Anything and everything is speculation at this point.
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this is going to be the deal for quite some time to come, i wouldn’t put any hope behind getting a roadmap or getting any new content for this game. I love boundless dearly but lack of dev transparency has destroyed what little community this game has left…
I hope Montymental figures out how to actually run the game but i think this is enough signs to me that it’s not happening- certainly not before even more great games come out and bury this under the pile of things i and other people would like to do.
even something as simple as only making Compact Oort fuel portals would have a huge chunk of the community come back, but they’re not even capable of that.
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Yes you have said that same thing many times. So we at least know the lights are staying on but are their plans to hire a team to work on this game as stated in your road map almost 2 years ago. Or has that been tossed out pretty sure that’s all we want to know.
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Tiggs spoke to this.
Honestly, I feel like even a bi-weekly dev thread of “Nothing new to report, keeping things running” would be enough for most people instead of the silence and Tiggs saying that when people directly ask. The way it at least doesn’t feel abandoned. Actively saying there’s nothing happening yet as an update feels far better than it just being quiet the entire time that nothing is happening.
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They’re obviously too busy to dedicate that kind of time to placating players…
they obviously are, but not allowing half an hour a month to write short posts has cost them income. I don’t understand the thinking behind it.
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I wouldn’t be particularly comforted by a bi-weekly canary post. That’s the kind of thing that might as well be automated, or really… Just make it a pinned post…
I’ve said this before, but it’s been a while so I’ll say it again.
I’ve seen many games shut down, and I have not noticed a pattern for how it happens. I’ve seen a game with constant dev communication put out shut-down notice at the same time as releasing a bunch of new content. I’ve seen multiple games have slowly trailing off quality of new content to then be put into maintenance mode indefinitely. I’ve seen games with infrequent updates eventually give up and shut down. I’ve seen games slow down updates, get sold off, and then recover strongly. I’ve seen games slow down updates, get sold off, and then become unfun lootbox selling machines. I saw a game slowly trail off with update quality, shut down, and then be ressurected years later when fans set up a deal with the devs to let the players contribute to a server fund.
Even if we had handwritten notes from the devs every week about how they are keeping the servers up, nothing would be stopping them from shutting down the day after a notice. I’d actually say that usually the community managers on a project have little connection or say in the continuance of a project.
I’ve seen at least a couple times where community managers & mods were specifically told to reassure players the game was safe within days of a shutdown notice.
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Edit: I’m not saying you’re wrong for wanting it, but I personally question the value of it.
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@Rydralain isn’t wrong. I’ve seen people ask for daily/weekly/biweekly/monthly dev reports and that includes myself. If the update isn’t anything new, I’d be happy with it just being pinned so people are at least aware that the game is being maintained, but I personally wouldn’t find much solace in that and while it would hold value differently for each person, overall, its value would be diminished with time.
Being a very honest person (sometimes to a fault) and a person who hates to see the community bleed players, I have been VERY vocal about communication both with Wonderstruck and Monumental and just because I am a moderator my vocalization of there being no communication on the future of the game won’t stop.
That would also mean I am not going to reassure anyone falsely. I’ve stated it so many times, that I am not blind and none of the players are either. Just because some players act all “hunky dory” doesn’t mean they are blind either, it just means they enjoy the game as much as they can while they can however long that may be.
I volunteered to become a mod so I can help the community and help the game if at all possible. I’ve even offered to do development work for free (to no avail) if it would mean helping the community and the game live on longer and make Monumental some extra cashflow to just keep the lights on a little longer. But as someone mentioned to me, “Some people have called you an ass kisser buried real far up Tiggs butt.”
I figured I’d speak to that too. One thing I am not is an “ass kisser”. Anyone who knows me personally or has spoken to me at length would know that. I’m married, I have two great kids, a fantastic wife, a cat and a dog and my dream job working for a company I’ve dreamed of working for. One thing I don’t need is drama, my life is chock full of it and I am sure many players have enough drama in real life too and that’s why I, and I am sure other players, play this and any other games to just escape for a little bit.
I’ve typed a small book now, so I’ll end on this. I hope the game sticks around for those of you that really need it. If you have a disability or some illness and Boundless has given you some form of comfort, if you use Boundless for your escape from real life drama, or you are just a person who enjoys playing a game, that’s why I volunteered to try and help moderate because the community deserves someone who plays the game daily to try and help out.
Back on topic, roadmap? Sure, I’ll take two.
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I saw a similar thing with City of Heroes. The community was crushed when it shut down and then got revived as a private server. And now they have got the official recognition of NCSoft. Game has been packed with the news.
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Nice, I knew there was an unofficial server, didn’t know it got official acknowledgement. I actually spent several minutes while writing that post trying to remember if I know how CoX was at the end, but I had stopped playing well before the shutdown.
I know Hellgate London has unofficial servers up. Myst: URU was what I was thinking of, where Cyan has a donation button and a post they sometimes update with a “how long the servers are paid for”, though I think at this point it’s just… A really long time.
I had forgotten that I know of at least two games where all of the assets became publicly available - one under open license, the other freely available if you use Unreal engine. Both of those have player-made versions being made from the ground up using the original assets. Both are in half-done states with infrequent updates.
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The value I more find in it is the fact that it makes it feel like an active connection is being kept rather than the players being tossed in a hole and forgotten about. To see a post just keeping up on things even when they haven’t changed causes a sense of “We’re still here and we haven’t just left the place to rot. Even if this post doesn’t mean the game ISN’T being shut down soon, we’re still keeping an active line of communication known.”
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Maybe quarterly dev-hosted themed build contests would be a good way to do this? Real engagement and investment from both dev and community. Prizes could be paid in GC months or something.
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