Matthew Allen
Former 22Cans staff
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Post by Matthew Allen on Jul 21, 2014 16:52:08 GMT
Realized I hadn't posted this over here yet so wanted to make sure you guys saw it. Thanks!
As many of you already know, the team has been working hard on a fairly substantial content update for Godus to be released later this month. This update will primarily affect the way that Settlements are handled in the game (which you can read about here) but we're even trying to include some extra content beyond just that. As it sometimes goes in the unpredictable world of game development, some of these things we have time to implement and some of them we don't. One item that we've talked about here and there is a Collection Shrine which will assist with your belief gathering, so in the spirit of transparency and keeping everyone up to speed on development changes I wanted to let you know that the Collection Shrines will, sadly, not be finished in time for the Settlement revamp later this month. However, we're still going to be adding it into the game. It just wasn't ready from a technical standpoint in time for this update but it will be making an appearance in a future update for sure. Plus, it gives us a chance to pass on the community’s feedback about the shrine to the design team ahead of its implementation in a subsequent update. Until that happens, I do genuinely think you'll still be incredibly pleased with the progress you'll see in the Settlement revamp. It's something you won't have to take our word for either as the revamp will be getting pushed out in around a couple of weeks now. Thanks again for your patience while we're hunkering down and working on this rather hefty content update. See you around the forums! |
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Lord Ba'al
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Jul 21, 2014 17:11:53 GMT
Plus, it gives us a chance to pass on the community’s feedback about the shrine to the design team ahead of its implementation in a subsequent update. I love the way you took part of my suggestion for an iterative and more community involved design process and used it to turn a negative into a positive.  |
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Matthew Allen
Former 22Cans staff
Full Time Rock Star
Posts: 295
Pledge level: Elemental
Steam: MrMatthewAllen
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Post by Matthew Allen on Jul 21, 2014 17:37:13 GMT
Plus, it gives us a chance to pass on the community’s feedback about the shrine to the design team ahead of its implementation in a subsequent update. I love the way you took part of my suggestion for an iterative and more community involved design process and used it to turn a negative into a positive. Especially as it's true.  We can't catch everything beforehand, and as a team we're trying to get better at this, but it's an area that we're being quite mindful of for sure. |
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Post by Gmr Leon on Jul 21, 2014 19:38:13 GMT
I take it this is part of why we're seeing some additional rebalancing before this next update rolls out then? Since you weren't able to alleviate the tedium of belief gathering with this, you're trying to do so through what was hopefully something already planned, which is adjust the overall amounts needed for sculpting/powers and collected from gathering?
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Matthew Allen
Former 22Cans staff
Full Time Rock Star
Posts: 295
Pledge level: Elemental
Steam: MrMatthewAllen
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Post by Matthew Allen on Jul 22, 2014 17:31:12 GMT
I take it this is part of why we're seeing some additional rebalancing before this next update rolls out then? Since you weren't able to alleviate the tedium of belief gathering with this, you're trying to do so through what was hopefully something already planned, which is adjust the overall amounts needed for sculpting/powers and collected from gathering? Yes and no. Balancing has really been in the spotlight for the team lately, especially as it applies to PC. We've actually got a few PC exclusive bits and bobs that will really help balance things out overall I feel. More info on that later though! |
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Post by distraction on Jul 22, 2014 18:51:57 GMT
I take it this is part of why we're seeing some additional rebalancing before this next update rolls out then? Since you weren't able to alleviate the tedium of belief gathering with this, you're trying to do so through what was hopefully something already planned, which is adjust the overall amounts needed for sculpting/powers and collected from gathering? Yes and no. Balancing has really been in the spotlight for the team lately, especially as it applies to PC. We've actually got a few PC exclusive bits and bobs that will really help balance things out overall I feel. More info on that later though! Ah yes...soon TM...we've been hearing that for what, almost a year now? |
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Matthew Allen
Former 22Cans staff
Full Time Rock Star
Posts: 295
Pledge level: Elemental
Steam: MrMatthewAllen
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Post by Matthew Allen on Jul 22, 2014 22:13:01 GMT
Yes and no. Balancing has really been in the spotlight for the team lately, especially as it applies to PC. We've actually got a few PC exclusive bits and bobs that will really help balance things out overall I feel. More info on that later though! Ah yes...soon TM...we've been hearing that for what, almost a year now? Depends on what we're talking about, really. Some things that we've said 'soon' on have seen the light of day. Some are still in the pipeline with varying degrees of "Yeah, it really is soon." to "Dear gawd, this is taking longer than we anticipated.". I can appreciate the sentiment that you're cautious about putting too much stock in 'soon' (because I totally get that such wording can be more vague than even I'd like), but in most cases George or I try to be pretty transparent about anything that gets delayed or changed (such as this thread we're posting in here or even this thread). |
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Post by greay on Jul 23, 2014 0:21:16 GMT
Ah yes...soon TM...we've been hearing that for what, almost a year now? Depends on what we're talking about, really. Some things that we've said 'soon' on have seen the light of day. Some are still in the pipeline with varying degrees of "Yeah, it really is soon." to "Dear gawd, this is taking longer than we anticipated.". I can appreciate the sentiment that you're cautious about putting too much stock in 'soon' (because I totally get that such wording can be more vague than even I'd like), but in most cases George or I try to be pretty transparent about anything that gets delayed or changed (such as this thread we're posting in here or even this thread). I don't think it's so much the "soon™" on its own, but the repeated combination of "vague proclamation" + "vague timeframe". Both are frustrating on their own, but together? I mean, really – look at what he was responding to: We've actually got a few PC exclusive bits and bobs that will really help balance things out overall I feel. More info on that later though! - Vague proclamation? Check. I do understand the reluctance to talk about specifics when work is in-progress because things might change, but come on. There's not even a scrap of meat on that bone. - Vague timeframe? Check. "In a week or two" would be vague, but at least we'd have something to go on. We'd have a teaser of information – nothing to go on, really, but maybe enough to get interested, and a time to look forward to finding out more. But "later" could mean later today, later this month, later this year... |
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Matthew Allen
Former 22Cans staff
Full Time Rock Star
Posts: 295
Pledge level: Elemental
Steam: MrMatthewAllen
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Post by Matthew Allen on Jul 24, 2014 17:40:03 GMT
Depends on what we're talking about, really. Some things that we've said 'soon' on have seen the light of day. Some are still in the pipeline with varying degrees of "Yeah, it really is soon." to "Dear gawd, this is taking longer than we anticipated.". I can appreciate the sentiment that you're cautious about putting too much stock in 'soon' (because I totally get that such wording can be more vague than even I'd like), but in most cases George or I try to be pretty transparent about anything that gets delayed or changed (such as this thread we're posting in here or even this thread). I don't think it's so much the "soon™" on its own, but the repeated combination of "vague proclamation" + "vague timeframe". Both are frustrating on their own, but together? I mean, really – look at what he was responding to: We've actually got a few PC exclusive bits and bobs that will really help balance things out overall I feel. More info on that later though! - Vague proclamation? Check. I do understand the reluctance to talk about specifics when work is in-progress because things might change, but come on. There's not even a scrap of meat on that bone. - Vague timeframe? Check. "In a week or two" would be vague, but at least we'd have something to go on. We'd have a teaser of information – nothing to go on, really, but maybe enough to get interested, and a time to look forward to finding out more. But "later" could mean later today, later this month, later this year... And I can totally appreciate that sentiment, but it's usually just a case of us conveying the information as it's given to us so that we can relay the most current information to the community. There's no nefarious or careless motives behind being vague other than the fact that we genuinely don't have any more time frame information to offer just yet. We still try to be as accurate and up to date as possible though in regards to the information that we pass on. |
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Post by earlparvisjam on Jul 25, 2014 4:16:19 GMT
And I can totally appreciate that sentiment, but it's usually just a case of us conveying the information as it's given to us so that we can relay the most current information to the community. There's no nefarious or careless motives behind being vague other than the fact that we genuinely don't have any more time frame information to offer just yet. We still try to be as accurate and up to date as possible though in regards to the information that we pass on. At some point, you have to stop and look at what the information is that you're conveying. If it's "we have some really great stuff coming soon" it's not really information. All that tells us is "we have guys still adding lines to the code." If every announcement that isn't coupled with a just released push is that statement, you might be doing nothing more than antagonizing people. We've been hearing cryptic comments and veiled proclamations for months. It was old when Peter and Jack made cryptic anouncements with smirks and sidelong glances in their videos. It was tired when you guys teased the last settlements revamp (which was supposed to justify our being patience). It is exhausted now that we've been hearing about unspecified pc-centric features. Hint: Cosmetic changes aren't what people are looking for when we're talking about pc vs mobile differences. Bolting on tailpipes isn't going to convince anyone that a bicycle is actually a motorcycle, no matter how much chrome they have. |
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Post by nerdyvonnerdling on Jul 25, 2014 13:08:23 GMT
Squad nails early access with Kerbal Space Program in this regard - they're great at being transparent and communicating with their players. The way they just handled their latest update is like night and day to the 22Cans experience.
I really can't think of a single time that being vague and obtuse provided any benefit to 22Cans at all.
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Post by Deth on Jul 25, 2014 13:32:28 GMT
War for the Overworld is another good one. Every Wednesday they put out a post on what they are working on and if they are not working on something they tell us why. Normally it is what minion or enemy they are currently working on or are reworking on from earlier feed back.
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Post by rubgish on Jul 26, 2014 14:11:47 GMT
Question for this: The settlement revamp (and presumably some other changes that will come along with it too) sound potentially pretty major, are we looking at needing to restart out homeworld?
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Post by Danjal on Jul 26, 2014 14:43:48 GMT
Question for this: The settlement revamp (and presumably some other changes that will come along with it too) sound potentially pretty major, are we looking at needing to restart out homeworld? Inevitably, since you're looking at a totally different mechanic for settlements and I doubt they'll be able to make it so existing settlements can be "converted". I'll also second the statements above comparing to other Early Access and crowdfunded titles handling information distibution and management much better. I've said it before and I'll say it again - 22cans can learn a LOT by looking at those guys rather than trying to emulate Peter's corporate business history with a segmented company approach. Less "Oh no, we need to protect our proprietary information!" and more "We're trying to make an awesome game with the involvement of our invested community." |
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Post by hardly on Jul 26, 2014 22:02:10 GMT
Question for this: The settlement revamp (and presumably some other changes that will come along with it too) sound potentially pretty major, are we looking at needing to restart out homeworld? The more important question is will mobile players have to restart? I know they are F2P scum but they paid for their progress and I'm sure they'll be pissed off if they lose that progress. |
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Post by rubgish on Jul 26, 2014 22:18:16 GMT
Why are you calling mobile gamers F2P scum? They're just people playing games, no need to be an asshole towards them.
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Jul 26, 2014 22:35:39 GMT
I think that might come from the fact that if the mobile players weren't around we'd have had a year and a half of pure PC development and thus likely a much better game.
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Post by rubgish on Jul 26, 2014 23:05:10 GMT
Sure that's true Ba'al, but that's on 22cans shoulders, not the people playing godus.
In general too, Godus mobile v PC dev time is also a question that's been asked a bunch of times before, and while it deserves to be asked, there are a bunch of other questions we can ask too, which don't deserve to be buried under people re-hashing the same question over and over again and might actually get us some interesting answers.
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Post by 13thGeneral on Jul 26, 2014 23:59:24 GMT
Sure that's true Ba'al, but that's on 22cans shoulders, not the people playing godus. In general too, Godus mobile v PC dev time is also a question that's been asked a bunch of times before, and while it deserves to be asked, there are a bunch of other questions we can ask too, which don't deserve to be buried under people re-hashing the same question over and over again and might actually get us some interesting answers. Such as? And I'm not questionsing you, because I agree, but you made a statement and eluded to examples but then didn't elaborate. ;P |
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Jul 27, 2014 0:47:25 GMT
Sure that's true Ba'al, but that's on 22cans shoulders, not the people playing godus. In general too, Godus mobile v PC dev time is also a question that's been asked a bunch of times before, and while it deserves to be asked, there are a bunch of other questions we can ask too, which don't deserve to be buried under people re-hashing the same question over and over again and might actually get us some interesting answers. We were already in agreement, hence my liking of your post. |
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We can't catch everything beforehand, and as a team we're trying to get better at this, but it's an area that we're being quite mindful of for sure.
