Game Development: Prelude

[Ramki]

Jorb, The way you set up this little end of the world game is rather stupid. Sure you give the power to the players but now a lot people are not going to bother playing the game till the world reset. Just look at your player count now. The others and I don't even want to play the game now. This was the 1st game that we got everyone I know to work together. My small group of 8 haven't learned steel, so we cant even track down a alter let alone do anything about destroying it.

In short people will not want to play the game till the world is reset, and added randomness of when the world is going to end makes it much worse when we are just waiting for the reset that's going to happen anyway.

[Redkat]

[quote="sabinati

ok, here's a point to consider: the current cosmetic items don't sell well because they are poor substitutes for the items you can make ingame; they do not have armor values, stat bonuses, etc.

maybe make something that allows us to customize the look of USEFUL items?

useless cosmetic stuff for town decoration would be rad too. fountains, more statues, etc[/quote]

agrees - or at least make it possible to use the bought stuff sort of On Top of the bearcapes. Of course I have no idea if this is possible. But all of this world I ran around with my Link hat because i really really liked it but that meant I couldnt use anything else from game in that position. I was very tempted to buy a few of the others - especially the xmas hat and the snowballs. Sorry didnt get around to do it - and after xmas it felt wrong
Of course Cosmetic stuff for a town decoration is expensive if it can become stolen or destroyed - but I would go for it if I could pull it out my fire again after a raid

[jorb]

Jorb, The way you set up this little end of the world game is rather stupid.

When to announce or not announce world resets is a tricky question. I realize that the wait may take the fun out of the game for some, but others want a chance to say goodbye to the world, have a final blowout with it, or whatnot. I have experience of rage on both ends of that spectrum for doing the wrong thing in someone or other's eyes, and I doubt we will be able to please everyone with any sort of even mildly controversial decision.

In this particular case we wanted to announce the world reset as soon as we began working on the new map, so as to not keep people playing unnecessarily beyond the point when we ourselves know that the world will/might end. We also wanted to give you some time to opine on the changes we want to make to the payment model, as we have previously gotten flak for not doing that.

When to announce the reset is a tricky question, and partly why a large part of me would like to make the decision a game mechanic, rather than something we decide.

[hitzu]

We have for some time been dissatisfied with the payment model, and the incentives it creates, chiefly in that it makes players look at the clock and count the hours they spend in the game. Increasingly we have felt that this isn't fun, against the grain of the game otherwise, and I would wager a guess that it reflects in the user numbers. Our intention when creating the model was that subscription should be more or less optional, but in hindsight, that hasn't been the case, and that isn't as it should be.

Bullshit Sorry. Nonsense!
Subscription model is the most fair deal. Insted of fixing bad mechanics you want to add more tricks in pay model trying to smooth the consequences of those mochanics (like the curio system), but rather increasing inequality, even considering to add in the shop parts of the gameplay and "cosmetic items". What?! Don't do it, please. This is a slippy sloppy path to shitty p2w games.

[bitza]

Jorb, The way you set up this little end of the world game is rather stupid.

don't listen to him jorb, the end of the world altar thing is pretty damn cool actually.

if i may make a suggestion though for next time, the materials for the altar could be anything and it would barely slow down some people. the silk cloth and pearls and gold and metals and stuff are just a minor hurdle for the hardcore group, ultimately.

how about a collection of artifacts or relics or some shit, hidden throughout the world, that have to all be found and brought together to build the altar?

[RamboMesser]

[... So lets see now I feel like I am being robbed cause I pay to play the game. I feel like there is no point to play (at least for the next 2 weeks) and I am wasting the money I spent in advance to play a game that is going to end. No wonder no one is playing now. ...]

I see how that upsets you. Maybe give subscribed players 2 weeks of free subscription or sth.?

[SinizterMoFo]

I think the end of the world thing is cool too, but not 2 weeks cool. Maybe a day or 2 but 2 weeks to say good bye? really?

If you need that much time to say good bye there is something wrong with you.

[BoxingRock]

Jorb, The way you set up this little end of the world game is rather stupid.

don't listen to him jorb, the end of the world altar thing is pretty damn cool actually.

if i may make a suggestion though for next time, the materials for the altar could be anything and it would barely slow down some people. the silk cloth and pearls and gold and metals and stuff are just a minor hurdle for the hardcore group, ultimately.

how about a collection of artifacts or relics or some shit, hidden throughout the world, that have to all be found and brought together to build the altar?

Dragging it out even longer seems pointless. While there are some who will want to say goodbye and treat it like a party, 2 weeks is a long time for the general population to stagnate and have no real purpose for logging in. I'm all for the reset and whatever changes come with it, but I'd personally like to see the new map come up as soon as possible. I'm excited and want to start again right now. If the new map could be ready along with the changes by next week I'd be very stoked.

[SinizterMoFo]

The end of the world thing is why we have gone from many playing to under 88 playing. Just end the world and get people back to playing. 2 weeks of wasting my money. this is nuts.

regen the map and wipe the world out today !

Normally there are over 200 people playing right now. Currently there are only 87.

Because the end of the world means its pointless to play.

[sym_kevster]

i just dont see how the level caps can work???

all my crops will be capped at 50/125/200 because my farmer cant go above that level??
miners wont be able to mine lvl 5 due to str 200 not being enough to mine that rock.

everyone keeps going on about fighting as what matters but there are players that dont care for fighting. and the entire premise of the game is to put time and effort in to leveling up crops / crafted items to be better than everyone else at that aspect. this is now usless and makes more than half of the game pointless

if you want a game that only involves fighting then why not invest in a console and play something like street fighter or mortal combat ( its cheaper than subscribing)

kevster