Dev Diary #230 Exploration is (an) Adventure

[Nikki Severin 1129]

Hey there, fellow Ylanders!

Today we will mention one change that you will notice immediately after you start the new update 1.10.

So what is this change?

When you first start the new update, you will see the familiar Main menu, with some somewhat unfamiliar labels.

Instead of "Sandbox" there is "Creative mode", "Playlands" is now called "Minigames hub", "Custom games" have become "Community games" and, finally, "Exploration" has become "Adventure". We haven't gone crazy. We're not even trying to confuse players (even though yes, some slight initial confusion is something we expect). As weird as it may sound, this is one of the steps we've taken to get more players into Ylands. Let me explain.

 

 

Unless you disabled the anonymous data gathering in Ylands settings, we get information like "Some player started Ylands for the first time and first they clicked on Playlands. The second thing they clicked was Sandbox. Then they left and never returned". And because we consider Exploration to be "the game", something we want the players to try first to hook them up (and ideally never let them go :)), this obviously is a problem.

When you get info like this you need to dig deeper and then you figure out something like: way too many players consider "Exploration" to be something like "showcase of features" or some sort of "god mode" that lets you explore what the game has to offer - or some other things, but not something that holds the actual game. And pretty much every other choice they find more interesting. So they check one of those or two, if we're lucky, and they then leave and don't look back. Sure, it's not every player that decides to give Ylands a try, but the number is surprisingly large.

So, we have changed the labels to make Exploration stand out more (sure, it will be some time before we actually stop calling it this way and if you feel like calling it Exploration it's fine if you stick with it). The second reason is that it's not just about exploration but what ever you do, it's an adventure.

We will still have "Exploration pack" because it does what it says - it lets you explore, go farther, see more.

And speaking of the Exploration pack - we have some interesting plans with that that we'll talk about some other time, but in a nutshell - we want to give more freedom to those without the pack so that they can enjoy the game more, while at the same time owning the pack sounds even more interesting. That's yet another step we would like to take to bring in more players.

And that's it for today. Have a great week and until we talk again... Stay Classy!

[Miguel Preguisa 443]

I like this change. Let's be honest, a lot of people called the Sandbox a Creative mode already  I haven't played the game recently but it seems to me like "adventure" is more descriptive for the path the game seems to be going

Thumbs up from me! 

[jchob 354]

Well, i guess the changes makes sense to me. Altough "Exploration" explains it itself because when you explore in survival games it is also an adventure, imo.  But I guess you took the right considerations to change the label. So, i guess we have to agree with that. And that's fine, I see no problem at all for older players (but this is just me saying 😉)

Anyway, speaking about letting new players to have more freedom without the DLC, i know you already have something in mind, but i want to give my feedback/idea.

Thus, maybe you can let players not only have a starter yland (which they already have) but also maybe they can travel to all other biomes with 1 small yland. So, very small ylands, and with very small amount of resources. The purpose is letting them know what they can expect if they buy the pack. 

Each biome yland can also have a Hermit that explains why the lack of all resources, why not that many recipes, etc etc.

Well, I'd say old players don't really care about the label change, we are just waiting the new update 🤩

[Igor Q. 519]

This is my honest opinion, but isn't a huge issue with exploration the lack of clear icons?

When opening the main menu, a lot of players wil instinctively want to click on things with clear and defined locations such as "Games"

The current menu has giant middle section as just a vague splash art with words on it and doesn't really entice the user to actually try the game. (Not to mention the buttons arent even interactive)

As backwards as it seems, I think it would help new user experience if the sandbox, playlands, exploration were made as buttons that were more.....defined.

Even the most popular games ranging from Minecraft, Civ 6 or League of Legends understand that button clarity is important.

@Nikki Severin

[jchob 354]

I guess you are right @Igor Q.

The very old eaely versions had that kind on main menu