What do you think is needed for the game beside fixing the economy?

General
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My son and I were talking about the game. Of what is needed besides fixing the economy. Adding coin will help, but what else will help keep players to stay playing and get new players?

We agree that two things are desperate needed. Variety and diversity.

We have only four types of critters to hunt and kill. And they are all the same on all planets, just a bit more dangerous. We need some other critters that could be planet specific. And biome specific. Swamps. what do you find in swamps that can be good and bad?
Water, what can be found in the water, fish is the first thing that comes to mind, we can fish and have them for food. Something that we can dig from the beach, clams for example.
Each biome could have something special and a different type for different planets. Species and sub species. Plans on level 1 and 2 could have small deer and on 3 and 4 larger deer, elk maybe on 5 and 6 moose like animals.

Ruins, we need ruins, the story goes that the planet was inhabited and we find left over tech items as we mine. Well, where are the ruins? We could explore them and look for new items we can use to make different items.

Quests, my broken record of needed quests to give players something to do. It can be in the sanctum where we pick from a selection of guests to do certain things, collect items from easy to find to hard for different levels. Different rewards for completing the quests from coins to items needed, ores, gems, special food and drinks.

NPC players, they could have a trading post that could take the items that are not wanted because there are so many, the fibrous leaves, yams, copper, rocks, sand, silt and others that can’t be sold you can get in trade or coins. They could also have quests. Go and collect 25 fibrous leaves and 25 yams and take them to trader bob on planet such and such. Go there and get something needed. We could have a choice of items, iron ore, glue, anything that is needed and will save the player from spending coins. Or of course, they can get coins also.

What are other things that you think would help the “boredom” in the game.

Devs, go check out MMOs that are successful and see what is the reason, see if you can incorporate it into this game.

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More cosmetics that aren’t locked behind pay/cubit wall. Somethin farmable in game that’s fairly rare so everyone and their mama won’t immediately have it in 2 hours of gameplay. Said items should also be sellable for people that dont want to spend the time farming for it.

Edit: maybe even make these items have “stages” that have different visual looks based on what stage that item is. For example something like chest armor that looks basic at stage 1 but by stage 3 or even up to 5 will have a noticeable difference. More visual effects or better stats, etc. It should take time to get to these stages to give people something to invest in and wont break after using it for 15 minutes.

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All successful games have a carrot for us horses to chase. It’s what moves the cart forward and keeps us hungry. Right now we have to imagine our own carrots. Mine are the builds I have planned in my mind, the idea of what our settlement could be, and the ever present desire to interact with my friends in-game.

That’s enough for me, at least for now, but it’s not enough for a lot of people, evident by the number of friends I’ve seen drop off and chase their carrot elsewhere.

In the most successful MMO of all time, World of Warcraft, people have a large number of things to chase after. Achievements certainly help, a large number of dungeons, armour sets, weapons, mounts, pets and so much more. World of Warcraft didn’t become the game it is now overnight though, it’s taken 18 years to get this far.

You could set aside that successful MMO and look at the most successful sandbox building game; Minecraft. Minecraft is perhaps a lot closer to Boundless than World of Warcraft, and is the most directly comparable. The things that make Minecraft successful, I’d argue, are the options available to you - you can change texture packs, create your own servers, game types, the game can be modded and changed, your character can be changed, you have more room to build, larger lands to explore, more enemies, more surprises out in the wild, farming, redstone, and a whole lot more.

Boundless has portals and chiselling that set it apart from Minecraft. The rest could pretty much be modded in. If Boundless is to compete and grow, it has to start giving players more options, and some of those things mentioned above.

That said, this isn’t news. The developers are well aware of Boundless’ shortcomings, and are working to remedy them. It’s not going to happen over night though, and neither did those other two games become what they are now overnight.

Basically, it’s not about Wonderstuck giving us features - they’ll come. It’s about us giving them time.

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Farming, farming, farming!!

I am not a great builder, but I like tasks I can work on and steadily improve. Home projects are great, hence why I’m really excited and hopeful about incoming farming.

I do wish skills were partially based on the effort put into them rather than leveling and putting stats in. I feel like I have to reach 50 just to be a decent player. I’d prob max out anything explorer and forager related because I’m running around collecting stuff everywhere.

But farming!!!
Maybe if they add painting or if breeding will be part of farming…

Hmmm… wonder if I feed crushed gleam to a goat if it’ll start glowing… :thinking:
Welcome to Pandora’s mutant goat farm! Ya never know what your goat’ll grow up into! :grin:

(Ok, I was just being silly with that last part)

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Oh yeah, and alt races, for variety. Hopefully that’s one of their next projects. :grin::grin::grin:
Waiting for that before making any alts.

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Well, the problem is, I paid $60 for a game that implied that certain things were in it. Seriously, do you think it was a fair price for what I got in the game? I would have rather paid less and know what I was getting and be willing to pay for DLC as they developed more.
How many other games have promised things and the game not have them and players get mad and trash it? No Man’s Sky is a good example. Promised steak and gave players a hamburger.
I loved playing 7 days to die. But the promises of this and that, of the long time waiting when they could have done a better job and had it finished three years ago if they had stopped suffering from cranial inversion and pride.

I enjoy this game, but I’m disappointed in that what I expected wasn’t given. And because Minecraft took so long doesn’t mean it was right and that BL should do the same. They should set a example and do better.
Will I trash them game, no. I’m not going to go and state it is bad and the devs scammed up, even though to some extent some would see it that way. I will go it isn’t finished yet and the price I paid was too high for what I got. If they want to get more players they had better drop the price to half of what they asked and work better, hirer more devs (like I stated several times on 7 days forum) and get more of what was promised in quick.
This is just my opinion, we can agree to disagree in this aspect. Others will go I am being unfair.

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Hiring more developers isn’t as simple as it sounds, especially for a UK based company. Even then it takes time to get them up to speed with the code, their plans, and everything they need to know going forward. Boundless was always intended to be a slow burner with a small dedicated team.

I’m sorry that’s not what you want, but there’s also the problem of funding. Wonderstruck aren’t Rockstar or Blizzard. They don’t have billions to throw at their title.

They’re releasing new features, and rather fast if you ask me. We just have to be patient (like it or not)

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I don’t have a problem in patience in waiting for stuff to be added as long as they do add stuff along the way. What I have had a problem with was the high price for what I got.
It Was not worth it. That hurt them big time. Compare it to games that are the same price, not near as much content. People don’t look at what it can be when it implies it has it and when asked to pay a high price and don’t get it, well, word of mouth hurt the game.
Ask less, state more will be added and this is what they Plan, not imply it is in the game already and it would not have hurt them as much. I’m looking at it from a business perspective, not a player perspective. And it is a business and they are selling a product.
And nothing is as simple as it sounds.

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They couldn’t really afford to sell this game for cheap because it’s not an indie launch-and-forget title. They have servers to pay, and a staff of active developers with salaries. Not to mention the servers couldn’t have handled twice as many players at launch. They’re on the right track for what’s best for Boundless even though the game still had one toe in the Beta pool at launch. At any rate I’d rather they released Boundless as it is so that we can be playing now vs waiting another 3 years to play it.

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Thinking of hours I’ve played I think it’s very good value, even adding EA backer, Deluxe upgrade & bought Cubits cost on.

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This game has everything! Maybe it’s just not the game for you… but I see the devs putting out new stuff constantly… guilds are set to come out and they openly share the roadmap so we can see what’s coming in the newar future.

I don’t have enough hours in a day to play and get everything I want done. Honestly, if this game bores you maybe your playing it wrong.

Oh, and NPC’s that you sell stuff to would ruin the player driven economy. There are tons of things to make with all the little stuff you don’t want… and that stuff sells.

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This game is doing a lot of things right. But content drops seem to be lacking in physical content I could do without led blocks that add nothing to the game. It was probably just a quick throw in to tie us over till the bigger content drop happens and that is fine.
But I feel this game really need more of a few things for example.

Wearable Armor sets: most people want wearable armor sets in this game it would add so much customizable content we could forge are own protection physical and environmental into the armor we put on are characters. Then take it off and display it for everyone to see.

Everything breaks in this game. Weapons machines. Why can’t we repair are weapons
What better way to keep raw resources selling in shops then by allowing players to fix there tools. If my hammer is at 50% dura left it would cost me half the resources used to make it in order to fix it. Couple that with a skill you have to learn from feats say you fix 100 wooden hammers now you can fix stone fix 200 stone hammers now you can fix iron so on and so forth that would give a repair profession real worth in the game. Forged gear prices will drop as time goes on but that is okay as long as the raw resources buy and sell price makes up for it.

ADD MORE CREATURES: planet specific and just more variety. Flying, swimming, ghosts, blobs, rideable tameable this game needs more
Having a horse or something like it with saddle bags to carry extra loot on long trips would be amazing.

Trees dnt drop saplings. The insane variety of trees in this game would make a huge content boost if each type dropped its own saplings.

Windmills, solar panels, water wheels, to generate power. Oil in the ground that we have to pump out or bucket out and place in a refinery to make gas.

People want a red stone like item we have one it’s a spark link cable it just needs to do more
Being able to attach a switch to power it on or off
Being able to stop power going one way and direct it another with the flip of a switch.
Having it hook up to lights to turn them on or off.
And for all the factories out there being able to have a led screen to display how much spark you have left in your generator and how much spark is going into your generator along with displaying the time left on your crafting machines just by connecting them all up with a spark link cable.

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I love the “this game may not be for you” response when someone states what they think is wrong. It is the type of game I love to play. I paid a frigging $60 for Sims 4 and have spent over $150 on their expansion packs and don’t like the game so refuse to waste more money on it. That was my choice, I knew what I was buying.
I spent $60 on a game that implied it was giving me something and didn’t provide it. I bought it for what was supposed to be in it. That to me was wrong of the devs. I don’t remember it ever saying the high cost was for the servers, maybe they did.
I’m not trashing the game. Stop Thinking of it as a Game.

It is a Business. Plain and Simple. A Business. That is how players who are looking to buy it will see it as. A product they are buying and expect to get what is offered.
As a game, it is great, I love what I can do. As a product, I am disappointed in what I received. Plain and simple. Try separating the two. Game. Product. I bought a product that is a game. I bought a product that is a bread machine. I bought a product that is new curtains for my bedroom. I bought a product that is a electrical canner. They all do a function. This is a product that is a game. But, it is still a product.
Go buy a sheets and look at the picture. Se a bed made up and show the individual pieces, see it says sheets and has a high price tag. Take it home and find out it is just a fitted sheet. You would fee ripped off, cheated, and not be a happy camper. I would not tell you it was okay, they did give you a sheet. They gave the impression it was a full set and the price was for a full set.

Same thing. Plain and simple. We can agree to disagree.

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Why? At least then players might have coin to buy some of the higher level items. If the NPC bought the basic materials, then that makes a sink for all this rock and lower tier items and allow players to get coin without having to depend on other players needing the resources they have gathered. It also gives every player a chance to get coin versus the existing footfall which favors the few with good locations. NPC’s buying basic materials also reduces the issues players have expressed about not wanting the hassle of having to roam around 48 planets looking for someplace that will buy what they are trying to sell.

Without doing something the economy will continue to be anemic and players will continue to make the decision that it is better to make everything yourself and just ignore the stores entirely.

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If there wer NPCs to buy rock and stuff we don’t need there would be too much coin in the game. It takes effort to make coin and you have to look for it and work for it.

As for running around every planet to shop… who does that? Go to the shopping portal networks, or to the Gyosha Mall. There are tons of great shops. Mt. IllumiNaughty has some great stores with great prices. (Not to mention spaceships)…

Part of the game is the player driven economy… NPcs don’t fit in that scenario.

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Unfortunately with footfall, I do not believe this to be true. All you need are plots in the right location and you get coin. So I my opinion it takes no effort at all for some players to make coin, and a lot of coin in some cases. At least if players sell to the NPC’s then everyone has the same chance.

So I should hunt through these places you are suggesting, generating footfall coin for stores that might not have what I want while all I get is to waste time. The “thrill” of exploration is over so it is just a chore to check out a bunch of stores to see what they have.

So then lets just leave the economy where it is then and decide that it will work its way out somehow. There will still be a segment of the population with no easy source of footfall coin and those players may just continue to opt out of participating in the economy (as I do with some other players). It has proven to be easier to just make it myself or hand trade with friends than try to earn coin.

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I sell things in my store… footfall is just the icing on the top. It takes effort to make coin and I stand by that. You can have all the plots on the planet but if you have nothing to look at or bad stores you won’t get people to take the time to cross the portal.

I run shops with great prices and I keep things stocked. I make coin. I farm my stuff and I pay good prices in my baskets. It took effort and time to make a store that looks good. I put portals to the good spots and advertise.

It’s an economy and some will fare more than others. If people don’t want to participate in it, they can’t expect to have an box to just buy your grass seed so you can have coin too…

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Something that is needed, not wanted for this game?

That’s an excellent question.

Honestly, I can’t think of anything it needs right now. I’m patient enough for the farming and the guilds to come out and everything afterwards that may come. I have over 700 hours in game, and I’m STILL finding things to keep me hooked.

Wait a second, why am I writing this? I need to check my store and my refineries! Yikes!!
…oh wait… internet is down here. Thanks Mediacom.

Edit: I’m using my phone for the intraweb right now haha

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Well on the footfall I will have to point out that merely having plots adjacent to a portal hub generates footfall. It has nothing to do with how it looks or actually being a store or having a portal. It merely requires that players cross it or use it like some of the roads near portals. With the new footfall calculation it will have to have at least 10k prestige but that does not make it attractive or useful just well located. I know of several examples of this near portal seekers hubs.

So does running a shop require effort. Yes if you want to make money. Does running a portal require effort. Also yes. Do other players get footfall coin without doing either. Also yes.

You are correct in saying everyone will not do as well, however that is measured, in the economy. But if some players have a large passive income stream that other players cannot mimic, then they are at an advantage. Maybe this does not matter, but the people complaining that players are making everything they need and not buying from their shops need to understand why it is happening and that it will probably continue.

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This game needs more things to craft, more consumable things (ie that wear out as well as eaten/drank). More things to craft with metal and stone that need replaced over time. Like off hand shields, etc.

The point is, to keep the economy flowing, things need to break and be used up, but these things need to be useful, have a purpose other than just sitting there.

The more useful, perishable items we can create, the more demand for the mats, the better the economy, more people gathering and spending.

I think it will get there, but I’d like to see more concentration in development in that area. Most of the new crafts we have had seem to be build and forget.

There’s an initial flurry of economic activity, then nothing.

Does anyone bother about LEDs now, or spooky seeds?

What is just about keeping the economy ticking over is demand for forging, brewing and food crafting mats.

So rather than fixing the economy, we just need more useful perishable or consumable items to craft, that use a bigger variety of the materials we can collect.

It would be a mistake to just add mats to recipes of existing crafts.

Apologies, this has been a bit of a steam of consciousness post, didn’t really plan it out!