blockland is the purest form of a sandbox. there's literally no provided goal at all. the goals are completely user-dependent, and the game provides the systems, tools, and environment to create them for yourself and/or others. once all the systems, tools, and environments are in play and functional, the rest is up to the active user. i don't want to sound like i'm talking on badspot's behalf because i'm defo not badspot, but the game has everything laid out and ready to use for those willing to try. in this type of game, the developer isn't responsible for providing content to the game actively. the developer is there to provide a nice variety of ways to create, and maybe at times give the userbase a push toward getting content moving one way or another (e.g. speedkart, but it doesn't have to be in-game).
i'm not going to defend or attack badspot, i just want you to really think for a second about what you actually enjoy about updates. think about what past updates you got excited about actually added to help you better create or enjoy creations. if you're one of most people that are active in the community, you've probably been most happy to just see that the baby is growing. i'm referring to the game as a baby because it's the best metaphor i can think of, and it works out pretty well. as far as i'm concerned, events have been the last game-changing update (unless i'm overlooking some awesome big thing from v10-present). is this a bad thing? no. like i said, the developer needs to provide the tools, systems, and environments to govern creation and enjoyment of creations. once the tools are there, it's all on the player. and events are a pretty big tool. after any update post-events, people will play around with the new toy for a bit and go back to what they've always done, maybe using the new toy if it fits somewhere. physics was cool to play around with. making dominoes, stacking discs and watching them bounce like a spring, etc. and you can use it in a build, certainly, but it doesn't really change how you approach creating. all that matters is that the baby is growing and learning new tricks.
now fast-forward to v21. baby's gettin' a rly cool shiny new toy now! but there's a downside: it's gonna drop the balls (interpret this however way you feel it fits). you can look at it any way you like, something's gained and something's lost. regardless of the value, being a mother watching your baby turn into an adult can be frightening. do you blame the dad for giving it a new toy? no. do you attack the dad for screwing you? probably not. the main thing about dropping t&i is that they were a medium of creation in the game that was lost, which is a shame, and some people can't go back to what they always did, as they usually would. i don't want to bring anyone's character into question here, because then it becomes an argument and i'm just trying to get my two cents in. i just want to encourage everyone to take a look at where they are now and where they've stood in the past. think about what blockland is to you, and think about what you expect it to be. do you look at it as a game, or is it your baby? if it's the latter, that's fine, because that will keep it alive. just make sure you're feeding it and changing the diapers; let dad fill the car up with gas and put the wheels back on the plastic dump truck when they fall off. but you can buy the toys too.
sry for over-metaphoring
