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

Of course feedback is valuable, but you can't compare this beta with SWTOR, or any other big budget title really. SWTOR beta was essentially the finished product, Starbound is a long way from finished. What many are saying, including me, is that it's really too early to start saying the whole direction of the game is wrong, when we only have the very basics.

It seems to me that the OP really just doesn't like this genre of game, and that's fair enough, as the main criticism is aimed at the fact that it is essentially boring simply burning through tiers to get new gear. Ok, I can understand that, but thats because it's still very early days - there's a lot missing that will likely be refined, and change not only the progression, but also the simple focus of 'mine ore, next tier' to storylines, side quests, unique planets, terraforming - just look at the home page and you can see some of the stuff they're planning, parts of which already address some of the concerns raised in this thread.

 

Starbound is a perpetual Beta. Also I agree the OP is trying to judge what is an unfinished Stage 1 of the perpetual Beta. I think once we reach Stage 2 and we have a lot of the content then we see it fleshed out and not just a skeleton.

 

I believe that, while feedback is useful and it's good to point out current issues, it's inaccurate to pass judgment at this stage of the development process. The vast majority of RPGs have, at their very core, a scale of progression, of getting better gear and becoming more powerful. Said progression is expected to be fleshed out in Starbound as new iterations come out. The actual issue might be the compartmentalization of the universe in sectors practically 'guarded' by bosses. It'll be interesting to see how they refine that into, hopefully, something more fluid. And once the universe as a whole becomes more interesting to explore, the fact there's gear progression should become secondary to enjoying the other aspects of the game.

As for the Matter Manipulator, since people still seem to miss the point, it's a futuristic swiss army knife! Just because it's a vague science-fictional item with an admittedly overly pretentious name which fires a funny beam doesn't mean you should expect it to be a miraculous do-it-all-like-Jesus wonder tool. More basic tools definitely have their place, especially since they're specialized implements, regardless of the age of their technology. Current technology hasn't obsoleted old technology, but rather has been built on it over the centuries. Go mining or chopping trees with a swiss army knife or a blowtorch, highly advanced 20th century tools but of questionable use for such 'primitive' tasks.

 

I too want it to be harder but maybe I'll just mod it so the crafting recipes for the tier armours are tripled and the boss health doubled, monster damage balanced out but still deadly, ect. Just something to increase the challenge of getting to the X sector (Rarer Minerals?) Yeah I think all that I've said would just about do it for me.

 

It is ok to like both, but when people are sitting there saying this is nothing MORE than a Terraria clone, that is where someone who hated Terraria but love this game come in to point out the differences. It shows that this IS a different game and there is something about it that appeal to people who didn't like Terraria. It's not about game TYPE.

Edit: I also never said I hated this type of game. just because I didn't like Terraria doesn't mean I don't play other games of this type. I LOVE games of this type, so why wouldn't I look at this game?

 

Someone stated, I believe it was Tiy, a long time ago (I will endeavor to find the post/convo where it was stated) - that the initial version we would be playing would be nothing but a relatively bland, barebones sandbox. And due to that they were hesitant to even release it to the public - presumably for the exact reason we see here. People worried that what we have is the overall foundation of what the game will be and that's that.

Give them a chance to show us what they have in store - before worrying about the state of the game. We know most of what we're seeing isn't the final iteration and that placeholder systems are being used.

By all means give feedback, but try to avoid the pitfall of basing opinions on the notion that what we are testing/playing is anything more than a barebones framework of a game still to come.


I, for one, love where we're at and it can only get better.

 

Am I the only person who doesn't equate this style of linearity with "bad"? I mean, the game prepares you, at each step, for higher-grade stuff. And then it does so again.

It's not exactly an interactive movie like Final Fantasy XIII. That game was linear, and it WAS a bad thing. I mean, excuse me, but Starbound is a hell of a lot more interactive than a movie with battle sequences.

 

I agree, kinda of what I said but with words as opposed to whatever cluttered mess I said

 

Do people just ignore the devs when they state things like the current method of progression being filler? Tiers 5-10 aren't exactly balanced at the moment and are basically there for your to see some higher level gears and mess around.

People also seem to forget there will be a story quest to follow as well as many features still being added. We have the sandbox with partial content and that's what we are testing. It's a bit early to start complaining about some things.

 

I LOL'ed when i started reading this thread. I do agree with the OP statements but i am very certain that they will be sorted by the time the game is out of Beta.

Do remember this games is still a baby, i remember when i jumped into Minecraft in Alpha build. It was amazing but very limited. All they have done is add things to do and content. The same is happening here, the content is coming, being developed and implemented weekly. Your comments are needed for the betterment of the game. They need any and all comments to be able to make the game better and more enjoyable!

:Cheers:
EevilBeaver

 

Woah the baby thing makes sense I mean like as a young child I played with cars and Lego and whatnot but here I am as a grown ass man who has feelings and emotions and likes wearing cute clothes even though I did boyish stuff as a young boy

 

I think what this game needs is more horizontal progression rather than vertical. --Some-- examples would include requiring certain items or gear to traverse biomes or planets to progress but not being locked in under a tier. Other than that very addicting game so far...

 

man I remember Minecraft Alpha. I played it for way too long too...burned myself out but it was GREAT seeing ti evolve. That's why I am playing this game now. I like feeling like a part of the evolution process of a game.

 

I like this suggestion and have seen it a few times floating around...but not nearly enough. I don't mind linear progression but...I also LOVE options. Options that do not involve gear progression nullifying it. Outfits that help in certain weather conditions would be great as would a way to customize outfits other than the long awaited dye implementation. Other than freezing to death it would be nice to actually overheat as well. There is so much that can be done!

 

I think that the OP has great feedback about how the game feels like now.

It's way too repetitive.
Most of the biomes feel the same, just with different colored blocks.
The ores and weapons don't have that much variety either.

The interesting weapons (like pistols with bouncing bullets!) are very rare occurrences whereas most items are pretty uninteresting.


The way Terraria had different backgrounds, different music and different enemies for different biomes kept things much more interesting.

I was really surprised when a Tentacle planet was actually using it's music from the soundtrack!
It made the planet feel very different. Such a little thing made a big difference!

I do have faith in Chucklefish, though.
I've followed the roadmap for a long time and I expect the game to get a lot better.

Once we've got acid rains, oxygen requirements, more fleshed-out Mechs and more pre-made enemies (like the Pop-tops!) I believe that the game will feel much better.
Once the weapon variety is better, so that all those dinky swords that shoot lightning bolts are actually worth using instead of a curiosity.
Once the main quest is added and bosses balanced...

It's a long way to go, but I believe in them!

 

Well, this thread is nothing more than a hodgepodge of pointless bickering over nothing, where once again simply waiting for the majority of the content to be implemented could solve the main issues that people are having. OR, just as a possibility, maybe, just maybe, this game isn't for you, especially if all you're going to do is break the game down into its most basic components and act as if that's the end all argument for anything anyone will say because clearly, clearly nothing else will ever be added and nothing will ever be balanced.

Some of the feedback here is useful but to act as if nothing is going to change or be improved at all is just ignoring the Devs who clearly do listen to this community.

 

Go play Mario internal beta, back in the '80s. You take your little man and run from the left side of the screen to the right side of the screen, and when you fall off the bottom, you have to start over. What happens when you reach the end? You have to do it again... Until you turn off the power. Who thought about Bowser or goombas/koopas/shyguys or pipes or mushrooms/powerups or yoshi or anything else now in the mario universe? It was a push to leave DK and give the little Jumpman his own platforming game in his own world, and when they tested the core mechanic (jumping over stuff) that's all there was. "So all you do is run across the screen and jump over stuff? What's the goal? What drive do you have to do it? It's boring, it's a waste of time. I don't like the direction this is going." Ye of little faith...

 

I just finished too but i'm taking my GF for another round because I enjoyed it.

 

No, I understand. You just don't feel like I do because I see the situation in a different light than you. Here's the most open-minded advice I can give you regarding the unlocks in this game.

*Assume the game without any restrictions*

What I mean by that, is by concentrating just on the tier progression system and how it keeps certain things locked behind a wall until you unlock it, imagine that whatever you do have unlocked is the complete sandbox experience. You don't *have* to unlock silver armor because nothing is *forcing* you to go to level 2 planets. Nothing is *forcing* you to kill the first boss except some tutorial that tells you the basics of playing the game. If it never told you to build the distress beacon, some people would start mining everything on the planet and build some marvelous building, while others would go on the forums asking what to do next.

However, because the game specifically tells you to build the distress beacon and activate it, hence summoning the UFO boss that drops something upon dying, you are presented with progression, something that could have been avoided entirely. Rather than focus on the sandbox portion of the game, you are being conditioned to focus on progression because of the final tutorial. Some people are able to see past this and have their chains broken, absorbing themselves in the free-roam aspect of this game, not being hindered by anything except their imagination.

In the end, the only benefit to unlocking stuff is to gain access to higher level planets with harder monsters and rarer ores required to craft armor that is overtaken slowly by powercreep. However, I don't *have* to progress if I don't want to. Why do I *have* to? Give me a legitimate reason as to why it's more beneficial to visit level 10 planets as opposed to staying in Alpha forever?

In the end, starbound is a game of exploration. It does this nicely by spawning an infinite amount of planets in every sector, thus giving the player an unlimited amount of options, compared to someone who sees themselves limited by tiers, being blind to the infinitely generated world standing right in front of them.

So tell me, who's really being hindered by the glass ceiling? You or me?