im worried about Sky.

[Cora]

i want Sky to do well on PC but i dont think once people are able to post reviews it will go well.

how do you point out the issues to people who dont see or refuse to accept that such things are problems and do so without offending them? ...because that isnt my goal. i want Sky here i Want this Studio here. they are 100% not "what our community deserves, but what we need" here. it's like watching innocence walk into a dark alley and i am the one freaking out on their behalf.

it is very clear the devs are passionate and possibly just as adorable as the games they make... and the community is so very wholesome, they are a perfect match for the game as it clearly is a perfect match to that demographic.

but if you are not one of the "invested" oh gosh there are flaws and they are studio enders and i find myself trying to look away as this slow moving train wreck progresses. it is like an old western where the new guy strolls into town and the undertaker is already sizing them up.

How do i even contact a dev to "privately" point out these flaws before the "unfiltered" start speaking their mind? we dont even need honest actors to point out criticism... Steam is rife with people who actively profit off such toxicity and this game is just too dang innocent.

i have to ask myself if i am even further contributing to this toxicity simply by pointing it out? gosh i dont know what to do.

[Auzi]

Originally posted by Cora:

How do i even contact a dev to "privately" point out these flaws before the "unfiltered" start speaking their mind? we dont even need honest actors to point out criticism... Steam is rife with people who actively profit off such toxicity and this game is just too dang innocent.

As someone who's tried dozens of times (since 2018) it's really not possible unless you're a big content creator or something. The best you can do is submit detailed feedback here and on discord.

Originally posted by Cora:

i have to ask myself if i am even further contributing to this toxicity simply by pointing it out? gosh i dont know what to do.

No you aren't, and anyone who throws a fit because you dare to point out the big flaws in sky are the toxic ones. Sky is pretty wholesome but the fan base has a bad case of toxic positivist, anything negative you say towards sky can be taken very seriously unfortunately. Think Kpop stans, it's just like that but not as severe.

[Cora]

well for me at least. i find it unusual that a game attempting to launch on Steam... has banned the use of the word "Steam" in the chat filter which is also different from the mobile and console censored word lists. why are they threatened by the platform they are attempting to join?

...also Steam wasnt always banned... you could say it for about a month after the demo opened up. ...so they just did that. why? well the problems with the game are why. Sky doesnt need to compete on Mobile and Console. how many games would you trust your kids with on mobile? i think Sky and maybe Minecraft so long as they dont play on servers. there was also this game called Windward but that was pretty much it...

here on Steam... the ecosystem of games is just too alluring to players with access to a system that doesn't box it's users into exclusive boundaries. the trade-off is Steam's market has people with way more money. so yeah... bring Sky to Steam. but the bugs, bad server connection, mundane even absent story and repetitive content... time gated content.... major FOMO and brainwashing business techniques SUPER EXPENSIVE and limited FOMO cash shop... it piles on quick.

1/2/2024 Edit: friend of mine just logged in and "Steam" & "Discord" are no longer censored... but also apparently the F-word. yep they just deleted the censored word file and didnt replace it with a new one yet.

[Auzi]

The chat filter has always been ridiculous in sky, even my name is banned I guess cuz it has "uzi" in it but idk. On PC it's probably best to just use discord or steam chat.

[Cora]

Originally posted by Auzi(Loki):

The chat filter has always been ridiculous in sky, even my name is banned I guess cuz it has "uzi" in it but idk. On PC it's probably best to just use discord or steam chat.

that is why those are blocked terms and weren't until about a month after the demo launched. heck you cant even give someone your friend code now.

[Demon Alien]

Originally posted by Cora:

i want Sky to do well on PC but i dont think once people are able to post reviews it will go well.

how do you point out the issues to people who dont see or refuse to accept that such things are problems and do so without offending them? ...because that isnt my goal. i want Sky here i Want this Studio here. they are 100% not "what our community deserves, but what we need" here. it's like watching innocence walk into a dark alley and i am the one freaking out on their behalf.

it is very clear the devs are passionate and possibly just as adorable as the games they make... and the community is so very wholesome, they are a perfect match for the game as it clearly is a perfect match to that demographic.

but if you are not one of the "invested" oh gosh there are flaws and they are studio enders and i find myself trying to look away as this slow moving train wreck progresses. it is like an old western where the new guy strolls into town and the undertaker is already sizing them up.

How do i even contact a dev to "privately" point out these flaws before the "unfiltered" start speaking their mind? we dont even need honest actors to point out criticism... Steam is rife with people who actively profit off such toxicity and this game is just too dang innocent.

i have to ask myself if i am even further contributing to this toxicity simply by pointing it out? gosh i dont know what to do.

Most of humanity is no longer capable of taking criticism, more so when it targets something they have created allegiance to. I consider it a psychological extension of the MAGA phenomenon "im always right and im never wrong and everyone else is wrong". when for me personally, the reality seems to be "who frickin knows". Also when it comes to bugs and flaws in games, bugs are more universally accepted as things that need to be removed, but "flaws" are much broader in scope, and can be things like "how" things are done, what one person likes another might not. A lot of old final fantasy XI online players HATE modern final fantasy XI, But i wouldn't be playing ffxi if it weren't for the quality of life features, what they see as flaws, i see as fixes to a deeply flawed game. And I STILL have issues with it. Such as, the auction house not having a search feature, and limit break 3/genkai 3 quest is utterly atrociously annoying in the modern age. And also insulting because every limit break quest after this is completely trivial by comparison. But not everyone is going to see it my way. And clearly the devs don't see it my way. because they could easily make it less frustrating and obnoxious. But they have never done so. Despite making lots of other things less annoying and stupid.

[Cora]

Update: the censorship i posted about has been removed. now you can even say the F-word according to the friend of mine who convinced me to login today. i think some censored words should still be censored... lol i hope they can find a happy solution but yeah apparently you can say Steam & Discord now at least... but prolly should still have limited on F-bombs.

seriously these devs are adorable. way too good-natured for Steam but i welcome Sky to our ecosystem. now if they can just fix the mouse inputs for musical instruments...

seriously i am laughing so hard right now. these Dev are 100% just as wholesome as the game's they make.

[Auzi]

Originally posted by Cora:

Update: the censorship i posted about has been removed. now you can even say the F-word according to the friend of mine who convinced me to login today. i think some censored words should still be censored... lol i hope they can find a happy solution but yeah apparently you can say Steam & Discord now at least... but prolly should still have limited on F-bombs.

seriously these devs are adorable. way too good-natured for Steam but i welcome Sky to our ecosystem. now if they can just fix the mouse inputs for musical instruments...

seriously i am laughing so hard right now. these Dev are 100% just as wholesome as the game's they make.

just a FYI friend chats and public chats (benches, etc) have different levels of censorship

[Cora]

Originally posted by Auzi(Loki):

Originally posted by Cora:

Update: the censorship i posted about has been removed. now you can even say the F-word according to the friend of mine who convinced me to login today. i think some censored words should still be censored... lol i hope they can find a happy solution but yeah apparently you can say Steam & Discord now at least... but prolly should still have limited on F-bombs.

seriously these devs are adorable. way too good-natured for Steam but i welcome Sky to our ecosystem. now if they can just fix the mouse inputs for musical instruments...

seriously i am laughing so hard right now. these Dev are 100% just as wholesome as the game's they make.

just a FYI friend chats and public chats (benches, etc) have different levels of censorship

yes they are all in their own censorship lists. Mobile and Console have different censored words too. it's just how the game developed over time as new features were added.

...have you ever played any of the online mmo games by the Korean developer Nexon? well "swap" is censored in the north american published games and i dont really understand why, but it can cause issues when trying to explain to people how to "swap" weapon and armor sets... i think words just lose meaning and maybe it was a prank and it just has never been corrected in the many many many years Maplestory has been around lol.

my only issue with Sky having Steam in the censored word list was it made things awkward when trying to add them to friends in Steam so i could be notified when they were online.

[Bijiooo]

I haven't seen much of Sky because I can't get too far into it without rage-quitting in frustration at how far from FLOWER or the truly excellent JOURNEY it is.

everything is explained, every mechanic posted -- it's like someone saw 'Journey' and said "Yeah, that's cool, but does it have to be so quiet? Why isn't anything being explained? How will people know what to do?"

it's such a bizarre, disappointing start for a game that's SO SIMILAR to 'Journey' in feel and visuals, but not in elegance.

Journey is just about as close to perfect as it gets for an Indie game. the first time you start that thing was one of the all-time moments for me. just "Go. Start walking."

anyway. all the best to the developer, maybe Sky gets amazing. I may never know. my loss, I suppose.

[Auzi]

Originally posted by Bijiooo:

I haven't seen much of Sky because I can't get too far into it without rage-quitting in frustration at how far from FLOWER or the truly excellent JOURNEY it is.

everything is explained, every mechanic posted -- it's like someone saw 'Journey' and said "Yeah, that's cool, but does it have to be so quiet? Why isn't anything being explained? How will people know what to do?"

it's such a bizarre, disappointing start for a game that's SO SIMILAR to 'Journey' in feel and visuals, but not in elegance.

Journey is just about as close to perfect as it gets for an Indie game. the first time you start that thing was one of the all-time moments for me. just "Go. Start walking."

anyway. all the best to the developer, maybe Sky gets amazing. I may never know. my loss, I suppose.

This entire comment confuses me and I don't have the energy to respond to it properly but:
If you can't see the beauty in Sky then maybe it isn't for you, it's not a big deal.
I suggest if you're expecting an exprience to TGCs other games, and that's not working how you expect it to, so you're rage quitting in Sky, of all games??, maybe you need to focus on other issues outside of gaming.
I can understand rage quitting in a competitive game, or a PvP game, but a co-op/pve/story/social/wholesome game like Sky?
How?

[Seeker of Knowledge]

I wish this wasn't a live service game

[Cora]

Originally posted by Seeker of Knowledge:

I wish this wasn't a live service game

live service games arent bad on their own. it depends on the developer and their susceptibility to the corrupting influence of the potential money they can bring in. This leads to it being pretty rare to find a live service game that doesn't use underhanded techniques to keep the money coming in. PC players have more investment in their access to the games they play and are more fickle, so a developer who treads down this lane needs to be careful to avoid the pitfalls. They may have gotten away with it on Mobile or Console... but that isn't necessarily the same on PC.

Heck... Steam has been a major shaker and mover in the games industry for several reasons but in particular, i feel that is because of the level of communication offered between the consumer and the developer. You simply dont get that on mobile or console and if Steam continues to open up access to these markets we may see some of the predatory mechanics the developers get away with right now, begin to become as "Old Hat" and taboo as they are on PC.

[Wherethelightrots]

Originally posted by Cora:

i want Sky to do well on PC but i dont think once people are able to post reviews it will go well.

how do you point out the issues to people who dont see or refuse to accept that such things are problems and do so without offending them? ...because that isnt my goal. i want Sky here i Want this Studio here. they are 100% not "what our community deserves, but what we need" here. it's like watching innocence walk into a dark alley and i am the one freaking out on their behalf.

it is very clear the devs are passionate and possibly just as adorable as the games they make... and the community is so very wholesome, they are a perfect match for the game as it clearly is a perfect match to that demographic.

but if you are not one of the "invested" oh gosh there are flaws and they are studio enders and i find myself trying to look away as this slow moving train wreck progresses. it is like an old western where the new guy strolls into town and the undertaker is already sizing them up.

How do i even contact a dev to "privately" point out these flaws before the "unfiltered" start speaking their mind? we dont even need honest actors to point out criticism... Steam is rife with people who actively profit off such toxicity and this game is just too dang innocent.

i have to ask myself if i am even further contributing to this toxicity simply by pointing it out? gosh i dont know what to do.

If there's a game you cannot critique because it would be seen as "toxic" is a red flag ngl. I ve been playing sky since release and I've been increasingly disillusioned with it, especially after aviary season where they casually retconned massive peices of lore.

I don't think they really care, or maybe it's just the CEO who doesn't care but the increasing prices, the candle grind as well as how they keep saying they want sky to be a relaxing game but keep implementing changes that are the opposite of it (killing afk grind spots for example) makes me think they just....don't care.

I always found it silly when someone wanted to discreted these criticisms by saying you don't have to buy IAP or grind for candles for cosmetics when sky is first and foremost a social game where self expression is important. Like collecting cosmetics IS the content not some side thing so so what they're doing is predatory.

This game really isn't innocent, it hurts my heart to see it this way, to see how the the devs don't listen to the players, don't fix long time bugs , don't lower prices for constilations (250 ascended candles for a mask is ♥♥♥♥♥♥), TS aswell as IAP and don't respect players enough to even keep their lore and themeing consistent.

Man I loved this game but I feel like it has become the very thing they tried so hard to avoid. Everytime I get on now it feels like they're reaching into my wallet while feeding me half baked content.

If it gets torn apart on steam then they have no one to blame but themselves.

[GreenTrickster]

Yeah, the level of FOMO is really gross and, as a recovering FF14 addict who's using this game as a way to prevent a relapse, the pricing system for everything, ESPECIALLY the cash shop, is ridiculous. FF14 is pretty notorious for having a pricey cash shop, but even they don't charge $5-$20 USD for a single, purely cosmetic item. Let's not even get into the ridiculous number of candles and hearts you need to spend for in-game items, and the completely arbitrary nature of what items cost compared to one another. Like, there's a genuinely nice, relaxing little game with a great atmosphere mixed in with all the FOMO and push to spend money, and I've been having a lot of fun with i, but unless there are some major changes in the things I described, I'll be actively discouraging other people from joining me here. :/

[Auzi]

Originally posted by GreenTrickster:

Yeah, the level of FOMO is really gross and, as a recovering FF14 addict who's using this game as a way to prevent a relapse, the pricing system for everything, ESPECIALLY the cash shop, is ridiculous. FF14 is pretty notorious for having a pricey cash shop, but even they don't charge $5-$20 USD for a single, purely cosmetic item. Let's not even get into the ridiculous number of candles and hearts you need to spend for in-game items, and the completely arbitrary nature of what items cost compared to one another. Like, there's a genuinely nice, relaxing little game with a great atmosphere mixed in with all the FOMO and push to spend money, and I've been having a lot of fun with i, but unless there are some major changes in the things I described, I'll be actively discouraging other people from joining me here. :/

I feel this. Tbh im fine with the grind, it pales in comparison to other games. The price of IAPs and all that stuff tho... it's absolutely absurd for a game with such little content and features like Sky. I'm not saying sky as a whole doesn't have much content.. it does. The thing is sky is a live service MMO and the prices don't make any sense imo. There's also no way to get IAP items without spending $$$ or begging for gifts.

I guess Warframe has spoiled me.