Problem with Sky, Returning after long time [Sky: Children of The Light] 

When a game makes you afraid to skip a day no matter what, you know it's bad. Like someone else said, the FOMO and constant grinding are seriously bad for mental health.

One of the thing Sky is missing is lore. There are so many collaborations but after 4 years of gaming I know nothing about the world except somebody came and die. I want to explore history in the game , not explore it in Wikipedia, you know what I mean…

I feel like what sky needs is a bit of lore. Like yeah, we have some kind of story, but they are mostly for seasons, take duets for example. Sky needs some lore for its base game. Like why is eden here? What happened to its elder? And the lore doesn't need to be so complicated, it can be simple, but made effectivley. And besides that, they really need to listen to the complains on the pricing. Some IAP stuff aren't even THAT breath-taking to cost real money.

Originally, when I started this game about 5 years ago, I didn’t even know what candles were. The ending made me CRY. I felt to connected. Now, I feel like the spirit tasks are repetitive and there isn’t any NEW content. They release new capes and maps but you just keep following the same pattern. I would like to see another huge story arc in the game for players that beat the eye of Eden. Maybe we figure out some secrets about Eden or maybe a new goal is created, not completing daunting tasks, but instead feeling like the tasks develop the story. I mean, the idea of the game is so lovely but there needs to be more, to the adventure, story, spirits and understanding of the darkness. With their new push for cosmetics, I can see that it’s less focused to developing a story and it’s more focused on getting profit. I have fallen into buying stuff on this game even in early seasons, but, it was because I WANTED too. They didn’t push it so much and the whole idea of getting them was less stressful. I remember the seasons were longer and less destructive on mental health.

The only youtube ad I’ve ever given even a single drop of attention was when, instead of a loud song and clearly fake gameplay, I saw a peaceful landscape, with winged characters flying holding hands. Not only did the game actually look real, it looked *good*. So when I saw the name “Sky: Children of the Light”, I started following it. I tried playing it on my phone, but didn’t really like the way the controls worked, so I decided to wait for the pc release. This was years ago. Sometimes, I still see a Sky ad. Except it isn’t like that anymore. It’s still leagues above any of those fake ads, but it’s clearly trying to emphasise its content, rather than its experience. I hope that by the time the full steam version releases, it’ll have improved for me to experience the Sky the way the veterans have, all those years ago, in all its glory

I don’t see it as a social game or as an exploration game and not even as a relaxation game. I see it as a collection game. Collect wax to collect cosmetics. If you want the really nice cosmetics, TGC collects your money.

Funny because they said they wanted to avoid fomo when the game was first released but now is capitalising on that aspect?

you get it! I started during aurora and basically quit this summer. it was just gonna be a break because I had a lot going on but getting some distance to the game I realised how unhealthy it had been to me. the fomo and daily grind and no friends to hang out with besides candle running.

I really feel this video. Been playing since little prince. I think the biggest issue with the community is how old season cosmetics such as owl hair are such a flex,and new players or those who didn't have an iOS device now have the fear of missing again such cosmetics and feel left out of the community.... which is sad. Then the bugs and glitches are horrid. Recently, one of the last seasons I was farming really hard,then...had the last two weeks with a bug where I couldn't see misions or my daily pass candle. I felt scammed. When I tried to contact TGC,instead of helping me or compensating me for THEIR mistake,thet just kept responding me why and when the bug happened..Cool .. I Guess? But I couldn't care less...I lost an Ultimate reward due their incompentence. TGC and the community are gonna kill this game. Specially with all this FOMO and flex of old limited cosmetics. People is scared,they don't wanna miss on cool stuff anymore. But this is burning them. EDITED: a typo ajhshsh

I am a new player who came to Sky after the release of the game on PC, but I already feel the problem of grinding. I am so sorry that I missed out on so many events and seasons in the game, because I could not play on other devices. And now I am forced to collect all the candles every day like crazy and save them, because I am AFRAID that I will not have the opportunity to buy something from traveling spirits. Now 4 t-spirits came at once and I was insanely excited, because, contrary to popular opinion, I like the atmosphere of this dark season and location. But when I realized how many candles are needed to buy all these cosmetics from spirits, I was horrified. Now I literally feel fear that if I do not log into the game for at least a day or miss even one candle out of 20 daily, I risk missing my chance to buy something that will be from a spirit who will only come for 3 days and who can then disappear for several years. It's really frustrating.. If I had some candle stock like an old player, and if I wasn't so attached to the spirits because I was a participant in the previous events and seasons, I wouldn't feel this crazy pressure. When I first came to the game, I was in love with it and felt new emotions that games haven't given me for a long, long time. But now it literally seems almost unbelievable to me that just a few months ago I could just play musical instruments for hours, walk around the world or relax in picturesque locations, without thinking about the fact that in 10 minutes I need to run to Geyser or Granma. When I finish my candle run, I'm too tired or I just don't have time for this game. And it upsets me. Honestly, I have an income and I can afford to spend money on an in-game item if I want to. So the donation issue doesn't scare me so much, although it is really sad when there are SO many microtransactions in the game. I think a lot of the prices are really high and TGC would make a lot more profit if they made the prices more affordable, simply because people would buy them a lot more often. I think you would happily buy the 5th anniversary cape if it cost two or three times less, because it was a wonderful, memorable event. But in the end, very few people made that purchase. Including me, I did not buy the cape, despite the fact that I was IN LOVE with the atmosphere of the festival and all its events. But what really scares me is the grind and the fear of not collecting candles. I hardly pay attention to the beauty around me, I only think about distributing my time and energy to collect wax. When I do tasks and something funny happens that makes me spend more time (for example, when players are fooling around or not opening 8-candles door or when you try to bring a spirit among the krillas, etc.) I do not want to have fun, use emotions and experience unique situations with players. I just want to menacingly raise my voice and tell them, hey, stop wasting my time! And this is very sad.. The magic of the game is still alive for me. But since I am a new player, it will be very difficult for me to reach that point where the lack of candles stops scaring me. And unfortunately I can not say what will happen first - reaching this point of calm or my burnout.

i started playing sky because i was unwell and wanted to experience something calm and chill, but after 3 months of playing and with my anxious personality, Sky started hurting me

I think the bottom line in all of this is, if you take a break from sky and miss several seasons in that absence, it’s going to be an almost impossible feat in returning back to sky, and catching up on past season’s TS and cosmetics/items. It’s just too overwhelming for most. Best to just do the next season coming up, if you’ve returned, and go from there. And get acclimated to all the new changes that occurred in Sky, during your long break. Collect your candles, and buy off TS when they come, one TS at a time. Also, you don’t have to BUY or COLLECT everything you missed in the past. Just get what you can afford, and what speaks to you. The FOMO is mind over matter. It’s all in your head. Once you get past that mental block, you’re able to play Sky game at your pace, and enjoy it too. There’s no need to "impress or flex" in Sky. 0r feel badly by those who do this. Everyone, new and old, has their own journey, their own path to follow, regardless where they are in Sky. No need to be intimidated by those in "glorified cosmetics" that you don’t have or own. The fact of the matter is, most players, if not all players are struggling to keep their head above water, and paddling like heck to keep afloat and maintain. The only way to beat the system, or stay ahead is to be a regular player, so to speak. But by no means, It’s not the end of the world, if you aren’t a regular Sky game player. Just enjoy it however way suits you, and breathe. 🤗💖👍

One thing that really irks me on top of all Sky’s increasing iap items are the limited edition capes that grant access to new areas in the game. The aurora cape is still purchasable and fairly easy to find someone with the cape to take you to it and the nine coloured deer cape grants a feature that enhances a nice area but that area is still accessible without it. The Little Prince aviator cape however, has an entirely separate and unique experience locked behind it and I don’t know a single person who forked up the $30 or so CAD to get it so that’s just a whole wondrous and fun substantially large part of the game barred from almost every player and for what? Edit: I thought aurora was still purchasable but went and checked and was wrong. Side note, I have one Little Prince aviator cape spell left and I've been holding onto it for a hangout with friends or smthn

FOMO in this game is horrendous. Bugs and glitched with lack of compensation is laughable. I saw in the mail they sent us a measly 15 candles with a couple seasonal candles and AC and wow, I'd rather not get anything at this point. Its humiliating. The visuals in this game are my favourite and some of the cosmetics they introduce are very nice but I am questioning if I should even spend for a company that gives no care to their community.

I've been playing sonce 2020 when Sky came to Android and followed it for like a year before that. This game was so important to me. I struggle a lot with making connections, and Sky made it so easy to find people to talk to and become actual friends. But it started crumbling when the issues with the overpriced ia purchases came. I dont care that for collaborations, you have to make separate items available for real money, but now you can't even get one nice cosmetic without the season pass. It used to be evenly distributed between season candles and season pass with the super unique items as ultimate reward. I also feel like the core story of Sky is completely forgotten. As much as I will never attempt the fire trial again, season of prophecies had me so engaged. It was interesting, challenging and just so intriguing. I miss that so much. My friend constellations also don't light up much anymore

It used to be lively and cozy.. Now it's empty and cold... I miss everything.

i’ve played since sanctuary but started seriously playing during flight…i think moomin will be my last season personally because it’s too hard to keep up and with all these iaps , it’s insane and honestly disappointing like…it used to be fun but now it’s tiring to the point i gotta FORCE myself to play and it shouldn’t feel that way

for me as a veteran player of 5 years i took a long break but i love the game a came back about a year ago and spend most of my time helping new players. i do my best to help them feel wonder most of them leave but it is how I play sky and it is the reason i stay the connections i make is what is important too me and makes me want to stay. The wonder and beauty is still there I take great joy in helping others find it. ( sorry for bad grammar)

after the Abyss season I was 100% sure they would start making existing maps cooler by adding underwater areas to every level, especially places with lots of water like Forest. Two? Three? Years later and the ONLY things we get are the Sanctuary trench and maybe one underwater tunnel in each new seasonal area. Honestly, it’s getting embarrassing seeing how empty some of the old areas are when compared to the seasonal areas. They have got to update more areas, and STOP updating the coliseum!! Seriously, we don’t need another coliseum re-skin!

commenting for more engagement. Well said, brother! This is exactly how i feel about the current state of sky too. It's sad how everyone's already losing their excitement for the moomin season with the full snufkin set taking 3 IAPs... And it's even extra sad when most players already suspect buying an irl moomin plushie will be cheaper than an IAP one. that's when you know there's a problem.... it really is a shame, because i've wanted a moomin collab since day 1

I feel like sky forgets that this game play ALL aged players. Adults are busy with daily works and studies, while kids and students can't afford beautiful or amazing stuffs since most good stuffs are IAP

For a game posing as a place to relax and socialize, it gives you no time to do that out of fear of missing out on scheduled things. As I said in their official discord, this game is run by currency. If you don't have enough candles, hearts, etc... say goodbye to EVER getting something that you felt like you wanna get... pertaining to the ultimate gifts. Instead of those gifts being a symbol of hard work born from your own time, it becomes a symbol of "I obeyed the rules so I got this item cause TGC's time is precious". Anyway, I've said a lot more well thought out stuff somewhere and have given up on thinking it might have some kind of effect on this game's future.

Sky was at its best for me when I was a moth, when everything was new, wonderful and beautiful. I have seen many moths quit after their first Eden run, they are the lucky ones. They get to end their experience with a beautiful and satisfying ending. But the rest of us foolish enough to remain? We suffer the grind, and allow ourselves to be controlled by FOMO. The only way you can be free from the grind, is to release yourself from the cycle, and allow yourself to be free from the game.

The first thing I thought when I got sick and couldn’t play for 2 days was how much candles I couldn’t get. That is when I realized, holy shi wtf am I doing. And just started to have lots of breaks and just accept, if I can get it okay, if I can’t then it’s okay too

4.5 yr daily player here: while I definitely agree with a lot of what you said and absolutely have my own grievances with the game...I really think the game is what the player makes of it. If the player goal is to get cosmetics and having that FOMO, yes...the grind is forefront. I like to play to just chill away from IRL. If I'm bored, I'll hang out in prairie...ushering moths around. I'll put up a soccer game in random places and get a game going. Throw a table up in forest to chat with people. Krill myself down to 1 star...just because. Recently friended a new person, who didn't understand why I was just hanging out at home in a table with randoms vs doing a cr. I think the issue is we are used to having games that have an end. Because Sky is endless...TGC is trying to create a goal (seasons/events/cosmetics) to keep players interested, when sometimes we have to entertain ourselves.

I joined sky to play with few of my online friends but they abruptly shifted to another game (genshin) so I continued to play , the experience was beautiful, even though alone I enjoyed doing old seasons , but few seasons in recent just don't sit right.... Aurora was cool it was well done also added the lore we initially wanted to see like the wasteland one. Season of Shattering was even though I am an old player was my first complete season was cool too . But this game rather than opening new areas should reconstruct the old ones with lore , like wasteland , in the end accordingly our goal was to give our light but it doesn't change anything (after the main game) eden still exists , the eden elder is still not United to the others , I used to visit sky to play music when I would feel depressed and sad , it always will be a game I fully enjoyed and loved , the focus is shifted from the exploration part to mere spirit lore that unlock places players barely visit with virtual cosmetics with insane prices that does not improve the in-game goal

I started playing sky during the Season of Enchantment event. and officially quit sometime around Season of Aurora. I remember playing the game for up to 6 hours every single day. I loved it to bits, and i remember when all the candle farming was done i would keep trying to play more. I had a lot of fond memories of sky, which are now all bittersweet. my fallout with sky happened when i realized the game only kept you playing through grinding. It was a never ending cycle once you finished the main story. I realized my friends would only get on to candle farm. Up to 6 people would hold hands and just go afk while the main pilot would collect candles. After a while, naturally this got very stale. Even though the game held a very special place in my heart, i started to grow distant from it. And no matter how many times i attempted to get back into the game it just never really worked.

I quit sky for more than 2 years too and came back, and I agree this is exactly what it feels.

here you go, we oldies know its hard to stick to it as much as before, its a constant burn out with all our life requirements and our self requirements even when it comes to entertaining, sky might not be our first choice anymore and i think that's okay , im totally fine with all the things im missing as long as i can still sometimes go in and hover around to get some sense of something, no massive grinding just actually chilling

Seasons and events are what makes the grind less boring, but with the new season having all the characters sucked out of the season pass and made into IAPS aswell as the remaining season pass being watered down with boring furniture I don’t see how TCG expects us to keep enjoying this game. i really loved this game before. Thank u for sharing your voice! Not a lot of people dare to speak out

you explained it so well! sky feels empty sometimes, but then i distance myself from the community and play solo or with my closest friends and that spark exists again. i will definitely recommend weekly rewards in feedback

😮you are so right, exploration was a major thing back in the day in sky, eventually they blocked of the tricks and that sucks. It was fun showing moths around and teaching them different things

It was always about the lore and the friends. Always, at least for me. I still only run Eden sometimes because I like to savor the experience. My favorite realm is Isle of Dawn because it is still pristine. I hate player creations sometimes. XD As a two-year veteran who's played almost every day since I got it, it helped me so much. But I've always played to help others, spirits or real players. I want to help others and enjoy the peace which is so rare in this world. Maybe someday, I will come back to Sky and fly through the Wind Paths and remember my first time ever flying. It felt like a dream. Thank you for this video.

The new quest system is so stupid I can only laugh - so instead of conveniently getting all our quests from the prayer stone, we have to walk up to individual spirits… and they call this increasing player engagement with the characters… but TGC has been randomly using “relive this spirit memory” as a very average boring grind quest for YEARS. How exactly are we supposed to suddenly get emotionally invested in the spirits you’re using for grinding? The only spirits I’ve ever felt an emotional connection with was the Remembrance season. That was a fantastic, heartbreaking story with a bit of lore that we don’t always get from Sky.

I realized when I show up for a game every day but don’t for my health goals…. There’s a problem.

i do hope they make some amazing changed. im always willing to come back. i got tired of the routine, or having completed everything that the game could offer and also achieve many personal goals and so i left for a while now, but I will always see it is as a comfort home to go back to

Dude, I went through the exact same thing! I stopped playing for 2 years and honestly? I feel like a moth exploring all the new things again! But also? I'm definitely feeling the grind again. Counting the amount of seasonal candles I can collect everyday to see if it's still possible to get a single outfit, fearing the thought of missing a single day. It's the exact reason why I stopped playing in the first place. The grinding took. Away. The fun. And I want to step in and tell TGC this but don't know where I can in a way that they'll listen.

I was someone who really really loved the monotony of Sky, it was relaxing for me to have my friends and all the quests I knew exactly what to do and stuff I could collect at my own pace! And then a new season came around… and another… and another… and eventually I couldn’t remember where anything was or keep up with the cosmetics or even finish the seasons or the new quest required more than one person and then suddenly Sky required planning and sorting out with friends when everyone would be online to do multi-person quests and… yeah. I still keep it on my iPad, but every time I pick it up I’m bashed with all the new stuff and the knowledge that the NEXT new stuff is already coming and I am never going to catch up because the game will always be updating faster than I can play. I still want to pick it up, maybe one day I will. I really like my cute little child, and remember fondly sitting in odd places to watch people or find a secret spot to play my only musical instrument secretly. I had so many good conversations with friends on there, both silly and serious, even just laying around listening to the ambiance together. Honestly? I would be fine if there was a suite of “pay only” cosmetics to keep the game afloat and a new season only coming out once a year. Slow and beautiful with routines and friends.

My brother and I grinded for a week or two so that we would have enough candles to get some of the days of color items. Just recently, ever since he and I found out the season of shattering spirits were coming back, we grinded for a long time. Even now, after the spirits arrived, I STILL need to grind to get at least 2 more of the cosmetics I want. Not to mention the butterfly hair accessory costed 50 freaking candles...Then there's the "days of" events where you need to log on everyday to get the tickets for new cosmetics, otherwise they'll cost waaaay too many hearts or candles next year. I also missed out on season of passage because of how burnt out I was with the game. The grinding can be so bad sometimes.

:( You really hit the point on this one

I returned after 2 years, felt happy when random friends stil remembered me. But most are offline now. Met new amazing people again:)

Everything you mentioned in this video are things I struggle with. To me Sky is like Journey, tainted with money and FOMO. I thoroughly enjoyed Journey and didn't get to play Sky from the beginning, bc I didn't have ios. Once I got it on Switch, I was hooked. The environments, the music and the feeling of soaring were all wonderful! I also like to play dress up with the cosmetics, but I got burnt out grinding candles too. I still play, but it's a chore. Eden has become a way to get more ascended candles than the emotional apotheosis of the story. There's nothing I do in the game but collect 4 types of currency (regular, ascended, seasonal candles and event tickets). I understand they need player engagement, but to drain the soul out of the game and have players run around the same hamster wheel every day, motivated by FOMO just isn't healthy. I have quit twice and missed out on great cosmetics. I want to quit playing daily, but the FOMO is too real. I could have learned to play guitar irl instead of grinding candles.

Every sky player needs to watch this video

Thanks for saying what I have been thinking lol, I started halfway through Season of Enchantment, stopped playing halfway through Aurora, came back after two years and while I play on and off.... man, It's just really bad now huh? It's given me extreme FOMO and encouraged my abandonment issues when i first played, recognized it and I quit. I thought it was bad then. It's definitely worse now xP Commenting for visibility.

it's been 2 years already that im leaving sky. I have no friends because most of my friend were burnout...either me. But sometimes, i miss the memories. I felt lonely and empty feeling, try to making friends with stranger but not working because sky nowadays is different...

Honestly the day I burn out and stop playing will me a good day. I started this April, am interested in the Halloween stuff and Moomin, but after that ehhh

I started playing in early December 2021 and sky has changed so much and honestly it’s not fun anymore. The amount of seasons is so tiring and I miss when there was 2 months between seasons. For me the game started going downhill when the aviary season came out because it was basically nothing. And the amount of IAP cosmetics has become insane like look at the Moomin season there are 6 IAP and you can’t complete any character outfit without them. And the downgrade of spirits to mannequins in seasons is sad and we are getting less and less emotes. But even with all that I feel like I can’t quite or stop participating in seasons because of FOMO and because of how much money I have spent on the game. I just miss how it was during dream and assembly🥲

Definitely felt this! Recently came back in June after playing as a little kid 4ish years ago. I have definitely felt way more pressure regarding cosmetics. Of course, it has been awhile, but from what I recall, I just… fit in. I loved sky. I was highly bullied, so it was a place I felt an escape, where I met people who genuinely cared and were great people. It fully served its purpose back then. Don’t get me wrong, especially with the new days of moonlight, I’ve actually met a lot of people waiting for light the past couple of days, but overall? No one is really active at all anymore. We are all (myself included, I can’t say I’m not guilty) just trying to complete our missions to get light and therefore cosmetics. I could sit down at any bench and speak to someone back in 2019-2020ish. Now it’s nearly impossible to find anyone to connect with or even help you open a door. It’s really wild how much the game has changed. It’s still one of my favorites, but the grinding is killing me. I feel like my love for this game is definitely half gone despite it being one of the only things in my childhood that allowed me to escape bullying, abuse, and other hardships. It was home and comfort for me. Now I spend too long each day just looking for light to seek out a new cosmetic to fit.

Thank you for making this video. I started to play sky in 2021 in the middle of season of the little prince and played it until 2023 end of season of moments. Then I run out of energy. The constant server splits and the bugs made me stop to enjoy playing. Also the pressure for farming candles every day, even if I'm too tired to do anything in real life, I logged into sky and did the quests and some candle running. Now I'm back in sky and a lot of changes are made. It felt interesting again. And I just don't pressure myself anymore for getting 20 candles every day. Only having time for doing the quests? Fine. It works well for me and I can enjoy the game again. I took a break from sky for 9 months. And like you mentioned, many old friends I had also quit playing. The pricing in sky is another thing. I also grew up with the Moomins. And I saw it in the beta that the cosmetics for the Moomin season are not completed. Only if you do some iap you'll get the full costume for any character? That's ridiculous in my opinion. Why buying a season pass if not one single outfit is complete? I know it's a collab but oh boy. There are still ftp players in sky. We will see how it turns out 😅😊. Thank you

Welcome back! 🥺🥺🥺 Yeah thank you for voicing out our frustrations over 4 years now, it's so exhausting. iap are too much now

I've been playing since nesting, the frustration with the overpricing could kill this game for many when they've stress cosmetics so heavily. I want to say they're worth it and support where I can but £20 for one cape alone? why not make 2-3 good capes each event or season and sell them at £10? It looks like their team is talented and even big enough to handle designing some and I feel like they would make more money and keep players coming back and satisfied. The monetization doesn't fit the games vibe, it feels like gacha shenanigans.

Thank you. A lot. Everything you say, every single point, it's so true. I once voiced my criticism in a TGC stream and was banned by a troupe member! It's really dangerous, when you are no longer allowed to voice your opinion. Luckily not all are like this and I found troupe members stepping back and streaming other games. I have no idea where the game is heading but Sky is my family. I will never really leave. But, as you mentioned, the old players in my constallation have mostly vanished... We will see what will happen. If all fails, I can contact most of my friends on other channels. ...

My favourite part of Sky was the first couple of playthroughs becaus the exploration was my favourite part. Id love new maps rather than just small sub areas being introduced for the seasons, and items that actually add to the gameplay rather than just cosmetics. (Even items that are standard in other games, like something to set an extra teleport point, or a backpack to hold more than 1 item on your back is missing from Sky)

It's just a dress-up game at this point lol there is no other "gameplay" than candle running. They could preserve some of the functions from events to make the world feel less dead...

They should have improved housing, maybe make instances hosted by the players in a bigger map than that house, with plenty of customization, like choosing your own skybox, ambience, and a variety of assets to decorate your map.

6:27 haha! The guy sitting on the right of the other employee looked and sounded like he just woke up or was not feeling it at all. Literally when it is his turn to talk his first response was "I don't think I understand the question". Maybe Sky has burned him out?

I started playing in early 2022. I'll give you a slightly strange analogy as an example. In 2022, I felt like I was somewhere outside the city. People were in no hurry, enjoying life, and were very open to communication. Now it feels like I'm somewhere in big city, idk maybe NYC or Tokio. People are running to work, working hard, they have no time to talk, no time to stop and look at the stars, after work they go to bed tired. And it repeats day by day, again and again. They can't stop, cause they don't wanna be homeless. Rent is expensive, clothes expensive. And they look on other ppl how successful they r and they wanna be like them, so they working even more hard. They run like squirrels in a wheel, but there is no finish line. The biggest hole in sky for me it's lack of contact. Ppl say "but we have so many events, what u need?". But these events it's just cosmetics, cosmetics and again cosmetics, which only gives people a sense of pressure - they should work hard. Lately I often say the same phrase after the start of each event, after each seasonal quest "and that's it???", cause I don't see anything interesting, only cosmetics. I need some lore, I need smth new, I wanna cry, wanna laugh, wanna feel. Also I heard so much stories how ppl angry when someone trying to lit their candle, or saying "they were pursued flirted with me" just because someone used cute emoties, so now I'm afraid to try to lit somebody or use any emote, especially around Ikemens, cause omg what if they will think I'm flirting, I'm fall in love with them.😂 So there is not much content/lore in game, less of communication in a social game. With my best friend we can play other games with content or watch a movies. But idk why I still open sky everyday.. Just can't stop. Wanna add smth important: guys I never was in NYC or Tokio. I believe both cuties incredible beautiful and both countries USA and Japan r amazing!❤ I gave these cities as an example only because they are very large cities and I believe the people are very hardworking there probably and irl it's not bad❤ That's impressive actually ❤ So I hope if somebody will see my comment, u won't be upset about it❤

I'd wish the break between the seasons were longer

i started back in 2019 and stopped around when little prince was out. During that window of time, it was such a low stress game, the dailies never felt like chores to me. I think sky only started becoming a chore when the traveling spirits came out. The endless daily candle grinds killed me fast, and i only recently started playing again after a few years. For the most part ive been having fun again, but since ive missed over 10 seasons im feeling that horrible grinding mindset again. And whats sad is how the developer in the interview said he didnt want the purchases to be about “the fear missing out,” but thats exactly how it feels. (To me at least) even with just the candle purchases, not the ones for real money. Like how rn the shattering spirits are out. I feel like i need to get as many items as i can before theyre gone because who knows when theyll be back?? I was even out with a friend all day today and couldnt stop thinking every now and then about how i wont have a lot of time to candle run. Thats horrible 😭 Sky was more fun when things werent so based around grinding and the items :( I dont think my return to sky will last very long. Most of my friends stopped playing anyway, out of the hundreds of stars in my friend constellation, i can seriously count on my hands how many are still active.

I remember my first time playing was in 2021 and there were only 23 days before the end of dreams,i actaully ENJOYED the game exploring doing quests i kept playing until 2022 march,from that point on the fun and magic were gone it was just grind grind grind,and so i left..tried to come back but didnt really vibe with it anymore..

I am an Android veteran and after (above) 4 years i can say that doing daily is quite boring and playing every single day is tireing.. But even tho i still love sky and it's atmosphere

I remember my first time in eden, getting helped by other players after i avoided it for a while… I actually cried, it can still make me tear up when i do it. I refuse to grind eden to get AC, because i find it such a beautiful ‘experience’ that i do not want to ruin with the grind/fomo mindset (and luckily not that many AC are needed for cosmetics)

i came back to sky recently after a long, long time... it feels so different now. Back then i was focused on going through the realms and getting through eden! And i met a lot of people, we'd log on and try and find cool things we'd miss, or i'd get lead by more experienced players to winged light etc. it was so fun. I already feel the difference, I'm scared of not getting cosmetics, I don't even like them a lot of the time, i just feel like i'm missing out on so much. I've been doing the daily tasks, i quite enjoy them, but the fear of not getting candles everyday is *intense*. i think i'll save for moomin, as I love the moomins so much. after that, well. I'll just be chill. not so much grinding. I guess as a solo player grinding feels quite calm, but not if it's out of fear/fomo

Aayo I was just thinking about you. Like there are more Nepali play in the sky now but the vets are slowly leaving the game including some Nepali vets too that I got to know over time. Still good to see you 🙌

I think what frustrates me the most is that TGC wound up using a sort of idea I was hoping for -- bringing a bunch of previous spirits to a shop and have a handful of them come and go in rotations -- and instead used it for the Nesting shop. And there are so many things they could do to make our experience better beyond the TS shop -- some possibly even better than the shop -- that they never bother with: make hearts ACTUALLY easier to obtain for solo players, raise the daily candle cap if they don't plan on lowering prices, replay past seasons to give new players a chance and veterans a break, or just keep all of the spirits and their cosmetics available like the base game spirits. The FOMO's long-since gotten old, the economy for hearts is a shambles with no one really wanting to trade, and the IAPs are more expensive than getting REAL NEW GAMES. When I first got into Sky at the end of Aurora, I was hoping it'd be different from the f2p games that only cater to the players willing and able to fork over that much money in the first place, because that always hurts a game's player-base in the long run. But for all the big talk from the devs about not being about that life, they just fell headfirst into that abyssal pitfall anyway and refuse to dig themselves out.

Started playing during Season of The Little Prince after it had finally come to android and man I had fallen more in love with the game, I had wanted to get into it for the longest time but eventually had taken a big hiatus after two seasons as my mental health dropped and logging in everyday felt tiring. Two weeks ago I came back to the game and had felt the immediate stress and sadness of seeing all the cosmetics and events I had missed out on but decided to push through and restart collecting again especially since I was starting over from scratch (from android to pc). It's a shame how a game with so much potential has so little development, the new seasons are great and I love them to bits but not much has really changed. For me I wish there were more lore bits to read into or even little mini-games to complete, the only thing that has been getting me to login as of recently again to collect candles is the fact I'm ubering other players during candle runs and winged light runs to try and meet new people and connect. I just hope that in the future the company helps to bring the joy back to the players.

I wonder if there is any solution to avoid overpriced cosmetics. That price includes the whole experience of sky, not just the cosmetic. Would I accept to pay a monthly subscription? I think so. For a game with friends, events, not a single ad, for my sanctuary.

I've been playing Sky for I believe 3 months now, pretty new player and yet even as a new player, I agree with literally everything you're saying here. Recently I've started to slowly realize these issues.

I honestly agree with that. i miss the times where you were beeing social with friends and could have fun. i remember joining the game around mid 2019 as a kid not beeing able to buy anything cause i wasnt allowed to. with my first own pocket money i bought the Enchantment Season Pass wich was my first pass ever. i was so hyped and happy. but not only for the stuff i could get but the feeling that i could spend money on a game i like and support the creators of the game. i had some great years but at the end you barely meet new people, cause everyone just grinds. the few people i personally met were rude af for no reason whatsoever (might just have been my bad luck). That , the ever repeating cicle and a lot of toxic friends and over all experiences made me quit sky and never return. I just wish the Devs would focus on their players before money. ofc they need money to run the game, but they got more and more greedy and less caring about their players wich is so sad to see. i hope one day sky gets the hype back

I badly miss sky. I'm grateful for all the memories I had with it. Met so many great friends and even met the love of my life. I owe sky for saving me during a really tough time in my life. Now everyone is "gone". It doesn't feel the same anymore despite how badly I want to feel the joys from the old days. I really hope TGC saves this precious games for all of us. I don't think I can ever feel this kind of connection with people through any other game. Now, no matter how pretty the new item is, I have no will to grind for it. Aurora was technically the last best moment I had with my friends. After that it only went downhill. I can never fully delete the game on any device I have. I'll pop in a few times..to play my piano in my usual spot where my friends both awake and afk would have listened. Now it's just lonely and cold with no warm light from a friend's heart or from a little moth's innocent candle.

I'm wondering if the recent issues are being worsened because the studio's focus is split with the upcoming animated show. I only know a little about animation, but I do know that to make a show as visually appealing as the trailers takes so much freaking effort, especially if it's going to have a whole season of episodes. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for the show, but I suspect that it's causing game issues to get pushed lower on the priority list.

i definitely feel like one way they can improve the game is through giving more concrete lore. initially, the vague story aspects worked as it gave some mystique and anticipation, but years later the story is still fragmented and no one really knows anything for certain. so many theories are essentially baseless and pure speculation because they rarely give us tidbits of actual substance. not to mention, it’s clear now that part of the vague lore is just so that they can implement new seasons honestly this is unrealistic and very likely won’t happen, i’m not even sure if this is the best idea myself, but if they abandon the seasonal framework and find some other sort of way to make things intriguing with the lore without being so repetitive, maybe the game could rekindle it’s spark

I haven’t played since mid season of nesting. I once swore that i would play this game religiously, at least until for 5 years. Season of moomin just got announced, I miss sky’s 5th anniversary… but everytime I even try to open the game, I feel instantly demotivated, it’s the effect of burn out finally hitting me after 3 years. The quality of seasons and events going down doesn’t help. Not to mention like, 700 other problems as well as the most prominent being the iaps😭😭 this game feels so predatory now. There’s no sense of wonder anymore. There’s no new mentions of lore, no attention to the older seasons, overusing the “crowd” feature and social aspects of the game, forcing players to either play the game with other people or not play at all, etc.. I just don’t feel any excitement anymore going on. I wish to return someday.. maybe if they release an event that actually hooks me in but now I feel like all the other aspects of the game overshadow cute cosmetics, fun events.. it’s honestly really sad. This game genuinely means so much to me, it’s my comfort game to this day. But it’s getting harder to hang onto it🙁

Wow i didn't know there was a former disney employee there. Makes sense, the animations are very nicely done

I first played sky in 2019, I hadn’t even known anything about journey or the company at all. I was just bored as hell during my school feild trip and saw it in the app store. 2 hours was enough to get through the whole experience. I didn’t know anything or how many spirits I had to light up, which areas to explore and progress. The ending scene, I could never forget it. At the time, I thought hundreds of other players were live with me as we ascended 😂 kind of funny now, and wanted to know how they were holding hands together. The whole experience was something so different to what normal games were. I got so excited when I found out I could customise my character back then too. I remember really wanting the music instruments. It was simple back then, with only the main spirits and the elders. There wasn’t even a first season yet, just the main base game. I started up again 2023 and I was so shocked that the day I left the game was the day the first season was out. I missed out so much stuff that it was hard not to feel fomo about it. It’s been a year now and I’ve been scrambling and buying almost every season and items that I like. But unlike my past experience where I explored freely with my old friends and found ways to get more candles to buy the elder cosmetics, I had to grind and grind for candles and check the timings for granny if I wanted to finish my grinding time before 2 hours had clocked in. And one day I realised that the game had become something like a chore. I’d get sleepy and bored running candles on hidden forest and that used to be my favourite map. I wish Sky didn’t become so money driven and timing consuming. I missed the days where sky kids could just play around and talk to people and have fun with no pressure to grind.

I first played the game when it got its Android Release. The game then became my comfort game. It had its bugs and flaws, but I had hope as it had a world full of wonder, and I made friends there. The seasons that time were memorable. But I had to leave by the time it was the end of the Season of Flight, because I was the kind of player to 100% grind (solo/with friends) and that finally brought me to my burnout. When I finally took a step back from Sky, it felt refreshing, and gave me a clarity of mind to realize the game that was full of wonder was slowly just a game of grinding for cosmetics. (To which I made the joke to my friends one time that it's an expensive dress up game.) I only came back to give a small visit to my old friends a year or a bit more after my break from the game, and for the first few days it felt good to go thru the realms to remember nostalgic places. But after a while of nostalgia, I still see it as a dress up game of expensive cosmetics. The seasons didn't give the same feels as it had when Sky was still new. It was kind of sad I had to uninstall the game the second time. I'll still say Sky is still a must play game. It will give you the sense of wonder at first, and wonderful memories. But don't rely on it for long term unless you're into monotonous grinding for that one small cosmetic you may or may not discard once the next best thing comes out. Good video you got here!

What an awful time to come back 😔

I'm also a returning vet. Started in Sanctuary and played near daily all the way till Little prince then stopped and popped back for Aurora and slowly started to play again. I had to psyche myself up to push back that feeling of FOMO and allow myself to truly play "Casually" again. I stopped buying most iap (excluding the surprisingly cheap summer event returners) because I watched that trap set itself up, none more so than the cinnamon collab and i fear for the children who have access to money for these insane new prices. I wish we didn't have to play mind games to keep our sanity because I still love this game a lot. At the absolute least we have the 3 semi passive gatherings set up (Geyser, Grandma and Turtle)

This is my last season for the same all stuff you shown us 😣 It’s frustrating how this game became so FOMO and make me feel uncomfortable. The next months will have the record at cosmetic IAP cost in the clouds ☁️

I play way back when Little Prince event just started(just found the game). It felt magical and everything but after finishing Eden there's really nothing more after that for me other than collecting cosmetics. But oh god the GRINDING in this game! I got on and off few times and I'm back now just because my sister start playing it.

Literally got an ad halfway for Sky as i was watching. I didnt know they still pushed this game

Good video, totally agree. Maybe we just need to look at it from another angle now? :)

I LOVE THIS VID AS SO MANY OTHER PLAYERS ik EITHER WONT ADMIT HOW BAD SKY CAN BE-or think you’re “just a skill issue” I also joined at the lil prince season and 100% agree on the toxicity between veterans and moths as I can’t remember how many times I would get asked if I had “--“ accessory and what not I dropped sky as it ended up really stressing me out between how people were acting and the constant stress to get everything done before midnight(I would literally destroy my sleep schedule to keep up with other older players around me with more wax/hearts/etc) and saving up for weeks just to get a cape the last time I played really opened my eyes at how bad it was for my mental health As much as I loved my first season I can’t say I’ve seen another season that really caught my attention/had as much effort put into it or just-aren’t really that focused?on the experience for the player for each one as all the ones before little prince’s always left a mark that people remembered I really don’t see it as worth it to keep showing up for seasons It made me sad to leave the game but :/

Seeing those clips make me regret spending a single penny on this game.

i’ve been playing almost consistently since feb 2020 and i’ve felt really burnt out. i saw another comment mention how people feel a lot of FOMO if they don’t play for awhile. that was me, and that’s mainly what’s been keeping me from quitting. there’s still a lot of aspects i enjoy but this video deeply resonated with me. for a game that feels like it needs to have a proper end based on its storyline (although extremely vague) and initial gameplay, it continues on. their past games had a specific goal and end in mind, and while i don’t think that suits sky, the aesthetics and gameplay of their past works runs deeply in sky. idk, i like all my limited cosmetics but what does it really do for me? hm..

I’ve played almost every season since Enchantment. This is the first season I didn’t buy a pass for… logging in no longer felt relaxing; it felt like an obligation so I wouldn’t miss out on the constant stream of limited-time items and events. I wasn’t getting enough of a break in between seasons/events to truly *choose* to log into Sky, just because I wanted to. I felt I had to take a break from the game to pull myself out of the FOMO I’d had from years of investment. It’s hard to get myself to log in just to finish the seasonal quests now, which was the only thing I planned to do this season.

i LOVE sky ive been playing it consistently or at least not majorly missing any seasons or events ever since i started (just before season of sanctuary started), and imo the problem isnt necessarily that tgc got greedy. the greed is secondary to the grind that tgc itself is going through. i feel like sky got popular and tgc got busy, and once tgc got extra busy with collabs and new content, they wanted to work even harder which in and of itself is really nice, but this came with a huge downside which was that they worked so fast and so hard on this new content that they basically dragged all of us with them like our ankles were tied to a car and we were all being dragged around over the hot asphalt, dust and bugs flying right into our faces. i still love sky, but i genuineky want to urge tgc to slow down. they are working hard and fast and they are doing great with most of the collabs and events imo, all the power to them for getting so many collaborations and putting out so many new things, but theyre doing this at the cost of neglecting the "small" issues like rampant bugs and theyre completely ignoring pacing, so it feels like they're churning out season after season and event after event back to back so fast that my energy and wallet can't keep up with it at all. spending maybe $5 a month on events and season combined was very managable, but now that theres more events and seaosns, it's become more like double that price, and i've just stopped buying event cosmetics even though i used to always love to do it because i would look at my bank acc and feel really bad about spending money so fast.

Thanks for making this. I feel so resonated with this video.

Gosh this makes me sad, i started a little after android release, left at prophecy and came back after missing aroura. Its true, very monotonous but that fomo hits deep knowing i missed a majority of sky before it became how it is now. Still love it, still play it and grieve with it. If i see you in the skies, know i love you 💚

YOOOO YOU BACK! I love yo videos! You must have got burnt out 🤣😭, i kept Wondering when will you upload again, but anyways, yo back to at pol.

mhm. I had to choose between fear of missing out and beta spoilers. I picked spoilers. I really have to log in during days of style to get the sunglasses and during days of feast to get the pillows for my nest room and the ski goggles. I'm a mischief and Revival moth, with that I don't need to log on during upcoming Mischief. I got the boots last year, I almost never take them off. Those boots are my fist non-base game cosmetic. I got really attached to them. My outfit consists rn of mischief boots, fifth anniversary pants, Revival wine red cape, Duet pianist hair, abyss diving mask, tournament torch and optionally days of love heart barrette. I'm missing the Style sunglasses to complete my look (to match with the pants). After that I'm mostly done with my looks for Sky. And after that, I can either learn how to play piano, find someone to chat with or just soft quit the game.

I’ve been playing on and off after a friend showed me and some others it. There’s so much grinding and while my friends wanted to rush things and do WL runs and candle runs, I wanted to just take my time to explore. They also all have very nice/cute cosmetics (either from playing for years or being able to buy all the stuff) it’s frustrating to grind it all, just to rush and get a 200+ candle or 50+ heart piece (and to get tons of hearts you p much need tons of friends who play every day) within 2 weeks I think I will return for a bit to see the Moomin collaboration/ season, only because I adore moomins and the story they’re using is so good/ shines a light on child neglect/abuse / found family (unfortunately with it being a season I may have to spend the 10 dollars for the season pass

Welcome back 🎉

I have started playing the game ever since 2021 during the The Little Prince season. Now, with TGC’s “grand” shift of change, especially implementing the aviary’s arrival, it just become a chore to do rather than an engaging open world game. Many seasons and events, even TS to farm to, increasing IAP (Duets, Moomin, I’m looking at you rn) and seasons not focusing on the big chunk of lore. TGC needs to listen, to what the players want and need. Both benefiting the old and new players.

been playing since paradise, last fully active during dreams it’s just a shame, i can’t rlly seem to stick to it anymore it sucks

Man I love sky so much I hate to see it be sooo grindy and iap heavy. I just wanna make funny little characters and fanfiction

Came back after 2 years!! However everything that’s I love and want I can never get. It is just super annoying and sad that TGC makes it all IAP and never brings back ts.

For four years I have been playing I never stressed myself about grinding except if there was a ts I wanted to buy it's cosmetics REAL BAD, but that is the odd. The normal for me is to have like 70 candles and spend them on friends. I played sky when it was still about the player and the experience, and I held on to that mentality. I play when I feel like it, I grind when I feel like it. What I enjoy the most is hanging out with strangers. My lack of candles has always been a joke in my family because I enter the game with the aim to collect, but end up spending the next hour emoting with a Grey player then sleeping in a nice looking place. Although that mentality is still a big part of my sky experience, I have noticed a great change in player base that had been caused by the shift in focus by the developers. In the past, players enjoyed hanging out and "wasting time" not grinding but socializing. One time I spent two hours playing the trials with complete strangers that finished before me every trial but waited for me to finish with them. Nowadays people are just speed running everything. In the past I spent hours at home space by the Sakura tree playing music and emoting with strangers, sleeping in funny poses and taking pictures. Now home and aviary home is almost always empty because everyone is rushing to collect. The 4th anniversary brought back what I loved in sky, the social experience. I played with strangers and befriended them. Almost every day someone logged in and just hung out. I feel as if after then, the feel for hanging out really died out. I won't blame it all on tgc, nor the players, but how society has changed at this point. We no longer see families and friends hanging out in parks or gathering in someone's back yard. They are always doing an activity that requires spending money like shopping or entertainment. They no longer just simply hang out. It's really really sad.

When started it was a wonderful experience, I fall in love with the game when i saw my sister playing Sky. I have to agree that my interest in the game dropped because of the repetitiveness, the costs, the bugs, and the toxic players. That being said, I still have hope for the game and hope ThatGameCompany addresses these in the future.

Another point- Sky has fallen off HARD lately, and I’ve been playing pretty consistently (but not daily) since summer of 2020. All the updates to the game, whether minor changes or big seasonal events, have been ridiculously low quality compared with the things we used to get. For nearly the last year, there hasn’t been a single good exploration season, except Nine-Tailed Deer which was collaboration. Nesting and Duets have been particularly insulting as back-to-back awful seasons. Completely repetitive final quests; it was great the first time the hand-holding with spirits happened in Season of Moments, but WHY WAS IT REUSED? Twice?? For Duets AND Nesting?? No creativity in cosmetics, no new mechanics, unless you count expanding the shared space system - mind you, I’ve NEVER seen ANY of my friends hanging out in their Nests, and I’ve been playing daily since Nesting because I stupidly bought the pass for Duets. Silly update to the daily quest system which makes things less convenient. If they were trying to go for more cozy spaces than big exploration areas, they’ve failed.