Seth answers Growtopia questions (FAQ)

What is a F.A.Q.?

It means frequently asked questions.  It’s a single webpage that I can direct people to for detailed answers to common questions.  I also have one for my BBS games here which I sold to another company.

I’ll update it to modify and add questions as needed. (last updated 8/17/2020)

Why did you sell Growtopia in 2017?


I can only speak for myself for all of these answers, but after four years Growtopia had gotten too big. Too many players, not something I’d ever consider a problem before it happened.

While we were able to hire great customer support folks, it was still only Hamumu and myself developing and running the game.  

We were stretched too thin.  When you’re taking money for a product, you have a responsibility. 

The legal responsibility grows proportionally to your player count and how much they’re spending.  Too much cash was being spent for us to claim ignorance if something went wrong.  

What if a backup failed?  What if we screwed up on COPPA compliance?  The excuse of “hey, we’re just two people” wouldn’t cut it anymore.

The pressure builds.  After four years of running Growtopia I started to have regular nightmares, usually involving backups failing during a rollback or other server problems.

In the end, selling the game meant it could continue to see new features and grow, without us having to become bosses and have employees and all that, things we never wanted.

We got to use the profit from the sale to remain small and happy indies that can work on what we want, when we want.

In my experience that’s extremely rare you get a chance like that so I feel really lucky it worked out.


Would you ever come and work on the game as a real dev?

No. Assuming I was ever asked, I couldn’t accept the job.

Working on an MMO is not something you can do part time, you have to eat and breath it and get woken up by alarms at 3 AM when something breaks.

My life has changed now, less stress and very different kinds of challenges including running a cafe and hotel with Akiko. (Hotel? Well, er, it’s only one (amazing) room, but we are officially licensed as both a restaurant and hotel)

Growtopia is being ruined!

Ok, that’s not really a question but it’s something people say to me sometimes, especially when the server is down.

People tend to remember the positives of history rather than the negatives.  But if you go back to the forums there was no time after the first year we ran the game there were not “Growtopia is ruined and dying now” threads being made.

The life of this kind of game is all about change – breaking, fixing, adding, and very little removing.

The bigger the change or addition, the greater the risk.  The more systems piled on top of each other it is increasingly challenging it is to keep it all running smoothly. I have a lot of sympathy for the developers as I know their pain. :)

I hope they succeed and the game runs forever but there isn’t really any kind of comment I can make on this kind of thing, especially since I don’t play much or know what the issues are.

If the game isn’t for you, try something else for a while, it’s perfectly normal and ok to get tired of a game and bounce around.


I was banned for no reason, please help me by contacting Ubisoft

Sorry I can’t.  I don’t have access to the logs or support system, I’m the wrong person to ask. 

It would be really awkward if I was trying to do any kind of modding while not actually on the support team!

You need to go through the normal Growtopia help channel here.

Do you still play GT?  Can you sign my board?  Take a selfie with me in the game?

This is kind of complicated to answer.  Currently my @Seth account remains completely locked (even from me) unless I specifically ask for it to be unlocked for a period.  I like it this way.

The reasons for this are: security (it’s VERY bad if this account gets hacked), performance (if people see I’m online, they ALL msg me at once, can cause problems), and also something I call “the rumor wildfire” – sometimes a rumor starts that a hacker is using my account and mods and support gets flooded with emails about this emergency – so it’s important that they know in advance when I’ll be online.


So in the end, I almost never ask that my account be unlocked because it’s a hassle for everybody and I don’t want to cause any trouble.  (Ubisoft has been very cool about it, but I still feel bad)

I tried using another account but.. Mehhh, it’s just not the same.

It’s pretty rare that I login these days for anything other than P.A.W. for reasons stated above.  

However, if I’m online in the game I will make every effort to accommodate those kinds of requests, I use /rgo a lot.


Note: One of the conditions of the sale was nobody would ever pretend to be us, so if you ever see @Seth or @Hamumu talking to you, it’s really us!

Are you annoyed that every tweet or video you make has Growtopia related comments and questions on it?


The truth is I’m really not.  It’s proof that we made a big impact in people’s lives.  I hope nobody forgets our work on old school GT and I appreciate those players because without them I’d likely still be sweating over contract work instead of enjoying the freedom I do now.

I do feel bad if someone I replied to on Twitter gets a lot of GT related stuff they didn’t want though (they probably don’t even know what GT is!), and if I reply it makes it worse, so just tweeting at me (or emailing) directly is the best way to go for a GT related question that isn’t answered here.

Will you give me DLs and make me a mod so I can stop casinos?

No I can’t.  I’m not a GT mod or dev anymore, I’m just a player like you.  

By the way, my own kid would DEFINITELY ask developers of Fortnite for vbucks and skins before even saying hello, so I totally understand why younger players ask me that question.  I can’t ever actually say yes though.

Will you make another MMO?

No plans right now.

Can you try to buy back Growtopia?

No, I mean, even if it was for sale and I could afford it, I don’t want to run it again for the reasons mentioned above.  

Maybe in twenty years ask me again though. :)


Will you be in GT during Player Appreciation Week 2020, whenever that is?

Yep, I’ll be there and using /rgo like a madman so feel free to msg me if you see me!

When will <insert thing> be fixed or <insert thing> be added?

Sorry, I don’t know the answers to that kind of thing.

If I see the @Seth account online, is that you?

In most cases yes, but keep in mind this account may be logged on for maintenance reasons by GT staff. (To stop small locks from decaying, for example)

How were the original mods chosen?

Some were carried over because they were trusted mods in my other game Tanked, some were hand picked by me. In later days they were probably mostly suggestions from existing mods or chosen by Solorian. I can’t remember Hamumu ever picking a mod but maybe I’m forgetting.

Why don’t you wear clothes

Bodies need to breathe! Oh you mean in the game? I had the look (the cape, etc) early on and it just sort of stuck.

Oh, you know what, it was originally for a kind of super-hero alter ego I would use called “Heroman” who would run around punishing scammers but maybe I got tired of changing the clothes and just left it on. That’s why the item’s name is “Heroman Cape”.

Technical questions about servers: Were they run in RAID?

Yes, Growtopia’s server used custom picked super fast PCIe SSD raid arrays. Of course I can’t speak to the current technology state or challenges, only what we were using in 2017 and earlier.

How much did you sell GT for?

Er, I avoid answering this because it might fall within an NDA I signed, not sure. However, I’m pretty sure the number is just sitting there in the Ubisoft 2017 public financials so you might be able to figure it out.

Where did you get the music and sound effects?

Both Hamumu and I used a lot of sounds (and music) from our older games as well as new ones. (Some licensed, some created by us) As for music, Cory Mollenhour was commissioned to do the main Growtopia soundtrack. When characters talk it’s usually Hamumu’s voice.

Is there any update you regretted making? Or wish you could change how it worked entirely?

Not really, but I was worried about the vending machine update. I knew it would fundamentally change the game and giant vending machine worlds would replace “trade worlds” where people communicated more. In the end I guess it did, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I was against a global market method of buying/selling items for the same reasons. (that’s a feature that never made it in)

What did Hammu do after and do you still talk?

He’s still making great games, go play Robot Wants It All, it’s packed full of Hamumu-humor goodness.

Yes we still talk occasionally. Well, if text counts as talking, but that’s how we always communicated, we never liked meetings or phone calls!

How’s Cosmo doing, does he still play Growtopia?

He doesn’t play these days but there was a time when he and his friends from school were addicted. That’s never happened with any of my other games.

Over the years “Little cute sweet Cosmo” changed into “studies too much math genius teenager Cosmo” who is great in a different way but I’ll never forget this little guy:

Dang, just teared up posting this pic.

Even more stuff to read

If you got this far, why not go all the way and read this stuff too:

Two guys made an MMO – The Growtopia postmortem (2013)

Seth’s old Growtopia question/answer forum thread (2014)

60 thoughts on “Seth answers Growtopia questions (FAQ)

  1. Ryan B

    what’s poppin’?

    oh, and get this – there’s this scientist who turned himself into a pickle! …funniest heckin’ baloney I have seen… utterly comical

    (thanks for the memories BTW)

  2. 1STGUARDIAN

    Hi seth,my name & world name is 1STGUARDIAN,,,growtopia now is broken,almost 1/2month some item got locket cuz dupe.50.000+player online almost 60%is computer or spammer.. i rlly miss old growtopia..when paw coming if u online/if u have time sign my world XD name is 1STGUARDIAN
    We miss hamumu & thugseth

  3. HalfArrow

    As much as yall do /rgo 30k people will be spamming msgs to you, also, I would like to thank you for the hard work you and hummel presented to us for the past years, you added items that people never thought about, ideas that changed the game drastically. You missed a question : Why sometimes we see you online, (the time when ubisoft is checking your accounts). Feel free to sign my board in SPLEEFGAMER and thanks again.

  4. Atakan

    Did you have any specific reasons while choosing the 1.0 mods (the mods that were chosen back before 2017 when ubisoft bought growtopia) like ShadowSurfer, Lokster, Aimster, AV8R etc. ?

  5. Ali Altay

    Hello ‘8@seth (you get the pun already :D)
    i actually wanna ask a genuine question about present gt.
    1-Lets say that you bought the game back… do you get hard times figuring out a diffrent code in the game?

    thats all for me for today ily :D

  6. ErrorWave

    Seth I do have a question about the servers.
    1. Were they ran in raid?
    2. Did you use HDDs?
    3. Do you think Ubisoft still uses HDDs?
    4. Would switching to SSDs help?
    5. If speed of storage isn’t the problem then would it be a ram problem or a CPU problem?
    Now about other things.
    1. Why is the windows and Mac version (sometimes even mobile) lag/stutter so much even with great specs. (RTX 2070 super and a Ryzen 7 1700 with 16 GB of ram)?
    2. Can you (in theory) go back into the code, optimize the code to utilize more of a systems power…. and add ray tracing?

  7. Player251

    Everything ruined, casino raid the game, they all buying dls, mods 2.0 job its terrible, every hero in the game quit and get banned, they abused VOTW, there is no hope :) its over

  8. BetaRoll

    Okay, you will pass by this PAW – super excited to meet you once – but will Hamumu pass by either?

    Have a nice day/night
    Cheers

  9. Nitro

    Have you ever thought about adding any other character releated items other than nyan cat? I know that DMCA would be an issue but just asking. (I sure would love to see sonic the hedgehog on gt back when i used to play)

  10. Spyroboy

    Hey Seth! Curious about this.

    Is there any update you regretted making? Or wish you could change how it worked entirely?

  11. Babenha

    I saw a mod cheated in guild event for his wife. But he didn’t get demoted or punish why? Is it the job for mod is to make the game to good smoothly right why are they cheated in guild event???

  12. MrEntry

    Hey seth! I have no question as for now, but thanks for making Growtopia! Remember that one day, I’ve met you in the world Buske, im sure you cant remember the world, its been three years. But do you remember that there is a glitched bush that was dropped there, and players wasnt able to pick them up? I was visiting that world, and the bush suddenly dissappeared, and you just appeared out of no where. Thats the first time ive met you, you even let me record a vid with you, but I wasnt prepared that time. (but i took a screenshot tho :3) Thanks for all you have made for Growtopia and the memories, I wish that I can meet you again during PAW!

    Cheer,
    MrEntry

  13. ShaboyGT

    In case of a duplication incident, how long does it take to retrieve or destroy all the duplication items in game?

  14. idzni

    Remove casino too much illegal casino betting on world locks and diamond locks all I see is Indonesia flag make a casino world

  15. Dxnt

    Hey Seth! You probably won’t see this but might as well ya know :]
    I have a few questions that has been at the back of my head ever since you left.
    1. Did you expect Today’s growtopia to be like this?
    2. Let’s say you and Ham bought back the game, what would be the first thing you’ll do?
    3. How much did you actually sell Growtopia for? Doesn’t really have to be the exact amount I just wanna know an estimate :]
    4. How’s Cosmo doing? And does he still play Growtopia?
    5. Opinions on Growtopia Private Servers?
    Thats all for now! Have a good day Seth!

  16. Bob

    Hey Seth wassup!

    Good to see you
    So I have a couple of questions I wish you could answer honestly.
    • What are your HONEST thoughts on GT’s current state?
    • Do you think Ubisoft is best for GT?
    • What do you wish to see from GT?
    • What are some thoughts on how to revive GT as its slowly dying.

  17. Mike Garcia

    Good FAQ!
    And nice update!
    c2kyoto looks really cool and fun!
    You guys need to post more on your youtube indieconversation ;)
    Take care out there!

  18. JNGamor

    Hey Seth, really easy question that will take about 1 minute:

    Long time ago when you and Hamumu ran the game, Finnish player base was one of the biggest ones. Nordic people use Ä and Ö alot so why did you never implement it into the game?

    Thank you!

  19. ElioLM

    Super happy to hear from you seth!
    My only question is
    How come you guys were able to handle 70k+ servers much better than Ubisoft now?

    Other than that, I hope life’s been treating you well, I’ve been replaying Dink Smallwood for kicks. Sending love to the family

  20. YouT1ber

    Hey Sup Hamumu and Seth your the best mods
    I’ve played gt since 2015 and I remember you were in barrageclan and I saw you and I dance but I hope Seth and hamumu will be in paw.

  21. Paul

    Hey seth im from chile and i was wondering do you guys with hamumu maybe will come back to growtopia like, fix stuff and help devs from ubisoft ofcourse with permittion from ubisoft soo you guys can fix the lag and probably couple bugs

  22. Bruhpehlivani

    Hello @Seth! Do you have any advices for indie developers out there? I’m learning Uniy and C#. I have watched a lot videos from you guys’ channel indieconversation and tried to grab stuff as much as I can. As someone who played GT since 2013, I really wonder about the things in the back of scenes. Like what was the most challenging part of making the game or how did you learn coding and network knowledge? I’m briefly asking for some technical stuff if there’s any you’d like to talk about :D Thanks again

  23. Hamd

    Hello seth, I heard that your yellow name in GT have been changed, Maybe it was for security, But i am happy to see u back on GT, I hope I have a chance to see u on the supermoddanceparty because for 5 years I didn’t saw u on the game, Hope u all have a nice day!

  24. Jeffrey

    Thank you so much for creating the game. I dont play the game anymore but just came back for some memories. Words cant explain how much I thank you for what you and hamumu have done and I’m glad you’re doing what you like. : )

  25. BriIIiant

    Seth if u see this message… please sign my board in Growtopia at BRILLSIGN…theres opened bulletin board…also thanks for 2013-2017 , u was best , also if you can please ask Hamumu for sign my board too :)

  26. player900

    People all around are making private servers for Growtopia, what do you think? They’ve been going crazy ever since the first server was released on GitHub.

  27. Hasan

    Ayo SETH!

    I’ve been online for all the 6 days of P.A.W, and sadly I haven’t seen you online! Maybe it’s our timezones, but could you tell me at which time you usually play?
    I really would like to meet you once in-game!

  28. Hasan

    Hey@SETH, I would be so glad if you signed my board at “pamfy” It would make a dream come true! I’ve been dying to meet you or @HAMUMU, big fan of you both.

    Been playing since 2014 and this game has always been fun!

  29. BbayuGt

    People all around are making private servers for Growtopia, what do you think? They’ve been going crazy ever since the first server was released on GitHub.

  30. Xzerter

    I’ve been playing growtopia since 2014 and i got interested in making games(still learning). Can I ask how servers are made for MMO types of games?

  31. Akhaliis

    We at Growtopia miss you a lot, and yes, Ubisoft is KILLING the game. I have played the game since 2015, it was 5 years playing this game, for my account to be stolen, banned, and Ubisoft simply does not respond in support :l Anyway, even though I was forced to stop playing, I love this game for the moments that I spent on it. Thank you :’)

  32. AmniFilms

    I had fun reading all of these! I’m a player from 2014 and still rocking somehow! *HUGE CHANGE HUGE CHANGE*
    Both of you and Hamumu are Genius! Welp, Thank you. have a Goodlife Dads ( i still think Awkward Friendly Unicorn’s voice is still hilarious knowing Mr.Hommel’s)

  33. shelekhov000

    Hello from 2021! I miss the days when you were the creators of the game, because the memories of others are associated with you. You have created an adequate society of people in this game, thanks to you, I found two friends: one from Australia and the other from the USA. Of course, it was difficult to play with them, since I lived in the Far East (time GMT +3), but the time spent with them in this game I will forever remember. Now I rarely go to play, because I will soon take exams (I played your game when I was 9 years old, now I am 15), of course I would now ask to sign in the RUSSI4 world, but when I write this, I feel as if I shouldn’t have asked for that. Translated from Russian, probably there will be mistakes, because I am half Russian and half Chinese.

  34. evesreator

    Hello Seth, I am writing this comment through a translator because I am half Russian and half Chinese. Thank you for creating this game, thanks to you I found an adequate community and two friends (one from the USA and the other from Australia). I will always remember how you and Mike constantly entered the game to see what the players built or just chat with them. These days were unforgettable, you added new moderators, they were very useful and they were friendly to the rest. Now, as old players, we will remember you as legendary.

  35. Lavubro

    Hello @Seth . We all miss you . You will be legendary for the old – new players . And i broke bulletin board that you signed 1 week ago FP im clearly a dumb . I will be soooooooo happy if u sign it again name GHOSTUNAMK .
    #BackGrowtopia

  36. Houthaifa Saadeh

    Hello seth can you tell me how to communicate with Ubisoft to be a mod I really want to be a mod becuase there are so much casino worlds these days and drop games and I don’t see mods care that much Thank You seth and hamumu for Making this amazing MMO game.❤

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