Some thoughts on early access, release dates, the big 1.0

I just want more content :/

 

I do not understand why so many people are misunderstanding what Tiy said when he said this game could be released "as is".

He is talking about that Starbound has enough content to be considered a complete game "as is". If you have never heard of the grand plans of Starbound, It could be considered complete with a few minor changes: There are more expensive game that are considered "complete" that have less content than Starbound.

Alpha, Beta, version 1.0, are very relative terms and Tiy was explaining his definition was.

I think Tiy was being fair and honest in his post, I did not see anything mean or wrong with what he said.

I still have high hopes for Starbound and I am confident they will deliver an awesome game, every journey has a few snags along the way, but I know they can do it!

 

It seems that giving our opinion on the internet is apparently the same as stating facts and being "aggressive" towards other's beliefs. Give people a fair and honest opinion and they will scrape the entire thing for something they can blow out of proportions...

 

This. Amen. You said exactly what I meant to say, only better.

@MrHiggle, I disagree quite strongly. I think that the devs should wait for Stable's save files to be forwards-compatible before new content is released in Stable. Otherwise we'll lose progress every time an update gets pushed. As soon as Stable is... well... stable, there could be a content patch for Stable every so often without breaking your progress. That's the way that comparable games in the "sandbox block world" genre did it.

 

I'd rather by far have a game updated monthly than having front page with pretty gif's and pictures updated daily.

Maybe the whole idea of showing little bits of progress does more harm than good, as it just keeps the hype up when what many people want is actually meat and sauce (game). Keeping the hype up, while it's mixed with frustration and broken promises culminates in this situation CF is now.

 

But that's 100% irrelevant, because we did not pay for another game, we paid for Starbound. And we have in fact heard of Starbound's grand plans. It is objectively speaking incomplete. You can't argue with that.

EDIT: Look, this would be like if I went up to my college professors back in the day with an incomplete thesis and saying, "Well, I know it's not complete, but other people have handed in shorter theses on other topics with less academic rigor. In fact, my thesis is 5,000 words long at this point; people write haiku, and those are only seventeen syllables long. So you're just complaining about nothing." What other people have done in other games is completely unimportant. What is relevant here is that Starbound lacks key features. This is an objective fact.

 

I am sorry that you think this is irrelevant, but people are misinterpreting what Tiy has said and I want to explain what he meant, if people are still upset with it, I cant change that, but I want to make sure people truly understood what he meant.

 

We already had this discussion dozens of times already.
Whatever outcome Tyi and his team choose, people will always complain about the uptades (or lack of thereof). Why can't we just accept things as they are? If reading daily updates bothers you so much then why don't you simply limit your visits to these forums to once a month? Ins't that what you basically wished for? And let people who want daily updates get their share too.

Win / win.

 

The point is that what Tiy said is irrelevant, in that it doesn't address anyone's concerns. Yes, there are games with far fewer features than Starbound that are considered "complete." So what? We are not talking about other games. We are talking about Starbound, which has missing features. This isn't up for debate.

 

Everyone is going to have a different opinion on the order work is completed and/or what work is completed. Many many threads on the forums are about that very premise. But I mainly wanted to say that loosing progress was something they made clear would happen from the very beginning and is to be expected with an EA title.

Personal, I disagree with yourself about making 'save files' (ship, character and world files) forward-compatible before adding more content. I personally think it's a complete waste of time (and in some instances technically impossible due to how the engine works with specific regards to world generation) and will only slow down development further for a 'feature' that once released will be pretty much redundant.

But this is going OT...

 

Hi Molly

May I ask you a question and get a fair answer to it?

If so I have to make a small intro for the question so I don't look like a crybaby:

I'm follwing your site since the ligtning demo on march 2012. I'm registered since january 2013 . I bought 4x pack in april 2013.
I've posted 0 messages so far. I'm not an active forum member BUT I got 5 of my friends to buy 1x or 4x packs for them and their friends.
I have played the Terraria. It was like WOW for a week but then the Skeletron gets killed for a third time and you understand that generating a new world is meaningless etc. Despite that Terraria (as 2D minecraft clone) had A LOT of unused potential.
IMHO Tiy planned Starbound to be something like "Terraria that never ends".
It's obvious that Starbound can't be just Terraria with planets. You can generate a new world in Terraria but what for? Just to look at a "new" map with an "old" content?

I've played Starbound beta. IMO it's just Terraria with planets. Plus I see no sence in exploration as soon as universe is made of confusedly painted clones you call planets. That is all.

Tiy has changed his mind from

Quote 1 from How the Beta is going to work October 30, 2013 in News (posted by GeorgeV but definetly approved by Tiy):
"Stage 3 is largely about prepping for v1.0, this means finishing up the main quest line and implementing the post beta content. i.e. the Novakids, fossils. By the time stage 3 is complete Starbound should be ready to launch as a finished game."

to

Quote 2 from Some thoughts on early access... July 21, 2014 in News:
"I feel we could have released what we currently have AS 1.0, outside of early access"

Summarizing: I don't know how Tiy was planning to make 2D sandbox with endless (or long-long playing) content but that is what I bought. I bought a sci-fi Terraria that won't end in a week.



Now the question:
How do YOU (personnaly and as part of devs team) see the Starbound v1.0 and when it's going to get to v1.0?

 

This actually reminds me of those arguments that kids and parents have about school grades.

Scenario 1:

Mom: Why aren't your grades as good as your classmate? You should be more like him and do what he does!
​

Scenario 2:

Kid: I had bad grades at Maths... but I wasn't the only one! Almost everyone in class had it too!
Mom: I don't care what your classmates had! I only care about your grades and they're a disappointment!
​

Contradiction much? So which arguments is the most relevant? The one that is more convenient for us at the moment or the one that is more reasonable? Because its not very uncommon to see people comparing this game to another when they're trying to make an example. People like yourself come in and tell that doesn't matter, that what matters is what we have right here and now and how it relates to the subject hand. I wouldn't say that you're wrong but the real question is: Are you for real, or are you one of those hypocrites that change their opinion as they see fit for the situation?

 

Dear lord. I feel bad for Tiy. All I can see here is crying! Mom! I didn't get my way! And all for a measly $15.
*Popcorn*

I'm sorry but this is too amusing for me. I guess this is what happens when it looks like (whether or not you DO) pay attention to your fan-base. Im sorry Tiy. You really probably should ignore these posts. Its just too sad.

 

Sorry Starbound developers but this calls for a little bit of outrage!

You really should reconsider your statement. I really understand that you guys are tired of programming starbound and that it was not that much a success as you promised yourself, but consider that the advertising for the game promised much more content than the game actually has at this point. So please keep up the good work and don't bother yourself with the release date!!!!

The fact that players have been playing hours over hours doesn't mean anything if the game isn't fully finished. Take the average time of Terraria players and than you will see that 26 hours is not the average time for a game like this. For more information google for terraria playing statistics.

I'm really missing basic features and the features that are implemented at this point are really really restricted in their function.
Also you should consider that a lot of players are waiting and waiting for an actually good game and therefore didn't even start playing the game. For so far you didn't get as far as Terraria in their 1.0 version and if you will called it finished right now it's a shame.

Another fear that rises around me and my friends is that you actually will bring some extra content in the form of DLC's. If that's the case it would also be a big problem for your publicity for your coming games. Not that i'm trying to scare you of your future plans, but i have the ought feeling that you guys underestimated the work that comes around with a sandbox-game. So don't punish the gamer for your own mistakes.

Again i really understand that you bring up this discussion and i apreciat that. But it would be a real big disappointment to a big amount of users if you did the call for a finished game jet.

So keep up the good work!!

Best regards, Tonkihonk

 

huh did I miss an announcement? Where does it say they'll stop doing content?

 

Would people please stop using the same argument over and over and OVER again. The release date issue has been discussed and explained a million times over...give it a rest.

As if people never learned how to read "developerese". If something is stated on such an early phase of a project (even if they say that the game definitely WILL have it) NEVER take it as set in stone. A billion things can happen that can render the concept either not possible or simply it won't work or won't be fun in the end. This is not only true to CF but also to every game developer ever. They will try their best to complete their vision, but sometimes things just don't work as intended.

Most of the time you don't even know that there were different plans as developers are usually more vague when discussing the creative process.

Also quit with the assumptions! Most arguments arise from people assuming there is always a second layer to what Tiy said or trying to imply there is a second layer. Tiy only hypothesized about 1.0 and said so. Yet there are many people assuming that they know better what he meant, that in his eyes SB is completed some even to an extent that they are done and tired...no and he never actually said so. That is where most arguments come from and most of the negative user reviews, they are full of unjustified assumptions.

 

Yeah, no. He just said the game was in a releasable state now if they decided they wanted to do that...along with a few other things. And so we get this.

 

I didn't mean to piss you off, but the rise of second thoughts are based on the discussion started by Dev. site.

If you want a much shorter answer:

" Till starbound gets to the state of ( for example) Terraria 1.0 the game isn't finished !"

 

I guess they need to write in short simple sentences to avoid mass hysteria of the can't read properly kind