I feel like this game is consistently going downhill.

[notsad]

(Just to clarify I am not hating on any of the developers, anything I say about them in here is passive-aggressive)


Before you say "ew new player lol!!!!" or anything similar to that. I've been playing this game since October 2020.

I may not have many hours yes, only 300 (~330 at the time of writing this), but I used to grind the hell out of this game.

The game used to be run by a single developer (DKnighter, correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not in the discord server), and the replayability was huge, maybe it's because i was a beginner, but even the lack of maps didn't flinch me, because the game was really fun to play with friends, and I used to play this game all day, with friends, and I mean it.
The game blew up in popularity, that's how I got my hands on it.

Then came late 2021 (I don't specifically remember, so also correct me if i'm wrong), at the time I still didn't get bored of the game, but that's when new 2 devs came in (CJ and i don't know the other guy (sorry!!)), and I thought "Cool! Faster updates, more content!", but to my surprise it was the exact opposite.

The game slowed down in development for a while, updates felt slower, and less appealing.
(Around this time (maybe a bit later), new ghost types were teased, ASCENSION UPDATE WAS SOMEWHAT ANNOUNCED, and so on)

But as I waited for everything, I started to lose the excitement for every single update.
We had the ghost being able to hear you and see electronics update, pretty cool but, not necessarily the best.

Oh, and also Camp Maple (idk how the map is called) released, and let me tell you that to this day it is horribly optimised and isn't worth playing, and I'm on a high-end PC.

Ever since that map released, the game started to get more and more boring, as if it was missing something.

Fast forward to christmas 2021, honestly, boring.

I don't exactly remember when, but we got a map announcement, and I was disappointed to hear it wasn't a new map, but they reworked asylum (why?).

Once again, our beloved "Ascension" update was teased a tiny bit, so I thought "oh maybe it's getting really close to release"

I stopped playing the game around early 2022, until the map Sunny Meadows released.
Finally, a new map, I was excited to play it, and I must admit it's a very fun map.

Then I started thinking we're having a lack of updates because of devs working on a big major update, so maybe soon we'll have a leak.

After some time, we had yet another leak to the "Ascension" update, at that time I really was happy because "oh my god it's been so long, must be close to release"

Fast forward to december 2022, I don't know what happened inbetween, but I suppose more leaks. Some things changed, but despite such a huge break, I don't think we got a major update (I could very definitely be wrong here because I wasn't keeping up with the game for the entirety of 2022, so please correct me if I'm wrong).

Then came early 2023, more teasers for "Ascension"....... wow, I'm so happy to see yet another leak.

At that point I couldn't care for the game anymore, I wasn't excited for any major update, nor any leaks, infact I was getting annoyed at every single leak of Ascension that released, getting seriously impatient considering how long it's been getting teased for.


Literally decided to see what the game has to offer in May this year, and to my surprise: NOTHING, such a long break, and we only have the smallest map ever, camp woodwind (which is also an unoptimised hellhole), and no changes at all.

So I quit yet again, but this time I decided to follow and see every single "update" that was posted, and I saw so many leaks of "Ascension" I was getting seriously mad.

Such a long wait, so many leaks, nearly 2 years and it's still not out.


Finally, August, out of nowhere the update came out.

I wasn't excited at all to play it, and it's probably because of how long it took.

And what this update did is actually horrifying:
- Entirely reset levels, and added a prestige system (literally why, it's so much better to showcase big levels, besides level cheating/cheesing is even easier now with custom difficulty, so it changes NOTHING

- 2 years and all we got was equipment changes, and a bit of ghost changes, but no new map, no new ghost, nothing besides equipment.

- The game went from fun at anytime game to a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ grind, literally if you wanna have SOMEWHAT fun on the higher difficulties (which is literally what everyone plays) you need to grind for sometime.

- Thermometer got changed entirely (T2 and T3) for what reason? nobody knows, they could've kept the same mechanic, but just make the T3 thermometer faster or something, instead you have to hold down a button.

- Broke voice recognition via PTT and toggle, VA is the only one that works, and like 10 days into the update that still hasn't been fixed.


One thing I also noticed, the game is horribly optimised now:
Here are my current PC specs (no I am not flexing):
- 3060 Ti
- i5-12600KF
- 4000mHz 32GB RAM

^ Those specs struggle to run a consistent 100 fps on the same settings that I had on my old rig

Old PC:
- 1070 Ti
- I5-8400
- (idk mHz) 16GB RAM

^ Those specs used to run the game at a CONSISTENT 140 fps

Performance has gotten progressively worse, and there's on optimisation updates, it's all hotfixes.

Speaking of hotfixes, what happened to testing new updates on a seperate beta and then moving it into the main game?

Just to clarify, I am thankful for fixing problems.


But using those 3 years (technically 2), I have come to this conclusion:

We're having a lack of updates, and I mean it, sure there's 3 devs but come on, teasing an update for 2 years, really?

The game is HORRIBLY optimised, and weather makes it even worse (heavy rain, fog and snow especially)

A huge lack of maps, and this could really easily be fixed by the community, have some sort of place to post your own maps, and have them possibly be in the game, this already saves a LOT of time for the devs, and gives a lot more replayablity to the game, and a lot of more fun to the community, because they're able to contribute to the game.

Now to my main point (anything I say here is passive-aggressive, I do not actually mean to hate on the developers):

I feel like the main reason why the game slowed down in development is simple, money.
The game blew up in popularity, inspiring the single dev (at the time) to not give up on it.

But ever since 2 new people came in, it feels like they've just gotten lazier.
I'm obviously not an expert in game development, but I really feel like an update to equipment only shouldn't take 2 years.

Dev(s) must've noticed they have enough money for x amount of years, and entirely stopped giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the game, this is usually the case with everyone now, they notice they get money they stop giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the community and their own game.

Your solution to inconsistent updates is to turn the game into a grind, add a prestige system that is literally the most pointless thing in the game, and all of that in the span of 2 years? While teasing everything?

Sure, being able to upgrade your items makes the game less repetitive, but the requirements for new items are horrible, not to mention the T3 items (besides thermo and maybe emf) are broken as ♥♥♥♥, and because we have so little big maps, it turns the game into an autopilot simulator.

I don't understand, what happened? What went wrong?

I'm not putting a TL;DR, start reading.

Okay now you people can start insulting me in every way possible, thanks.

[Iridius]

Completely agree.
I'm not going to lambast the devs about content in my post, but the performance issues are unacceptable. I have similar specs to yours and the drop in performance is very noticeable after this update.

The amount of game breaking bugs they introduced as well this update is making it very hard for me to like this game at all.

[notsad]

Originally posted by Iridius:

Completely agree.
I'm not going to lambast the devs about content in my post, but the performance issues are unacceptable. I have similar specs to yours and the drop in performance is very noticeable after this update.

The amount of game breaking bugs they introduced as well this update is making it very hard for me to like this game at all.

To me it's just absurd honestly, if it keeps going like this the game will die

[Private Ryan]

Im not trying to nit pick or anything, and I am not fully sticking up for the devs because they have dropped the ball on the updates, but you DID go from a 1070 TI to a 3060 ti, sure the architecture is newer, but the benchmarks are not really all that far off when it comes to performance.

Source:
https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-RTX-3060-Ti-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1070-Ti/4090vs3943

1xxx = model 1 3xxx = model 3
1070 = slightly higher than mid range for performance
3060 = even less higher than mid performance.

The scale for nvidia used to be a broader range but I think they changed to a 5 point scale for their GPUs when the 1xxx series came out starting at the 5 series and ending at the 9s

The Ti and Super series seems to have filled the void where the other numbers went...so its still technically a 10 point scale if you include the Ti cards in between each card.

I would assume its a marketing thing because who would want to buy a 4020 RTX when you can own a 4050! Then for a little bit more money you could own the TI version.

You will get faster rendering and multi-rendering, higher FPS, better resolutions because of the newer architecture on the 3xxx but the 1070 is just about as fast when it comes to everything else.

Everyone's builds are different, everyone gets parts from different places, I've gotten good parts and bad parts right out of the box. I am not saying any of the issues are having are ONLY your computer or ONLY the devs...just trying to play a little devils advocate here and say that its possible it could be both the build AND on the devs.

I have a 2080 RTX Super and it runs about 3% better than the newer 3060 ti but about 20% lower than the 3080 ti and I have had very few graphical issues in the game since the patch....Again everyone's build is different.

All this said, I do still agree with you on the update, it needed more time in the oven, it. They should not have felt pressured by the community to release it early to appease us, but this is still Early Access....we are beta testers so this comes with the territory of buying and playing Early Access games.

[Silver]

Performance is rough. I can't say for sure if it's worse than the early builds of the game though. It seems like it was bad at first, got better, and then got bad again.
Outside of that though the game is better in every way.
There were so many problems with everything in the game but the core gameplay was so fresh and fun that we looked past it.
Yeah there are problems but if we had this version at launch I don't think anyone would argue that it wouldn't have been more fun.

[Zelion Cormac]

I only get stuck on starting the game or loading screens on full textures. Only half textures and below speeds it up for me and I'm using RTX2060 Super. Game's not super optimized but it still works for me.

I do agree with the grind though. We're paranormal investigators. I like using some critical thinking, not mindlessly grind through the levels just to unlock equipment that was already available in the previous update. I've seen Youtubers and Twitch streamers using that quick levelling method by guessing the ghost during a hunt and leave immediately after that, that's just not fun at all. That's not how an investigation works.

[Cincada]

Originally posted by notsad:

I may not have many hours yes, only 300

300 hours is NOT a lot of playtime??? What a world we live in...

*Edit*
I'm saying this feels like a lot of playtime to me lol. Since some people don't seem to get that.

[⭐️Good⭐️Game⭐]

300 hours

Originally posted by notsad:

(Just to clarify I am not hating on any of the developers, anything I say about them in here is passive-aggressive)


Before you say "ew new player lol!!!!" or anything similar to that. I've been playing this game since October 2020.

I may not have many hours yes, only 300 (~330 at the time of writing this), but I used to grind the hell out of this game.

The game used to be run by a single developer (DKnighter, correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not in the discord server), and the replayability was huge, maybe it's because i was a beginner, but even the lack of maps didn't flinch me, because the game was really fun to play with friends, and I used to play this game all day, with friends, and I mean it.
The game blew up in popularity, that's how I got my hands on it.

Then came late 2021 (I don't specifically remember, so also correct me if i'm wrong), at the time I still didn't get bored of the game, but that's when new 2 devs came in (CJ and i don't know the other guy (sorry!!)), and I thought "Cool! Faster updates, more content!", but to my surprise it was the exact opposite.

The game slowed down in development for a while, updates felt slower, and less appealing.
(Around this time (maybe a bit later), new ghost types were teased, ASCENSION UPDATE WAS SOMEWHAT ANNOUNCED, and so on)

But as I waited for everything, I started to lose the excitement for every single update.
We had the ghost being able to hear you and see electronics update, pretty cool but, not necessarily the best.

Oh, and also Camp Maple (idk how the map is called) released, and let me tell you that to this day it is horribly optimised and isn't worth playing, and I'm on a high-end PC.

Ever since that map released, the game started to get more and more boring, as if it was missing something.

Fast forward to christmas 2021, honestly, boring.

I don't exactly remember when, but we got a map announcement, and I was disappointed to hear it wasn't a new map, but they reworked asylum (why?).

Once again, our beloved "Ascension" update was teased a tiny bit, so I thought "oh maybe it's getting really close to release"

I stopped playing the game around early 2022, until the map Sunny Meadows released.
Finally, a new map, I was excited to play it, and I must admit it's a very fun map.

Then I started thinking we're having a lack of updates because of devs working on a big major update, so maybe soon we'll have a leak.

After some time, we had yet another leak to the "Ascension" update, at that time I really was happy because "oh my god it's been so long, must be close to release"

Fast forward to december 2022, I don't know what happened inbetween, but I suppose more leaks. Some things changed, but despite such a huge break, I don't think we got a major update (I could very definitely be wrong here because I wasn't keeping up with the game for the entirety of 2022, so please correct me if I'm wrong).

Then came early 2023, more teasers for "Ascension"....... wow, I'm so happy to see yet another leak.

At that point I couldn't care for the game anymore, I wasn't excited for any major update, nor any leaks, infact I was getting annoyed at every single leak of Ascension that released, getting seriously impatient considering how long it's been getting teased for.


Literally decided to see what the game has to offer in May this year, and to my surprise: NOTHING, such a long break, and we only have the smallest map ever, camp woodwind (which is also an unoptimised hellhole), and no changes at all.

So I quit yet again, but this time I decided to follow and see every single "update" that was posted, and I saw so many leaks of "Ascension" I was getting seriously mad.

Such a long wait, so many leaks, nearly 2 years and it's still not out.


Finally, August, out of nowhere the update came out.

I wasn't excited at all to play it, and it's probably because of how long it took.

And what this update did is actually horrifying:
- Entirely reset levels, and added a prestige system (literally why, it's so much better to showcase big levels, besides level cheating/cheesing is even easier now with custom difficulty, so it changes NOTHING

- 2 years and all we got was equipment changes, and a bit of ghost changes, but no new map, no new ghost, nothing besides equipment.

- The game went from fun at anytime game to a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ grind, literally if you wanna have SOMEWHAT fun on the higher difficulties (which is literally what everyone plays) you need to grind for sometime.

- Thermometer got changed entirely (T2 and T3) for what reason? nobody knows, they could've kept the same mechanic, but just make the T3 thermometer faster or something, instead you have to hold down a button.

- Broke voice recognition via PTT and toggle, VA is the only one that works, and like 10 days into the update that still hasn't been fixed.


One thing I also noticed, the game is horribly optimised now:
Here are my current PC specs (no I am not flexing):
- 3060 Ti
- i5-12600KF
- 4000mHz 32GB RAM

^ Those specs struggle to run a consistent 100 fps on the same settings that I had on my old rig

Old PC:
- 1070 Ti
- I5-8400
- (idk mHz) 16GB RAM

^ Those specs used to run the game at a CONSISTENT 140 fps

Performance has gotten progressively worse, and there's on optimisation updates, it's all hotfixes.

Speaking of hotfixes, what happened to testing new updates on a seperate beta and then moving it into the main game?

Just to clarify, I am thankful for fixing problems.


But using those 3 years (technically 2), I have come to this conclusion:

We're having a lack of updates, and I mean it, sure there's 3 devs but come on, teasing an update for 2 years, really?

The game is HORRIBLY optimised, and weather makes it even worse (heavy rain, fog and snow especially)

A huge lack of maps, and this could really easily be fixed by the community, have some sort of place to post your own maps, and have them possibly be in the game, this already saves a LOT of time for the devs, and gives a lot more replayablity to the game, and a lot of more fun to the community, because they're able to contribute to the game.

Now to my main point (anything I say here is passive-aggressive, I do not actually mean to hate on the developers):

I feel like the main reason why the game slowed down in development is simple, money.
The game blew up in popularity, inspiring the single dev (at the time) to not give up on it.

But ever since 2 new people came in, it feels like they've just gotten lazier.
I'm obviously not an expert in game development, but I really feel like an update to equipment only shouldn't take 2 years.

Dev(s) must've noticed they have enough money for x amount of years, and entirely stopped giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the game, this is usually the case with everyone now, they notice they get money they stop giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the community and their own game.

Your solution to inconsistent updates is to turn the game into a grind, add a prestige system that is literally the most pointless thing in the game, and all of that in the span of 2 years? While teasing everything?

Sure, being able to upgrade your items makes the game less repetitive, but the requirements for new items are horrible, not to mention the T3 items (besides thermo and maybe emf) are broken as ♥♥♥♥, and because we have so little big maps, it turns the game into an autopilot simulator.

I don't understand, what happened? What went wrong?

I'm not putting a TL;DR, start reading.

Okay now you people can start insulting me in every way possible, thanks.

U r a special kind of people i don't mind losing from Phasmophobia. Please find another game to start your silly complain again

[Shiina]

Originally posted by Terry:

300 hours

Originally posted by notsad:

(Just to clarify I am not hating on any of the developers, anything I say about them in here is passive-aggressive)


Before you say "ew new player lol!!!!" or anything similar to that. I've been playing this game since October 2020.

I may not have many hours yes, only 300 (~330 at the time of writing this), but I used to grind the hell out of this game.

The game used to be run by a single developer (DKnighter, correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not in the discord server), and the replayability was huge, maybe it's because i was a beginner, but even the lack of maps didn't flinch me, because the game was really fun to play with friends, and I used to play this game all day, with friends, and I mean it.
The game blew up in popularity, that's how I got my hands on it.

Then came late 2021 (I don't specifically remember, so also correct me if i'm wrong), at the time I still didn't get bored of the game, but that's when new 2 devs came in (CJ and i don't know the other guy (sorry!!)), and I thought "Cool! Faster updates, more content!", but to my surprise it was the exact opposite.

The game slowed down in development for a while, updates felt slower, and less appealing.
(Around this time (maybe a bit later), new ghost types were teased, ASCENSION UPDATE WAS SOMEWHAT ANNOUNCED, and so on)

But as I waited for everything, I started to lose the excitement for every single update.
We had the ghost being able to hear you and see electronics update, pretty cool but, not necessarily the best.

Oh, and also Camp Maple (idk how the map is called) released, and let me tell you that to this day it is horribly optimised and isn't worth playing, and I'm on a high-end PC.

Ever since that map released, the game started to get more and more boring, as if it was missing something.

Fast forward to christmas 2021, honestly, boring.

I don't exactly remember when, but we got a map announcement, and I was disappointed to hear it wasn't a new map, but they reworked asylum (why?).

Once again, our beloved "Ascension" update was teased a tiny bit, so I thought "oh maybe it's getting really close to release"

I stopped playing the game around early 2022, until the map Sunny Meadows released.
Finally, a new map, I was excited to play it, and I must admit it's a very fun map.

Then I started thinking we're having a lack of updates because of devs working on a big major update, so maybe soon we'll have a leak.

After some time, we had yet another leak to the "Ascension" update, at that time I really was happy because "oh my god it's been so long, must be close to release"

Fast forward to december 2022, I don't know what happened inbetween, but I suppose more leaks. Some things changed, but despite such a huge break, I don't think we got a major update (I could very definitely be wrong here because I wasn't keeping up with the game for the entirety of 2022, so please correct me if I'm wrong).

Then came early 2023, more teasers for "Ascension"....... wow, I'm so happy to see yet another leak.

At that point I couldn't care for the game anymore, I wasn't excited for any major update, nor any leaks, infact I was getting annoyed at every single leak of Ascension that released, getting seriously impatient considering how long it's been getting teased for.


Literally decided to see what the game has to offer in May this year, and to my surprise: NOTHING, such a long break, and we only have the smallest map ever, camp woodwind (which is also an unoptimised hellhole), and no changes at all.

So I quit yet again, but this time I decided to follow and see every single "update" that was posted, and I saw so many leaks of "Ascension" I was getting seriously mad.

Such a long wait, so many leaks, nearly 2 years and it's still not out.


Finally, August, out of nowhere the update came out.

I wasn't excited at all to play it, and it's probably because of how long it took.

And what this update did is actually horrifying:
- Entirely reset levels, and added a prestige system (literally why, it's so much better to showcase big levels, besides level cheating/cheesing is even easier now with custom difficulty, so it changes NOTHING

- 2 years and all we got was equipment changes, and a bit of ghost changes, but no new map, no new ghost, nothing besides equipment.

- The game went from fun at anytime game to a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ grind, literally if you wanna have SOMEWHAT fun on the higher difficulties (which is literally what everyone plays) you need to grind for sometime.

- Thermometer got changed entirely (T2 and T3) for what reason? nobody knows, they could've kept the same mechanic, but just make the T3 thermometer faster or something, instead you have to hold down a button.

- Broke voice recognition via PTT and toggle, VA is the only one that works, and like 10 days into the update that still hasn't been fixed.


One thing I also noticed, the game is horribly optimised now:
Here are my current PC specs (no I am not flexing):
- 3060 Ti
- i5-12600KF
- 4000mHz 32GB RAM

^ Those specs struggle to run a consistent 100 fps on the same settings that I had on my old rig

Old PC:
- 1070 Ti
- I5-8400
- (idk mHz) 16GB RAM

^ Those specs used to run the game at a CONSISTENT 140 fps

Performance has gotten progressively worse, and there's on optimisation updates, it's all hotfixes.

Speaking of hotfixes, what happened to testing new updates on a seperate beta and then moving it into the main game?

Just to clarify, I am thankful for fixing problems.


But using those 3 years (technically 2), I have come to this conclusion:

We're having a lack of updates, and I mean it, sure there's 3 devs but come on, teasing an update for 2 years, really?

The game is HORRIBLY optimised, and weather makes it even worse (heavy rain, fog and snow especially)

A huge lack of maps, and this could really easily be fixed by the community, have some sort of place to post your own maps, and have them possibly be in the game, this already saves a LOT of time for the devs, and gives a lot more replayablity to the game, and a lot of more fun to the community, because they're able to contribute to the game.

Now to my main point (anything I say here is passive-aggressive, I do not actually mean to hate on the developers):

I feel like the main reason why the game slowed down in development is simple, money.
The game blew up in popularity, inspiring the single dev (at the time) to not give up on it.

But ever since 2 new people came in, it feels like they've just gotten lazier.
I'm obviously not an expert in game development, but I really feel like an update to equipment only shouldn't take 2 years.

Dev(s) must've noticed they have enough money for x amount of years, and entirely stopped giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the game, this is usually the case with everyone now, they notice they get money they stop giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the community and their own game.

Your solution to inconsistent updates is to turn the game into a grind, add a prestige system that is literally the most pointless thing in the game, and all of that in the span of 2 years? While teasing everything?

Sure, being able to upgrade your items makes the game less repetitive, but the requirements for new items are horrible, not to mention the T3 items (besides thermo and maybe emf) are broken as ♥♥♥♥, and because we have so little big maps, it turns the game into an autopilot simulator.

I don't understand, what happened? What went wrong?

I'm not putting a TL;DR, start reading.

Okay now you people can start insulting me in every way possible, thanks.

U r a special kind of people i don't mind losing from Phasmophobia. Please find another game to start your silly complain again

Why are we gatekeeping Phasmophobia based on hours played? 300 is perfectly acceptable, especially for someone who would play Phasmophobia every now and then instead of being their "main" game.

Come on. Be better than that.

[taiko]

300 hours is plenty of play time

[Hellpier]

I can agree with that. especially now since the devs are delaying the console release, just heard about 25 mins ago. yet another thing they're delaying because of some "unprecedented events". Like just stop promising dates, i got friends all hyped for console release because they play on console, only to have it delayed for 2 F***ing months my guy really? Something that was supposed to release in a week is now supposed to release at the end of October. Don't make promises cemented in trailers if you cannot keep the promises.

[Crippling Debt]

Originally posted by notsad:

(Just to clarify I am not hating on any of the developers, anything I say about them in here is passive-aggressive)


Before you say "ew new player lol!!!!" or anything similar to that. I've been playing this game since October 2020.

I may not have many hours yes, only 300 (~330 at the time of writing this), but I used to grind the hell out of this game.

The game used to be run by a single developer (DKnighter, correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not in the discord server), and the replayability was huge, maybe it's because i was a beginner, but even the lack of maps didn't flinch me, because the game was really fun to play with friends, and I used to play this game all day, with friends, and I mean it.
The game blew up in popularity, that's how I got my hands on it.

Then came late 2021 (I don't specifically remember, so also correct me if i'm wrong), at the time I still didn't get bored of the game, but that's when new 2 devs came in (CJ and i don't know the other guy (sorry!!)), and I thought "Cool! Faster updates, more content!", but to my surprise it was the exact opposite.

The game slowed down in development for a while, updates felt slower, and less appealing.
(Around this time (maybe a bit later), new ghost types were teased, ASCENSION UPDATE WAS SOMEWHAT ANNOUNCED, and so on)

But as I waited for everything, I started to lose the excitement for every single update.
We had the ghost being able to hear you and see electronics update, pretty cool but, not necessarily the best.

Oh, and also Camp Maple (idk how the map is called) released, and let me tell you that to this day it is horribly optimised and isn't worth playing, and I'm on a high-end PC.

Ever since that map released, the game started to get more and more boring, as if it was missing something.

Fast forward to christmas 2021, honestly, boring.

I don't exactly remember when, but we got a map announcement, and I was disappointed to hear it wasn't a new map, but they reworked asylum (why?).

Once again, our beloved "Ascension" update was teased a tiny bit, so I thought "oh maybe it's getting really close to release"

I stopped playing the game around early 2022, until the map Sunny Meadows released.
Finally, a new map, I was excited to play it, and I must admit it's a very fun map.

Then I started thinking we're having a lack of updates because of devs working on a big major update, so maybe soon we'll have a leak.

After some time, we had yet another leak to the "Ascension" update, at that time I really was happy because "oh my god it's been so long, must be close to release"

Fast forward to december 2022, I don't know what happened inbetween, but I suppose more leaks. Some things changed, but despite such a huge break, I don't think we got a major update (I could very definitely be wrong here because I wasn't keeping up with the game for the entirety of 2022, so please correct me if I'm wrong).

Then came early 2023, more teasers for "Ascension"....... wow, I'm so happy to see yet another leak.

At that point I couldn't care for the game anymore, I wasn't excited for any major update, nor any leaks, infact I was getting annoyed at every single leak of Ascension that released, getting seriously impatient considering how long it's been getting teased for.


Literally decided to see what the game has to offer in May this year, and to my surprise: NOTHING, such a long break, and we only have the smallest map ever, camp woodwind (which is also an unoptimised hellhole), and no changes at all.

So I quit yet again, but this time I decided to follow and see every single "update" that was posted, and I saw so many leaks of "Ascension" I was getting seriously mad.

Such a long wait, so many leaks, nearly 2 years and it's still not out.


Finally, August, out of nowhere the update came out.

I wasn't excited at all to play it, and it's probably because of how long it took.

And what this update did is actually horrifying:
- Entirely reset levels, and added a prestige system (literally why, it's so much better to showcase big levels, besides level cheating/cheesing is even easier now with custom difficulty, so it changes NOTHING

- 2 years and all we got was equipment changes, and a bit of ghost changes, but no new map, no new ghost, nothing besides equipment.

- The game went from fun at anytime game to a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ grind, literally if you wanna have SOMEWHAT fun on the higher difficulties (which is literally what everyone plays) you need to grind for sometime.

- Thermometer got changed entirely (T2 and T3) for what reason? nobody knows, they could've kept the same mechanic, but just make the T3 thermometer faster or something, instead you have to hold down a button.

- Broke voice recognition via PTT and toggle, VA is the only one that works, and like 10 days into the update that still hasn't been fixed.


One thing I also noticed, the game is horribly optimised now:
Here are my current PC specs (no I am not flexing):
- 3060 Ti
- i5-12600KF
- 4000mHz 32GB RAM

^ Those specs struggle to run a consistent 100 fps on the same settings that I had on my old rig

Old PC:
- 1070 Ti
- I5-8400
- (idk mHz) 16GB RAM

^ Those specs used to run the game at a CONSISTENT 140 fps

Performance has gotten progressively worse, and there's on optimisation updates, it's all hotfixes.

Speaking of hotfixes, what happened to testing new updates on a seperate beta and then moving it into the main game?

Just to clarify, I am thankful for fixing problems.


But using those 3 years (technically 2), I have come to this conclusion:

We're having a lack of updates, and I mean it, sure there's 3 devs but come on, teasing an update for 2 years, really?

The game is HORRIBLY optimised, and weather makes it even worse (heavy rain, fog and snow especially)

A huge lack of maps, and this could really easily be fixed by the community, have some sort of place to post your own maps, and have them possibly be in the game, this already saves a LOT of time for the devs, and gives a lot more replayablity to the game, and a lot of more fun to the community, because they're able to contribute to the game.

Now to my main point (anything I say here is passive-aggressive, I do not actually mean to hate on the developers):

I feel like the main reason why the game slowed down in development is simple, money.
The game blew up in popularity, inspiring the single dev (at the time) to not give up on it.

But ever since 2 new people came in, it feels like they've just gotten lazier.
I'm obviously not an expert in game development, but I really feel like an update to equipment only shouldn't take 2 years.

Dev(s) must've noticed they have enough money for x amount of years, and entirely stopped giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the game, this is usually the case with everyone now, they notice they get money they stop giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the community and their own game.

Your solution to inconsistent updates is to turn the game into a grind, add a prestige system that is literally the most pointless thing in the game, and all of that in the span of 2 years? While teasing everything?

Sure, being able to upgrade your items makes the game less repetitive, but the requirements for new items are horrible, not to mention the T3 items (besides thermo and maybe emf) are broken as ♥♥♥♥, and because we have so little big maps, it turns the game into an autopilot simulator.

I don't understand, what happened? What went wrong?

I'm not putting a TL;DR, start reading.

Okay now you people can start insulting me in every way possible, thanks.

Honestly if its only 3 devs you're wildly overestimating how much that team should be capable of, especially since this game is cheap, really cheap. For you to act like its crazy they have bugs after releasing this much content at one time then you must not know anything about game development. You're the type of player I can't stand being in a lobby with, some idiot who complains that the devs should've bug tested every single thing in the game before releasing the update as if that's even possible. Please just stop playing, I don't think anyone wants to play with someone like you. And to be clear I know there are many issues with this game, but that's to be expected since it's early access. Them not releasing on console yet actually is a huge slap in the face though.

[notsad]

Originally posted by Terry:

300 hours

Originally posted by notsad:

(Just to clarify I am not hating on any of the developers, anything I say about them in here is passive-aggressive)


Before you say "ew new player lol!!!!" or anything similar to that. I've been playing this game since October 2020.

I may not have many hours yes, only 300 (~330 at the time of writing this), but I used to grind the hell out of this game.

The game used to be run by a single developer (DKnighter, correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not in the discord server), and the replayability was huge, maybe it's because i was a beginner, but even the lack of maps didn't flinch me, because the game was really fun to play with friends, and I used to play this game all day, with friends, and I mean it.
The game blew up in popularity, that's how I got my hands on it.

Then came late 2021 (I don't specifically remember, so also correct me if i'm wrong), at the time I still didn't get bored of the game, but that's when new 2 devs came in (CJ and i don't know the other guy (sorry!!)), and I thought "Cool! Faster updates, more content!", but to my surprise it was the exact opposite.

The game slowed down in development for a while, updates felt slower, and less appealing.
(Around this time (maybe a bit later), new ghost types were teased, ASCENSION UPDATE WAS SOMEWHAT ANNOUNCED, and so on)

But as I waited for everything, I started to lose the excitement for every single update.
We had the ghost being able to hear you and see electronics update, pretty cool but, not necessarily the best.

Oh, and also Camp Maple (idk how the map is called) released, and let me tell you that to this day it is horribly optimised and isn't worth playing, and I'm on a high-end PC.

Ever since that map released, the game started to get more and more boring, as if it was missing something.

Fast forward to christmas 2021, honestly, boring.

I don't exactly remember when, but we got a map announcement, and I was disappointed to hear it wasn't a new map, but they reworked asylum (why?).

Once again, our beloved "Ascension" update was teased a tiny bit, so I thought "oh maybe it's getting really close to release"

I stopped playing the game around early 2022, until the map Sunny Meadows released.
Finally, a new map, I was excited to play it, and I must admit it's a very fun map.

Then I started thinking we're having a lack of updates because of devs working on a big major update, so maybe soon we'll have a leak.

After some time, we had yet another leak to the "Ascension" update, at that time I really was happy because "oh my god it's been so long, must be close to release"

Fast forward to december 2022, I don't know what happened inbetween, but I suppose more leaks. Some things changed, but despite such a huge break, I don't think we got a major update (I could very definitely be wrong here because I wasn't keeping up with the game for the entirety of 2022, so please correct me if I'm wrong).

Then came early 2023, more teasers for "Ascension"....... wow, I'm so happy to see yet another leak.

At that point I couldn't care for the game anymore, I wasn't excited for any major update, nor any leaks, infact I was getting annoyed at every single leak of Ascension that released, getting seriously impatient considering how long it's been getting teased for.


Literally decided to see what the game has to offer in May this year, and to my surprise: NOTHING, such a long break, and we only have the smallest map ever, camp woodwind (which is also an unoptimised hellhole), and no changes at all.

So I quit yet again, but this time I decided to follow and see every single "update" that was posted, and I saw so many leaks of "Ascension" I was getting seriously mad.

Such a long wait, so many leaks, nearly 2 years and it's still not out.


Finally, August, out of nowhere the update came out.

I wasn't excited at all to play it, and it's probably because of how long it took.

And what this update did is actually horrifying:
- Entirely reset levels, and added a prestige system (literally why, it's so much better to showcase big levels, besides level cheating/cheesing is even easier now with custom difficulty, so it changes NOTHING

- 2 years and all we got was equipment changes, and a bit of ghost changes, but no new map, no new ghost, nothing besides equipment.

- The game went from fun at anytime game to a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ grind, literally if you wanna have SOMEWHAT fun on the higher difficulties (which is literally what everyone plays) you need to grind for sometime.

- Thermometer got changed entirely (T2 and T3) for what reason? nobody knows, they could've kept the same mechanic, but just make the T3 thermometer faster or something, instead you have to hold down a button.

- Broke voice recognition via PTT and toggle, VA is the only one that works, and like 10 days into the update that still hasn't been fixed.


One thing I also noticed, the game is horribly optimised now:
Here are my current PC specs (no I am not flexing):
- 3060 Ti
- i5-12600KF
- 4000mHz 32GB RAM

^ Those specs struggle to run a consistent 100 fps on the same settings that I had on my old rig

Old PC:
- 1070 Ti
- I5-8400
- (idk mHz) 16GB RAM

^ Those specs used to run the game at a CONSISTENT 140 fps

Performance has gotten progressively worse, and there's on optimisation updates, it's all hotfixes.

Speaking of hotfixes, what happened to testing new updates on a seperate beta and then moving it into the main game?

Just to clarify, I am thankful for fixing problems.


But using those 3 years (technically 2), I have come to this conclusion:

We're having a lack of updates, and I mean it, sure there's 3 devs but come on, teasing an update for 2 years, really?

The game is HORRIBLY optimised, and weather makes it even worse (heavy rain, fog and snow especially)

A huge lack of maps, and this could really easily be fixed by the community, have some sort of place to post your own maps, and have them possibly be in the game, this already saves a LOT of time for the devs, and gives a lot more replayablity to the game, and a lot of more fun to the community, because they're able to contribute to the game.

Now to my main point (anything I say here is passive-aggressive, I do not actually mean to hate on the developers):

I feel like the main reason why the game slowed down in development is simple, money.
The game blew up in popularity, inspiring the single dev (at the time) to not give up on it.

But ever since 2 new people came in, it feels like they've just gotten lazier.
I'm obviously not an expert in game development, but I really feel like an update to equipment only shouldn't take 2 years.

Dev(s) must've noticed they have enough money for x amount of years, and entirely stopped giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the game, this is usually the case with everyone now, they notice they get money they stop giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the community and their own game.

Your solution to inconsistent updates is to turn the game into a grind, add a prestige system that is literally the most pointless thing in the game, and all of that in the span of 2 years? While teasing everything?

Sure, being able to upgrade your items makes the game less repetitive, but the requirements for new items are horrible, not to mention the T3 items (besides thermo and maybe emf) are broken as ♥♥♥♥, and because we have so little big maps, it turns the game into an autopilot simulator.

I don't understand, what happened? What went wrong?

I'm not putting a TL;DR, start reading.

Okay now you people can start insulting me in every way possible, thanks.

U r a special kind of people i don't mind losing from Phasmophobia. Please find another game to start your silly complain again

what makes me so special, playing the game since pretty much release and then being unhappy with where it's going?

[notsad]

Originally posted by Crippling Debt:

Originally posted by notsad:

(Just to clarify I am not hating on any of the developers, anything I say about them in here is passive-aggressive)


Before you say "ew new player lol!!!!" or anything similar to that. I've been playing this game since October 2020.

I may not have many hours yes, only 300 (~330 at the time of writing this), but I used to grind the hell out of this game.

The game used to be run by a single developer (DKnighter, correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not in the discord server), and the replayability was huge, maybe it's because i was a beginner, but even the lack of maps didn't flinch me, because the game was really fun to play with friends, and I used to play this game all day, with friends, and I mean it.
The game blew up in popularity, that's how I got my hands on it.

Then came late 2021 (I don't specifically remember, so also correct me if i'm wrong), at the time I still didn't get bored of the game, but that's when new 2 devs came in (CJ and i don't know the other guy (sorry!!)), and I thought "Cool! Faster updates, more content!", but to my surprise it was the exact opposite.

The game slowed down in development for a while, updates felt slower, and less appealing.
(Around this time (maybe a bit later), new ghost types were teased, ASCENSION UPDATE WAS SOMEWHAT ANNOUNCED, and so on)

But as I waited for everything, I started to lose the excitement for every single update.
We had the ghost being able to hear you and see electronics update, pretty cool but, not necessarily the best.

Oh, and also Camp Maple (idk how the map is called) released, and let me tell you that to this day it is horribly optimised and isn't worth playing, and I'm on a high-end PC.

Ever since that map released, the game started to get more and more boring, as if it was missing something.

Fast forward to christmas 2021, honestly, boring.

I don't exactly remember when, but we got a map announcement, and I was disappointed to hear it wasn't a new map, but they reworked asylum (why?).

Once again, our beloved "Ascension" update was teased a tiny bit, so I thought "oh maybe it's getting really close to release"

I stopped playing the game around early 2022, until the map Sunny Meadows released.
Finally, a new map, I was excited to play it, and I must admit it's a very fun map.

Then I started thinking we're having a lack of updates because of devs working on a big major update, so maybe soon we'll have a leak.

After some time, we had yet another leak to the "Ascension" update, at that time I really was happy because "oh my god it's been so long, must be close to release"

Fast forward to december 2022, I don't know what happened inbetween, but I suppose more leaks. Some things changed, but despite such a huge break, I don't think we got a major update (I could very definitely be wrong here because I wasn't keeping up with the game for the entirety of 2022, so please correct me if I'm wrong).

Then came early 2023, more teasers for "Ascension"....... wow, I'm so happy to see yet another leak.

At that point I couldn't care for the game anymore, I wasn't excited for any major update, nor any leaks, infact I was getting annoyed at every single leak of Ascension that released, getting seriously impatient considering how long it's been getting teased for.


Literally decided to see what the game has to offer in May this year, and to my surprise: NOTHING, such a long break, and we only have the smallest map ever, camp woodwind (which is also an unoptimised hellhole), and no changes at all.

So I quit yet again, but this time I decided to follow and see every single "update" that was posted, and I saw so many leaks of "Ascension" I was getting seriously mad.

Such a long wait, so many leaks, nearly 2 years and it's still not out.


Finally, August, out of nowhere the update came out.

I wasn't excited at all to play it, and it's probably because of how long it took.

And what this update did is actually horrifying:
- Entirely reset levels, and added a prestige system (literally why, it's so much better to showcase big levels, besides level cheating/cheesing is even easier now with custom difficulty, so it changes NOTHING

- 2 years and all we got was equipment changes, and a bit of ghost changes, but no new map, no new ghost, nothing besides equipment.

- The game went from fun at anytime game to a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ grind, literally if you wanna have SOMEWHAT fun on the higher difficulties (which is literally what everyone plays) you need to grind for sometime.

- Thermometer got changed entirely (T2 and T3) for what reason? nobody knows, they could've kept the same mechanic, but just make the T3 thermometer faster or something, instead you have to hold down a button.

- Broke voice recognition via PTT and toggle, VA is the only one that works, and like 10 days into the update that still hasn't been fixed.


One thing I also noticed, the game is horribly optimised now:
Here are my current PC specs (no I am not flexing):
- 3060 Ti
- i5-12600KF
- 4000mHz 32GB RAM

^ Those specs struggle to run a consistent 100 fps on the same settings that I had on my old rig

Old PC:
- 1070 Ti
- I5-8400
- (idk mHz) 16GB RAM

^ Those specs used to run the game at a CONSISTENT 140 fps

Performance has gotten progressively worse, and there's on optimisation updates, it's all hotfixes.

Speaking of hotfixes, what happened to testing new updates on a seperate beta and then moving it into the main game?

Just to clarify, I am thankful for fixing problems.


But using those 3 years (technically 2), I have come to this conclusion:

We're having a lack of updates, and I mean it, sure there's 3 devs but come on, teasing an update for 2 years, really?

The game is HORRIBLY optimised, and weather makes it even worse (heavy rain, fog and snow especially)

A huge lack of maps, and this could really easily be fixed by the community, have some sort of place to post your own maps, and have them possibly be in the game, this already saves a LOT of time for the devs, and gives a lot more replayablity to the game, and a lot of more fun to the community, because they're able to contribute to the game.

Now to my main point (anything I say here is passive-aggressive, I do not actually mean to hate on the developers):

I feel like the main reason why the game slowed down in development is simple, money.
The game blew up in popularity, inspiring the single dev (at the time) to not give up on it.

But ever since 2 new people came in, it feels like they've just gotten lazier.
I'm obviously not an expert in game development, but I really feel like an update to equipment only shouldn't take 2 years.

Dev(s) must've noticed they have enough money for x amount of years, and entirely stopped giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the game, this is usually the case with everyone now, they notice they get money they stop giving two ♥♥♥♥♥ about the community and their own game.

Your solution to inconsistent updates is to turn the game into a grind, add a prestige system that is literally the most pointless thing in the game, and all of that in the span of 2 years? While teasing everything?

Sure, being able to upgrade your items makes the game less repetitive, but the requirements for new items are horrible, not to mention the T3 items (besides thermo and maybe emf) are broken as ♥♥♥♥, and because we have so little big maps, it turns the game into an autopilot simulator.

I don't understand, what happened? What went wrong?

I'm not putting a TL;DR, start reading.

Okay now you people can start insulting me in every way possible, thanks.

Honestly if its only 3 devs you're wildly overestimating how much that team should be capable of, especially since this game is cheap, really cheap. For you to act like its crazy they have bugs after releasing this much content at one time then you must not know anything about game development. You're the type of player I can't stand being in a lobby with, some idiot who complains that the devs should've bug tested every single thing in the game before releasing the update as if that's even possible. Please just stop playing, I don't think anyone wants to play with someone like you. And to be clear I know there are many issues with this game, but that's to be expected since it's early access. Them not releasing on console yet actually is a huge slap in the face though.

I'm fully aware it's only 3 devs, but then why tease an update that will take you 2 years to make? It just doesn't make sense, sure, you're building anticipation but that anticipation dies after some time.

(EDIT)
"Some idiot who complains that the devs should've bug tested every single thing in the game before releasing the update as if that's even possible"

We had a seperate beta, where every update was launched there, and then once EVERYTHING was confirmed to work properly, it would be moved onto the main game.

For some reason they stopped with that, and decided to release bugs on the main game instantly, the seperate beta was the "testing" place.

Now we get 87 hotfixes everyday, all of which could've been avoided by just not removing the beta lol.

[notsad]

Originally posted by Zelion Cormac:

I only get stuck on starting the game or loading screens on full textures. Only half textures and below speeds it up for me and I'm using RTX2060 Super. Game's not super optimized but it still works for me.

I do agree with the grind though. We're paranormal investigators. I like using some critical thinking, not mindlessly grind through the levels just to unlock equipment that was already available in the previous update. I've seen Youtubers and Twitch streamers using that quick levelling method by guessing the ghost during a hunt and leave immediately after that, that's just not fun at all. That's not how an investigation works.

I mostly agree with you yeah, it went from an investigation game to a grinding game, just abuse custom difficulty, and that's how "investigation" works

[notsad]

Originally posted by taiko:

300 hours is plenty of play time

Not that much to me