Development Updates/ Game Updates

Developer Status Updates

Alright. So there's been a recent bustle of activity regarding the dev-team giving information to us or not. Some people want larger chunks of information on a monthly-or-so basis. Many other people want much smaller information chunks, say, a single screenshot, every week. Let's talk about the logic behind each one of those choices. This is going to remain a civil thread. I don't want any bashing, insults, or anything rude.

Don't read this thread and assume I'm demanding information from the Dev-team. Yes, it's necessary to have this big and red.

The point I'm trying to bring up, and the debate I'm trying to get going, is whether the community would want smaller, quicker status updates/info releasing, or larger updates with a larger gap between them. People have complained to me that the community is lacking in things to discuss/talk about. I've seen multiple mentions/threads talking about it. I've decided that we could benefit from having a centralized discussion thread (With an actual poll) to talk about, as a community, we would want more.

This is all in hypothesis, we're not forcing the devs to do one or the other. This is a collective "Would we rather have, GIVEN THE CHOICE, smaller updates or larger ones" discussion. We're not demanding information, again.

Small, weekly status updates: These would help keep the community interested, and coming back, and spark a lot of discussion, supposedly. It'll just be a small tidbit of info to look forward to every week. It would keep the public interest and speculation high for the game, and possibly make for a more active community.

((I'll update this with the best "arguments" I find in favor of it))

Large, Monthly-ish updates: These obviously would have a lot more information. While they don't need to be monthly, they could be bi-weekly or more. But the point is, for it to take longer to give us more information. The perk of this, would be obviously larger bits of information. Sure, we'd have to wait longer for it, but we'd get more back.

My PERSONAL opinion: A single screenshot won't spark a lot of discussion. There'll be a small amount of discussion, but then discussion will fizzle out a little bit, as the 10 analysis videos and 20 analysis threads spring up, and everything that has been said about it can be said. When Tiy mentioned pressurized water, there's still discussion going on about that. Mechanics, to me, are a lot more interesting than a single screenshot. I doubt people will actually leave if they don't get a screenshot every week. Devs are busy people and they should release information when they have the chance, not because we put some sort of schedule on them.

((I'll update this with the best "arguments" I find in favor of it))
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Game Updates

Why stop there? Why not get this out of the way, since it's basically the other oar on the same boat. We're talking about status updates, but let's talk about patches and actual game updates too. If we were given the option to choose (Not that we are, it's still in the hands of the Devs) would we want small weekly patches, or gigantic monthly/bi-weekly patches?

Small weekly updates: You get a new toy to play with every week, so to speak. It'll continuously keep the game fresh, because it might take you a week to play through the stuff they added that week. I'm excluding bug fixes, because I'm pretty sure they might take care of any serious bugs straightaway.

((I'll update this with the best "arguments" I find in favor of it))

Larger updates: Instead of keeping the game fresh weekly, you could have larger patches every month or so, that will always make you come back to the game. Every month or so, a fresh batch of deliciousness to play for hours and hours and days and days with your friends.

My PERSONAL opinion: I prefer larger updates because there's tons of games I play already. I can wait for a huge patch to draw me back into the game and play it for weeks, and weeks again. (Assuming of course, that I could ever tear myself from it the first time.) I feel like this game can't necessarily be limited, content wise. Different planets have their own species, their own technology, and more. If each month contains a new planet type thrown into the mix, I'd be happy forever.

((I'll update this with the best "arguments" I find in favor of it))

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So, in conclusion, this is just a thread to gather opinions/information on what the community thinks about all of this. This isn't meant to be a thread demanding the Devs adhere to the guidelines we place on them.

 

For developer status updates, I think larger less frequent updates would be better. The smaller updates probably wouldn't contain enough information for even some hypothesis, more of a "hey that's pretty cool, I can (insert action here) with that." However, with larger updates, there would be enough information to talk about what you like with what was mentioned in the update, how it will be incorporated into the game (how it will affect you as the player), and how you as the player will use it to your advantage, assuming it is possible to use the new update to your advantage. For example, lets say the developers released how driving a vehicle will work. This will get a conversation going for a while, probably mostly how everyone likes the way they set it up and what the like and dislike about it, but I could see something like that lasting only a few days. However, lets say they released a whole section of how vehicles will work, how driving it will work, how fast it will go, if you can decrease and increase your speed, etc. Then people will be talking about every aspect of it for a while.

For Game updates, again I think larger updates are better. Smaller ones could keep people enticed for a while, but if not enough is updated then players will get through all the new features of the update too quickly. Lets say they do get a good amount of new material into the update, if the updates are released too close together people may get overwhelmed with all the new material and not having enough time to check it out before a new update comes out. If updates were large and far between, plenty of new material could be added to the game while still giving players almost enough time, if not enough time, to check out most or all of the update.

Again, as an example, (if anything in this example is inaccurate with what the developers have released as what they are going to do I am sorry, but this is just an example meant to show my point), lets say the developers were planning on releasing updates for space. First they add in asteroid fields that are dangerous but you can find better items, then they release an update that includes alien ships that will ether attack you or trade with you when they meet them, then they release random events were a large ship will teleport you and your ship onto them and you need to escape. Now right now you may be alright with the update, you meet a few of these aliens and you have gone into an asteroid field but haven't explored much of any of it and you haven't been abducted yet. Then an update is released that introduces mining planets where you can get materials, and an update is added where there is a worm boss that can be summoned and fought with your ship. You still have only explored a small portion of the asteroid field, haven't been abducted and now there are even more updates, and they keep pilling on. If they released all of this as one big update with large amounts of time between updates, you could have plenty of time to get almost everything if not everything checked out before the next update.

 

I really enjoy smaller news and updates. That way we at least know SOMETHING is going on. maybe it doesn't spark as much discussion but it does build trust with the player base, and it keeps people coming back tot he web site to see the new things. Dwarf fortress is my example here, every few days a post is made on what is being worked on, we might not see an update for week, months, or more, but the players know that work is being done, they have an idea what to expect when the next update is released and how it will effect them.

smaller game updates also means you have something to work on. while you might get lost under new stuff (like slighlyphsyco above me said, and those are all valid points btw) i feel that a constant new goal will always help you move forward. Smaller updates might also help you figure out how game ideas fit together better. in the above example we had asteroid mining then use the stuff you mine in there to summon the worm boss then it all clicks into place better.

I believe both ways have there pros and cons and no single way is right, however with this game still being in its infancy i think that quick small updates to keep the fan base around and active may be the best. so many games come out* and peoples attention spans are not that great these days. 2 weeks without updates and you may loose a grip on some people. The die hard starbound fans will come back day after day to check, but more casual people may just look at the front page and never look at the forms.

*as an example to this i just saw a 2d game with "procedurally generated" worlds, where you can "Rescue NPCs," and " construct buildings for them." I am not saying that this game is going to be anything like starbound, just that it shares some of its features and may hit the same market as starbound

 

I voted Line Break.
I also vote to have the developers hand deliver the game to me on a gold-plated disc with their signatures.

 

Hilarious about voting line break. You and the other 5 people who did should create a clever club.

 

Line Break for President! (write in)

 

I think the development updates should be more frequent, and the game updates after release to be large and fulfilling.

As much as I'd hate to say this, I'm finding this wait pretty dreadful, I have to keep coming back every day and I never know when a bit of info will come out. I wish for more consistency even though that's a tough demand from the devs. Little things warm my heart, like 'left click blocks in the foreground, right click places them in the background as a wall' and now I feel that there hasn't been anything recently to spark the same interest in the first few weeks of the forums. It's like I've been pushed to crazy lurker status because all of the discussions are the same because we have no new information. You could probably summarise the General Discussion in a couple topics:

• Easter eggs (Hmm, let's have a couple of references to Terraria and ponies everyone!)
• Weapon/item idea discussions
• Enemies, monsters, NPCS
• Music you want in the game
• Suggest a spunky quote or name for something
• Expectations of the game
• And the occasional thread like this, which is an interesting metacognitive exercise

I would have agreed Zellman on his weekly screenshot idea from the other thread, if he wasn't shot down so badly by folks. But as always, I'm feeling we're getting little to nothing and if the devs were more expressive (sharing is caring!) we'd at least get something. You know what they say, something's better than nothing. And all toasters toast toast.

After the game's released, we will be playing the game, so updates are better when they are extensive and time between doesn't matter much.
Also, HIGH FIVE LINE BREAK CLUB!!!

 

Vote Line Break!
Line Break: I promisse keep breaking lines!

 

Back in my day we didn't get updates on games... we got a trailer and then the actual game was nothing we were expecting.

 

Well we're not back in that day now, are we?

 

I voted for small, weekly updates. Yes, it would cause a giant overpopulation boom of useless speculation threads (the whole idea of speculation videos and the stuff seems a bit silly to me) but at least when we find everything there is to find out about the particular screenshot, we don't have to wait for long!

Of course, it depends on how much the Devs want to give away of the game.

Same with game updates. I want short bursts of fun, which would all add up to one giant ball of fun.

 

I voted for secrets and teasers, and small tidbits of information. There are some stuff I would love to know about, but I would still want to keep an air of discovery about for the game, and I want that feeling to be maximized. I can be patient, the devs already have me excited for the game. I'm sure they'll blow our minds with more stuff at the right time. Also, I don't mind coming 'round the forums and looking at the 'same old posts' and the suggestions.

As for game updates, I voted for a mix of both. It sounded like the better option, fixing bugs quicker than pumping out a bunch of new content.

 

I think weekly news updates would be wonderful, and a weekly bugfixes and monthly updates.
Also i think the best option would be line break!

 

Line Break 2012!

 

Oh dear god I've created a monster. Everyone, put your "Inb4 it's a meme."

 

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I wish there was an Its Ready When Its Ready option, I would have chosen that for both.

 

Whether you are referring to pre- or post-release, this seems like a good place to leave this reminder for people who are asking for timed/weekly updates:

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As you were.

PS: I support line breaks.

 

Even the forum cast support line break, incredible...
OT:Monthly Bigger updates with massives DLC (1.1 or bigger) would be nice and i am not worried about what the game will be, i just want an gameplay trailer so i can see it over and over like i did with 1.1 trailer (i saw it even after the update was released )

 

I wanted to make a thread like this but I just never did! I think there are great arguments for both sides but what it really comes down to is can you wait for the good stuff or do you have to have smaller things now? It's usually better to wait for the bigger things but I'm making an exception here

 

I just looked at all the voting options, and for information on how development is going, I think i would prefer it being more secretive with some teasers. The reason being, ya it's nice to see what we will be able to do, the types of vehicles we will be able to drive, mounts to ride, items to craft and all that good stuff. However, I think it would be even cooler to be anxious during development, and only see a few teasers like the lighting test and such that don't give away too much, so when I see the items from actually playing the game, it will be all the cooler for me.