Hello,
Starbase is an amazing game with endless possibilities. The endless possibilities, however, can be daunting for a player to wrap their head around in addition to the vast number of keyboard controls and other gameplay aspects like "any direction can be up" that are uncommon for most games. Players really need some way to launch the game and jump into relatively "standard" gaming options, like first-person-shooter and ship fighting. Many games implement "arena" or other instance based, map-based arenas for players to fight in with zero meaning behind the gameplay outside of the thrill of playing with or against other players. Starbase can do this better, as the live universe can support a large number of players in a vast amount of area - but only if there are easy objectives and direction given to players.
Players were teased with a grand competition between the dev-factions Empire and Kingdom. These two factions were poised to be in eternal war, with both sides utilizing all their resources to battle one another. When the game was launched, there was nothing at all involving these two factions, no framework for engaging against these factions was given, and the player was simply thrown into a sandbox with no guidance on what to do or what was possible.
For the game to hook players, it is important to deliver to them something they are likely to be familiar with. First-person-shooter games are widely known where players can understand what is going on easily. They move in 4 directions, left-click to fire a weapon, die and respawn and repeat. With Starbase's promise of this physical, destructible universe, it is important to give players a taste of that right away. The "Demolition" tutorial is somewhat a step in this direction, showing players what it's like to cut up a ship, however it does not allow players to match the experience promised to them by the feature videos which showcase ships fighting one another, players shooting at ships and exploding them, and all manner of interaction with other players in a contested scenario. People who enjoy building are niche players who will seek out those experiences regardless, but the vast majority of gamers can get behind a good point-and-click FPS shooter.
Starbase should flesh out the Empire and Kingdom faction idea, allowing players the ability to join into those factions and engage in all-out war. Positioning these factions in close proximity to one another would spur a lot of conflict as pre-made fighter ships, weapons, and other tools can be given to players to simply attack one another with. New players should have to decide which faction they start with, and from there, be sent to the front lines to attack. I imagine the front lines to be a "no man's land" of many stations where the goal is to take out the other faction's stations. Before I turn this into a suggestion-style post, though, I'll fall back on the point.
Players have to spend hours, days, maybe weeks playing the game before they figure out how to simply cause the damage and effects they saw in feature videos or trailers. The cumbersome research tree which was sprung on players out of nowhere from Alpha compounds the issue, as access to interesting weapons is either impossible or cost-prohibitive, requiring millions of credits to be poured into crafting just to unlock certain weapons, yet alone the crafting of them. This leads to players being unable to experiment and test the different weapons that should otherwise be available to them. Even the testing-ground that once was in the Marketplace is not accessible anymore, so it's not easy for a player to figure out what kind of weapon they'd like to grow towards without grinding lots of blue tokens for the crafting system.
All of the above combines to limit the experience of players who may otherwise just want to log on for an hour and engage in some ship fighting or station-control first-person-shooting. The two factions should be fleshed out as working, joinable teams that have access to weapons and ships which players can use to get into a fight against the enemy faction very quickly. From there, players will become engaged with the game and branch out to other aspects of gameplay, wanting to create their own ships and to explore into the universe more - but those who want to keep pushing for their side to win can continue to log in and simply push their front line forward station by station.
Another aspect in how the lack of early direction impacts players is that since players risk their own credits and resources any time they leave the safe zone, they are disincentivized from doing so until they are extremely confident in their own abilities. With an early system which allows for players to fly ships they don't care individually about, they are able to gain confidence in their abilities so when they do venture out into the harsh civilian world, they are not afraid of exiting a safe zone.
The tutorial is a nice attempt to give some exposure to the game's systems, but it is not enough in terms of giving players the true experience of what Starbase has to offer. It is a reasonable approach, but doesn't give players any exposure to player and ship weapons, or causing damage to other ships or station parts, and gives no fighter-pilot training or other experience which would let a player get comfortable with all the controls and handling before entering into the universe at large. A sandbox playground pitting two factions against one another would lead players to devise new ways to attack their opponent, and eventually want to branch out in designing better ships or implementing better ways to assault a station. This doesn't have to be gamified, it just has to be possible.
Although Easy Build Mode and the crafting system deserve their own breakdown of their own issues, it's worth pointing out here that in an early game experience with new players, building and crafting are not gameplay mechanics that hook a new player. The focus should be on delivering to players what they expected from the feature videos and trailers, and to give a familiar first-person-shooter experience and/or ship fighting experience as soon as possible. From there, players will happily branch out to other tasks if they wish, especially knowing that at any time they can get back into the combat if they so wish. War has a weird way of driving an economy. Use it.
Problem: The early game experience leaves players wondering what to do in a vast universe with little direction given, which limits explorative behavior in favor of safe credit/ore farming.
Solution: Provide an Empire and Kingdom faction system which allows easy access to the most basic ships as well as different weapons to allow players to get a taste of the non-safezone gameplay as quick as possible without having to risk their own credits or materials.
Starbase is an amazing game with endless possibilities. The endless possibilities, however, can be daunting for a player to wrap their head around in addition to the vast number of keyboard controls and other gameplay aspects like "any direction can be up" that are uncommon for most games. Players really need some way to launch the game and jump into relatively "standard" gaming options, like first-person-shooter and ship fighting. Many games implement "arena" or other instance based, map-based arenas for players to fight in with zero meaning behind the gameplay outside of the thrill of playing with or against other players. Starbase can do this better, as the live universe can support a large number of players in a vast amount of area - but only if there are easy objectives and direction given to players.
Players were teased with a grand competition between the dev-factions Empire and Kingdom. These two factions were poised to be in eternal war, with both sides utilizing all their resources to battle one another. When the game was launched, there was nothing at all involving these two factions, no framework for engaging against these factions was given, and the player was simply thrown into a sandbox with no guidance on what to do or what was possible.
For the game to hook players, it is important to deliver to them something they are likely to be familiar with. First-person-shooter games are widely known where players can understand what is going on easily. They move in 4 directions, left-click to fire a weapon, die and respawn and repeat. With Starbase's promise of this physical, destructible universe, it is important to give players a taste of that right away. The "Demolition" tutorial is somewhat a step in this direction, showing players what it's like to cut up a ship, however it does not allow players to match the experience promised to them by the feature videos which showcase ships fighting one another, players shooting at ships and exploding them, and all manner of interaction with other players in a contested scenario. People who enjoy building are niche players who will seek out those experiences regardless, but the vast majority of gamers can get behind a good point-and-click FPS shooter.
Starbase should flesh out the Empire and Kingdom faction idea, allowing players the ability to join into those factions and engage in all-out war. Positioning these factions in close proximity to one another would spur a lot of conflict as pre-made fighter ships, weapons, and other tools can be given to players to simply attack one another with. New players should have to decide which faction they start with, and from there, be sent to the front lines to attack. I imagine the front lines to be a "no man's land" of many stations where the goal is to take out the other faction's stations. Before I turn this into a suggestion-style post, though, I'll fall back on the point.
Players have to spend hours, days, maybe weeks playing the game before they figure out how to simply cause the damage and effects they saw in feature videos or trailers. The cumbersome research tree which was sprung on players out of nowhere from Alpha compounds the issue, as access to interesting weapons is either impossible or cost-prohibitive, requiring millions of credits to be poured into crafting just to unlock certain weapons, yet alone the crafting of them. This leads to players being unable to experiment and test the different weapons that should otherwise be available to them. Even the testing-ground that once was in the Marketplace is not accessible anymore, so it's not easy for a player to figure out what kind of weapon they'd like to grow towards without grinding lots of blue tokens for the crafting system.
All of the above combines to limit the experience of players who may otherwise just want to log on for an hour and engage in some ship fighting or station-control first-person-shooting. The two factions should be fleshed out as working, joinable teams that have access to weapons and ships which players can use to get into a fight against the enemy faction very quickly. From there, players will become engaged with the game and branch out to other aspects of gameplay, wanting to create their own ships and to explore into the universe more - but those who want to keep pushing for their side to win can continue to log in and simply push their front line forward station by station.
Another aspect in how the lack of early direction impacts players is that since players risk their own credits and resources any time they leave the safe zone, they are disincentivized from doing so until they are extremely confident in their own abilities. With an early system which allows for players to fly ships they don't care individually about, they are able to gain confidence in their abilities so when they do venture out into the harsh civilian world, they are not afraid of exiting a safe zone.
The tutorial is a nice attempt to give some exposure to the game's systems, but it is not enough in terms of giving players the true experience of what Starbase has to offer. It is a reasonable approach, but doesn't give players any exposure to player and ship weapons, or causing damage to other ships or station parts, and gives no fighter-pilot training or other experience which would let a player get comfortable with all the controls and handling before entering into the universe at large. A sandbox playground pitting two factions against one another would lead players to devise new ways to attack their opponent, and eventually want to branch out in designing better ships or implementing better ways to assault a station. This doesn't have to be gamified, it just has to be possible.
Although Easy Build Mode and the crafting system deserve their own breakdown of their own issues, it's worth pointing out here that in an early game experience with new players, building and crafting are not gameplay mechanics that hook a new player. The focus should be on delivering to players what they expected from the feature videos and trailers, and to give a familiar first-person-shooter experience and/or ship fighting experience as soon as possible. From there, players will happily branch out to other tasks if they wish, especially knowing that at any time they can get back into the combat if they so wish. War has a weird way of driving an economy. Use it.
Problem: The early game experience leaves players wondering what to do in a vast universe with little direction given, which limits explorative behavior in favor of safe credit/ore farming.
Solution: Provide an Empire and Kingdom faction system which allows easy access to the most basic ships as well as different weapons to allow players to get a taste of the non-safezone gameplay as quick as possible without having to risk their own credits or materials.
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