I am deeply worried about this. Not because Hazeron can't be a once-in-a-lifetime gaming experience and a profitable financial concern, but because it can be and if it isn't, it would be a tragedy. I've had cold sweats before, wondering what would happen if a Steam launch not only failed to get off the ground, but also destroyed the existing game with negativity and bad behaviour. I thought we had a lot of time before we needed to worry about that...but I am not going to argue with the financial reality.
Haxus, our concern is for you as much as, and more than, for the game. You are our friend, uncle, toymaker, a hundred other things: remember that Matt and the Toucans you banned are still active on Steam. And they are probably still in the top 10% of Nice People, let's be frank. There is nothing to stop people like them from getting the review ball rolling. "I played this game five years ago and the developer blah blah blah..." Steam is a cage fight and right now, with No Man's Sky, Fallout 76, EA lockboxes and lots of other "gamer crusades" in our recent past, people are in the mood to witch-hunt developers, both personally and professionally, at the drop of a hat. Your game will be insulted, you will be insulted, Paula will be insulted, your mother and grandchildren will be insulted. That's whether Hazeron is objectively good or not, so please be prepared.
Constructive time: new player experience is what will decide this one. The berserk button for Steam players is when they buy the game and it isn't what they expect: they can't login, servers are in limbo, tutorial is unclear etc. People who stick with the game for more than a few hours will be sympathetic to what it's about, anyway: it's the friend-coders we need to win over. For a start, we need to:
-Stop parts of the website staying down after updates. None of us care, but Steam reviewers will think it looks unprofessional.
-Update the wiki to reflect the current state, add more idiot-proof baby tutorials to the wiki. @Deantwo, assign us tasks? Ban Anr from writing such tutorials/force Anr to write all such tutorials.
-Make sure the Targoss tutorial is cast-iron.
-Have a rota of experienced players on mobile Hazeron Commander, able to answer help questions in short order, at least for the first few weeks.
-Have a concerted effort to provide a great public design list for ships and buildings, and a filter for what new players see by default.
-Perhaps create a Steam Cluster for people to spawn in, otherwise everyone's scanned EC systems are going to get rerolled in short order.
-People do not know what to do once their moonbase is done. It looks like a huge repetitive slog of scanning and colonizing ahead. Maybe add some more early-game challenge, some easy story-engine quest chains, perhaps a starting system pirate base to clear out?
-New video trailer? The Discord can discuss this.
I'll add more as I think of things. Anything we say here is not a criticism of the game as it is: it's either a miracle or black magic that you've made what you've made. But Steam reviewers care about very particular things, not all of which overlap with what Hazeron veterans care about, so we need to watch our backs. Early Access status would not be a bad idea.
I would advise against a reset any time soon. Established players provide a depth to the universe's history and a counterweight of stability which will be much needed. A Steam Cluster would achieve much the same effect without affecting the rest of us.
Good luck to Hazeron! Long may she live!
Haxus, our concern is for you as much as, and more than, for the game. You are our friend, uncle, toymaker, a hundred other things: remember that Matt and the Toucans you banned are still active on Steam. And they are probably still in the top 10% of Nice People, let's be frank. There is nothing to stop people like them from getting the review ball rolling. "I played this game five years ago and the developer blah blah blah..." Steam is a cage fight and right now, with No Man's Sky, Fallout 76, EA lockboxes and lots of other "gamer crusades" in our recent past, people are in the mood to witch-hunt developers, both personally and professionally, at the drop of a hat. Your game will be insulted, you will be insulted, Paula will be insulted, your mother and grandchildren will be insulted. That's whether Hazeron is objectively good or not, so please be prepared.
Constructive time: new player experience is what will decide this one. The berserk button for Steam players is when they buy the game and it isn't what they expect: they can't login, servers are in limbo, tutorial is unclear etc. People who stick with the game for more than a few hours will be sympathetic to what it's about, anyway: it's the friend-coders we need to win over. For a start, we need to:
-Stop parts of the website staying down after updates. None of us care, but Steam reviewers will think it looks unprofessional.
-Update the wiki to reflect the current state, add more idiot-proof baby tutorials to the wiki. @Deantwo, assign us tasks? Ban Anr from writing such tutorials/force Anr to write all such tutorials.
-Make sure the Targoss tutorial is cast-iron.
-Have a rota of experienced players on mobile Hazeron Commander, able to answer help questions in short order, at least for the first few weeks.
-Have a concerted effort to provide a great public design list for ships and buildings, and a filter for what new players see by default.
-Perhaps create a Steam Cluster for people to spawn in, otherwise everyone's scanned EC systems are going to get rerolled in short order.
-People do not know what to do once their moonbase is done. It looks like a huge repetitive slog of scanning and colonizing ahead. Maybe add some more early-game challenge, some easy story-engine quest chains, perhaps a starting system pirate base to clear out?
-New video trailer? The Discord can discuss this.
I'll add more as I think of things. Anything we say here is not a criticism of the game as it is: it's either a miracle or black magic that you've made what you've made. But Steam reviewers care about very particular things, not all of which overlap with what Hazeron veterans care about, so we need to watch our backs. Early Access status would not be a bad idea.
I would advise against a reset any time soon. Established players provide a depth to the universe's history and a counterweight of stability which will be much needed. A Steam Cluster would achieve much the same effect without affecting the rest of us.
Good luck to Hazeron! Long may she live!