When do you think GZ was at its best? (More stuff was done during these updates I just put the basic points, call me out if I missed something important.)
When was GZ at its best?
Launch
May 2019 - Photo mode update
June 2019 - Bike update
August 2019 - Plundra update
September 2019 - Challenges update
October 2019 - Rivals and Exp weapons
November 2019 - Alpine Unrest and apoc machines
December 2019 - Holiday event
January 2020 - exp weapons balancing
February 2020 - semla event
March 2020 - crafting, inventory UI, difficulty options, archipelago revamp
April 2020 - Machines Really OP
June 2020 - FNIX Rising, South coast and Souther farmlands revamp, apoc harv, machine balancing
November 2020 update - PS4 FNIX rising and Reaper
December update 2020 - US weapons
February 2021 - Player account system, daily missions
May update 2021(Present) - Base building, soviet weapons, exp ammo
Great poll. I had to think about this before I voted. For me I felt that everything got a bit better as time went on, so I leaning to the present. I wasn’t there at launch and from what I read, it was not better than now.
Personally, I really enjoyed the April update that broke the machine AI and made them hyper aggressive, but I couldn’t realistically pick it because it totally unbalanced the game for new solo players.
My father gave up playing at that point because he found it too unforgiving, so if he did then I know others would have too.
The prior update, was the most stable the game has been in its entire history for me, the small archipelago revamp made sense as it made the onboarding of new players a smoother experience.
March '20 was the last time I felt that the devs had a plan that and that they weren’t just making it up as they went along.
For context I started playing in July the same year it came out. If not judged by the technical state and only content-wise, then it’s Alpine Unrest. For me that is peak Generation Zero because Himfjäll had that dark and grounded tone that I really love. At the time the APOC class machine were a good step up in mechanics and strategy, I really felt like I had to things differently. While the missions by normal standards were pretty okay, compared to the base game it was so much better. Things happened in missions, you saw and affect them. The dialogue was cheesy/ predictable with not much characterization aside from Bennys soda and I have never cringed as hard as when they decided on the resistance name. But for what it was, it was a good step in the right direction.
Himfjäll will forever be my favorite region because it balances map size and visual story density the best. It felt planned compared to the initlall barebones regions that get “visual storytelling” added tacked on later. It’s not always meh or bad, but boarding up buildings and having everything be on fire is messing with the base story a lot for new players. While Himfjäll does have some of that, it’s balanced enough that you wont notice it. Besides FOA4 before the reaper was released, is and still peak GZ lonely horror.
It’s a shame that the game hasn’t been able to keep that level of quality and focus Alpine Unrest had. Now things feel unplanned, the story is a mess and lacks cohesion, content feels the same but with different coat of paint and to keep the RNG grinding on. Weapons packs and base building are so disconnected from the story and lore, why even try anymore. To me it doesn’t give me enough reason nor enjoyment anymore to launch the game.
Obi has a point though. Or at least I agree with them. Crating wich was introduced during March 2020 was just slight stat boost, that often then not didn’t feel like it changed gameplay in a signifcant way. It was more of the same grinding machines for random drops and finding the recipes at random. From a quality of life point of view the menus and way you craft is tedious. Having to craft the previous crown tier of an item sevreal times is just wasting time. Why not just let us craft the respiective version withouth having to spend more time getting the worse one.
Edit: since then it’s only really been much of the same. Things get added with the premise of fixing it later.
The fact is, that in April '20 the devs put out a survey asking people what they wanted to see in the game. Further cementing the feeling that the devs didn’t have a specific plan for GZs evolution.
I fear that by involving the community in GZs evolution we’ve seen people request things that that they’re familiar with, or features they like from other titles.
By extension, this results in new content imitating the features of other titles rather than anything truly original being created. Each addition makes GZ a little less unique, diluting the original formula a little.
But like everything else, it’s entirely subjective, you either like the new flavour, adjust to it, or you miss the old taste.
I think it’s even far before that. That’s at least the feeling I get from their site. Sure on paper it sounds great, if it were an early access game. WIch are usually in alpha states or somewhat beta.
“With Generation Zero we want to do more than just release new content, we want to work in collaboration with you, our players - get feedback, improvement asks, and ‘wish lists’ - as this will help us create content that you want. On top of that you can expect balancing, patches, and fixes to happen continuously.”
Yes, a little. But being retired he tended to play when I was at work. He gave up for the longest time but started playing again after nearly a year off.
Truth is, he plays GZ with my son more than me. With the lockdown in the UK, and then my father having major surgery, we hadn’t been able to visit him. So my 8yo son regularly played GZ in co-op on the Xbox with his Grandad with voice chat. More interesting than a Zoom call or FaceTime that’s for sure.
I almost know for certain that the devs do have a plan, a storyboard, a layout of how they want the game to go. Within that plan they also listen to what the players say via the survey (I sent that in too).
I think the most enjoyable time in my experiences with both the game and in the forums was right after Photo Mode was released. Back then a lot of people were still new to the game and hadn’t put an unholy amount of hours into it; things were fresh and exciting as ever. Photo mode not only added something unexpected, but something beautiful into the community. This feature helped everyone show, and share, how artistically talented Avalanche Studios is as a development team. One of the top things for me about this game has always been how gorgeous it is. I recently played through the entire game again after deleting my original saves from early 2019, and the game never fails to please my eyeballs to say the least that was one of the most enjoyable times for me both as a player and Moderator. Unfortunately it now seems to be a thing of the past since the release of rivals, reapers, experimental weapons, etc. Having a peaceful side of the game that was shared across the community was a great time.
If you want to explore the beautiful side of the game, do a search of ‘photo mode’ in the forums and look through some of the threads. You won’t be disappointed! Here is a thread with a lot great images from one of our Moderators, Zesiir.
Bugs aside, and by features alone, i prefer the Launch day GZ the most.
May '19 did brought us Photo Mode and i like it. However, it also brought us features with what i don’t agree with, e.g:
Every item that is outside of the loot container - is one-time pick-up only.
This isn’t much of an issue when you play with only your 1st char. But playing with several chars, that’s an issue, since you have less loot to go around, the more chars you have (since you’ve picked them up with your previous chars).
Ticks randomly spawn inside the house.
The worst is when you’re in e.g kitchen and game decides to spawn a tick just behind you, which then jumps you, jumpscaring you, and if you’re at low HP, also killing you.
Explosive “tweaks”.
Essentially, all explosive weaponry was nerfed. Making little, if any reason to use them anymore.
Loot container cooldown of 4 gameplay hours.
Not much of an issue when playing with single char and constantly moving into new area. But more of an issue if you play with several chars + it made revisiting previous areas pointless, especially in early game.
And while i do love Alpine Unrest and April '20 difficulty, but since i was able to pick only one option, i picked the best one to me.
I’ll to explain better what I meant. When I say I like the game, then that is my personal truth. But when I say the game is good, then this is an opinion, but not perse a truth for all.
Then there are people who will say the game stinks, which is also an opinion. Would they have said I think the game stinks then this is again a personal truth.
So there are a multitude of opinions, which can’t be all factual truths because they contradict each other.
Then there are assumptions e.g. about what the plans of the devs are, or that they add things with the premise of fixing it later, like you said. These are no truths without proof. If you don’t know for certain, you should have added that you are not certain, but merely think it to be true.
For me the game is at it’s best rn and will prob always be at it’s best when they release something new. And I will have that opinion prob forever. (except if they add something stupid that will ruin the game, like battle royale or some shite lol)
Gonna agree with Lucid here. I love doing new stuff in GZ and it will always probably stay like that.
There are things that I would prefer if changed and improved, but I still enjoy the game.
Yeah, I can see that gaming with granddad is far more fun than a casual facetime chat. 
that was one of the most enjoyable times for me both as a player and Moderator. Unfortunately it now seems to be a thing of the past since the release of rivals, reapers, experimental weapons, etc. Having a peaceful side of the game that was shared across the community was a great time.