This might turn into a bit of a rant, but I've been wanting to get this off my chest for a while. And I'm genuinely curious how other longtime players feel about it.
I've been playing 7 Days to Die since Alpha 16. Steam says 700+ hours, but with all the time I've spent playing overhaul mods like Dead Legacy, I'm probably somewhere around 1,500 hours total. Maybe more.
And here's the thing: I still love this game.
There really isn't anything else quite like it. The building, the destruction, the looting, the hordes... it's a combination that keeps pulling me back.
But honestly, the way this game has been developed over the years is getting ridiculous.
And no, this isn't another "Alpha 16 was perfect, everything new sucks" post.
I actually enjoyed Alpha 17 too. The new perks were interesting. Some changes were genuinely good. I have nothing against developers experimenting with their own game.
What bothers me is something else entirely.
Does anyone else feel like we've spent years watching the developers remove mechanics, only to bring them back later and announce them like exciting new features?
Remember the old clothing system? Temperature, getting wet, actually having to think about what you're wearing?
Remember combining items to improve their quality?
Remember when exploring and looting felt a little more unpredictable? When you could get lucky and find something amazing early instead of everything being so heavily tied to your progression?
And the smell system? Yeah, we had that too.
Over the years, so much of this was removed, simplified, or completely reworked.
And now look at the updates.
Smell is back! Temperature and clothing mechanics are back! Item combining is back!
I'm reading some of these announcements thinking, wait a minute... didn't we already have this stuff?
Don't get me wrong. I know these aren't always identical systems, and I appreciate the work that goes into rebuilding them.
But seriously, how did we reach a point where getting back features we lost years ago feels like a major achievement?
It's like someone took half the furniture out of your house, waited five years, then proudly announced that they're giving you a sofa.
Thanks, I guess?
And then there's the whole bandit situation.
Oh boy.
I recently went digging through some old development discussions, and it's even more absurd than I remembered.
Apparently, way back in Alpha 8, the GAME ITSELF had a loading screen saying "Bandits coming soon."
Alpha freaking 8.
Even Roland, a moderator on the official forums, confirmed this back in 2022.
The developers were talking about bandits in 2015 and 2016. Then there were more discussions, more plans, more previews, more promises.
In 2023, bandits were listed as a major goal for Alpha 22.
Then Alpha 22 became 1.0.
No bandits.
The game officially leaves Early Access in 2024, the price goes up, and bandits are moved to the post-release roadmap.
Q2 2025.
Well, it's October 2026 now.
So... where are they?
At this point, "Bandits coming soon" has been part of the game longer than some actual gameplay mechanics.
I genuinely don't understand how we're supposed to take development roadmaps seriously anymore.
And it's not just bandits. What happened to the long-promised story content? The broader NPC and faction systems? How many more years are we going to keep moving the finish line?
What makes this especially frustrating is that this isn't some tiny Kickstarter project anymore. The game has sold over 20 million copies. The studio has grown and joined Behaviour Interactive.
We're seeing paid cosmetic packs, new update announcements, and plenty of promises about the future.
But some of the things people were excited about more than a decade ago still aren't here.
I'm not saying the developers have done nothing. Obviously they have. The graphics, POIs, animations, world generation, and plenty of other things have improved enormously.
And I know some people genuinely prefer the newer progression systems. That's completely fair.
But I can't shake the feeling that we've spent an absurd amount of time going in circles instead of moving forward.
And I think newer players deserve to know that history.
If you started playing around 1.0, you might look at recent updates and think, "Wow, they're adding all these survival mechanics!"
And from your perspective, that's understandable.
But some of us remember playing with versions of those mechanics eight or ten years ago.
That's what makes these announcements so frustrating.
The worst part?
I'll probably keep playing.
Because underneath all this mess, there's still an incredible game. And that's exactly why I care enough to write this ridiculously long post.
I don't want Alpha 16 back.
I want the game to actually move forward. I want the features we've been hearing about for years. I want updates that feel like progress rather than restoration work. And honestly, I just want to feel like the developers respect the people who've supported this game for so long.
So I'm curious:
For those of you who've been around since the early alphas, do you feel the same way? Or do you think the current direction is actually better?
And for newer players, did you know how many of these systems existed in older versions?
Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe I'm missing something.
But after all these years, I think it's fair to expect more than another roadmap and a few returning mechanics.
I'd genuinely like to hear what everyone thinks.
