I played Towers of Aghasba directly after the patch / hot fix. They’ve made some solid QoL changes that already make the game flow much better. I’d highly recommend a second look and would LOVE to hear your thoughts here in the comments 😁🙏🏽
I'm 15hrs into ToA. It's been enjoyable with great potential. I will need to restart my playthrough eventually due to some missing QOL features, like moveable storage, tents.. even being able to replace/move town pieces.
I hear this, @TylerBing - I just restarted today and played two hours. Its worth restarting because the game is already so much more fun. Let me know how you get on, I'd love to know what you think :D
Using the gaming community to do quality control opens devs up to criticism (even harsh if the game is 💩). Either devs need to send out a “completed” game and update as requested by players or stand on their product and if the devs fail it’s on them. Having some type of roadmap sent out at launch would go a long way to ease the worries off the players who paid hard earned money for the game. Using early access could, in the long term, alienate the player base, use STW as a perfect example. Great topic Lit!
I've been adding to and reading all the Steam and Discord comments for this game while playing through myself. I do think people are too harsh. These devs are working late hours and through the holidays and are super active in reacting to feedback and bugs. They pushed out five patches in the first week. Yet some people expect the game they want (character creation, multiplayer, etc.) and when it's not exactly to their preference, they have nothing but negative to add. In today's age of internet warriors, it's very risky to rely on the community when everyone is experts on everything. This game has huge potential though and I hope it transforms into what it can be. As long as "WE" don't ruin that.
i believe the sucess or failure of a game is a mixture of how the players treat it, and how the devs respond. I mean i wont mention the game, but we all know what it is. Devs lied to the players, chose to listen to the wrong people and as a result changed the game, and not for the better, and the player base complained and complained and complained. instead of listening to those players, the devs decided to go down a completely different route and stopped all future development (almost). we as players dont always get listened too, and devs dont always listen. this is why games fail.
Oh I completely agree! Its a fine balance for a Dev team of how much hype to build vs how solid is the current gameplay loop. Those Dev teams that listen to and apply player advice typically are most likely to turn the tide but - as you stated - many either don't want to or won't!
I think a up to date demo at least ppl can try it and if they don't like will just uninstall. Its better than ppl refunding it and giving a thumbs down. But it needs to be a up to date demo.
TBF the Main issue on ps5 was that it would not even load at launch... YOU DO NOT NEED AN EPIC ACCOUNT TO PLAY! ( they have explained this and said the wording was perhaps confusing. They create you an account to play.. i've been playing for a few days and i'm really enjoying it so far..yes there are issues but not so bad where you cant play and complete the game. Devs have been great at responding and have already put out fixes. I hope all of this doesnt hurt it in the long run as the potential here is so exciting!
I absolutely agree with this - I've continued to play and although I've run into a few bugs, there's been nothing game breaking. My biggest pain point was not being able to move the farm once I'd placed it (The stairs were floating off the ground) but I can actually understand why because its a large functional building with NPCs. Overall, I think Towers of Aghasba has a bright future and you're right, the Devs responded extremely well. This video is meant to convey the message of "Give them a chance and understand its Early Access - not a finished product" ^^
Whether you sign in with an existing account or they create one, it still REQUIRES an Epic Account. And for folks like myself; I will NEVER buy a game on Epic or Support a game that requires an Epic Account.
honestly i've never posted a review on an early access game... if you want to share your feedback that's what the discord servers exct are for. good on you to voice your opinion on the matter. very good video and very good approach
The issue is there is such a thing too early, big bugs like crashes are big no-no 😓 and the starting area needs to be smooth to give the player idea of what to look forward too. I'm not refunding but the game on ps5 is unplayable for me with 15 plus crashes, where I thing I need to restart and lose my 20 plus hours of game play. Love the look and feel of the game so I staying Hopeful. 😀
Actually the game has a cool artstyle and I remember back the first trailer. But somehow it also looks like "just another UE5 survival/crafting adventure". I watched some streams and I was absolutely not attracted to it at all. Can't even say what it was. Even though I like Enshrouded, Valheim etc. and this game looks even more unique (in style) than generic UE5 games. I hope the devs get this game fixed and keep working on it. It may deserve another chance in future.
I think there is alot of fatigue that gamers feel for early access releases. I have many many freind who will perk up when i mention some new title coming soon, something we can all play together, until i mention its early access. Instantly, they are against it. They are tired of 8 out of 10 early access titles being major disappointments. Reslity.
I think Beta tests before early access need to happen to help with the more positive release, i also think more ease of access to give ingame feedback (not a 200 character limit report option *cough cough towers of ahasba cough cough*) i've seen early access games where literaly everytime you logged out they were asking for feedback . Soulmask a game still in early access huge game and tons of stuff to do with a world that feels alive as you play, enshrouded... not sure if still early access but like you said a clear roadmap with massive goals that just knocks every one of those goals out of the park palworld buggy as hell but people still love it because its a fresh take on an already existing idea, i think any game that has the awedacity to open into early access with out clear and presant goals for the community, as well as a dull polish to their game, (the content doesnt have to be huge but does need to feel like it was tested) and a very open and presant communication line from player to developers, should be prepared for a bumpy ride. that being said i think players should see a bug and report it as a bug and leave direct feedback to the developers while holding off on negative reviews untill there has been time for the game to have been adiquatly recieved and adjusted so like give it a month before you just "bad game" bomb it. i hope ToA puts a great shine on their game the world looks beautiful just need some polish
Oh, I totally agree with you-beta tests before early access are such an important step. They give devs a chance to iron out bugs while building trust with the community. Like you said, feedback systems are also important; if it's not easy or detailed enough for us as players to report issues, how can devs know what's really going on? The Towers of Aghasba example is a good one-200 characters for a report just doesn’t cut it for something as complex as game development. Not played Soulmask or Enshrouded but I feel I want to try. Enshrouded seemed a little too... cozy for my taste (like Palia) but I may have misjudged it. You’re also totally right about holding off on negative reviews right away. Early access is meant to be a growing phase, and feedback is way more helpful than just slapping a “thumbs down” on it. Giving it some time for patches and updates is fair, and I think it’s great that you’re rooting for ToA to shine. The world looks stunning, and if they nail the polish and player-developer communication, they could have something really special. We'll see I guess.
@Litanah I highly recommend both soulmask and enshrouded there is so much to do in them both. While enshrouded is working on making their world feel more alive which is exactly what they needed. Soulmask seems to just be adding more content and qol stuff. I recommend soulmask for solo players (can be group too but if you don't have you can still have fun) and enshrouded with friends it's a huge world and friends help fill it
Early Access shouldn't mean a Beta Test. If a developer wants to charge full price for early access they should be ready to accept heavy criticism if the game is buggy, poor performance, or just not fun. I think early access should only be for games than need a little polish and/or tweaks, not for half completed games. Let them find money from publishers instead of gamers if they are going broke. Gamers shouldn't be bearing the cost of ongoing development. Hot take: we need LESS garbage indie games and more fully fleshed out and gamer ready games. Steam(not exclusively) is a cesspool of crappy EA titles from any dev team with a cash grab idea.
no and somewhat yes.. By way of What we are, we cannot BE the problem, as we are the customers, its their job to sell us a product we want, if its not what we want, it wont sell.. I only say yes in that we spend our money on crap too easily and enable them to keep shoveling us slop.
There is a limited pool of gamers and too many games. Supply & demand. And each person only has so much bandwidth, and can only focus on so many titles at a time. I play 3 games, and swap when some thing better comes along.
Steam already put out a press announcement on Road Map & DLCs for games, so nothing visionary there from this video.. But Devs need to stop putting out games into EA, when there isn't enough content to keep a player engaged between updates. Because it's not about just bugs/issues. I've bought many EA games, played through the available content, but never went back to it because it was 3-4-6 months before new content was added or bugs were fixed...
It wasn’t meant to be a visionary idea - more of an open discussion on people’s views on EA. I totally agree with you though. Releasing a game to early access and then to not update it for six months is a bad deal for us as consumers.
Games fail for several reason. The biggest being, that the game is shit. And a game is shit if it: Is unfair Is overbloated with unnecessary garbage (UI, pop up windows, 3 bazillion currencies and ressources) Too expensive for the content delivered Has too much fomo and other p2w shit included Does run like ass (performance) Doesn't reward the player according to the challenge (balancing is a very hard thing to get right) Is full of gamebreaking bugs or tries to push a political agenda Is way too repetitive and therefore boring Even ONE of this points makes the game shit already. More than one gives you all the reasons to not even look at it any longer.
I actually agree with this - maybe Devs should have this lost on their desks during the alpha phases. A lot of the time though it comes down to a lack of resources to not only finish the game but to even just have a playable core loop.
@@Litanah Yeah, but can we really blame them too much? In the end a dev, develops but there is a big team, depending on the studio. A more important factor is probably if the devs love what they do and try to create something that they wholeheartedly would enjoy themselves. If they are geeks like the Baldurs Gate guys who 100% have a background of tabletop gaming, creating great stories they did enjoy in the past etc. AND are talented coders, you get a gem like BG3. But even if BG3 got such a great reception, it's not even in my top 10 of favourite games, because it's not my prefered genre. I'm more into real time strategy, 4x, soulslikes, etc. but even taking that into account, I see greatness in other games because it always boils down to having down to earth likeable guys who love what they do. The Command and Concquer series starting with westwood was such a company. RTS where a niche back then, but hell, the amount of dedication, actors, funny moments in game and on set etc. you could feel that they loved their work. The devs of age of wonders are also most likely the same breed. A successful game needs certain personalities and dedication and love for the craft, not suits on top who bully creators with deadlines, sale expectation increase mechanisms etc. The less influence capitalism has on a dev team, the more likely they are able to free themselves of the burden that limits the creative vision.
I played Towers of Aghasba directly after the patch / hot fix. They’ve made some solid QoL changes that already make the game flow much better. I’d highly recommend a second look and would LOVE to hear your thoughts here in the comments 😁🙏🏽
Oh and there is one more factor that makes a game good.
An absolutely flawless reputation, with no shitty, controversial bullshit to it.
I'm 15hrs into ToA. It's been enjoyable with great potential. I will need to restart my playthrough eventually due to some missing QOL features, like moveable storage, tents.. even being able to replace/move town pieces.
I hear this, @TylerBing - I just restarted today and played two hours. Its worth restarting because the game is already so much more fun. Let me know how you get on, I'd love to know what you think :D
Using the gaming community to do quality control opens devs up to criticism (even harsh if the game is 💩). Either devs need to send out a “completed” game and update as requested by players or stand on their product and if the devs fail it’s on them. Having some type of roadmap sent out at launch would go a long way to ease the worries off the players who paid hard earned money for the game. Using early access could, in the long term, alienate the player base, use STW as a perfect example. Great topic Lit!
I've been adding to and reading all the Steam and Discord comments for this game while playing through myself. I do think people are too harsh. These devs are working late hours and through the holidays and are super active in reacting to feedback and bugs. They pushed out five patches in the first week. Yet some people expect the game they want (character creation, multiplayer, etc.) and when it's not exactly to their preference, they have nothing but negative to add. In today's age of internet warriors, it's very risky to rely on the community when everyone is experts on everything. This game has huge potential though and I hope it transforms into what it can be. As long as "WE" don't ruin that.
i believe the sucess or failure of a game is a mixture of how the players treat it, and how the devs respond. I mean i wont mention the game, but we all know what it is. Devs lied to the players, chose to listen to the wrong people and as a result changed the game, and not for the better, and the player base complained and complained and complained. instead of listening to those players, the devs decided to go down a completely different route and stopped all future development (almost). we as players dont always get listened too, and devs dont always listen. this is why games fail.
Oh I completely agree! Its a fine balance for a Dev team of how much hype to build vs how solid is the current gameplay loop. Those Dev teams that listen to and apply player advice typically are most likely to turn the tide but - as you stated - many either don't want to or won't!
I don't know what it is... fill me in please!
I think a up to date demo at least ppl can try it and if they don't like will just uninstall. Its better than ppl refunding it and giving a thumbs down. But it needs to be a up to date demo.
TBF the Main issue on ps5 was that it would not even load at launch...
YOU DO NOT NEED AN EPIC ACCOUNT TO PLAY! ( they have explained this and said the wording was perhaps confusing.
They create you an account to play..
i've been playing for a few days and i'm really enjoying it so far..yes there are issues but not so bad where you cant play and complete the game.
Devs have been great at responding and have already put out fixes.
I hope all of this doesnt hurt it in the long run as the potential here is so exciting!
I absolutely agree with this - I've continued to play and although I've run into a few bugs, there's been nothing game breaking. My biggest pain point was not being able to move the farm once I'd placed it (The stairs were floating off the ground) but I can actually understand why because its a large functional building with NPCs.
Overall, I think Towers of Aghasba has a bright future and you're right, the Devs responded extremely well. This video is meant to convey the message of "Give them a chance and understand its Early Access - not a finished product" ^^
Whether you sign in with an existing account or they create one, it still REQUIRES an Epic Account.
And for folks like myself; I will NEVER buy a game on Epic or Support a game that requires an Epic Account.
honestly i've never posted a review on an early access game... if you want to share your feedback that's what the discord servers exct are for. good on you to voice your opinion on the matter. very good video and very good approach
Thank You - this is why I do it. Just to spark a conversation ^^
The issue is there is such a thing too early, big bugs like crashes are big no-no 😓 and the starting area needs to be smooth to give the player idea of what to look forward too. I'm not refunding but the game on ps5 is unplayable for me with 15 plus crashes, where I thing I need to restart and lose my 20 plus hours of game play. Love the look and feel of the game so I staying Hopeful. 😀
I did a couple of hours last night and had a far better time but that was on PC. If you revisit it, I’d love to know how the PS5 version is doing
Actually the game has a cool artstyle and I remember back the first trailer. But somehow it also looks like "just another UE5 survival/crafting adventure". I watched some streams and I was absolutely not attracted to it at all. Can't even say what it was. Even though I like Enshrouded, Valheim etc. and this game looks even more unique (in style) than generic UE5 games. I hope the devs get this game fixed and keep working on it. It may deserve another chance in future.
I think there is alot of fatigue that gamers feel for early access releases. I have many many freind who will perk up when i mention some new title coming soon, something we can all play together, until i mention its early access. Instantly, they are against it. They are tired of 8 out of 10 early access titles being major disappointments. Reslity.
Love the new style of content - Keep it up 👍
Glad you enjoy it!
I think Beta tests before early access need to happen to help with the more positive release, i also think more ease of access to give ingame feedback (not a 200 character limit report option *cough cough towers of ahasba cough cough*) i've seen early access games where literaly everytime you logged out they were asking for feedback . Soulmask a game still in early access huge game and tons of stuff to do with a world that feels alive as you play, enshrouded... not sure if still early access but like you said a clear roadmap with massive goals that just knocks every one of those goals out of the park palworld buggy as hell but people still love it because its a fresh take on an already existing idea, i think any game that has the awedacity to open into early access with out clear and presant goals for the community, as well as a dull polish to their game, (the content doesnt have to be huge but does need to feel like it was tested) and a very open and presant communication line from player to developers, should be prepared for a bumpy ride. that being said i think players should see a bug and report it as a bug and leave direct feedback to the developers while holding off on negative reviews untill there has been time for the game to have been adiquatly recieved and adjusted so like give it a month before you just "bad game" bomb it. i hope ToA puts a great shine on their game the world looks beautiful just need some polish
Oh, I totally agree with you-beta tests before early access are such an important step. They give devs a chance to iron out bugs while building trust with the community. Like you said, feedback systems are also important; if it's not easy or detailed enough for us as players to report issues, how can devs know what's really going on? The Towers of Aghasba example is a good one-200 characters for a report just doesn’t cut it for something as complex as game development.
Not played Soulmask or Enshrouded but I feel I want to try. Enshrouded seemed a little too... cozy for my taste (like Palia) but I may have misjudged it.
You’re also totally right about holding off on negative reviews right away. Early access is meant to be a growing phase, and feedback is way more helpful than just slapping a “thumbs down” on it. Giving it some time for patches and updates is fair, and I think it’s great that you’re rooting for ToA to shine. The world looks stunning, and if they nail the polish and player-developer communication, they could have something really special. We'll see I guess.
@Litanah I highly recommend both soulmask and enshrouded there is so much to do in them both. While enshrouded is working on making their world feel more alive which is exactly what they needed. Soulmask seems to just be adding more content and qol stuff. I recommend soulmask for solo players (can be group too but if you don't have you can still have fun) and enshrouded with friends it's a huge world and friends help fill it
Early Access shouldn't mean a Beta Test. If a developer wants to charge full price for early access they should be ready to accept heavy criticism if the game is buggy, poor performance, or just not fun. I think early access should only be for games than need a little polish and/or tweaks, not for half completed games. Let them find money from publishers instead of gamers if they are going broke. Gamers shouldn't be bearing the cost of ongoing development.
Hot take: we need LESS garbage indie games and more fully fleshed out and gamer ready games. Steam(not exclusively) is a cesspool of crappy EA titles from any dev team with a cash grab idea.
I completely agree!
I feel steam can make or break you. Towers of aghasba is beautiful plays well. To bad steam don't have middle icon.
no and somewhat yes.. By way of What we are, we cannot BE the problem, as we are the customers, its their job to sell us a product we want, if its not what we want, it wont sell.. I only say yes in that we spend our money on crap too easily and enable them to keep shoveling us slop.
There is a limited pool of gamers and too many games. Supply & demand. And each person only has so much bandwidth, and can only focus on so many titles at a time. I play 3 games, and swap when some thing better comes along.
Don't early access an unpolished game. Valheim is a good example of a well done early access
I love Valheim. That's how Early Access is done
Steam already put out a press announcement on Road Map & DLCs for games, so nothing visionary there from this video..
But Devs need to stop putting out games into EA, when there isn't enough content to keep a player engaged between updates.
Because it's not about just bugs/issues. I've bought many EA games, played through the available content, but never went back to it because it was 3-4-6 months before new content was added or bugs were fixed...
It wasn’t meant to be a visionary idea - more of an open discussion on people’s views on EA.
I totally agree with you though. Releasing a game to early access and then to not update it for six months is a bad deal for us as consumers.
Games fail for several reason.
The biggest being, that the game is shit.
And a game is shit if it:
Is unfair
Is overbloated with unnecessary garbage (UI, pop up windows, 3 bazillion currencies and ressources)
Too expensive for the content delivered
Has too much fomo and other p2w shit included
Does run like ass (performance)
Doesn't reward the player according to the challenge (balancing is a very hard thing to get right)
Is full of gamebreaking bugs
or tries to push a political agenda
Is way too repetitive and therefore boring
Even ONE of this points makes the game shit already.
More than one gives you all the reasons to not even look at it any longer.
I actually agree with this - maybe Devs should have this lost on their desks during the alpha phases.
A lot of the time though it comes down to a lack of resources to not only finish the game but to even just have a playable core loop.
@@Litanah Yeah, but can we really blame them too much? In the end a dev, develops but there is a big team, depending on the studio.
A more important factor is probably if the devs love what they do and try to create something that they wholeheartedly would enjoy themselves.
If they are geeks like the Baldurs Gate guys who 100% have a background of tabletop gaming, creating great stories they did enjoy in the past etc. AND are talented coders, you get a gem like BG3.
But even if BG3 got such a great reception, it's not even in my top 10 of favourite games, because it's not my prefered genre.
I'm more into real time strategy, 4x, soulslikes, etc. but even taking that into account, I see greatness in other games because it always boils down to having down to earth likeable guys who love what they do. The Command and Concquer series starting with westwood was such a company. RTS where a niche back then, but hell, the amount of dedication, actors, funny moments in game and on set etc. you could feel that they loved their work.
The devs of age of wonders are also most likely the same breed.
A successful game needs certain personalities and dedication and love for the craft, not suits on top who bully creators with deadlines, sale expectation increase mechanisms etc.
The less influence capitalism has on a dev team, the more likely they are able to free themselves of the burden that limits the creative vision.