Over 10 years later 7 Days to Die is going to leave Early Access

Quoting: foobrewI normally avoid Early Access games but this game...I have 1,028.6 hrs in it. It's basically the game that introduced me to "open world crafting" and I always seem to come back to it. I'm not even really into zombie games but this one somehow ticks all the boxes for me. The crafting system is excellent and much more balanced now than it used to be - long gone are the days of finding an end-game automatic weapon on day one in the trash. Even though I've memorized most of the POI's at this point, it still seems to maintain just enough tension to still be exciting clearing one, especially in the early game. The overall improvements to balance and progression over the last year or two have really improved the game and breathed new life into it. If you haven't picked it up in a while, I'd recommend giving it a shot again. And if you're new to it...I envy you!

I agree, it's a good game and we've had a lot of fun in it over the years. However, I think it is in dire need of a content overhaul as once you get over that early food/water hump there's suddenly not a lot to actually do other than grind out getting schematic and skill books. The 7 day event is the only real threat and even that can be dealt with pretty easily once you work out the basics of the zombie pathing.

I understand they're probably under pressure to finally release, and they've got a good base now with the current random world gen being a marked improvement on the previous world gen results with wonky roads and weird town layouts, but it really needs those content extras they've been talking about for ages and which still seem to be a good 2 years away at best. NPC bandits to mix it up a bit alongside the zombies, more events other than the airdrops and very occasional minor horde, and just anything else that makes the world itself feel a bit more alive.

Seeing how long it is before a lot of those core features are out, I think they should have made Steam workshop a significant priority. Mods for 7 Days have played a large part in keeping the community interest and numbers up, and true workshop integration would make that significantly easier for users to manage.

I just checked, and despite not having played this in about 4 years, it's still my number one most-played game of all time, with just over 800 hours. Noita will soon surpass it (750 hrs), but it's a real testament to "Early Access done right". Iterating and improving with each release. There have been many, many bumps along the road, particularly with the Linux support around the A13 era, but honestly, what a great game.

And I still watch Neebs Gaming today because of their series on 7 Days 2 Die. Pure gold.

Quoting: scaineI'm sure console owners will still find something to whinge about though

In this case, though, it's entirely fair. Console players have to rebuy the game if they bought it in early access. A massive middle finger to anyone that we're supporting the Devs.

Quoting: Pyretic

Quoting: scaineI'm sure console owners will still find something to whinge about though

In this case, though, it's entirely fair. Console players have to rebuy the game if they bought it in early access. A massive middle finger to anyone that we're supporting the Devs.

Yeah, normally, I'd agree. But this is a game that's been in development for a decade. A decade. I think it's insane that I still get to benefit from the development of this title after all this time. Any other developer would have launched at A14 or A15 back in 2016, then started working on A16, 17 and 18, then launched that as a new game, and provided the money keeps pouring in, rinse and repeat.

Throw in the workshop support and mods like Darkness Falls, the value for money from that one purchase, £19 back in 2013... I'm blown away.

I'm entirely happy to cut them slack when they hit a few bumps along the way. But console owners don't see it that way. Despite the Electronic Arts model of re-releasing every goddam game year on year, at full price!

I've got over 4000 hours in the game, and I preferred the earlier Alphas, before they messed up the water system. In Alpha 20 and earlier, I could set the game to extreme difficulty levels and still not have too hard a time finding enough water to survive.

This is the way I prefer to play:
- 60% wasteland, 20% desert, 20% snow biome.
- No traders, which make surviving much harder.
- Survivalist zombie toughness (or higher).
- Sprinting zombies, 24 hours/day (or higher).

Without traders in the game, you're able to concentrate fully on survival. I have started using a Water Mod where any water jars you drink, you get back an empty jar (that you can refill). This makes up for the fact that there are no traders in the world to buy water filters from. If you convert the water jar to glue or food recipe, you lose the jar and I don't have jar crafting enabled, so I'm keeping it as close as I can to the new format (You're forced to find water by scavenging).

Most people play on extremely easy settings, and a lot of Youtubers tweak their experience gain so that they are rapidly out of primitive play and into over-powered end-game.

Check out this guy's play (on truly hard Alpha 20 settings):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyz0JQTvLEo&t=15731s

Quoting: scaine

Quoting: Pyretic

Quoting: scaineI'm sure console owners will still find something to whinge about though

In this case, though, it's entirely fair. Console players have to rebuy the game if they bought it in early access. A massive middle finger to anyone that we're supporting the Devs.

Yeah, normally, I'd agree. But this is a game that's been in development for a decade. A decade. I think it's insane that I still get to benefit from the development of this title after all this time. Any other developer would have launched at A14 or A15 back in 2016, then started working on A16, 17 and 18, then launched that as a new game, and provided the money keeps pouring in, rinse and repeat.

Throw in the workshop support and mods like Darkness Falls, the value for money from that one purchase, £19 back in 2013... I'm blown away.

I'm entirely happy to cut them slack when they hit a few bumps along the way. But console owners don't see it that way. Despite the Electronic Arts model of re-releasing every goddam game year on year, at full price!

Gets even more complicated when you realise that the console version was a product of Telltale games that got lost in the bankruptcy of Telltale. Don't remember the details, but if memory serves me right, TFP could only buy the publishing rights back. The "legacy" version still belongs to other parties.

Quoting: g000hI've got over 4000 hours in the game, and I preferred the earlier Alphas, before they messed up the water system.

I'm not a big fan of the new water system either. I get that the old one had issues, but the trader dependency was not a good choice. Honestly, most of the unbalance could have been solved by having jars filled one by one instead of a whole stack. Combined with an increased boiling time (as A21 has), it would have been fine.

Quoting: fabertaweI may finally play it! I Kickstarted this... can't remember that far back though

My oldest backed but unfinished Kickstarter project (that is still likely to release) is Asylum - campaign ended on February 28, 2013, and apparently is in private beta test now:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/230210/ASYLUM/

I just checked 7 Days to Die, and the campaign on that one ended on August 15, 2013 - but at least they have had a playable game for a very long time.

7 Days To Die
10 Years To Leave Early Access

Quoting: slaapliedjeWeird, I swear I'd seen that Project Zomboid had left early access, but I just confirmed it's still in it. For the most part, I've stopped buying games that are in EA, mostly due to 7 days to die... some of them along the ways have had full releases, but some of them basically just grab the money then flounder...

I bought one game (A VR RPG) where the single developer actually died after he released a really sweet demo...

We are on the same boat there, It takes a lot to make me buy an EA because of past experiences that left a bad taste in my mouth. But right now I'm very tempted to buy Deep Rock Galactic Survivor just because DRG, I'm holding my self because unfinished game + Embracer Group is a risky combo right now, cancellation can be always behind the next corner.