the best MMO game ever .. but if you want more people you need to change the engine or how it works to be more action oriented, like: you swing the axe and the tree fall down .... this kind of stuff people want, from my experience.
But to do this you need more than 2 people, i guess ... so same discussion as before.

P.S. All your proposals could be good for a better game experience,etc.. and are good for everyone is willing to play the game how it feels right now, but not to increase the population.

[mdsanta]

Jorb, thanks for replies in the threads in C&I.
Was an interesting read.

[LadyGoo]

Sorry, Jorb, couldn't resist


Human - Jorb
Parrot - Hafen Player
Cage - the Combat System and Balance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyIcqpj ... e=youtu.be

[sMartins]

Sorry, Jorb, couldn't resist


Human - Jorb
Parrot - Hafen Player
Cage - the Combat System and Balance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyIcqpj ... e=youtu.be

eh eh eh eh

[Kaios]

I always think back to what Potjeh posts during these sorts of discussions:

Infinite grind, permadeath, open PvP - pick just two.

I think there's a consensus that infinite grind and open pvp without permadeath hasn't improved the game in any meaningful way, if not then maybe it's just me who feels that way. In my opinion it would be much easier to focus on combat and balance while still retaining that hardcore permadeath aspect that many players enjoy when there is a combat cap implemented.

[MagicManICT]

So what can we do? For example i see at least two solutions here:

• Make worlds shorter, make it like 4-5 months game session with endgame goals and rewards for every player type. Focus not on the content (it's more than enough) but on player interactions and achievable goals

IF this is the route to make the game more active and overall enjoyable by all, then some processes need to be simplified, made faster, or be less of a "time awareness" problem: ie taming, silk production, and steel processing.

[APXEOLOG]

IF this is the route to make the game more active and overall enjoyable by all, then some processes need to be simplified, made faster, or be less of a "time awareness" problem: ie taming, silk production, and steel processing.

For sure. And there are a lot of the other processes affected by such decisions. And we can spend days polishing those ideas to see how jorb will come and say smth like "We always wanted to make infinite-length world, thx for you ideas guys, not interested". That's what the point of the thread - it would be nice to know the direction