PoppaSmirk

Its good to see some feedback, and more of it optimistic than negative. I must admit, the changes recently have given a lot of "head scratching" moments between My (now former) group of players. For Myself I suppose that its just difficult to see a long run of gameplay (more than 2.5 years) with a group of steady players suddenly go into crash & burn mode when Alpha 21 came out. Maybe they just needed a change. I really expected to see more of My Multiplayer group come back and say they wanted to try 7D2D again by now. So far, out of the 8 that had been playing regularly, only Myself and one other have had interest in continuing to play. Sad as it is to say, I may have to look elsewhere to find others wishing to play. I am totally up for using some Mods too; but I think that was also part of the issue with My Multi-game players. Several of them aren't the most "computer savvy" and didn't want to have any mods that needed Server and Client side installs. So that limits things. That was one big reason that My Multiplayer Game only used 5 mods. I hosted them all on My side of things.

I ran a RGW maybe 6 weeks ago that was like that. Made it hellaciously hard to get some of the survival basics accomplished. Finding water was very tough, and without many locations nearby to "loot' (two POI within 600 meters of the Trader) there wasn't much that was saleable to the Trader. It took until day 5 before I could get a water filter. I rode for the nearest larger town as soon as I located a Trader in it.

One of my longtime friends that had been in my Multiplayer group called me last week and during that discussion, he made comments referencing the current status of 7D2D and how he felt it seemed related to a line of discussion that happened at a Comic-Con we attended 8-9 years ago. At that convention, several game designers were among the guests and attendees for a 'Question and Answer Panel' about the process of designing games. A wide variety of questions were given to the panel, but one that seemed to generate a lot of dialogue back and forth with the audience; was when one young man stood and asked; "Do they really ever plan on putting things into gameplay to kill the interest of players after they reach a pre-chosen number of hours of gameplay?" In other words, do game developers plan...on their games making a big splash when launched and for gamers to enjoy it for the first playthrough; but intentionally make it grindy, or in other ways ...just distasteful enough to limit the interest in playing that game over and over? Many references were made to specific games and the conversation veered off track to discussion on the panelists 'role' in the games they had worked on; but one designer said yes; they had attended a meeting on "planned obsolescence"; which was geared to the goal of putting out some DLC after a game was released; but the goal being to put out material that would dampen the players enthusiasm for the current game, while still planting the groundwork to generate interest in a possible...sequel to the game. Processes such as nerfing weapons, adding grindy boring missions, etc. Many in the audience asked 'why would a game company do such a thing? The reply was straight forward; After they have sold the game, they want players to enjoy it, feel they got their moneys worth from it, played it long enough (40-60 hours of gameplay in a playthrough) to spread the hype to friends to generate more sales....but then, after 2-3 years...they want a multiplayer game to die, because by that time maintaining servers to keep the game running becomes less attractive and simply "pulls from the bottom line of profits earned". My friend and I ended up pondering that question and what is the likelihood that the recent drastic gameplay changes are an effort from TFP to put in a "planned obsolesence" because now the game is pretty enough to draw in new gamers and new sales; but maybe they no longer care of what those that have been playing the game for years think about the gameplay. It was just some idle thoughts from a couple of guys that have been playing 7D2D for the past 6-7 years. It would be pretty crazy if it turns out that idea is truth. But it would explain a lot.

Well, My Multiplayer Weekend game of 7D2D has died, due to lack of enjoyment since A21 dropped, BUT.... We had some good times with names for the Zeds. Many of which ended up being referenced by characters from the TV Series ...Big Bang Theory. The blonde in Little black dress We named...'Bad Penny'...the Big Mamma we called 'Mrs Wolowitz'. The twitchy little skinny zombie we called 'Howard'.... the short haired female zombie in the dirty tan dress is 'Amy Farafowler' (usually just 'Amy'), the strawberry blonde we named "Bernadette'. We also called the Lumberjack Zombie 'Big Al'. a bit of a nod to Al Borland from the tv show 'Tool Time'. The rest, such as the zed in the blue coveralls, We called 'Working Class Joe'; but somehow Moe has always remained...'Moe'

I understand the OP has misgivings. If you try to think of the situation head on; you look around at a world without a means to collect water for use. Every natural source is polluted and the ability to carry water has been severely limited. your Brains Logic centers ask; "why are there no containers (glass bottles, or even tin cans anymore to store water in), yet I loot a toilet or some cabinets or boxes and I get a glass bottle of scummy water?" Well, the way things are now, you simply have to tell any logical portions of your brain to shut up and just go along for the ride. This is a distasteful option for many; and I admit, the recent changes have led to My formerly steady weekend Multiplayer group to dwindle from 5 - 8 players per session, down to ....two.....or none. So yes, others do feel that current changes are distasteful, and many of those that previously couldn't wait for Our Play sessions are now..... looking for other gaming options. I miss the big groups and getting together with those friends but, I understand their feelings. But, it is very possible to still play 7D2D in its current condition. A cook pot is now the vital accessory to find; as this will allow you to boil murky water and then using chrysanthemums, to turn that water into red tea, which has almost twice the hydration rating over a pint of regular boiled water. (or golden tea, etc). The big accessory to get lucky in finding is the water purification mod. Once you have that set into a piece of headgear, you can drink any water, from bottles or ponds, ditches, pools, etc without worry. I do still get one water filter to build a dew collector to produce clean water because it is needed for cooking recipes or making items, and I want to be SURE to have some on hand when I need it. Despite what others might say; it can still be a tough road some days in getting enough water; especially if your 'daily tasks' revolve around any activity besides "looting POI's". For instance, I might spend a day mining, to get that needed material for making gunpowder, or needing more stone to make cement. On such a day I might not have a lot of time to "loot new buildings for water" A small investment in a Healing perk or two can also allow a player to drink murky water from ponds, pools, or other non-bottled sources by looking at the water source and have a tool belt slot empty, and selected....then after a few seconds the option to DRINK will appear, and you can drink until your belly is full by using the 'E'. The Healing perks will quickly bypass any health conditions you might pick up. So, if you adapt a bit, its very possible to still play. You might feel stupid in following such a strange pathway to hydration, but it is very possible to still play and advance in the game.

I have been trying to adapt and keep a positive note, but while I applaud the lovely improvements in POI'S and the general world (road smoothing is incredible). I am still left with the bare facts. My former group play of 5-8 people on a Server each week has dwindled to 2-3. This version is simply not capturing the attention for many people. I have offered options to those that had been steady players in My Multiplayer group, such as using the red tea to help with thirst, but there is still a very obvious dislike of the games current direction. and yes, I know, 7DtD recently set a record for player count a week or so after the release of Alpha 21, but I know that in My home town the recent opening of a 'What-A- Burger" franchise had people lined up in dual drive through lanes for 60-90 minutes just to get a burger and fries. Not that What-A-Burger is that good, but because people FLOCK to try something new. If for no other reason than to say they tried it, so they won't be the only person in town to say they didn't go......... at least once. Now that Fast Food spot has been open a couple of months, and guess what? Its fairly empty now when I drive by the location. Why, because despite the hype....their burgers are simply...just another Burger. Same is true for this Alpha 21. It looked shiny and promised lots of new changes. But once people are playing it, they are finding the overall changes to be distasteful. I still keep the hope that some of My Gaming Friends will come back to playing 7DaystoDie; but I can't honestly say anything more that might sweeten the pot for them. Just look at the changes released today.... Compared to Alpha 20, you now need to mine 5 x the amount of Oil Shale to keep your supply of gas at a decent level. The water system is still filled with more logic holes than anyone cares to discuss, Vehicles still move at a snails pace (average walking speed of a mature male is about 4.5 km an hour ); and yes....I still return to My base and find mobs of zombies visited when I was in another town over 1km away. Zombies still spawn inside My Land Claim block area which has become sad that the ONLY way we discovered to keep them from spawning in, was to place our bedrolls outside at intervals to create a zone that Zeds can't spawn into, this seems like trash after putting much effort building My walls that I worked on so hard to secure. Many Gamers are weary of waiting another year or more for the "chance" that the Raiders have been introduced; there have simply been too many hints or expectations laid out since at least Alpha 19 that longtime fans of the game are getting fed up. One of My Gamer friends recently said; I started playing 7Days before my son was born, this year he is going to first grade, and the game really hasn't changed for the better. The farming changes weren't liked, the recent changes don't seem to be igniting ANY enthusiasm. Many Gamers don't like...funneling magazines that they worked to find, to one player just so the group can get access to a freaking workbench. My experience with gamers on Multiplayer servers is that they want to cooperate in battle, but don't touch 'their' loot. The BEST thing about Alpha 21 to most of the people I play with.???? They LIKED getting the silly arse Wall Portraits, but still felt let down there weren't any new paint textures added. Now, before someone drags out that much overheard response of; "Then you can just get mods to reflect your playstyle", I reply with this. MANY Mods require both a Client Side and Server side download, meaning that Each and Every Player needs to download every Mod. Some require disabling EAC, and several of My friends don't like that option at all. It also means that if My buddy Alphonse wants to drop in to try out this new Alpha 21 I have been talking up, that He needs to first take the time to sign up for nexusmods, then download each mod that We run, BEFORE He can ...drop in for a try. That is a pain in the arse to most gamers. Its been such a pain in the arse in the past year, that the 2-3 of us that still play haven't added any Mods....because we don't want our friends to have any reason to decline an invite to join us in a play session. There isn't ANY sort of reliable roadmap of "coming changes". It's more of "We have something new that we are finally releasing in a few months. We like it and hope you do too. Chooo Chooo ...start up the Hypetrain." But I am starting to feel that the Hypetrain is simply going round and round to the same locations.

One of the Warrior Women in my Multiplayer World is a Former Pro Softball player, and she uses, you guessed it. A Bat. She has been known to aim a zombie head toward the center field wall. (That reminds me, where are the sports fields, or residential parks in Navesgane?) But from time to time she has also wielded a Stun Baton too. To each their own. I myself prefer My trusty ...Pokey Pokey Stick.

I have fantasized and brainstormed with Friends in and out of Gameplay on what kinds of "Missions" would add the most to 7DtD, Just for the short list, Pretty much everyone has agreed that the "Fetch' quest is almost universally considered to be overdone. But we have that type of quest already daily from the current Trader Missions. But what if they added some...zing to the current Trader Missions? Suppose you get a Mission from a Trader to open a New Trade Route. Okay, been there, done that, but how about as a kicker, there is a requirement that you take 3 blueberry pies with you, because the Trader you are visiting has a sweet tooth and the pies will sweeten the deal to open up Trade. Of course that would require that TFP get some extra voice acting done from the Souls that give voice to the Traders already, so that may or may not be an obstacle. Still, it would add a little something to a predictable quest. Or Possibly the Trader gives you a box that has a fairly nice weapon inside it, saying; "Trader XXXXX loaned this to Me a few years ago, but things got so bad with the zeds, that I never have been able to return it.", but you fail the quest if you open the box to sneak a peek at what kind of weapon is inside. Not only do you fail the quest but that Trader won't do business with you for 30 days. Then, There is always the mission that finally answers the eternal question: How do the Traders keep the Trading Post secure? You stumble across an object that you can't identify during a scavenging run. You can't figure out anything about it and when you try to appraise it, the game just shows questions marks instead of a Price Estimate for trading. If you take it to a Trader to try to sell the object, it triggers a Mission dialogue. The Trader tells you that the object "won't do you a lick of good" because its a broken part of an "Undead Shield generator." The same kind I use to keep them Zombies from wrecking my Trading Post. Then the Trader says" Since you done uncovered that piece, I might as well get your help with something. We have to change the power cells in the Undead Shield generator bouts every 7 years or so, and mine is coming up on its time to get a new powercell. So how bout I pay you to go get one for me?? Yes, that idea is still a Fetch Quest, but adding some new lore behind it makes it fresh and intriguing. Add to it a side effect that if you Fail the quest, that specific Trader location closes for good in your Navesgane or RNG world. Then it becomes a significant event with wide reaching repercussions. So I do think there are ways to spice things up, adding some NPC interaction to the mix gives a lot of latitude to add a wide variety of storytelling as well. Of course until that time comes, if ever, we are all just sitting and waiting in ......an-ti-ci...pation.

If they absolutely need to give crawlers a multiple debuff, then it should be something....memorable, like... broken leg AND toenail fungus. Vultures are bad, but imagine how rough life would be if they gave you an infection, a concussion, and a BAD HAIR DAY (+10 added to prices at any Trader for one full day). Rot-weilers often give bleeding, and infection, but think how fortunate we are that they don't also give you the "Pee'd on Leg" status debuff effect (with a horrific after effect of a sloshing sound as you walked for a few hours) Yes, I am laughing, I hope you are too. 🤣

Day 28: 2 Demolishers. Day 31: Crucible. Day 35: 7 Demolishers. Me: Running and leaping off the back Platform of My Watchtower as a Demolisher countdown ticks. Comments after Horde Night was done and we examined the Horde Base for Damage: "You're gonna need a bigger boat!!" Side Note: Traders are giving Forged Steel now as rewards with some quests, I had 127 pieces of Forged Steel stockpiled on Day 31 when I found the Crucible schema. Just didn't have enough "magazine readin" to build a motorcycle.

Hmm, this Topic is intriguing as I have had some players that I suggested to give 7DtD a try since Alpha21 dropped ( coupled with the insanely low price during the Summer Sale ). To My knowledge two people purchased the game based on my recent recommendation and one of those two came to me via STEAM messages saying they "got their @$$ kicked" and unsure if the game was for them". That Person was invited to join us in a MP session on my current rwg. Of course we shared multiple tips and precautions, along with a few items. (This particular gamer preferred overall to earn their own items, which I can totally respect). We played together for roughly two hours and now that Gamer is saying they are eager to play more. So, possibly after reading the previous ideas and critiques shared by others; could it be possible to have an "optional leaflet" that would become available when the player reaches that first Trader. Experienced players could deny the leaflet but newer players could decide to accept it if they wished?? The leaflet could be written in a lore friendly dialogue, possibly in the tone of a grizzled Veteran Survivor (Maybe invent a name for the 'Founder' of White River Traders and use that fictional person as the Author of the Leaflet). The Leaflet would give some additional 'tips' to survival in the early stages of the game. Just an idea !

From My experience, every RWG that I have done, has an area that covers each of the biomes. It can sometimes be hard to locate. The biomes don't always seem to make sense (Sometimes a snow biome is backed right up against a desert biome and makes me laugh that I can be riding through an area with an orange snowflake alert, and ten seconds later seeing a heat warning pop up as I have crossed into a desert). I do 'think' that at least some of each biome type is guaranteed, of course you might have accidentally tapped into a world seed that was custom generated, but that has only happened to me once in years of play.

I am cruising the forums much more when a new Alpha drops; and at those times it is often to get information and share opinions on things that don't find immediate appeal to me; but I agree that I am a "fan" of 7DtD. With nearly 5000 hours of play via STEAM, and probably close to 1000 hours back on the old XBOX version before and during my migration to PC gaming. I marveled at the quality improvements in graphics that for me, started with Alpha 18's release; as I felt for the first time that 7DtD became much more lush and alive. Since that time, the Game World itself has seen massive improvements, random world generation (for me) takes between 4-5 minutes now, whereas in 2019 it took closer to 10-12 minutes. I've become a Host to Multiplayer Worlds and made some new friendly acquaintances along the way, partially from inviting People that had not tried 7DtD before ( or knew it only from the old XBOX version and hadn't been overly impressed with that very old version of the game) I still promote 7DtD in conversations with friends. I love the gameplay, and I know of at least four people that have "jumped on the Hypetrain" as I spoke of all the coming improvements with the Alpha 21 release (and shared lots of screen shots on My phone to show people snippets of pics and descriptions of pre-release reviews). I have also encouraged others to come back and give 7DtD a try again. I don't 'talk up' many games. 7DtD is the first game I speak of when I start talking with other gamers. I am very pleased to see the new 'Record Number of Players' I certainly want 7DtD to succeed. The recent Alpha 21 release changes have been sweeping, and while not everyone I know has yet been receptive to the changes, most are slowly coming in with a more open mind and I hope that my weekend play sessions get back to playing with 5-6 other players again. So I say "Bravo" to all the wonderful improvements the game has seen so far, and a sincere desire to see the game evolve in more and better ways and cross over that Peak 100,000 Players at one Time milestone.

I have noticed more does, both around our base and simply wandering through the downtown area as We are located close to a pretty large downtown area. I myself don't pursue them. I enjoy seeing signs of animal life in the post apocalypse and I try to only kill the hostile creatures. I.E. I have been eating lots of Snake Meat. I have seen two Bucks though in this game world but they could have spawned due to some other condition. I remember calling it out on one occasion to the Other Players in My group because I saw the Buck, then just a short distance away, a doe. "Oh look, there's a family pair, a Buck and a doe over here' I kind of miss seeing more boar though. For some reason in past game versions they wouldn't attack me unless I got right in their face, but another member of Our Play Group has the reputation that "If there is a wild animal around, it will chase her" I still laugh at remembering one day as I rode toward a road intersection and see a figure SPRINTING across my line of sight, left to right. and right behind her was a pair of boars. I was too busy laughing to say much more than "Taking your pets for a walk? She gave me a....not so pleasant response. Those boars chased her for two blocks until she killed them. LOL

Now, I'm not aiming to be confrontational, I simply related an experience that Myself and two other players have gone through over the past six calendar days. That covered three play sessions, with all of Us in a Voice Chat together. You make a fair amount of hypothesizing on possible ways that things 'could' have gone down. Plus I am sure that you feel you are relating facts; but bottom line is; Facts are only called facts until they are dis-proven. Whether by design or bug, Our little Group has seen a sharp rise in the amount of screamers coming directly to our Base location, both when We are there and when we are not in close proximity. Please remember that I stated We are in Voice chat, so on at least two of the 'screamer and zed invasions', I heard the Member of our Group as they opened the front gate....rode minibike in, then exclaimed "No %F@&I#G Way, We Got A Screamer! I hear it around the back side, going there now. Oh &%#@ theres like 4 or 5 of them here (sounds of gunfire). I got 'em but they almost broke through the glass door here on lower level, and man you are going to be @%$#ed at what they did to your planters" ....."How did they get in?".... "I dunno man, let Me take a look. (pause) %$#* they broke through the wall, the fence side to the East. They broke through two sections and came right in" On the third occasion of a screamer visit while our group was away, I saw almost the same scenario as I returned with another Group Member after scavenging in a nearby township that was 1.7 km away from Our base location; with the exception that they broke in and 3 zeds were close to the Main House stupidly flailing at the walls, while the screamer was still down by the Fence/Wall area...chirp-screeching as she attacked the fence from the inside, 6-8 blocks length away from the NEW hole they had put into Our Fence/Wall. I know from experience how long it can take a few zeds to pummel a wall section if they are dedicated to it, just as I know that Myself and My other Group Member rode in together staying within 30 meters from each other with Myself in the lead as I raced to get back before 22:00. The third member of Our intrepid ensemble was more than 3 km away and was staying the night on top of a Carport outside an Office building. They had been gone from the base at least 6 game hours, I remember because they stayed in the local area to fetch an airdrop then went back to base to empty before taking off to scout/scavenge another town locale. So EVERYONE was away from the base between approx 13:30 and 21:40 hours game time. To Me, that seems to go against your facts that the zombies would de-spawn or would only spawn once We returned. There simply wasn't enough time as We rode up, for a screamer and multiple zeds to spawn in, break through two DOUBLED wall and Fence sections, cross the yard and start damaging the Main building, before I ran up to visually see them. I heard the screamers "harashh" sound effect as I opened the front gates and ran to the side of the Base immediately. So that action taking MAYBE 12 seconds at most. I am also the one most concerned with maintenance, so I know how much repairs I had to use to "fix' things back up after I dispatched the screamer and the zeds. They did not, in My opinion "just spawn in" as We rode up. This is just an experience We have had. Those events were the motivation for Our group to leave someone at base to watcb things while the other two go scavenging. Now that the entire side that has the fence is fully upgraded to cement, We aren't so concerned anymore with THIS situation. But it did happen.