Raider Sprays/Emotes and Builder Personalization Objects--Game Longevity--Feedback
Tried the game for the first time in the open beta and loved it. However, the longevity of the game is really up in the air... since the game is completely player-made content, players will need incentives to continue to play and create content. That content needs to have personalization and player interaction.
Multiplayer games only last long term with player interaction, and right now there is no interaction between builders and raiders. This really needs to be addressed to have the game last more than a year.
As a Raider: I want some way to communicate with the builder if they watch my replay. I want to leave a spray on a wall saying "ez" or leave a spray like "not bad" after dying to a really clever trap. Maybe not specific phrases or words, but I can use some spray to communicate my feelings to the builder. It doesn't even have to e sprays per se, maybe an emote like sheathing my swords or giving a thumbs-up would work. Something fun that gives the illusion of player interaction, as player interaction will increase longevity.
As a builder: I want to leave more personalized objects that are not traps or decorations. I want to have a confetti ball above the secondary objective to congratulate players for getting to it--I want to place some street lights to change the lighting in certain rooms--I want to have a taunting imagery or hologram to try and get people to take secondary paths. Just additional objects that are not traps that I can use to show personalization in my builds.
The result of both together: when builders watch someone go through their base, they get the raider reacting to both the traps and base personalization, which makes watching replays and building bases more satisfactory, thus encouraging people to continue to play.
Comments
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As much as I love this game so far, the fact does remain that all playable content for the foreseeable future is going to be player-made. I do have worries about how long this can last. Personally, I was thinking about new plot shapes, like deep, tall, wide, long—something to give builders new layouts to play with.
Maybe perhaps a different harvester with different movement options? Maybe one that can jump limited distances between blocks or one that can climb? Within reason of course.
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I'm pretty sure it won't last too long without some more player interaction or constant (every 3-4 months?) content updates. The two games I've played the most consistently for a long time are Age of Empires 2 and DBD. Both have lasted so long (15 and 6 years) due to either constant new content and/or player interactions. Without some silly, funny way to interact with a raider or builder, I don't see longevity for myself. Don't get me wrong, I'll play 40+ hours in a week at launch, but I'll move on to something else soon after without something like that to keep me coming back.
Another aspect could be a follow list for Builders you liked: if I liked a base, let me follow the builder so I can play through some of their other bases. Some bases are so tedious, long, or boring, so let me find the people that made really good content and play their other stuff without having to try and friend them on steam.
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