Why Chucklefish lowers the bar for developers and hurts consumers

If no one ever tried anything different or imaginative, then we would all still be playing pong.

 

Then be a crafty digger. Absolutely nothing is stopping you. The shielding is only present in few places. For the sake of the missions, they are absolutely mandatory to preserve the flow of the story CF is trying to tell. And yes, sandbox games are allowed to have a story. The idea that the game has to be an absolute free-form sandbox is asinine.

 

What story is that? How to brew coffee?

It's the railroading people don't like, and the twisting of standard mechanics to force players to play in a way that doesn't match the entire premise of the game. Shields are stopping me from being a crafty digger. A story can exist in a sandbox, so why are CF putting cement bricks in their sandbox instead of using the sand?

 

A lot of the current story is going to be changed and have the tri-pathed completion of farming, building, and exploring. And like Lazarus said, you don't need to have a sandbox game be 100% free to the player. Why make a part of the story where you have to go through different obstacles to find the switch to activate a bridge if the player can just build one themself completly defeating the purpose of the mission? There has to be certain limits to the missions, its not that big of a deal, especially since it is only for very specifc parts of the story.

 

y'know, it seems that "sand-box" has become something of a misnomer. but it's broad definition, things like RuneScape could be considered sand-box games because you don't have to fight or do quests, you can cut trees and build a house or something. of course, that's a rather elementary understanding of it. but just because it's not dropping you into a literal sand-box and molds the world around your wants and expectations doesn't mean it's not a sand-box game lol.

 

People who? I only see a handful of people complaining about it.

The premise of the game is whatever the developers wish it to be. A sandbox adventure game, which is in line with what they have said from the beginning.

Shields don't stop you from doing anything but cheating at dungeons. and only a handful at that. Get over it.

They put in the progression for the sake of the game. Their game. The one they are making, not you. If you don't like it, then mod it out or move along.

 

Lmao. Well seeing this thread title's one way to start the morning. Good on ya, OP.

Just gonna keep this brief since people have already addressed what I would have wanted to say, but branding ALL of Chucklefish's supporters as "fanboys" is such an ignorant way of going about it. I stopped bothering to read the moment ya categorized us all as such. I like Chucklefish for making the game, but I am still openly critical about the flaws in it, among other things. They ain't perfect, but no one truly is.

 

Keep in mind that a lot of the quests are placeholder specifically so you won't know the story just yet. A lot of the lore is still hush hush and you won't see it or quest changes regarding story until the lore patch.

 

official lore patch hype. I didn't even know this was a thing. thank you, based forum mod.

 

I feel that a lot of the "fanboying" as you call it branches from the idea that Chucklefish will hold true to their word when it comes to their overall design ideas.

As a player, I am currently very unhappy with the state of Starbound, but I can't help but feel a slight amount of hope when I hear about the potential future updates that the game might have. I know a lot of other people feel this way as well, but often times that hope becomes a date in an imaginary schedule, an implementation that is bound to happen. This makes people stick with the game because they "know" it's going to get better, while I have but a veil of hope over a mound of disbelief that's been formed by the pace of updates and their content. CF might come through on their ideas, they might not; I won't really be playing this game much until the former occurs, and at the rate of development, that could be years off.

EDIT: Also, all these "I stopped reading here." type comments make you out to be exactly the type of "fanboy" that the OP describes, ignorant to important criticism. Just because you don't agree with a post doesn't mean you shouldn't read it in full in order to give a worthwhile response.

 

That's the problem. Its not important criticism. Its a complaint. He offers nothing for the improvement of the game, only "I don't like it and you are all fanboys for liking it".

 

Ignorant? Oh please. There's a point where you've seen this thread/topic enough times to already know what the OP's gonna talk about. We get it. The devs aren't handling PR right, planets are even more bland now that they've been categorized instead of being random, the game's progression is crap right now, development is slow as molasses, etc. etc. I agree with MOST, not all of these criticisms, but I'll be damned if I haven't heard the same response for the fiftieth time already. :/

 

Toxicity comes from those who are uninformed and refuse to take in new information.

I've decided for myself how I feel through research, discussion and a crap-ton of time interacting with the community. The Mods here aren't any worse than any other forum. The problem mostly stems from people who can't be civil in their criticism. Starting off a post insinuating that everyone who disagrees with you is a fanboy, is not constructive or civil.

You may honestly believe that Starbound is something that won't ever be completed, or that it was some kind of trust-breaching cash-grab, but there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. The nature of Daily updates does not lend to big reveals. It's small, easily digestible pieces of information that on their own are a like a tiny snack. Honestly, if you compare the original Koala release to today, they're vastly different. Everything from world and universe generation to micro-dungeons to (in the latest nightly) upgrade and progression.

The other issue with posts like these, you don't offer any kind of solution, just complaints. It's very easy to nay-say things, but offering viable alternatives is where criticism can be valuable.

At some point you had faith in the product and the company. I don't know when you lost that, but it might do well to really sit back and think about when that changed. There are dozens of indie devs that abused Early Access, and it's definitely hurt the public perception of the sales model. Tiy has pledged to continue development of Starbound for as long as it takes to make the game they envisioned. That may take longer than people would prefer and it's definitely longer than originally anticipated. Things change and adapt, and unfortunately that makes people nervous and at times unhappy. It's an unfortunate reality of Early Access.

There are some who say I'm a fanboy, or a white knight, or whatever, but I just have an opinion and while it may differ from yours, it's simply how I feel. Nothing I will say will change your opinion, but please try and remain civil in your criticisms.

 

The hell do you call this then?

Edit: MAAAAANNNNNNNNN. Hotlinking used to work. Guess they fixed that.

Seriously though... this is on every early access game... If you dont read it, then that is your own fault.

 

I'll address all the points I found relevant. If a point was brought up more than once I'll just go by who posted first.

kisspower12: Q: "Chuckle fish hasn't come to a halt. If you check their blog page it is updated almost every weekday. The little random things they update is what gives Starbound quality. Would you rather have Starbound with the core mechanics and that's it?"
A: I'd rather they focus development time on enhancing core mechanics before spending to much developer power on other non core components, yes.
Q:" Do you assume everyone on this Forum is a "Fan Boy"?"
A: No, but I think this thread gives clear proof that there are a few.

xxswatelitexx
Statement: "If the people in the thread are able to keep a level head without swearing like a sailor or insulting other people, then the threads will be kept open and no one will be warned."
Responce: I'll admit my opinion of the mods was misconstrued, but I also stubbornly resolve behind absolutism in freedom of speech, and I think a lot of wisdom can still be gained from haughty arguments if you don't take the emotions or cursing personal. That said, I understand the position of the mods, but just don't agree with it. But then again, its not my website.
RatixFarrence
Statement: "No one on this thread even mentioned how moddable this game is"
Responce: I'm well aware of how moddable the game is. I don't think that's relevant to this discussion and I won't address this point further.
Garatgh Deloi
Q: "Welcome to game development? Didnt you read up on game development at all before you put money into a early access?"
A: This main issue here is the lack of progress, and the only significant patch was in my opinion a step backwards. My main point is time vs progress, I'm ok with mistakes in development, as long as development is moving at a steady pace

modus_ataraxia
Statement: " My issue is that I feel the core gameplay should be done first. It should always have been the focus, and it isn't. I have no problems relying on mods for other, interesting features, but it's been more than two years, and we don't have the main progression, bosses, or quests completely finished. The problem isn't that they're not done, it's that they aren't even close. Give us a game first, THEN give us fluff like mini games and decorative lamps. I'm just so tired of waiting. Tired, and disappointed."
Responce: I just wanted you all to pay attention to this post
Maxwell Demonic
Statement: "Toxicity comes from those who are uninformed and refuse to take in new information."
Responce: It also come from dissatisfied consumers. Saying all toxic posts are useless and people posting them are whiny complainers is just an excuse for continuing bad development patterns and ignoring criticism.

severedskullz
Q: "The hell do you call this then?"
A: An excuse for bad development and for people not willing to engage in progressive dialogue. While it may be a risk to buy an early access game, that shouldn't suggest that a simple warning should make developers immune from all criticism. People's demand for a better product does nothing but HELP consumerism. Early access games should have vocal consumers, just like anywhere else.

 

Almost two years on Steam alone as Early Access, I like to think that after a while, the title Early Access is no longer applicable as a means of defending the painfully slow development process.

 

Both of your abilities to take my words that were neither addressed to you, nor for you and construct a rant solely on that is astounding.

 

yeah, it's not like anything else happened in that time span that could've greatly increased the time it took to develop this game.
moving to another continent and country? nah, that's not it.
having personal hardships perhaps? of course not, get over your soppy feelings.
creating a better game engine for the game to run on? child's play.

really, c'mon man.