Here is what I wrote on my first month of GOIO and guess what: almost everyday I logged in and played.
tl:dr
Upon entering my fifth month and 365th hour of game time, I would like to share my thoughts and experience with the community, from game one to today
The Good
- The game hasn't lost its charm, if not it increased as
I now enjoy more sophisticate things.
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I informally and formally trained a few players that later on became good players. I still fly and chat with many which fills me with pride.
- I saw the game evolve, I felt the changes and I witnessed how
the community grudgingly evolved to adapt and create new builds.
- Oh,
the mines.
The Bad
- The competitive scene struggles under the constrains of game modes and tools that are not adequate. Also
the lack of intermediary leagues don't allow new teams to enter the spotlight and gain meaningful experience competitive wise. Let me put it plainly:
there are some awesome teams, people that nobody wants to face off in a match. they are the equivalent of the Grand Masters of chess and their victories are so soul crushing that once you get stomped by them, you don't want to go back through that trail. i am happy for them, and i will try to reach their level, but they also destroy competition which means that, as of today, nobody signs up because defeat is assured. hence we need lower tier leagues that would play for a chance to fight them.
We need an America's Cup model.- Player count is still too low, which means that MMR is again ruining everybody's fun. When the online counter drops we need to go back to the lobby list. If you are afraid that this would crush the servers, well, you are wrong because if the servers can hold 3000 people they can for sure hold visible lobbies for 250 players.
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Disruptive behavior is unacceptable. Give an achievement for accepting load-outs, create a parallel level that describes how nice you are or anything that will promote collaborative behavior from a new player. You can always leave a ship you don't like but you can't drop a player that stubbornly wants to be second gunner on a squid.
- Capture the Flag. I haven't seen it yet.
1. Here comes the block list. I blocked some people. not because they were noisy in the lobby (I do believe the prime reason for blocking) but because I didn't like they personality. Maybe I was wrong, maybe we just didn't match in the right way but if I go back to the list and look at it, 90% of them haven't played in months. There are some notorious exceptions of people who still play and sometimes magically appear on my ship, but overall it is a sign that I became increasingly exclusive in my choice of ship mates, willing to jump to another or join a friend's game rather that stay. I was blocked too as I discovered when trying to join some games.
2. Friends in high places provide high expectations. I befriended high level players and learned a great deal, I still do. yet I entered a different stage in my game where failure is when things that are not flawless. I was required to keep ships alive in 2 v 1, I was required to snipe components from the other side of the map or as a pilot to carry daring maneuvers that would save the match. Those would not be considered surprising successes but the normal course of battle, giving the game a different perspective. If before I would have been excused a mistake, now I am absolutely not. There is no more learning credit for me. Hence my "fun" changed dramatically: Everything is routine now, public lobbies feel like breezing through simple, linear affairs where all the cards in every deck are exposed. Only when high level, organized players are facing off there is a true thrill, a true desire for victory. I know the ins and out of every ship, where to jump, where to stand waiting or the chem cycling and reload weapon patterns. more and more games are silent, murderous affairs against unorganized, assorted crews that don't stand a chance. The maps too are now familiar grounds with established spots and trails. the "fun" now is trying new things, new places and experiment with the knowledge that everybody on board knows how to tank in case things go south.
3. Tales of TB and 404. My life has always been split between North America and Italy and it is surprisingly showing it too in GoIO. TB and 404 are the people for which in those four month I connected to a level that I can truthfully call them friends. I care for them, I like playing with them more than with anyone else and recognize their voices without having to look up who's who, which is no easy feat. My job and my career is full of evolving teammates that became friends and now GoIO is rightfully one of those places. It is an easy living I must say, the lack of strife sometimes is unsettling (man I wish I had this at the fire-station) but this is much the result of the leadership of Byron, LogHalley, Neusy, Trivee, Murkub and FranckM. Both clans display very distinct personalities molted in the years and each of the leaders create consensus in their own way. Nobody can understand my feeling of relaxation after a day of giving orders left and right from been steered around in such an harmless environment. It is truly a bliss.
4. Steam sales, Developers and DDos attacks. The last month or so has been quite a complicate one for Muse games and I expressed already my opinions before, so all I can say now is: Your job is hard, we know it, you know it. Don't let the attrition take away your energies and keep looking forward: We will cry, we will complain, we will say mean words but all you need is already in your domain, slowly growing. You reached this point thanks to superior willpower and passion and that is something nobody on earth will ever take away from you. All the players can do is stand back and watch but if we log in and play your creature every day, that is a testament of love that again nobody on earth will ever be able to take awaty from you. Hold those two treasures close and remember them often.
