PC A21's big failure, my personal opinions

[LisikRey]

So... Let me start by saying that I have many thousands of hours into this game and know absolutely everything. Now to the point, why is the game broken.... Is there a game release looming? Then answer me developers, will you fix the following problems:

- Transport still disappears if you get off it abruptly, and returns to the point where you put it. On some servers there is a mod /V, which returns the transport to the player, but on most servers do not know this mod. Will it be fixed?

- The quests are broken completely. You used to come in and clean quests with such gusto, 25 zombies? 16 zombies? And you're free. Adequate quest, adequate reward. And now? You're forced on large buildings to search every zombie spawn, go into every room. I understand you, you're not playing the game and you had a brilliant idea in your head, and maybe.... for one or two quests, it's reasonable. But if people love quests? If they do dozens or hundreds of them? Do you think we're that interested in looking for every zombie in the house, and then going through the house for about 1-2h looking for the last zombie? nope! The quests are dead. Will it be fixed and reverted back to the old system?

- Crafting and the book system... I understand that you are inspired by Rust, but there it's built differently and can be learned in a couple of hours, and you make me find a Bookhouse, loot and collect for a minute.... 2000 books!!! I understand, you like to suffer, you like to mock, but the players do not like it and the sagging online after the release of A21 in 10 times confirms my words. After all, players are so interested in collecting 2 weeks of books? The gameplay is just addictive! Especially when you're with a machine gun looking to craft a bike. What did you dislike about the old system? All my friends quit the game because of this nonsense. And now let's think about PVP servers?  Not everyone can afford to play 500h/WIpe, most can afford to play 50-70 hours. And they just gave up building bases because finding books in that time is not only impossible, but makes no sense. Will this nonsense be fixed?

- Doors... again back to the fact that you don't play the game, otherwise I can't find a logical explanation, all the game modders are trying this nonsense, but so far no one has succeeded. After all it is so interesting to build a base on servers with 100 doors and then open each one? What prevented you from double-clicking to open/close? I'll let you in on a secret, not everyone has a base on a solo server for 2 houses, a lot of people love to fight on PVP servers and 100 doors is the basis. We should make you open them yourself

- Broken Biome Multipliers. Did you even know that if the loot level is 250, it resets to 10 in the forest biome and 1000 in the wasteland? That's a 100x difference! And the game shows other numbers and many players do not know that you have crooked coders, but we and mod developers found these numbers in the code. On some servers it is already fixed, but not on all. Now tell me, why do you need a biome multiplier at all? What prevents you from going to the wasteland and get all the loot at once? This is so absurd that I don't know if you have any logic at all, or if you're just putting numbers in at random

- Still remains a bug with loading, if you step back 100 meters or fly on a copter, you can see where the player is at his base, as the player loading further than the base. How to play on the PVP server?

In fact, there are many more bugs, they are not just many, they are a huge number, but I described the main ones, which you completely killed the game after A21, and the falling online showed it. Now it has grown again, because people come in hoping that you will fix this nonsense of crooked coders, but can you? Big question... We'll add a biker costume though, lol. Why don't you do the game first?

 

[Unamelable]

So im not a last player that hate this game from beginning lol

 

[ElCabong]

I find it very therapeutic to walk around clubbing zombies in the head with a baseball bat after work. I don't know how the devs did this but I think it's an excellent feature.

 

[Roland]

- Transport still disappears if you get off it abruptly, and returns to the point where you put it. On some servers there is a mod /V, which returns the transport to the player, but on most servers do not know this mod. Will it be fixed?

Not sure about this but if it is a known issue then there is a good chance. Maybe @Jugginator can comment. I’ve never experienced it myself playing on a server with just three of us. 
 

Do you think we're that interested in looking for every zombie in the house, and then going through the house for about 1-2h looking for the last zombie? nope!

You may not but there are people who do enjoy that and that’s why in A21 they fixed the problem. You can now select lower tier quests if you don’t enjoy searching a tier 4 or tier 5 POI for every last zombie.  You can always do a tier 2 or 3 clear if you like a lighter quest for that type. Now everyone can play how they like. Perhaps you didn’t know that you can select lower tier quests if you don’t like the huge complex buildings that take hours to find every last zombie. Now you do.

- Crafting and the book system...

It doesn’t fit in with your playstyle because as a PvP player you need a system that is 100% deterministic so you can rush to the top before your opponents and use that advantage. I get it. That doesn’t mean it needs fixing. This game hasn’t been developing towards the goal of PvP balance since A11 introduced RPG elements for the first time. Since A11, the game has become more and more PvE focused and less PvP focused. This game is being developed primarily for 2-8 friends to play as a team rather than for 20-50 strangers to destroy each other and steal from each other. The crafting system, like many other systems are round holes that you want to fill with your square PvP pegs. Without the element of competition and a need to race to the top of progression before others, the system works great and makes each game feel different depending on what you can and can’t do. It’s awesome for a team wanting to work together to cooperate and help each other.

Doors...

I don’t even understand what you are saying here. You mean opening 100 doors crashes the server or something?  Again, if you PvP with dozens of strangers on a server, that’s great, but you aren’t really the target audience if the game. It’s cool that you are modding this primarily solo and small team cooperative game to play it as a large scale hunger games PvP experience. Modding the core game to something it’s not often creates problems with balance though. 

- Broken Biome Multipliers.

Biome progression won’t be done for 1.0 but is on the roadmap for later. However, if your focus is on PVP and hence racing against others to progress, you probably won’t be satisfied with it even when it’s done. This isn’t really an issue for SP other than those who just like to optimize and min/max for its own sake. @Jugginator do you know anything about broken multipliers for the biomes?

- Still remains a bug with loading, if you step back 100 meters or fly on a copter, you can see where the player is at his base, as the player loading further than the base. How to play on the PVP server?

Only an issue with PvP and most likely only on servers that are exceeding 8 players. I’ve not noticed that for many years. There are three of us on a server and I don’t see my brother load in without the rest of the chunk. But even if that did happen I’m not trying to discover his base or snipe him through his walls that haven’t rendered yet. It’s nothing that has to be fixed for the primary intended gameplay. It’s just a graphical glitch that can be jarring at times instead of a massive exploitive advantage. 
 

In fact, there are many more bugs, they are not just many, they are a huge number, but I described the main ones, which you completely killed the game after A21, and the falling online showed it. Now it has grown again, because people come in hoping that you will fix this nonsense of crooked coders, but can you? Big question... We'll add a biker costume though, lol. Why don't you do the game first?

PvP servers of more than 8 players are a modded version of the game and so will always be problematic. Just like any mod, you roll with the punches and just try to live with the inevitable glitches. If this game was PvP-centric then all your priorities would be the top priorities of TFP and yet they are focused on adding a biker costume. Why do you think that is?  Could it be that the devs are primarily targeting an audience that cares more about filling a role in a small team and so will enjoy specialized outfits and that servers of 20+ strangers trying to kill and rob each other aren’t on their radar at all?

Yes. That’s what it surely means. 

 

[MechanicalLens]

Not sure about this but if it is a known issue then there is a good chance. Maybe @Jugginator can comment. I’ve never experienced it myself playing on a server with just three of us. 
 

You may not but there are people who do enjoy that and that’s why in A21 they fixed the problem. You can now select lower tier quests if you don’t enjoy searching a tier 4 or tier 5 POI for every last zombie.  You can always do a tier 2 or 3 clear if you like a lighter quest for that type. Now everyone can play how they like. Perhaps you didn’t know that you can select lower tier quests if you don’t like the huge complex buildings that take hours to find every last zombie. Now you do.

It doesn’t fit in with your playstyle because as a PvP player you need a system that is 100% deterministic so you can rush to the top before your opponents and use that advantage. I get it. That doesn’t mean it needs fixing. This game hasn’t been developing towards the goal of PvP balance since A11 introduced RPG elements for the first time. Since A11, the game has become more and more PvE focused and less PvP focused. This game is being developed primarily for 2-8 friends to play as a team rather than for 20-50 strangers to destroy each other and steal from each other. The crafting system, like many other systems are round holes that you want to fill with your square PvP pegs. Without the element of competition and a need to race to the top of progression before others, the system works great and makes each game feel different depending on what you can and can’t do. It’s awesome for a team wanting to work together to cooperate and help each other.

I don’t even understand what you are saying here. You mean opening 100 doors crashes the server or something?  Again, if you PvP with dozens of strangers on a server, that’s great, but you aren’t really the target audience if the game. It’s cool that you are modding this primarily solo and small team cooperative game to play it as a large scale hunger games PvP experience. Modding the core game to something it’s not often creates problems with balance though. 

Biome progression won’t be done for 1.0 but is on the roadmap for later. However, if your focus is on PVP and hence racing against others to progress, you probably won’t be satisfied with it even when it’s done. This isn’t really an issue for SP other than those who just like to optimize and min/max for its own sake. @Jugginator do you know anything about broken multipliers for the biomes?

Only an issue with PvP and most likely only on servers that are exceeding 8 players. I’ve not noticed that for many years. There are three of us on a server and I don’t see my brother load in without the rest of the chunk. But even if that did happen I’m not trying to discover his base or snipe him through his walls that haven’t rendered yet. It’s nothing that has to be fixed for the primary intended gameplay. It’s just a graphical glitch that can be jarring at times instead of a massive exploitive advantage. 
 

PvP servers of more than 8 players are a modded version of the game and so will always be problematic. Just like any mod, you roll with the punches and just try to live with the inevitable glitches. If this game was PvP-centric then all your priorities would be the top priorities of TFP and yet they are focused on adding a biker costume. Why do you think that is?  Could it be that the devs are primarily targeting an audience that cares more about filling a role in a small team and so will enjoy specialized outfits and that servers of 20+ strangers trying to kill and rob each other aren’t on their radar at all?

Yes. That’s what it surely means. 

If anyone is interested in replicating my edited XML settings under the biomes.xml, I'd be happy to share. I've had these settings for well over a year now and it feels far more balanced than what is currently presented in vanilla. I spent hours configuring and testing these until I was satisfied with the results. (i.e. small but notable increases per biome, plus a buff of the forest biome's overall loot stage multiplier and bonus).

Forest biome: lootstage_ modifier = "0.5" lootstage_bonus="10" gamestage_modifier="0" gamestage_bonus="0"

Desert/Burnt biomes: lootstage_modifier = "0.6" lootstage_bonus="15" gamestage_modifier="0.1" gamestage_bonus="5"

Snow biome: lootstage_modifier = "0.7" lootstage_bonus="25" gamestage_modifier="0.2" gamestage_bonus="10"

Wasteland biome: lootstage_modifier = "0.8" lootstage_bonus="35" gamestage_modifier="0.3" gamestage_bonus="15"

 

[Unamelable]

Im 100% sure that game does not respect player playstyle and time. Because many sandbox options are mostly irrelevant since the developers force the player to follow one path. And it's a maximally unworth system even worse than annoying tutorials. Need water? You MUST buy a filter from a merchant. You want solar power? You MUST buy a solar panel along with cells from a merchant.

For the most part, some items cannot be find and forced to be bought from merchants. If I could I'd disable their spawning altogether, but forcing players to use a merchant is a nasty thing to do and it completely ruins the nomad style of play. You decided to make your own decision to solve the problems? Because it's a sandbox game? We'll make sure they don't work. Because you have to find a "thought out our way". It's very strange to play such a closed sandbox game where 1/3 gives you free rein to solve different types of problems.

I personally hate the standard leveling system where a player has to spend an unthinkable amount of time in solo to

1. Leveling up
   
2. Finding magazines
   

1. For having no other sources of experience other than passive gaining
   
2. Finding up to 177 on skills and 1920 on crafting. (Plus there will always be copies you can't trade for others. Good luck.)
   

Coupled with the unfinished mechanics of the game, it feels like a game that just came out yesterday. I don't see what the developers took so long to do other than assets, RWG, graphics, and stability. Everything else is very raw and needs total rework. At least for the sake of the players, because the game is played to enjoy and not to frustrate because of - for idiotic rules. The main basis of any game is fun, I see in this game only misery and doom. And it would be good if it worked like Project Zomboid. But I feel it because of underbaced mechanics that completely ruin immersiveness and logic in the most ordinary things.

 

[YourMirror]

Im 100% sure that game does not respect player playstyle and time. Because many sandbox options are mostly irrelevant since the developers force the player to follow one path. And it's a maximally unworth system even worse than annoying tutorials. Need water? You MUST buy a filter from a merchant. You want solar power? You MUST buy a solar panel along with cells from a merchant.

For the most part, some items cannot be find and forced to be bought from merchants. If I could I'd disable their spawning altogether, but forcing players to use a merchant is a nasty thing to do and it completely ruins the nomad style of play. You decided to make your own decision to solve the problems? Because it's a sandbox game? We'll make sure they don't work. Because you have to find a "thought out our way". It's very strange to play such a closed sandbox game where 1/3 gives you free rein to solve different types of problems.

I personally hate the standard leveling system where a player has to spend an unthinkable amount of time in solo to

1. Leveling up
   
2. Finding magazines
   

1. For having no other sources of experience other than passive gaining
   
2. Finding up to 177 on skills and 1920 on crafting. (Plus there will always be copies you can't trade for others. Good luck.)
   

Coupled with the unfinished mechanics of the game, it feels like a game that just came out yesterday. I don't see what the developers took so long to do other than assets, RWG, graphics, and stability. Everything else is very raw and needs total rework. At least for the sake of the players, because the game is played to enjoy and not to frustrate because of - for idiotic rules. The main basis of any game is fun, I see in this game only misery and doom. And it would be good if it worked like Project Zomboid. But I feel it because of underbaced mechanics that completely ruin immersiveness and logic in the most ordinary things.

Its still not coped with mentally?

We get it. You hate absolutely everything about the game. You hate the devs. You hate the version convention. You hate mods. You hate the way of commucation around the game. Heck you probably hate everything. Why on earth are you here? Uninstall this abomination and move on. 

 

[Riamus]

You can compare it all you want to Project Zomboid but this game isn't that game.  For that, I'm grateful.  I looked at that game and quickly moved on.  This game is much better.  If you don't like the game as it is, use mods.  If you don't want to do that, find a game you like instead of spending all this time writing walls of text about something you aren't even interested in.  Like it or not, most of your ideas are in the minority of interest to most players.

 

[BFT2020]

I personally hate the standard leveling system where a player has to spend an unthinkable amount of time in solo to

1. Leveling up
   
2. Finding magazines
   

1. For having no other sources of experience other than passive gaining
   
2. Finding up to 177 on skills and 1920 on crafting. (Plus there will always be copies you can't trade for others. Good luck.)
   

How one gains experience in this game:

• Completing quests
  
• Killing Zombies
  
• Mining
  
• Harvesting
  
• Salvaging
  
• Crafting
  
• Building
  

There are a lot of ways to gain experience in this game, and most of them are being active in the game.  You are rewarded for doing things, not sure where the complaint about no other sources of experience other than passive gaining....

As for the 177 skill points and 1920 crafting magazines you feel you must have, that doesn't seem to be a game mechanic issue; that's a personal choice.  It is obviously that the developers don't expect players to progress quickly in the game.

You can reach both of those goals in vanilla but it will take time.  If you want to max out quicker, then make adjustments to the game like:

• Increase XP gain setting - though I would be cautious of that as it may advanced your game stage too quickly based on your gear
  
• Continue to do Tier 1 trader quests and request the Crafting bundle as a reward.  It is a reward in all tiers, but you can do multiple lower tiers in a day than a higher tier quest
  

Or you can go into creative mode and give yourself xp / items to quickly advance, or look for a mod or two that does the same thing.

As for the traders, that is an element that the developers added to the game.  If you don't want to use them, then don't.  There are countless players that do that style of gameplay and either mod in some changes to account for the traders not being there, or simply do without those items.

 

[Unamelable]

As for the 177 skill points and 1920 crafting magazines you feel you must have, that doesn't seem to be a game mechanic issue; that's a personal choice.  It is obviously that the developers don't expect players to progress quickly in the game.

Yeah, I really wanted to do that much magazine wanking for 100 hours for 1 save. Of course I asked for it, and I wanted it so badly that I'd be bored out of my mind looting houses and doing monotonous quests

And apparently you didn't read what I posted earlier since gaining experience in the game is also artificially stretched. I don't play MMORPG of world genre like Warcraft to work so hard on progress. It's generally exhausting and discourages me from playing co-op because it takes too much time. Maybe, perhaps, with a stretch the situation is better in coop but if in solo it turns into hell. I have nothing to say about progression.

 

[Roland]

Im 100% sure that game does not respect player playstyle and time. Because many sandbox options are mostly irrelevant since the developers force the player to follow one path.

You've already established yourself as a min/max gamer which is why you feel forced to follow only one path. The sandbox elements are relevant to anyone who enjoys playing the game in different ways without letting efficiency get in the way. If you only ever do the one most optimal activity in the game then for sure it will get old fast but nobody forces you to play that way. It is your choice. You aren't denying that there are many sandbox options-- only that they feel mostly irrelevant. That, my friend, is the spot-on complaint of the min-maxer. Meanwhile, thousands of players play this game in numerous different ways every time they play because their number one goal isn't to level up as quickly as they possibly can.

Need water? You MUST buy a filter from a merchant. You want solar power? You MUST buy a solar panel along with cells from a merchant.

So there are two items out of hundreds that require you to visit the merchant, so what? You act like the merchant dominates and overshadows the entire game simply because you must purchase two items from them. Merchants are a real part of the game and the developers aren't going to design their relevance out of the game. At the same time their necessity for a full playthrough is very minimal. It's like everyone else is saying, Wow, I played for 100 hours and only needed to visit the trader to obtain two items out of everything I gained during my playthrough and you're saying, Wow, I played for 100 hours and I HAD TO VISIT THE TRADER TO OBTAIN TWO ITEMS! THEY ARE SO DOMINANT IN THE GAME!!!

For the most part, some items cannot be find and forced to be bought from merchants. If I could I'd disable their spawning altogether, but forcing players to use a merchant is a nasty thing to do and it completely ruins the nomad style of play. You decided to make your own decision to solve the problems? Because it's a sandbox game? We'll make sure they don't work. Because you have to find a "thought out our way". It's very strange to play such a closed sandbox game where 1/3 gives you free rein to solve different types of problems.

For the most part some items cannot be found and you are forced to buy from merchants? I thought there were just two items? What is the most part now? How are people playing No Trader Challenges (and succeeding) if what you claim is true? The game is not a pure sandbox game. It is a game with elements from several genres including sandbox games. For the purest of pure sandbox experiences, enable the creative menu. If you choose to do that then voila, it is a sandbox game. If you choose not to do that it is a game with sandbox elements which means that there will be some restrictions placed on the player. There is nothing bad about having merchants in the game and nothing forces you to use them more than to obtain two items during your entire playthrough.

I personally hate the standard leveling system where a player has to spend an unthinkable amount of time in solo to

1. Leveling up
   
2. Finding magazines
   

1. For having no other sources of experience other than passive gaining
   
2. Finding up to 177 on skills and 1920 on crafting. (Plus there will always be copies you can't trade for others. Good luck.)
   

That's fine. Not everyone needs to like the game. Just because you enjoy a faster pace to progression and want to be able to max out everything during a single playthrough doesn't mean the system is flawed. It just isn't to your taste and that is good to share in the community so you can find like-minded gamers and come together and possibly get a mod created that presses all the buttons you like. But it doesn't automatically mean the devs must change the balance to suit your desires. I actually agree that there are some magazine ladders that don't need 100 rungs and that they could reduce some of them and that would suit me just fine. But I recognize that as a personal preference and not as something that is flawed with the game. A flaw is not equal to anything we don't like.

Coupled with the unfinished mechanics of the game, it feels like a game that just came out yesterday. I don't see what the developers took so long to do other than assets, RWG, graphics, and stability. Everything else is very raw and needs total rework. At least for the sake of the players, because the game is played to enjoy and not to frustrate because of - for idiotic rules. The main basis of any game is fun, I see in this game only misery and doom. And it would be good if it worked like Project Zomboid. But I feel it because of underbaced mechanics that completely ruin immersiveness and logic in the most ordinary things.

Sorry you feel that way. Hopefully, 1.0 will change your mind when it releases in a few weeks.

 

[Jugginator]

Not sure about this but if it is a known issue then there is a good chance. Maybe @Jugginator can comment. I’ve never experienced it myself playing on a server with just three of us. 

Hmm, I kind of don't follow what's going on as described. @LisikRey, could you elaborate a bit on that? 

 

[zombiehunter]

Coupled with the unfinished mechanics of the game, it feels like a game that just came out yesterday. I don't see what the developers took so long to do other than assets, RWG, graphics, and stability. Everything else is very raw and needs total rework. At least for the sake of the players, because the game is played to enjoy and not to frustrate because of - for idiotic rules. The main basis of any game is fun, I see in this game only misery and doom. And it would be good if it worked like Project Zomboid. But I feel it because of underbaced mechanics that completely ruin immersiveness and logic in the most ordinary things.

I get it, the game doesn't work for you, but why are you here, posting on this board, if this game is idiotic and does nothing but provide misery and doom?  Why are you playing it?  As others have suggested, uninstall it and  move on.

 

[Unamelable]

I get it, the game doesn't work for you, but why are you here, posting on this board, if this game is idiotic and does nothing but provide misery and doom?  Why are you playing it?  As others have suggested, uninstall it and  move on.

I don't consider the argument from hackneyed indulgences that are unsupported by any evidence.

I'm interested in the game, and just because I say so many negative things about it doesn't mean I hate it. I'm talking about how it can and should be improved, the game has a solid foundation on which the developers have not even put walls, and even if they did. They must have fallen down a long time ago. I have previously written its merits for which I am not ashamed to enter it. And all the negativity formed under the first impression, and this is very important. If the game does not give decent impressions. Then it is assembled incorrectly.

 

[BFT2020]

I have previously written its merits for which I am not ashamed to enter it. 

I must have miss the post where you wrote about the merits of the game.  I catch a lot of things, but sometimes one or two get past me.

 

[zombiehunter]

I don't consider the argument from hackneyed indulgences that are unsupported by any evidence.

I'm interested in the game, and just because I say so many negative things about it doesn't mean I hate it. I'm talking about how it can and should be improved, the game has a solid foundation on which the developers have not even put walls, and even if they did. They must have fallen down a long time ago. I have previously written its merits for which I am not ashamed to enter it. And all the negativity formed under the first impression, and this is very important. If the game does not give decent impressions. Then it is assembled incorrectly.

It doesn't give decent impressions to you.  That doesn't mean the game is bad.  That is simply your opinion.  My opinion is that this is one of the best games I've ever played.  Different strokes for different folks.  This is one of those "agree to disagree" moments.

Regarding your "assembled incorrectly" comment, perhaps you can go to work for TFP and straighten out all of their mistakes so the game will provide joy and fun instead of misery and doom.  I can't wait.

 

[Ramethzer0]

You've already established yourself as a min/max gamer which is why you feel forced to follow only one path. The sandbox elements are relevant to anyone who enjoys playing the game in different ways without letting efficiency get in the way. If you only ever do the one most optimal activity in the game then for sure it will get old fast but nobody forces you to play that way. It is your choice.

Some people like to sit on lit campfires and then complain that the wood is flammable.

and... I never get tired of ragey gamers that say things to the tune of: "I've been playing this game since forever, and I still hate it after a decade of constantly playing it."

 

[Unamelable]

Some people like to sit on lit campfires and then complain that the wood is flammable.

and... I never get tired of ragey gamers that say things to the tune of: "I've been playing this game since forever, and I still hate it after a decade of constantly playing it."

I @%$#ING HATE THIS GAME

I love this game

It doesn't give decent impressions to you.  That doesn't mean the game is bad.  That is simply your opinion.  My opinion is that this is one of the best games I've ever played.  Different strokes for different folks.  This is one of those "agree to disagree" moments.

Regarding your "assembled incorrectly" comment, perhaps you can go to work for TFP and straighten out all of their mistakes so the game will provide joy and fun instead of misery and doom.  I can't wait.

I hate power outages "irl"

 

[RyanX]

A lot of the problems he is describing happens moreso on the multiplayer servers.  The vehicle issue, lag, all that stuff is because this game can't handle multiplayer and freaks out with any kind of server load.  And when I say multiplayer, I'm not talking about the TFP version of multiplayer with 8 players just so they can add the multiplayer tag to the game.  Please add your responses such as "this is not a pvp game" or "it's not meant to handle more than 8 players".  We know.......we know.  It's a buggy game with poor code and it can't really be fixed.  It would need an overhaul or more.  It's in commercial mode, which means that they are going to focus on selling as many games as possible and not making the game as good as possible.  It peaked around alpha 16 and it's been downhill ever since.  

 

[minisith]

A lot of the problems he is describing happens moreso on the multiplayer servers.  The vehicle issue, lag, all that stuff is because this game can't handle multiplayer and freaks out with any kind of server load.  And when I say multiplayer, I'm not talking about the TFP version of multiplayer with 8 players just so they can add the multiplayer tag to the game.  Please add your responses such as "this is not a pvp game" or "it's not meant to handle more than 8 players".  We know.......we know.  It's a buggy game with poor code and it can't really be fixed.  It would need an overhaul or more.  It's in commercial mode, which means that they are going to focus on selling as many games as possible and not making the game as good as possible.  It peaked around alpha 16 and it's been downhill ever since.  

So because they give players the option to get more than 8 players you think the game is broken?   Maybe you want them to hardlock the game at 8 players like other games.  You will be popular here.