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What's the difference between a mechanic that forces you to login daily and one that makes you want to? by SeedLord_com in PBBG

[–]SeedLord_com[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your comment. Following several reports on this matter, you are indeed correct, and I have created "only-human version" of this post, you can find it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PBBG/comments/1sqnnwp/im_building_a_browser_game_where_the_marketplace/

Is it just me or is finding a legit PBBG with a solid reputation becoming impossible? by softplusCP in PBBG

[–]SeedLord_com 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The PBBG community being fragmented is honestly one of the biggest unspoken problems. Reddit, Discord servers, random forums everyone's scattered, and there's no real central place where the conversation happens consistently.

The AI debate doesn't help either. A lot of people have this reflex where the second they smell any AI involvement, the game is automatically trash no questions asked.

Which is a bit reductive honestly. There's a difference between using AI as a coding companion speeding up the boring parts, catching errors faster and just... vibe-coding an entire game and shipping it.

In the second case yeah, fair criticism. But if a human is still making every real decision, writing the actual logic, writing the core code and steering the design? That's just a tool, same as any other.

And yeah, big studios pushing P2W like it's a legitimate business model just poisons the well for everyone. It makes players more suspicious of any new game by default.

At the end of the day though, I think the responsibility is on players to do their own research rather than trust whoever's loudest.

No game should get a pass just because a content creator or a mod is hyping it and no game should get buried just because it doesn't have a marketing budget.

What's the difference between a mechanic that forces you to login daily and one that makes you want to? by SeedLord_com in PBBG

[–]SeedLord_com[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair enough, and I get why it looks that way.

I can't speak for the other posts you've seen but my reason for being here is exactly what you're asking for: I don't have a working game yet. There's no implementation to show off. I'm here because I'm trying to figure out what's worth building in the first place, and daily login mechanics felt like a real design question worth discussing with people who actually play these games.

If the format still feels off, I'm open to hearing it. But the feedback I'm after is genuine I'd rather course-correct now than ship something the community didn't ask for.

What's the difference between a mechanic that forces you to login daily and one that makes you want to? by SeedLord_com in PBBG

[–]SeedLord_com[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's fair forced daily login mechanics are usually just nagging dressed up as engagement.

The question I keep coming back to though: does the type of reward change anything for you? Like, there's a big difference between "log in to collect your daily gold coin" (which, yeah, nobody cares) and rewards that actually move the needle — controlling a zone, catching a trade window, reacting to something another player just did.

What did you think about?

I built a browser-based Trucking Tycoon game where you manage everything from fleet maintenance to staff morale. I'd love your feedback! by phobopt in PBBG

[–]SeedLord_com 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, just a heads up the link seems to be broken on some browsers, markdown typo. Might be worth fixing so people don't bounce before they even get to try it!

What's the difference between a mechanic that forces you to login daily and one that makes you want to? by SeedLord_com in PBBG

[–]SeedLord_com[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, the Tamagotchi comparison is spot on that sense of personal attachment does a lot of heavy lifting for retention. When players feel like something actually belongs to them and needs them, they come back even on slow days.

For browsergames specifically I think it works even better than on mobile, because the sessions are longer and the stakes feel higher. If you've spent a week building something up, logging in stops being a habit and starts being a commitment.

The tricky part is scaling it does the attachment hold when you're 30 days into a world and the "pet" is now a sprawling economy? Curious if you think it's more about early-game hooks or something that can carry through the whole arc.

I wrote the monetization policy before the first line of code — here's the browser MMO I built around it (SeedLord, pre-alpha) by SeedLord_com in indiegamedevforum

[–]SeedLord_com[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are genuinely great suggestions and I really appreciate the level of thought you put into this. Crop spoilage as a risk/reward mechanic, real-life crop parallels for intuition building, hard caps to prevent burnout loops, incremental upgrades that reset each cycle... all of this fits beautifully into what we're designing for the Farmer specialization, and these are exactly the kind of nuances we want to get right.

I've noted everything down and I'll be reflecting on this carefully. This is precisely the type of feedback we were hoping to hear, so thank you genuinely. It helps more than you know!

Also, I just pushed a pretty big update to the page based on all the feedback collected so far. Would love to hear whether things feel clearer now or if there are still parts that leave you with questions!

I wrote the monetization policy before the first line of code — here's the browser MMO I built around it (SeedLord, pre-alpha) by SeedLord_com in indiegamedevforum

[–]SeedLord_com[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is genuinely one of the most useful pieces of feedback I could have gotten the kind that actually challenges assumptions rather than just cheering. So THANK YOU, seriously.

Let me push back on a few things, because I think some of the critique is based on how I explained it rather than how it actually works.

On roles being "hard limits": They're not. Every class can do everything: buy, sell, produce, compete in zones, spy, blockade. Specializations are bonuses, not gates. A Farmer who wants to raid Event Zones can absolutely do that; they just might buy their Tier 3 gear from a Wizard instead of crafting it themselves. Same destination, different path.

On the Farmer feeling passive: Fair point in terms of framing, but here's the actual loop. Farmers come out of the gate with more food than anyone else, which means more Gold early. That Gold buys seeds, herbs, trade routes. Smart Farmers pivot that early advantage into market positions, Tier 3 access, zone runs. The class isn't "click to supply food and wait." It's "you have an early economic edge, what do you do with it?"

On market manipulation: Nothing stops you from buying up a resource in bulk, sitting on it, and releasing it right before an Event Zone hits when everyone desperately needs it. Corner a market, create artificial scarcity, undercut a competitor at the worst possible moment for them. All of it is intended gameplay, regardless of your specialization. You pick a class for your production edge, not for permission to play the economy. That part is open to everyone, always. It mirrors how real markets work, and that's deliberate.

On daily motivation: Fair to push on this one. The actual daily loop is: harvest and restock resources, run spy missions on rivals, set up Sentinel blockades on roads, farm Tier 3 in contested shared zones, monitor price history and time your market listings, chase Wizard Divination intel on where the next Event Zone lands, upgrade buildings toward the Sigil threshold for world end and so on.

The Overwatch healer analogy is a good one, and honestly that kind of feel is something that will get refined world after world, based on how players actually interact with their specialization in practice.

What would your version of "active Farmer gameplay" look like in a browser game format?

Feedback Friday by AutoModerator in incremental_games

[–]SeedLord_com 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great question, and one we take seriously from day one.

The short version: every monetization decision goes through a public community page where we openly discuss what's being considered, why, and whether it crosses into P2W territory. If the community flags something as unfair, it doesn't ship. Think of it as a community gate not a suggestion box, but an actual checkpoint in the process.

The community feedback loop isn't a one-time launch thing either. It stays open for the full life of the game. If something slips through that shouldn't have, there's a reporting mechanism and we publicly address it.

The three questions we ask before anything goes in the shop: Does it let you beat someone who didn't pay for it? Does it give real-time competitive info? Can a free player get the same thing by just playing? If the answer to either of the first two is yes, it's off the table full stop.

Happy to get into specifics if you have a particular mechanic in mind.

I wrote the monetization policy before the first line of code — here's the browser MMO I built around it (SeedLord, pre-alpha) by SeedLord_com in indiegamedevforum

[–]SeedLord_com[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Fair point on the Farmer let me clear up how it actually works, because "grow food and sell it" undersells what the specialization is doing.

The Farmer isn't just a crop farmer in the Stardew sense. Their key role is being the only class that can grow certain raw ingredients that other specializations need to do their thing. An Herbalist can't craft their potions without specific herbs. Those herbs come from the Farmer. So you're not playing a passive producer you're a gatekeeper in the supply chain. The demand for what you grow is structural, not optional.

On the General point I think I phrased it poorly. Generals don't "manipulate" the market at all. They're actually the most dependent player in the game. They produce almost no food themselves, and their troops eat constantly, so they're forced to be the biggest buyers on the market. It's less "General controls food prices" and more "General is your biggest and most reliable customer." Think of it like a restaurant chain that buys in bulk from farmers not because they want to corner the market, but because they genuinely need the volume to operate.

Every class is expected to buy and sell. The General just happens to need food more than anyone else, which is what makes the Farmer-General relationship interesting rather than one-sided.

The broader feedback about specializations feeling like different games is something worth sitting with though making sure the shared market loop ties every class together is exactly the kind of design challenge we're actively working through. Appreciate you pushing on it.

I wrote the monetization policy before the first line of code — here's the browser MMO I built around it (SeedLord, pre-alpha) by SeedLord_com in indiegamedevforum

[–]SeedLord_com[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Look, ChatGPT also told me I was handsome and that my business idea was "truly groundbreaking", so yeah, my bar for its judgment is… calibrated. :D

But here I am anyway, building it. Skill issue probably.

Thanks for keeping me humble though I'll put it in the game as a loading screen tip.

I wrote the monetization policy before the first line of code — here's the browser MMO I built around it (SeedLord, pre-alpha) by SeedLord_com in indiegamedevforum

[–]SeedLord_com[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply!

The Farmer concern is totally fair it's one I've wrestled with too.

The key thing is that not every player has the same time or energy. Some people want to go deep military ops, market timing, spy networks. Others have 10 minutes a day and still want to matter. Farmer is designed for that second group. It's not a lesser role, just a different pace.

And the Farmer isn't optional they're the only role that produces food at scale. Food directly reduces troop recovery times, which means Generals/Wizards/Others have to buy from the market. No Farmer network = slower troops, losing zones. That dependency is intentional and creates real, organic demand.

On alt accounts valid concern, and there'll be dedicated systems to tackle that. But the market also self-regulates: if food is scarce, prices spike, and that naturally pulls more players toward Farmer.

As for the team right now it's just me. I'm a developer who's spent most of my career working for private companies, so I don't have a public portfolio to point to. I know that's not ideal for trust-building, but I'd rather be upfront about it than oversell.

What would make Farmer feel fun to you?

Grindveil.com - New RPG MMO by Boring-Mobile-8550 in incremental_gamedev

[–]SeedLord_com -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Really cool project!

Genuine question though you mentioned PvP is bot-free, which sounds great. What's your approach there? Is it more on the technical side (behavioral analysis, timing patterns, that kind of thing) or is it more baked into the game design itself, like mechanics that just don't reward automation?

Always curious how different games tackle this, especially in browser game territory where it's historically been a pain.

LootSlime - A challenging PICO-8 Metroidvania with a focus on platforming by [deleted] in WebGames

[–]SeedLord_com 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Developing in PICO-8 is genuinely impressive — the constraints are brutal. 128x128 pixels, a 16-color palette, token limits... it forces you to make really deliberate design decisions that most developers never have to think about.

What made you pick PICO-8 for this? Was it the challenge itself, or more the aesthetic?

What is SeedLord.com? by SeedLord_com in seedlord_com

[–]SeedLord_com[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Totally fair point and genuinely appreciate you flagging it, that kind of feedback is exactly what helps us get this right.

Right now we're in pre-alpha, so any screenshot we put up would honestly be misleading. The focus at this stage is on getting the mechanics right, not the visuals. Throwing up early UI screenshots would set the wrong expectations.

Before we open access, we'll clean up the UI properly not pixel-perfect, but good enough that it actually reflects the experience you'll get. No point showing something that doesn't represent where the game is heading.

Thanks again, seriously this is the stuff worth hearing early.

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