Objective Analysis of PG for now.

[Grobyddonot]

Just came across my mind... What if PG as it is now, was a released Single Player game? Would I cheat and how?

Well, I would certainly hack and disable Body Heat/Dehydration/Breathing and give myself a bit more movement speed. And that's about it. Perfect non-disruptive grindy gameplay for me. For Starters.

Theres also more gameplay related stuff, like going out of combat takes ages (3-20 seconds) even after you kill the target and it has to be fixed, but I didn't want to mention it yet.

Maybe, the devs, have an evil plan to add the "Ignore the weather" ability to Weather Witching for an hour @ lvl 125 that will enable you to grind full-on in places like Gazluk, etc. But it's not in the game yet and as for now, that cold mechanic is very disruptive.

Another idea...
We and the devs btw, could make a simple forum Poll and collect the data as to how many Players actually farm monsters (monsters, not mining or fishing, etc) in Kur outdoors for an hour or longer. I could even bet it won't be more than 25. (I actually saw 3-5 HIGH level players at most). It'll give the objective feedback on the cold mechanics in Kur.


P.S. Yes, Yes, I get all the ideas of being original and providing an additional challenge to players and all the other intentions and stuff...
But the fact of the matter is: as of now, it simply doesn't work. not properly, not fun, not positively. It's disruptive and makes you hate the zones. So, change it(for instance much more body heat both on character and items), give better means to beat it (cold potions that let you ignore it for an hour for example) or remove it.

[Tagamogi]

Thanks, Grobbyddonot. Good points. Touching on a couple areas where I disagree with you a bit:

I like the idea of a zone being inherently different, in ways that cannot be ignored. For example, I think the sandstorms in Ilmari are well done - you always have to watch out for them when you are in the zone, but dealing with them doesn't feel like an onerous chore. Hm, actually, that's where I can definitely be ok with higher levels taking less damage from the storm, to a point where they don't have to be nearly as careful as a lower level character. I still think they should have *some* incentive to not just stand in the storm though.

So, I like the idea of Kur being different and not just by having white graphics. I'm not sure that I think higher levels should automatically be able to deal better with the cold. Something like a cold resistance skill that could be raised by spending time in Kur would make more sense to me, but I'm not sure if a skill that everyone has to level would necessarily be fun either.

Tacking a cold resist onto Endurance wouldn't solve the problem for level 40 characters though - why would they want to be in the zone instead of just skipping it? I think you are right that the current rewards for being outside in Kur don't make up for the extra effort the zone requires.

I made a set of cold resist gear that I'm actually pretty ecstatic about. I had combat skills in the 50s but was using level 30-40 armor, and managed to hit the leatherworking skill to make level 50 winter armor just when I needed it. So, I got nice upgrades with minimal effort and needing cold resist gave me the incentive to actually make some gear for myself for a change instead of just waiting for drops, which was fun. Couple problems with this though:
1. The reason I reached that level in leatherworking is that I completed work orders in Amulna. Which I of course reached by running through Kur first. Yes, I could have just made endless leather armor to level up in leatherworking instead and vendored it, but it's so much more fun doing work orders.
2. Now that I've made the gear, I still haven't spent any time in outside Kur. It's not that I hate the zone, it's just that I don't really know what I'd want to do there besides run through it to get to other places, and the cold just gives me this tiny disinclination to go exploring. I do like the northern part of the zone, but to hang out there, I have to run through the southern part first and I'm just kind of tired of all the running I do through it already just to get to the outpost.
I still want to spend more time in Kur, but for now,trying out the wolf and yeti caves is much higher on my fun list. It's some kind of combination of travel time + cold mechanics + where is the cool stuff.

On topics other than the cold, I don't have a problem with a relatively short period of time to stay underwater. My main gripe there is that swimming on the surface of the water to get to the point where I want to dive requires some pretty crazy double-key smashing at the moment. Unless I'm doing it all wrong, in which case I'd want swimming without holding my breath to be a pretty obvious game mechanic.

I'm giving the developers a pass on mutated toes.The reason it's such an important skill to me is that it's the only (easy, long-lasting) way to travel fast *right now*. That's not intended to be that way forever though. From an alpha perspective, it would have been much much more fun if they'd tackled faster travel alternatives before nerfing mutated toes, but in the ultimate development of the game, I think nerfing mutated toes is not a bad idea. Us having fun is second to development progressing at the moment. I wish development priorities would match my priorities better, but well, if they promise us better travel options, I'll wait to see how mounts are implemented before worrying too much.

[Citan]

So basically the areas with more of their content completed are fun, and the ones that aren't done are not fun. Thanks for the feedback.

Seriously, though... obviously there are mechanics we're still working on, like cold weather. They take time to iterate on. You're allowed to find them un-fun, and I want you talk about them, and I appreciate the feedback when they aren't fun -- or when they are.

Bet let's leave that aside for a moment. I can tell that you're frustrated with the game in general, based on all your insults and complaints, and here's the thing: you are completely right that you're at a grind. And that won't change until the game is more complete. It won't happen next month or the month after that or the month after that -- we'll add more content and add/evolve game systems, but the game will still be far from complete. You will continue to hit grindy areas and run into game mechanics that suck. Finishing this game will take all of 2017, and it will be evolving that whole time. That includes both the content AND the game mechanics. And the art and GUI too, for that matter.

So either you can deal with some grinding and annoyances and nerfs while we keep working, or you can go play something else for a while. I completely understand doing so. Lots of long-time players take breaks, and I think that's healthy. Your character will be here when you come back.

[drivendawn]

Very well put Citan and pretty much what I was trying to say.

[Crissa]

When I was an analyst for MMOGchart, 10% retention through the sign-up to playing was considered baseline.

[cratoh]

I liked the cold weather in Gazluk, I grinded a few hours, hit level 70, made level 70 amazing winter armor, and now its fine.

[Tsugumori]

I get the dynamic of.. lets say.. "I'm in the Snazzy Water Bottle Society and I have a snazzy bottle of water. Someone insults," (not even insults - shares their opinion on my bottle water and its different to what I think), "..how dare they!" However, at the end of the day I still have friends in my Snazzy Water Bottle Society, and I m still in possession of my sweet, snazzy water bottle, so what does it really matter.

[Society = PG Community...] [Water Bottle = PG] - -> Just for those who may have actually thought there was a water bottle society and wanted to join. My deepest apologies. There isn't one.

PG White Knights, lower your (s)words!

Someone created a thread and shared their opinion. Just because it isn't the opinion you share, i.e. negative/opposite of what you think, take a step back and weigh it up objectively. I'm as invested in PG as the next person but this didn't make me want to saddle up my keyboard and joust his point of view!

If anything, I kind of laughed.

...I've experienced the temperatures way below zero in the northern parts of the world, but look, I'm still alive. But yeah, I wasn't fighting panthers there who gave me bananas and lemons, but nvm.

I mean.. too true. xD