In ten weeks my gleam club runs out. I won’t renew it.
I’m not going to pay a tax on my previous effort. If WS wants to keep my business, they can earn it. Paying them a handful of dollars to fuel a beacon for me at the potential risk of losing everything is like paying protection money. There are parts of the game that are chores. Collect footfall, fuel beacons, check shop stands. You know what isn’t fun? Chores. This is why games got rid of corpse runs. Because it was horrible and that mechanic died with Brad McQuaid’s terrible game development career.
Some mechanics in boundless are a hoot. Hunts are fun, but repetitive. Building is fun, but tedious. Crafting is fun, but tedious. Forging is tedious. As for my bona fides: I have hundreds of hours played, (I think Steam says 700+), so this is coming from a place of personal experience. You may like the game, that’s great! I want everyone to like the game.
I don’t want to dump on anyone in particular, but the choir of folks saying that “everything is okay” and “they are working on farming” is frustrating to read and watch. A company can work on more than one solution at once, and have more than one objective. Those of us asking for change are asking for the game to improve. Fundamental changes need to be made to emphasize fun since the game is full of repetitive tasks. If you are going to do something over and over, you need to enjoy it.
This isn’t just about beacon expiration. This is about communication, forging, etc. There are a multitude of issues that are not being readily addressed and they need to be. If WS cannot muster the time to address its customers regularly (especially members), then what on earth are we paying for?
Don’t mistake the tone of my post, I’m passionate, but not angry. I want the game to succeed, as I’m sure everyone else does.
Thank you! eveytime i read on the steam forums someone complaing about fueling and someone just replys “pay the devs and nothing bad will happen” i always just picture the devs with baseball bats walking into a shop looking for there money.
Overall, I totally get you, and I agree on many things you’re saying.
I’d say that’s a fair assessment. I’m sure people might be able to turn it around, but it’s an understandable feeling, really.
It cannot be denied that the current beacon system was made for legitimate reasons, though. Same as footfall and shop stands and all that. There are things to be said for how too much convenience can kill a game.
As for corpse runs, eeeeh… I mean… I still play WoW on the side… it still does have corpse run.
Point is, things need to be re-tuned, re-balanced, but not removed altogether.
Check. Check. Check. Check.
Althouuugh, forging was made far more bearable with the addition of the “skip” option, to not have to suffer through the animations all the time. But it’s still soooooooooooo painfully RNG-based, I mean, even on testing with all the components and compounds and things I could desire, it took me several attempts to get a diamond AoE hammer. I was so frustrated!
If someone is being disruptive to your build, and there is intent found of them doing so, the devs will fix the problem, They have removed plots in the past that have been placed in the middle of someone else’s build that clearly looked like it was not even being used for the purposes of creating a problem. it might take some time for them to get to the situation and you most likely will need to also message jame about it to follow up on the situation. but they will look into it.
However, if you do what most people do and provoke, insult, put down offensive signage, seal off, or otherwise harass the person doing this to you, then you yourself can lose alot of standing in the situation and reduces the chance that the devs will correct the problem in the way you want.
I nearly fell outta my chair at the Brad McQuaid reference ty for that. Everquest was my favorite MMO back in the day it was brutal though no doubt but some of us actually made pretty good real life cash in that game so it wasnt really a chore to me it was a nice part time job actually lol
This is how I feel about things most of the time. As I myself have mentioned in several different ways over time since I started playing, including in the “What turns you off Boundless” thread, with over 1000 hours, I still feel the same way.
Of all the repetitive tasks, I still enjoy mining the most, even more than building a lot of the time, because it’s 1) simple, 2) accomplishes some necessary task, 3) usually my mining sessions go for 20-40minutes, which is an acceptable time frame, with AoE tools and brews, for me to feel like I achieved or gained something within that time.
But going in that direction, I’m already getting into too much detail, for stuff that I’ve probably already covered with my posts on the “turns you off” thread.
Ultimately, while there has to be some challenge in doing things, the fact remains that a large portion of things to do in Boundless still feel like “chores”, to me and to some others I know.
I’m hoping that farming will alleviate the feeling of some things feeling like chores, and at the same time, I’m also almost equally concerned of it going the other way and actually ending up feeling like there are even more chores than before.
But I do trust and maintain hope that I’ll find it enjoyable, rather than chore-like, but only time will tell.
I mean, beacon fuel is pretty cheap to make with in-game resources. You can just write a note in your calendar (fuel runs out today) and you won’t need Gleam Club.
Sure, you caaaaan do that, buuuut you might have a surprise unforseen emergency one day, something that prevents you from re-fuelling. And not everybody has friends on Boundless, or guildmates, etc.
I can tell you that the only friend I have on Boundless who didn’t left because he/she was fed-up with the game’s mechanic is… someone who’s hard to talk to. If he’s not online, I have basically no way to contact him.
but what gets sayed alot on both the offical and steam forums is then if you quit you become a slave to the game you have to work your life around remebering to log in collect the resource’s and hope that nothing big IRL happens (family emergency’s, sudden events, power outages) or you are doomed and all that work keeping the thing fueled is for nothing.
The reality is the people that leave don’t appreciate the game we have and I am not sure things like this will help and in a way just turn into a bribe that fails in the long run. This is all based on a value system and certain game mechanics that some people enjoy, some people can deal with, and some people just choose to ignore and play other aspects of the game they like.
Ultimately, many people want to play the game they want and not the one that exists. You can’t change people’s values unless they themselves want to change and most people have no interest or the personal responsibility to evaluate their value system. Due to this the game will always bother them because it is at odds against their value system.
Sometime a person just needs to evaluate what they are doing and decide if it is right for them or not. Other times they just need to stop stressing and enjoy and be 100% present with the situation they are faced with. If they don’t then they can never be happy because you can’t solve all the problems and meet everyone’s needs when the base issue is people play games for a variety of reasons.
A person offering a service needs to be aware of this and attempt to please everyone but realize that you cannot. Their goal then is to just focus on pleasing those that can value the game they have and over time see if they can improve and grow that number on the value set and not the bribe ideas.
I think there’s a relevant enough number of people who leave because they want to play some others games, not because they are necessarily done with Boundless forever. And certainly some people leave because they forget to fuel the beacon.
Fair point. I generalized my “leave” definition probably too easily in those that just don’t enjoy things and go away. But for those that aren’t at that level of “leaving” then yes it might help. It really just comes down to the values they have and if where the game aligns and doesn’t on whether you can keep them happy or not.
This is false. Companies everywhere want to get customers back, and if it takes a bribe (sale) to do it, they will. Customers do value things differently, sure, but a great many customers have said, quite vociferously, that this game doesn’t match their expectation of a good value.
Expectations do not always match reality. That is the foundation of the human condition. This gives us the ability to say “no, I want to make things better”. Additionally, do not conflate Values (ie, character) and value (the utility of a product or service to a customer). I don’t know the point you are trying to make, but it appears to be that should customers not match the product, they need to change. Products need to evolve or die, not customers.
This entire paragraph is ludicrous. The product doesn’t match expectations of the customer base. You place the blame on the customers and expect them to stop complaining and enjoy it. What actually happens is they leave, forever, and the product withers and dies.
This is the most galling statement of all. Companies, all over the world, work to target customers. The entire field of marketing is designed to get more people to like the products or services a company creates.
This entire response from you is why we need constant developer communication on a regular basis.
I clarified the “leaving” part of the statement and who I was talking about. Your statement alone pretty much proves my point. They have a value set based on their subjective views of what a “good value” is. The game doesn’t match it and they do not appreciate the value set the developers have around what a “good value” is.
Plus you are not adding “expectations” to the equation which brings in another whole aspect of perceptions, etc.
So if the expectation and the values don’t match the level of appreciation needed to keep the person around isn’t there. Some people are fine with that and keep playing. Some aren’t and leave.
I don’t see that as the “foundation” of the human condition. It might be one component but certainly isn’t. Now if you are saying that people create their own reality and only see their reality then maybe we can go down that path. But otherwise, reality even when thought to be objective can be subjective and based on expectations and perceptions.
Either way you cannot change a person’s value unless they wanted it changed. Of course products “should” evolve if you wish to grow your customer base but they never “need to evolve.” Some products are just fine the way they are. Customers do not need to change either but since they are people it never hurts them to change and learn more about what products align to their value sets and what do not.
No it is not ludicrous - you just aren’t understanding the context. If the person was sold something through a method of fraud or other illegal practice I probably would only blame them for putting themselves in that situation. But, in a normal case I certainly would consider faulting a person that buys something and just complains and takes no personal responsibility for the purchase. It is ludicrous to not hold a person responsible for their actions. If they dislike the product they could easily return it or ask for a refund. If they continue to put themselves in a situation where they do something that bothers them or makes them unhappy then the only problem is them.
None of this has to deal with of course holding a company that sells a product to some level responsibility for marketing and promoting their product in a way that sets appropriate expectations. If they don’t and a customers leave and the product withers and dies then so be it. Maybe next time they can do better by learning how to set expectations of their customers better or design a product that meets a more specific customer value set and need. In other words, trying not to market to a wide range of customers and instead be more specialized.
Each side of the equation in a transaction have 100% of the responsibility of their own actions and decisions. If things are not working, both sides have the right to end the relationship. All a product sale is is another form of relationship and we certainly don’t need any more co-dependent relationships out in the world.
Of course marketing was designed to gain customers just as much as marketing was designed to influence and dupe people into buying products and services to increase incomes. But, I am not talking about marketing here and it is ludicrous to bring that into the equation. The points I make are WAY before the marketing aspect of the product sale part of business. It is about being a mature person and understanding which customers you can and should target and which customers you should not. If you fail to get those points then you really need to stop back and understand the basis of defining a product and service and how to build a conducive model for sales and growth way before you even get to did what I deliver meet the expectations of the customer.
This response from you and the disrespectful comments only reinforce why my other comments on why the developers cannot have a conversation with a large part of the community. They attack - instead of discuss. They assume - instead of trying to understand.
To change things people need to be able to influence and understand the other side not just call the other side ludicrous, clueless, etc… That just is not helpful and does nothing to bring people together or have a conversation that moves things forward.
And yet, somehow, developers all over the world manage to speak openly and honestly to their community.
I categorically disagree with your points. Not only because they don’t hold the developer to any degree of responsibility, but also because they further demonstrate that you don’t understand the product lifecycle to any credible degree to further entertain debating with you.
For anyone else reading this exchange:
Marketing, just like product development, never stops, or you stop getting customers. No business owner wakes up and goes “man, I’m just too rich time to put ourselves out of business!”
Boundless, like every product since the wheel needs to develop, grow and change. Changes are being asked for on the forums, frequently. I encourage everyone to continue to ask and push for frequent communication, quality of life improvements, and new content to make boundless a wonderful game that appeals to everyone.