Review of Planeshift - list of complaints

[acraig]

In my opinion, people should not complain so publicly about the game if they cannot or don't want do the 'job' themselves.

I don't believe anyone has any right to complain in an unhelpful way unless they can actually do it better themselves, and are actually willing to do better themselves. If you don't like the game, leave quietly. Dont bother the devs with unhelpful criticisms that they've heard a hundred times before.

I don't mind people complaining if they want to.  What I don't like is people making assumptions about particular aspects ( ie, we don't do enough, this bug only takes a few lines to fix, this needs to be done like X ).  We are not stupid, we know that there are many things that need to be improved.  There is something like over a thousand bugs in the bug tracker.

It's a little bit unfair to say "unless they can actually do it better themselves" because if they could they would be off writing their own games.  And at the same time it's unfair to expect us to do everything perfectly.   The whole 'beta' thing for me is a non-starter.  I like to think of it as a 'work in progress'.   

Think of it as a hobby, is a person's coin collection in 'beta' or when does a person 'finish' with their 'ballroom' dancing. 

[Roahn]

And I know that the original poster won't read this, but "rock people"? You've been around 18 months, and you don't Kran? I don't know why I'm bothering, but "Imagine, the elf-type, lizard-type, human-type and others all use the same model as the demon type race!" What the hell are you on about?

Pale,

The first paragraph of my review explained it: "Also note that this was written for an on-line game review site, so the target audience is for someone who has not played Planeshift before." Since the target audience of my review was for people who had not tried PS before, they would have no clue what a kran, klyros, dermorian, or lemur was.

Many have responded "Planeshift is a pre-alpha so quit asking for perfection." I know this, and noted that it is a pre-alpha in my review. However, on a site where people review games, they are reviews as the games are now... not how they might be someday.

Many responded along the lines of: "What sets Planeshift apart from other games is the community." How does one know that other games do not have similar "community?" I have found good community and bad community in Planeshift as well as many other games, forums, chat-rooms, user groups, etc.

Someone responded along the lines of "Well, something must have kept you here for 18 months." This is true. What kept me playing for so long was the hope that there would soon be improvements to magic, models, combat, monsters, weapon balance, skills. However in all that time, not a single model was added. Magic remained vastly underpowered, many spells do nothing. Potions have become less useful. Dueling has become less of a "sport." The weapon situation has gotten worse: When I joined, many used frosty, dark, fire, silverweave, iron. Now most anyone would use a crafted dagger or short sword because of the imbalance. Does anyone use a Darkweave, Spellweave, Enlightenment weapon, or "of the leader" or "of the hammer," etc? Nope. I hear complaints all the time about crafting. The arena is still packed shoulder to shoulder with monsters, yet most of the hills, forests, lakes, rivers and roads remain mostly barren of life. Dermorian, xacha, ylian, nolthrir, lemur, diaboli and ynnwn females still all use the same model. I stayed because I had hope of these things improving, but IMHO they did not.

Many told me to stop bashing the devs (something I did not do) because they're working really hard. But that fact that the devs are working hard on their own time does not change the quality of the game as it is today. The fact that it is free also does not change the quality of game, though I did mention that it was free at the beginning of my review. Telling people "If you don't like it, then join the team" assumes that everyone is a game programmer, which quite frankly is silly to assume.

The hostility some have shown in this thread is disappointing. Getting angry when someone points out weaknesses in a software project is the sort of reaction I would expect to see from a fundamentalist religious fanatic when someone questions something about their religion.

And hey... isn't this the "Complaints" thread?

-Roahn

[Parallo]

Have you ever tried roleplaying? You know, the focus of this game? It facilitates that and anything else is an added bonus.

[Draklar]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but hopefully some of it will be used constructively, and maybe lead to future improvements.

The hostility some have shown in this thread is disappointing.

I believe once put together, those two quotes show perfectly how honest you are in what you're writing. Unlike what you were sure to happen, you were hardly flamed and yet you feel disappointed? Somehow I don't buy it.

Quit playing a victim here. If spending your time in Planeshift troubles you so much, then simply don't. I don't think anyone in here wishes you to do something against your own will. Pointing out things the devs are perfectly aware of won't achieve much either. Face it, this thread was a waste of your time. No matter how innocent you'll try to make it look like, it won't change anything.

[zanzibar]

What kept me playing for so long was the hope that there would soon be improvements to magic, models, combat, monsters, weapon balance, skills. However in all that time, not a single model was added.

Dozens of models have been added in that time.

Dueling has become less of a "sport."

It's always been a sport.  The only thing that has changed is how much of an arcade game it is.  It used to not exist, then it was introduced to the game, then people started running around like idiots so it turned into an arcade game, and now people still run around like idiots but it's more difficult to succeed with a hit-and-run "strategy" (let's face it, it's cheating), so now dueling is slightly less of an arcade game than it was before.

When I joined, many used frosty, dark, fire, silverweave, iron.

When I joined, there were only basic weapons and they were very expensive to get.  Having longswords was a sign of high status.

But that fact that the devs are working hard on their own time does not change the quality of the game as it is today. The fact that it is free also does not change the quality of game, though I did mention that it was free at the beginning of my review. Telling people "If you don't like it, then join the team" assumes that everyone is a game programmer, which quite frankly is silly to assume.

I agree.

The hostility some have shown in this thread is disappointing. Getting angry when someone points out weaknesses in a software project is the sort of reaction I would expect to see from a fundamentalist religious fanatic when someone questions something about their religion.

Agreed as well.  Some people here just like being negative, especially towards anyone who doesn't side with the majority.

[War In Silence]

OK. I haven't played yet.. Because the uploader is being weird..

 If you don't like the game and have negative things to say... Go play crowded games.. Or bad graphic games.. Even better go play RUNESCAPE! 


If you don't like it. Don't play it.

[RayvenD]

The guy who made this thread should just do what i do, play guildwars for all the stuff he listed (no  monthly subscription) and then play PS when u actually wanna roleplay. It isnt rocket science.

[Vengeance]

Not everyone's a game programmer...   but everyone certainly is a critic.  :-)

Seriously, I don't mind the criticism at all.  Rate us 1-10 all you want.  My own ratings are surely lower than yours.  Aside from the constraints of volunteering, hobbies, free, etc. and the same old tired explanations thereof, the other big common thread in your criticisms is the art.  Poor race models.  Poor anims or no anims.  Small world.  Few monsters.  Etc.  It turns out that animated models and human-ish ones in particular are insanely hard to model well and to animate well.  Very few people can do it and the ones who can have simply not volunteered for the project.

In the same way that you are not a game programmer, I am not a 3d biological modeler/animator.

So all I can do is work on inventory, sketches, quest scripting, dialog, GUI design, bug fixing, networking, whatever.  Perhaps if we code the game good enough, the artists will be inspired and join.  Perhaps if Settings makes enough content in quests, it won't matter if the artists come or not.

I don't know.  All I know is that I like working on it and making it better little by little, even if the changes don't seem like much to some.

- Venge

p.s. I do agree that instead of people just leaping to our defense (or flaming the OP) in every critical thread posting about the game, people should instead just try to be objective and assess whether the criticisms are fair or not.  Perhaps the critic missed something?  Perhaps other features compensate for the bad parts?  Perhaps the critic is just right...

[Jeraphon]

Perhaps if Settings makes enough content in quests, it won't matter if the artists come or not.

I like the way you think.

[bilbous]

Perhaps if Settings makes enough content in quests, it won't matter if the artists come or not.

I like the way you think.

Sign me up for your newsletter....

[Karyuu]

Psh, you'll get nowhere without the power of artsy shininess The artists will come - they are already on their way.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

There is a good chance this thread has run its course. Thanks for playing.