2 years+ in the Illuvium Ecosystem

[umbral grail]

I first learned about Illuvium a while ago, before the landsale and before Private Beta 1 comes out. At that time we were all convinced this Game would revolution the Gaming Industry. Aaron was saying he wanted a deep strategic game on AMAs while Kieran was saying this was being built with E-Sports at its core...

Oh man... they really got me in, and lied pretty well too actually.

I invested, joined a guild where was @unkempt copper back in the day, made friends with people who ended in council or team positions, we would spend nights and days playing the Survival Mode and teaching the core mechanics to people. Eventually I even ended up offering coaching services, with a website and everything and even ran myself for council falling just short out of the 5.

Always fought for a better and more fun game experience and against stupid paywalls/cashgrabs.

And as time passed, My eyes started to open. I understood that:

1. Most influencial figures in the community care more about their personal profit than the success of the project
2. A lot of people in the community think that the game is either good for gamers OR good for investors and still didn't realise that the only way for them to make back their money, is by pleasing gamers.
3. The team actually had no clue on how competitive games work, fell under the pressure of investors who aren't gamers saying the game was "too hard" while it was already a "TFT for dummies" and as a result, ended up even taking actions to dumb down the game.
4. That "my kind" the people actually just genuinely willing to play a good game, was not only under-represented, it was also under-valued.

As more time passed i saw what was supposed to be a Revolution, become an average game and getting worst over time. Believe it or not, I had less bugs with Survival 2 years ago than this last week.

Burned by all the politics, debates... and antagonising i had for over 2 years, I ended up leaving.

Came back for Launch and what did I see?

1. Play2Airdrop replaced Play2Own or Play2Win.
2. Milestones and price points completely out of whack.
3. Arena dead, abandonned and even more bugged than before I leave.

And as a result:

Hundreds of people are unhappy.
Feedback ideas don't stop about how to make the game more affordable, or better for players.
Illuvials have no demand or value.
Game is full of bots and people trying to solely extract from the system.

There are less players who own an Illuvial, than people who played PB1.
Open Beta Launch made less money than the Profile Pictures side project in the 1st week.

Oh man, i wish i could go back in time and tell my old self that since PB1 launch it will only go downhill.

So here are my last words for this community, council, and leadership:
Stop being greedy.
Stop thinking that the Pack Opening is the real game.
Stop being just happy of getting your paycheck, and be proactive.
Work with the people willing to just genuinely play the game rather than the ones desperate to make their money back.
Realise that the only way for you to win, is if everyone wins.
Put back the priority on gameplay and player experience.

To everyone who stays, I say farewell and good luck.

[lapis thunder]

Thanks for the well wishes! Good luck to you too ser 🫡

[fallen plank]

Appreciate you sharing your experience @umbral grail . Its been a pleasure sharing part of the journey with you 🫡

I agree to a certain extent to some of the points you make here but i dont think ILV i going out at all

What happened is the scope extended more and more as we moved forward. Delays over delays led to us having to launch now. Is it ready? Not completely, but the experience got much better and its only the beginning

I completely agree on the Arena point, ive always been the biggest advocate of pushing the competitive scene. Me too its what brought me into Illuvium and and the way i see it the competitive scene for Arena is the only demand side in our ecosystem as of now

Launching the game without the Arena to drive up the whole ecosystem is having important consequence on the how Illuvium launch is perceived for sure

I think mid/long term the expended scope will do well for Illuvium. We have a much better product than what was promised in the first years and it will only continue to improve

OW combat, gauntlet and all the other upcoming features were amazing addition to the Illuvium ecosystem. We only need to continue building and launch our Arena modes

I completely understand where you and many are coming from when seeing this as a flop but personally am very happy to see where we are going mid/long term. The Team is amazing and so is the community, we can do this

[pliant elbow]

Appreciate the feedback and candidness @umbral grail, I personally still believe in the vision and have high hopes for the future but you bring up some good points that should be looked at from new perspectives. I think it’s important to stay critical of our performance and actively look at ways to improve on these points.

[cursive cypress]

This is why i like @umbral grail
always honest
gonna miss our banter
sad to lose a friend and a community member who really believed in the game.

[unkempt copper]

Hey Zep those were some good times in the early days.

I know it may not look great right now and it may be rough for the near future, but Illuvium is an IP that has its own unique feel that will draw players in!

It may take a few months or even into 2025, but I am still confident the DAO can make this a truly engaging and immersive ecosystem. That will not only draw players in, but will lead a massive wave of new gamers in Web3.

It will just take some time to find what clicks with them.

I wish you the best and I'm sure you will be back when this actually takes off. You can't stay away 😉

[pale bobcat]

I appreciate you Zeptyle, always find that most of the time you tried to be informative rather than aggressive. I know the state of the game isn't a masterpiece for worldwide audience, but I still believe the team can get things done quicker than most other companies, Illuvium is the best web3 game that has launched imo by miles.

Though I believe to reach web 2 AAA still misses a lot of steps to be easier to understand, and to make ppl want to participate, I see a lot of card opening videos on youtube from pokemon, and ppl that open packs pay a lot of money with the effort being pick the card pack and pull them of. Illuvium is not this way, because you can't put the money effortless to have something. You need to know the basics, to me this creates a barrier for a lot of ppl, and I know the team will sort this out with time.

[steady flame]

I take accusations of lying pretty seriously. Care to explain how I lied to you, or do you just want to take a parting shot? This is feedback ideas. Not a soap box for slandering.

[pale bobcat]

I would assume, he means the game is not the way he imagine it to be based on the overview you and Kieran gave at that time. Because he probably think what you said were a lie to the current state of the game, this game will not revolutionize and is not as good as you said it to be on his vision.