I just got hit by a plague swarm in the middle of the forest biome harvesting a stump. Not near the desert
- Thread starter ElCabong
- Start date
binf_shinana
Refugee
There is now a 10% chance that a swarm of insects will appear when breaking a stump.
If you don't have heavy injury resistance in the early stages of the game, there's a high chance that you will receive some kind of heavy injury.
If you don't have heavy injury resistance in the early stages of the game, there's a high chance that you will receive some kind of heavy injury.
theFlu
Hunter
So the slow-but-certain way to get antibiotics is now a slow-and-certain way to get infected? ... I guess it's a form of balance, but
LittleNightma
Scavenger
Russian Roulette, tree stump version.
With the launch of Stable I got to start a new game and as of every new game I break every stump I see for Honey, the 1st one that I chopped, it spawned a bee swarm, the swarm hit me 4 times, it gave me Infection and Fatigue. 2nd time I killed the bees right away, but the 3rd time they spawned, again Infection and Fatigue at the same time, and it hits like 1 to 2 hits per second, every hit increased my Infection and ended up with 2%, both times I had to use the honey I just farmed right away, also they hit as soon as they spawn and yes, they die in a single hit from a club, but their hitbox is funny and sometimes it misses.
I like the idea of bees spawning like that, 10/10 but, why do they have to hit you right away and Infect you plus make you Fatigued, the 5 sec Slow is enough I think.
Picture of how I got after the last bee
1st hit Fatigue (10% increased dmg taken and -20 hp)
2nd hit Infection
3rd hit Pain
4th hit Desperation
I was full health before as I just got outside on the 2nd day at 4 AM
I like the idea of bees spawning like that, 10/10 but, why do they have to hit you right away and Infect you plus make you Fatigued, the 5 sec Slow is enough I think.
Picture of how I got after the last bee
1st hit Fatigue (10% increased dmg taken and -20 hp)
2nd hit Infection
3rd hit Pain
4th hit Desperation
I was full health before as I just got outside on the 2nd day at 4 AM
Attachments
InfiniteWarrior
Scavenger
It is too much, imo, at the very beginning no less. New players wouldn't have the vaguest clue what's happening, much less what to do about the status effects and, worse, it's essentially the spitter swarm from the desert with its ridiculous chances to cause all of the above and more infection than can be dealt with using a single jar of honey. 5.6% infection, fatigue, concussion and 40% health loss is what I wound up with when testing it. (And how do you get a concussion from a bee swarm anyway?) I would have had to find vitamins, two honies, pain killers and an extra bandage to take care of it.
They could either create a separate instance for these "bee" swarms and tweak the ridiculous damage and chances to infect/debilitate in keeping with the forest region or not. And I'd expect not. No doubt mod authors will be doing it soon.
binf_shinana
Refugee
I think the problem with this specification is that it can literally lead to the mistaken belief that it's a bug.
After all, the insects that appear are the same as those spit out by the bug-spitting zombies in the desert, so it's easy to mistakenly think that you've been stung by an insect that appeared out of nowhere.
For example, if you could hear the buzzing of insects when you approached a stump, and the spawn rate of insects was relatively high, it could be considered an added feature of the game's gameplay.
After all, the insects that appear are the same as those spit out by the bug-spitting zombies in the desert, so it's easy to mistakenly think that you've been stung by an insect that appeared out of nowhere.
For example, if you could hear the buzzing of insects when you approached a stump, and the spawn rate of insects was relatively high, it could be considered an added feature of the game's gameplay.
InfiniteWarrior
Scavenger
So say the maths. I do think it's a terrible impression to present to new players, though, for all the reasons noted above. I think I've mentioned before that it might be a good idea to provide temporary protection from status effects like these along with the XP protection already in place for new players until they've had a chance to take a turn around the block and see what's what.
Riamus
Hunter
Yeah, this might be a good option. That, or the forest just has easier ones and let stumps in other biomes have the harder ones. Either would be good, I think. But if they have a different visual look to them, then I'd keep all the stumps using one style and the spitters using the other just so it's clear that they are different.
InfiniteWarrior
Scavenger
Which is easier? Creating two different strains of insects or implementing the temporary protection from status effects at the very beginning along with XP protection?
InfiniteWarrior
Scavenger
Why? They're rarely fatal.
I remember being infected as a new player and having no idea what to do...until it occurred to me to check all the tabs in the UI to see if there was any mention of it and, of course, there was. Honey or herbal antibiotics or chemical antibiotics depending on the severity. Pretty sure most anyone would find the tab that delinates the status effects and what to do about them. What's up in the air is: where do I find this stuff? And, of course, you run across them eventually. In time to save you? Maybe; maybe not. In my case as a new player: yep.
Yes RNG is the rule, I know, but I feel like it's counter intuitive to have chance to get honey, chance to get infected. You may need an insect swarm for the Desert zombies, and a weaker bee swarm for the stumps, yes.
Right now the bees, the slow, and the damage is fine, If I die to that, that's ok! But the debuffs they give you requires you to farm Vitamins, Honey and a Painkiller, is just too much, just for trying to get some honey.
I think annoying enemies are superb btw, love the vultures, but not even the vultures give you that many debuffs in 2-3 seconds. Maybe 2 debuffs if you have bad RNG. Or Maybe if you get hit by a vulture horde.
As a veteran player this just detters me from hitting another stump (not cost-effective), just avoid them and get honey from loot, or farm stumps but later in the game.
Can't imagine a new player: Problems getting Infected? Go hit a stump! but there may be bees that can give you infection if you are unlucky or make yours already worse if they hit you 3-4 times, now you may need 2 jars! and if you are reeeeally unlucky, fatigue and a Concussion!
If that's the intended mechanic (players having a tougher time farming honey), then that's ok, just not that many debuffs IMHO.
theFlu
Hunter
As a "veteran player" I'd hope you're familiar with the functionality of the left shift -button. If not, it'll make your character move fast enough to avoid the bugs entirely. If on console, commiserations, and you'll have to find a similar button yourself.
Roland
Community Moderator
This game had way less hand holding and was way more lethal when I started as a new player and that is what drew me in. I suppose some new players purchasing an apocalyptic survival game would rage quit after being stung by a swarm but I bet most would learn from it and then do better next time. If the stump bees are slightly less lethal I suppose that would be fine for prepping players for once they reach the desert but not too much of a nerf.
The bees are a lot like vultures. Once the player learns to back up and time their swings they almost never get hit. That's a learning curve that is going to be fun for many new players. I don't know why veterans who were new players themselves during a much more brutal era of the game often assume other new players won't persevere just like those veterans did to become veterans as well. Keep the game brutal. People will stay.
The bees are a lot like vultures. Once the player learns to back up and time their swings they almost never get hit. That's a learning curve that is going to be fun for many new players. I don't know why veterans who were new players themselves during a much more brutal era of the game often assume other new players won't persevere just like those veterans did to become veterans as well. Keep the game brutal. People will stay.
In the way to make your comment spicier, you forget that I said it was day 2 at the moment of the stump farming (level 2 o 3), also encumbered (slower), and the first sting slowed me even further (that's the bee mechanic). I ran away from one bee now, tried to have that "left-shift" strategy, but with 8 items extra in my backpack (as every person regularly has) I could not outrun them, they chatched up. That's why I said if the mechanic is that by default from now on, I'm ok with that, will just avoid it as I avoid a Feral at night on the first days, or make preparations, but I don't think that's the intended way, hence my post, with a touch of personal opinions as well.
If that sounded like crying to you then you do you, and I'm not the one that implemented new-player friendliness, the Fun pimps did, I play this game since you had to put the materials in the shape of the item you wanted to create. Read my 1st post you will see that my "complain" is mostly technical, it has numbers, and stats, not me crying "cuz its unfair and me no like", it's just a counter-intuitive mechanic to me. Like if you NEED bullets for horde night and go to a POI and spend 50 bullets just to get 10 bullets back at the end of it, you can not get mad at it because it's not the way to farm bullets, better make them or buy them, you get xp and a lot of stuff, yes, but if you NEED bullets, then there are other ways to get them, just like I'm saying now with stumps.
Also, it helps to read posts like the person is talking to you in your head like this
<---me at every moment on this forumand not like this
InfiniteWarrior
Scavenger
It was the very first stump during the prelims in my testing that required me to have vitamins, two honies, pain killers and an extra bandage to take care of all the status effects a new player wouldn't have the vaguest clue what to do about and, of course, I had none of those. That's too much.
I gather the consensus is two different versions of insects: one for the big baddie in the desert and one for stumps. One is literally a plague (spitter); the other is a swarm of bees. Makes sense to me.