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The Hycycle (Problem & Solution)

AgentB8

Hytale Corps
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HELLO
There!

So it seems the void is receiving some activity without a blog post after all! Of course, it's not quite exactly what I expected. In the last post that I put up on this site, Theorizing Farming 2, I gave a brief interpretation of a term that I created. If you want a reference, just click on the link. So now that you've done that, I'm still going to copy it below, since I don't really want to expect that from you:
(Please, don't feel like you have to read this, it's just so you know what I'm talking about)

"The Hycycle. This is the recurring pattern in the Hytale community. A blog is released, people get hyped, posts are made, conversations begin. Then, in about 3 days: nothing. Everything is caught in an inescapable suspension. Motivation seeps away from all of us, never to be seen again. Not until another blog post. Then, the cycle continues, and we're back where we started. As soon as the November post was released, I got to work on a post on farming. Then I stopped. I thought about picking back up, but I didn't. I tried after the December post, but... no. Then came around the January post a couple of weeks ago. I was swept into the current and opened up the thread poster, and my draft didn't save (I mean, obviously). So I started from scratch... and then stopped. Only now, have I painfully forced myself to crawl out of that molasses and try to get this message acr- Oh, great, the draft didn't save... So, I've presented a problem. Will I attempt a solution? no. (That's not what I'm here for right now)"

Alright! So. This is an interesting topic. I mean, I don't think it's nothing anybody hasn't realized, but at least nobody has done an over-intensive analysis of it yet! Also, now I made a term, and I get to trademark it because that's how it works!

So, the Hycycle™ is basically just my observation of how the Hype surrounding Hytale works within the community today.
So here we go!

Phase 1:

Hytale releases a blog post (which is about monthly nowadays). Outlets like this site and others immediately make a notice. Some people see the notification or are monitoring the Hytale site themselves, and decide to give it a read. Usually, nothing groundbreaking or even discussion-worthy is given (though it could be if we made it so...), but even still, it accomplishes something quite different. People don't necessarily have the incentive to talk about anything after reading the blog, but they do experience something. A spark forms in their heart, a glimmer of hype surfaces. They remember sites like this and decide to just take a look back, and that causes them to sometimes just start up something totally random. The blog just inspires us to come back here, and we go from there.


Phase 2:

After a day or two, an unspoken change occurs. Everyone just stops. Why? It's because of how the human brain works. (Disclaimer, I am not a Psychologist) Our brain releases endorphins when we encounter something entertaining. For us Hystale enthusiasts, that's thoughts about Hytale. We want to think about Hytale because our brain loves it! However, while our brain is an entertainment hog, it also just begs for essence. It needs enough actual "stuff" to keep releasing those endorphins. When we think about Hytale, we can only think about what we, ourselves, come up with at that time. So, by that logic, if people just talked more, we would have a buzzing community, because the essence would be there. But there's a problem with this hypothesis, and that's a separate topic:
motivation.

Sure, we might be happy when we actually get to the thinking part, but the issue is, we never get there! And that's because of the lack of motivation, which Hytale seems to do a spectacular job at! Speaking from personal experience, I often find myself wanting to hop on here and come up with some deep analysis (which I do have fun doing, by the way), but something stops me. It's an invisible wall that seems to never go away... Sometimes, I even go as far as starting to type, but then I can't finish. This process is a leech that sucks our motivation out of our souls. But again, why?
It's because of one simple reason.

There's NO point!

By now, we all know, nobody's going to see what you post! Sure, maybe the occasional guy, but whatever you put online will get absolutely no attention. What starts most conversations about a game that hasn't yet been released? Questions! But nobody is ever there to answer any questions and get any discussion started whatsoever! That's the problem! People may get inspiration to post something, but then they realize it's just a waste of time! The only reason I'm posting anything is because I'm weird and get enjoyment out of it! But even I see that a max of 3 people have ever read anything I've posted in the past 4 months! And this is in no way the fault of this website. In fact, I really feel sorry for Pearson and all the devs and mods. It's not them, it's the Hytale team themselves. It isn't exactly what they're doing right now that's the problem, though...


Phase 3 (kinda):

This isn't exactly a phase, it's more of a specific event that threw everything off. It was Hytale's Six Month Silence (SMS). Hytale had been slowing down before then, limiting blogs from biweekly, to weekly, then to monthly. Then, around May, they unexpectantly broke off from their community and didn't speak again for three months (half of the SMS). They responded with an apology in the form of a bundle of blogs. Then, after releasing one more blog post, they dropped off for another three months (the other half) until the big somewhat recent blog posts. The thing is, they thought that giving the number of blogs they were supposed to cover in that absence makes up for it, but it doesn't! Due, completely, to the problem with motivation, the thing that keeps communities active and alive is a somewhat constant flow of new information to discuss. By leaving a large gap, the motivation collapses, and the system falls apart. Even more, just giving a heap of info at once still results in a 3-day long period of attention nonetheless, since it's still all at once, and people can only talk about the same things for so long, and they still leave a month in between.
That is the problem. Yes, all of this stems from the fact that they collapsed the hype into disrepair long ago. But the problem is something that's been there almost all along. They just don't give enough fast enough. I saw the journey of this website over an entire year. There was so much activity when it was first born, but it all started to slow when the blog posts started to slow. The blogs are the fuel for this site and the community. So, when the blogs dropped off, everything died.
I understand that the Hytale team is trying their best, and can't be perfect, but maybe the problem can easily be fixed, not exactly by doing extra, but by transforming something else...

Conclusion

So this is where we stand. I've just gone on a three-paragraph rant about my observation of this lousy situation we're in, and you just listened (or maybe you skipped to the end, but regardless,) The way I see it, there is only one way that this can be fixed: The Hytale team goes transparent. Maybe not to that extent, but at least giving info at a less structured and quicker pace. They pay a guy to write some kind of prepared, and edited article. We don't need that! All we need is a constant flow of information. If they had a real and true blog, it would be more of an info post and less of a professional showcase. So here's the true, and only solution. Get rid of the stem of all problems. That's right:

The only thing they have to do is get rid of the blog posts

Or at least whatever they're putting out there that they call a "blog post". In fact, what they put together each month is very similar in my eyes to what I'm doing right now, and I think that's wrong. This post I'm making has taken me a very long time. That's because I had to plan, I had to type it all out, and then I had to review it. They have a full job for making the blog posts, but they put out one a month. They aren't lazy, not at all. It's just the way they do their blog, which is far too structured and time-consuming. The only thing they have to do it throw this out the window (or keep it up and hire a new guy) and start up a real blog, wich releases whenever they want, with whatever they want, but still multiple times a week! And with a comment section, because they need an option for direct feedback!

That is what I think will demolish the Hycycle

So, if you actually read all that, first of all, you have my respect, and most importantly, please tell me what you think. As important as it is that the team does what they need to do, it's truly up to us, the community, to revive what was once a beacon of hope.

Thank you for your time,
AgentB8
 

Demon

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This is actually pretty interesting. Never thought about this myself. Very good post!
 
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