So I just "Finished" the game, and im worried about its core mechanics

The reason why I "rushed" was to see what content was available to me. If they did not have such arbitrary level locks on content (IE drills that can only be unlocked after the dragon but require materials from the very beginning...) then I would have just made a home first. If the game lacked a progression system and had just a skyrim like "scaling level" that adjusted to the players level then I would be far more inclined to settle down and build, but at the same time uninclined to explore new planets. But im sure this is a personal thing and not reflective of everyone. I would still enjoy the oportunity though and would likely do some exploring after I had setup a homeworld properly. Gotta have that logistics behind your adventure.

 

I would like to see progression in the game being that you advance in technology to survive better on stranger planets, instead of bigger guns and more armor. Imagine a planet that orbits a pulsar and how exotic and hostile that would be.

 

I think a lot of ppl are missing the point of this game. The part of the game that everyone keeps complaining about is the linear rpg part. I'm pretty sure rpgs are generally linear by definition. Ill say this, the rpg elements are rudementary at best. There is a lot more that needs to be implemented and a lot more that needs to be developed. But the game is more about the sansbox aspect. Its easy to put the spotlight on one thing when the other is barely implemented. Finally simple mechanics don't mean that they are bad. I feel like a broken record but let the devs put the game together before saying what's wrong with it.

I also just thought about this but ppl who have "finished" the game have put a dece t amount a time into the game, and all that time was put into getting to the "end". Ores do become obsolete too soon but it is severely shortened when you try to power level. If there was more to do (which there will be eventually) then a lot of the shortcomings in the rpg aspect become less glaring and may go away completely. All we can comment on are individual aspects, not ones that rely on other systems

 

Im never a fan of the excuse that "becaues its not finished we should not comment". That is like entirely to the detriment of what a Beta is suppose to be and is contradictory to the whole word "feedback". Its very easy to see a trend, and saying we should not comment on something unfinished is akin to saying we have no foresight and can not comprehend the mechanics to the game. Yes the game may change dramatically, but we need to comment on what is available to us so we can do our job as Beta testers and give them the feedback they need/want.

 

Except you are mostly focusing on what ISN'T there. That's the flaw in your claim

 

The locks aren't arbitrary though, ie made for no discernable reason, they're intended as a carrot nudging the player to progress, upgrading the pick to a drill and so on. All games do this, whether there is crafting/grinding in the game or not, it's always more fun when you have progressed a way into the game and have access to the cool toys.

Having said that, the game is perfectly playable without a drill and grappling hook and other flashing stuff. Progression in a sandbox game will always be difficult to implement to everyone's liking. It's an unimaginative system in a game designed to be fuelled by imagination. Some people come to a sandbox and immediately ask what they have to do, others know what they want to do.

Personally I love exploring and finding random musical instruments and cosmetic items. The progression system doesn't interest me much, but I recognize that all games nowdays seem to have them shoehorned in as a requirement for people to actually want to play it.

Heck even shooting games have unlocks now.

What I'm trying to say though, is that this game would stand up on it's own fine without a progression system, it's just an extra feature we should be glad is there because it contains content and stuff to do when we can't be bothered to explore and want something brainless to do.

The progression system will be made more interesting. But I have a feeling for people who are used to the WoW hamster wheel of endless progression and neverending new content (finely tuned by company psychologists) it will never be enough for them and never made well enough.

An edit for clarification: The reason for my comparison is probably not immediately clear. WoW nowdays exists to collect a subscription fee, so people need to be addicted for the game to be successful. The game isn't addictive because it's fun, but because the progression system is perfectly designed. Because the system is perfectly designed, it's almost an industry standard that all other games are compared to, and players tend to expect from other games. There is a bunch of reasons players shouldn't expect the same systems copied from one game to another, but this post is already pretty long enough already.

 

I would prefer that you looked at the main page to see that the current sector system is merely a placeholder.

 

Tons of hostility here.

Yes, beta is beta and things will be unfinished, but maybe instead of looking at every thread like this like "YOUR GAME SUCKS, FIX IT NOW", you should look at it like "This is what I don't like, take these suggestions into consideration as the beta goes on".

 

As we all know, Starbound is in beta. It has lots of unimplemented features. It has bugs at times. But as I just stated, it's in beta.

The game will only get better over time as fans like us add more feedback about what they want to see and what should be fixed. And said fans knew what they'd be getting into, but they bought it anyway. That's how much promise it shows.

As development goes on, there will be more to see and more to do. So really, isn't the wait worth it?

 

No game is free of 'linear progression.' There is generally always a goal in mind even if it's a subtle and/or trivial one. In Minecraft, the primary goal was getting strong enough to defeat the Ender Dragon. Minecraft also happens to be one of the most popular sandbox games in the history of the genre.

That being said, not having a set of achievable goals leaves most players bored and causes them to move onto new experiences because, guess what, there's no reason to play a game if there's no set goal. You load it up and then what? Build another house? Farm some more? Visit some planet for no real reason other than perhaps to see a new biome?

Starbound will have quests and linear progression elements because it gives people direction in a game where no direction would be to the detriment of the average player.

 

Since there no real quest avalable the boss are right now craftable, I believe later the boss core item will need to be done by the storyline. Now progression will alway be do A to B nothing will change it except Role Play server

 

Except, ya know, that whole completely redesigning game mechanics that they've already done, and that was within the first week of release.

 

Some great ideas here. Having very large crafting facilities that cannot fit in a ship would be a great incentive to have people make a home planet and house. It would give something to work for and a very rewarded benefit.

I am also not a fan of ores becoming completely useless. Copper should always be useful in some way later on. Perhaps make armor crafted with copper have better movement speed or more electricity resistant. Give the ore a characteristic that can pop up later in the game for armor/weapon recipies. Changing ores just as a way of progression is just not as fun, everything should be used.

I also agree the Matter Manipulator should have available upgrades to be used in place of an axe or pick axe. This way your inventory space isn't taken up by trivial items like pick axes. Would also give the game more originality, which I think is something that should be striven for. Pick axes is too Terraria.

 

I, too, agree with this; the regular old axes and pickaxes kind of take away from the futuristic space technology trend we have going on in this game. To add to that, the Manipulator breaks up matter far more slowly, so it forces you to use them if you want to gather resources faster.

 

Except Minecraft didn't start with an Enderdragon. It was added after the fact in-spite of it doing so well, so your point is wrong.

 

You know there's a questline(and randomized quest system) that's not even yet added though it's planned? They've also mentionned the way villages will be dealt with is also prone to change from the current models.