I've been playing 7DTD since 20.7, singleplayer only. I often read in the forums though so I think I have a good impression of what the players want. I also believe that most of the things we want would be good for the game. They would noticably and significantly improve the game.
On the other hand, I don't know what TFP wants, I can only guess. Three things come to mind:
- They want to sell more copies
- They want people to play the game
- They want the game to be fun and engaging
I have no idea though of their "vision" for the game because they don't say. They don't explain themselves like some other developers do. Their choice, what can you do.
What the players want, on the other hand, can be summed up with: expanding on what is already there. That is, e.g.:
- More zombie variants
- Bandits
- NPCs other than traders, with quests and small trading opportunities
- More POIs
- Upgrades that go beyond steel
- Maybe some kind of main story
The thing is, and my point is that what the players want aligns perfectly with what I assume TFP wants. Make the game bigger, more expansive, more rich. It sells well, too. Here's how TFP could market that:
7 new ultra-lethal zombie variants!
Now with bandits! Get ambushed while picking cotton? Take revenge by attacking their heavily fortified bases!
14 NPCs that trade with you or can give you missions!
28 new Points of Interest!
Steel is not enough? Make titanium armor! You can't move but you sure as @%$# won't get hurt!
Like that. Instead, what we got is this:
- Hey, we changed how water works! Now with dew collectors! And no more glass jars!
- And the character progression, too! Now with magazines instead of how it was before! And before that!
I mean ...
I mean, the obvious thing. Nobody asked for that. Nobody felt that this is where 7DTD really needed to be overhauled. Improved, yes. Completely overhauled, no.
So, why did it happen? Nobody knows. TFP don't really explain themselves.
I don't mean to say that these are bad changes, not per se. But did they really make the game noticably and significantly better? I'd say no. They just changed things.
And I don't mean to say that A21 is a bad update, not at all. There are many, many small and not so small improvements. But the two big ones? I really, really wish TFP would have spent their time on what the players asked for instead, and what I believe is a no-brainer, too. Players who like a game always want more of what they like about it. To make it bigger. Fill the world with more stuff. Give them more reason to spend their time there. Not fixing what wasn't broken in the first place.
Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. But that's my take on it, anyhow.
edit: I posted this later in the thread but maybe it's better to put it here:
Maybe I was wrong. The original intent of my post was to comment on what I'm seeing everywhere: that there is a disparity between what the players want and what TFP is doing. I did not mean for the specific changes I mentioned to be taken literally, I just thought they were good examples for pointing out this disparity, like: if they had gone in this direction instead of that direction no one had a reason to complain. That might have been BS. And probably phrased poorly, by the looks of it.
I still truly believe that they would be good for the game. Not out of personal preference - e.g. NPCs, bandits, a main story, I can do without - but in that they enrich it and make it more attractive, for both new and old players. And that, despite all the good things that came with it, with the two big game mechanics overhauls A21 felt a bit like treading water. But I still love the game and will keep playing it, so there is that.
On the other hand, I don't know what TFP wants, I can only guess. Three things come to mind:
- They want to sell more copies
- They want people to play the game
- They want the game to be fun and engaging
I have no idea though of their "vision" for the game because they don't say. They don't explain themselves like some other developers do. Their choice, what can you do.
What the players want, on the other hand, can be summed up with: expanding on what is already there. That is, e.g.:
- More zombie variants
- Bandits
- NPCs other than traders, with quests and small trading opportunities
- More POIs
- Upgrades that go beyond steel
- Maybe some kind of main story
The thing is, and my point is that what the players want aligns perfectly with what I assume TFP wants. Make the game bigger, more expansive, more rich. It sells well, too. Here's how TFP could market that:
7 new ultra-lethal zombie variants!
Now with bandits! Get ambushed while picking cotton? Take revenge by attacking their heavily fortified bases!
14 NPCs that trade with you or can give you missions!
28 new Points of Interest!
Steel is not enough? Make titanium armor! You can't move but you sure as @%$# won't get hurt!
Like that. Instead, what we got is this:
- Hey, we changed how water works! Now with dew collectors! And no more glass jars!
- And the character progression, too! Now with magazines instead of how it was before! And before that!
I mean ...
I mean, the obvious thing. Nobody asked for that. Nobody felt that this is where 7DTD really needed to be overhauled. Improved, yes. Completely overhauled, no.
So, why did it happen? Nobody knows. TFP don't really explain themselves.
I don't mean to say that these are bad changes, not per se. But did they really make the game noticably and significantly better? I'd say no. They just changed things.
And I don't mean to say that A21 is a bad update, not at all. There are many, many small and not so small improvements. But the two big ones? I really, really wish TFP would have spent their time on what the players asked for instead, and what I believe is a no-brainer, too. Players who like a game always want more of what they like about it. To make it bigger. Fill the world with more stuff. Give them more reason to spend their time there. Not fixing what wasn't broken in the first place.
Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. But that's my take on it, anyhow.
edit: I posted this later in the thread but maybe it's better to put it here:
Maybe I was wrong. The original intent of my post was to comment on what I'm seeing everywhere: that there is a disparity between what the players want and what TFP is doing. I did not mean for the specific changes I mentioned to be taken literally, I just thought they were good examples for pointing out this disparity, like: if they had gone in this direction instead of that direction no one had a reason to complain. That might have been BS. And probably phrased poorly, by the looks of it.
I still truly believe that they would be good for the game. Not out of personal preference - e.g. NPCs, bandits, a main story, I can do without - but in that they enrich it and make it more attractive, for both new and old players. And that, despite all the good things that came with it, with the two big game mechanics overhauls A21 felt a bit like treading water. But I still love the game and will keep playing it, so there is that.
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