The Duskwood/Moonvale Corner

Hello detectives, welcome to my dusty corner!

[duskwoodraven]

I think the thing I find most interesting about Moonvale is that there isn’t a single perpetrator. As in one individual. In Duskwood the task was to determine who is the sole person responsible in the group that originally contacted us. For Moonvale things are not so simple. We have a missing person who wasn’t specifically taken but who seems to have willingly left on his own accord.

The mystery feels like a large group project that runs 15 years and more into the past.

[duskwoodraven]

[liwciagti]

Imagine doing this with Jake

[duskwoodraven]

What Jake wishes he could do with his free time.

[duskwoodraven]

Finally more information from Everbyte.

They have given a link to a Moonvale tracker for the next episode and have added a list of further developments.

Some of the things they mention adding that caught my eye are,

Adding new player profile pictures. Perhaps giving us a choice to not use Ai as a picture? Though it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s just more Ai but with non humans.

The adding of character profiles which is a positive, It will help with their gameplay and give us a chance to look back on new evidence like links and video calls, plus help us bond with characters.

Adding Character and player stories? I’m not sure what this could be, perhaps more side storylines, but I’m worried they’re just going to include an Ai chat bot like they mentioned in their feedback response.

New ways to obtain currency and balancing touches to recently introduced Systems, Currencies and Rewards… If I am to stay optimistic, I hope this could mean a potential one time payment for full access is in our future. But then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if they simply include more mini games or something similar to grind for more gems. At least they seem to be willing to change their gem to content ratio.

The rest is essentially adjustments to their game and how it runs.

I want to give them a chance, and will be checking out Moonvale once these new changes are made, but I also know my hopes shouldn’t get too high either. I learned my lesson 💚

[duskwoodraven]

Do you think that MC canonically plays candy crush whenever they are bored and have no body to talk to?

Like at first it was just for hacking the cloud but now they have a debilitating addiction to color matching. An absolute obsession I’d say.

[duskwoodraven]

let’s ignore all the technical problems right not .

what do you think about the storyline???

say everbyte fixes everything w have. a problem with, would you keep playing? is the storyline interesting enough to keep you hooked through it all like duskwood was?

Slight Moonvale Spoilers?

Oh 100% I would keep playing 😄

I am really intrigued with Adam and why he disappeared, the moment he started to cry was the moment I wanted to help him. I want to know why he knows us and why he wished to meet with us. I think Eric is fun too, and I think both of their actors are solid choices. The video calls have been my favorite parts so far.

I don’t have much opinion on Ash and Violet at the moment, but there are still many more episodes to go to let them develop and grow. I also think Charlie is annoying but that’s perfectly okay! You always need a character to hate that’s what makes it fun.

And of course I want to talk with all of our duskwood characters again, I want to continue their story and make sure Jake is okay, and finally meet Hannah.

I have little issues with the story, at least not any issues I cant overlook, any issues I do have with it I’m willing to let change as more episodes come out. After all, even the beginning episodes of Duskwood seemed less exciting to me compared to the later ones. I see the promise!

[duskwoodraven]

🛑‼️‼️SPOILERS‼️‼️🛑

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

So I'm pretty sure I'm far far faaarrr from the only one disappointed with Moonvales whole thing, but it genuinely makes me want to cry like. Duskwood was my cornerstone for a time and for Everbyte to just go off and be EXACTLY like all these other cash-grab, pay-to-win companies is so upsetting. This felt like some Duskwood-Romance Club mixed BS. The AI art, the absurd prices, AND I REALLY FEEL LIKE PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THE EARNING GEMS MEANS YOU STILL HAVE TO SPEND MONEY, CAUSE WHEN YOU DOWNLOAD THOSE GAMES WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO EARN THE REWARD IS BASICALLY "BUY THIS PACK" AND IT SAYS THAT ON AT LEAST 4 OF THEM. The ending about Jake was sweet and all, but it felt so short and as a result kinda empty like he really is the biggest thing keeping their audience from completely giving up on the company,, so they need to treat our shared husband better😭

Anyway I love your content and I hope you had a good day💜🖤❤

Absolutely.

If Everbyte truly had the gems system set up so you have the option to never pay a cent they wouldn’t make the need for gems so high and the gem reward amount so low. They say they made gems as a way to have the option to play for free but they know that they just made it difficult for people to play at all without feeling pressured to buy something in order to enjoy it.

I also fear like the use of Jake is or could become a tool to try and not have people leave. I love Jake and enjoy his conversations but I don’t think anything regarding him could make me stay with Moonvale in the state it’s in right now. It’s all too much.

[duskwood-disco-deactivated20260]

No bc the way the devs of other games are using this situation to shade everbyte is so funny to me.

[duskwoodraven]

Easier to punch them while they are down right? 😒

[mysticpetals]

Couldn’t even complete the first episode because of my brain shutting down with everything going on and then the statement.

We’ll see if the changes they say they will include actually happen or if it was just to please the players (which none of them are btw)

[duskwoodraven]

I couldn’t complete it either… it feels like I’m on pause, just waiting for something.

[mirajane01040]

Me exaggerating my reaction so I can fit in with the rest of the gang :

[duskwoodraven]

Pfft so true!

[bookglutten]

My native language is not English, that's why I feel that I didn't understand properly.

They just gave our requests a very big "NO"?

[duskwoodraven]

More of a “we think we know what you want”.

Time will tell if they will actually listen to us, if enough people hold their ground we might see a change before their episode 2 comes out.

[hacked-by-jake]

I posted my first Duskwood post on July 11, 2020.

I discovered Duskwood shortly after episode 2 was released.

Since then I'm here.

I got three Duskwood tattoos. (To be fair, one got a cover up but it wasn't anything huge so) But I still have two.

On July 18, 2022, I travelled 10 hours to visit Villingen-Schwenningen. The city where Duskwood takes place. I saw the fountain and the library. I saw the Gate Of Hope and the Rainbow Café. And I even saw the Grimrock Waterfall. Because it was my dream to see it.

And now, here we are. In front of this heap of shards.

Money making, using AI, deleting critical comments, probably buying fake follower etc etc.

I don’t want to act like I'm the biggest victim of this situation. I don't want to make it about me. And I also know that Everbyte won't see this.

And as I said... I still have hopes. Strong hopes. And I don't want to believe that this situation can't be solved. But I'm still sitting here and asking myself "What if they won't see their mistakes? What if they won't change? What if they really don't care about us"

Right now I'm holding onto the hopes. But if it turns out that Everbyte is the complete opposite of what we believed through Duskwood...

This all is going to feel like the biggest joke. ^^

[duskwoodraven]

I don’t think it’s wrong to feel personally attacked by this, many of us have been here for years. Many found a game, really liked it, and spent much of our time talking, and creating really cool interesting things about it.

So many beautiful fanfictions, fan trailers, art, and funny memes and thoughts shared.

Of course this would hurt.

I also want to keep hope, and I do believe Everbyte essentially wants happy fans, but they seem extremely out of touch on how to do that at this moment…

[duskwoodraven]

Everbyte has left a response to the negative feedback.

Here is the link for those who wish to read it.

In the short of it though, their sentiment is that they are completely justified in their decisions. They believe that we should just grind for gems and replay the episode over and over again to eventually get a “free” episode.

Paying with our time isn’t free and we should have a choice between the two, also the episodes lose their excitement the more times you replay them, not everyone wants to play the same thing over and over again because they feel pressured to do so. Not even me.

They also believe AI is the “future” and are apparently blind to how it’s effecting people in today’s society. They also think it’s fun and cool to eventually have generated AI images and chats like C. Ai…

There is more but… *sigh*

This is scummy behavior.

Unbelievable.

[duskwoodraven]

I feel moved to speak, sooner rather than later because I believe time is of the essence and this needs to be understood in order to keep Moonvale from crumbling to the ground completely.

This is not completely spoiler heavy, but it will discuss the game. I should note that unfortunately I have not finished the episode because I am struggling with the mini games in making progress. So I do not know how the episode ends, but I need to say this in order for me to rest.

I am very angry and disappointed with this game, and even more than that, I hold a great deal of second hand embarrassment for Everbyte.

One of the greatest reasons I respected these developers during Duskwood is that the game never felt like a cash grab like so many games do these days. The option to make a one time payment for complete access to Duskwood was fantastic, an option they should have carried to here and that is the biggest grievance I have.

There is no reason a game should cost hundreds of dollars to experience and enjoy. There is no reason for the prices of gems to be as expensive as they are. This is unacceptable Everbyte, and you should feel ashamed of it, you should know better.

The beauty of Duskwood and what set it apart was its feel of realism and the fact that every question had a reasonable answer. Your use of AI art has cheapened the look of your game, not enhanced it, not to mention it’s insulting to use generated art when there are many artists who are already losing jobs to AI, artists who would have been happy to work with you if given the chance. If the cost of commission is too high, then use of stock photos you had before was just fine, and I believe you should have kept it, I can’t look at Ash and Charlie’s profiles without it striking me as goofy.

Furthermore, the story does not make sense, we were able to read chats because Jake made it possible for us, now it just feels like the return of a gimmick with no explanation, the same with the mini games, in the past we did mini games to “hack” into Hannah’s cloud, now we do it “just because”. It’s lost its feeling of meaning, not to mention most private chats are behind the gem paywall, which we never had to deal with before!

The characters seem more plain to me, or maybe they are loveable but I’ll never know because again, paywall. I can’t read the premium options and get to know them deeper because of it. There are also no profiles like before, which is awful because we can’t look back on past video calls and links and we can’t see what these characters are all about, their personality is gone.

Even MC’s answer options seem blander, more vanilla, repetitive or one directional.

I say this truthfully from my soul, if this was the style of of game you dropped but for Duskwood instead, I never would have played it.

I would have never fallen in love with it.

I would have never made this blog and would never have waited years for every episode and a new game.

I would have never made art and countless theories.

I would have deleted the game immediately.

So I’m asking you, begging you, please change this for our sakes, and especially for yours.

Because despite all my gripes and anger, and everything I’ve said, I know you guys have actually worked hard on this game because the evidence is there, hidden beneath it all.

I love the actual real life people you have for Adam and Eric, I was so moved to help Adam when he started to cry. I want to know why he knows us and wants our help. I laughed when Eric told us he had tripped, and I do want to get to know him. I even wished to lovingly twist Charlie’s neck! That is the game I remember loving, its writing and characters, I can see the potential here.

But you need to change something, otherwise I cannot support this game, I cannot force myself to play it. I will drop Moonvale.

Give the players a one time payment option for 100% complete access to the game, access to all premium options. That’s the least I feel anyone could ask of you and is biggest reason you are getting this backlash.

To my fellow players, if you agree with any of what I said then I ask you not to pay for anything until Everbyte changes to make their game more affordable. Don’t be quiet and please voice your opinions everywhere they can see it. That’s the only way something could change.

I am so sorry this is what we got… you all deserve better.

[duskwoodraven]

Alright, I’m saying this now.

I haven’t moved very far in the game and already I am disappointed with this new paywall system Everbyte has set up for Moonvale. By what I can tell there is no way to make one purchase to get full access content for the game like Duskwood has. The amount of money they charge for the amount of gems is not enough either, you would be paying a fortune to get all the options in the game or playing for days to collect gems daily.

Not to mention the use of AI “art” feels a bit crummy.

I’m not liking the look of this… it worries me.

[duskwoodraven]

I’m going to try and finish it before giving my full thoughts, I will not be making any money payments to them for this which means I’ll miss probably important dialogue and other things.

This is going to be rough.

[duskwoodraven]

Alright, I’m saying this now.

I haven’t moved very far in the game and already I am disappointed with this new paywall system Everbyte has set up for Moonvale. By what I can tell there is no way to make one purchase to get full access content for the game like Duskwood has. The amount of money they charge for the amount of gems is not enough either, you would be paying a fortune to get all the options in the game or playing for days to collect gems daily.

Not to mention the use of AI “art” feels a bit crummy.

I’m not liking the look of this… it worries me.

[duskwoodraven]

OH ITS HERE!

Okay okay deep breath…

Bye you guys, see you again once I complete it 💚 good luck!