Due to the limitations of technical strength and development costs, domestic large-scale single-player games are still scarce products in the current environment. As a result, many game developers are looking at the creation of indie games. In the past two years, domestic independent game masterpieces have been frequently produced. Many of them come from "small workshops", but they are still supported by a large number of players because of their excellent gameplay.
At the end of January last year, the work "Ghost Valley Eight Wilds" developed and distributed by Ghost Valley Studios received a good review on the Steam platform as soon as it landed, and it also entered the Top 10 of the Steam Weekly Sales List many times. But no one expected that a year later, the once "light of domestic products" has now become the object of condemnation by players.
In the past 30 days, "Ghost Valley Eight Wilds" has only received 5% praise on Steam. The famous saying that "water can carry a boat and can also cover a boat" has been interpreted in another way in the new era.
The whole thing stemmed from the fact that Oni Valley Studio had previously promised everyone that the game would support the Workshop function. After a long period of communication, development, and operation, on April 19, the official release of the video introduced the 1.0 version of the mod editor to the players.
But the move immediately angered players, with many questioning why they didn't use Steam's regular workshops directly. Because the mod editor opened by Ghost Valley Studio this time will jump to the third-party platform Fanbook. And Fanbook's mod agreement requires that the mod author must authorize Fanbook free of charge, and the mod author is also responsible for any problem.
In other words, the mod authors themselves do not get the benefits and need to bear the risk. The mod editor itself is also lacking in practicality. Early commitment to good demand, it took a year to complete but did not meet the player's expectations, when all the resentment accumulated to the same time to erupt, the consequence is that the former "light of domestic goods" was boycotted.
At this point, what players care about is no longer the mod function, but the attitude of the production team to the players. The comment area of the B station video, the comments with the highest praise, the spearhead pointed directly at the production team when the players needed the most, everyone stepped forward; When players have needs, they are not valued.
What happened last March, most people must remember. At that time, Tencent Game Accelerator quickly attracted widespread attention and hot discussion among netizens because of the offline version of "Ghost Valley Eight Wilds". Under the condemnation of players, the "small workshop" won the confrontation with the "industry leader". After this battle, the reputation, sales and reputation of "Ghost Valley Eight Wilds" have increased.
At present, "Ghost Valley Eight Wilds" has been boycotted by players, and many people have also asked the studio to open up refund channels. Oni valley studios, which has been supported by players for the past year, has fallen into an unprecedented situation.
Just last night, Onigu Studios, which had been condemned by players for many days, finally released an apology letter. Explains why the Steam Workshop was not listed, and the development process. He also promised that he was communicating with the official about the listing of the Steam Workshop, and would continue to improve the player experience in the future.
But judging from the replies of the players in the comment area alone, this apology letter does not seem to have been able to exchange everyone's forgiveness.
Affected by this incident, "Ghost Valley Eight Wilds" wants to regain the recognition of players, and it needs to put in several times more efforts than before. And no one can guarantee that they will eventually get the expected return. It also gave a wake-up call to its peers and once again emphasized the importance of the player experience.
I hope that such incidents will not happen again in the future