Unlike you, I'm not ashamed at being found wrong, and I know sometimes I can be wrong.
That's how you progress in life, by confronting your thoughts and opinions with others.
So please, insult me. I will try to endure and get better.
'Unlike me,' huh? Not a good way to attempt a legitimate argument with wild assertions and disrespect.
I share the sentiment on being wrong, but insulting me like that with a puerile attitude won't do you any good. And who am I to refuse the invitation re: your request to be insulted, where 'insulted' must be a twisted synonym for 'explained to.'
People often think that more options is always better. I disagree.
No argument from me on this point. That's your opinion, and not my argument in the slightest that anything is 'always' better. Context is important. Keep this in mind as I address your the next part of your statement.
I hate those games where the devs have no vision of how their vanilla game should play, so they give you 100 options you can turn on/off or choose numbers from 0 to 100, only to end up with a totally random and unbalanced game.
Two issues I have here. First - this isn't that kind of game, and second - by virtue of that fact, we are now discussing two different things. Me - this game. You - other games of the kind this is not.
The 7D devs have a road map and things are being adjusted along the way. These developers aren't visionless, I just don't agree with their vision in its entirety.
Second, the appeal to extremes. I don't know whether you deliberately or unknowingly employ fallacies in your attempts to reason but this looks very much like another. Certain aspects of the game, to take one in particular - zombie digging, does not need a multitude of options, should any be added at all.
Just on or off.
Going extreme with the 100 options is not what I asked for, expected, and not even something I want. By employing this reasoning it serves to look like I am expecting something of the devs (options), that that something is extreme in its nature (ridiculous amounts of tweaking), and that my request makes me look bad for expecting too much of the developers implementing it. Context.
Also, while I have you, have you seen random gen? You are aware that sliders constitute a high number of option combinations just to create a map - much of it you may not see. My request for reasonable options would have a direct effect on gameplay - and would be more in your face.
Do you think that allowing players to have both types of farming won't impact food balancing? It will.
How do you propose to solve that issue? If you can easily farm anywhere just by having a hoe, you can start an unlimited farm on day one as soon as you have some seeds.
At least with the boxes, you need to gather a substantial amount of materials that are not very easy to come by.
Two farming styles impacting food balancing? No, it won't. Not that I can see anyway. Again this is where your reasoning utterly fails, and this is why I said it would be insulting to point this out but here I have to do it regardless.
Being able to plant doesn't mean you can harvest in profit - that's with the unmodded 'hideous'* system they already have in place. Without putting any points into LOTL you aren't really going to see the kind of returns you are implying.
(*My Opinion (Tm.) - In before Roland.)
As for the nature of the farm - I don't know whether you're being hyperbolic, ignorant, or serious when you use the term 'unlimited'.
One must take into acount growing time, looting for seeds or dukes to buy where availablr, and necessary levelling to get the points to make it worth it, render the idea of an 'unlimited' farm; given the aforementioned constraints, is absurd.
Next the seeds and hoe issue. Unless you find yourself extremely fortunate and find a hoe or seeds on day one you wouldn't be doing anything like what you suggested. Purchasing a hoe could be level or stage gated, or some other kind of gating (including book only).
Speaking of, if it had to be player crafted, unless low level player access to forged iron was looting or by purchase (again which could be dealt with Dev side, like not finding high grade gear on day one) they would NEED a forge before they could do any sort of tilling.
This is to say nothing of the fact wild planting produced poor harvest, tilled soil with a hoe produced better, and fertilised soil better still. Again keep this in mind because you seem to have forgotten this in your next point - your 'Effort in material collection' argument.
This argument has two problems with it. On the one hand it's just bad, on the other hand it's also wrong.
- Bad - because as I have explained re: wild farming (with the hoe and fertiliser) - box creation; which is sat behind a skill and able to be crafted immediately when unlocked) is less demanding of player effort than wild farming.
- Wrong - because the planter box materials are in fact not hard to come by. You are surrounded by trees when you start, and it isn't too far to a wood source should you spawn in the desert. You are literally stood on an endless supply of clay soil. Rotten flesh and nitrate are packaged neatly together all over the roads in the form of blood and guts, and where there's any deficiency - nitrate nodes are visible on the map.
* I realise I missed your question of how I would solve food balancing with farming. I already have suggested it - low level farming (and even biome specific effects) could lead to players inexperienced with farming (unperked or unread) yielding failed crops for their ambitions early game.
Perking or reading would reduce this, but would in turn take time in game to level or loot in order to advance.
I hope that suffices, and that I have done a reasonable job in justifying it
Mods ARE the solution. The game has taken a different direction after the devs evaluated that was for the best, both from a gameplay and a technical level perspective (reasons and stuff).
Mods are A solution if the developers don't change anything - but not a solution to the lack of these things in vanilla, having them part of the vanilla experience.
It's patchwork - to undo what the developers have done, and other mods to introduce the devs failings and shortcomings, or to pick up the slack when it comes to more vehicles or zombies for example.
The final word on what you think the developers have decided to do, and why, won't get any argument from me.
As for Roland, I'm not interested in discussing anything with you anymore. You didn't bother addressing my points properly, and I don't know whether you're trolling or genuinely don't get it, but it's fruitless to pursue any further conversation with you in particular.
And Jost, I hope that was helpful - and I didn't need to insult you, only to address your arguments.
