What Went Wrong? - Cube World... Omega? (Update)

[@Daemon06]

THE feature I liked the most of Cube world Alpha (don't know if it was in beta or not), is the forging where you could put little cubes on your weapons to upgrade them and change the design, that was SO FREAKING COOOOOOOOOL

[@SugeryGold]

That, the skill progression and the pet taming are the shining highlights of cube world for me

[@user-mu5sl4vh7m]

Right! That was such a cool idea and fun. Did he remove that too?

[@Daemon06]

@@user-mu5sl4vh7m As I said, I don't know, I never tried the beta version, but I never heard about that being in the game so I guess it was removed

[@ThePC007]

I never had enough of those little cubes to make anything that didn’t look like a weapon with random cubes tucked on to it. :(

[@MachinaOwl]

That feature alone made me want to play the game tbh lol. It was like Minecraft but you could actually MAKE your weapons.

[@rasko125]

Holy balls, you're alive.

[@DarenKajiWolf]

:0

[@some-replies]

Second channel

[@isucckayloodicc]

hiu

[@FatherJosephofMomma]

hes been uploading on the second channel

[@XoADREADNOUGHT]

He's mostly focused on the other channel @wicked_wizard

[@WickedWiz]

Oh no, I forgot my keys at the shop. Brb

[@JustCascade]

Not again D:

[@WalkerRileyMC]

Dad went to go get scratchers.......

[@kirbysbestfan]

Pick up some lotta tickets for the kids please.

[@HonkeyKongLive]

NO WAIT

[@hiruharii]

dads going for milk again…

[@ahcangela8549]

"We're remaking it on a new engine" is one of those things that feels like it's part of almost every game dev catastrophe story, so I wouldn't get my hopes up tbh

[@LoFiAxolotl]

People i think overestimate what an engine really is... changing a game from Unity to Unreal/Godot is done in a matter of days...

[@czernodog8403]

​@LoFiAxolotl incorrect

[@flameofphoenix5998]

@@LoFiAxolotl Depending on what you're switching to and from and how you wrote your game logic it can very much end being a complete rewrite of the codebase.

[@lulu111_the_cool]

​@@LoFiAxolotlTrue if you uad before not a game

[@LoFiAxolotl]

not really... especially the logic would translate very well as you don't have to change a thing... your engine has absolutely nothing to do with the logic... unless you use the script language of the engine you used which at a size of cube world would be near impossible and also stupid as it's much easier and quicker done in code... and all modern engines can handle c/c++/c# so unless you need more than a few days to copy&paste your code... everything other than the code would take a while since different engines handle that quite differently@@flameofphoenix5998

[@Sillimant_]

>we're remaking in a new engine uh oh, heard that one before

[@ian2057]

system shock remake comes to mind, at least that actually released

[@f4ngdragon183]

Cube Over World Watch 2: Twice the Alpha (Now Omega). Skill Trees are seasonal and tied to a battle pass, it's a new game so you have to buy it again, and the old one is not sold anymore. Also, there was an update to the first Cube World that puts DRM explicitly made so you cannot play it, gotta switch to the newer version. There's promised features that will be cancelled months after release because the ambition was too big and the team cannot deliver the Wollay-quality content they promised.

[@adrianhorn4962]

@TempCrap-nn4cm actually it's made with DirectX

[@pooman4592]

hytale haha

[@moemuxhagi]

At least Hytale shows movement under the surface. This... this is just a slow-ass rot

[@ups-gaming-official]

He remembered the password guys 🎉

[@CHILLERNICKELLS]

hacked my pc scum@KyleMonterroso

[@freshlymemed5680]

He's gonna forget again.

[@TheModdedwarfare3]

​@@freshlymemed5680bro forgor lmao 💀

[@manboy4720]

funny thing is, it was actually just password123! how interesting.

[@hisen3.146]

@@manboy4720 Damn, I tried password12 and it didn't work... There go my plans for changing Wiz's channel to an archive of rabbit photos.

[@josephmassaro]

I don't think the question is a matter of him finishing the game. The question is whether any of the people waiting will live to see it finished.

[@datmanydocris]

And whether or not he will actually deliver what he promised or if it will be a half-baked, unenjoyable mess.

[@Khunkurisu]

The question is whether the dev deserves the attention at all regardless of if he fulfills his promises. It's the same question people SHOULD be asking (and many have done to be fair) about CyberPunk 2077 and No Man's Sky. At what point do we draw the line of a game that's maybe good in the future but bad now being a shit game? And if the game DOES become good later, does it deserve praise? When does the future quality of a product outweigh the past? I don't know the answer to this for the record, but I think it's a far more important discussion in the current climate of games than "will Wollay continue to ignore his fans?" could ever be, while still being exceptionally relevant to this game and its... community.

[@minoxs]

@@Khunkurisu The thing is, Cube World Alpha was fairly feature complete for what it was and for a solo dev in an indie game totally understandable. Then SIX years of development later, and the game still has the same amount of content, but much much worse mechanics. It's like it was undeveloped during that time. It's the complete opposite for Cube World. Cyberpunk and NMS promised the world and delivered nothing (at launch). Cube World came from nothing and had everything required for a game release (just like Minecraft before it).

[@datmanydocris]

@@minoxs That's the exact same thing I pointed out to some lunatic in another comment who was saying the fact that Gotham Knights didn't get this much hate means people are doing this just because they enjoy bullying Wollay. Gothman Knights, No Man's Sky, CP2077, Starfield, none of these are comparable to Cube World because they started out shit, they were in a garbage state from the very first moment we were able to play them and then, at least in the case of NMS and CP2077, the devs _eventually_ made them better. Cube World is _the exact opposite situation,_ it started out as a good, functional, _enjoyable_ product and then Wollay disappeared for years, turned it into an unenjoyable mess and then released it. They aren't comparable and of course people are always going to be angrier about a game that used to be good becoming bad than about a game releasing in a garbage state.

[@DannyCapM8]

I know who your talking about lol, I replied to him while I was on my lunch break at work telling him to follow his own advice about going outside and he just completely disregarded it. @@datmanydocris

[@commbs9838]

Amazing to think think its been over a decade now since cubeworld was first announced. At least it seemingly hasn't turned into endless scope creep and (subjectively) a grift like a certain other kickstarter game that was announced around the same time.

[@jessegartung294]

Temtem?

[@commbs9838]

@@jessegartung294 Star citizen.

[@spacebassist]

i'd argue that "what is functionally and systematically a grift even if there are good intentions" is still pretty bad. there was a time when the ships were pictures, and another time where you could only walk around a hangar, then a station that tanked your fps if you looked at a water bottle, and now a solar system that's more barren and lifeless than the bootes void (it's okay now though because persistence and there's 100 people per solar system-wide server as opposed to 50. send help i want to be rid of this game please) (sarcasm) (help)

[@WobblesandBean]

​@@commbs9838 Star Citizen is proof that gamer guys are the single most exploitable demographic in the world. Is staggering to me that they keep throwing money at this game that will never be released.

[@elickson7340]

Yandere simulator lmao

[@skiba789]

"Let bro cook" literally a decade later lmao

[@NullLang]

Let bro slow cook

[@TimmyChUwU]

@@NullLang Wollay has got the crock pot out and overcooked the first meal

[@ARM0RP0WER]

no no the first meal was the alpha is was a very good meal the second meal on the other hand which was the beta he forgot about the stove being on@@TimmyChUwU

[@derekrequiem4359]

let bro slow roast

[@ARM0RP0WER]

Why did I get a notification for this comment I didn't even do a reply

[@bjcantrell1990]

The phrase "fool me once" comes to mind. Not paying a dime for this. If it's not a free update, then straight to the blacklist it goes.

[@pumkin610]

👍

[@SquaulDuNeant]

tbh it depends if the game is alpha but better and with more content and a flow of updates it deserve money tbh doesn't mean you should buy day one like a moron ofc.

[@EnraiChannel]

@@SquaulDuNeant If he really makes the alpha with all the promised stuff and then more, sure.

[@ToriTrak]

@@EnraiChannel But I still would be really hesitant to pay for anothet game of his again. First im gonna wait a few month to see if he fucks of again for several years because someone was mean to him on the internet.

[@_synt3rax_437]

@@SquaulDuNeant People paid for the Steam Release and got crap for it. Not falling for his BS again. If anything he owes everyone who bought it a Refund.

[@bootnoot8696]

If it’s an update, okay. If it’s a new release, with no explanation or apologies for the past, it’s a cash grab.

[@Reyhz]

I'll go for the piracy option if it's a new release

[@keylorv1533]

@@Reyhz I'm with you haha

[@Gloromo]

I could be wrong here but if he completely switches engines and builds most stuff from the ground up, it can‘t be pushed as an „update“ to steam right? Doesn‘t it have to be a new release?🤔

[@Reyhz]

@@Gloromo nah you can just push it as an update, as long the build is respecting the steam tos it should be OK. I've seen multiple games do a complete revamp and is not pushed as a 2nd game

[@Gloromo]

@@Reyhz Ah okay, thank you! Then it really should be an update

[@ninjaman0003]

i literally thought to myself there hasn't been a wiz video for a while and double checked your channel this past week.

[@NashTheInsomniac]

same yo!

[@buttonasas]

That would mean... you were DOS'ing wiz! /s

[@bitchpuke]

he's posting on his 2nd channel

[@flareraptor1750]

Me too lol😂

[@wedge183]

I guess that makes sense that someone else just happened to check the same week I did (given how many subs Wiz has), but it's still weird to read that a few of you guys did the exact same thing I did.

[@PotatoButRad]

I’m all for letting him cook, but I’m not gonna be a fool and pay until the food is well made

[@meansbentnose6281]

That's the best way to do it in this case really. There are creators who shut down when they let themselves get too deep into conversation with fans and they get overwhelmed with suggestions and wants. Sounds like this one of those people. The creator probably needs someone community savvy they trust to run interference and also probably doesn't have one of those people.

[@catscanhavelittleasalami]

yeah, gotta learn from your mistakes

[@heiwa3308]

Based Koishi profile pic, thumbs up

[@RIP_ZYZZ1738]

Nga that’s what you’re supposed to do. Failed trust or not

[@PotatoButRad]

@@RIP_ZYZZ1738 you’re 2 months late bruv

[@SeamanLord]

I found your channel during this break and didn’t even realize it’s been 9months since your last episode😭. Keep up the great work I love this channel

[@xAnononAx]

I remember watching a lot of Let'sPlays when I was still a kid and when I saw Gronkh play CubeWorld around 2013/14 I really wanted to try it out myself. My family has always been paranoid about internet purchases and its security back then so they never bought it. When I got older and wanted to buy it myself I saw that it was no longer available for some reason. The game was always in the back of my head and I occasionally checked a channel which was known for CubeWorld news (Quad4Nation). When it was announced that it would release on Steam I couldn't wait and bought it the same day it came out. The first 10-15 hours are fun but after that you just grinded for artifacts. It felt completely different from what I had seen back then. I didn't want to accept that and bruteforced myself to enjoy it and played for more hours. Swtiched characters, everything. Nothing felt right. I later found a crack for alpha and played that and it felt way better.

[@HandsomeGamerGuy]

Yes, fellow Gronhk Enjoyer!

[@CharaChocolateButtercup]

Gronkh!

[@Bambingobongo]

Low key I would’ve highly recommended doing some research and finding a safe Alpha dump.

[@DagothUrNeravar]

Ja man Gronkh!

[@trogg.very.strong]

3:01 It's funny to stumble upon my histerical laughter in a random Cube World video. Trogg almost broke character there, didn't expect artifacts to be so... special... Great video, Trogg very proud! Tiny human that make this video almost as good as Trogg!

[@SirUnicornOfficial]

YOU'RE FAMOOOOOOOUUUSSSS ♥♥♥

[@franciszekambrozy3000]

Trogg strong!

[@Ghost_PM11]

Bro, lower that lamp, you're blinding us!

[@Slash0mega]

Shouldn't that be "its funny to come across Troggs historic laughter?" :P

[@sheepgrass500]

Never expected an update, also welcome back!

[@23jewfan]

Me thinks the money ran dry from the Steam Release. As an Alpha player, I don’t have any faith.

[@SugeryGold]

Google showing estimated 3.4 million in revenue from the steam release. Dude seriously owes the community a free game

[@slevinchannel7589]

HxH and Cube World are 'developed in a Vacum' my biggest dream is to talk to the creators H-ck, does the unchanged 'Improved Alpha' (ya know, the one we KNOW for a fact exists thx to Twitter) still exist?

[@ilikelemons2197]

he was wealthy before he even started making the game bruh

[@23jewfan]

@ilikelemons2197 Doesn't mean he doesn't need the funds to continue living a lavish life style with the new found wealth of each release.

[@slevinchannel7589]

@@23jewfan Alpha-Players literally got stuff for Free, so no, no 'continueing lavish life style'

[@olliedeaney8740]

I remember being 11 years old talking to my mates in primary school about this game. 11/12 years later and still this thing has only gotten less and less finished

[@Pophet84]

the thing is......... people accept mental illnesses, it is indeed an illness that needs to take care of. what people dont accept however, is when you not tell them, and just leave with all the money without a word for several years. and that is where is have the most problems in this story.

[@borebos4831]

any public figure that takes money can and should take care of themselves first and foremost but not without having an obligation to keep people informed i agree. If you have the balls and fortitude to get more money off people, have the balls to say hey guys sorry i will try but it might take longer thank you for the support.

[@SarzaelX]

I think this is a mindset that a lot of people struggle to understand if they haven't experienced it themselves. I find his experience relatable in how I often struggle to get done university assignments that I should by all means be able to finish easily. Deadline anxiety leads to decision paralysis and stress, so you put it off, then feel guilty about not being productive, which causes more stress and paralysis and you put it off further, and then you start thinking "well it's already too late now" and continue to put it off but the guilt keeps compounding until you're spiraling into depression and cannot find motivation to do even simple tasks because everything is too stressful so you keep distracting yourself, and the spiral goes on and on. Mental illness is unfortunately not something you can just choose to turn off when it's inconvenient to others. You know you have to meet people's expectations, at least offer them some explanation of what's going on, but during these spirals it becomes an overwhelming task. What words can properly express the guilt you feel? How will you face their judgment? The paralysis takes over you and you continue to put it off. Admittedly, six years is far beyond anything I've experienced, but I've also never released a game and I don't know what kind of emotions they might have been going through. I really hope they aren't lying, people who lie about their mental health to get an easy out often don't realise or don't care about the harm they're causing to many people who are trying their best.

[@anonymousapproximation8549]

​@@SarzaelXLiterally no one has an issue with mental health issues being a reason for halted development. The issue is the lack of clear and honest communication.

[@Americanbadashh]

People accept mental illness when it's convenient to them and remains invisible, the minute symptoms disturb their feelings all of a sudden that "acceptance" disappears

[@SarzaelX]

@@anonymousapproximation8549 What I'm saying though is that spiraling mental health can impede clear and honest communication.

[@DannyCapM8]

At this point, I see the Pre-Release and Post Release Cube World as AbandonWare due to the lack of updates and transparency about the dev cycle. I feel Wollay got tired of so many people trying to contact him about Cube World and pushed out a 1.0 build. I played the 1.0 Cube World and it felt soulless compared to the countless videos of the Alpha I had watched back in the day. I really do hope that CW Omega has a good dev cycle and release, as well the Wollay and Pixie learned from their mistakes. I truly believe they weren't ready for the demand of Cube World when it came to regarding the networking and issues.

[@mattymerr701]

It's doubtful. It seems they are unable to communicate.

[@datmanydocris]

Considering Wollay can't even tell us whether Omega is an update or a new game when he'd have absolutely no reason to not tell us if it was an update, I wouldn't keep your hopes up unless you like continuously being disappointed.

[@RitzStarr]

He's a grifter. Anything less is just being naive. They made a game they were passionate about, pulled in a truck load of money from "pre-orders" and realized, damn... we don't even gotta make the game lmao. It was "released" to avoid lawsuits, and so they could grift on steam for extra cash.

[@DannyCapM8]

That's understandable, but considering it was their first game blunder (I'm talking with the entirety of how they handled Cube World not the many blunders individually, but as a whole), the most we can do is hope they learned. ​ @@datmanydocris

[@DannyCapM8]

It's no doubt that Cube World became a grifter project. From what I was able to gather (from about 20 minutes of simple google searching), it was their first game, and it's completely obvious they were not ready for the possible popularity and demand it received. Right now, the most we as consumers can do, is sit back and hope they learned from prior mistakes. Not to mention we should hold onto our money until they can prove they won't disappear for another half a decade. @@RitzStarr

[@moritzmuller4613]

I remember back in 2013 when the alpha came out , spent endless hours with my brother and one friend grinding. I don'T think a video game ever made such fun since. Those were the times. No cripts. Just friends hanging out exploring. No I'm 40 years old. And will always lock back with half a sad eye and half a smile. What a time it was. Unfortnutely it will never come back. So all I can do is remind myself as often as I can

[@isucckayloodicc]

j

[@ryuno2097]

Yeah man. I remember wanting to get alpha access to play but i didn't have the funds. It's funny how 11 years went by just like that. Time flies so fast man.

[@DagooberismsTM]

I never heard of this.

[@Xaaaach]

I think I still have the alpha files on my computer.

[@NeonSaber112]

feel you fam

[@Raviouliformiouli]

Thank you for uploading please don’t leave again

[@Prospkt]

Damn it has been a while, forgot about this channel. Love that it's also an update video.

[@loveluclins]

Been pointed at Veloren as well by a friend recently. It seems to be a cubeworld clone that aims to bring the original vision back as well. Sure, some features are different and they're aiming to continue differentiating over time. But a lot of the core mechanics are the same, or very similar. Certainly has the same feel as the original alpha despite the extra additions. Honestly, given that Wollay keeps disappearing several years at a time with no updates, this new game is more worthwhile of supporting imo. It is also. ENTIRELY FREE.

[@_FrozenPotato_]

ya Wiz mentioned it at the end

[@Shinirkrog]

I don't think a 4 year project should be called "new project", aside from that I agree that supporting the development of that game over this mess would be a more appropriate use of time and money

[@ZaCloud-Animations___she-her]

​@@ShinirkrogIt started development more recently than Cube World, & it's still in progress. So yes, it is a new project by comparison. 😉

[@hannibal5158]

Its goal isn't to be a cubeworld clone. It's its own game with it's own vision. If people expect cubeworld alpha 1:1 in Veloren, they might be disappointed.

[@loveluclins]

@@hannibal5158 Having played it, it's fundamentally very similar. It fills the same niche despite being different here and there.

[@BeebletheBee]

Deleting comments never works. I've seen too many discords go down in flames over mods deleting criticizing messages

[@Dice-Z]

Yes i remember that. Fucking terrible that was.

[@michasokoowski6651]

I swear, every discord server with rule "no criticizing mods allowed" sooner or later end up with a disaster xd

[@ceering99]

Yeah I'm not gonna bother getting hyped up for this game again I've followed the game since 2013, if Wollay wants to finally do some good for his reputation then I'll revisit

[@Beardqt]

i appreciate how well thought out the desk is in these videos, down to the always fresh 770s

[@WickedWiz]

I’ve tripped over the cord so many times it’s unreal

[@saintsnakech]

Great to see you back Wiz!! So good to see more video essays!

[@xPandamon]

I don't think anybody really cares about Cube World Omega. Same shit as before, the dev talks about what he wants to implement and in the end, it will not end up as the people expect.

[@robob4465]

And he will disappear for another 5 years or so after receiving criticism

[@The_Fallen_1]

Damn, I was clearing out dead channels from my subscriptions a couple of days ago and for some reason I decided to hold off for this channel. So glad I did!

[@some-replies]

9 months. He regularly uploads on his second channel

[@ryuno2097]

​@@some-replieswhat is the name of his 2nd channel? what does he upload on his 2nd channel? Gameplay? I'm not interested gameplay videos anymore.

[@VultureSkins]

@@ryuno2097​​⁠it’s Wicked_Wizard. All I did was look up wickedwiz and it’s one of the first few things to pop up (might be higher on the list for me bc I’m subbed). It’s also linked in the description, and maybe at the end of the video? Those are the places I usually check :)

[@MountainMemelord]

@@ryuno2097 Wicked Wizard.

[@joenoodle6914]

@@ryuno2097 who tf cares LMAO

[@1Orderchaos]

The thing is, cube world has already been surpassed by competitors and at a faster rate that Wally will ever get around to doing. Sadly Cube world has already left a bad taste in people's mouths, combined with the snails pace development, Cube world is irrelevant, banking off of nostalgia. Veloren is a great example, it's already done twice as much as cube world in half the time, and still getting updates. I understand passion projects and I can respect that, but I don't expect Cube world to be the talk of the town like it once was. Just my opinion though.

[@OmegaVenus]

Whats the competitors? I only know trove thats similar to it

[@thegirlwiththemouseyhair6486]

The competitors are all p2w ftp games

[@lildaffy1695]

There is Veloren which is free and open source

[@Allmyf4ult]

Veloren is quite good as well

[@Guante_de_arroz]

Veloren combat is very bad tho

[@lzysoul]

I remember watching the Hello neighbour 2 video back in the day, 1997 was a good year for me - had a lot of free time back then, its good to see he's uploading again

[@ZaCloud-Animations___she-her]

A good year indeed... Back when I'd take a ride around town in my special Cungadero. 🚗

[@excalibur493]

Good times indeed. The sperm that create me hadn't generated yet.

[@RambleOn07]

I got lumbago back in '97, been rough riding ever since.

[@falko2473]

I'm counting on you to keep us updated.

[@WickedWiz]

I’ll keep my closed little eyelids on this, don’t you worry

[@JohnnyThief1]

Glad to have you back! Thought the next vid we see would be "What Went Wrong? - WicketWiz"

[@davev6148]

i was JUST thinking about your videos its sick you're back man

[@ryanwillingham]

honestly what i think happened is that wollay saw normal site traffic, thought it was a DDoS attack, and panicked. the guy just seems super anxious in general, and definitely needs a community manager to handle criticism. i mean this is all speculation but my takeaway is that cube world omega will go the same route if wollay hasn't changed

[@MisterLG08]

Wiz: "not being a man of my word." Me: "I TRUSTED YOU!"

[@rebb9890]

"I thought I could too!"

[@kl_kruemel]

We need a "What Went Wrong? Heroes and Generals" or "What Went Wrong? Starbound". Please! :)

[@flamingrubys11]

starbound? bro starbound did good

[@owenchafer1083]

I feel like Starbound isn't really needed? I mean, I haven't played in a while and it's forever since I saw videos about the initial release for comparison. But from what I remember, Starbound was fine.

[@kl_kruemel]

Nah, I didn't like how they changed the hunger-survival-system into "Eat to boost your character" and how they removed different tiers of planets, ores and armor while adding a forced storyline instead. It felt like they took away a lot of freedom

[@megapussi]

Starbound is kinda mid, but kinda mid is hardly "what went wrong" material. Nothing you highlighted is video worthy content, its just a couple opinions.

[@owenchafer1083]

@@kl_kruemel Ok, I understand the point about the story, but when I played it last year, I could have sworn hunger and ore tiers were still a thing. Am I misremembering?

[@otapic]

you know there's this game called Veloren which is free and Open Source that's something like cube world (but is actually actively updated). it might not be quite like cube world alpha, but i think it's a similar project that's worth looking at. since i dont see many people talking about it

[@TruFalco]

Veloren was started because of the cube world delays. It was literally the "Blackjack and Hookers" version of Cube World.

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

The fact this is literally a repeat is an major issue. Wollay gets stressed, does something behind closed doors for fear of reception, and because they aren't communicating we can only watch with a community forcing that. This would be a non-issue if Wollay wasn't using what others wanted as a hook. Wollay isn't, in my opinion, emotionally stable enough to make a game with others in mind. As a person with similar issues it is why I don't do these things, it is why I stopped making promises to strangers. Wollay hasn't seemed to learn so I can't see this as going well.

[@Tamarocker88]

Wollay should never have come public to sell his game. It should have stayed as a passion project and hobby, because that's how he treats it. We were never going to get a finished game. He develops at his own pace, is a psychotic level perfectionist, and rather than delivering a quality product that delivers all of the features and content he presented in his roadmap, he just went off script and did whatever the hell he wanted. And then the deafening silence for YEARS on end. Talk about immature. The moment you decide to sell a product, you are then required to deliver that product to your customers and follow through on promises within a defined timeline. He should've been sued into oblivion. This psycho thinks he can just go "tehe" and do whatever he wants. He deserves to be forgotten.

[@F0r3v3rT0m0rr0w]

with brain dead takes like this i can understand why he doesn't interact with the public ... do you really think $15 gives you the right to abuse others ?@@Tamarocker88

[@logandarnell8946]

@@Tamarocker88i hope you realize that he doesnt owe you shit. you are the type of egocentric elitist that causes people like him to stress out and hide so much.

[@d4s0n282]

​@@Tamarocker88 he did deliver tho, there is still the meta online, and all that jazz, also from me just doing like 10 mins of research, it sems like a promise is not legally binding from what I could understand

[@IronHorse1854]

@@Tamarocker88 I agree, I've been saying since he first went silent and disappeared back in 2013, he should have adopted the Dwarf Fortress model of development if he cannot handle his hobby being sold a product and therefore owing paying customers the product he advertised them. Tarn and Zach were free to do whatever they wanted with Dwarf Fortress and could update it as little or as much as they liked, and no one sane ever complained because it was free on their website for anyone to download and play. People were willing to put up with anything and everything, from bugs, focus shifts in development, waits for content updates sometimes spanning several years, clunky UI and obtuse mechanics, because we understood we were being given someone's hobby to play with and not a product. It wasn't made FOR us, it was just something Tarn and Zach made in their spare time and they were allowing us to play with it too, if we wanted, at no cost at all. If you liked it and wanted to say thanks, there was a donation link on the website, but the game never asked you to donate and donating got you nothing but a thank you and that was totally okay. And yes, before anyone points it out, DF is now a paid product having released on steam last year as a paid product along with a huge amount of quality of life overhauls. My point still stands though, as with the release on steam Tarn and Zach have acknowledged that it is not purely a hobby anymore but a product and their players are no longer just enthusiastic fans but paying customers who they now have owe a responsibility to. The game now gets updated more frequently, communication is more open and frequent, and Tarn and Zach have bought on more devs to work with them on it. Once it became a product, they recognised they had obligations to the people who gave them money for access to that product. It's a lot of responsibility to keep people happy with a game, and even still not everyone was happy with the DF steam release. If Wollay cannot handle that, then just make a website and host your personal hobby game for free, do whatever you want with it, take as long as you want. Work on it for 2 weeks and then take years off working on it, no one will be upset cause they aren't paying for it. His biggest mistake was charging for it. Once he took peoples' money, he made them customers and now he morally owed them the product he advertised.

[@LtHobo-uy9kn]

I was always of the thought that the original build for cube world was lost some time in the radio silence era, and when wollay came out of the official release it was basically a bare bones build he remade or recovered and released just to say he actually released something instead of just taking the money and running. Although to be fair I might be giving a stranger on the internet too much of the benefit of the doubt.

[@SquaulDuNeant]

You indeed are also if it was the case he could have said it ...

[@elobiretv]

I think he really was developing it all that time, he's just so inept at game design that it ended up being worse than the alpha version. Any programmer worth shit doesn't just lose a code base. I think he's just a odd guy that absolutely hates public interaction so he chooses to go years without giving updates.

[@EnbyOccultist]

@@SquaulDuNeant He could have said a lot of things to save himself a lot of trouble, he clearly has trouble with communication

[@Rellek2007]

still I have to question the lack of communication. if he got ddos'd and got depressed ok but why didn't his wife or mods pickup and say something, say he needs time/break/etc. they were all involved too. any comm is better than none. harsh lesson on how to lose fans :(

[@SeanCrosser]

I remember being excited about this. I'll be excited to try it out when it finally comes out. Unfortunately, a lot of what was interesting with it is being done by a lot of other games by now.

[@ScrambledAndBenedict]

Turning the comments off and absolutely no acknowledgement about what went wrong last time is the biggest red flag I've ever seen since "updated for modern audiences." The whole point of releasing unfinished alpha builds is to engage with the crowd, receive praise and criticism, iron out the kinks, discover what does and doesn't work, generate some hype, and release a finished product. You don't get to use one as a cash cow, just eff with your supporters the way he did, bugger off into the sunset, and then just come back like nothing happened and start doing the exact same stuff all over again. I'm not normally so cynical, but if the very first thing that developer did WASN'T a formal apology for all the chicanery, you really should turn your back on this project. Never forget: you are not obligated to give a creator your time or money, and you do not need any reason, let alone a "good" one, to not give them your time or money.

[@jared6343]

there was also a lot of evidence to imply wollay was posting on his wife's steam and pretending to be her defending and apologizing for him during the mass censoring of the criticism there's no trusting this guy and if cubeworld omega ever comes out (doubt it will) it prolly wont be as promised

[@TekedixXx]

Wiz, I really appreciate that you present every possibility with the DDoS. I find myself thinking about many things to that level, and attempting to rationalize everyone's decisions and the possibilities and unknowns in the situation. I ask myself why someone did what they did; said what they said. I bring this kind of thought into conversation and many people just can't bring themselves to comprehend different possibilities. Great video, total blast from the past. I remember watching Etho and (Before disaster) Bdubs play this and I was in LOVE with the content. I was so excited to play a more finished version. Think I'm burnt out on this kind of title... Maybe if I was a teenager again....

[@jsjinc.8949]

Before disaster? Curious as to what that means

[@constantinsavu5301]

​@@jsjinc.8949 I am also curious about it (commenting so I get notified when someone replies). I know he had some personal tragedies, as their third kid died 18 hours after birth due to a genetic condition.

[@logandarnell8946]

it doesn't really matter though, at some level, they lied and covered up as some kind of excuse to something. there is no point at all in speculating without any further information.

[@lukebytes5366]

​​@@logandarnell8946 Then maybe assuming ill intent is a bad idea

[@Khunkurisu]

@@logandarnell8946 I think assuming malice when ignorance is equally likely is a good way to waste your time and energy. Wollay might be a grifter, he might be a jerk, but it's also equally likely he's just incompetent in a lot of areas that aren't directly relevant to programming and designing a game. I don't support the man (I've left plenty of comments pointing out his failings), he could easily afford someone to handle community relations for him as well as a multitude of other solutions to issues. But he most likely didn't claim the DDoS stuff out of malice. More likely, he believes what he said. He's just not competent enough at network engineering, nor open enough in communication to be a trustworthy source. Whether or not he hid behind that belief as an excuse to withdraw from duties as an independent dev or not is a different discussion, however...

[@datmanydocris]

From my past experience, there are three things that make me not trust Wollay at all on this. First of is the censorship of criticism and not apologizing for it or even addressing it. I have seen many developers censor valid criticism of their game and every one of them are garbage. CD Projekt Red, THQ Nordic, Gaijin, Bethesda, Blizzard... this is not a list you want to be a part of. There is _absolutely_ no valid reason for censoring valid criticism other than trying to hide that your game is bad so that people continue to buy it and get scammed because the product they receive is not what was advertised to them. And I'm sorry, Pixxie's excuse that she was just "removing harassment" just doesn't cut it when there are _countless_ examples of polite, valid criticism completely devoid of harassment being removed by the mods and the fact that even to this day if you look on the steam discussions, there still doesnt seem to be _any_ criticism which makes it appear as if they are _still_ censoring criticism. That is, unless the Cube World mods have pulled a CD Projekt Red and are claiming that any amount of criticism amounts to harassment. Secondly, disabling comments on the videos is a big red flag to me. Once again, there isn't really any reason to censor discourse. I understand that Wollay is claiming to have issues with his mental health, but that isn't really a valid reason to completely close out community discourse and make it a one way discussion. If he doesn't want to see any negativity then he can simply just not read the comments or have someone read through the comments for him and ignore the toxic ones. Every time I've seen a developer disable comments, it's _never_ resulted in something good. Third and most obvious is that fact that Wollay is seemingly categorically refusing to announce whether this will be a free update to the version of Cube World we already bought or a brand new game, and his silence about that speaks volumes. If it was going to be an update for the version we already have, there'd be _zero_ reason to no just say that. If that was the case and he said so, it would go a long way to stopping a lot of the toxicity and hate and would make the community very happy, it would only have positive outcomes. Heck, even if it was going to be a new version which is likely the case due to the engine change, if he was planning on giving this new version to existing owners of Cube World for free much like existing owners of Skyrim got Skyrim Special edition for free years back, there would likewise be no reason to simply announce that. So that makes it pretty obvious that the reason he isn't saying which it will be is because he knows that the community will not like the answer, that being that he is planning on making this a separate version that we will have to pay for, which would understandably piss off a sizable and I'd dare say _majority_ of the community. People are not going to be happy when they feel like they got scammed by receiving an inferior product that wasn't what was promised only for the developer to come back after years of silence to say "hey, so I actually will deliver what I promised... if you pay me again." I am open to admitting I am wrong if this whole thing does turn out to be good and not just another instance of Wollay scamming people out of money, but as it currently stands, there is not a single bit of me that believes it will be anything other than that.

[@spankyjeffro5320]

It will be a free update or he'll have a lawsuit on his hands.

[@thegamesforreal1673]

@@spankyjeffro5320No he won't. He delivered a product. The product that ended up being delivered was ass, but he still delivered a product. And no, people's expectations don't factor in here because the version they had in their heads was an early alpha, which came with the clear disclaimer that everything was subject to change. So no, he won't get sued if this new version will be a seperate game, as much as it sucks.

[@ReidArt]

Yeah definitely backing up what everyone else is saying. Bro can cook but I’m not paying until after the meal is on the table

[@DDoig1]

I still have Cube World Alpha on a flash drive. The alpha is so good.

[@CandyCaneChris]

Thanks for reminding me about Veloren.

[@skyesfury8511]

"I trust you as much as I trust Steam moderators" Dayum! That feels like war-crime levels of savage. I don't know what to think in regards to his return. I guess I'm just not invested enough. I am happy to see you're back, tho, Wiz!

[@SmilePecoSmile]

My friends and I paid for Cube World specifically to support the development. We believed in the vision and waited years for the release and got something worse than if the development had just been abandoned. It stopped being about the money we spent, ages ago. He hoed us and chose not to acknowledge that he did. Unless this is a free update in an attempt to regain favor, it's a no-go from me.

[@Kydrou]

Cube World was one of the few games that got me addicted, and the Original Alpha got me and many friends together adventuring everywhere and raiding harder and harder dungeons for challenges and better loot. Game had some flaws, but it was awesome. When Beta came out, i played it on my own, and had fun for a while. It was nostalgic and made me miss my friends, but the missing features left it a bit bland. At least i wasn't bleeding out exp from dying everywhere :D Hearing about the Omega proyect makes me happy again. Even if it never comes out.

[@Noldigur]

I grew up getting hooked by Cube World but I never got too much into it to be part of a fandom or the "diehard" community. Looking back at it now feels like a weird nostalgia for something that has been so promising and fun to play when I was younger. However, I personally feel bad for the devs. Obviously their behaviour was wrong and irrational, but in the end I would give them the benefit of the doubt and believe, that they had well intentions but were overwhelmed with the popularity, the community, and the demands and responsibility that comes with it. There's similar stories of devs not being able to handle the sudden popularity of their games. I believe Flappy Bird had a similar story. In the end I personally have no big expectations and I won't care too much either way about how it will turn out. But if it will be free and a kind of "update" then I would try it out for sure. At least for nostalgia's sake :D

[@benjaminolive1366]

He's back! Happy to see you again, sir. We missed you.

[@KaedeLanyo]

I just hope he's more prepared, doesn't crumble from being overwhelmed again. As a fellow creative with *_many_* mental issues, I want to have good faith... But also know how badly things can still go. While this being a passion project isn't wrong, they really need help, at least for the community side of things.

[@KaedeLanyo]

@@johnpisser1983 Overselling really is a death-sentence. Some times, even slightly poor wording gets people's hopes up, lots to watch out for.

[@F0r3v3rT0m0rr0w]

hopefully the internet can be a little more mature about it, this time. blaming the death of your daughter on cube worlds release date is a bit much. i distinctively remember the harassment he got when people couldn't download their games during alpha ... it wasn't just the Ddossing. there was so much bullshit said and done it was honestly pathetic.

[@KaedeLanyo]

@@F0r3v3rT0m0rr0w Gamers do as gamers do, for better and worse.

[@F0r3v3rT0m0rr0w]

@KaedeLanyo i can already see the entitled *$$% crawling out of the woodwork for this video. In glad he disables comments. As a fellow dev im proud he sticks with it despite the abuse.

[@MizukiNoDoragon]

Looking into it, the dev seems to be repeating a lot of mistakes.

[@DevelonLP]

what i never understood is: why even bother posting updates on social medias if you are not even interacting in the slightest with the community?

[@Puerco-Potter]

He likes the positive comments, it feeds his ego, I can relate. I hate interaction, but adulation is a hell of a drug.

[@catscanhavelittleasalami]

it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth when creators turn off comments and don't bother interacting with fans. I understand having social anxiety, but at least allow your fanbase to interact with you and with each other. And if you can't handle any hate just have someone pick the questions for you and do a monthly FAQ or something. Just show that you give a sht.

[@minoxs]

It's insane how wollay fumbled this bag so hard... sure he ran away with some money thanks to this, but this guy had such a great idea, if he kept at it IN TOUCH WITH THE COMMUNITY this could've been another Minecraft. This guy could've gotten as rich as Notch did, but no. Radio silence, lies and everything that happened. I can't understand what is going through his head, but it can't be good.

[@minoxs]

Even if it was a DoS attack, and "someone trying to ruin his business" WHY WOULD YOU STOP SELLING YOUR GAME???? THAT'S RUINING THE BUSINESS WHAT THE FU

[@Chrisfamous15]

@@minoxs honestly just pathetic that something like getting fucking DDOS'd could traumatize you. more people need to poke holes in that because i dont buy it at all lol

[@minoxs]

@@Chrisfamous15 yeah, it doesn't make any sense lol "The DDoS attack tried to ruin my business and traumatized me. So I ruined my business myself." Make it make sense

[@rayquetzalcoatl9672]

Excited to see you back on here dude! Really enjoy your work. When it comes to Wollay and his anxiety/depression/naivety around releasing and managing a game with a lot of hype behind it -- I think we can all definitely be sympathetic towards him and I definitely do empathise with being suddenly thrown in at the deep end like that. However, it's just not on -- at all -- to take peoples' money and bury your head. You've got to do something. I'm not invested financially at all here, and it rubbed me the wrong way to hear that as an excuse -- so I can definitely understand the frustration/skepticism of people who have paid in the past.

[@hoyhoy852]

Honestly, Kickstarter just isn't a good thing for game development in general. It may work for some, sure, but the majority of people don't understand game development (including many aspiring developers themselves), so it really is better to keep people completely in unknown until you have things to show, like how it's done outside Kickstarter projects. The problem with Kickstarter is also that... Not every game project deserves to live. They'll very, very, very often get canned early on, even if initially it seemed like the coolest thing ever. Yandere Simulator is the epitome of that.

[@user-mu5sl4vh7m]

I really hope he can redeem himself and develop a good game. I can't imagine how terrible it must feel to start developing a game that is clearly your passion and then screw up so much that everyone hates you. He could have made all the right choices and created a beloved game that people talk about years later. Instead, he messed up for whatever reasons and 10 years later I'm sure he must think about what could have been. Wouldn't wanna live with that, I sincerely hope he can create something good.

[@snakewithapen5489]

​@@hoyhoy852​ I've only ever been involved in one Kickstart project, which was a little indie game called Bug and Seek. I pledged 20$ and I think it was worth it for me personally bc I got the 15$ listed game as well as two DLC for free. It released on time, has minimal bugs (the glitches kind, not the cute collectable kind) and the developers are still involved on the steam community page But the thing is, even though the game was only being developed by two people, it was a modest project. They only got $20,000 pledged, but the game is a pixel art creature collector style game with a map about the size of the base stardew map before you unlock anything, and a very simple npc and quest system. It never made any huge promises and just marketed itself as a relaxing game with a basic story for people who like cute pixel art bugs. So I sort of had a cynical opinion of people who get so invested in clearly very overambitious projects with a tiny team, like rpgs who will obviously not be able to deliver what they promise without millions in funding, but I've only had one experience that turned out very positive lol. I probably just ended up lucking into the 10% that succeeds while the other 90% go up in flames.

[@snakewithapen5489]

​@@hoyhoy852​ I've only ever been involved in one Kickstart project, which was a little indie game called Bug and Seek. I pledged 20$ and I think it was worth it for me personally bc I got the 15$ game as well as two DLC for free. It released on time, has minimal bugs (the glitches kind, not the cute collectable kind) and the devs (husband and wife) are still involved in the community page on steam But the thing is, the game was a very modest project. They only got 20k in funding, but the game is a 2d pixel art style creature collector with a map about the size of the base map of stardew before you unlock anything, and a very basic npc and quest system. They never made any big sweeping promises, their game was purely marketed as a relaxing pixel game with a basic story for people who like collecting cute bugs. Everything i read had no warning signs in it, specifically because it seemed like a project that would be relatively easy to bring to a finished state. So I sort of had a cynical opinion of people who get so invested in clearly very overambitious projects with a tiny team, like rpgs that obviously will never be able to deliver what they promise without millions in funding, but I've only had one experience that turned out very positive lol. I probably just ended up lucking into the 10% that succeeds while the other 90% fail miserably.

[@snakewithapen5489]

​​@@hoyhoy852​ ​ I've only ever been involved in one kickstarter project, which is a little indie game called Bug and Seek. I pledged 20$ and I think it was worth it for me personally bc I got the 15$ game as well as two content dlc for free. It released on time, has minimal bugs (the glitches kind, not the cute collectable kind) and the devs (husband and wife) are still involved in the community page on steam But the thing is, the game was a very modest project. They only got 20k in funding, but the game is a 2d pixel art style creature collector with a map about the size of the base map of stardew before you unlock anything, and a very basic npc and quest system. They never made any big sweeping promises, their game was purely marketed as a relaxing singleplayer pixel game with a basic story for people who like collecting cute bugs. Everything i read had no warning signs in it, specifically because it seemed like a project that would be relatively easy to bring to a finished state. So I sort of had a cynical opinion of people who get so involved in clearly very overambitious projects with a tiny team, like rpgs that obviously will never be able to deliver what they promise without millions in funding, but I've only had one experience that turned out very positive lol. I probably just ended up lucking into the 10% that succeeds while the other 90% fail miserably.

[@Matx39]

cube world was the second ever pc game i bought. and the alpha netted me many happy hours. so i just hope he can recapture that vibe while having fun developing.

[@RitzStarr]

my condolences

[@d4s0n282]

@@RitzStarr huh?

[@kultur-vultur]

19:36 If those clouds were semi transparent then the more layered they got they would look more opaque and "cloudy" and overall better I bet. Sun and Moon lighting might even look better on em. Same goes for the chimney smoke. IDK They look chunky in the sky box and for some reason and seem low to the trees. Welcome back Wiz.

[@arstulex]

You can email the suggestion to Wollay directly. He's been known to reply to emails so long as you're being polite. I actually emailed a minor suggestion to him myself, and I saw he had actually implemented my suggestion to the game in the next video he posted.

[@d4s0n282]

@@arstulex dang thats awesome, what was your suggestion, also off topic, him coming back for round 3 proves that hes not trying to scam, sure he handled it really really badly, but extremely hard to do that when the community overall is so toxic

[@arstulex]

@@d4s0n282 I suggested he should add some ground particle effects to the Ogre/Warrior "Slam" ability to give it a greater sense of impact. Like I said, it was just a small suggestion. Nothing too crazy. I can't remember the exact videos but you can see one video has no particle effects on the ability and then the next video has them.

[@d4s0n282]

@@arstulex dang thats awesome, I need to maybe go check out his blogs, always been a fan, and I truely hope that hes doing well, and he enjoys working on it and stuff :)

[@vizthex]

this whole project has always screamed "slight incompetence" to me, and this video further proves it imo. why wouldn't they hire more devs, or at minimum a community manager? If your project is hugely successful, you're obligated to at least tell people wtf is going on every so often imo. Ghosting everyone after getting a bunch of sales just makes people lose trust in you, and at worst they'll think it's a scam. i don't understand why these 2 just absolutely refuse to do even the most basic of steps every damn indie dev has done for a decade now.

[@julianlowrise4981]

A few people I've seen comment here floated the idea that it's his "passion project" and he develops as a hobby. Which bluntly excuses jack-sh** and just screams "why are you even selling this before release then?" Another thing to think about with incompetence is how other passion projects (e.g. stardew valley) have been massively succesful as a project as well.

[@vizthex]

@@julianlowrise4981 agreed.

[@michaelgamel5915]

These videos may be rare but they are absolute gems!

[@51vk5]

thank u for this vid. i even saw my empty reason ban i had on the steam forums (issued by pixxie, when i later learned after contacting steam support, as they cant lift developer handled bans) so kudos for extensive search on the topic. about cube world omega? im looking forward to it. if its gonna be an update ill be more than happy (but preferably i would love to have 3 beta branches on steam, for the alpha, 1.0 and omega) if its going to be a standalone new release? nah, i will look from the side for half a year or a year, to see if this aint a moneygrab and radio silence again. got too burned too many times with wollay alone...

[@spankyjeffro5320]

They can lift bans, they just prefer not to. However, in the case of an empty or illegitimate reason, they very much can reverse the ban and punish the moderator.

[@CoqueiroLendario]

Yeah i agree, we shouldn't forget the past or ignore it, but i'll just cross my arms and watch as wollay does his thing, if he fails again i'll just turn away and go, silently. If however he finally understands how to develop the game and how to deal with people, i'll share the good news with my friends.

[@datmanydocris]

That's my approach to a lot of these developers that do stuff like this, "forgive but _don't forget."_

[@drewpeacock9087]

No chance I'm giving this guy any money again, there is negative trust

[@CoqueiroLendario]

@@drewpeacock9087 Didn't say i was giving a single penny to him either, i am not forking a single dollar until he proves he learned something.

[@PenguinDT]

Welcome back Wiz! Seriously though, my main take-away from this is that I'm happy the dude is okay and still has passion to keep on dev-ing. Not the best ending, but definitely not the worst either. EDIT; There are so many things that can look like a DDoS, mind. Especially with games; if some content creator covers your game outside your typical circles, you'll get a rush of folks from new places, likely completely blind siding you. I remember when suddenly I got contacted on social media that my game's website is blocked in China. Not by CCP, but by my host. I checked up on them and there had been some sudden spike of file activity (i.e. downloads in my case). This being tons of traffic out of nowhere, from China, well the host assumed the worst and hit the panic button. Luckily I got that cleared up - and now when I release new games I warn them that there will be an unusual spike coming up 😅

[@OfficerC4]

I won’t take anything he says seriously until he unlocks the comments. Two way Communication is needed for development don’t care how anxious you are.

[@mrkampfcookie2118]

I like how saying "I'm a perfectionist" seems to be the guy's excuse for creating a bad product... which makes no sense.

[@hoyhoy852]

​ @mrkampfcookie2118 because perfectionism doesn't mean you'll create perfect things. Are you stupid? Here: "Perfectionism is defined as the tendency to place unrealistic demands on yourself and/or others. Common traits include fear of failure, self-criticism, obsessive thinking, reassurance-seeking, and unattainable goal-setting."

[@BladeEXE67]

the reason he behaved this way is most likely due to the people interacting with him. I don't know if Wolay is autistic or has a similliar condition but he should have cut the communication from the start, it's his game nobody has the right to meddle with it, that is until he sold it of course. I am angry to have been let hangin too, but at the same time I feel kinda bad for him, he basically got bullied by some angry keyboard warriors and now we have to deal with it. He shouldn't have release the alpha and just made the game in silence, would have spared us and him from this situation.

[@MachinaOwl]

@@mrkampfcookie2118 Perfectionism actually makes perfect sense for something like that. I have perfectionist tendencies, and you can obsess over the little details or change things over and over and over until what you're left with looks unrecognizable. To me that explains the strange changes he made to the game, and also switching the game to a "new engine".

[@SuitorASMR]

If atleast the artifacts gave buffs like +5% damage with 1 handed swords maybe something like the region lock would make sense because you have artifacts that speed up progress whenever you get kicked back to 0

[@TripleCatAttack]

Good to see you again Mr. Dr. Srgt. Wiz

[@czmAvery]

Absolutely can see the irony. Welcome back. I have the bell on, so I jumped on this as soon as I got out of class. Will be back after I watch the whole video. Just here to post a comment to boost engagement

[@monkeman4998]

(Damn, I caught this within 3 minutes) Welcome back Wiz, hope we get some bangers along with this one.

[@eaterofsouls6077]

The man is just not cut out to be a solo developer in truth

[@Stichycat-wv9gq]

ty for the vid wiz love ya mate

[@Tism1qaz]

I don't know if this would even remotely be interesting or if it even has a story behind it but I just found out one of my favorite Battle Royales no longer exists, it was called spellbreak and I fell off the game for a bit and when I tried to play recently it said it shut down due to not wanting to sell the company they built but a month or two later they sold it anyways, it was an amazing game that had so many interesting spell combos my favorite being wind and fire and my duos being ice and toxic

[@tomboy_kisser]

I still disagree that he was DDoSed due to all the reasons listed in the "There was never any "DDoS,"" album, especially #1 the timeline of events where he showed us "This is the DDoS I'm experiencing," it was merely 1/4,150th (0.02%) of the data of 1 average DDoS attack for that year making it absurd to call it a DDoS, and #2, these "attacks" always occurred during peak or near-peak traffic hours - as a result of real people trying to access the site and DL server. And then there's reason #3, he stated that disabling user registration resolved the DDoS's. If they were really DDoS's, this would have done little, if anything, to impede them, plus reason #4, on July 3rd, he admitted that his launcher's poorly programmed updating system, which sent & received more data than necessary from the website's server, overloaded his website. He publicly admitted that at least 1 of the times his site went down for about a day straight was his own fault due to his lack of competence, then expects people to believe that 1/4,150th (0.02%) of a DDoS's amount of traffic was him being maliciously targeted by a DDoS... I just can't fall for that. Tbh I can't even agree with the "let him cook (and everything may turn out fine)" sentiment. Just look how that's been going for the past decade... Wollay's repeating the same mistakes, and not for the 2nd but the 3rd time. To quote someone else, we're firmly in "shame on *me*" territory now. Props for being the only YTer I know of who's covered all these points nonetheless, even if we disagree. Liked and subbed.

[@b4ttlemast0r]

As a gamedev, you need to communicate with the community and get feedback. There's always gonna be problems for actual players that you as a dev aren't gonna notice. If you never take any feedback and just release your version and be done with it without updating it based on feedback, it's no wonder you get a bad reception. All your work will be for nothing. Better to get feedback before you commit too much. If you want to try a second chance, you should take this to heart.

[@michaelcreer8231]

Love how in depth you went with this, I know that level of digging and research must've been absolutely exhausting. I highly respect your writing and editing skills in this. Glad I don't have a personal stake in this saga but I like the vision of the game he was trying to make. I wonder if he will ever actually realize that you're better off embracing the community and symbiotically harnessing its ability to help you and your product improve rather than always keeping it in the dark where it is likely to come to hate you for it.

[@maninthesnow4393]

May have been just an overload when the store opened. An example i can use was after josh strife made the fallen earth video. So man people keep trying to join it made the old wonky servers crash which made certain areas of the game inaccessible or unplayable. Of course under estimating your demand for a product will do that. Not like he had a line of people going out his door he could pyshically see.

[@didyounoticethis]

I remember buying cube world from his website back in the day. Your last video about it made me want to try to play it again. But I was unable to download from his website and I never bought it on steam it's a shame.

[@imaginekudryavka9485]

Glad you're back! Sure took you a while to get that milk. This gives me hope - it's only been 15 years since my dad did the same!

[@onceuponatimeonearth]

This one still hurts. As someone that was able to purchase Cube world right at it's release before the store was taken down, all I ever wanted was the Alpha version but fleshed out with more skills, biomes, enemies and some longer semi-structured dungeons. The hype for this game was at near Minecraft levels. Remember, Minecraft was still very new and at the height of it's explosive growth, people were dying for more games like it.

[@aeroon9991]

I loved how in Cube World alpha, there wasn't much of a limit on how fast you could climb, swim, or glide. On top of being able to level those stats infinitely, some classes also had movement abilities that played with the physics engine a bit. The Ranger's backstep could send you flying at accelerating speeds in the opposite direction if you pulled your glider out, while the Rogue's jumpslash could gradually gain infinite height for more gliding. Whether it was a bug or not, it was a really fun game mechanic. My brother looked up the Rogue trick, but I found the Ranger trick all by myself. :]

[@BillsYT]

New vidddddeoooo let’s gooooo

[@FracturedPixel]

I bought the alpha back in the day, and I went into it knowing the risks of buying an in-dev game. So I am glad he is back, as I never got my hopes up beyond what I bought at the time

[@manbaehr6754]

Yeah I paid for alpha, either I get a key for Omega or he can get bent

[@nameless5413]

yeah it takes a lot of work to achieve decent quality but glad wiz is back sometimes standing on or in strange places and items.

[@MicrocosmTheCatboy]

Its crazy how so many developers are failing when success is handed on a silver platter. Cube world, you could've just hired devs. Bethesda could actually put some effort into a game. EA could come up with something original. They all have the resources and the instructions are elementary level, but they always seem to let us down.

[@atomicmark]

HES BACK

[@Grievous-]

Welcome back WickedWiz. It will take time to rebuild the trust that's been lost, but I'll embrace you when it returns.

[@yekkow1]

As a young adult that just got a degree in Networking I saw the "DDoS attack" and chuckled.

[@juliand3565]

Hope youre now chuckling at yourself since without knowing anything about the server architecture its entirely plausible for the request volume to be a problem over the bandwidth ESPECIALLY if its a self written self hosted server lmao

[@franck5226]

​@@juliand3565Yeah, maybe they didn't prepare well enough as in like "ehh maybe a few persons will show up" Because I know fuck all about Ddos and all that fuckery but as the Wizard funny man said, it seem quite small. I also can't blame the guy, it must be alot of stress when your game is getting famous, like you go from "le funny cube man" to "hey, you're the creator of Cube World ? You rock" Even if the communication wasn't there, they must be under alot of stress. Can't confirm or deny the stuff when they ran away like joseph joestar with the money though, if he came back, maybe it's for the best

[@diobrando5974]

Mmm, gotta love how Wiz makes fun of a developer who disappears for years to then disappear himself for 9 months 💀

[@Andrax17]

I legitimately don't understand how people can be so positive about Wollays return and go "yay you're back go cube world woo" after we've been ghosted multiple times for years at a time. Wollay is extremely untrustworthy and I would never expect his games to ever release without him disappearing for the next 5 years after taking your money. If I'm proven wrong.. good, but I haven't had faith in him in years. Its kinda tiring to see his returns happening abruptly and he talks as if nothing has happened.

[@JaytheLay1]

Actually quelled some frustrations I had. I don't trust giving trust to Wollay again, but I am okay with him trying to earn my trust back. Not often do I think that. Usually I just write off creators like this, but I think he's got his own shtick that only clicked with me now. These days, everyone is trying to for infinite growth. Everything is a product, every hobby has to be side-income, every product needs a sequel. I admonish that mentality and always have, and for many creators/businesses, being against that mentality makes it simpler to see what each individual's perspective is in their work. Some are just out to make a profit. Some are out there just to create their best work and push the boundaries of the medium or their own skills. Some are just chill in the middle doing their own thing. Alot, are shady or pull stunts that kill trust. It's become standard to drop support at the drop of a hat because nearly every single damn time, it's followed up by worsening results. I think Wollay is just like...some dude who wants to make and sell some games. Not...like, "become rich", not "side-income" hobby, more or less just, he makes the game, he sells it. It's not a side-hustle, or some exponential part of his character, it's like a hobby, that he /Can/ make money from. Which makes everything else just make FAR more sense. No community managers? Why would he need that, he's just some dude making a game? DDoS protection? Why would he need that? He's just some dude making a game. No constant updates? No constant blogposts/social media? Why would he need that? Of course he's being DDoS'd! Where else is all this traffic coming from??? He's just /some dude!/ Making some game! Of course he went radio silent, dude looks to have absolutely no idea what he was in for. His wife coming in to try and help the situation that was /Utterly Unraveling/ really shows this poor guy likely has a small life without any experience or knowledge of anything becoming popular. Especially instantly. I imagine child me randomly becoming a meme and having to deal with that, I don't know how, and I'm an adult always online since childhood like, what do you do?? I'd panic, no doubt. Imagine your grandma becoming an E-Celeb because she sold some of her knitting work? Mine wouldn't even care, just keep making stuff like she normally would. Any drama that spikes, she'd probably hear second hand, from me. I really think this dude just needs to give an interview or Q&A. Because unfortunately, if the DDoS attacks did affect him that much, he's just...not...internet ready. I don't think he was in ANY possible regard, prepared for anything. I really think he has this smaller outlook on things, which genuinely makes me feel bad about how harsh I was on the non-alpha version. I still genuinely dislike it to it's core and prefer the Alpha, but shit, he wasn't trying to make a quick buck, he wasn't some dude who refused criticism, he didn't know how to take it, and it was mostly Very Negative, not just rude or spiteful, simply Not Good To Hear for anyone. He's just....some dude making games. Hell, I don't even remember the price, what was it? 15$? Shit I think it got it on sale somehow for 10$, I dunno, but I can definitely say this video shown some light, and made me reflect on my past and current mentality for Cubeworld and Wollay, and future incidents like it. Edit: Holy shit you were gone for 9 months! Welcome back dude. Appreciate the work, and as always, look forward to more!

[@DeadBaron]

3:20 I forgot about that! That was the reason I gave up! Why reset stats and gear just by crossing into a new region? It was so stupid

[@bastiwen]

I'm happy you're back and I'm also happy wol_Lay is back. I just hope he's better now and that we get the game we deserve and the game he's happy with :)

[@NashTheInsomniac]

before i even watch, Wiz i am so proud of you man, i know making the jump to youtube as a full time career was scary and nerve wracking as hell!! but always love the content, on this channel or your other! not sure why you took the long break whether it was jus pressure/mental health/ just needed a break, no matter what the reason is. We happy to see a post from you and we truly wish you nothing but the best! take as much time as you need brother!

[@segue2ant395]

Speaking as an (indie, solo, mostly hobbyist) developer - the thought of having a hit as big as CubeWorld on my hands **in alpha** is genuinely terrifying. I feel like there's a significant chance that the CW developer initially misinterpretted the figures on the "DDoS", and then allowed that to be a convenient way to narrativise their situation - perhaps even after they'd realised it wasn't the case. Either way, I think this is pretty forgiveable. As I said - if that was me, even without a DDoS in the picture, I'd be utterly terrified. I definitely have respect for him for coming back to the project after so long away.

[@datmanydocris]

That might be forgivable but the lies about what the game was, lack of communication, censoring of criticism and disappearing for years on end with no explanation multiple times aren't. I have also made a couple video games as a hobby to strengthen my programming skills and I would never even consider any of that stuff because I'm a decent person.

[@segue2ant395]

​@@datmanydocris True - there are definitely some less forgiveable aspects. I suppose a redress might be to formally address these and reassure the community they wouldn't be happening again. Absent that, continuing the attempt to produce the promised product is at least laudable, even if it doesn't offer a full exculpation.

[@Kasandra_]

It's worth pointing out that a denial of service attack does not have to depend on sheer traffic volume to take down the service, it's simply the most blunt and well known form of it. I recently dealt with an internal server outage from a script making a whooping 5 requests per minute, simply because each request was opening a new session which after an hour added up to around 300 and that was the limit of what the server was configured to handle. Naturally, a public web server should be hardened against something like this, but it's entirely possible it wasn't. Many people, including indie game devs will give little to no consideration to security until it hits them in the face.

[@zantanzuken]

personally, having watched the process and had a friend who was way into cube world alpha, i dont think the DDoS attacks were real... but i do think they HAPPENED. wollay was selling cubeworld on his own website... he didnt expect so many people would rush to buy the game as soon as he released it, and that caused the website to crash every time a wave of purchasers came in... this lasted quite some time because MANY people wanted to play the game but he never upgraded the servers the website was hosted on.... people say 'is this a DDoS attack' and wollay, probably not having much experience with cybersecurity, just assumes this is the case and claims it.