a multiplayer game of parenting and civilization building
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After the water park patch i can completely understand the need to reign it in. One of my favorite aspects of this game is exploring the wilderness and finding a viable spot to settle. I love finding sweet spots where oil, water and an iron vein are close together. Personally i thought there was way too much water after update 76.
The big issues i have is this arc has kinda hit an unplayable point for me. There was a server reset/crash last night and it reset the eve window, it also reset another little thing, all the tarry spots.
Before the reset we were just getting to the interesting part of running out of local oil and having to go search for the few remaining tarry spots on the map. I'm sad that it will likely be another day or more before it gets to that state again. In the mean time everything seems stagnant. Everything is built, many cities have complete walls, extensive internal framework and buildings on the inside. Beyond maintaining the towns food supply there are few exciting things to do.
I feel like each arc is its own little petri dish. Each one we learn a little bit more about what works and what doesnt. With the war swords we learned a lot and jason adjust accordingly. There is a part of me that really misses that chaos though. The main thing i miss though is the old eve run. Wandering the wilderness in search of the promised land and sometimes spending your whole life searching for a spot.
Jason, once you feel you've settled on the resource balance would you consider testing different sizes of the rift?
I like being able find my way around using the borders and landmarks but it still feels cramped. In my old eve runs i would sometimes run over two kilometers just to find a spot or sniff out a dead town. I really miss that feeling of exploration and it was a big part of me falling in love with this game. I really think with the right size the rift could have the best of both worlds. I had forgotten how much i missed exploring the vast unknown until people snuck out of the rift and i was able to explore again like old times. Getting lost was a real danger and tracking your way back to town was a challenge. As much as i get frustrated with the rift its the perfect environment to test new ideas or adjust balancing issues.
One of my favorite shows has a quote that always comes to mind when thinking about ohol
"We've been acting like lab rats. Lab rats are only powerless because they don't understand that they're in an experiment. But they're just as much a part of it as the scientist, in some ways even more."
I'd like to first say that i love this idea. But there are some issues i could see by implementing something like this.
- A good amount of assets would need to be made.
- The mechanics of winter could put a cloud around what causes end conditions and worst case could aid griefers looking to end the arc or wipe out families in a vulnerable state.
- Could be a new player killer.
I think aesthetically its brilliant though. More ambient sounds could go a long way as well.
This is a great discussion. I recently hit the 700 hour mark and i still feel new a lot of the time. Especially when playing with true veterans.
Ive never used the tool tip, ive tried, but its so bad and clunky i find it just wastes time unless im really stuck. Typically i will search one tech if a recipe is truly unknown to me.
How i learned for the most part was through observation. Once i felt more confident in the process i would jump in and aid in whatever was being done. It took a while to understand the framework of what keeps a town going. Once i did i realized how fragile a town really is.
I find this is the main reason i struggle to teach new players. I can either run around maintaining each aspect of a town to keep it stable or watch as essential resources decay while i teach or work on a non essential project. I found the most important thing while i was new was working towards not being a liability to the town.
The main thing i worked towards was getting good at maintaining a personal food surplus. Basically producing more food than i consumed in my lifetime. That way my tinkering or observation wasnt a detriment to the society.
Over time you realize how interwoven each tech tree is. Figuring out which area is wanting and maintaining a surplus for each is a huge step in helping a town grow and stabilize.
So often when older players struggle to teach or have to run off in the middle of teaching its often due to an aspect of the town being in a critical state and there is no time to discuss or explain what's going on. Sometimes these issues are unending and if a town is going to maintain a surplus you often run around endlessly maintaining each facet with no time to talk.
So i find the main issue is there is this choice you have to make, either help new players learn while work piles up, or try to keep up with demand and hope the new player find their way on their own.
There are golden moments though where a town is stable and there is little demand in each area that gives great opportunities to teach new players but this is rare.
Anyway keep working hard and learning. I found the best way to learn was by being a lurking observer until i understood the rhythm of the tech tree. As you learn each one you realize how they fold into each other and notice when there is a surplus or deficit and what needs to be done.
Yea a bot that collects and stacks flat stones and iron could be really awesome. Or goes around processing rocks. Not as funny as a maleficent berry farmer though.