[2023] Unpopular Opinion - the new update has made Polytopia far too complicated too fast

Originally posted by Justeeni_lingueeni

A new and/or expanded tutorial would be great. There’s so many intricacies in Polytopia that the game never teaches you that would greatly help many players

Originally posted by Fluid-Opposite1919

I absolutely love this man

Originally posted by JungMikhail

It would be nice to get a replacement unit for the Navelon

Originally posted by bassturducken54

I’ve played the game casually for years. My complaints are probably mostly going to be just not liking change but I will keep going for now. I will say the biggest change out of everything is the flow of the game. Because of the population and cost changes to almost every branch, it is completely changing any path anyone would be used to, especially early game. This isn’t to speak for ranked play because I have no concept of what is balanced. I’ve played Elryion since release and I’ve always loved the chance on a large map to get 3 cities turn 4, and research lumber yards. Turn 5 gets me two pop for a city and another unit spawn. I don’t even care about the navalons, the impact to just the usual flow could be enough of an upset to turn me off a good bit. I’m not saying I speak for any other subset of player base or any other individual, but those are just some of my thoughts. Would love to be able to play an “old school” version. Like OSRS haha.

Originally posted by No-Wrongdoer-7654

Kickoo starts with a tier 2 tech now and can get the other naval techs, especially navigation, much faster than others

Originally posted by TemporaryTight1658

You will first make last 3 skins or the Special tribes rework ?

Originally posted by flynnfx

u/zoythrus - a question you could ask midjiwan , would there be a way to keep 2 separate versions of Polytopia?

That way, players could become accustomed to the new version at their own speed, and also allow people who like the precious version to still be able to play the old version.

Originally posted by SilentWarehouse

It moved away from the core element of the game. Which is simplicity and balance.

You keep trying to add new units and features that unbalance the game.

E.g the freaking lighthouse.

Why does it have to give 1 pop? 1 pop seems insignificant, but it gives players near edges of the map unfair advantages (where they already get benefits from not having to fight battles from multiple sides). Having to get that additional 1 pop often means having to research an additional tech, (worth 5-6 stars early game) which is about a 1 turn delay. But now you're just giving it for free, just because.

Sometimes as product managers and product designers, removing (or not including) features actually makes the game more playable.

Top things as a product manager I think should be removed 1) Lighthouse shouldn't give 1 pop. 2) roads for 2 stars make more sense, 3 seems excessive 3) Lumberyards have lower pop density, and I think a cost of 2 makes sense 4) Remove the knight and rammers animation, the previous knight animation looks nicer and more elegant. The current one looks like ass

Generally from the games I played I notice 1) Game play tends to be slower, now that lumber is 3. Players are disincentived to pursue that tech branch. 2) naval is good though 3) AI seems better 4) Some tribes are now unbalanced

Originally posted by SilentWarehouse

But why was the lighthouse even needed? I think the Eye of God monument being unlocked by visiting every spot was a a good incentive already.

I think how the question was phrased to the alpha testers is also important. "How do you think we could improve the lighthouse" could have 2 solutions 1) Pop as a consolation prize 2) Just no lighthouse at all

And I think the product team clearly picked the option that creates more problems that it solves.

I'm curious what the comments were from the alpha testers regarding the lumber hut and roads though.

Thanks for justifying the decisions too, you're doing a good job as a community manager :)