Alpha 21 Dev Diary

[Vintorez]

I'm just upset that the tooltip says "33%" in one line and then "10 percent" in the next.

[Doomofman]

5 minutes ago, Vintorez said:

I'm just upset that the tooltip says "33%" in one line and then "10 percent" in the next.

Oh god, I wont be able to unsee that

[Velvet Jones]

8 hours ago, Aldranon said:

 

I gain a lot of information from the watching streamer weekend; some streamers are better for new players and some that assume you want as much information as possible.

I hate the pre-launch streamer weekend, and I deliberately avoid those streams.  I want to play the game and experience any new surprises first-hand.  I would greatly prefer that they just release the update, rather than making me wait an extra week for no good reason.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Velvet Jones (see edit history)

[Riamus]

17 minutes ago, Velvet Jones said:

I hate the pre-launch streamer weekend, and I deliberately avoid those streams.  I want to play the game and experience any new surprises first-hand.  I would greatly prefer that they just release the update, rather than making me wait an extra week for no good reason.

You don't wait an extra week due to streamer weekend.  They choose when to release (it'll be a Monday) and then the weekend right before that is when they do streamer weekend.  It doesn't make the release any later than if they didn't do streamer weekend.

9 hours ago, Old Crow said:

OR.. they could have left that first sentence out entirely. No reason to say that part to begin with if it wasn't aimed at anyone.

I don't exactly disagree with you as it was not really the best way to say that but just as players get frustrated as the release gets closer and they are still waiting, it is normal for the support staff and devs (anyone talking to the public) to get a bit short when they are responding to the same thing over and over.  I've done IT support and if you start getting the same questions repeated in a short time, you do start losing the more friendly responses as you start thinking "not this again" in your head.  It's normal and although it can lower the quality of customer service, you shouldn't read too much into it.  I doubt it was meant as any kind of attack even if it kind of came across that way to some small extent.  It sounded more like someone just tired of hearing people ask for more information that they can't share.  In this case, as I said, I am positive it was in a stream even though they didn't comment on it and just used repair kits but they probably didn't realize it was there and so thought it could not be discussed.

[Roland]

1 hour ago, Velvet Jones said:

rather than making me wait an extra week 

 On an upcoming undisclosed weekend….

 

Friday Afternoon: Streamers get the password to download the A21 experimental build. 
Saturday: 1000s of people enjoy participating in streams of A21 by watching gameplay footage, chatting with other fans about the game, and interacting with the host— especially via twitch integration for those who utilize it. 
Sunday: The fun continues

Monday Morning: The event ends

Monday a few hours later: The experimental branch which has likely been updated with any last minute quick fixes based on viewed issues, is released to everyone. 
 

1 hour ago, Velvet Jones said:

for no good reason.

1) Fun for 1000’s of people 

2) Soft Launch to 200 before full launch to tens of thousands helps smooth out the full launch

3) Many new people are introduced to the game

4) Many existing owners of the game get inspired to re-download it and play

5) many emergent bugs are noticed and tickets created as TFP staff watch various streams

6) Helps get the game trending in social media algorithms

7) Devs get to interact with many fans as they visit and chat in various streams

8 ) Fun for 1000’s of people 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Roland (see edit history)

[beerfly]

I remember first week/s after A20 release, that in Steam Charts 7 days to die had 70k+ players online.

 

Fingers crossed for more than 90k when A21 drops

Edited May 7, 2023 by beerfly (see edit history)

[Burrfly]

You will get 300 million players online if they re-add rebar frames

[beerfly]

10 minutes ago, Burrfly said:

You will get 300 million players online if they re-add rebar frames

Was thinking of about 240 million, but I like your optimism cousin fly. 

 

[Survager]

52 minutes ago, Burrfly said:

You will get 300 million players online if they re-add rebar frames

 

And then you say that you want the return of wet concrete, which will have to become dry over time? )

[DocRussel]

No, rebar and wet cement can stay on the scrap heap.

[Wilkas]

guys, please tell me that you can't play the old versions for 7 days? I just turned on alpha 16 on steam since it's my favorite alpha, but why doesn't it start

[Jost Amman]

9 minutes ago, Wilkas said:

guys, please tell me that you can't play the old versions for 7 days? I just turned on alpha 16 on steam since it's my favorite alpha, but why doesn't it start

Have a look over here and over here.

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Jost Amman (see edit history)

[Wilkas]

17 minutes ago, Jost Amman said:

Загляните сюда и сюда.

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH YOUNG MAN

[Crypted]

4 hours ago, Roland said:

 On an upcoming undisclosed weekend….

 

Friday Afternoon: Streamers get the password to download the A21 experimental build. 
Saturday: 1000s of people enjoy participating in streams of A21 by watching gameplay footage, chatting with other fans about the game, and interacting with the host— especially via twitch integration for those who utilize it. 
Sunday: The fun continues

Monday Morning: The event ends

Monday a few hours later: The experimental branch which has likely been updated with any last minute quick fixes based on viewed issues, is released to everyone. 
 

1) Fun for 1000’s of people 

2) Soft Launch to 200 before full launch to tens of thousands helps smooth out the full launch

3) Many new people are introduced to the game

4) Many existing owners of the game get inspired to re-download it and play

5) many emergent bugs are noticed and tickets created as TFP staff watch various streams

6) Helps get the game trending in social media algorithms

7) Devs get to interact with many fans as they visit and chat in various streams

8 ) Fun for 1000’s of people 

Seems unfair for streamers to play first then everyone else later on.

[DocRussel]

3 minutes ago, Crypted said:

Seems unfair for streamers to play first then everyone else later on.

Makes perfect sense to me.  Better to open up to a smaller controlled group that will be highly visible and can validate that experimental is actually ready, like a second QA check.  They hand pick the streamers as not just those with viewing volume but those that can give good feedback.  Better to use 200 players that they can choose as a sanity check than just release it to everyone.

[Crypted]

Just now, DocRussel said:

Makes perfect sense to me.  Better to open up to a smaller controlled group that will be highly visible and can validate that experimental is actually ready, like a second QA check.  They hand pick the streamers as not just those with viewing volume but those that can give good feedback.  Better to use 200 players that they can choose as a sanity check than just release it to everyone.

Aren't you a youtuber or a streamer, if so then of course your fine with it. 

[Old Crow]

On 5/6/2023 at 2:05 PM, unholyjoe said:

 

I'm also now curious and excited to see what other perks were moved around. Noticed Lockpicking was moved to the Intellect tree here. Hoping Master Chef was moved too since cooking and strength have nothing to do with eachother.. though I'm not sure what stat it would fit better with.

19 minutes ago, Crypted said:

Aren't you a youtuber or a streamer, if so then of course your fine with it. 

 

It's hype building. And it's only a few days, we can wait.

[Jost Amman]

12 minutes ago, Old Crow said:

Hoping Master Chef was moved too since cooking and strength have nothing to do with eachother.. though I'm not sure what stat it would fit better with.

Actually, cooking and strength make sense... @madmole explained it, the first time it was introduced. Whoever does fitness and training with weights will need to know exactly what type of diet and recipes to use to have better performance. If I recall correctly, that's the reason Master Chef was put in the STR tree.

[DegenD91]

It is unfair to have streamers have access first. Understandable that the patch may not be prepared for release yet, but restricting many other users from accessing the content and reporting bugs is way less effective. More eyes the better when looking for problems. The game will get exposure naturally if it's optimized and fun to play. I've spread the word to many people who otherwise wouldn't have heard about it. I like this game and want it to be successful because I think it has a ton of potential. Not to mention what it already has accomplished. I dislike what is happening in lieu of an actual release, but I am really looking forward to A21 and the new take on progression, combat, and survival.

[Roland]

1 minute ago, DegenD91 said:

but restricting many other users from accessing the content and reporting bugs is way less effective. More eyes the better when looking for problems. 

Many other users will have weeks and months to access the content and report bugs. Trust me that there will be some left for you to report after those first two days. I agree that if the experimental build was only for streamers during the entire period of its cycle and everyone else would only get it once it went stable then that would be ineffective. But the two days are simply a celebratory marketing event that also serves as a soft launch before it goes out to everyone. The streamers aren't even expected to report bugs. They are asked to simply play and have fun with their audiences.

[meganoth]

2 hours ago, Crypted said:

Seems unfair for streamers to play first then everyone else later on.

 

The streamers have something TFP wants, and TFP has something the streamers want. Seems a fair deal. 😉

 

Many people can't accept that streamers are now what games journalists were 10 years ago. Does it matter that streamer don't have a press ID-card? Not to a company in want of some publicity.

 

And the streamers need exclusive content just like the games journalists who get shown a game before release. Do you think it unfair that games journalists get to play games earlier than you?

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by meganoth (see edit history)

[JayzenFreeze]

 

Oh man the wait.

[Survager]

1 hour ago, meganoth said:

 

The streamers have something TFP wants, and TFP has something the streamers want. Seems a fair deal. 😉

 

Many people can't accept that streamers are now what games journalists were 10 years ago. Does it matter that streamer don't have a press ID-card? Not to a company in want of some publicity.

 

And the streamers need exclusive content just like the games journalists who get shown a game before release. Do you think it unfair that games journalists get to play games earlier than you?

 

 

 

 

I HATE game journalists )))

[Crypted]

I think the more people that play it the better because me personally I want to experience the game first hand instead of getting my information/opinions based on a stream. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the TFP picking a streamer, if so then what if someone doesn't like watching anything from that streamer (so they would just wait until they get their hands on the A21 update rather than watching that stream). 

 

Also, the more people that play the Alpha 21 release right away instead of just a streamer playing it will mean more opinions (likes and dislikes) so this will let the TFP know what everyone loves or hates about the update. 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Crypted (see edit history)

[Riamus]

Streamers are an important part of game development and publishing these days and are not going to go away anytime soon.  Developers are going to make use of them and are going to give them something like a couple of extra days to play the new release before everyone else and in return they get a lot of publicity.  This is good for game development whether or not you like how it works.  No one is entitled to be first to get the release.  Developers will do what makes the most sense to get the best results for their releases and, in this case, that involves streamer weekends.

 

The idea of "gimme gimme!" and "me first!" and "it's not fair that they got it first!" stuff is really pretty ridiculous.  A couple of days will not hurt you.  Learn to have some patience.  You are going to get the game the same time whether or not they have streamer weekend.  Nothing will change.  They are not going to release to everyone on a Friday.  That would be simple stupidity as they won't have people on hand to deal with all the bug reports that are likely to appear.