I wasn’t sure how to title this topic.
But it’s evident I need to say something about this game after observing on and off for a few years.
The Blockheads.
A 2D Block-based sandbox game, sharing small similarities and big differences compared to other voxel-based/2D/“blocky” games.
It has unique features unlike most other games.
- Crafting that takes physical time.
- Control of multiple Blockheads.
- Queuing specific character tasks
- Allowing for multitasking to an extreme level
- Tasks will still continue EVEN IF YOU LEAVE THE GAME/SERVER.
- Simple (and optionally specific) server searching
- Easy server setups with IAPs (I will touch on previous funding with Time Crystals)
- Built-in method of area protection (Ownership signs)
- Not a mobile P2W game, and still fun
- Extremely unique economy system via the trade portal
- Economy is a global marketplace, where everyone can impact prices when buying and selling.
- You can view prices like a stock market, right at the trade portal or on the website http://blockmarket.theblockheads.net
- Although controversial, the discovery system is excellent.
- Built-in way for new players to grow in a server via jobs at a trade portal
- A customizable HTML welcome message for joining a server. What other game does such a thing?
- Owner portal system for server management
- Milla’s powers (as support to help with issues and fixing worlds)
- Expandable inventory via baskets (and technically infinitely expandable)
All these things, are the basis and framework and guts of an amazing game. You have the familiarity of sandbox, to do what you want. You have the twist of global trade, with the ingame currency. You can use your premium currency of time crystals whether to speed up crafting, teleport, get rare items, and you can obtain time crystals without paying, via jobs, ads, free offers, meditation, and mining.
So see, there is great potential. But that’s not all I have to say.
Who the blame rests on cannot be the shoulders of a single person, group, or entity.
So I’ll elaborate.
This game has bad, bad issues.
Let’s start with the most prevalent.
Hacking.
If you play on online public servers, you’re bound to see a hacker or some script kiddie eventually. Their jailbroken device and patches, killing people in one hit, not being able to die, instantaneously teleporting, instantly breaking blocks, these all have the potential to be a massive threat to your experience.
Time crystal issues
Then we move on to the controversial issue of time crystals. Hacked or not.
There were old exploits, and some right before 1.7.
Most remember the issue with time crystals being able to be duped as an item.
This in turn led to loss of revenue for Dave.
And thus servers couldn’t run on time crystals anymore and instead by real life money.
But while that issue was with dupers and hackers, Dave has some blame to take as well.
As soon as word is caught of such exploits, there is an obligation for both Dave and the community to communicate. The community must notify, and Dave must fix it promptly.
I think it’s safe to say both didn’t happen.
Which leads to servers being switched over to being paid with real money.
Course, there was the possibility that servers would’ve switched over anyway, exploit or not.
And now that leads us to today.
Duping
Dupe glitches always need to be fixed fast.
Yet they’ve always appeared for the last few years.
This in turn has ruined the potential of the unique economic system reliant on the supply and demand of players.
Yet the blame cannot go with just one person or entity.
Both the community and Dave are to blame.
The community, on one hand, should have not destroyed the economy via duping.
Dave, on the other hand, should have fixed the glitches that were ruining a core mechanic of the game promptly. Just like with time crystals.
And that leads us to the continued issue of hackers (and generally rule-breakers) today.
Hacking and Duping Today
After seeing Dave’s intentions to focus on Sapiens and not fix this game, I’ll lay it out here now.
I’ve seen servers in and out, being bombarded by hackers.
I’ve seen MULTIPLE worlds where it was more respectable to be a hacker than not.
Getting cool items isn’t impressive, like a jetpack when duping just makes them worthless.
Everyone has super shops, servers have duped starter kits with pole gear, super shops, portal chests, and time crystal items.
All revered end-game items, are just as common as any other item.
The trade portal prices are incredibly out of wack due to duping.
And trade portal prices being like this aren’t new either. Before the introduction of platinum coins, top level items cost more gold coins than your inventory could hold. That’s more than two thousand gold coins.
It’s common to see a “duping setup” on almost every online public server.
Hackers are incredibly powerful. Milla may rollback worlds, and cloud ban hackers.
But if you are a server owner, hackers are impossible to stop.
You ban a hacker, they just come back.
You ip ban a hacker, they just get a VPN and come back.
Milla or someone else cloud bans the hacker, THEY COME BACK BECAUSE YOU CAN UNDO CLOUD BANS!
I see servers with secret “hit lists” to attack other servers, ruining them.
One server I play on has a staff team that’s partially made up of hackers, and anyone banned, the owner clears the blacklist every day. Yet it is somehow safer than most servers. That’s the backwards atmosphere.
In the end, I don’t care what it takes. I just want Dave to fix some things.
- Patch duping
- Stop hackers/script kiddies, even if any measure you put in doesn’t stop them forever. Get a proper anti-cheat.
- Rework cloud bans (or even normal bans) or some way to seriously make it harder for a banned person to return for extreme offenses.
Even after all of this is fixed, the economy is in shambles.
But if these issues are sorted, this game may actually recover.
People will feel safe to make a new online public world.
Maybe, this has been all for nothing.
In the end, if you see this, thank you for reading.
And Dave, if you ever see this, thank you for your consideration.
Good luck on Sapiens!
-Andy