List of things people don't like [From Reddit thread]

[Maze1125]

it's amazing how much some people hate constructive criticism

That's a stupid thing to say.
One person's constructive criticism could be another's destructive criticism.

Some people don't like how random the game is, while some people do.
If the game is made to be less random, then that's constructive for the first group, but destructive to the second.

[Reaver027]

One simple change could eliminate most of the complaints.

Just add a few more jumps in each sector before the rebel fleet arrives.
Currently it is 5(?) jumps. Bump that up to 10 (arbitrary number) and you got more time to explore, get more chances to negate the randomness and don't feel as rushed. Perhaps even tie it to the difficulty. Easy 10 jumps and normal 5 jumps.

It is a very elegant fix for all those problems.

[Wordsmith]

You're acting like this is some sixty dollar triple-A title with multiplayer servers and an esports scene. Dude, it's just 2 guys making a game, and trying to make a living from it.

Nope. The same principles apply to indie games. If you want them to sell, you have to have a market-pleasing product.

[Plazek]

So if this game is so "market unpleasing" how come it has been so successful.

Devs pandering to marketing is just about the dumbest thing ever. I for one am glad they make the game they want to make instead of what the market tell them to do. If the market was king for these devs this game would not even exist.

[Reddestiny]

So if this game is so "market unpleasing" how come it has been so successful.

Devs pandering to marketing is just about the dumbest thing ever. I for one am glad they make the game they want to make instead of what the market tell them to do. If the market was king for these devs this game would not even exist.

Oh wow... don't even know where to begin with this...

1) A successful Kickstarter obviously points to a large interest in this game, something that you may also have alluded to.

2) The Devs don't have to listen to us, that is true. However, you are suggesting they ignore ALL feedback as 'pandering to marketing'. If you had a suggestion, and everyone just shot it down as 'pandering to marketing', what would you think of your comment now? And if you don't have suggestions, that doesn't mean NO ONE ELSE is allowed to have one.

3) This game exists because of its potential, which was supported by crowd sourcing. If 'the market' (i.e. other players/customers) didn't support it, the game may still come out, but still fail due to lack of support.

What the people here, whom are against feedback/criticism, fail to realize is that games aren't created in a vacuum. Call it 'pandering to marketing' if you will, but I hope the Devs are open-minded to change, as opposed to shunning all criticism, which is an easy way to lose support.

With that said, I like the idea of having 'bad dicerolls' play out as scenarios. Someone mentioned that for the event involving Giant Spiders, have it play out as a boarding action against the station. It would add more gameplay, while using existing mechanics, and if you fail, it's not because of RNG, but because you got your crew killed.

Increases gameplay, personalization of crew/ship, and gives MORE CONTROL TO THE PLAYER.

If I wanted to play a game based purely on luck, I would go rock-paper-scissors, or flip a coin.

[Zironic]

I don't think people are being very fair here. For instance I notice that quite a few of the people complaining about the game being too short, have also stated that they've played the game for 15+ hours, that's really great value by any measure.

I'll also note that the randomness is there in purpose. Yes it really sucks when you die just before you reach the last sector because you accidentally ported into a sun while escaping another sun, or that the boarding party managed to destroy your shield and get your ship blown up by asteroids etc.

But that stuff really makes you passionate about the game, each time I die I come back with new determination to do better. If the game wasn't so random you'd just be able to write a guide for how to complete it, and that would be boring, you'd be able to beat the game by rote. As it is I never know if I'll be able to kill the boss when I set out in my ship, in fact even on easy my winrate is abysmal and this is what makes the game addictive to me.

I'll also add another note about the content, I'm perfectly happy with FTL being the size it is right now, it would be great if they added more content, but it's a really complete game and it does everything it sets out to do very well.

What I'd love to see however is FTL 2, with all the money they're pulling in from releasing FTL 1 they might have the resources to expand the game to a true freeform starship game where you can explore the galaxy.

With that said, I like the idea of having 'bad dicerolls' play out as scenarios. Someone mentioned that for the event involving Giant Spiders, have it play out as a boarding action against the station. It would add more gameplay, while using existing mechanics, and if you fail, it's not because of RNG, but because you got your crew killed.

Increases gameplay, personalization of crew/ship, and gives MORE CONTROL TO THE PLAYER.

If I wanted to play a game based purely on luck, I would go rock-paper-scissors, or flip a coin.

For the kind of game that FTL is, then it's fine if you fail to some RNG. Since you're just meant to get from point A to point B in an hour of realtime it''s not really a great loss when the dice gods turn against you, you can just come back again. However if they released some freeform game based on the same concept then obviously you'd want more control in the hands of the player, dying to RNG 20 hours in isn't quite as fun.

[Justin]

Hey guys, no need to get negative in here.

My thoughts on these types of dislikes are as follows: We made a game that we really wanted to make. There are some people who it really really respond to the game as is, and some people who it is not perfect for them. Were we to make minor changes it would maybe be perfect for some of those other people. But were we to make those changes across the board, there would be an equal (?) number of people now unhappy. So in conclusion the only real way to make 'everyone' happy (not possible, but everyone we're talking about at least) is to have extra options or modes to make the experience somewhat customizable.

Keep in mind, that's just my conclusions on the discussion, not a statement about our plans for the future. We're still trying to process what's happened so far (and respond to the flood of emails/contacting/support), we'll need some time before we can evaluate our plans for what we'll be doing in the next few months, whether it be extra content (and what that content will be) or something else (aka. sleep, lol).

Everybody be positive.

[velz]

it's amazing how much some people hate constructive criticism

That's a stupid thing to say.
One person's constructive criticism could be another's destructive criticism.

Some people don't like how random the game is, while some people do.
If the game is made to be less random, then that's constructive for the first group, but destructive to the second.

If someone views constructive criticism ever as DEstructive, then the person viewing it as such needs to stop what he's doing, ditch the project, and never attempt to do anything again, because they are doomed to failure from the start.

[velz]

So if this game is so "market unpleasing" how come it has been so successful.

Devs pandering to marketing is just about the dumbest thing ever. I for one am glad they make the game they want to make instead of what the market tell them to do. If the market was king for these devs this game would not even exist.

Why do you think that because a game has what would be deemed to be decent sales figures that it in turn must be a great, or even good game? Not saying that FTL is bad by any means, but please, that's silly. Plenty of people buy things and then realize they don't like it.

[velz]

Hey guys, no need to get negative in here.

My thoughts on these types of dislikes are as follows: We made a game that we really wanted to make. There are some people who it really really respond to the game as is, and some people who it is not perfect for them. Were we to make minor changes it would maybe be perfect for some of those other people. But were we to make those changes across the board, there would be an equal (?) number of people now unhappy. So in conclusion the only real way to make 'everyone' happy (not possible, but everyone we're talking about at least) is to have extra options or modes to make the experience somewhat customizable.

Keep in mind, that's just my conclusions on the discussion, not a statement about our plans for the future. We're still trying to process what's happened so far (and respond to the flood of emails/contacting/support), we'll need some time before we can evaluate our plans for what we'll be doing in the next few months, whether it be extra content (and what that content will be) or something else (aka. sleep, lol).

Everybody be positive.

Good stuff.