I just started playing and I can't believe a site with so much quality just passed me by, especially with these revamped species, the art here is great, the gameplay has so much content.

I can't help but think this site needs to sell itself better, and that blue logo is the first thing people are going to see on the landing page, and think "neopets ripoff". It's a lovely design, but imagine it rendered with colored lineart and fine details.

Trust me... I've been saying something similar for years. I've always said the tutorial and design of the site should be updated ASAP. It has a very negative impression on new players. I have even discussed this and marketing in general with the admin. Instead a new zone was developed and I'm still in the boat of: should have updated the site instead.

Welcome nonetheless. If you have questions feel free to ping or DM me. I've been here too long (9 years).

Hi!
Heheh, I get it gotta balance content for new players and content for existing players. I didn't find the tutorial too bad, yes maybe it's bit overlong with the adventuring part though, but one definitely has to enjoy the adventuring to play this game, as I understand.

The banner at least would be relatively simple, just set aside the money and commission an external artist so it won't impact the release timeline of other things.

To be fair, LG is basically a double-up on Krin's part; keep the players busy while he updates assorted areas of the site (like the hatchery and breeding grounds), and also let him lean some new coding and try out new things so he can get a good feel for how he wants things to work (battle balancing, tasks, barracks setup, explore methods and so forth) in a temporary area, so that the eventual update to regions 1 and 2 are a single, complete event to go with Sylestia leaving beta.

That said, while I don't often see the ads because adblock, I think they're, what, usually the site name, a random background from the site, and a random pet (I mostly remember a vulnyx?)?
They don't really have much visual Oomph if I remember right, so new ones could be good? Even just something that does basic animation rotation between a few different traits on a species

The site already has artists. The tutorial is *very* bad and turns away a lot of new players. I'm going to assume you have not made it to the Lost Grove yet, which is the final zone. The battle system changes *drastically* and looks more like a Pokemon-style game. It's a drastic change from the initial zones you start in. You will see what I mean when you get to that point.

Things like the site banner and advertising is very low on Krin's list. The point of the Grove *was* to be a distraction for players, but it was also an opportunity for Krin to learn how to code more dynamic battles and areas.

Despite this, I am still of the opinion that he should have revamped the site over a project like the LG. And a site revamp WAS PROMISED. It's not something I'm demanding out of the blue. It's something that was promised. The Grove imo was a huge distraction and way of procrastinating what needed to be done. That is how I see it. He was *supposed* to be fixing other site features while also working on the Grove... but this didn't really happen. Not with festivals in the mix as well. Krin is only NOW starting to redevelop key areas of the site. The Grove took over 5 years to fully develop. To me, I'd rather see a polished site than the Grove.

Long story short, the request to re-do the banner is low priority. Only now is the admin working on key features of the site.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=105471&page=1#5 Author: Fox Time Posted: 3/9/2023 at 5:56 PM The site already has artists. The tutorial is *very* bad and turns away a lot of new players. I'm going to assume you have not made it to the Lost Grove yet, which is the final zone. The battle system changes *drastically* and looks more like a Pokemon-style game. It's a drastic change from the initial zones you start in. You will see what I mean when you get to that point. Things like the site banner and advertising is very low on Krin's list. The point of the Grove *was* to be a distraction for players, but it was also an opportunity for Krin to learn how to code more dynamic battles and areas. Despite this, I am still of the opinion that he should have revamped the site over a project like the LG. And a site revamp WAS PROMISED. It's not something I'm demanding out of the blue. It's something that was promised. The Grove imo was a huge distraction and way of procrastinating what needed to be done. That is how I see it. He was *supposed* to be fixing other site features while also working on the Grove... but this didn't really happen. Not with festivals in the mix as well. Krin is only NOW starting to redevelop key areas of the site. The Grove took over 5 years to fully develop. To me, I'd rather see a polished site than the Grove. Long story short, the request to re-do the banner is low priority. Only now is the admin working on key features of the site.

There are many reasons we have taken the route of development that we have over the last 3-5 years. The Lost Grove was pushed forward as a testing ground for new features and new directions. It has greatly served its purpose and has helped us to figure out exactly how we want the future core content to be configured. Without the years of experience both coding the Lost Grove and receiving player feedback on the Lost Grove, revamping the site would have ended up in a significantly worse position.

Additionally, simply revamping the site is far from simple. It is a monumental task that will require hundreds of hours of pure dev time (on top of everything else required for it and also running the site). Once it's done, there will be no plans to do it again. I want to be sure that when it's done, it's done correctly. I could not achieve that without the past 3-5 years of experience working with the Lost Grove.

Yes, I am very well aware of the state of Sylestia's tutorial and early game. If there was some quick and simple way to 'fix' it, I would have done so years ago. There is not. The only proper solution is completely rebuilding everything from scratch.

Since just about every other major feature feeds into exploration, I have wanted to finalize and clean up some of the other major features first before rebuilding the exploration systems from scratch. This way, it will be much easier and cleaner to build the exploration systems as I will have some better foundations to work off of.

All of these things and more are major considerations that must be taken when deciding what projects to work on, when to work on them, and how best to implement them. Our project schedule in the past few years and for the next couple of years has been set the way it is for very specific reasons.

Believe me, if I could just wave a magic wand around and fix things, I would. Unfortunately, it does not work that way.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=105471&page=1#6 Author: Krinadon Time Posted: 3/10/2023 at 11:04 AM [quote=2697303] There are many reasons we have taken the route of development that we have over the last 3-5 years. The Lost Grove was pushed forward as a testing ground for new features and new directions. It has greatly served its purpose and has helped us to figure out exactly how we want the future core content to be configured. Without the years of experience both coding the Lost Grove and receiving player feedback on the Lost Grove, revamping the site would have ended up in a significantly worse position. Additionally, simply revamping the site is far from simple. It is a monumental task that will require hundreds of hours of pure dev time (on top of everything else required for it and also running the site). Once it's done, there will be no plans to do it again. I want to be sure that when it's done, it's done correctly. I could not achieve that without the past 3-5 years of experience working with the Lost Grove. Yes, I am very well aware of the state of Sylestia's tutorial and early game. If there was some quick and simple way to 'fix' it, I would have done so years ago. There is not. The only proper solution is completely rebuilding everything from scratch. Since just about every other major feature feeds into exploration, I have wanted to finalize and clean up some of the other major features first before rebuilding the exploration systems from scratch. This way, it will be much easier and cleaner to build the exploration systems as I will have some better foundations to work off of. All of these things and more are major considerations that must be taken when deciding what projects to work on, when to work on them, and how best to implement them. Our project schedule in the past few years and for the next couple of years has been set the way it is for very specific reasons. Believe me, if I could just wave a magic wand around and fix things, I would. Unfortunately, it does not work that way.

Not sure why I was pinged and quoted with a response of what I already outlined. But thanks for recapping my post.

I do say in my post that it was a testing grounds of sorts. I do understand it's not a simple task of fixing the site. Hence why I still believe, to this day, that I would rather have 5 years spent on revamping the site than the LG.

I also say something like the site banner is low priority and I also say in an earlier post that you are aware of the condition of the early game.

I do look forward to some of the plans you have... but I just wish it wouldn't have taken 7+ years to get there.

This thread is more about the lasting impression the site has on new players (which isn't a good one). I've seen a couple of newbies now that are very confused, completely turned off by the early game, or are asking if this game is even alive. Just feels like it wouldn't be as much of a problem today if the site had been revamped instead of having a Grove. Just my humble opinion, which I'm sure you have been aware of for the past 6 years.