Beta feedback from a mature avid gamer

I was very excited for this game. I know it's hard to give unbiased feedback after being so hyped for so long. Up to this point I immediately got defensive when reading criticisms of this game, but after logging some more hours I am finally able to take off the rose colored glasses and see that some of this criticism is warranted.

Before I begin, let's get something else out of the way and that is the "it's a beta" defense. Words like alpha, beta etc have been so abused by so many devs to push flawed products on gamers that they have no meaning any more. Games are sold to gamers in both "beta" and "release" builds for the same price, and updates continue at the same pace in both "beta" and "release" builds so this is really just semantics at this point. They take your money and give you a game. That is the "release."

So the actual game then:

Graphics: Amazing in both concept and execution. Just what I expected and that is great. The best part of the game.

Sound FX: Needs some work still. Need to not have volume spikes when the same sound stacks up. Also do a pass through the sound effects and remove the fx that are downright irritating (like glitch damage fx). Rebalance the levels or just remove abrasive sounds so we don't have to turn down volume just because of one annoying effect. Also an opportunity was missed here to enhance immersion using sound. There are not enough dynamic sound effects, for example dripping sounds in caves. Even if there were these immersive sounds we wouldn't be able to hear them because...

Music:...the music is ALWAYS playing. I'm already tired of it and that's too bad because the tracks themselves are great. They are just being misused and overplayed. You need breaks in the music where there is just some silence / ambient noises and then after a few minutes play some more music. Also the battle music needs some different levels of intensity. Fighting a laughably easy monster should not queue this epic war ballad. The music tracks are great but they are horribly misused and overplayed.

Progression: Players start the game with a matter manipulator and a space ship. And they can quickly cheese/exploit their way to amazing gear way too quickly. Seems like they should have to actually earn these things and then the game not only lasts longer but players appreciate their stuff much more. Also the game life span would be stretched out much longer by not giving players a ship at the beginning. This would be the only time players have to actually spend more than a few minutes on a planet for once which is a problem for the next section.

Exploration: There is just no reason to spend much time on any one planet, which sucks because some of the planets are really fun. Why bother exploring nooks and crannies when you can do a quick pass through and then just move on to the next planet? To solve this there needs to be some new kind of system, like think red coins from Mario 64. Some kind of optional pixel hunt on each planet that would reward players for thorough exploration.

Combat: Feels stale, mostly because the enemies are so stupid. You can cheese every enemy with block walls and while that's a fine tactic once in a while it should not be the go to. In a game oriented around blocks, there needs to be more enemies that destroy/place blocks. Also the ease of cheesing your way through planets that are by all measures too difficult for your character needs to be addressed. Having to restrain myself from ruining a game with some easily exploitable mechanic is not good gameplay. The lifespan of the game is shortened by an order of magnitude when players can skip whole tiers of crafting progression by cheesing the combat. The enemies themselves do look different but the AI is not diverse enough. The enemies might as well all be identical if they behave identically.

Crafting: It's fine I suppose. I've never played a game where the crafting blew my mind. It's just down time and games need some of it. Certainly isn't innovative in starbound though. Literally nothing new was added in terms off ganks from the crafting Terraria had 5 years ago. There is more to craft obviously but the system itself is stale. Shouldn't be a huge priority though.

Overall: Must say I am seeing huge problems that would take a long time to fix even if the dev team wanted to. But so much feedback is this sad, pandering, self reaffirmation like the players are defending the merits of their girlfriends, not a video game. The devs are likely to fall in to the trap of believing that the endless stream of pandering posts is actual thoughtful feedback instead of what it really is. Well I'm off for a few months now. I'll come back next year some time and see how things are progressing but I must say based on the types of problems, the community behavior, and the apparent priorities of the dev team (spend more time on community interaction than the game itself) I am not hopeful for the future of starbound.

 

Needlessly melodramatic. I agree with parts of your commentary once you wring the pity out of it. If there is one thing that is apparent, the only thing with the potential to destroy Starbound: the community.

And guess what? Minecraft had far more caustic players and commentary. It is not only still standing, it only continues to get better. Starbound will be fine.

 

I agree with the music. It should be more like Minecraft, where it plays occasionally after lulls.

 

I personally have managed to spend more than a couple of minutes on each planet. Yes admittedly some of them I have a wander around, dont like the feel of the place and so leave and look for somewhere else, but others I spend a good deal of time mining and exploring. Also please remember they will be fossils in the finished game, like the red coins you can explore the worlds looking for fossils and artifacts.

Rest of if it is just your opinion. Sure some of the people hitting the forums at the moment are not the most pleasant, but vast majority of people are just playing. So this isnt representative of the community.

I would personally like to have to put a little more effort into getting recipes. Seems that when you get the required ore, or full set of armor you unlock a new set... I would like to have to go and find the new armour recipes or buy them or whatever.

Overall I have been having fun. Spent hours today (as home from work recovering from an op) mining through a half dozen planets. I visited a desert and was pleasantly surprised to find it covered in tar. Hadnt seen that before so that was fun.

 

At first thought, the ships will always be default because that is the basis on starting your character.

Per description:

Furthermore, I wholly agree with everything else. The one thing that caught my attention, is having a sort of incentive for exploring a new world.

 

Thank you oh great anti hero, you are the hero starbound deserves.

 

Good post and great points for the most part. Yes, I agree with Hyomoto that some of the drama could have been filtered out, but your heart is in the right place.

I almost skipped your entire post because of your dismissal of the "It's a Beta" argument. It's not a meaningless title. In this case it actually means things are consistently improving and the devs are open to suggestions from the community just like yours. I'm glad I stuck around and read your post, though.

I think the portions of the community you disdain for lavishing the developers with praise are mostly acting as a counterpoint to the all-too-common vitriol and entitlement found everywhere online. I shoot the devs an "Attaboy" every once in a while because I hope they know that they are, in fact, doing a great job. There's obviously room for improvement (hence the "Beta" tag), but I appreciate the work they're doing. I never hesitate, though, to voice concerns over a mechanic or aspect within the game that I dislike. I just don't do it with the usual pomp and aggression utilized by others. I usually pen a thoughtful and detailed post (much like your own) stating opinion and supporting that opinion with evidence, facts, or examples.

In the end, I hope you do return after your self-imposed hiatus. I think you'll probably be pleasantly surprised by the final product the devs turn out. If not, well, what's $15 to a "mature avid gamer?"