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[Rose]

I don't play very often, because it doesn't run on my laptop, and I don't use my desktop much.

As for meteors, as long as you see any other kind of weather on a planet, there won't be meteors.

[Sappho]

I've heard that that was disproved, that meteors can fall on planets with rain, though it is less likely. In any case, it can take real-life hours of gameplay before any weather at all shows up on a planet. Apparently they were planning to add something that makes it obvious what kind of weather a planet will have, but they didn't implement it yet.

I sent the creator of that meteor mod a message begging him to update it for the current version. Until I can fix this, I'm not going to play. It's too frustrating.

[BigD145]

Losing money is not a harsh penalty. If you make everything needed to boost your mother to top tier armor then she can build to her hearts content on tier one worlds. The tier 5+ items that unlock ore can be loaned. They are not consumed when used. The lower tier boss drops come in stacks of 5, so making those consumables can be done 5 times.

[Flying Dice]

The best kind of weather is the kind that rains shiny rainbow arrows.

e: Just as an aside to Sappho: Modding Starbound (at least as far as altering existing values goes) is absurdly simple and very quick. The only other game I could even remotely claim to have modded is a set of DF raw edits I made to give myself a bit more flavor, and this is just as easy.  Literally just 1. unpack assets, 2. open file, 3. search for your target, 4. make your change to the listed values. It's like a slightly less user-friendly version of an options window.

[Neonivek]

Losing money is not a harsh penalty. If you make everything needed to boost your mother to top tier armor then she can build to her hearts content on tier one worlds. The tier 5+ items that unlock ore can be loaned. They are not consumed when used. The lower tier boss drops come in stacks of 5, so making those consumables can be done 5 times.

Money Loss is a harsher penalty earlier on when it can actually mean spending 30+ minutes killing things just to re-earn the pixils so you can afford things.

[Sirus]

So I fired up the game first time since the newest update, select the floran race, hit random, and...

Spoiler: D'awwwww (click to show/hide)

Named Cutedancer, the "sister" of pre-wipe character Spacedancer.
(not sure where the whitespace came from)

[BigD145]

Losing money is not a harsh penalty. If you make everything needed to boost your mother to top tier armor then she can build to her hearts content on tier one worlds. The tier 5+ items that unlock ore can be loaned. They are not consumed when used. The lower tier boss drops come in stacks of 5, so making those consumables can be done 5 times.

Money Loss is a harsher penalty earlier on when it can actually mean spending 30+ minutes killing things just to re-earn the pixils so you can afford things.

Once you can turn ore into pixels it's not an issue. Once you get armor and weapons it's not a big deal. All those things Sappho can give to her mother.

[Sappho]

Losing money is not a harsh penalty. If you make everything needed to boost your mother to top tier armor then she can build to her hearts content on tier one worlds. The tier 5+ items that unlock ore can be loaned. They are not consumed when used. The lower tier boss drops come in stacks of 5, so making those consumables can be done 5 times.

Money Loss is a harsher penalty earlier on when it can actually mean spending 30+ minutes killing things just to re-earn the pixils so you can afford things.

Exactly. Sure, if you have the time and skill to make it to the higher tiers, then yes, a little pixel loss here and there is no big deal. If it takes you hours just to get to the point where every monster on the screen doesn't kill you (as is the case for me), then every little setback is a problem. So yeah, if I get up to the higher tiers, I can make it easier for my mother. But I, like my mother, don't care for the combat or the grind. I don't have the time or the skill to struggle up to the top of the game right now. I just want to build stuff without fear of dying all the time. Right now, the only way to do that is to cheat, which I still can't bring myself to do. Yet it would be a simple thing for the devs to add a mode for casual players. Very simple, and it would make the game appeal to a much wider audience.

I still don't see any reason why anyone should oppose my suggestion. It seems reasonable to me. It would make people like me happy, without ruining the game for anyone else. Your response, BigD145, is essentially saying "it's easy to make the game playable for a casual player. All you have to do is be really good at the game the way it is now, and have the spare time to grind up to the top levels, at which point your problem becomes irrelevant." It's like a rich person telling poor people "all you need to do is make a few good investments on the stock market, and your problems will be solved. What are you complaining about?" Sure, making more money is easy when you already have lots of money. But that doesn't help the people who DON'T have that already.

It's like the fuel cost for the ships. It seems like little more than a punishment for new characters. Once you've got yourself kitted out and are off trotting around the universe in your Tier 5 armor, finding enough fuel for the ship is trivial. You'll get it as a matter of course. It's only when you first start out that it's difficult. You can have a great time playing this game as an explorer or builder, but ONLY once you've jumped over a number of hurdles first. And I just don't see why those hurdles should be necessary for the players who don't enjoy them.

I feel like playing the game is work rather than play, for the first 5 or 6 hours of any given character. I have to grind through this miserably unpleasant nonsense in order to get to the fun part. Solution? Casual mode. With that, everyone would be happy and the game would accommodate different playstyles without making the game any less fun for anyone.

[BigD145]

It's geared more for parties if you want to ease the grind. Someone tanks. Someone uses a bow. That sort of thing. Yes, there's about 10 hours or so to solo grind and work up to what is now top tier. How many hours does that set you up for? Only you can answer that. I would say install the sandbox ship mod. That is currently an untouchable building spot. Tunneling straight down from ship spawn on any planet will give you materials with little to no risk.

For any game, you play it how the game devs made it. If you don't like it then the game isn't for you. Move on. There's a backlog of over thirty years of videos games to look through to find something for you. OR you can ask someone to give you a leg up in Starbound. Is this cheating? You're asking for casual mode. Getting all tiers unlocked would be close to that. As close as you're going to get right now. If that's too casual for you then a diamond pickaxe and a top tier weapon would allow you to skate through most of the game. Pick up the Hole Drill mod and you'll save yourself more time. It digs a 2 x 150 block shaft and gives you every block it digs.

(The Stock Market is legalized gambling and takes more than 10 hours of gathering info to get the house odds. It takes 18 years if you're born into wealth. You get to sit on your ass, but it still takes more than 10 hours.)

All things require time and this is just a game. I'm not asking the impossible here.

[Sappho]

It's geared more for parties if you want to ease the grind. Someone tanks. Someone uses a bow. That sort of thing. Yes, there's about 10 hours or so to solo grind and work up to what is now top tier. How many hours does that set you up for? Only you can answer that. I would say install the sandbox ship mod. That is currently an untouchable building spot. Tunneling straight down from ship spawn on any planet will give you materials with little to no risk.

For any game, you play it how the game devs made it. If you don't like it then the game isn't for you. Move on. There's a backlog of over thirty years of videos games to look through to find something for you. OR you can ask someone to give you a leg up in Starbound. Is this cheating? You're asking for casual mode. Getting all tiers unlocked would be close to that. As close as you're going to get right now. If that's too casual for you then a diamond pickaxe and a top tier weapon would allow you to skate through most of the game. Pick up the Hole Drill mod and you'll save yourself more time. It digs a 2 x 150 block shaft and gives you every block it digs.

(The Stock Market is legalized gambling and takes more than 10 hours of gathering info to get the house odds. It takes 18 years if you're born into wealth. You get to sit on your ass, but it still takes more than 10 hours.)

All things require time and this is just a game. I'm not asking the impossible here.

The devs have this open beta in part to gather feedback and suggestions from the community, some of which have already been implemented. There's nothing wrong with me making a suggestion, especially one that would widen the potential audience of the game and increase many people's enjoyment of it. They have clearly put a lot of time and energy into making the building and exploration possibilities really impressive, but currently it's gated so only players who have time and skill at combat can really enjoy it. I suggest a modification to that which would do nothing to harm the game for people who like it the way it is, and which would require minimal effort on the part of the developers to implement.

I'm very pleased that you're satisfied with the way the game is now, and that you have 10+ hours to sit and grind at it. That doesn't mean that everyone in the world needs to just deal with the parts they don't like, without asking that modifications be made. The devs will make the changes they decide to make, and in the end all I can do is suggest, and make do with the modding tools and such that become available.

By all means, enjoy the game the way it is. But there's no need to criticize my (or others') requests and suggestions. I'm not suggesting that your fun be ruined. I'm just trying to increase my own. I'm not asking the impossible, here, either.

[MagmaMcFry]

BigD, you really wouldn't believe how little some people have time for stuff like video games. I know people who barely manage to scrape 10 hours together in a month. They simply don't have time for that amount of grinding, that's why they're called casual gamers. You may not be asking the impossible here, but what you are asking is for those people to spend a month not having fun. And the fun they have afterwards is simply not worth the relatively huge investment.

[Sappho]

BigD, you really wouldn't believe how little some people have time for stuff like video games. I know people who barely manage to scrape 10 hours together in a month. They simply don't have time for that amount of grinding, that's why they're called casual gamers. You may not be asking the impossible here, but what you are asking is for those people to spend a month not having fun. And the fun they have afterwards is simply not worth the relatively huge investment.

Eloquently put, thank you. And yes, as long as the game remains the way it is, it will not be very accessible to casual gamers without heavy modding (which casual gamers like me also don't have much time for). But as long as there's the possibility that the game might be changed to suit the needs of its players, which is precisely the current situation, I'm going to keep making suggestions.

[Neonivek]

Oddly enough once I used a sword and shield I have a hard time imagining two handed weapons being preferred.

Especially against ranged enemies and bosses.

Do two handed weapons get a huge boost or abilities lately I am unaware of? or is the shield's usefulness due to a glitch?

[Sappho]

I always end up with 2-handed weapons, just because they have the highest damage. I haven't really tried a shield, so I can't speak to the difference. Perhaps I should change.... Hmm...

EDIT: I've started keeping a log of this character. Should I start a new thread in the community games subforum?

Spoiler: Journal of Gold Sigh, Self-Aware Glitch (click to show/hide)

Entry I

After several local days of searching, crafting simple tools from the materials available to me, I have managed to collect enough fuel to power my ship and allow me to move on to more hospitable possibilities. I am currently en route to Alpha 1 Gem 6278 II b, a promising-looking mid-sized desert planet at coordinates -85711832, -58856823.

Entry II

The planet is very interesting. The first life forms I encountered were small, unintelligent yet friendly creatures whose coloring made them appear to be wearing white coats. I spent some time playing with them before moving on.

In a small house, I discovered an avian female. She was friendly, but refused to say anything besides a simple warning: "I heard Thornwing is in the area. Beware." I have no idea what this means.

There was another avian house nearby, this one inhabited by a male, also friendly. The houses shared similar architecture and furnishings, typical of the avian culture.

Further along, I discovered a prison facility populated entirely by human females. I could discern no difference between the guards and the prisoners, and suspect that at some point in the past, there must have been a prisoner uprising.

Regrettably, I was unable to question the residents. They attacked me on sight and refused to surrender. The prison is now devoid of inhabitants, which is just as well. This place is hardly habitable. The furnishings are filthy, the building itself crumbling. There is graffiti scratched into the walls that indicates many years of desperation. Prominent among the messages is the sentence, "they said they would come back." I assume this indicates the prisoners were abandoned here, left to fend for themselves against some still unknown threat.

The sun is setting. I will spend the night in the prison, and venture out in the morning to face whatever threat awaits me.

Entry III

I have ventured out of the prison, only to immediately stumble upon a strange village inhabited by creatures I am unable to identify. They speak as though they were Apex, yet they do not resemble the Apex in any way. They wear long robes and odd hats which are topped with something resembling rabbit ears. I am unable to discern whether they actually have rabbit ears underneath the garment, or if they are purely decorative. They are very friendly and peaceful, and seem to know all about the Glitch. They appear to make their living as farmers, though they seem to have no fighting ability whatsoever, and I have already rescued several of them from local hostile wildlife. I cannot find any explanation for how they have managed to survive this long. Perhaps the prisoners were helping them in some way?

Surrounding the huts are a very interesting species of tree. The wood is multi-colored, and I have deduced that it can easily be refined into very attractive rainbow boards. I shall certainly find a use for them when I finally choose a new home, and build my castle at last.

Entry IV

I have fully explored the planet. The rabbit-eared folk seem to be the dominant life form here. I think I'll settle here after all. Whatever the reason was for the prisoners hiding behind their reinforced walls all this time, it must be gone. In fact, given their apparent fondness for filth, decay, and violence, it may have been the rainbows themselves which offended them.

In fact, that gives me an idea. I have the time, and the resources. I might as well rebuild that prison. Tear down the oppressive walls and replace them with refined rainbow wood. I've managed to collect seedlings from the trees, and will plant them on the roof in transplanted soil as a renewable source of the wood.

Entry V

Disaster! I had just finished refurnishing the first room of the prison when a meteor shower struck. My  hard work was demolished in a matter of seconds. The saplings were destroyed along with a large portion of the prison structure.

now I understand what these humans feared. This is not a safe place to stay. I must return to my ship and locate a new planet. If only there were some way to detect these meteor showers earlier...

Entry VI

I attempted to land on Alpha 1 Gem 6278 II a, but found myself beamed directly into a meteor shower. I will try the third planet, but perhaps the meteor showers hit the whole system...

Entry VII

This planet is extremely hostile. Desert, strange reddish hue to the sun, low gravity, short night/day cycle. Full of poisonous spikes and vicious creatures. Notable are the yellow electric parrot ninjas, which seem to attack me at every turn. So far there are no meteors, but I do not plan to stay long on this planet. I will only check for friendly signs of life before moving on.

I want to wait until I get anti-meteor protection before going further, but the fact is, I won't have time to play during the week, so I have to make use of the time I have. It means exploring and digging rather than building for now.

[BigD145]

BigD, you really wouldn't believe how little some people have time for stuff like video games. I know people who barely manage to scrape 10 hours together in a month. They simply don't have time for that amount of grinding, that's why they're called casual gamers. You may not be asking the impossible here, but what you are asking is for those people to spend a month not having fun. And the fun they have afterwards is simply not worth the relatively huge investment.

Sappho is talking about sandbox building. I know how much time you can sink into that. SOOOOO much time just to build a simple two story house if you want it to actually look good and not like two cardboard boxes stacked on each other. Casual gamers actually end up sinking a lot of time into their chosen games. They're not spending a month not having fun. They're spending ten hours in a particular game not having fun.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Oddly enough once I used a sword and shield I have a hard time imagining two handed weapons being preferred.

Especially against ranged enemies and bosses.

Do two handed weapons get a huge boost or abilities lately I am unaware of? or is the shield's usefulness due to a glitch?

I've seen two handed weapons block gun fire, so you get the range/arc of a two hander and almost a shield.