Why do gamers HATE this cozy new game Palia?!

Thanks for helping me dive into the intriguing world of Palia, the cozy life sim that's taking Reddit by storm, yet facing unexpected resistance from MMO veterans. In this video, we unraveled the multifaceted reasons behind the clash of expectations, gameplay styles, and community opinions that are fueling the controversy.

#Clawstorm #palia #mmorpg #simulator

[laurii]

People need to stop trying to compare this game to WoW or other MMORPG and understand that it's not meant to be like those games. It's really aiming more for an MMO Stardew Valley kinda experience. It's like complaining because your screwdriver is terrible at hammering...

[DoitiEtokNews]

"Palia is a gorgeous, cozy world that’s constantly evolving and features deep customization systems, a compelling cast of non-playable characters, and a robust Neighborhood system that allows players to forge communities of their own."

"Palia also offers a robust set of character creation options that allow players to show off their unique style and creativity. This includes a diverse set of face and skin tone options, hairstyles that can go on any character, and a flexible fashion system. Players can mix and match different components, customize colors and patterns, and save their favorite outfits. So whether they want to be an award winning cook, or the best gardener in the world, it’s all up to them."

"The game gives players the chance to be part of a global community of gamers as they collaborate, explore and progress."
- GeekTyrant, 2021

There are no deep customization systems, there is no robust neighborhood system, you can't really mix and match components of outfits, you cannot choose their patterns, you can choose a color but can't customize it, and you can't save outfits. You can barely collaborate with players to explore, but you can't really help each other progress. People online aren't mad because they are MMO fans brought to the game by MMO expectations. They are mad because they were fans of the idea that S6 built up for them over the years who were hit by the reality of what they actually had to show for their $50 million budget and 5 years of work.

[thecozyintrovert]

I’m so deep into cozy gaming YouTube that I had no idea people didn’t like Palia. My side of YouTube is loving it. I think they oversold it though because I finally started playing and I’m kind of meh about it now. But, I’m going to stick with it because it’s in the early phases and I feel like it can only get better from here.

[WayneRogersOutdoors]

If you are a filthy casual in any MMO then this is the game for you. No gear to stress over, no stats to worry about. No PvP, zero combat what-so-ever. This is a great game if none of that floats your boat. If you truly want to be casual when gaming and have a relaxing experience instead of chasing gear and optimizing stats, and always being told your gear/DPS STILL sucks and you don't have this or that achievement, this is YOUR GAME. No dungeons, no raids. No guilds with crappy officers and GMs. So casual and realxing. I have been playing WoW for 14 years and still do, but THIS is my chill and relax game. This just might by my WoW killer, not even gonna lie. For me, Palia solves every problem I HATE about World of Warcraft and similar games. Trust me, I have played a lot of them. It has almost all of the features I like INCLUDING customizable player housing, but none of what I don't like.

[heatherbloss]

As a player who started with MMOs and is now enjoying more of a cozy gaming experience as I get older, I feel like I am the target audience for Palia. So far, I love that I can play the game at my own pace and not have to power level to experience end game content or keep up with some guild requirements. That being said, I do agree that the mmo aspects of the game do need more fleshing out and the world feels small so far. I personally would not mind the addition of a few optional dungeons with some monsters to kill just to liven things up.

[catbirdstudios]

I don't play MMO games because I prefer solo play for the most part plus I've heard about the toxicity on most of them that I don't want to experience it. Probably the only MMO I've ever played was Uru Online which is mostly solo play anyways. I'll consider PvE but won't play PvP. I love Palia for exactly the reasons others don't like it, I can play solo for 99% of the time and ask for help only when I need it. I wasn't expecting more than that. It's exactly what I wanted and needed. I don't want more combat and am looking forward to content as it is added and we can interact more with our stuff (sitting, sleeping, etc.). The premium shop is definitely way overpriced, I don't mind running or gliding everywhere, and I'm taking my time to just enjoy the experience.

[everlonggaming]

I'm old so I miss when Betas for games were used for testing and not used for marketing and reviewed as a fully released game.

[tfisher]

I am an old timer here. I have been playing video games since the Atari days (and some of you probably weren't even born yet) when my daughter was 10 yrs old, now she's 49 and I'm still playing video games. I have played all sorts mmorpg games, mmo games and solo player games. I was a long time player of WoW and Diablo when they first hit the market, as well as LOTR, Guild Wars, Archage, Neverwinter, Warhammer, Ultima Online and so many others that I can't even begin to remember. I've done all that killing of monsters, running raids through all those dungeons and etc. But Palia is different, I love the soothing atmosphere and not have to worry about how high I have to have my toon lvl'd in order to participate with guilds to join those raids.

I love the crafting aspect of the game, I love interacting with all the other players who are enjoying Palia as much as I am. Singularity 6 has finally made an mmo for us older ppl who, an younger too, just want a nice relaxing game where you don't have to worry about when is the next raid or what guild is fighting who in pvp.

[BirchWind]

The trailer alone sets them up for the criticism, because as you say - it's not much of an MMO, but the 'cozy community' sim title is not accurate. You build furniture, but can't use it. No, you can't sit on your couch and drink tea like the trailer shows. You can't sit at all - not even on the ground. You craft all this furniture just to stand and stare at it - or have friends come over and also stand and stare at it. You can't lay down and maybe regain focus or some other buff. Just day and night Yes it's beta but the devs haven't addressed this issue and it has come up repeatedly "can we sell the furniture we make please? can we break it down and regain the materials? can we at least SIT on it"- radio silence. Definitely disappointed because this was one game we had been watching and waiting for for so long - yet tens of millions of dollars later, and a staff of 100+ - and it fails horribly as the things it touted itself to be.

[aurhiaseelund]

A big thing people are ignoring is that this is an actual development beta. This is not an early release of a full game. They created the bare minimum functional program and are adding the rest of the content and features on a TWO WEEK content patch cadence. What other game has new content every two weeks? We're one week into the open beta and they've already added new content. And there's been talk that some zones, like major cities, will probably have a higher cap on number of players in the instance, which makes sense because those areas are going to be more heavily social. I thought it was a weird choice at first but I am liking not having hundreds of people competing for the same limited resources in the starter areas. People need to moderate their expectations to match the fact that what we are doing currently is playtesting the starter zones. It's like someone zoning into Ammen Vale (WoW) and doing a couple quests there and complaining that there's no endgame in that valley.

[ronsandahl]

I followed Palia for a year and was so excited to get into the closed beta. I am extremely disappointed in Palia. It is not only the complete lack of communication from the dev team, or the poorly-thought-out monetization store. The game is basically a lot of people playing a single player game together. The only reason it is an MMO is because corporate game companies think that is where the money is. My biggest problem with Palia is the non-stop, needless money grind. The devs have stated that they want people to play Palia for years; unfortunately they have designed a grind-heavy experience to stretch the game out. I find it remarkable un-cozy, and not the experience that I want. I also have real concerns about Singularity Six - the company behind Palia - posing as a small game company when they are actually a corporate group with over 100 employees and more than $25 million behind them.

[databug]

Personally Im loving Palia. Ive fund myself to be totally addicted to it. Ive even got bored and decided to log off and do something else only to find myself logging back in 5 minutes later. I think there are some minor issues with the game but this is beta and the game will evolve over time like all online titles. My main concern is over the monetization. I have no issues with it so far but I hope they dont get predatory.

[cuddlykoala]

the MMO crowd can go elsewhere then - very simple. Leave Palia as it is - its a great anti-stress game and I for one am really looking forward to seeing where it goes (and hope it doesn't go down the dungeon/raid/bullying path)

[karenkuhnle]

so in order to have someone visit your home: 1 you must be at your home 2 there is a blue board by the exit that you need to click on and then you can choose whose home to visit, you must also allow them permission to visit by using the h button and clicking the icon next to where your house name is aka default house/lot

I had my hubby visit for the first tiem the other night and we did some cooking together, you can also go water the crops of your friends, I'm sure there will be much more in the future, and frankly i am glad they are rolling it all out slowly to check for bugs and to just let people get used to the newer functions.

I personally LOVE this game, and get so relaxed in it i dont see the time fly by. as a person with social anxiety adn depression it is actually helping me cope with my depression quite a bit, the music the colors, and running about all very soothing for me. That being said i have been suggesting this game to thers like me and those with similar issues have also been finding it to be a soothing escape

[GabeLogan]

Should have called it a SMO = Small Multiplayer Online
That way, you don’t confuse the players that, for the most part, pretty well know what an MMO should be like, Massive.
Take the studio behind Book of Travels for example.
They said their game was a TMORPG witch stand for Tiny Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.
The results are incredible, No Backlash! 😅

[redxivmods]

I believe the game was intended to be a single player game at first, but at the last minute they decided to go multiplayer. I think this because in thee installation folder there's a particular one named "SaveGames". Which tells me this was the case, everything Palia has about social is really lacking. Housing, chat, parties, guilds, activities, everything is lacking. There's nothing massive multiplayer about Palia. It's like saying Animal Crossing is a Massive Multiplayer MMO because people can visit your island... in this case, the island is your house, which is instanced, and you need to be online and at your house plot for whatever reason to let people visit you.

They have limited all the social aspects of the game, there's an enormous lack of emotes and interactions with the furniture and the world. The world feels dead, instead of being excited to go out to hunt together, gather together, etc. it feels like it's a competition for resources. They didn't want to add PVP into the game because it's not that kind of game, well, we certainly have resources PVP, and they keep on trying to slow down people with time gating and cutting on resources. And there's nothing cosy about the constant gold gating, everything in the game is super expensive, you barely get rewarded for your efforts, people are min-maxing everything to make enough money to buy things from NPCs, you name it, the 50, 000 gold backpack which unlocks the last row of your personal inventory or the 100, 000 chest that increases your storage... or the continuously increasing of prices to unlock new slots to add more machines to your house.

I really think the game will suffer a dramatic loss of players and interest in the next 3 months if they don't address all these issues (it's already happening, and it will keep happening faster if the next patches don't address the real concerns of the players, there's a bunch of feedback people have posted on their discord and seems it's falling on deaf ears, especially because there's a very clear lack of communication from the developers which was way more noticeable when they said they'd post more news in the next 24 hours from the last patch, and to this moment they haven't).

They need to focus especially on improving the social aspect of the game, and get rid of the resource competition. But hey, we have 3 new outfits in the cash shop and pets now. Be happy, right? I kind of still have hope for the game, but noticing how they focused mostly on the cash shop stuff on the blog post on the last patch, I kind of think this is a cashgrab kind of game now...

[celemthegreenlion]

Maybe it was because I had zero expectations because I didn't know this game existed until now - I absolutely love and adore it and find it super engaging and cozy. I'm really surprised to hear the gaming community is hating on it, but I guess I really wasn't going into it expecting an MMORPG. This is more of a lobby based mmo type thing.

[johnmack]

For me, as a primary builder, this game sucks to be a builder, 8-10k for a room extension....it made me drop the game and go back to builders that actually reward you for your time playing.

[tieryana]

As a long time player of WoW and FF14, I feel like the a majority of the people complaining about the game are the ones that drive players away from games. You know the ones that like to harass and belittle people because they don't play the way they want them to. Or the DPS players that try to tank and blow a gasket because the tank and healer let them die because of it.

[Pheonyxfree]

I think people fail to remember this is a beta…all the things people have complained about can be added before launch…since it is “ever expanding”, I’m sure things will be added constantly

I remember during past betas…devs usually don’t give access to all zones/content