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[nenjin]

As far as going from not fun to fun by grasping a simple mechanic. I'm not even sure what to say to a person who asks that question. How to convey an empathic yes combined with an exaggerated eye roll over the internet? How can you even ask that without exploding into dust due to a massive concentration of anti-logitrons?

Your quasi-flame aside, let me address that.

Not having his population explode wouldn't have led him to the fun. That simple lack of understanding just exacerbated his issues. In that there's not a lot going on in the game. That's why he focused on it, because it was the only thing stopping him from going "Ok, there's this game and this is it's presentation and it's ok." 

I know it's fun to treat people you disagree with like idiots, but if you're stopping to give the man at least a fragment of his due, that he plays a lot of games and isn't a gaming troglodyte, then you know the issue is bigger than not simply grokking how houses work. Which is why I asked that question. Now, you can treat it like I was asking if not getting how the B button jumps affects fun, ie. treating me like a moron and an asshole. But then I guess you'd be as guilty as him of only going surface deep.

I think a review site has a duty to give games a real chance.

By doing what? Saying "gee I don't really like this but WTF do I know, buy it." Disagreeing with how they feel about a game? Is it at all possible that Banished is a niche game that doesn't appeal to a lot of people, and the people who like it a lot have a hard time accepting that? He didn't call it a bad game. But apparently not being effusive in praise of it now qualifies as a bad review?

I get that you like the game, dislike RPS and want this guy to succeed. But I do not see the media as the servants of game developers. They do not exist to ensure games get "a real chance." They exist to provide readers with more information that they can incorporate into their decision making. They are observers, not cheerleaders.

This is what I hate about game review culture sometimes, and the media in general. People are more than willing to leverage their readership when they want something out of it, then take a huge crap on it afterward when they don't like the result.

[monkey]

Edit: By the way, I accidentally discovered a method to control births in Banished.  Don't build new houses for people who have newly turned adult.  They will continue to live in other people's houses, even after an apparent marriage has taken place, and no children will be born to any of the four people living there.  I am sure it is a bug, but it certainly was convenient for me.

I'm pretty sure this is intended. If not, there would be no way to control your populations leading to mass starvation cycles every few years.

Would be FUN though

I did that cause lack of resources and by year 15th people started to die of old age, I went from 50 to 25 citizens and stopped playing after that as most of the remaining guys where 65+ years old.

Needs a Sinister biome, will try a harsh mountain next.

[MoLAoS]

I don't dislike RPS. I'm criticizing this specific review. As far as the B button thing, I wouldn't go that far, but it seemed quite clear that that is what you were saying in a general sense. Maybe if I knew you I would be able to parse some bizarre second meaning to what you wrote, but I don't so I can't.

Look, its not my fault that you think there "isn't a lot going on" in a sandbox city builder. Its not an RPG like Dwarf Fortress, its a sandbox simulation. In fact I guess I was giving you and Alec TOO MUCH respect in thinking you understood the purpose of sandbox simulators. So I assumed you/he meant something more significant than "I don't like sandbox simulators." This game has exactly as much going on as the free play mode of Impressions city builders and people with sense wouldn't assume there would be anything more, given the copious dev diaries and quite obvious goal of the game.

For people who assumed Alec to have a basic grasp of the genre, his review, beyond not understanding housing, is entirely nonsensical. Nothing is going on? Well, duh?

You also logged in just to complain that people were mean to Alec in the comments. LOL.

The dude had death notifications turned off. I mean, how bad at city builders can you be... Any criticism Alec gets is Alec's fault. So the dev has to take shit from Alec because of free PR but Alec can't take shit from the users, that provide him his income based on how valuable his reviewing skills are, when his review is garbage?

You are not holding Alec to the same standard as Luke. Its ridiculous.

[nenjin]

I don't dislike RPS.

I'm glad I asked for a perma ban from there

Right.

I don't see a lot going on. No one I have read or watched play the game has shown me a lot going on. You've done more complaining about the review than you have actually complimenting the game, a sign in and of itself. Your counter to his review is "he's stupid!" and "this game deserves a chance!"

So sorry. I don't find placing buildings and assigning workers even an interesting sandbox sim. I'm glad you do, truly I am. I'm glad you found a sandbox game you think is well done, has interesting features and will last you months if not years of play time.

I'm just baffled why you'd think those things, because the game seems one note. And that's where I'll leave it, because I get the impression you're just going to continue to flame me and I don't really need it.

[MoLAoS]

I was going to suggest a similar stop. But, my perma ban was more about the escalating feminism drama. Not their game review policies. I was on John Walker's side more or less, and the forum trolls were trolling hard.

Compliments of the game involve the UI, actually. The pathfinding tool for instance is amazing.

[hikarikami]

Honestly, I'm ashamed of RPS. I'm glad I asked for a perma ban from there. Just for the record, I was nowhere close to a ban from behavior, the mods were very confused when I asked for a ban.

Their reviewer played the game wrong and then because of his ignorance he tanked hundreds if not thousands of sales. I don't have the time or money for Banished currently but I'm going to buy it anyway, just because of RPS being dumbasses.

I actually disagree with you. The RPS review clearly stated what and how the game played, and that it wasn't the kind of game he enjoyed. He said that he could appreciate certain aspects of it, and pointed out some of the drawbacks that he found while playing the game. He never said that it was a bad game, or a game that no one would enjoy. He even suggested as to what kind of person this game would be ideal for. And most of the criticism was valid. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean they're wrong, or their way of playing the game is wrong. Not everybody enjoys the same aspects of games that you might.

[dennislp3]

Is ASKING to be banned the equivalent of a hissy fit that can be expected of a child?

[MoLAoS]

Honestly, I'm ashamed of RPS. I'm glad I asked for a perma ban from there. Just for the record, I was nowhere close to a ban from behavior, the mods were very confused when I asked for a ban.

Their reviewer played the game wrong and then because of his ignorance he tanked hundreds if not thousands of sales. I don't have the time or money for Banished currently but I'm going to buy it anyway, just because of RPS being dumbasses.

I actually disagree with you. The RPS review clearly stated what and how the game played, and that it wasn't the kind of game he enjoyed. He said that he could appreciate certain aspects of it, and pointed out some of the drawbacks that he found while playing the game. He never said that it was a bad game, or a game that no one would enjoy. He even suggested as to what kind of person this game would be ideal for. And most of the criticism was valid. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean they're wrong, or their way of playing the game is wrong. Not everybody enjoys the same aspects of games that you might.

Whether someone disagrees with me is orthogonal to their correctness.

He spent an inordinate amount of time complaining about his inability to feed people and the fact that he didn't know when people died because the game didn't show it. He was objectively wrong. You can turn on death notifications. He may or may not be right about any other given criticism he made, but he was objectively wrong about that one.

[MoLAoS]

Is ASKING to be banned the equivalent of a hissy fit that can be expected of a child?

No. I have angrily forced a perma ban, and I have sadly requested one, as was the case in the RPS ban. I'm pretty sure you can read my ban request thread on RPS if you want.

[umiman]

Is ASKING to be banned the equivalent of a hissy fit that can be expected of a child?

Yes.

It's stage 2 of getting jaded of an online clique. Happens all the time, especially in first timers who've had their world view shattered as well as the inexperienced. Lessens as exposure to the internet increases but occassional flare-ups have been known to happen.

Symptoms include excessive whining, being incredibly argumentative, depression, and restless refreshing of the webpage. More severe symptoms may include neurosis and psychosis, though it's generally hard to establish if it's a symptom or the cause. Further side effects include seeking confirmation from outside sources such as other websites and online groups, fraudulent memory, and a strong desire to appear nice to other people so that people wouldn't think they're being obsessive from their posting history.

There's no treatment, but the body develops antibodies in accordance to the exposure.

[Tnx]

Has anyone gotten a trader that trades you stone or iron?

[alway]

Aw man, this game is great! Just raked in the third year's harvest, and no one is dead yet. I'm pretty easily falling into a rhythm of having pretty much everyone farming during the spring and summer, then doing most of the other stuff after harvest and before planting time. It's quite a nice subsistence simulator.

[Toady One]

I'd appreciate it if the side discussion took on a different tone, and if portions of it stopped continuing to occur.

[choppy]

The toad has spoken!! On a serious note if you could fix something in the game what would it be? From what I have seen it seems like it could be a good sandbox/rpg game. And as for the no combat it could have a toggle to turn combat on or off. I.E. like the stronghold series.

[Tnx]

Definitely combat.  The game has no urgency or sense of danger otherwise.  Second thing I'd add is a way to level hills/mountains and to possibly pair that up with filling in mines/quarries.  Going back to combat though, it'd be cool to have lone thieves to small groups of bandits for early threats, then have rival towns/cities nearby with raider groups (that steal your herd/food/supplies), to an end game threat of a strong and technologically superior empire from a distant land who comes and takes your people as slaves.  What I'm explaining sounds a lot like Kings of Dragon's Pass actually.