Is Stoneshard Abandoned? (Stoneshard Negativity)
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- My honest thoughts on the rumors of Stoneshard being a dead/abandoned game. Comment your own thoughts, or don't! That's the magic of free will!
Music is from • Beats by SEGA • Jazz H...
Should be:
Sonic Adventure 2 - Death Chamber (Instrumental edit by
BlizzardOfTheCoast)
Streets of Rage 2 - In the bar (BGM1401 SoRR Remix)
Sonic CD - Stardust Speedway 'Dr. Gigglymen' Remix
#stoneshard
BUT STEAM ANALYTICS SAY LOW PLAYERCOUNT OVER PAST WEEK!11!1!1!!!1!1!
NO UPDATE EVERY WEEK!!1!1!1!
DED GAME!!1!!1!!!!1!11!!
Well, daily active players are down to ~300 People
Monthly sold copies are down to ~3k Units (granting a revenue of ~60k€ a month (20€ a copy))
Average recent playtime is about 1 hour
Median total playtime is about 2.5 hours (across all players owning the game)
Yes, this game is almost dead. There are games from 20 - 30 years ago with a more active player base, more active devs or both.
It does not matter if the dev is still on it. If it takes to long and the players leave the game, it is considered dead, even if the corpse is still rambling now and then.
This does not mean you are prohibitted from playing it, but for new players this is a fact that needs to be factured in if one considers buying it.
Like me. I will not buy it. Simple as that. Heared about it here in this video for the first time, maed my research, decided to stay away from it.
4 years
been waiting for this game since 2020, 4 years later... I'm still here.
As far as I understand it, These guy mostly live in Ukraine, and are thus impacted by the war with Russia. When your home, office, and work place are being bombarded by modern weapons, I think that`s a valid excuse for a delay...
I discovered Stoneshard during the 2020 covid quarantine. I remember paying ~15€ and coming back after two houres to pay the 8€ support pack because I loved it from the first moment. Since then I have more than 500h on the game.
At first I used to be a super fangirl of the game and was not annoyed at all about the slow progression (which by todays standards the updates were ok-ish if talking about pre-troll updates). When the war started I lost hope for the game and really felt dissapointed because I really want it to succed. But at no point I was mad with the devs, because even at that state I had a great time and (imo) was worth the money. The more time passes (and the more scarse the updates become), the more I look at it less as a game and more as an investment, checking it once/ twice a year to see the progress (if any) of the game, hoping that someday in the future it will be completed and I could finally ̶r̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶p̶e̶a̶c̶e̶ enjoy it.
I sort of feel the same way. I brought the game a couple of years ago but it stayed in the library for a while before I started really getting into it. I feel like it's an investment and I'm happy to wait as long as it takes for this game to finish. SO many rushed 'AAA' games out there that suck ass and cost over $100.
Stoneshard has soul to it.
They put out sneak peaks to their new big update theyre working on every other week. It's a bit insane to say it's abandoned. Sometimes I can't stand gamers.
This. "Low-maintenance" mode is a better term. There isn't a passionate team working full-time on it anymore, it feels more like there's 2-3 people tinkering on it in their free time.
@@redblue5140 wtf are you talking about? They're plenty passionate about it. Just because work is slow doesn't mean sweaty gamer's get to say they aren't working hard on it. Not to mention a lot of the team are Ukrainian. Idk if you noticed man but an active war makes it hard to develop a video game.
@@kdawg2468 Do you think the complaints just started? Development was extremely slow even before the war. It's a gamemaker studio 2 game with extremely simple mechanics, it should be incredibly easy to develop compared to most games, yet it's taking twice as long.
@@kdawg2468 I had heard that they were ukrainian but didn't know that for sure. I hope they don't get stuffed into a van or blown up as I would love to see this game grow and expand. At the very least modders may finish the job.
@@kdawg2468 It seems some somehow unconsciously assume that the devs only work a bit when they post a teaser, a devlog or an update, and they are unable to imagine the devs working "silently at the backstage"
I think if there was an ability to build a settlement, or rebuild a ruined area/ location, then it would really increase the fun levels of the game.
the devs have said they wont ever implement any kind of building or setting up a home base mechanic instead you will get a traveling caravan that acts as a mobile base with a cooldown in between when you can relocate the caravan and a cost in resources to move the caravan from location to location and upgrades you can earn for the caravan to make it faster and more efficient
I agree that it’s difficult to put Stoneshard into a brief summary. While the story may be short and mostly inconsequential, the battle stays pretty fresh. My favourite thing is the depth of lore (various books and treatises hold much information about the world) and the setting is brilliant.
They're not stubborn but they have a clear, strong vision for what kind of game they want to make. It's like art, and artists tend to want to make the things they want to make. Perhaps some view Stoneshard as a mere product, but Ink Stain games clearly does not and they are not entitled to compromise on their vision if others do not like said vision. People don't need to like it, and they're free to express that, but they shouldn't expect that the developers will abide by said comments. Indie games are not beholden to executives or shareholders, and that's why they can try said experimental ideas.
And as for their pace. I think saying that they are being "leisurely" is somewhat unfair. They're working damn hard for their circumstances, but they are implementing and working on systems which do take time, and said time will only increase when they can't work in good circumstances. You're a video editor, can you imagine if you were to edit a big video essay on your laptop with no extra monitor and you have to do it in the kitchen since you don't have a desk to work on? That's what a lot of the members of Ink Stain games had to do while developing the game. Trying to be effective while in unfit environments for productivity is hell, and couple that with sometimes having to move every month or two and things will slow down, but that's how it is for war refugees. And we can't forget that a lot of the members of Ink Stain games, which matters more given they're a small team, are war refugees. Trust me, most if not all refuges don't get to just flee into another country and then be welcomed with a stable dwelling and environment. Many get put into large collectives to temporarily reside in, which makes for horrible work conditions, and then have to keep moving around to whichever place can "house" them.
And despite all that they're still working their asses of, writing devblogs and communicating with the community. I know some consider the war in Ukraine to be "long ago and no longer relevant", but it can take many, many years for the life of a war refugee to stabilize. I've heard that Wayfinder only recently managed to get a somewhat bearable working space. And some of the devs are still, or have just finished moving around from country in country in hopes of finding a place to live in for a longer time.
Forgive me if this tone comes across as accusing, that's not the point, you seem like a reasonable guy that has a relatively healthy relationship with Stoneshard compared to many, but I think that with the game's circumstances one must have a bit of a different outlook on it. It's a very ambitious game, no doubt about that, but they are really doing the very best they can and I think it's admirable that they don't want to compromise on their vision despite everything. Some developers would have rushed a conclusion and never let the game reach its full scope, but these guys didn't. They love the game, i think they love the game more than any one of us, and they really want to make it become the game they dreamed about all those years ago.
No one has to like Stoneshard, I disagree with plenty of changes they have made, but I don't think they deserve so much of this flak they're getting. Call me a "cult member" or "brainwashed" if you will, but I stand by that war refugees deserve a bit of patience.
This is a very based comment and I completely agree.
The fact that the devs are still working on the game at all is insanely impressive!!
The dev for Gedonia was affected by the war as well, and he managed to bounce back fairly well, but so many are still suffering/recovering from the drastic impact it's wreaked on their lives.
Hopefully one day the Stoneshard devs can find stability, and the game can become what they envisioned.
I wasn't going to read your effort post but you had me keep going when I saw your point about it being art; and that they would continue with their vision for the game despite what loud whiny people might say.
I think this is what made games better back in the day. The devs just made what they envisioned or wanted to make, put it out there, and if people liked it they got behind it.
I do think it's good that fans are more involved now but I also think that devs need a solid foundation or vision to start with and NOT compromised on it. Just listen to the fans for either future content ideas, or QOL improvements. Stay with the core idea and vision! It's what attracted people in the first place!
Discovered Stoneshard when watching Splattercat play it for the first time, and it's literally everything I fucking love. The pixilated graphics are fantastic and the RPG rouglike dungeon crawler that's medieval but not too fantastical and whimsical but dreadful and bleak instead is such a specific niche I love. I don't know why people hate on it, if you don't like it just don't play it but I hope the devs keep working on this game because the potential and world building is so promising.
Bought a kickstarter package, game was supposed to release december 2018. It got delayed by over a full year, and the early access version that came out didn't have saving, 80% of the skills, you were forced to play a premade character from a set of like 5, 2 maps, no caravan mechanics. I can understand that it's early access it wont be a full game or whatever but holy shit this version barely had more content than the demo after a full year of development, and you really can't overstate how bad that save system is.
Last time I checked was in like 2021 and it was still barebones with most of the stuff mentioned in the kickstarter campaign missing. Has it gotten better at all? Can you at least make a character now? Thanks
Depending on when you played, they added an endgame city which is filled out pretty well now, new skill trees, rare end game artifacts and new enemies. I think i bought stoneshard in 2019. I was in college and had to leave my computer running for hours to go to work or class! Now you can save on exit. You can't roll back to the save on exit file, only saves from a bed (basically those work like a seperate ironman file). There was a lot that was added, it's definitely not finished. Caravans are only coming with this next update, and no character creation. In my opinion, its a lot better, i don't really have a super strong love or hate for it at the moment.
If you hate how the devs handled things, I'm not stopping you. I think i didn't specify i was responding some of the negative comments ive recieved and INSANE steam posts i've seen!
It's not abandoned, but my are they taking forever. "Of Blades and Tails" might be less complex and not quite as hardcore, but that was started and "finished" MUCH quicker that SS was able to put out two updates in a row, and Tails is on to post 1.0 updates. Also, nothing like SS on the market? Come on now - that's not true, its just there is not much - and yet, at least one of them exists because SS exists.
Also, you can come off like a fanboy when you just shove anyone who is annoying with the slow progress, and what gets left behind in terms of being worked on, without be "just a hater". So people are done - and they are moving on - some of them have pointed me to similar or similar enough games. Neet.
THAT SAID - the updates for SS have been WAY better this past ~year vs the previous... all of them. So who knows - but also, anyone looking at before 2023 would think it was headed to an EA disaster, and rightfully so. Anway, of course there are the people who let something they didn't like live rent free in their head, but the developer walked into a lot of it too, all on their own.
Also - are you a sexy boy?
Also, inkstain - just put SS on your list and wait for it be 1.0 in a few years - play Of Blades and Tails right now. There, it's easy actually.
Interesting way to end off. I'm trying in general to get better at organizing my thoughts because I tend to miss some points when I'm covering something. I warned you in the vid, almost no editing. Not ALL people negatively reviewing the game or who don't like it are haters, I think I definitely phrased that poorly. Saying it's abandoned or a scam is insane though, the cases where I've been scammed the devs will just launch new projects or do literally anything else to generate quick revenue (Freeman: Guerilla Warfare), Inkstain clearly THINKS they will complete it. Whether they actually will is a different matter.
I actually don't really play stoneshard that much anymore, I've been waiting for the update. It's just weird to me because I don't really hate stoneshard and I've never gotten the complaints that they've "added nothing" I've always felt really strongly about that - I really believe they just have bizarre priorities when it comes to new additions. I'm also pretty negative towards it recently, which is why the video is addressing negativity - those are the types of comments I keep getting. "Nothing like SS on the market" to me means a turn RPG with the "create a class" approach of old school bethesda with a healing and inventory system similar to Tarkov with random stuff like ARPG loot drops - yeah it's pretty unique. If you mean Hardcore/Roguelite RPGs or something - yeah I agree, it's not exactly the shocker it was during the time of the kickstarter. I just don't know of too many at the moment. Recommending something like Dwarf Fortress adventure mode seemed worse than recommending nothing at all. Those are my more collected thoughts, anyways.
Caves of qud is undisputed best game in the genre if you think stoneshard looks cool just get caves of qud instead same game with insanely more details and things you can do and devs that communicate daily and release 1-2 updates weekly, dont settle for an inferior product when the same experience is being offered in higher quality
God just give me open-world roguelikes with survival mechanics that are actually playable NOW. I'm in my 30s and soon to be 40 in a few years, I don't think I can wait til Stoneshard "gits gud". At least give us tons of things to do in the vast wilderness.
Star Sector and Zomboid are slow as fuck too but you don't see me complaining about them. There's just so much stuff to DO.
Abandoned? Wtf?? They made so much progress since start and I get regular update info's.
no way. everyone that plays this or owns it. LOVES it. They just wait for the updates then come back to it. This next coming patch will be huge and provide more end game content.
The lack of character creator is the deal breaker for me.
Yeah, they should really prioritize that. I mean drop everything to do it. Maybe add a starting load out system like stalker.
devs have said they dont actually care about custom character creation and are only adding it because ppl complained about it and that they have it very low on the list of priorities for updates so dont expect it to get added any time soon probably wont get custom characters for atleast 2 more years
Good video, they were making decent progress leading up to 2021 but that war really did some number on the dev team
All throughout 2020 and 2021 there would be a dev log every 2 weeks or so about hotfixes, localisation of languages, linux builds, new skill trees
2020 had 2 big updates ( troll update & way forward), 2021 expanded the map to its current size + dungeon rework
And since 2022? its just been so slow but truly unfortunate what a single petty world leader can do. 2023 we had no major updates but fingers crossed we get rags to riches this year and maybe the game finishes next year
sounds like exanima. its updates are very slow but very huge, and always push the game in the right direction.
I feel like i *wasted* too much time on this game. To me the learning curve was too high. I eventually figured it out and cleared over half the achievements. Like you said plenty of other games out there that are more fun for less money. I might* come back and play once it's full release, but i feel kind of cheated at this time in my purchase. I wonder id the devs are hoping that some big gaming company will buy it from them?
Stoneshard is a really fun video toy for the most part and I've sunk 100s of hours into it, but I think people's frustration with the dev time are justified. Stoneshard is really shiny, but diamonds are made with pressure.
The devs aren't very receptive to criticism from everything I've observed in their Discord and Steam forums, and don't really work on any sort of deadline that typically push game devs to make interesting and engaging development decisions. In my own experience this has lead to long unaddressed bugs, missing features (in spite?), gameplay imbalances, and as you said a lack of real motivation once you've seen the sights.
yo make a vid about the small games you got on steam (one of my favs is cliff empire) would love to see some good games pop up
Currently it's going through the milking phase.
I remember playing this game when it came out. It was a lot of fun but through the years i have become disinterested in it there's no progress only cosmetic stuff, no real depth) . One similar game is caves of qud , its much more complex and the updates are consistent. I don't think the devs had a plan after the demo
There's a complexity but you have to enjoy the gameplay loop. I'd take a look at quasimorph, thats a similar game i came to find. Havent played yet
i really want this game to success
because this is the only game that have a skill tree focused on Dual-wielding
i really love experimenting the dual wield build any combination on any weapon
i thought dual maces very op but i've tried every weapon but the most op for me was the daggers
Have they implemented the option to save whenever you want? Then I will play the game...
You can save on exit whenever you wish now and the game will keep one slot, similar to an ironman save on top of your other ones. If you mean "anytime, but keep playing" you can buy the in game bedroll item and bring that with you to dungeons. I believe survival has upgrades for that as well.
the devs are not only ukrainian but russian aswell. the development not only slowed down because data got lost. the sanctions made it so steam and other platforms could not pay the russians and the russians could not pay the ukrainians because of that.
ok maybe it doesn't help that the devs take features for the planed venom in the water update (the one after rags to riches) and take it into the rags to riches update instead. but what ever, it looks like the upcoming rags to riches update could get us a new dungeon type. and maybe an elve char? with the caravan upgrade the meditation table upgrade, which is the shrine for humans and that runic stone thing for the dwarves make me think that there is a chance we get the playable elve in the next major update too.
and rags to riches is a complicated update on its own. the caravan and all the updates, the changes to economy and the dungeons and settlements modifier, all the new commoditie items, the outskirts, the map changes (the map will become alittle bigger than it is right now), the survival skill tree changes, cooking, all the contract changes. the list goes on. i think all this to get balanced out could take some time.
and to answer your question in the video title. no, stoneshard is not an abandoned game but a game with lots of potential. i want this game to become as good as it could be, even if i have to wait much longer.
if you take skyrim for example. it is a good game on its own but imagine what it could have become if all the cut content would be part of the game. all that lost potential just because they ran out of time and belive me, it was alot that got cut. i don't want that for stoneshard
I agree with you, actually just read your comment on the other video first. Let me try to reply on some of the points
1) I understand the sanctions and difficulty being a russian/ukrainian project (something not at all uncommon before the war!). Was just actually looking at Men of War 2, which has a somewhat similar issue. However, one thing to keep in mind with the negativity: the game probably should have been RELEASED when the war started. Using the Skyrim example, full development began in 2008 and it released 2011. To your point about preferring a complete experience and not cutting stuff to ship, I agree, but Stoneshard is quite a ways from a 1.0 release. The companions are JUST being discussed now. I know I'm being negative here, I just want to start with this because I think it's important to keep in mind when we think about Stoneshard negativity that some of it is frankly valid.
2) I've been thinking an Elven character is on the way as well. The prayer caravan upgrade and the increased presence of elves makes it feel like something that at least should happen in lieu of being able to make your own character
3) With all the big changes you listed, I feel like the Rags to Riches update could begin a whole new chapter with Stoneshard. If dungeon tiering, economy rework, skill reworks, enemy tiering, basically just quality of life, is done very well this game would be much easier to recommend. Right now Stoneshard feels like recommending STALKER Clear Sky to someone. I want it to be like Recommending Call of Pripyat, something your average person could pick up, and pretty quickly go "this is for me" or "this isn't for me". Right now I feel like Stoneshard loses people first to the difficulty, which is inevitable, and then to the jank quests/progression/walking simulator/etc.
@@DeadEndGoose 1. isn't bethesda a bit bigger with a bigger team? i just brought up skyrim for all the cut content that would have made the game even better than it is. ofc they could release faster but with alot of content missing.
in a streams chat someone sayd, the devlogs only get released if the feature is complete. and i know the follower got mentioned way before the last devlog. now we just got more details about how it would look and work.
yes, some points are valid. i think about all the skilltree reworks. devs listend to the players and changed every single one of them. it was a whole update. they could have worked on other stuff instead. but i think it was ok for them to do so. the changes where realy good. but at the same time, alot of the points i read here and there are just unfair.
2. i know not everyone is like me that looks for all the informations out there. so not alot know that the charcreator is high priority now. but for that the devs first want to change the charakter traits and how they work. i dont know how they want them to be, but there will be changes in the future. and then charcreator will come soon after i think.
3. i recommend stoneshard everytime but at the same time i say, play the stoneshard demo first. it is well made and the prologue has a unique boss.
what i can say, and i am 100% sure, stoneshard has a big future ahead. rags to riches is just the beginning.
what i like the most on stoneshard is the survival part. i allways wanted real cooking in the game. just throw stuff in the fire and wait until its done is not cooking in my opinion. and the way i imagined cooking could be, or i wanted cooking to be, is exactly what the devs showed us in the cooking devlog.
ok, maybe not exactly, i did'nt think of the milk in the pot 🤣
we can expect alot of this game, we just need alittle patience
I loved it in 2020 but decided that I focus when it's finished. Yeah I also like Berserk and Song of Ice and fire...
They keep publishing Dev Logs bro
Thanks for the review friend.
I appreciate your analysis
D you know some games that plays like Stoneshard?i need something like this
Quasimorph is similar
welp guess i'll wait till 2030 till i buy the game
4 years
lol for honor was fucking shit I don't blame you for that one 🤣🤣
Ive been following stoneshard since its release, the devs are SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW, and this coming from someone that's also a gamedev and feel total empathy for them. The issue i see with the devs is that they are so focused on such small details rather than the bulk of the important things that should be worked on. I've triggered the game designer about it once or twice. He might be a decent designer, but he's really shit at prioritizing.
I probably wouldn't try that even if I joined the server. There's a few things i would genuinely like answers to (unarmed tree and pets, i bring them up as examples of weird lines in the sand quite often!) But i guess thinking it over there is a very bizarre focus on "set dressing" functionless NPC's and locations. Stuff like the brothel that doesnt have a mechanic yet, no problem (at least for me) but why not make it so velmir can understand the skadian merchant in brynn's docks? This might take a little time, but every character has encounters like this, and for velmir the experience is exactly the same.
I can think of a few more, like the complete lack of communication regarding non-faction discounts. To my memory, Jurg (carpenter osbrook) used to give a discount if you did fate of the brewery alternate ending. This functionality seems to be currently broken. I think nit picking is pointless, but I've always had this line that i think other people don't: if the fix is QUICK. Or if it is a SMALL THING. It absolutely reflects poorly on the devs.
I prefer slow updates over rushed AAA games.
The save system killed this game for me at the start. No idea if that has changed.
You can save on exit now, you dont need a bed. That save works like an ironman save, dunno if thats what you mean
Nope. There is good update and things like that.
all i want is a custom character...and bring back save edditing
Caves of Qud is the absolute peak in the genre currently stoneshard is hardly better then even some versions of pixel dungeon which is free open source
Awesome and cheap game for a lot of hours.
:)
its because of the ukraine war! people
lol