A potentially fun game. Now, what is fun actually?

The funny thing about this is.. I've grown up on grind-based MMOs, and factually, enjoyed them. Particularly EVE Online.

However, as time went, I realized.. I enjoyed gathering pixels, so I have more pixels, that... you know.. Are just measure of how much I have collected, but not as much of how much fun I've had. Most of the time, grind is just boring.

So right now, I'm figuring out how to balance grind (hopefully not much of it), fun and excitement to reach new content levels. It may be difficult for me to grab on at first, as.. you really want to have long-term players, which have goals to reach. But frankly, is reaching goals in game what is the game about? It's not life, it's not a job.. it's a game, and games are played to have fun... or... to challenge your limits, which then includes grind. But even then, grind could be exciting, not terribly long, not monotone. So, combining all these elements and balance them out is a first priority right behind having stable, expandable and sustainable codebase, that runs just fine.

The game is fun even right now. I actually enjoy it. Because it's not grind. I have much better freedom over what I do, while also limited to what game offers right now. Being considered long-term game, and believe me it is.. I have no doubts it will grow into something amazing, slowly.

The issue that comes with games is that they have instant hype, and then fall down, because... players are just done. As opposed to slower building of a game, with increasing community, and it's engagement in bettering it. That is what I actually prefer, as I have owned many Minecraft servers, and from experience.. most people are drawn to.. something new, something unique.. until it's not unique anymore, and they leave it. A lot of them, majority of initial population is lost, and in most cases, slowly dies. As opposed to community building from ground up, which is much more fun, and challenge, it poses no real gains. It's sad where industry went, when it comes to long-term support, and even point of giving up. However, I believe that if we don't give up, stick to our values, and do our best to do our job, and keep players and community happy and healthy, we don't really need that much of money or success, as most of the days will be fortune to have.

You see, when you have fun, you create memories, you laugh, make connections. What do you get while you grind? A few pixels as a reward. Oh hey! I got the only mythical sword in the game! Only and one! Then you see, it's just an item. No real value. Just a set of data values, bytes, pixels.. but nothing you can remember than having to work hard for it... but... is a game your job? That's the point I come to. Have fun! Make friends! Make it great! That's our foremost goal, right? I don't care about the revenue much. Finding investors is matter of time, sometimes it takes years. At least those years would be honorable, and honest. If I can make it a living, keep my team, and players happy, and engaged.. money is just a bonus and a medium to help us grow further. Why else would you make a game? I can have quick bucks other ways, too. 

As a person, I have overall disinterest in being rich, popular, popular. My main concern is whether I make some progress, live healthy, if possibly happily, get better with my mentality, and issues, and make connections, and give world even a tiny bit more of added value. At least I hope this will stay the same till my "death march".

And so, I will be gathering quite some feedback on main concerns about playability, and how updates affect not only game, but you as well.

You see, you can have a seemingly great game, and no players. Or a fun game, and herd or crowd of players. The balance is fine, but I'm afraid, I tasted too much freedom of not being bound by progress, and just enjoying the game. It's like positivity. Once you taste it, you'll never want to be the grumpy guy anymore. You'll see it just... differently. 

The current state of game is what I would call rapid-development, but let's be honest, I don't want to take too much pressure on me. Stress is fine by me, but.. it does not have to be created artificially. Proper development also means focusing on yourself, mostly. I guess, I don't really have to release game under deadline. I'm just human, and I have limits. I also want to live balanced life. And I also think that people, hopefully, do respect boundaries every person has, even when it comes to their job. Sometimes it's just too much, or becoming too much. 

Take care everyone. I'm looking forward creating a good, fun game. And with you, as the heart of it.

(It's not sweety-bubbly talk. Sorry, If it's kind of too-good. It's just my sincere wish. How it goes, nobody knows.. INFP vibes anyone? Heh.)