Pixels Team Addresses Land Issues and Future Plans
Key Points:
Landowner Discontent: The team acknowledged that current land gameplay is unsatisfactory and promised economic adjustments to address landowner concerns. Balancing issues with T3 and T4 resources will be resolved this week. They also want to start experimenting with Co-ops for landowners to feel a bit a better with their farm lands.
Economic Shift: To increase $PIXEL usage within the game, the team plans to experiment with lowering the in-game coin price and redirecting a larger portion of $PIXEL spending towards the community treasury and reward pool. However, they will monitor inflation closely.
Gameplay Overhaul: The team expressed dissatisfaction with the current reliance on task boards for buying and spending coins and hinted at changes to encourage more in-game activities and land engagement.
Long-Term Vision: The team emphasized the experimental nature of Web3 gaming and outlined plans for game improvements, potential acquisitions, and expanding the $PIXEL ecosystem.
Meta Evolution: Significant changes to the game's meta are expected in the next few weeks, with a focus on building upon successful elements from Chapter 1.
Q&A
Q: Are F2P players getting rugged?
A: In the short term, the focus is on game balance and the meta. There’s ongoing work on prediction features mentioned in the last AMA. The team is also developing a new reward structure that considers player loyalty and excitement, alongside traditional level criteria. A pilot program for running advertisements on lands is underway, and if successful, it could bring interesting opportunities.
Q: Are you still doing the double energy in spa and double passive energy per minute?
A: Yes, these heightened energy levels will remain until the overall game balance is improved.
Q: Why don’t we have KYC on Pixel sign-up?
A: Implementing KYC is complex and often met with resistance. The game already employs extensive bot-detection measures, including network and hardware fingerprinting, to identify and prevent bot activity. KYC is seen as a last resort as it might negatively impact the game.
Q: In your opinion, are you moving in the right direction?
A: The team believes they are addressing the right problems. They acknowledge that Web3 can be prone to shiny-object syndrome but emphasize the importance of solving fundamental issues. They are learning from Chapter 1 and 2, observing unexpected yet logical user behavior, and considering reintroducing some degen gameplay.
Q: What’s going on with the old BAYC building?
A: The building will be repurposed for live operations. The team is open to suggestions from the community for further uses.
Q: When are guild competitions happening?
A: The meta gameplay has shifted to a single game loop, and there are plans to introduce more loops and events. Upcoming competitions and secondary game loops will tie into the current game structure, with potential new events launching as soon as next week.
Q: Is the focus on DAU, leading to increasing pixel inflation?
A: The team does not prioritize DAU, considering it a poor metric. Instead, they focus on retention, average revenue per user, and playtime. The goal is to double revenue in 11 weeks by enhancing engagement, playtime, and fun. New mechanics, tasks, loops, and events are being planned to diversify gameplay.
Q: What do you think about minting account progression on-chain for future games in the Pixel ecosystem?
A: There’s significant value in the Pixels ecosystem, with around $7M in monthly marketplace volume. Capturing even a fraction of this would be beneficial. The team is exploring ways to leverage account progression on-chain to enhance the ecosystem’s reputation and value.
Q: Introduce untradable items that can be obtained only from Lands so the gameplay won't be as monotonous.
A: This is the kind of stuff we’re planning to implement in the next week or two. Task Board changes for balancing. EXP/Cooldown Times for T3 & T4 resources. We think when we fix the land gameplay, it will fix a lot of the other economic issues. We like the idea of bringing back untradeable stuff back to the task board.
Q: You cut energy. You say you don’t want us to be here 24/7 but you are giving rewards to high-level grinders who are grinding 24/7.
A: When we think about short-term game balance, we’re thinking of early-game play and land gameplay. One of the things we did was increase the daily coins from the dashboard, but we’re focusing on early-game coin pinch as well. Right now it’s almost impossible to get through the early game without coins. We have some ideas on how to fix things.
Q: Every single time next week next week and that next week never comes | Fix game now, not 2 years from now.
A: We have stuff coming today. We have stuff coming next week. We’re here on these AMAs to share our thoughts, future plans/ideas, and get your feedback on things. There are fixes happening right now. We’re also looking at what the game will look like in 1-2 years. It’s amazing that so many of you care, and we feel very privileged with being one of the leaders in the space. In the short term, we have some actionable things coming.
Q: Any chance of weather changes in-game?
A: We need more consistent meta shifts. One of the motivators in Web3 gaming is guessing what’s going to happen. If we had weather systems in the game where, for example, you couldn’t farm scarrots for a week, what would that do to the MP? Something to think about.
Q: Give us QOL updates, please.
A: There are definitely updates needed. We really want to start to implement and prioritize this. As we gain capacity, we’re hoping to be able to push these kinds of updates. A lot of our focus has been on system changes. It doesn’t make sense to polish a game system that isn’t working the way it should be. There have been a lot of QOL improvements by third-party people. When they do it, it also gives us a good idea of what we should do. Hear you on that though. We’re just focused on fixing broken stuff first.
Q: Just give the LO Task Board, man. It's been weeks without getting any LO pixel tasks. How is this not fixed immediately if you allegedly care so much about LO?
A: We see that some users play more and drain more of the pool. So this is where we’re trying to see what balance we provide to players who grind and other kinds of players. Right now, if you want to maximize LO earnings, you have to grind. But we’re trying to change that too. The team has been talking about this a lot. We might want to add a cooldown, but we’re worried about how this affects the land renter market (like a few days of owning land before you see LO tasks).
Q: Will there be a season 3 airdrop in Chapter 2?
A: You can view Pixels as a 5-year airdrop where we’re trying to get rewards out to the best players. So Pixels is a perpetual airdrop. We might start to do some tournaments where we set aside a good amount of the pool for these live ops, so that’s also a good chance to earn some rewards.
Q: When is pet minting?
A: People keep asking. We have to do it!
Q: Is there an update today?
A: We might do the coin update today, but expect fun stuff next week.
Core Issues and Solutions from this AMA
- Landowner dissatisfaction: The team acknowledges the issue and promises immediate fixes, including economic adjustments and resource balancing, and might bring something from chapter 1 like rare industries/resources.
- Economic health: To boost in-game spending and reduce reliance on buying and selling coins to finish the taskboard, the team plans to experiment with coin price adjustments and redirecting $PIXEL spending.
- Game balance and engagement: The team is aware of the need for more engaging gameplay loops and plans to introduce competitions, events, and potentially new game mechanics.
Community Concerns and Responses
- F2P player experience: The team is focusing on early-game balance and providing more rewards for loyal players.
- Bot prevention: The team emphasizes its robust anti-bot measures and views KYC as a last resort.
- Game direction: The team is committed to long-term growth and is adapting to player behavior and feedback.
- QOL improvements: While system fixes are prioritized, the team recognizes the need for QOL updates and plans to address them once core issues are resolved.
Overall Direction
The AMA suggests a strong focus on improving the core gameplay experience, addressing economic imbalances, and increasing player engagement. The team seems responsive to community feedback and committed to long-term growth. While challenges remain, the outlined plans indicate a proactive approach to resolving current issues and building a sustainable game ecosystem.
Key Takeaways:
- The team is actively listening to player concerns.
- There's a clear focus on improving the land gameplay experience.
- Economic adjustments are on the horizon.
- The game is evolving with a focus on player retention and engagement.
It will be interesting to see how these plans unfold and impact the game in the coming weeks and months.
Here is the video of the recent AMA on this post:
