Wheres 1.0?

[TheFounder]

So i decided to check in with Eco after a long time and see whats up. 1.0 was promised late last year or early this year. 1st quarter is almost over, but no indication or any news about 1.0 except for the empty promises of " its being worked on". Worked on by who? Seems SLG staff has seriously diminished.

MTX is running wild on private servers and no longer being policed, no more Jens live streams, updates seem pretty meagre. I had hopes for Eco a long time ago, but seems that the devs stubborn headiness listening to only a small % of the eco player base and unwillingness to deviate from kickstarter promises made a decade ago with new insights ended up not doing it any good.

There was a promise of husbandry for trains since when the decision was made what major feature for 1.0 should be implemented that one was ahead of trains (thankfully cause trains would be kinda worthless). However, passed deadline there's no mention of husbandry.

And how about the rework of the skill system? Also still in the works?.....logging lvl 6 perk when?

Game had great potential but seems to me that SLG fumbled the ball.

[CHR3S]

Judging by the past decisions by adding a micro transaction shop in an early access game and their interesting statement on it, they seem to be on the milking and abandoning the game kind of phase right now.


Source:

Dev Stream - "ECO Developer Stream: New Crafting UI, Marketplace and Backend Systems with Update 10.3" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NxDXp6hUu4

Part in the clip I am talking about: 6:40 - 7:40 | on 7:13 follows the statement: "...we're not incentivised financially to support those players"

[TheFounder]

Originally posted by CHR3S:

Judging by the past decisions by adding a micro transaction shop in an early access game and their interesting statement on it, they seem to be on the milking and abandoning the game kind of phase right now.


Source:

Dev Stream - "ECO Developer Stream: New Crafting UI, Marketplace and Backend Systems with Update 10.3" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NxDXp6hUu4

Part in the clip I am talking about: 6:40 - 7:40 | on 7:13 follows the statement: "...we're not incentivised financially to support those players"

Yep, i was there for that and gave my opinion on it. Seems like it didn't do what they desired. It was just not the right player base to do these sort of things. Probably would have been better off asking for donations and putting the blue prints in as added content instead of putting it behind a paywall. Or as suggested back then, a DLC.

[Chilltex]

Originally posted by CHR3S:

Judging by the past decisions by adding a micro transaction shop in an early access game and their interesting statement on it, they seem to be on the milking and abandoning the game kind of phase right now.


Source:

Dev Stream - "ECO Developer Stream: New Crafting UI, Marketplace and Backend Systems with Update 10.3" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NxDXp6hUu4

Part in the clip I am talking about: 6:40 - 7:40 | on 7:13 follows the statement: "...we're not incentivised financially to support those players"

It does seem that way doesn't it? Essentially they are saying "We want to support our biggest and most dedicated players, but we are not cause you didn't give us enough money!" This and the fact the avatars look worse than previous builds of the game, is enough to uninstall and never look back.

[$tump]

Pretty sure the MTX is just for streamers community building.
My Opinion: after lightly browsing the market.

Think they'd be better off marketing lessons to C# modding tbf. It'd make more sense with the amount of dependency the game has, and it would quicken the dev. process of base game systems.

The game is at a better stage then last I checked when towns was first deployed.
Is there another major update tba?

[$tump]

Trains would be cool. I'm bored so lets theory craft. Were I to design it.

-Trains Mod
Train Tracks: wood, stone, iron 5x5 stamped surface, includes slopes
Train Carts: Basic Engineering Craft
Train Car 3x5: Basic Engineering Craft
Train Fuel : Speeds vary
Track Upgrade : Smelting - Enables Energized lines : Faster
Bullet Train : Electronics - Fastest
Train Stations : Connects Cars
+ Additional misc: signs, turns, crossings ext.

Logistics 2: Drivers License
- In addition to Survival, this skill is raised by store operations.
Logistics Level: Affects how many cars you can connect.
Logistics EXP: Raised by buying and selling.

Logistics Data: Calculates Values and Assigns the Illicit tag to items.
- FE: $ buys 10 birch logs for (1), Crafts 5 Hewn Log value at (1) $ sells 5 hewn logs for (2) and earns a 50% profit. Logistics increase by .5
- FE2: Same scenario now he crafts 10 Hewn Logs, but 10 birch were chopped, and the logistics value increases by (.5) cause he bought 10, but the labor he used was the cost of 10.
- FE3: $ buys 10 birch logs for .1, Crafts 5 Hewn Logs, but they receive a (black mark) Because the Logs were sold below the value of labor, cannot be sold in Stores. : Same of anything found or received for free unless co-op rules apply.

-City
Driver Certificate: Gained by operating a City Table w/ appropriate Logistics Level.
City Cop: Can move/turn off any vehicle within city district. Elected at City Table.
Impound: Redeem confiscated vehicles or pay fines.
Distribution Center: Shipping Receiving / Deliver Centers for GPS trading
Black Market: Trade of Non trade able goods. - Enabled in Centers - Fencing Goods
Alcohol / Candy / Plants: Goods that adjust xp rate catch lead lv in x hours effects are short and require frequent consumption. .Late start game.
- A way for late lazy or poor housing players can catch up.

Cruise Control: Logistics 5
- Requires Road and a GPS tool to paint path.
Automated delivery: Electronics Age - Flying drones / self driving cars

End of theory - That was entertaining.

[TheFounder]

Originally posted by $tump:

Trains would be cool. I'm bored so lets theory craft. Were I to design it.

-Trains Mod
Train Tracks: wood, stone, iron 5x5 stamped surface, includes slopes
Train Carts: Basic Engineering Craft
Train Car 3x5: Basic Engineering Craft
Train Fuel : Speeds vary
Track Upgrade : Smelting - Enables Energized lines : Faster
Bullet Train : Electronics - Fastest
Train Stations : Connects Cars
+ Additional misc: signs, turns, crossings ext.

Logistics 2: Drivers License
- In addition to Survival, this skill is raised by store operations.
Logistics Level: Affects how many cars you can connect.
Logistics EXP: Raised by buying and selling.

Logistics Data: Calculates Values and Assigns the Illicit tag to items.
- FE: $ buys 10 birch logs for (1), Crafts 5 Hewn Log value at (1) $ sells 5 hewn logs for (2) and earns a 50% profit. Logistics increase by .5
- FE2: Same scenario now he crafts 10 Hewn Logs, but 10 birch were chopped, and the logistics value increases by (.5) cause he bought 10, but the labor he used was the cost of 10.
- FE3: $ buys 10 birch logs for .1, Crafts 5 Hewn Logs, but they receive a (black mark) Because the Logs were sold below the value of labor, cannot be sold in Stores. : Same of anything found or received for free unless co-op rules apply.

-City
Driver Certificate: Gained by operating a City Table w/ appropriate Logistics Level.
City Cop: Can move/turn off any vehicle within city district. Elected at City Table.
Impound: Redeem confiscated vehicles or pay fines.
Distribution Center: Shipping Receiving / Deliver Centers for GPS trading
Black Market: Trade of Non trade able goods. - Enabled in Centers - Fencing Goods
Alcohol / Candy / Plants: Goods that adjust xp rate catch lead lv in x hours effects are short and require frequent consumption. .Late start game.
- A way for late lazy or poor housing players can catch up.

Cruise Control: Logistics 5
- Requires Road and a GPS tool to paint path.
Automated delivery: Electronics Age - Flying drones / self driving cars

End of theory - That was entertaining.

You ignored the fact that with current game performance you have to stop for the edge of abyss even with the steam trucks half the time, how are you not gonna launch a bullet train across the map and prevent it from driving down into the abyss? XD

And the big patch announced was 1.0. Hence my original post.

[$tump]

Originally posted by TheFounder:

Originally posted by $tump:

Trains would be cool. I'm bored so lets theory craft. Were I to design it.

You ignored the fact that with current game performance you have to stop for the edge of abyss even with the steam trucks half the time, how are you not gonna launch a bullet train across the map and prevent it from driving down into the abyss? XD

And the big patch announced was 1.0. Hence my original post.

Probably just set a load priority for train tracks, and to auto stop at stations giving time to load said area.

[Barometz]

Originally posted by TheFounder:

Where's 1.0?

Have you tried looking for it in the year 2038?

[Jay8454]

Calm down please, I'd, say something funny from mayor Quimby from The Simpsons, "tired and horny", but man I get it were ALL past that.

[Afrozzi]

No updates because Version 1.0 is currently delayed indefinitely (not canceled, but there is no expected release date for the foreseeable future).

At one point, development shifted to the concept of a “forever game,” also known as “game-as-a-service,” which is funded in part by microtransactions. This shift seems to have removed the sense of urgency to leave Early Access or address key missing features. We have already seen unnecessary features prioritized over major roadmap items. As a result, the planned release date keeps getting pushed back, and this has been happening for years.

I had hope that after the announcement of Version 1.0, things were back on track. However, the microtransaction (MTX) system introduced in Update 11 doesn’t seem to have been enough to sustain the expected level of development. The system with Eco Coins, limited-use blueprints, and distributing coins to streamers was creative but not practical or player-friendly.

It’s sad because it seems like a major misstep. With government grant funding, Kickstarter backing, Steam Early Access funding, and Eco going viral during the pandemic, there was plenty of financial support to see Eco through to a full release. But with the current path, they’ll have to keep an extra-high priority focus on finding new ways to add MTX.

Just like when the CEO said they “were not incentivized financially to support those players” before, now they’re incentivized to prioritize features that drive MTX sales over those that add the most value to gameplay. It’s unclear if this pattern will be enough to lead to a Version 1.0 release.

[Barometz]

Originally posted by Afrozzi:

No updates because Version 1.0 is currently delayed indefinitely (not canceled, but there is no expected release date for the foreseeable future).

At one point, development shifted to the concept of a “forever game,” also known as “game-as-a-service,” which is funded in part by microtransactions. This shift seems to have removed the sense of urgency to leave Early Access or address key missing features. We have already seen unnecessary features prioritized over major roadmap items. As a result, the planned release date keeps getting pushed back, and this has been happening for years.

I had hope that after the announcement of Version 1.0, things were back on track. However, the microtransaction (MTX) system introduced in Update 11 doesn’t seem to have been enough to sustain the expected level of development. The system with Eco Coins, limited-use blueprints, and distributing coins to streamers was creative but not practical or player-friendly.

It’s sad because it seems like a major misstep. With government grant funding, Kickstarter backing, Steam Early Access funding, and Eco going viral during the pandemic, there was plenty of financial support to see Eco through to a full release. But with the current path, they’ll have to keep an extra-high priority focus on finding new ways to add MTX.

Just like when the CEO said they “were not incentivized financially to support those players” before, now they’re incentivized to prioritize features that drive MTX sales over those that add the most value to gameplay. It’s unclear if this pattern will be enough to lead to a Version 1.0 release.

This is what all of us assume is going on, and it's not hard to arrive at this conclusion if you take the time to gather up all of the breadcrumbs of information. But it would go a long way in restoring faith and goodwill if SLG would just admit that this is the case.

Unfortunately, it's probably in their best interest to just stay silent and pretend they're just some unfortunate "small indie developer" so that the trickle of unwitting new players can keep throwing pity money at them. It's just so dishonest.