Restore the Magic of Classic SN!

[upbeat bay]

I’ve been a huge fan of Secret Neighbor since day one. I loved the game’s unique style, its vibe, and the way it brought players together in such a fun, mysterious world. The old graphics, maps, and layouts had charm, warmth, and a feeling that made every match exciting and memorable.

Seeing the game now, after the recent updates and changes, honestly breaks my heart. The new version changed not just the visual style, but also the layout of maps tables, chairs, and objects are placed differently, and the original flow and feel of the gameplay are gone. I feel like the game is slowly dying the community is shrinking, servers are empty, and the magic is disappearing.

I understand that business decisions matter and that new projects are exciting. But for many of us, this game is more than just a product it’s a world we loved, memories we cherish, and a community we built.

We have some suggestions that could help preserve the spirit of Secret Neighbor while keeping the current updates intact:
1. Classic Version Option: Allow players to play on the old version of the game, including classic maps and layouts, not just graphics.
2. Classic Graphics Mode: Keep the new graphics but allow players to choose the original visual style.
3. Hybrid Approach: Give servers a toggle or mode selection so communities can play either the new or classic version depending on preference.

This way, fans of the original game can relive the magic, and new players can still enjoy the latest updates. Even a small gesture like this would show respect for the community and the memories tied to Secret Neighbor.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Many of us still care deeply, and these changes could breathe life back into a game that once brought us so much joy.

And well, This message was drafted with the help of AI to clearly express the feelings and suggestions of a loyal Secret Neighbor fan, Also to make the message a good read.

[boreal yarrow]

I like the idea. But I also feel like it might split the playerbase too much, if it's done now.

[upbeat bay]

You are right, because it could be so, but considering the times with the old style graphics where the number of active players was in the peak form of 5k active players at once shows how much people valued the old classic style, since the introduction of the new style graphics the number of players has decreased significantly, not immediately but decreased, today the number of active players is up to 200 people at once active Max, of course, it's not that graphics changed so much but it certainly had a big impact, not a slight one, well I think it would not change too much for them, Certainly fewer players would be able to play on the latest versions or game modes, but thanks to that many players might want to return to the old atmosphere and play, I'm not saying that immediately the game would grow incredibly strong, but I think some players would want to return because, however, the secret neighbor had its own atmosphere, I think that if the developers wanted to abandon the game for a long time they should do so a little before adding a new style, it's just an opinion and you may be contradictory to it

[boreal yarrow]

That's if the reason most people stopped playing is just the art style.
And not, say, the lack of updates, people cheating on Steam, etc.
I don't doubt that people did stop playing because of it, but ~4.9k players (just one one platform) leaving because of it is a lot. When compounded with the other issues, then it becomes a problem, and just changing the style wouldn't solve those.

I'm not disagreeing, I think it would be cool, but to get the people back / more new people, it would probably be worth doing more than just that (just adding the old style back is probably a considerable amount of work).

[upbeat bay]

That’s true, graphics aren’t the only problem, and I tried to emphasize that. Due to the developers’ break, a lot has been happening in the game itself recently, not necessarily because of the graphics cheaters, glitches, bugs, etc. The game has really changed, and you notice it immediately when you enter, I recently took a really long break from Secret Neighbor, but when I came back to play, the first two rounds had cheaters. The game has a problem with anti cheat systems, not just the graphics. There are many issues the game has huge potential, but at this rate, without any updates, it could literally decline in just three years, after three years, the game could literally die, It’s already slowly happening, and you can’t deny it, i mainly tried to approach this topic here regarding graphics, graphics aren’t the only problem, but I’m trying to say that they had a big role in what gave Secret Neighbor its unique feel and made it special, now, Secret Neighbor is still a great game, it still has potential, but without updates and changes, the game will definitely die, and there won’t be anything that can be done about it, going back to the old graphical style might seem like a step backward, but a large part of the fans and former fans would definitely appreciate it including me, even while keeping the new graphical style, how could it work? for a custom game, a right click option could open a tab to select the old map, that would definitely be fine, If they wanted to take it further, they could even add both the old maps and the new ones for quick play, sounds nice?

[signal blade]

woah you suddenly bursted a lot of stuff

[bleak kayak]

While i agree with the classic restore, I will say Classic Graphics Mode would cause desync so best thing would be a separate map made entirely for HN1/HN2 style.
I believe it'd benefit most from more so of a HNVR style.

[boreal yarrow]

I think that was their point anyway. A separate queue you go to if you want to play the classic version of maps.