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No NPC mentions policy


lemmy101

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Just in case (And it's a far stretch considering how quick and awesome the mods are on these forums), I would like to remind people that this isn't a call for everyone to "stay shut and never mention NPC's on the forums or next Q&A, ever!", it acts more like a warning that even if you do ask the question about them, it's likely going to be ignored no matter the quantity of them.

 

Now to the main point - dealing with trying to find a job and having to wheeze past a BUNCH OF DICKHEAD EMPLOYEES ALMOST DAILY, I can feel what you're going through - it sucks, and can take a lot of enthusiasm out of you. After the latest job rejection, which was done in a spectacularly irritating and mind boggling way, I had to take a rest for at least a week from trying to find a new one. Really sorry that you have to go through this.

 

If it makes you feel better - as an EARLY ACCESS, SURVIVAL, ZOMBIE game developer, you are in a really lucky spot to have "20 positive reviews to battle 1 negative", considering how much hate this genre gets in particular in recent years. It takes serious skill, determination and professionalism to come out as a good exception to tell everyone about when they are on yet another rant about how bad the "early access zombie survival games" are. Your game literally IS the "Armed Assault series" of FPS shooters. That one "realistic" game that everyone wants in modern releases, but never quite get with the new AAA titles. 

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Just release them in secret one day and hope for the best. It will be a nice little surprise :D

Would be epic.

 

Also, you guys are the opposite of what that guy said. Awesome Dev team.

 

Honestly, I think I will be a little bummed when 1.0 comes out... no more mondoids and excitement of speculation. This is the only online forum I take part in these days.

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Lemmy - I love you and I truly mean this from the heart but next time don't write out "War And Peace" to what is the equivalent of a "All PZ devs are fagz" style post. Its silly and quite beneath you. Its doing nothing but stressing you out and pandering to some dicks ranting. The twat didn't deserve the level of care and consideration that you put into the reply. Ignore the tosser, get some rest and enjoy your programming. 

 

If I was going to be totally honest and frank I'd say that we've waited a long time for PZ to deliver and you are building to it so who cares really at this point how long it takes. You are still serious about developing this game. That is clearly obvious. Ever since you got RJ on board you've updated regularly (not saying that's down to him but from that time onward it seems that Indiestone have been more methodical in their approach), kept new content coming and done what you've said that you are going to do roughly around the time you've said it. That makes you good guys. So I am perfectly happy to wait for what I KNOW is going to be something that is crafted with love, care and commitment. Keep at it.

 

Don't let the twats, spoiled man-children and morons grind you down

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Lemmy - I love you and I truly mean this from the heart but next time don't write out "War And Peace" to what is the equivalent of a "All PZ devs are fagz" style post. Its silly and quite beneath you. Its doing nothing but stressing you out and pandering to some dicks ranting. The twat didn't deserve the level of care and consideration that you put into the reply. Ignore the tosser, get some rest and enjoy your programming. 

 

If I was going to be totally honest and frank I'd say that we've waited a long time for PZ to deliver and you are building to it so who cares really at this point how long it takes. You are still serious about developing this game. That is clearly obvious. Ever since you got RJ on board you've updated regularly (not saying that's down to him but from that time onward it seems that Indiestone have been more methodical in their approach), kept new content coming and done what you've said that you are going to do roughly around the time you've said it. That makes you good guys. So I am perfectly happy to wait for what I KNOW is going to be something that is crafted with love, care and commitment. Keep at it.

 

Don't let the twats, spoiled man-children and morons grind you down

Thank you :) but since we don't delete or over moderate the steam forums, where some devs would delete or quickly lock that post so it drops off, we instead need to defend ourselves on it. Even if we can't change the OPs mind, or if the OP was just trolling, to newcomers to the forum they would be forgiven for taking that post seriously and avoiding purchasing on account of it. I know we got a lot of support in that thread (though this was after my post) but some really shitty horrible Early Access games get a lot of support and defence in reply to posts too, it doesn't necessarily make it so, so I personally would temper my belief in defenses as well as I would overly aggressive complaints. It also serves to be linked to when future complaint threads, troll or no, come out.

Besides, I'm not going to sit here and claim we've not fucked up when it comes to the NPCs, regardless of how sure I am they will come eventually and be awesome, or that us holding them back is the best thing. I need to own up to that as much as defend myself.

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Non Player Character

 

Thousands of them already in Game.

;)

 

If one of the Devs/mods ever comes up with this response, the amount of butthurt, hatred and overall the amount of rage would be enough to become a new source of energy more powerful than the sun.

 

Shh, those are clearly mobs, not NPCs. /thread

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Lemmy, you're a passionate guy, and I'm sure that's what makes you such a good developer. I'll say this though, I don't understand your approach to this "issue" but I respect your choice.

I don't understand your approach because I really doubt the effectiveness of trolls, entitled gamers, and the like when it comes to pushing away potential customers. I 've never developed or tried to sell a game, so I have no idea about market ramifications due to trolling. However, considering the scope and quality of Project Zomboid, I doubt it's more than negligible. I mean, pandora's box is already open in the sense that the NPC hype and hysteria is there, it's not going to disappear, so trying to close pandora's box seems to be a wasted endeavor. Accept the past mistakes, and move on (getting over something means not wanting to jump off the nearest balcony when NPC development is lamented upon).

Honestly, I suggest you start working out, doing yoga, something to keep your mind off of things(not to sound like a prude, but refrain from alcohol, seriously . . . Stressed people+alcohol =/= good mental health). Stop using Twitter, facebook, and have others run it for you. It's okay to be without social media. I don't know, it just seems to me that your solution is using a band aid to cover a cannon ball wound. You're never going to change the way people respond, so why keep trying in vain?

 

Do something to keep yourself from crawling into bed whenever someone posts something that devalues all the hard work you've done.

 

You know you work hard, the rest of TiS knows you work hard, your fans know you work hard, and a large majority of the people will buy your game because of it. That's the best you will ever get, but hey, that's pretty fucking good. The trolls have little power, and with all due respect, I think you're feeding the troll and giving them ammunition by making your anxiety so public. . . Everything is going to be okay man, keep following your dream, and fuck the rest of the people. THere are enough people that believe in you and your dream that you do not need to torture yourself so damn much. It's hard to watch. . .:/

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Thanks for the concern but I'm fine :P I was talking to EG about this very thing today. I suspect people read a voice into some of my posts that's not really accurate to how they are written. That thread turned into something lovely and if I hadn't responded I'd have a lot darker thoughts about it than I do now.

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I missed NPC's for a long time after they were removed. Since the somewhat surprising leap to multiplayer I am much less concerned.

Saying it yet again, the game I originally purchased has grown considerably over the years without one attempt by the developers to weasel another penny from me. Farming, trapping, fishing would almost certainly have been a paid DLC/expansion with another developer. That disregards map expansion, new professions, challenges, sandbox settings, code tweaks a peon like me can't grasp, etc, etc.

This whole Project Zomboid thing is pretty damn awesome! Take the positive reviews as personal as you take the negative ones

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I don't understand your approach because I really doubt the effectiveness of trolls, entitled gamers, and the like when it comes to pushing away potential customers. I 've never developed or tried to sell a game, so I have no idea about market ramifications due to trolling. However, considering the scope and quality of Project Zomboid, I doubt it's more than negligible. I mean, pandora's box is already open in the sense that the NPC hype and hysteria is there, it's not going to disappear, so trying to close pandora's box seems to be a wasted endeavor. Accept the past mistakes, and move on (getting over something means not wanting to jump off the nearest balcony when NPC development is lamented upon).

It's not so much about closing pandora's box as it is accepting that the demons are unleashed and addressing their concerns in the hopes that a) rumors don't find teeth and b) a positive feedback loop of assholery remains undeveloped.

 

Maybe it's wasteful, but over the past two years this approach seems to have generated a rather friendly and supportive community that can survive these things without turning in on itself. 

 

The Internet doesn't move on easily.

 

(This evening has been much better than I expected  . . . Kudos guys.)

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Oh the things you have to deal with!

 

I mean, you're some of the developers that have created and founded the best game and community ever.

Why do you have to be tormented this bad?

 

It doesn't make sense to me! 

 

Keep being so passionate about your game!

I mean, why the big rush? The sooner the game reaches 1.0 the sooner all the good features we're hyping so bad ( NOT ME! ) will stop.

I enjoy every mondoid wether or not it brings an update!

 

I can't describe my love to you guys! Keep doing what you're doing! As someone mentioned, you got 92% of the players on your side!

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I don't understand your approach because I really doubt the effectiveness of trolls, entitled gamers, and the like when it comes to pushing away potential customers. I 've never developed or tried to sell a game, so I have no idea about market ramifications due to trolling. However, considering the scope and quality of Project Zomboid, I doubt it's more than negligible. I mean, pandora's box is already open in the sense that the NPC hype and hysteria is there, it's not going to disappear, so trying to close pandora's box seems to be a wasted endeavor. Accept the past mistakes, and move on (getting over something means not wanting to jump off the nearest balcony when NPC development is lamented upon).

It's not so much about closing pandora's box as it is accepting that the demons are unleashed and addressing their concerns in the hopes that a) rumors don't find teeth and b) a positive feedback loop of assholery remains undeveloped.

 

Maybe it's wasteful, but over the past two years this approach seems to have generated a rather friendly and supportive community that can survive these things without turning in on itself. 

 

The Internet doesn't move on easily.

 

There are still people out there who thinks that the devs ran with the money when the Bulgar incident took place.

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Don't woooorrrrryyyy Leeeeemmmyyy! I can't even begin to express how little our community shares with that awful post on Steam!

You guys provide us with a weekly update on the game, and do a hell of a lot more than other indie developers in that time.

 

Take a break if you feel you need to, I know I never get anything done from being upset.

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Lemmy steam forums will be always full of people who never have real taste of community.They just post they rant and go,they dont deserve time and effort to be replyed,i noticed you posted a hell of a text on one rant at steam forum and cant belive how ignorant OP was.I woud lose my calm myself and probably pounch him thru the internet for stupidity.

 

Keep focused and dont be let down, you have real community of people who stand behind you and your work guys.There is NO REASON so far to be let down from anything that you did.

If i woud be you i open PZ steam sotore page OPEN UP positive reviews and chillax on a hell of a good  feedback that your game is gettin.

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I'd deliberately want to mention the very important question : Where are the brains? Zombies needs to eat you know :P

 

Joking asides , sending you guys a big Latte and best wishes , keep up with the good work and don't worry , time will set your right.

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This is more of a personal note in game development and communicating with the fans, instead of the usual heads up for Lemmy.

 

In general I don’t care, if I buy a crappy game. Some years ago, I bought The Witcher 1 and 2 during a winter steam sale and both games are just shite. Although they are both well made, they are still shite. They are just as unappealing as a Tomb Raider game I bought during the last summer sale.

 

After all, I have only spent a few euros and I can’t be upset, because it is like trying some new food.

 

Even if the game development suffers, I still don’t care. I bought Spintires for 20 something euros and played it for one hundred hours. To this day, the game still seems to be plagued by a bad relationship between the lead developer Pavel and the publisher (or whatever they really are) Ovee and then there are unknown and unsurmountable problems in the actual development no one must know of. That is some properly fucked up situation, but the game entertained me and that is all that matters to me.

 

I have also bought Starbound and have played it for 50 hours. Yes the game isn’t done yet and some guys feel cheated or something. All I have to do is wait till the game gets finished and I’ll have another go at it.

 

Here is another example of game development: Mount and Blade Bannerlord. Taleworlds announced that game in 2012 (or 2013?!) and have been working on project obvious for years before that after milking their M&B franchise. There was very little info till Gamescom this year and the crappy marketing still continues.

In a way Taleworlds and TIS are similar. Both are indie studios, which are financially stable and who can therefore work at their own pace. If the development needs another year, so be it. No fucks given.

 

There are some rare exceptions, which really get my blood going. Think of X: Rebirth. This game was planned as a console release, but I was just too bad and then got turned into a horrible Pc game. It is like Elite or Privateer or Star Citizen and that game didn’t even have a fucking radar at the start. I won’t go into detail, but the marketing before release was pure lying, nothing else. And this crap is and will always be beyond repair.

 

And so I wait, because I am so easy to please. Even if PZ development stopped this very day, I still had fun playing it.

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It's for the best. Hearing anything about NPCs just fuels the hype train before the railroad is even built. 

I've had my share of negativity towards NPC development. And that was caused purely due to all the Mondoids I've read so not mentioning them on mondoids again until they're imminent is really the best thing you guys can do. I stand by some of the things I've said in the past like feature creep delaying things but I'll stfu about anything NPC related until they come. I trust you guys to deliver.

I will say this though, PZ is a dream come true for me when it comes to zombie survival and you guys are awesome, you care about PZ and you care about the community and it would be really hard to say the same thing about just about any other development team on the planet that I know of. 

Also, I'll leave this here. (It's a shitty photoshop of a vocal minority pic, I'm kinda buzzed)
1bt9Wq2.png

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