Why I Stopped Playing Creativerse

[Polopai]

First off, I'm not writing this thread in a tone of hatred, much on the contrary. I'm doing this due to a major concern regarding this game, since I really loved it and I used to play it a lot (I have nearly 100 hours of gameplay, I brought my girlfriend and many friends and subscribers to it, and I even created concept artworks like an Achievements list with icons and a revamped HUD) but now it kinda died for me, and when I talk about it with my friends and girlfriend, we all feel the same thing...

So I'm making this thread to try to explain why it died for us and what made us abandon this game that was once our addiction.

Let's start by comparing this game to Minecraft, since I also used to play a lot of Minecraft and I'm friends with many builders of the top elite building teams out there. Creativerse does have some major advantages compared to Minecraft: there's slopes, vertical slabs, the rotational blocks really are a great feature, the decorational furniture and bushes, flower pots, etc. It's also very easy to play with our friends. However, there aren't that many blocks nor furniture, and if we want more blocks, we have to pay for them (five fricking dollars for 3 blocks). Yes, I know that you can build pretty awesome stuff with what you have and bla-bla-bla, but the concept of selling blocks is just greedy and dirty, no matter if they are only decorational and for aesthetics.

Also, building should have it's own "Creative mode", where you can fly around and have unlimited resources. You could also build in Survival mode, but gathering hundreds and hundreds of blocks and materials so you can build something big tends to get a bit tedious, at least for me. This is where Minecraft does win in terms of construction, since you don't have to spend too much time gathering and breaking blocks.

Now, although the building side of this game is great and very intuitive, and even though you can build some pretty awesome stuff, if you're not too good at it, you'll eventually get bored because once you reach Lumite (which is pretty easy to do, actually), there's not much else to do in the game.

Sure there are crops and pets, but... honestly, I really don't log on just to feed my pets or collect my crops. So, what I'm trying to say is that the game went "public" pretty early and it doesn't have that much content, if you think of it.

The latest updates added some new blocks and food, but once again, that may be interesting as a side feature, but the main feature is still missing. The one feature that makes us go back to Creativerse and play for countless hours straight.

I suggested a galaxies system a long time ago, where players would be able to colonize other worlds and moons, gather resources, raid other players' worlds, set up defenses and work on their characters, get better weapons, enchant them, have their own small spaceships that allow them to travel between worlds and having randomly generated biomes in every world, so that there's always that sense of exploration and so that you know that you'll always find something neat out there.

Also, the game has no structures spawning randomly throughout the map, like dungeons, villages or anything at all. So there's not much that incentivates you to explore once you get your farms settled down and all the teleports and whatnot.

I know that many players might think differently regarding what I'm saying and that new players or even old-school players might still play the game, but at the end of the day, this is just my opinion afterall.

So, what else made me back off from this game? Well, updates and their scarce content.

Honestly, I think that the latest updates aren't even that interesting. They had some new food, a few new decorative blocks, some tweaks here and there and not much else. We want actual relevant content, all those side things that complement our adventure should be added later. We need an actual gameplay experience, some quests, some tasks, NPCs, a leveling system where we can work on our character and upgrade our tools and weapons, more stuff to explore rather than just some biomes and caves that get very repetitive after a while. Also, who needs infinite worlds at all? You don't explore THAT much, it would be a lot better to have a spheric world rather than a flat one.

Another thing that would help the community grow would be modding support and an economy system, where we could create and sell our own blueprints using in-game currency. But that would pretty much end most of the income from the micro-transactions, wouldn't it?

So I know that some devs will read this, most likely David and some moderators. From my point of view, it looks like you realized how big of a mistake it was to make the game just F2P and rely on micro-transactions. I understand you wanted to enlarge the community and the player base, and it's true that it was a good approach because pretty much anyone who has a computer and a Steam account can play the game, alone or with friends, which is awesome, but at the same time, it also made it ephemeral and die quickly.

Lastly, what makes popular games shine is the interaction that exists between players. Apart from playing with your own friends, there's not much to do regarding competition or interaction with other players. There's not a leveling system, not even a character customization, no skills, no weapon upgrades, no magic or enchantments, nothing that incentivates people to play with unknown players. The only interaction that strangers have at the moment is through stupid griefers who join unprotected worlds (that, most of the times, are unprotected due to a bug) and destroy them.

If you want to save this game, just add relevant and FUN content, not boring assets.

Please add these things, don't just "consider adding them", just do it for the sakes of this game's lifespan:
- Offline Mode (trust me, a LOT of people want this)
- Quests and Tasks (at least we have challenges and stuff to do)
- NPCs, villages and randomly generated dungeons with bosses, actual good loot chests, spawners, hordes and hidden/secret recipes
- Leveling/Exp system that allows us to work on our character (invest skill points in either skills or stuff like Strength, Vitality, Mind, Stamina, Agility, etc)
- Allow us to customize and improve our weapons so that the combat is actually fun (it's boring as hell as it is now, sorry)
- Ranged weapons (not the bombing crap, that's also not fun at all - add bows, laser guns, whatever)
- A jetpack or something that allows us to fly, so that we can at least build higher walls without having to stack up and whatnot (also boring)
- Maybe add spells and some magic or enchantments to the game
- The spaceship and the colonies system to incentivate players to defend their worlds and conquer other ones
- Worlds that are randomly generated and have unique biomes and resources
- Factions/guilds so that players can join each other and build their own empire in the galaxy

Also, tell us what you are planning on adding in future updates, don't keep it a secret! I must say I get a bit anxious about what's coming in the next update and then I get disappointed by what has been added and how long it took to add uninteresting stuff to the game. That's why my interest regarding this game is dying, there are no new fun features to try out.

Thanks for reading and please, don't just over-read this thread, actually think about it and consider doing a lot more out of this game.

Cheers.

[Kussin]

Originally posted by Polopai:

So I know that some devs will read this, most likely David and some moderators. From my point of view, it looks like you realized how big of a mistake it was to make the game just F2P and rely on micro-transactions. I understand you wanted to enlarge the community and the player base, and it's true that it was a good approach because pretty much anyone who has a computer and a Steam account can play the game, alone or with friends, which is awesome, but at the same time, it also made it ephemeral and die quickly.



Cheers.

Next to all those nice suggestions wich are already noted many times in the suggestion thread.

May you give me elightment about what you mean with:

"it looks like you realized how big of a mistake it was to make the game just F2P and rely on micro-transactions"
?


May the Galaxie be with you

[Flowsilver]

While I agree with some of your wishes,I gotta say,this isn't Minecraft,which is fine. About the content updates,even tho I'd like them to come faster,I appreciate that the devs actually take time and listen to feedback,rather than creating one update after another which could turn out to be bad,too. Minecraft got popular through mods made by players,the basegame is really boring and I play it too. The devs said they might allow players to mod it later on which I think is a nice idea. All we can do is wait and/or do something else in the meantime. Oh and actually,I think the shop is just fine because bills just don't pay themselves and it's nothing you really need to progress in the game. Have a nice day.

[Kussin]

Originally posted by Flowsilver:

While I agree with some of your wishes,I gotta say,this isn't Minecraft,which is fine. About the content updates,even tho I'd like them to come faster,I appreciate that the devs actually take time and listen to feedback,rather than creating one update after another which could turn out to be bad,too. Minecraft got popular through mods made by players,the basegame is really boring and I play it too. The devs said they might allow players to mod it later on which I think is a nice idea. All we can do is wait and/or do something else in the meantime. Oh and actually,I think the shop is just fine because bills just don't pay themselves and it's nothing you really need to progress in the game. Have a nice day.

1-2 Updates each month is a fair deal and alot faster then many other earlys imo

[Flowsilver]

Yes,you're right about the updates,that doesn't bother me at all. I'm always like "Oh look,there's something new,gotta check it out". That's totally fine and not many games that I played in the past managed to do that.

[Polopai]

Originally posted by stranger:

May you give me elightment about what you mean with:

"it looks like you realized how big of a mistake it was to make the game just F2P and rely on micro-transactions"?

I meant that I think that going F2P wasn't such a big step towards success, as the game is still under developed. Usually, a F2P should be launched when in a solid state, with much to do. This made the servers become glitchy and laggy, created a lot of issues and quickly scattered players due to progress loss, lag and griefers. So, F2P was supposed to be a good thing (and it is), but by going free, a lot of unexpected issues appeared.

Also, the micro-transactions at the store pissed off a lot of people because of the prices and the way the game is being "sold", making more people leave.

So I meant that F2P was supposed to be beneficial but turned out to be a major problem to the game, as it would have been a better play to keep working on more content before releasing the game.

If the game costed 4,99$ or 7,99$ it would have been a better play rather than going F2P.

F2P could have a limited amount of gameplay, but Premium members (that would buy the game) would have access to everything (blocks, multiple works, colonization, etc).

[AvilerED]

Polopai, I feel you speak out of ignorance. Not the intentional kind, where you refuse to accept information that is put in front of you, but the kind where you lack information. We all lack that information. That information is the devs "roadmap" of planned development. Personally, I'm content to be along for the ride, I don't need it all, immediately, which is the impression I get from your post. I apologize if I'm reading something into your words that isn't there. Many of your suggestions are interesting to me, others aren't.

So, devs, I may take a break from CV every once in a while, but I'm not giving up on you. Looking forward to seeing what you make of this game in every aspect, whether it is something I will use or not.

[PlayfulDavid]

Polopai, you’ve raised some valid points. I hear you that it's frustrating to watch us spend time on things you don't are a priority. I definitely appreciate your passion for the game and can tell you ultimately want us to succeed.

I think the real issue is we could do a better job explaining our process. Our engineers are very busy working on high priority items. They’ve been dealing with unexpected server issues, fixing bugs, continuously polishing the game and — most importantly — building larger systems that won't result in immediate features for several updates. All of this takes up a lot of their time.

Many of the features you mention — the exciting stuff like mods, creative mode, NPCs, etc. — are things we absolutely want to explore, but we can’t move as fast as some folks would prefer given the limitations of our team, our internal priorities, and the state of the game (early access, free to play). Meanwhile, our art team usually has more flexibility and the easiest thing for them to work on is new blocks and other craftables, because that doesn’t require engineering support to add.

During early access, we’re going to continue to focus on improving the core game, e.g. polish the user experience, fix bugs, make sure our servers are stable enough to handle an eventual much larger audience, ensure the game adequately teaches new players the basics, improve the social experience of the game and figure out how to best (i.e. fair yet development sustaining) monetize the game.

Once we make more progress on those things, we’ll have more leeway to spend time on more of the cool ideas you guys have suggested.

Also, there’s no need to apologize for taking a break from Creativerse. We’re not going anywhere. Come back when you see an update that looks interesting. It’s all good with us.

[Oorfin]

Originally posted by Polopai:

I meant that I think that going F2P wasn't such a big step towards success, as the game is still under developed.

I don't think that Wargaming with it's WoT has the same opinion.

[Eveaustria]

1. blocks:

You nearly lost me when stating that Creativerse has not "that many blocks nor furniture" while at the same time comparing the game to Minecraft :(

Without taking store-content into consideration Creativerse already has 29 kinds of natural blocks/rocks and 77 cubic crafted blocks, some with 2 different patterns on different sides; plus 7 types of stairs, 16 different types of roofs, 8 types of tables, 6 types of chairs, and other furniture like wall shelf, book shelf, weapon rack, etc. It has 9 types of wood, 10-12 types of leaves, 7 flower-blocks, 3 types of logs and more (slopes, etc.) that can be placed and built with.

Would you kindly compare this to the number of blocks and "furniture" *cough* that Minecraft has?

Considering that Minecraft was released in 2009 and their developers had both a lot of time and money to make it into what it is right now, while Creativerse is a fresh and new game in Early Access, not even released yet?

And then you even complain about additional purely decorative blocks being sold in the store? Yeah, really! How dare Playful ask for money to keep the servers running and being able to continue development? Do you always call it "greedy and dirty" when people ask to be paid for their work? How do you make your living with?

2. creative-mode

So you're suggesting a creative-mode - what an awesome, completely new and fresh idea that nobody before you ever had :) Well, we have learnt that the devolopers themselves are big fans of Minecraft, so it's quite possible that there will be a creative-mode in the future.

But demanding all the work - that such a mode needs - to be finished "right now" is being illusional, and you should know it.

3. went "public" pretty early and doesn't have that much content

Minecraft came out in 2009 as creative-mode ONLY and not much to do. Still it was a hit right away. Creativerse has a ton of features already before being even released.

4. a galaxies system, spaceships, colonize worlds

You might want to play Starbound or wait for No Man's Sky to come out. But making demands of this gigantic dimension for Creativerse which would take a lot of resources, and actually expecting all of that to be coded "pronto" is absurd.

5. "disappointing" updates

Alright, that does it. Now go and write a book of 300 pages and let's see how long you will take. Do it right now! And if you're not done with that next month, I will complain about it. :p

No, you cannot expect great features to be updated to a game every month, because larger features take MANY months to be coded, plus graphics, animations and sound often has to be added too, and so on.

6. quests, leveling system, economy, skills, weapon upgrades, magic, enchantments, factions, etc.

You want to make a sandbox-game like Creativerse into an RPG. That's a completely different genre. Does everyone else playing Creativerse want the same thing? Actually changing the game too much might drive a lot of players away. So you should be careful with demands like that.

Playful itself wants to make the "ultimate sandbox-game", but they never said anything about wanting to create the "ultimate RPG"... And again you don't seem to be aware that implementing such features would take years (!). Just take a look at Minecraft and it's "magic"-system. How long did that take to be implemented?

7. modding support

There are whole threads about this in this forum... and replies that you obviously didn't read. Still you - of course - do expect the devs to read through all your long posts. But if you really cared about such a feature you would have taken a look at these posts and might have learnt about what people with experience have stated about the difficulties to add modding to a game like this one.

You yourself once again seem to have no idea how long it can take to make a game moddable (and safe from hacks at the same time).

8. F2P

Sorry to disappoint you: just a few days ago PlayfulDavid has stated how much Creativerse has benefitted (and also the forums) by going F2P.

9. interaction between players, Single Player

Uh, first you say that players want multiplayer, then you say that they want to play single (which they can do now very well)? You might mean offline?

10. save this game

Creativerse is still in Early Access, and you already talk about "saving" it...

11. NPCs, villages

Already in the plans, and if you had read the forums, you would know

12. tell us what you're planning

We have been told quite a bit about the future plans for Creativerse already. Other plans can't be told because a lot of discussions are still going on intern and no definite decisions have been made yet. There's no point in talking big about and then disappointing players if the engine doesn't even allow the implementation of what has been envisioned early.

It's not only typical for the software-business, but for many jobs that you at first think you can be done with your work in one month - but in reality it will take three. So telling everyone that in one month they can expect great things, but then postponing it over and over again can do a lot more damage than not telling in advance at all.

13. summary

You've collected lots of suggestions that others have already made, but sorry to say, not even one is really new, you just took them from other games...

It's very clear that you want to play a game - now - that has already been developed, updated and refined for many years... There are games like that out there with features that you suggest. Some are still buggy despite being developed much longer than Creativerse and of course they are very different in style and/or gameplay, often with much less possibilities.

But the choice is yours.

I'd suggest to put this thread into the suggestion-forum

EDIT: PlayfulDavid was faster than me :)

... Many of the features you mention — the exciting stuff like mods, creative mode, NPCs, etc. — are things we absolutely want to explore, but we can’t move as fast as some folks would prefer given the limitations of our team, our internal priorities, and the state of the game ....

Yes.
That.

[Shadow of Mefisto]

Originally posted by Eveaustria:

1. blocks:

You nearly lost me when stating that Creativerse has not "that many blocks nor furniture" while at the same time comparing the game to Minecraft :(

Without taking store-content into consideration Creativerse already has 29 kinds of natural blocks/rocks and 77 cubic crafted blocks, some with 2 different patterns on different sides; plus 7 types of stairs, 16 different types of roofs, 8 types of tables, 6 types of chairs, and other furniture like wall shelf, book shelf, weapon rack, etc. It has 9 types of wood, 10-12 types of leaves, 7 flower-blocks, 3 types of logs and more (slopes, etc.) that can be placed and built with.

Would you kindly compare this to the number of blocks and "furniture" *cough* that Minecraft has?

Considering that Minecraft was released in 2009 and their developers had both a lot of time and money to make it into what it is right now, while Creativerse is a fresh and new game in Early Access, not even released yet?

And then you even complain about additional purely decorative blocks being sold in the store? Yeah, really! How dare Playful ask for money to keep the servers running and being able to continue development? Do you always call it "greedy and dirty" when people ask to be paid for their work? How do you make your living with?

2. creative-mode

So you're suggesting a creative-mode - what an awesome, completely new and fresh idea that nobody before you ever had :) Well, we have learnt that the devolopers themselves are big fans of Minecraft, so it's quite possible that there will be a creative-mode in the future.

But demanding all the work - that such a mode needs - to be finished "right now" is being illusional, and you should know it.

3. went "public" pretty early and doesn't have that much content

Minecraft came out in 2009 as creative-mode ONLY and not much to do. Still it was a hit right away. Creativerse has a ton of features already before being even released.

4. a galaxies system, spaceships, colonize worlds

You might want to play Starbound or wait for No Man's Sky to come out. But making demands of this gigantic dimension for Creativerse which would take a lot of resources, and actually expecting all of that to be coded "pronto" is absurd.

5. "disappointing" updates

Alright, that does it. Now go and write a book of 300 pages and let's see how long you will take. Do it right now! And if you're not done with that next month, I will complain about it. :p

No, you cannot expect great features to be updated to a game every month, because larger features take MANY months to be coded, plus graphics, animations and sound often has to be added too, and so on.

6. quests, leveling system, economy, skills, weapon upgrades, magic, enchantments, factions, etc.

You want to make a sandbox-game like Creativerse into an RPG. That's a completely different genre. Does everyone else playing Creativerse want the same thing? Actually changing the game too much might drive a lot of players away. So you should be careful with demands like that.

Playful itself wants to make the "ultimate sandbox-game", but they never said anything about wanting to create the "ultimate RPG"... And again you don't seem to be aware that implementing such features would take years (!). Just take a look at Minecraft and it's "magic"-system. How long did that take to be implemented?

7. modding support

There are whole threads about this in this forum... and replies that you obviously didn't read. Still you - of course - do expect the devs to read through all your long posts. But if you really cared about such a feature you would have taken a look at these posts and might have learnt about what people with experience have stated about the difficulties to add modding to a game like this one.

You yourself once again seem to have no idea how long it can take to make a game moddable (and safe from hacks at the same time).

8. F2P

Sorry to disappoint you: just a few days ago PlayfulDavid has stated how much Creativerse has benefitted (and also the forums) by going F2P.

9. interaction between players, Single Player

Uh, first you say that players want multiplayer, then you say that they want to play single (which they can do now very well)? You might mean offline?

10. save this game

Creativerse is still in Early Access, and you already talk about "saving" it...

11. NPCs, villages

Already in the plans, and if you had read the forums, you would know

12. tell us what you're planning

We have been told quite a bit about the future plans for Creativerse already. Other plans can't be told because a lot of discussions are still going on intern and no definite decisions have been made yet. There's no point in talking big about and then disappointing players if the engine doesn't even allow the implementation of what has been envisioned early.

It's not only typical for the software-business, but for many jobs that you at first think you can be done with your work in one month - but in reality it will take three. So telling everyone that in one month they can expect great things, but then postponing it over and over again can do a lot more damage than not telling in advance at all.

13. summary

You've collected lots of suggestions that others have already made, but sorry to say, not even one is really new, you just took them from other games...

It's very clear that you want to play a game - now - that has already been developed, updated and refined for many years... There are games like that out there with features that you suggest. Some are still buggy despite being developed much longer than Creativerse and of course they are very different in style and/or gameplay, often with much less possibilities.

But the choice is yours.

I'd suggest to put this thread into the suggestion-forum

EDIT: PlayfulDavid was faster than me :)

... Many of the features you mention — the exciting stuff like mods, creative mode, NPCs, etc. — are things we absolutely want to explore, but we can’t move as fast as some folks would prefer given the limitations of our team, our internal priorities, and the state of the game ....

Yes.
That.

HOOHOHO WOW, someone with brain out here man, i need to inform my people. >u<
Seriously i highly agree with this! it makes me want to make a full review about the game in its current state..... heh yeah ill find myself time.
I just wish there was a bit more incentives with play with more people without being worried all the time about griefers.
I should develop more my dream world suggestion i made more than a year ago.

[Polopai]

Originally posted by AvilerED:

Polopai, I feel you speak out of ignorance. Not the intentional kind, where you refuse to accept information that is put in front of you, but the kind where you lack information. We all lack that information. That information is the devs "roadmap" of planned development. Personally, I'm content to be along for the ride, I don't need it all, immediately, which is the impression I get from your post. I apologize if I'm reading something into your words that isn't there. Many of your suggestions are interesting to me, others aren't.

So, devs, I may take a break from CV every once in a while, but I'm not giving up on you. Looking forward to seeing what you make of this game in every aspect, whether it is something I will use or not.

I'm not saying that the content has to be added immediately nor I was saying that I gave up on Creativerse, I did make this post to try to help after all.

[Polopai]

Hi, David.

Thank you for explaining things.

Turns out I did have little information regarding what was going on. I was aware of the server issues because of the posts on the forums, but I didn't know those were taking so much time from your team, making it unable to develop new and more significant content.

I'm glad to know that you have many plans for the future and that you haven't given up yet. I truly believe on the potential of Creativerse, hence me being worried and making this post, trying to provide my feedback in the expectation it is good enough to help you out, somehow.

I look forward to bigger updates and to keep supporting the game through suggestions, content submissions and through YouTube videos.

I'll wait a bit longer for the game to have a major update so that I can bring it back to my channel.

In the meanwhile, I wish you the best luck with the bug fixing and solving all the issues, as I'll be often following your progress and checking new updates, as I usually do.

[Eveaustria]

Originally posted by Shadow of Mefisto:

... i need to inform my people. >u< ...

No, please don't tell them. I'm not ready to be introduced to your family yet :D
Writing a review would be nice :)

Originally posted by Shadow of Mefisto:

I should develop more my dream world suggestion i made more than a year ago.

Yes :)

[Polopai]

@Eveaustria

What the hell are you talking about? Did you not get what I wrote?!

I was saying that it's a great thing to have all that furniture and that Creativerse does win in many aspects, compared to Minecraft, and that the only way Minecraft is a bit better is by having more ways of actually building stuff, like flying, unlimited blocks, tools like World Edit and Voxel Sniper, etc, which makes it easier to build and, therefore, more intuitive. I never said that Minecraft had more blocks than Creativerse.

Also, there's no need to reply like that, no one is fighting over this, chill out. At least I gave some suggestions and tried to help the devs many times, including this one. Have you?

David has already explained why they've been so busy to implement relevant features, it's not about taking too long to code or to do, they're just dealing with other issues at the moment, that's all - which I didn't know, nor you, because it's a private detail. Plus, I don't know the entire team, nor you, so it's not possible to determine how easily or how fast they can code something, I was just asking for more fun content, not demanding anything.

Regarding the "suggestions I collected and none of them is new", I've been around on the forums for a long time now, and many of those suggestions you see around were probably made by me a long time ago, so it appears that I'm not the only one who failed to gather information.

You made a lot of invalid points, such as "Creativerse is still in Early Access, and you already talk about "saving" it...". So what? Do you have any idea of how many games got abandoned and failed while STILL in Early Access? It's about the course a project takes, not the course it already took, hence me trying to give a heads up with my suggestions and critiques.

How many games do you know that mix the RPG style with the sandbox? Either answer you give will proove me right. If you say that there are few or none, then this is a good way of making this sandbox "ultimate". If you say that there are many, then it's not such a bad idea afterall to go for it.

"Uh, first you say that players want multiplayer, then you say that they want to play single (which they can do now very well)? You might mean offline?" - Yes, I meant offline. 90% of the games have both Online/Multiplayer and Offline modes. Creativerse is playable in Single Player, but it requires an Internet connection to a server, and in case you didn't notice, David himself said that there are a lot of issues with the servers at the moment. If there was an Offline mode, then this wouldn't be a problem (or, at least, it wouldn't be in such density), as people would not be required to actually play Online or connect to a server. Players want BOTH modes (at least I do), so what's so hard to understand about that? Jeez, aren't you special.

You are attacking me in such a way that it even seems I was wishing Creativerse any harm or saying that the game sucks, what the hell? I love this game, I've always did, I'm only trying to avoid it going the wrong direction, that's all. What's so wrong about it? Just relax, take a pill, drink some tea, have some sex, whatever, but take your rage elsewhere, cowboy.

[Strilter]

I dont think you understand what all would be necessary to add "galaxies" in the way you are thinking. Start Smaller because they would need $$$ to develop features that large.