DEV BLOG Leaving Alpha & Early Access: some clarifications. :)

Discussion in 'News & Announcements' started by Hummel-o-War, Jul 22, 2020.

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  1. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    I thought it was PvPers !?

    Jokes apart, all "groups" got their share of attention, but since the focus can't be simultaneously on more than 2 or 3 "big" features per version, some groups felt forgotten while others were receiving their toys.

    By the way, negative reviews for v 1.0 have already started coming in, while we're not even in August! Talk about whiners... Fortunately the ratings stay the same : very positive.
     
    #101
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  2. Israel

    Israel Commander

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    You call them whiners i call them realists. I hope no bootlikers review the game sense their part of the reason why Eleon has slaked on it. The performance of this game has gotten worse and not better over the years, and they have changed the minimum performance consumption of ram from 8gb to 10gb in just the last 2 alphas; i hope thats not a trend but it looks that way.

    There is a post i will share below of a quote that summarizes what Eleon should have done for empryion but didn't. They focused to much on adding cosmetics and quantity over quality, and now the chickens have come home to roost. They where warned many many times by many different players but no.

    Instead of focusing on the core of the game like class structures and subclasses, and territorial conquest that is fun, they focused again on cosmetics and quantity rather then quality. The quote below says organize the great, then organize the small. And so following this general rule of logic and nature, whats most important is not cosmetics but the inside of the core game and its foundation which is class structure and territorial conquest foundation that gives a purpose and guide on what to do in the game.

    If they had focused on what is most important as a foundational structure for the game instead of what every little thing an individual commentator wants to be added they would have been in a much better shape right now, maybe they could have even been the best game of this generation but no. They still have a chance if they reverse some of the changes and focus on class structure foundation and a territorial conquest structure foundation for the game.

    [​IMG]
     
    #102
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  3. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    On the Store page, I chose negative review only, from most recent to oldest. The pages refreshes and shows 20 "negative" reviews, with a "more" button at the bottom.

    Now bear in mind that most reviews don't mention specific version number (when game was bought vs when it was started vs when it was reviewed) nor do they specify hardware used, type of server for multiplayer, etc.

    Also bear in mind that some AAA titles sell for over 50$ and only give players between 20 and 40 hours of playtime, with exceptions on both end of the spectrum.

    These 3 things are important to keep in mind, IMO.

    Now on the 20 reviews shown with the mnentioned "negative- recent" filter, here are 10 of these reviews - that's half of them :

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    456 hours played

    Nice.... each small update destroy you save game... no point to play....
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    811 hours played

    Going for 1.0?

    The smell of Money and an unpolished Game!
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    121 hours played

    It is ridiculous to talk about taking the game to 1.0 in it's current state. You should be ashamed for stealing these people's money.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    6 hours played

    Game is fun, but the intro missions are broken (and apparently have been for quite a while). Like, to the point that they let you auto complete objectives from the PDA. Hard pass until mission triggers actually work properly
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    182 hours played

    The game has some great free building elements.

    But that's it.

    The graphics, the controls, the animations, the engine, the game play. All suffer.
    Its not worth supporting.

    Just another Space SIM selling an idea that will never be realised.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    17 hours played

    DO NOT BUY UNTILL THEY SORT OUT THE FACT YOU CANT GET INTO SPACE WITHOUT AN INTERNAL ERROR AND IM RUNNING A GOODISH COMPUTER WITH GOODISH SPECS 1660 GTX WITH RAZEN 5. UNPLAYABLE AS 23/07/2020 I WILL UPDATE THIS REVIEW WHEN PROBLEM IS FIXED
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2 hours played

    Game so bad, it uninstalled itself and requested for refund
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2 hours played

    Game so bad. My cat died
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    42 hours played

    This game is even longer in Alpha Stage than DayZ was back in the day. Its fun to build for a few hours and maybe go to space or another planet for the first time.. after that.. the game has no content or goal whatsoever in is like a senseless minecraft grinder without purpose or goals. And after soo many years I doubt that this game will ever get finished. Just stay away from it
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    o.5 hour played

    If you play in 3rd person you need to wait for them to remove the sway effect. I normally play in 3rd person, but the game adds a sway like motion to the cursor and only in 3rd person. If the DEVS are reading this please allow people to disable this or just turn it off completely. I will wait for the next update, but if this isn't corrected I will be returning the game purchase.

    I would hold off buying this game if you play in 3rd person, and or are sensitive to motion
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

    602 hours played

    wipes on official EU server, just built house with hard earned mats and then wipe. bah surprise
    avoid at all costs
    its half finished game with boring gameplay
    with 0 PVP balance
    ------------------------------------------------------------------

    These reviews don't hit me as "the game is really not worth buying, even half priced", they tell me half of the reviewers here are either whiners, entitled, hypocrits or just plain dumb.


    .
     
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    Last edited: Jul 28, 2020
  4. Israel

    Israel Commander

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    Almost all of them look legitimate. I have heard similar legitimate complaints about the game countless times throughout the years, and many from veterans who have played this game longer then i have and i have almost 4000 hours in the game.

    I say this with love in my heart for the truth and for you, Kass, that instead of acting like a developer apologist you as a customer of their product should hold them more accountable for what you have been sold. And also to look at these reviews with a more critical, calm, and open minded approach to how the impact this game has had on new players coming into this game let alone to many old veterans of this game who have left.

    If this is what new players are experiencing and which i have experienced myself having 4k hours in this game then somethings wrong with the game and should be addressed promptly rather then sugarcoated away by making constant excuses for the developers. This doesn't help developers make a better game, this makes them more complacent that if they mess up or make a bad decision that there will always be someone there who will sugarcoat their bad decisions away. Lets not be enablers of bad actions, Kass.
     
    #104
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  5. Israel

    Israel Commander

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  6. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    Only problem I have with this reasoning is that there are worse critics in the positive reviews, and yet these players recommend the game.

    Only suggesting impending doom for going to version 1.0 is not helping to make the game better either. I signed in to Early Access, and in my thousands of posts I made many critics about the game, but I also try to be fair. When sorting games under 12$ at the Steam Store when there's a sale and Empyrion is in there, it can hold its place without shame. I would just not buy another Early Access game now, but I don't regret buying Empyrion at all.

    If I was to write a review, I would not be an hypocrit, I would tell what defaults I see, what is lacking, but also how easily this game grabs the player for a very cool first run. And most important : lots of replay value, and extensive moddability. But I would just tell the truth, not that the game is riddled with bugs and unplayable and my saves get scrapped and whatnot. Those things happen, and maybe these players also have problems in perfect games. This only makes Steam reviews even less reliable.
     
    #106
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  7. yataro79

    yataro79 Lieutenant

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    Who would've thought that? Why wait for actual results? No, rather base reviews on assumptions and expectations. That is what I read around here too, at least between the lines. People are already dissapointed because of things that might or might not happen in the future.
     
    #107
  8. sulferon

    sulferon Lieutenant

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    I think the big difference is who played the game how much. I - have been playing since early alpha, and I would recommend this game. I would put positive ratings, write positive reviews.
    But at the same time, if soberly evaluated... If I were a new player, my recommendation would probably be negative.
     
    #108
  9. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    No game can expect zero negative review. But from zero to review hell, there's quite a margin. Empyrion appeals to players who like to build and who like space themed games. I would put "survival" further in the title to avoid the crazy crowd that lives inside a game and sees "realism" in avatars walking on textured triangles. They are like the infestation in Halo, roaming from game to game, never satisfied that the game can't replace their real life completely...

    Even the best space opera with full motion capture animations and state of the art rendering is still far from "realism". Better than last year, but not there yet. Even with these, players complain.

    The Witcher 3 had many negative reviews (more than 1 !!). Game of the year, hundreds of awards... Nope. Geralt lacks moves. Yennefer is too stereotyped. Trees don't run. We can't kill a guard, but we kill dragons. Stupid moronic game.

    Did anyone notice that when we cut a tree in Empyrion, it just goes "poof" and a pile of logs falls down (through the terrain usually) ? This is not realistic. Fix your game Eleon, you will get negative reviews.

    I also noticed that when we open a container, we don't actually see the player's arm moving, and we can't see inside the container. WTF ? And you're going to v 1.0 with this ?
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    They stole my money... and I loved it ! Am I sick ?
     
    #109
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  10. yataro79

    yataro79 Lieutenant

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    That's an important point. But as someone mentioned before: There are probably people out there -not everyone- who are able to distinguish between a game that has been rushed to release to make a quick dime and a game with a commited team and ambitions that just has been released a couple of months too early. The release history in the news tab is public for everyone and should give interested people a hint of what they're investing in.
    There are people here constantly complaining -for years! They don't move on! Poor them. I love the game, even though there are parts that I hate. And those people who say they hate the game now after 3000 hours of gameplay...I say, let them go. They had their share.
     
    #110
  11. Mirosya

    Mirosya Commander

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    As far as I understand the developers, apart from changing the version number and the word "release", nothing will change in the current development process. The game, as it was not yet completed, will remain at least for the next year. So from my point of view, after all the discussions over the past week, the best thing to do is to simply ignore the upcoming August 5th "release" emotionally. Do we know the game isn't finished yet? We know. Do the developers know about this? They know. Do you want them to make version 1.0? Let them do it. New content coming soon with version 1.0? Will be.
    Everything is wonderful :) We are waiting for new content.
     
    #111
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  12. sulferon

    sulferon Lieutenant

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    Seriously? It seemed to me that any mechanics should be criticized because they are incomplete or inconvenient, not because they are "not realistic enough". Additional animation like scratching your ass is a nice bonus, not "realism". We are talking about a game in which we just have to "close our eyes" to the fact that it is essentially a bunch of pixels on the screen, and let our imagination run wild. The critics you describe are obviously not trying to play games because they don't have any imagination.
     
    #112
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  13. Israel

    Israel Commander

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    This is to camper just how bad the performance and optimization of Empyrion has gotten over the years. In the last Alpha or two they have increased the minimum requirements to play the game from 8 GB of RAM to 10 GB of RAM. This is not a good sign of optimization and it looks like a trend in the opposite direction.

    When Empyrion first came out in august 5th of 2015 the minimum requirements were 4 GB of RAM. In 2020 and just a few months ago it was 8 GB of RAM, and now in the present its 10 GB of RAM. This game has not been optimized but made harder to play for players. And please don't give me the developer apologist excuse that its not their fault because the imaginary dragon made them do it!.. When games that are much older or newer then Empyrion have maintained a better optimization level and graphic, and have stayed within the 8 GB or less of RAM throughout the years. And proof you ask? Just look below.

    Empyroin when it first came out in August 5, 2015: Memory: 4 GB of RAM requirement.
    https://steamcommunity.com/app/383120/discussions/0/535152511368668544/

    Empyroin in 2020 in one or two alphas ago: Memory: 8 GB of RAM requirement.
    https://www.pcgamebenchmark.com/empyrion-galactic-survival-system-requirements

    Empyroin in 2020 at present alpha stage: Memory: 10 GB of RAM requirement.
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/383120/Empyrion__Galactic_Survival/

    Here are other games that are older and newer then Empryion still under 8 GB of RAM:

    No Man's Sky: Initial release date: August 9, 2016, at present in 2020 its at 8 GB of RAM requirement. https://store.steampowered.com/app/275850/No_Mans_Sky/

    The universe of No Man's Sky comprises 255 unique galaxies. In turn, these are comprised of: 3 to 4 billion regions. each of which contain more than 122 and up to roughly 550 star systems. https://nomanssky.gamepedia.com/Galaxy

    Elite Dangerous: Initial release date: December 16, 2014, at present in 2020 its at 6 GB of RAM requirement. https://store.steampowered.com/app/359320/Elite_Dangerous/

    Elite Dangerous has a vast 1:1 scale simulation of the Milky Way galaxy based on real scientific principles, current scientific data and theories. It includes around 400 billion star systems. The galaxy is modeled on current galactic charts. Planets and moons rotate and orbit with 1:1 scale in real-time thus constantly changing a system's environment. There are 42 Galactic Regions.

    Star Conflict: Initial release date: July 24, 2012, at present in 2020 its at 6 GB of RAM requirement.
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/212070/Star_Conflict/

    Space Engineers: Initial release date: October 23, 2013, at present in 2020 its at 8 GB of RAM requirement.
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/244850/Space_Engineers/

    Star Wars Battlefront II: Initial release date: November 17, 2017, at present 2020 its at 8 GB of RAM requirement.
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/1237950/STAR_WARS_Battlefront_II/

    I can go on and on finding more games like this but i won't; i proved my point.

     
    #113
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  14. Germanicus

    Germanicus Rear Admiral

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    As always there are People who cannot resist to compare COMPLETED Games with an unfinished Game that just leaves ALPHA!
    Oh and those Minimum System requirement have been changed with Alpha 12;).
    Before there was no Galaxy with 25.000 Stars.
     
    #114
  15. Israel

    Israel Commander

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    Changed for the worst, yes we know. I'v already showed a multitude of games which makes your argument pointless. It looks like you see this change from 8GB of RAM requirement to 10 GB as progress? If so thats a pretty malignant and self defeating position to have.

     
    #115
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  16. Germanicus

    Germanicus Rear Admiral

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    Is NMS a Voxel Game or on Unitiy Engine?
     
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  17. yataro79

    yataro79 Lieutenant

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    Thank you, that's how I see it too.

    You know you can just buy some and save yourself a l0t of frustration. Or you just quit playing this game which is so bad compared to all the other games you listed. Of course it's a shame that you won't get any refund after at least 3 years of playing.

    Edit: Sorry for the bitter tone but sometimes the complaints become really frustrating to read.
     
    #117
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  18. Israel

    Israel Commander

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    No need to get bitter because someone is calling out the truth of the bad optimization trend of Empyrion. Just accept it and move on. No need for the drama.
     
    #118
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  19. Mirosya

    Mirosya Commander

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    In fact, the game has a deliberate limitation that should save the memory used - this is separation by playfield. He flew out of one playfield - the memory was freed, flew into another - the memory is busy again. And no matter how many galaxies are in the game, you cannot be simultaneously in all 250,000 systems. And the memory occupied in the playfield is the question of optimizing memory use. There is also a natural limitation here - the player's line of sight. And it depends on the developers how to use memory more wisely, what he should see and what not.
    At the moment, with the optimization of memory use, everything is sad.
     
    #119
  20. Spoon

    Spoon Captain

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    I think that most of the frustration comes from people seeing this as a great game and see it's potential but some of the features seem rushed and not thought out properly.
    I've only been playing since alpha 12 and love the game.
     
    #120
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