Game Development: Incorrupt Rabbit

[Kaios]

people need to curb their own anxiety

there is no gain in knowing were the code is, specially with a small dev team, it will be like watching plants grow

yall are used to AAA games with 100 devs doing vlogs and lives, but this aint it

I can't think of many triple A developers that do actually take the time to go in to much depth about those sorts of things. In many cases it is more often the indie developers that take the time to keep their community up to date regarding such progress, is it not?

[BoxingRock]

people need to curb their own anxiety

there is no gain in knowing were the code is, specially with a small dev team, it will be like watching plants grow

yall are used to AAA games with 100 devs doing vlogs and lives, but this aint it

why do you think that basic human communication is only prerogative of large development teams?

jorb has the time in his average week to respond to troll bait and type out lengthy novellas about his take on global conspiracy, I am pretty sure he has the time to write up a small description of what is in the development pipe

the deliberate vagueness, as much as he will sit here and lie through his teeth about it, is a byproduct of misguided principle at best, and a meme at worst

AAA titles are rarely transparent about their development because it's not a requisite to making millions of sales

you would think that a smaller dev team would be more inclined to share development progress to keep people hyped and wanting to continue playing and sharing the game

you'd also think that a smaller dev team would be more inclined to share development progress when the tiny population of players are literally begging for it for years now

but jorb will pop in to the next thread that brings it up, just as he popped in to this one and the dozens before it with the same horseshit pacifying quip like

Our approach is not some dogma I hold. I am in theory open to changing how we do anything

not sure why we bother with these endless circular discussions

[jorb]

not sure why we bother with these endless circular discussions

Me neither. Take some time off.

[mulamishne]

At the risk of getting a month long break, Boxingrock has a point. People have been asking for more clarity for quite a bit, and the last time this discussion came up, we got this gem.

Not to say that we're in any way perfect, but for the most part, what you call "lack of communication" is simply reflective of how we develop."

You'd save so much time if you made a post ahead of time about changes, at least ones that may be controversial (mechanic changes), so when we inevitably plead for a revert and you concede, you aren't wasting code time.

[Jalpha]

I can't think of many triple A developers that do actually take the time to go in to much depth about those sorts of things. In many cases it is more often the indie developers that take the time to keep their community up to date regarding such progress, is it not?

There are some. Mostly indie turned big company types though.

With indie Devs you don't get the generic corporate mask. You get something more raw. I won't call out other indie Devs but comparatively jorb and loftar are not at all amongst the worst out there.

I think basically they don't work like a corporation. They probably meet once or twice a week when their day jobs and lives allow it. So in this time they have to discuss and decide upon a topic and course of action. Then they are committed. They work separately on their individual pieces of the chosen project as time allows.

Mixing player interaction into that exchange would slow and complicate things.

It seems like more of a hobby they use to relax honestly. We can't expect full time Devs at the price they are paid. A AAA HnH was tried and didn't work. Nobody can afford to try again right now.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Kaios]

I won't call out other indie Devs but comparatively jorb and loftar are not at all amongst the worst out there.

While I certainly have my own gripes I do agree, and I think they try their best to take community feedback in to account when making changes and implementations. Unfortunately, things don't always play out in a way that either the players or the devs could have predicted.

I think basically they don't work like a corporation. They probably meet once or twice a week when their day jobs and lives allow it. So in this time they have to discuss and decide upon a topic and course of action. Then they are committed. They work separately on their individual pieces of the chosen project as time allows.

Mixing player interaction into that exchange would slow and complicate things.

It seems like more of a hobby they use to relax honestly. We can't expect full time Devs at the price they are paid. A AAA HnH was tried and didn't work. Nobody can afford to try again right now.

I'm not sure that they chose to develop an online sandbox game with pvp and permadeath in order to relax... or at the very least that wouldn't be anywhere near my first choice when it comes to reducing stress. I get your point though.

I don't think you are wrong regarding the impacts of player suggestions and criticisms in that they could often slow down and complicate the overall development process but in my opinion that is still down to the developers to sift through that information properly and whether or not they choose to act on it. Listening to feedback is as much a part of the development process as ignoring poor or bad-faith feedback.

One of the issues I take with how patch notes are provided to us is that many crucial changes end up glanced over or become difficult to find later on because they have been categorized as a "key fix" or "small fix" rather than as a more significant change or implementation. An example of that would be being able to put flasks in to toolbelts (which is of course well-known now), which was categorized as a key fix but to me comes across more as a change that should be given a worthier status. There are many changes like that hidden among the large number of updates that have been posted over the years.

[bitza]

not sure why we bother with these endless circular discussions

Me neither. Take some time off.

'When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.'

[jorb]

'When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.'

Feel entirely free to bring up the exact same points. If you restrict the meaningless invectives to, say, every other post, you can feel at liberty to post away.

[Jalpha]

I'm not sure that they chose to develop an online sandbox game with pvp and permadeath in order to relax... or at the very least that wouldn't be anywhere near my first choice when it comes to reducing stress.

I think they take a fairly relaxed approach. Most of the stress probably comes from interaction with the community which is likely why that interaction is often infrequent and brief. A cause, perhaps, for many of the points being raised.

I'm sure they have fun with the community as well though. As we all do. It is nice to have an environment where an open mind and/or free tongue are tolerated.

Anyway main point being that the Devs can hardly be blamed for avoiding community interaction given the way many of us interact. From my perspective though it seems like they have been more active in the community more recently than when I first started playing.

They started listening to the players more and now we have a game overloaded with bird and tree varieties. Who should they listen to. Most of the other players voicing opinions do so with thinly veiled agendas. Then there are people like me who want to use their sandbox as my sandbox.

Two is a very small team and time is limited.

[springyb]

You mean to tell me yet another patch that doesn't change the game in a way that only benefits the way I play it? I am triggered.

I think you guys have the right idea, focusing on building long term improvements rather than bandaids.