Trove launched July 9, two months on we take a look back on the changes since then, look at some numbers, and check in with the Trovesaurus staff and the Trove team.

Changes

Since launch we had a constant stream of patches, listing the notable ones below.


 

Numbers

Trove had several difficulties at launch, this would have impacted peoples opinion of the game early on.

People were facing massive queues to get into the game and unscheduled downtime was needed because of the infrastructure upgrades required, and the weekly patch schedule ended up with extended regular downtime.

Taking a look at Trove numbers makes for a visually impactful demonstration, but it should be noted this was most likely expected, a surge in players at launch and steadily decreasing. Peaking during large content updates.

Trovesaurus

Trovesaurus has been running since February 2015, and so our website stats show a good approximation of the player numbers over a longer period of time.

Trovesaurus Daily Users:

  • pre-launch: 2,000
  • launch week, 21,000
  • launch +1 month, 10,000
  • launch +2 months, 6,000

When Trove launched on steam we saw our users spike tenfold, it has been decreasing ever since but is still currently 3x the pre-launch levels.

Steam

Steam stats are a little wider, although it should be noted that a lot of people play through Glyph independantly and not through Steam, so these numbers wont be representative of them.

Steam daily peaks:

  • Launch: 59,000
  • Launch +1 Month: 30,000
  • Launch +2 Months: 20,000 

 

Perspectives

The 2 month anniversary of launch is exciting for us. It marks the week before our first major update since launch and the culmination of a great deal of work.

We definitely saw a few hype-related snags at the start and have since optimized the game heavily.

It can be tempting to look at steam numbers and tell a story, but for a launched and live game this type of evolution is natural. We’ll see spikes when we launch major bouts of content and lulls between.

It’s nearly time for a new producer’s letter so I’ll leave the details to that, but our goal with the new year is to elevate Trove in every notable way beyond its current state.

The evolution of Shadow Arenas to the Shadow Tower is the first step on this path and I actually think it’s going to surprise a lot of people with exactly how amazing these new boss fights are and how different it is than anything they’ve faced. In addition, the update after this one promises to be even more game-changing and I can’t wait to start talking about it.

If you’re a Trove fan this year you’re in for a great time.

Avarem

Lead Developer

 

Etaew

Trovesaurus Admin

I personally didn't log in over the launch period except for off-peak hours because of the queues.

Before challenges I found myself lacking motivation to play, even with Mastery Rating to gain and XP / Gear levels to obtain on all of my classes. The gameplay I found had become very repetative, and I wasn't enjoying it. Log in, rush through some dungeons and lairs, deconstruct some gear, maybe perform an upgrade, log out.

Challenges came and that was interesting for the first few days, the rates on the souls were incredibly low. Now that the daily challenge reward has been introduced I find myself logging in regularly again to complete this.

  

Playing Trove has been a love/hate relationship for me during the last couple of months. After getting a Costume accepted in game I was very motivated to continue playing.

Then challenges killed it for me, for over a month I couldn't do anything more then log in for 20 seconds to open Chaos Chests.

After making progress at overcoming this, the Club world bug happened and I almost quit the game. It took many messages from devs related to the subject to get me to lighten up. I have managed to start building again, but it is a lot harder to focus now on the game with challenges.

I feel overall that the game is heading in a positive direction, I just worry that the priority I have for myself which to build my club world is not the end game the devs see the game as having.

Dusty_Mustard

Trovesaurus Mods

 

TeeKayM

Trovesaurus Staff Helper (Mods and Items)

 

Been playing Trove for a long time (before beta I think) and I saw (and still see) potential in this game, which is why I stuck with it for this long.

I enjoy the game a lot. I feel like it's one of the only games where you can just login and chat and play without stress (Except challenges, but now they're being changed so I'm ok).

I enjoy modding and making items here and there, posting them and interacting with other people on the community and my Youtube channel. Mod making is probably one of the few things which still keeps me playing. It's amazing what some people in this community can come up with. It's always impressive to see a mount being turned into a completely different thing to what it was originally.

There are also some problems (likewise in any other game) but those usually get fixed soon and the developers actually listen to us which is awesome. In one way or another, the players somewhat helped build the game to what it is now.

I just hope Trove will always stay like this, and I look forward to future updates.

 

 

Like with many games, my time spent in Trove ebbs and flows depending both on what’s going on in game and what’s going on in life. Admittedly, I don’t log the long play times I did in the early game, but the Chaos factor keeps me logging in daily (and now the Dragon soul daily - star bar hasn’t done much since I have a glut of Cubits and nothing to spend them on). Once or twice a week I still put in a good session, though.

The one thing that keeps me coming back (and really got me in the first place) is the item creation side of the game. I think as long as that part is kept active, I will have some reason to be around since I enjoy the very unique outlet this game provides in that regard.

In the end, I think Trove needs to decide if it wants to be “a” game your play or “the” game you play. My initial pull to the game was its casual nature - you’d grind stuff out on your own time. It appears to be moving more in the direction of most MMOs with having dailies that keep you logging in at set times and more hardcore content like challenges and especially the Shadow Tower update. Not that I think this direction is bad, but the competition in this area is certainly a lot stiffer with so many games out there trying to be “the” game you play.

Qoaleth

Trove Creations Digest

 

 

Jeanolos

Trove Toobox

Although I have school, I try to complete challenges atleast once a day to get that dragon through. Before the challenges I used to go into shadow arenas and farm resources. I still play the same time as I started to play it. I guess with the upcoming changes to challenges and the shadow tower, I'll be playing much more.

 


Your Thoughts

What do you think of the current state of the game? How was your experience at launch time compared to recently?

Let us know in the comments below.

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