On the upcoming Steam release

[Shinzy]

Oh I'm still rather hoping the faction relations be improved before 1.0
they're very bare right now
(but then maybe steam mite attract way more capable modders around! ooo)


Also! what Patry said!
Steam achievments =P [Feast on flesh 0/1000], that's human flesh, ofc

[Caminha]

Oh I'm still rather hoping the faction relations be improved before 1.0
they're very bare right now
(but then maybe steam mite attract way more capable modders around! ooo)


Also! what Patry said!
Steam achievments =P [Feast on flesh 0/1000], that's human flesh, ofc

The title "I'm a humanitarian" is way better than "Feast on Flesh".

[TLHeart]

he mentioned it in the comments. "Just to follow up, based on a bunch of feedback I think I probably will just release it 1.0. It's ready for that. Nothing of substance about what I wrote originally would have changed - it's purely a labeling issue."

it is not a labeling issue, but meeting the expectations of the new community based upon the label. It is a very big deal if he wants to continue to be able to market he game, and make an income from it.

[TLHeart]

Oh I'm still rather hoping the faction relations be improved before 1.0
they're very bare right now
(but then maybe steam mite attract way more capable modders around! ooo)


Also! what Patry said!
Steam achievments =P [Feast on flesh 0/1000], that's human flesh, ofc

steam achievements are such a waste of programing time, add nothing to the game, but does give people bragging rights.... I guess some people need that outside stimulus.

[Tynan]

he mentioned it in the comments. "Just to follow up, based on a bunch of feedback I think I probably will just release it 1.0. It's ready for that. Nothing of substance about what I wrote originally would have changed - it's purely a labeling issue."

it is not a labeling issue, but meeting the expectations of the new community based upon the label. It is a very big deal if he wants to continue to be able to market he game, and make an income from it.

It's about choosing the label that sets the expectations that best match reality. The facts of the situation are the same either way - the question is just what to call it.

[RemingtonRyder]

The entire reason why mod content conflicts is that it's impossible to predict what combinations of mods will be made once they're out there. No wonder modpack creators have their work cut out for them.

I'm not against Tynan adding more content down the line, but it's going to be a hell of an easier process once he's got fresh eyes on the case.

[TLHeart]

he mentioned it in the comments. "Just to follow up, based on a bunch of feedback I think I probably will just release it 1.0. It's ready for that. Nothing of substance about what I wrote originally would have changed - it's purely a labeling issue."

it is not a labeling issue, but meeting the expectations of the new community based upon the label. It is a very big deal if he wants to continue to be able to market he game, and make an income from it.

It's about choosing the label that sets the expectations that best match reality. The facts of the situation are the same either way - the question is just what to call it.

And there is the totality of marketing. the label is everything.

[TLHeart]

I am actually most excited about the mod growth that will come from a steam release and a 6 month gap in updates that could possibly mess them up. More modders with more time to tinker!

And Tynan has changed his mind about the EA release.

The only way there will be more modders, is if they purchase the game. and since the price is as much as a completed game, lots of people will be very skeptical. And why will they purchase the game knowing the developer is not going to be supporting or updating the game for at least 6 months? That does not satisfy the expectations of the gaming community for either an early access or a beta game. And to call this rimworld 1.0 is a huge stretch, when there is so little actual content.

[Tynan]

And there is the totality of marketing. the label is everything.

Indeed. I'd say it's a bit different from just 'marketing', though. Setting expectations is important. When people know what to expect, they won't feel let down when they don't get something else. Marketing can, sadly, often mean setting expectations as high as possible to grab dollars before those expectations are ultimately violated. I really never want to do that which is why I try to just tell people everything and let them make their decision on whether they want to buy the game or not.

In this case, I've told people everything in that blog post, which I thought would be enough. But reconsidering it and thinking about how people really are (especially in mass markets like Steam), I think a lot of people won't really absorb all that info. They'll see "Early Access" and make a bunch of assumptions and get pissed off when those assumptions are violated. It wouldn't really be my fault since I made future plans clear in the blog, but the assumption-driven anger would be there regardless, players would suffer, and I'd suffer some backlash. That's why I'm thankful people reminded me of this. Help me interact with the Steam market the way it is, instead of the way I wish it would be.

[Tynan]

there is so little actual content.

Lots of people play dozens of hours of RimWorld. How much 'actual content' would be considered a normal amount in your mind? I hate to be frank but I think you're kind of being unreasonable here. Demanding I hit Dwarf Fortress-level content volumes just isn't reasonable. Calling a game where players regularly do 15-100 hours of play "so little content" just isn't reasonable. "So little content" would more accurately describe how the game was back around Alpha 1, where you could do everything in like 3-4 hours.

[akiceabear]

I think vanilla A11 is worth every penny and more, I've gotten many more quality hours out of it than plenty of AAA titles. Labelling as 1.0 does seem prudent given the Steam community. Very excited for what 6 months of stability and a larger player base may do for modding.

Congratulations and enjoy the well deserved break!

[Jaxxa]

I have to agree that it is worth the price for the content in the current version, but where it really shines for me is the modding support.

I think it might it be a good idea to soft launch version 1.0 in the same way as the previous Alphas and have the steam release slightly later on. Release on the website and send out the emails, stating that if everything goes right this will be 1.0. Then put the official launch on steam week or two later.

The potential advantages being:
1. You have two weeks of testing and feedback from the entire current playerbase before the official Steam release
2. Mod makers can use that time to update their mods to 1.0, so that at the official steam release there will be a number of mods ready to go, and the advantage of mod support is more likely to reflect positively on the initial reviews and player impressions.

[Axelios]

I have to agree that it is worth the price for the content in the current version, but where it really shines for me is the modding support.

I think it might it be a good idea to soft launch version 1.0 in the same way as the previous Alphas and have the steam release slightly later on. Release on the website and send out the emails, stating that if everything goes right this will be 1.0. Then put the official launch on steam week or two later.

The potential advantages being:
1. You have two weeks of testing and feedback from the entire current playerbase before the official Steam release
2. Mod makers can use that time to update their mods to 1.0, so that at the official steam release there will be a number of mods ready to go, and the advantage of mod support is more likely to reflect positively on the initial reviews and player impressions.

I especially like #2. Please consider this Tynan, for the good of RimWorld it doesn't ask anymore development from you, just a little patience.

[Noobshock]

As much as I completely understand the need to take a break, as anyone who's followed the development would I believe, I think the idea that a game is "complete" when "you get x hours out of it" is just plain depressing in general.

I hope we see things like animal husbandry, void gods and generally more events to get trolled with before the towel is officially thrown.

Mods are really a bad substitute for more vanilla content as most modmakers care very little for consistency/balance and how things generally fit into the game or not, at best they tend to have a much lower expectation for quality.

I also think the game right now has an acceptable level of content and features, but why settle for "GOOD" when you can blow people's minds with just an additional layer or two? Either way, it's been fun. Hope Tynan gets motivated to push it a little further eventually.

[RickyMartini]

In this case, I've told people everything in that blog post, which I thought would be enough.

I think it will be noticed. I still saw a lot of differences when comparing early access games on steam and usually, when the devs were genuinely trying to create a game not only for money but for the community, and the game was also updated and worked on professionally, the steam reviews looked exceptionally. Just looking at Kerbal Space program and Prison architect. These two dev teams really give ("gave" since KSP finally left early access) the impression that they want to appeal to the community and are genuinely trying to create something for the community. There were almost no harsh steam reviews.