Off to the Market

[Dallane]

I can't understand with are you making advertising on Facebook and Twitter, but the game its still not listed on Steam Greenlight...

Because gaben is a sell out

[JohnCarver]

I can't understand with are you making advertising on Facebook and Twitter, but the game its still not listed on Steam Greenlight...

Because from our preliminary research Steam Greenlight is a business decision that would destroy the ability for us to pay for the upkeep of running the title.

[trungdle]

I can't understand with are you making advertising on Facebook and Twitter, but the game its still not listed on Steam Greenlight...

Steam requires a lot of money for the bad reputation the kids will give the game. Do you think it worth it? I don't.
Trust me most of the games I know die because noone give them a chance after they get killed by Steam player base.

[MagicManICT]

Most of the Greenlight stuff on Steam turns out to be a steaming pile, really. Well, better to say niche games for niche audiences, but too many are amateur or at least new developers not really experienced in game design, programming, or something else that keeps it from going from mediocre to a stellar product. Being available through Steam? Probably useful in the long run as a lot of established companies have expanded their market doing so. Going with Greenlight and Early Release? a very mixed bag. Can't really blame MM for not going that way, especially with an official release date posted now.

[Voltaire1512]

Hello.

I lurked around the forum during the last months every now and then to see the progress of the project. And although I still don`t like permadeath, I`d like to express my respect for Carver and his team, that they made all the efforts, so the game can finally be released.

Good luck and hopefully densely populated servers for you.

[Vexus]

ALERT
Ultra Important Game Breaking Needs Fixing
I'm screaming!

I have three things to mention aimed directly at the devs. All text, so thanks for reading.

"Fyftems Effortlefs"

I enjoy seeing the game systems in Salem which are generally full of depth. You have gone down the route of making those systems less in-depth, but likely it is just because I have not been active that I do not know the scope. What is game breaking is when the challenge becomes marginalized by a lowered cap. There should be a grand scale between the new player and the veteran. You won't see this from the dev/admin perspective, but the knowledge that "if I put enough time into it I too can be that 'big'" is what keeps people in the game long term. Only then are legends born and certain players able to carve out a name.

This first point is more of a general one related to a previous post of mine; please for the sake of gaming and against your own profit, keep the game difficult. I do concede, top-end gameplay should be very difficult, whereas the first 25% should be quite easy. It seems you do this, but I see that trend towards easy being created in hopes of pushing people to the pay store. Keep walking the fine edge, but always fall on the side of difficulty over convenience.

Can I spoiler in a spoiler? No... damn... this next part is kind of a tangential rant on the first one.

So, as I get back into the game with these noob-friendly less-of-a-chore mechanics, I actually miss the chore-style mechanics. I mean, some things are good to be toned down, and yes, you did so for the sake of 'fun', but you're saying I can chop a tree this fast? I can alter the game world with no effort basically? No time? That is where it gets close to the 'easy' for me. I remember getting two of my friends involved in Salem because of how hard it would be to 'do it all myself'. Now, maybe I can do it all myself to a larger scale. Having that labor class is super important; there are many players who don't come on the forums, who just want to be in a group and help out. But if that effort is not worth that much, it lessens the effect.... yeah ok I'll stop lol...

"Contentious Creationism"

I really enjoy the updates and the content being added. Really good stuff. I feel like I can find out too much information before experiencing it though. I have been away a while, and you have put out some good stuff. Yet I am able to join in fully knowing what is now in front of me. Maybe it was just the most recent update you put out a lot because it has lasting implications for permadeath. I hope the mystery comes back in a bigger form. Witchcraft for example; when it wasn't even a skill, players didn't know for certain, even when it wasn't in game. That was so awesome. Now, we have an item that says "Evidence of Witchcraft" which completely ruins the mystery. Now it is just another skill, another thing, some other way to play the game which everyone knows about. As only the most hardcore of players would ever reach that level, why in the world would you ruin the mystery by putting anything with the word "witchcraft" in the game where a fresh player can see it? Instantly the mystery is gone; what does a 1 day old character know about witchcraft to know this is evidence of witchcraft? Ok that is getting too much rant. I think if you all look at it more from the perspective of newer players when it comes to how information is presented, you will hook many more newer players - not to say things aren't going in your favor right now... but that fine edge... very, very fine...

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

So this is the main one. Developers as Admins. From the Tribe disbanding (my conspiracy meter says it was because they were MM and you guys are MM and they have remade in some fashion - those guys were too dedicated), to quite a bit of other 'noise' going on about developer interaction... please post, or internally create, an Admin ruleset, and abide by some strict rules you place on yourselves for messing with the game. Because you are a smaller group, it is easy to discard the efforts of your players when for you it is a simple command to do anything in the game. I see this quite a bit these days with Admin run servers on Arma3, Rust, Minecraft and other individually hosted server games. The notoriety, the attention, it is hard to put aside as you build a game, and so you likely find yourself more involved with players because you are seeking out some unconscious need to use your admin abilities.

Yes, this is pretty much a helpless request that while you dev and Admin at the same time, that you restrict yourselves from interfering with the game. I have seen dev interference split the community of other games and it seems it may have happened here already. So for the sake of all fledgling pilgrims, please come up with something you guys will stand behind to keep from favoring players, interfering with politics, imposing in-game prejudice based on forum activity, gifting to certain players, and so on. I imagine it would be the hardest thing to keep in check, and even harder for the players to know any difference. It is a hidden threat, a hidden reduction in potential, a hidden reduction in the meaning of all the effort everyone puts in, if it becomes apparent that admins can do whatever they want instantly. As good as any in-game system, please create a real-life system on how you all will handle interacting with the game world and players.

Thank you!
Vexus

[ShadowTani]

- spoilertastic -

I'm sorry, but your inability to find motivation in simply bettering yourself without being dominated by others is not a "game breaking" concept. You essentially hit the fire alarm in a public place when you simply just dropped your sig down your shirt… Game breaking means something that makes the game unplayable for the major audience and require immediate attention and fix.

Either way, there already is "Titan" players that neither beginners or mid-tier players doesn't have much chance against whatsoever. Still, having too large a gap between the elite and the beginner is in most games undesirable for several reasons and Salem already got a negative rep as an elitist game - it doesn't need to fuel that further. Also, challenge shouldn't necessary mean more grind. Keeping players more on their toes instead, like what the recent insanity patch does, is a far better source of challenge imo.

And no worries about dev bias, JC seems to have done a good job maintaining a neutral community stance so far, collecting tears from all types of players, from carebears to raiders, in equal amount.

[Vexus]

Thanks ShadowTani, I hope you caught the large alert sarcasm as I am replying to JohnCarver's "#1:" statement in his original thread where he said scream... But hey, glad my Game Breaking text caught your eye.

[Nikixos]

Why let the fb page die, you are supposed to spam to get likes

[HolyLight]

Graphics of new content seems so rushed and tedious.