This game is Early Access. The "early access social contract" is that the devs are releasing an incomplete game because they want the community to help guide the development of the game.

Let's think for a sec about the venues in which we know the developers can find feedback. For discussion sake, I'm arranging them in order of which I consider "you should listen to us more" down to "ignore these people because their motivations aren't necessarily promoting the enjoyment of the game."

- Here, on Steam's Valheim Discussion boards
- Their own Discord server
- The Valheim subreddit
- Other large fan-generated Valheim-centric forums (be they on Discord or a website, etc.)
- Corporate entity reviewers (websites that generate their ad revenue based on clickbait garbage, and basically just say what they think will generate the most money with the least amount of risk)

Okay, so that's where the devs are most likely to see any random thought someone has on the game.

That said, we have to assume that they know that we, as the community that is actively paying for and supporting the development of a game we clearly love otherwise we would just move on to something else, have asked for myriad fixes and changes. Now, we also have to take to heart that the developers have both every right and every obligation to themselves and their vision to stick to their intent and design when they feel like making a suggested change would deviate too far from what the game "is" in their intent, their minds, and their hearts.

With all of this in mind, let's look at two examples:

1. You cannot teleport metals.
2. There is no way to save a list of server credentials and easily log into frequently joined servers.

On the first:

The developers have stated firmly that to be able to simply hop through a portal with a pocket full of iron deviates from their intent and vision of the game. This is absolutely understandable and reasonable. They have a vision of gameplay that prioritizes exploration and some level of "smart" play. This is a perfect example of something that a modding community can step in a change, and that the end player can choose to implement via mod if they so choose.

Replacing all dragons with Thomas the Tank Engine isn't something anyone would have asked Bethesda to do, and to complain when they won't while there is a perfect modding community solution would be ridiculous. (I realize that some will tell me that these aren't analogous, and I admit a certain level of hyperbole in my example.)

On the second:

Now that the development team knows how many people set up, run, and play on dedicated, web-hosted server solutions, it is absolutely silly that the game doesn't have this built in yet, and that it was up to the modding community to step in and fix it. People have asked for this over and over, across many of the above listed venues. At most, the devs have said "yup, we know people want this, maybe we'll get to it one day." That's unacceptable from a team sitting on as much monetary resource as this team. If a modder can whip out an amazing and elegant solution in their spare, unpaid time, it's ridiculous that the dev team hasn't figured out how to hire, integrate, and pay a junior developer and assign this sort of task to them.

Okay, we've looked at two examples to form a mindset as to when a suggestion goes against the ideals of the game vs. when it is asking for basic missing functionality to be addressed.

But what about this latest "AI patch?"

Where did they get that suggestion?

Because I didn't see anyone asking for it. Certainly nobody asking "Could you please make the mobs walk past me and aggro my workbench until I walk up behind them and hit them once?" Nobody saying "boy I certainly wish that I couldn't even manage to build a simple fence without having to fend of seventeen attacks."

Because that's what we got. A crap update that nobody was asking for. Meanwhile, the game join menu is crap, wolves can't teleport with you, there's no way to "trash" items, and so on.

We do need to remember: there are deep and important things that the primary development team has to work on. The big stuff, the roadmap, the next biome, etc. But again, and I've spoken about it elsewhere, that's why you hire junior devs onto your team to help balance the workload of "low hanging fruit vs. the big idea."

So, to ask the question one last time:

From where are the team taking their feedback? Why would they release a crap patch nobody asked for while things as simple as a better server menu languish?

And hey Valheim team: we love your game. We love you guys. This is all asked from a place of wanting this game to thrive. :)

Now, in the words of Linda from Coffee Talk (anyone else old enough to get that, I heart your face): Discuss!