Source?
My point still stands. You need to do extensive testing of your game before releasing it to the public. This would have prevented many of the bugs appearing on launch.
Minecraft PC IP: play.cubecraft.net
I understand updates will come with bugs, and there is nothing that can be done in testing to completely prepare for a full release. But that is the same with pretty much every multiplayer game to exist.
You can still hype up the update without blindly releasing it and letting the servers struggle. And as the beta was on java before, allowing time to identify issues and quash them before it comes to bedrock, I see no reason a countdown timer couldn't have been added to lobby to hype it up, with daily teasers posted on socials leading up to it etc.
I understand your reasoning for not marketing it too much, but realistically this was Cubecraft's biggest update in a long time, so you cannot just not market it.
I would completely understand your reasoning for releasing it on a Tuesday, if some marketing had been done and the public were anticipating this release, but there was not a single announcement even hinting at its release date until a message was posted in a channel saying 'The server is going into maintenance' with no other information.
The test network, as you acknowledged, was almost completely hidden, in an NPC in a building to the side. This is cool and mysterious but the benefit of that is more than outweighed by the fact that so few people actually managed to access it. And despite this the actual release of the update, as I said, was still hidden.
Your message about socials being used more recently is true, but they aren't really being used to great effect. All your linked posts are twitter or instagram, both places very few people follow and not anywhere near as good for growth as tiktok for example, which still receives no love.
Obviously the more devs you have, the more issues will arise. But it is objectively true that more devs=more code written. It makes sense that you can't have lots of devs all doing the same thing, but if there were more devs, if resources allow, that means more people can be assigned to different update areas, meaning the server could have received small, yet consistent, updates whilst the majority of the team were focused on 1.19.
The training of new devs was not something I had considered, and makes sense. But weighing up the pros and cons, in hindsight it would have made sense to recruit more if possible, but I understand at the time that wouldn't have necessarily seemed to have been the best option.
I'm going to step away from the developer argument. I've read a lot already and see it's clearly not my place to poke around at, nor have I the correct info regarding how the internal affairs work. This post is to focus mostly on the communication between the players and the team.
There has been slightly more outreach from the staff team to the community recently, however still nowhere near where it should be. Take your example about the new FFA update, most FFA players do not use the forums or discord, either because they don't like it or they are banned, and the best way to receive proper community feedback is with actual in-game things, such as Hive used to do with in-game surveys, and you have done before with the knockback testing, for example.
I still think a lot needs to be done, especially with marketing and community outreach, and I think it would be ridiculous for anyone to suggest that the connection between the staff and community is anything above abysmal.
I agree with all you said except the meme saying cubecraft making the game actually require skill, I'm not expert too but saying "now it require skill" while making farm so easy (gold too op and low cost while it's a starter gen) and rush so complicated (where 21 iron block?? 1 iron pick??) it's totally not understanding what sweat complained about (and other problem like kb, fight duration...).
this meme is like saying sweat are not sweat anymore after update and have no skill, like their not sweat for a reason
unexpectedly accurate memes:
BUT SERIOUSLY NOW:
why allowing back banned people and removing afk kick nearly after update???
(when people said number of people will decrase/ I switch Hive/ I quit till its fixed)
www.cubecraft.net
All Networks What Cubecraft Can Learn from the 1.19 Update
- Thread starter RelatedNoobs
- Start date
I'm seeing that the conversations in this thread are just turning into arguments and going in circles. This is supposed to be about genuine feedback. What happened in the past with the 1.19 update has already happened. It would just be nice to hear a response saying that you are listening to the community and understand at least some of the concerns being raised in Related's original post.
I'm really only seeing conversations about the Dev hiring process and that is a very small part of our whole thread.
I'm really only seeing conversations about the Dev hiring process and that is a very small part of our whole thread.
I understand updates will come with bugs, and there is nothing that can be done in testing to completely prepare for a full release. But that is the same with pretty much every multiplayer game to exist.
You can still hype up the update without blindly releasing it and letting the servers struggle. And as the beta was on java before, allowing time to identify issues and quash them before it comes to bedrock, I see no reason a countdown timer couldn't have been added to lobby to hype it up, with daily teasers posted on socials leading up to it etc.
I understand your reasoning for not marketing it too much, but realistically this was Cubecraft's biggest update in a long time, so you cannot just not market it.
I would completely understand your reasoning for releasing it on a Tuesday, if some marketing had been done and the public were anticipating this release, but there was not a single announcement even hinting at its release date until a message was posted in a channel saying 'The server is going into maintenance' with no other information.
The test network, as you acknowledged, was almost completely hidden, in an NPC in a building to the side. This is cool and mysterious but the benefit of that is more than outweighed by the fact that so few people actually managed to access it. And despite this the actual release of the update, as I said, was still hidden.
Your message about socials being used more recently is true, but they aren't really being used to great effect. All your linked posts are twitter or instagram, both places very few people follow and not anywhere near as good for growth as tiktok for example, which still receives no love.
Obviously the more devs you have, the more issues will arise. But it is objectively true that more devs=more code written. It makes sense that you can't have lots of devs all doing the same thing, but if there were more devs, if resources allow, that means more people can be assigned to different update areas, meaning the server could have received small, yet consistent, updates whilst the majority of the team were focused on 1.19.
The training of new devs was not something I had considered, and makes sense. But weighing up the pros and cons, in hindsight it would have made sense to recruit more if possible, but I understand at the time that wouldn't have necessarily seemed to have been the best option.
I'm going to step away from the developer argument. I've read a lot already and see it's clearly not my place to poke around at, nor have I the correct info regarding how the internal affairs work. This post is to focus mostly on the communication between the players and the team.
There has been slightly more outreach from the staff team to the community recently, however still nowhere near where it should be. Take your example about the new FFA update, most FFA players do not use the forums or discord, either because they don't like it or they are banned, and the best way to receive proper community feedback is with actual in-game things, such as Hive used to do with in-game surveys, and you have done before with the knockback testing, for example.
I still think a lot needs to be done, especially with marketing and community outreach, and I think it would be ridiculous for anyone to suggest that the connection between the staff and community is anything above abysmal.
They're only missing few stuff, The Reports Are Alot slower then Before idk why and secondly I lost alot of ping without doing anything But ofc i can agree
About Skyblock (End Update)
Disclaimer: Internal deadlines are not to be considered as publicly available deadlines when players should expect the update to be released; they are there so that developers/designers aren't working on the same project for a large portion of the year and to avoid developer burnout, as well as collect WIP and prototype screenshots for promotional material.
I can help shed some light on the situation regarding the Skyblock update; however, for NDA reasons, I cannot disclose the complete details. I was originally assigned to lead the Skyblock End update back in 2022 after the original product lead decided to move on from the network. We originally started the Skyblock end update back on November 1st, 2021. Things were slow, with limited developers available to work on the project, but we continued to push on. We had set out a planned internal deadline for the gamemode update to release, which I can now say was September 2022... However, at the time the deadline date came around, all we had was a complete End Dimension map and working EnderDragon mechanics, mainly because the project was a lot larger and time-consuming for our developers than originally anticipated. We didn't even have any quest ideas or quests thought of for the update, because of developer availability, as it was a time when all of our developers were working on the 1.19 update that came out this year (Yes, that update has been in the works for a very long time), and GameFrameWork.
There were many more important tasks that our developers who were working on the Skyblock update had to focus on, as well as Skyblock. Members from our Protocol team working on EnderDragon mechanics also had to keep the network updated every time Minecraft released an update so the server didn't say players have to update every time a new version came out; while working on GameFrameWork and the recently released 1.19 update. Those developers are also on contract to work a set amount of hours. Designers are also contracted to work a specific maximum of hours a day.
Also, bug fixes during a time when Skyblock was most prone to having issues with things not working due to Minecraft updates each time they updated and added/changed blocks around, there was a lot of things going on at the time.
As many of our developers have already mentioned, we're a company, but we're not a major company. Hiring new team members isn't always a viable option from a cost and financial standpoint. While I can agree that at the time, it would have been beneficial to have hired additional developers to work on the Skyblock update, there weren't enough resources to do so.
Based on the progress that had been made, and how close we were to finishing the project, we came to the conclusion to scrap the project to a later update, which will potentially have even more features in the coming future. We know a lot of players were hyped the anticipation of the Skyblock End update, and we know that we let a lot of players within our Skyblock community down when we went radio silent, but after I stopped working on the project, I was requested to focus back on my current role, as customer and sales support.
It's rather sad to see how quiet the Skyblock community has gotten over time, due to the majority already having completed all the main quests, and waiting for the gamemode to update. The next Skyblock update is already being brainstormed, and while no development has started yet, there are a lot of big plans and user-requested features being thrown into the next one. We don't have an internal deadline or even a start date for this project, but we can assure players that an update is planned and in the works.
With the 1.19 update out the way and GameFrameWork now in a functioning state, we can focus on making games better and providing players with more of their suggestions, giving the community something to look forward to. I cannot say what specifically, but there are other projects that we currently have cooking up, some that aren't even in the Notion board yet, as we want to keep them a secret until we are absolutely certain the project is going to be released on time.
About the Partner Programme
This is specifically to @VanHouten @privqted @Prixifye @xclutchingg @RelatedNoobs and anyone else within the partner programme. The current partner managers are Luke, Marta, and Camezonda. Luke has a lot more things that he needs to focus on within Ziax other than partnership, such as the business management side of the company. This is also the same when it comes to Marta, who focuses mainly on network infrastructure. They try their best to handle the programme as it currently stands, and response times can vary but eventually will be answered.
One of the main perks of becoming a partner is having that direct support, and the ability to make 'partner requests' to the team, so I can understand where partners may be getting frustrated when it takes between 3-5 business days for a response back. Don't forget that Ziax requires Marta and Luke to focus on other key parts of the business' infrastructure, including some areas that you may not see. While Camezonda focuses more towards CubeCraft Games, he also has other important areas to manage, such as the Quality Assurance team.
Additionally, when team members are on holiday, responses can be made even longer. I do agree that communication could be made better here to let partners know when to expect a lack or extended response from our team and that partners should be a large focus on the network for publicity and advertising reasons.
These roles can be very time-consuming, and our team definitely aren't trying to ignore your requests. I do try and pass on these requests to those who handle the programme as soon as I see them (usually within 2-4 hours of posting), but it all depends on their availability, even bumping them internally to prompt the need for a response. I can't handle these requests.
Having previous experience with the role, I can understand how much time it takes, especially when trying to focus with other tasks on a busy day.
Disclaimer: Internal deadlines are not to be considered as publicly available deadlines when players should expect the update to be released; they are there so that developers/designers aren't working on the same project for a large portion of the year and to avoid developer burnout, as well as collect WIP and prototype screenshots for promotional material.
I can help shed some light on the situation regarding the Skyblock update; however, for NDA reasons, I cannot disclose the complete details. I was originally assigned to lead the Skyblock End update back in 2022 after the original product lead decided to move on from the network. We originally started the Skyblock end update back on November 1st, 2021. Things were slow, with limited developers available to work on the project, but we continued to push on. We had set out a planned internal deadline for the gamemode update to release, which I can now say was September 2022... However, at the time the deadline date came around, all we had was a complete End Dimension map and working EnderDragon mechanics, mainly because the project was a lot larger and time-consuming for our developers than originally anticipated. We didn't even have any quest ideas or quests thought of for the update, because of developer availability, as it was a time when all of our developers were working on the 1.19 update that came out this year (Yes, that update has been in the works for a very long time), and GameFrameWork.
There were many more important tasks that our developers who were working on the Skyblock update had to focus on, as well as Skyblock. Members from our Protocol team working on EnderDragon mechanics also had to keep the network updated every time Minecraft released an update so the server didn't say players have to update every time a new version came out; while working on GameFrameWork and the recently released 1.19 update. Those developers are also on contract to work a set amount of hours. Designers are also contracted to work a specific maximum of hours a day.
Also, bug fixes during a time when Skyblock was most prone to having issues with things not working due to Minecraft updates each time they updated and added/changed blocks around, there was a lot of things going on at the time.
As many of our developers have already mentioned, we're a company, but we're not a major company. Hiring new team members isn't always a viable option from a cost and financial standpoint. While I can agree that at the time, it would have been beneficial to have hired additional developers to work on the Skyblock update, there weren't enough resources to do so.
Based on the progress that had been made, and how close we were to finishing the project, we came to the conclusion to scrap the project to a later update, which will potentially have even more features in the coming future. We know a lot of players were hyped the anticipation of the Skyblock End update, and we know that we let a lot of players within our Skyblock community down when we went radio silent, but after I stopped working on the project, I was requested to focus back on my current role, as customer and sales support.
It's rather sad to see how quiet the Skyblock community has gotten over time, due to the majority already having completed all the main quests, and waiting for the gamemode to update. The next Skyblock update is already being brainstormed, and while no development has started yet, there are a lot of big plans and user-requested features being thrown into the next one. We don't have an internal deadline or even a start date for this project, but we can assure players that an update is planned and in the works.
With the 1.19 update out the way and GameFrameWork now in a functioning state, we can focus on making games better and providing players with more of their suggestions, giving the community something to look forward to. I cannot say what specifically, but there are other projects that we currently have cooking up, some that aren't even in the Notion board yet, as we want to keep them a secret until we are absolutely certain the project is going to be released on time.
About the Partner Programme
This is specifically to @VanHouten @privqted @Prixifye @xclutchingg @RelatedNoobs and anyone else within the partner programme. The current partner managers are Luke, Marta, and Camezonda. Luke has a lot more things that he needs to focus on within Ziax other than partnership, such as the business management side of the company. This is also the same when it comes to Marta, who focuses mainly on network infrastructure. They try their best to handle the programme as it currently stands, and response times can vary but eventually will be answered.
One of the main perks of becoming a partner is having that direct support, and the ability to make 'partner requests' to the team, so I can understand where partners may be getting frustrated when it takes between 3-5 business days for a response back. Don't forget that Ziax requires Marta and Luke to focus on other key parts of the business' infrastructure, including some areas that you may not see. While Camezonda focuses more towards CubeCraft Games, he also has other important areas to manage, such as the Quality Assurance team.
Additionally, when team members are on holiday, responses can be made even longer. I do agree that communication could be made better here to let partners know when to expect a lack or extended response from our team and that partners should be a large focus on the network for publicity and advertising reasons.
These roles can be very time-consuming, and our team definitely aren't trying to ignore your requests. I do try and pass on these requests to those who handle the programme as soon as I see them (usually within 2-4 hours of posting), but it all depends on their availability, even bumping them internally to prompt the need for a response. I can't handle these requests.
Having previous experience with the role, I can understand how much time it takes, especially when trying to focus with other tasks on a busy day.
I am going to be making a lot of comments about this: many of your points I hugely agree with, but also some that I don't.
This seriously concerns me, the more strain that is put on an even more struggling development team will inevitably result in more resignations, the CubeCraft team is tiny, and I'm going to be very frank here, the current dev team, after losing several key devs are not doing a good job.
I am trying not to blame the dev team for this but whenever I check the Notion board I never see new games, I never see BIG updates, every single new game update that's been posted to the Notion Board simply reads:
- New Maps
- QoL Changes
- *some small change that no one cares about*
- Rank Updates
OK, so. New maps that barely affect gameplay, QoL changes (which no one cares about), and Rank Updates. Updates to PAID ranks. That is essentially everything that we have gotten in the Lucky Blocks update, the BlockWars Update, the Mini-Survival Games Update and the upcoming Battle Arena and Survival Games Updates.
Don't believe me?
Also, why on Earth are they not bringing back the Seasonal Games, I will never not be upset about this, I understand that they can't be brought back during the development and migration to 1.19, I understand that since the dev team were just getting back on their feet after the 1.19 update it was hard to bring back Ender for Halloween this year. But, on October 23rd, they posted the Winter Event on their Notion Board, and there is no excuse here. CubeCraft has NO excuse not to bring back Colony Control, the game is already coded, and they gave themselves a whole month to port it, so why is it not coming? When I play CubeCraft in the Winter all I ever play is Colony Control. There were countless threads last year to bring back Colony Control, @Austin even hinted that it was coming back.
Overall, I fully agree that CubeCraft poorly orchestrated the 1.19 Update, and I'm going to be fully honest that I am not impressed with the dev team, at all, since the start of the year my respect for them has just gone down so much.
Edit; yes imma get a lot of hate for this I know
The 1.19 update was 1) hugely buggy and hard to release, 2) it did not release all at once, nor could it have done, and 3) the entire server had to be pulled down and put back up, a timer would just have confused people if it hit zero and they were disconnected.
Yes, why on earth are CubeCraft so inactive on social media, it seems pretty stupid when TikTok is one of the best ways to gain customers.
This seriously concerns me, the more strain that is put on an even more struggling development team will inevitably result in more resignations, the CubeCraft team is tiny, and I'm going to be very frank here, the current dev team, after losing several key devs are not doing a good job.
I am trying not to blame the dev team for this but whenever I check the Notion board I never see new games, I never see BIG updates, every single new game update that's been posted to the Notion Board simply reads:
- New Maps
- QoL Changes
- *some small change that no one cares about*
- Rank Updates
OK, so. New maps that barely affect gameplay, QoL changes (which no one cares about), and Rank Updates. Updates to PAID ranks. That is essentially everything that we have gotten in the Lucky Blocks update, the BlockWars Update, the Mini-Survival Games Update and the upcoming Battle Arena and Survival Games Updates.
Don't believe me?
Also, why on Earth are they not bringing back the Seasonal Games, I will never not be upset about this, I understand that they can't be brought back during the development and migration to 1.19, I understand that since the dev team were just getting back on their feet after the 1.19 update it was hard to bring back Ender for Halloween this year. But, on October 23rd, they posted the Winter Event on their Notion Board, and there is no excuse here. CubeCraft has NO excuse not to bring back Colony Control, the game is already coded, and they gave themselves a whole month to port it, so why is it not coming? When I play CubeCraft in the Winter all I ever play is Colony Control. There were countless threads last year to bring back Colony Control, @Austin even hinted that it was coming back.
Overall, I fully agree that CubeCraft poorly orchestrated the 1.19 Update, and I'm going to be fully honest that I am not impressed with the dev team, at all, since the start of the year my respect for them has just gone down so much.
Edit; yes imma get a lot of hate for this I know
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I'll throw another 2 cents in to this. From what I've read, Cubecraft were in an impossible situation with the 1.19 update. Because of that, they went radio silent and had to scrap the Skyblock update. However, in hindsight there were some things that could've been handled better. I'm going to start making comparisons to another huge Cubecraft update; Magic and Mayhem.
Magic and Mayhem wasn't as big as the 1.19 update, but it's the closest I can think of. Magic and Mayhem got endless teasers across all of Cubecraft's socials, there was an in game countdown and I remember being there when the doors opened. But by God were there bugs. Magic and Mayhem was very buggy on launch, but it ended up working out really well, as most of the bugs were squashed quickly. I actually got stuck in the tutorial for Magic and Mayhem because it bugged out.
In my opinion, Cubecraft should look back to Magic and Mayhem as the gold standard for large updates. It generated public hype, was bigger than Skywars at one point, and the bugs were squashed quickly. Now, I this comparison may be completely pointless, as I'm not a developer and don't know what happened internally with both these projects. But, I think that it is still a fair comparison to make.
Magic and Mayhem wasn't as big as the 1.19 update, but it's the closest I can think of. Magic and Mayhem got endless teasers across all of Cubecraft's socials, there was an in game countdown and I remember being there when the doors opened. But by God were there bugs. Magic and Mayhem was very buggy on launch, but it ended up working out really well, as most of the bugs were squashed quickly. I actually got stuck in the tutorial for Magic and Mayhem because it bugged out.
In my opinion, Cubecraft should look back to Magic and Mayhem as the gold standard for large updates. It generated public hype, was bigger than Skywars at one point, and the bugs were squashed quickly. Now, I this comparison may be completely pointless, as I'm not a developer and don't know what happened internally with both these projects. But, I think that it is still a fair comparison to make.
I remember back when Public testing was a thing and the DAY before release after another day of testing and finding countless bugs the next test was arranged for the next day (It was never hinted that the release would be the next day even though more testing was arranged) This i feel was Poor on their side as there was still a huge amount of bugs that were found regularly throughout testing (Some you can see in the highlights i posted on my channel) and the fact they released it before fixing a huge chunk of them was definitely an oversight on cubes behalf.
Alright, but do you really think you can increase java's player count with your new frameworks at this point? Because with the 1.19 update, your playerbase has not increased at all (it's still decreasing) and you can't really take good advantage of the new features unless you have games like minerware or tower defense open, which you guys closed. Most of the 1.19 maps could be replicated on 1.12, just would be different blocks.
The funny thing about that argument was that you started losing players after removing minerware and tower defense. Before, you were averaging 1.5k players, which isn't that good, but certainly better than what it is now. And after you removed it, you averaged 1k players. Now your current average sits at 600-700 players, and 750-850 players on weekends, which is a laughable player count. If you still can't increase the player count, you are just wasting time and effort maintaining the java server as it barley makes money and it has a very small playerbase
This is hugely unrelated but I have to say how irresponsible it was of CubeCraft to assign Marta, Luke and Cam to the Partner leadership after Story left the team. To assign the role of one person with good experience to three devs already under huge pressure with no experience is just irresponsible from a company perspective. But also assigning Cam to the head of team ops (or something similar I’m not fully aware of the details) when he was already head of QA is just idiotic, why on earth would anyone think it’s a good idea to put so much strain on three already hugely pressured developers who obviously didn’t particularly want to have the roles.
I don't really want to get too deep into this as most people in here don't seem to understand what they are talking about. However, I think we can all agree that Cubecraft failed the update miserably for multiple reasons. But keep in mind that this is normal, even for big(ger) companies like Cubecraft. We can only hope they learnt from their mistakes and will work on improving themselves to make future updates better for us, the players, and the company itself. I now want to comment on a quote from @RelatedNoobs post and answer the underlying question:
Now back to memeing (this is for entertainment, don't take it seriously):
While I agree with the statement that the 1.19 update felt underwhelming because of the lack of communication and promotion, I don't necessarily think that that's the origin of the problem. What I think caused the update to be poorly received was the lack of actual new content. Even if they wanted to hype the update up, they wouldn't have been able to as there's simply nothing new (sadly!) apart from new maps and minor game updates which aren't really hype-worthy. There was honestly a lot of potential here that should've, in my opinion, been taken advantage of to make this update something cool that players would remember and enjoy and I find it sad that Cubecraft didn't recognize it. This leads to the conclusion that the 1.19 update was actually not missing expected hype due to the beta status, but rather because Cubecraft approached the situation poorly. As I don't know the internal situation of Cubecraft I can't know if this is actually the case, but as far as I can tell from the outside there could have been better ways to handle this. I could talk a lot more about this and what Cubecraft could've done differently and whatnot but it isn't my job to lecture people nor am I qualified enough to actually know what is best.
Now back to memeing (this is for entertainment, don't take it seriously):
Hey,
As mentioned earlier, the update is out and arguing about alternative approaches is not the main focus of the original post. Some context is still important so I’ll be splitting my post into 2 parts, Where We Were and Where We Are. I'll focus on technical aspects of the update, so I apologize in advance if I don't address all the feedback. While the feedback is valid and welcomed, I'm not qualified to respond as I'm not involved in those areas of the company. We’ve unfortunately been in a season of extremely technical changes over the past couple of years, which aren’t that easy to boil down into user-facing content. We should have done better at communicating this. I’m going to be covering a lot here, so strap in.
Where We Were
Initial Challenges
In 2020, CubeCraft, like the rest of the game industry, faced many challenges as we grew quickly. We accumulated technical debt due to rapid feature development and changes needed in order to support the large influx of players. By the end of the year, we decided to rewrite our internal games system. Until then, our systems were patched repeatedly, causing parts of the network to become very unstable. We worked on this privately for some time and started implementing these internal changes with game migration announcements in June 2022.
During this time, we decided to update our base server to 1.19. Although we were in the process of migrating games, the migration was not yet complete. Additionally, we had separate code for Bedrock and Java. Throughout most of 2022, we maintained four different sets of code (non-gameframework java, non-gameframework bedrock, gameframework java, gameframework bedrock), which resulted in a slowdown in update frequency and size reduction. This also contributed to the decision to cancel the Skyblock end update.
1.19
We began rewriting our base server in early March 2022. The server now utilizes the popular Bukkit fork, Paper, with several exciting custom additions. These include full native Bedrock support, custom item/block support, and Java support for our custom models. We started migrating games and backend systems in September. This was a combination of three migrations:
We also ran into the issue of feature creep, which put simply is the constant addition of more and more features which slows down release. Our team was well aware that the average player didn’t care about the technical changes we were implementing. In response, we decided to add more content to make the update feel more “full”, which led to additional system changes and complications. Unfortunately, this resulted in unexpected delays for the release dates of both Java and Bedrock versions.
Java Release + More Struggles
In April of this year, we released the Java version of the 1.19 migration. This was the first time we tested the code at scale, and some issues only emerged on the public network.
After we got Java in a mostly stable state, we again focussed on Bedrock, hoping to get it out in May. However, due to internal challenges, the release was delayed. In June, we started testing on a staging network and encountered significant performance and gameplay issues. We addressed most of these issues and set a new release date for mid-July.
Bedrock Release
We released Bedrock, but it had major performance issues and caused network crashes. While Java runs on about 30 Minecraft servers, Bedrock runs on up to 1,000 at peak. We underestimated the resources needed and faced significant challenges.
On top of this, we had game updates prepared for over half a year but didn't consider your needs and wants enough. I believe the ideas behind these updates were good, but we released them without warning after a year of few releases. If we had made these changes gradually and gathered more feedback, I believe the overall response would be more positive. The negative response was unexpected and we have learned from it. Now, we are focusing on smaller and more frequent updates instead of big unannounced changes.
Where We Are
That was a lot, and none of it makes any of the feedback here any less valid. I just wanted to explain what all has been going on so you can get a better perspective of how we got here.
Bug Triage + Updates
After the initial fire of the update, we spent a considerable amount of time fixing bugs across all parts of the network. Above you can see the number of bugs reported vs resolved in the past few months. This does not include other work, like game and content updates.
We've released updates to both networks, including improvements to EggWars and Lucky Islands, new maps, and updated loot. We've also made internal changes, such as updating moderation systems and server support for new Minecraft versions.
The Future
In the near future, we’re releasing an SG update, the winter event, and an update to Battle Arena. We’re also working to improve our internal processes regarding getting community feedback, community interaction, and keeping the scope of updates more tight.
Conclusion
This is all meaningless without real change, so we hope you'll stay with us as we continue to implement the aforementioned changes. We have some exciting plans for the future, and look forward to hearing your feedback.
Thanks for the feedback, sorry it took so long to get a detailed response.
As mentioned earlier, the update is out and arguing about alternative approaches is not the main focus of the original post. Some context is still important so I’ll be splitting my post into 2 parts, Where We Were and Where We Are. I'll focus on technical aspects of the update, so I apologize in advance if I don't address all the feedback. While the feedback is valid and welcomed, I'm not qualified to respond as I'm not involved in those areas of the company. We’ve unfortunately been in a season of extremely technical changes over the past couple of years, which aren’t that easy to boil down into user-facing content. We should have done better at communicating this. I’m going to be covering a lot here, so strap in.
Where We Were
Initial Challenges
In 2020, CubeCraft, like the rest of the game industry, faced many challenges as we grew quickly. We accumulated technical debt due to rapid feature development and changes needed in order to support the large influx of players. By the end of the year, we decided to rewrite our internal games system. Until then, our systems were patched repeatedly, causing parts of the network to become very unstable. We worked on this privately for some time and started implementing these internal changes with game migration announcements in June 2022.
During this time, we decided to update our base server to 1.19. Although we were in the process of migrating games, the migration was not yet complete. Additionally, we had separate code for Bedrock and Java. Throughout most of 2022, we maintained four different sets of code (non-gameframework java, non-gameframework bedrock, gameframework java, gameframework bedrock), which resulted in a slowdown in update frequency and size reduction. This also contributed to the decision to cancel the Skyblock end update.
1.19
We began rewriting our base server in early March 2022. The server now utilizes the popular Bukkit fork, Paper, with several exciting custom additions. These include full native Bedrock support, custom item/block support, and Java support for our custom models. We started migrating games and backend systems in September. This was a combination of three migrations:
- Migrating all remaining systems to Game Framework
- Migrating to the new 1.19 base
- Combining the Bedrock and Java codebase
We also ran into the issue of feature creep, which put simply is the constant addition of more and more features which slows down release. Our team was well aware that the average player didn’t care about the technical changes we were implementing. In response, we decided to add more content to make the update feel more “full”, which led to additional system changes and complications. Unfortunately, this resulted in unexpected delays for the release dates of both Java and Bedrock versions.
Java Release + More Struggles
In April of this year, we released the Java version of the 1.19 migration. This was the first time we tested the code at scale, and some issues only emerged on the public network.
After we got Java in a mostly stable state, we again focussed on Bedrock, hoping to get it out in May. However, due to internal challenges, the release was delayed. In June, we started testing on a staging network and encountered significant performance and gameplay issues. We addressed most of these issues and set a new release date for mid-July.
Bedrock Release
We released Bedrock, but it had major performance issues and caused network crashes. While Java runs on about 30 Minecraft servers, Bedrock runs on up to 1,000 at peak. We underestimated the resources needed and faced significant challenges.
On top of this, we had game updates prepared for over half a year but didn't consider your needs and wants enough. I believe the ideas behind these updates were good, but we released them without warning after a year of few releases. If we had made these changes gradually and gathered more feedback, I believe the overall response would be more positive. The negative response was unexpected and we have learned from it. Now, we are focusing on smaller and more frequent updates instead of big unannounced changes.
Where We Are
That was a lot, and none of it makes any of the feedback here any less valid. I just wanted to explain what all has been going on so you can get a better perspective of how we got here.
Bug Triage + Updates
After the initial fire of the update, we spent a considerable amount of time fixing bugs across all parts of the network. Above you can see the number of bugs reported vs resolved in the past few months. This does not include other work, like game and content updates.
We've released updates to both networks, including improvements to EggWars and Lucky Islands, new maps, and updated loot. We've also made internal changes, such as updating moderation systems and server support for new Minecraft versions.
The Future
In the near future, we’re releasing an SG update, the winter event, and an update to Battle Arena. We’re also working to improve our internal processes regarding getting community feedback, community interaction, and keeping the scope of updates more tight.
Conclusion
This is all meaningless without real change, so we hope you'll stay with us as we continue to implement the aforementioned changes. We have some exciting plans for the future, and look forward to hearing your feedback.
Thanks for the feedback, sorry it took so long to get a detailed response.
report: I'm in this photo and I dont like it ("sweat") (I take it seriously if I want too)
I agree with all you said except the meme saying cubecraft making the game actually require skill, I'm not expert too but saying "now it require skill" while making farm so easy (gold too op and low cost while it's a starter gen) and rush so complicated (where 21 iron block?? 1 iron pick??) it's totally not understanding what sweat complained about (and other problem like kb, fight duration...).
this meme is like saying sweat are not sweat anymore after update and have no skill, like their not sweat for a reason
unexpectedly accurate memes:
BUT SERIOUSLY NOW:
why allowing back banned people and removing afk kick nearly after update???
(when people said number of people will decrase/ I switch Hive/ I quit till its fixed)
Horray?
END UPDATE SKYBLOCK
we have been waiting for years, and cubecraft needs to put down eggwars, and flippin update skyblock. You may be thinking Skyblock Sucks, if you are ur wrong, and you just havent played it. Skyblock has been waiting for a big update for years...
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