Updated on 2017-12-26
It's incredibly frustrating seeing people frequently complain about how the game is "dead" and there aren't as many players as there used to be. I'm not going to lie and say that the playerbase isn't declining, because it is, but crying about how it's dead is completely hyperbolic and discourages people from playing the game.
One of the things I believe discourages people are the Steam reviews. The review score on Steam is currently 68% "Mixed". You wanna know why? Because of all the people complaining that the game is "dead" or that the developer has "abandoned the game" or whatever. How many people do we see with hundreds or thousands of hours posting a negative review on Steam because the player count isn't what it used to be?
Do you really think this helps? When a veteran player of the game complains about how "dead" it is (even though it's not), do you really think that will bring in more players? You do realize how counterproductive that is, right? Clearly there's something that keeps you coming back to it or else you wouldn't have played it for so long. Maybe we should change our attitude and try focusing more on what we love about the game, instead of focusing on all the negative aspects. That's not to say that we shouldn't point out its flaws, but just that we should try talking about the game more positively and start posting some better reviews.
Obviously posting positive reviews on Steam won't be the thing that "saves Blockland" or whatever, but it's certainly better than talking stuff about it. I already did my part and posted a review on the Steam page and I think you should too. Don't be lazy and just say "it's good" with a thumbs up; put some effort into it. You don't have to write some long post detailing every single thing about the game that you like, either; it can be a simple "I've spent countless hours on this game with my friends, from building ships to..." etc. etc. Just a quick recommendation for people to see. (I mean if you like writing long reviews you can do that too, obviously).
If you are writing a longer review, you should be honest with people and address the flaws you think the game has. Being more positive doesn't mean glossing over the negative aspects, but stop being so goddamn melodramatic, my god. The game isn't "dead"; the playerbase is declining, yes, but it's far from dead. Badspot has not "abandoned" us either. He's been developing the game for over 13 years; that's a long-ass time for a game to be supported by its developer,
especially for an indie game. Badspot isn't obligated to add any more features. It's a finished product, and it has been for over 10 years. There are many things I would like added to the game as well, but I know that Badspot has no interest in updating it any more and I don't blame him.
It doesn't have to stop at Steam, either. Almost every time that Blockland is mentioned somewhere else, the whole "game is dead" subject comes up. This doesn't help. If a game is brought up that you've never heard of before, any interest in that game is going to be completely shattered if the people who've played it complain about how "dead" it is.
I don't know, I would just like to see more positivity when it comes to discussions about this game. You don't have to be annoying about it and for the love of god don't spam threads and comment sections about it, but just mentioning how fun it is to build things with your friends, or make add-ons or whatever could peak some people's interest.
You don't have to do any of this, but don't whine about how dead the game is and then turn around and tell people not to buy it.
