Is it time to GreenLight Starmade?

[FunnyBunny14]

The fact that we're constantly getting new members proves that.

 

[Bench]

I think Starmade will have its big push when it's ready to have that big push. We have a great team of developers working tirelessly behind the scenes on features some of which you probably hadn't even considered. There's a lot we want to put into the game, but then we want to make sure it's balanced and also something people can pick up and play easily. One of the appeals of Minecraft was its simplicity to pick up and play fairly quickly, but even they in the early stages had to add achievements in to push new players in the right direction of getting the basics down.

Needless to say there's so much more you can do in Starmade, so many more game mechanics to learn, so I'd say definitely before a major promotional push we'll be making sure that new players that do come in, can pick up the game easily, and start enjoying and exploring it from the word go.

Now does that mean we won't be launching on Steam before then? Probably not. Does that mean we won't do any promoting at all until then? Probably not. But at the moment our biggest advertising avenue is you, the community. We have tonnes of youtubers playing this game, we have a variety of servers and a great community, so don't underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. That's what got me playing this over a year ago, and that is what will bring in more people to play more than any campaign we run at this point. Because when you invite a friend to play, they can ask you questions about this mechanic or how to do that, and through your involvement, you help tie them into the community as well.

So there will be a time when we do a major push, but probably not until the game is quite polished.

 

[Byamarro]

It's too early. It's time when combat and economy is balancing. People will comment bad aspects of game more than good ones.

By showing starmade in wrong momment, we can destroy reputation of this game for years.

 

[brucethemoose]

I think Starmade will have its big push when it's ready to have that big push. We have a great team of developers working tirelessly behind the scenes on features some of which you probably hadn't even considered. There's a lot we want to put into the game, but then we want to make sure it's balanced and also something people can pick up and play easily. One of the appeals of Minecraft was its simplicity to pick up and play fairly quickly, but even they in the early stages had to add achievements in to push new players in the right direction of getting the basics down.

Needless to say there's so much more you can do in Starmade, so many more game mechanics to learn, so I'd say definitely before a major promotional push we'll be making sure that new players that do come in, can pick up the game easily, and start enjoying and exploring it from the word go.

Now does that mean we won't be launching on Steam before then? Probably not. Does that mean we won't do any promoting at all until then? Probably not. But at the moment our biggest advertising avenue is you, the community. We have tonnes of youtubers playing this game, we have a variety of servers and a great community, so don't underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. That's what got me playing this over a year ago, and that is what will bring in more people to play more than any campaign we run at this point. Because when you invite a friend to play, they can ask you questions about this mechanic or how to do that, and through your involvement, you help tie them into the community as well.

So there will be a time when we do a major push, but probably not until the game is quite polished.

It's too early. It's time when combat and economy is balancing. People will comment bad aspects of game more than good ones.

By showing starmade in wrong momment, we can destroy reputation of this game for years.

I think I agree with you now. There shouldn't be a big push until Starmade is easier for new players to pick up, and until it more closely represents the final state of the game.

However... The community still seems a little small. I only see 10-30 people on each of the 2 main servers at any given time. If we get much smaller, we won't be able to test the large-scale server optimizations schema keeps adding.

 

[Byamarro]

I think I agree with you now. There shouldn't be a big push until Starmade is easier for new players to pick up, and more representative of the final game overall.


However... The community still seems a little small. I only see 10-30 people on each of the 2 main servers at any given time. If we get much smaller, we won't be able to test the large-scale server optimizations schema keeps adding.

Then maybe we should wait with big-scale optimization until we will be ready for big community

 

[MossyStone48]

We are ready for new players. The problem is the mad rush away from minecraft is not the ticket to jump on. anyone who finds mc refugees in their yard is going to be covered in demands to 'be more like minecraft'. starmade will only EVER be 'like minecraft' if the owner of a server specificlly sets up their universe to be as MC-friendly as possible. And anyone leaving that 'friendly' server for another server is going to be in for one hell of a culture shock. That'd have far reaching negative effects we best avoid.

If you are thinking of introducing your MC buddies to SM warn them it is almost but not entirely unlike the game they previously played.

 

[Byamarro]

We are ready for new players. The problem is the mad rush away from minecraft is not the ticket to jump on. anyone who finds mc refugees in their yard is going to be covered in demands to 'be more like minecraft'. starmade will only EVER be 'like minecraft' if the owner of a server specificlly sets up their universe to be as MC-friendly as possible. And anyone leaving that 'friendly' server for another server is going to be in for one hell of a culture shock. That'd have far reaching negative effects we best avoid.

If you are thinking of introducing your MC buddies to SM warn them it is almost but not entirely unlike the game they previously played.

We're ready for new players ofc. But not to make big-scale promotionall stuff. You would see wave of negative criticism against SM.

 

[MossyStone48]

Exactly.

 

[SilentRider_14]

How are we sure that we are not already receiving a minecraft refugee influx?

 

[Byamarro]

It's not only MC. It's just ALPHA stage and broken economy and fight.

 

[brucethemoose]

How are we sure that we are not already receiving a minecraft refugee influx?

Oh we'd know :P

The massive exodus hasn't really started yet... You'll see the mature (desirable) modded MC community leave en mass if/when Microsoft kills Forge or take aim at public modpacks.

The less desirable vanilla masses would only leave all at once if MS starts clamping down on big servers and their technically illegal Bukkit/Spigot builds, or their monetization policies.


That could happen at any time... But trust me, you'd notice activity here if any of that happens.

 

[Reilly Reese]

Yeah you would see in suggestions topics like

1. WE NEED BUDDER!!!

2. WHERE IS MY MINECART???

3. I WANT CREEPER!!!

4. WOOL TOTALLY AWESOME IDEA!!!!

5. GIVE ME DIAMOND ARMOR!!!!

 

[brucethemoose]

Yeah you would see in suggestions topics like

1. WE NEED BUDDER!!!

2. WHERE IS MY MINECART???

3. I WANT CREEPER!!!

4. WOOL TOTALLY AWESOME IDEA!!!!

5. GIVE ME DIAMOND ARMOR!!!!

People used to technical mods would ask a lot if balance/mechanics questions at first, but it wouldn't be too bad.


But oh, the vanilla masses... There would be a billion posts asking how to open the crafting table or move faster.

 

[Ithirahad]

Honestly, some Minecrafty features would be good here... Stairs, half blocks, upgradeable tools, tiered armor, cheaper base building materials, trees that grow, planetary survival, the new Banners system (Could be adapted to display blocks and made significantly more extensive), farming, less confusing ores...

But yeah, I get ye points. About half of the MC community is the sort of people we really, really, REALLY don't want around here. The major thing I'm worried about, as I think Bymarro said, is that people will see the negatives (Servers are laggy, crafting is expensive, ship buying is lame, planets are boring and also laggy... and freaking tiny, there are no biomes (for better or worse,) there are no mobs besides random wimpy robot ships, NPCs are "retarded" and "useless," NPC traders are pointless, shops are ugly and need updating, there's no farming, there's "nothing to do" in the game...) more than the positives (infinite universe, TONS more easily-available customization than MC will ever have, no loading screens, infinite possibilities, neat weapons, really wonderful textures, and nigh-infinite potential) which don't seem as immediately fun or useful to some people.

 

[FunnyBunny14]

Stairs? We have wedges.
Half blocks? OK.
Banners? Maybe decals on ships?
Planetary survival? New gamemode later.
Farming? Love that idea. I will be posting something on that later.
Less confusing ores? No. The ones you could confuse all have a different texture, and one always is an ore and the other always is a crystal. And since they have ore/crystal in the name, that isn't really necessary.

Growing trees? Like! Like ! Like! Gimme! (My new suggestion will cover that kind of, with growing crystals too!)

 

[Leanson]

Ok Ok we don't need a new influx of people for how ever long they will be here and have them suggest and demand this game head into a different direction from what the community and its staff intend it to go. With any event or situation we can always use it to our advantage. We don't really want the player base just yet of MC but we could use the skill and influence of the modern that have left and are Leaving MC to help accelerate the games features, bug fixing, texture support, and other skilled jobs that star made might be able to utilize. Doing this will increase the level of quality the game needs and propel it further to where it needs to go so it can be released. We don't need the attention that this can create so a modern name and purpose should be kept a secret.
Mc I think was bought out by Microsoft because of all the merchandising sold, future games, and DLC lol. Also the copyright infringement they can inflict on similar games that stole their code haha idk about that though, it's just a thought.

 

[Reilly Reese]

Guide to who we want to join our community from Minecraft

1. The builders who can make things that look like they aren't built out of blocks.

2. The Redstone Nerds (Can do stuff with logic systems we probably can't)

3. The modders (Later on when we can truly mod)

4. The people who can pay for servers and run them ( :p )

 

[Byamarro]

Don't let people to come to SM in massess until Schema's game will gain some gameplay. Right now it's "Ship Builder 2000".

 

[NoPantsMcDance]

Build all the things!

 

[Ithirahad]

Stairs? We have wedges.

Yes, but sometimes ramps look silly. Stairs would be nice still.

Banners? Maybe decals on ships?

Yeah, basically.

Planetary survival? New gamemode later.

No, it should be a base part of the game as a greater whole... A "first stage," if you will. The crafting system revamp already is helping this, but there need to be more things to do, and more things that will try to do stuff to YOU, before you even get into space.

Farming? Love that idea. I will be posting something on that later.

Can't wait to hear about your ideas. :D

Less confusing ores? No. The ones you could confuse all have a different texture, and one always is an ore and the other always is a crystal. And since they have ore/crystal in the name, that isn't really necessary.

I meant not necessarily the ores themselves, but their purposes...

Growing trees? Like! Like ! Like! Gimme! (My new suggestion will cover that kind of, with growing crystals too!)

Haha... Not sure about the crystals, but it sure would be nice to be able to grow trees. At least for now we can copy/paste them.