I have approximately 600 hours in 7D2D and judging by the recent forum post, I might be in the minority that is absolutely loving the update to 18.2 - or perhaps that's just the squeaky wheels creating the loudest noise. No offense to anyone not enjoying it as I've read some good suggestions. However, I believe many have not pointed out the great additions. First, I'm going to point out some things I think have been excellent decisions made by the dev team and then move on to some suggestions and see what others think:
*All of this is solely based on single-player as I don't play multiplayer
+Mid-game and late-game vehicles (i.e. the motorcycle and gyro-copter) are significantly faster. (FINALLY!!!)
*This was my biggest pet-peeve about the vehicle system. In previous versions, despite having the best vehicle, they all were overwhelmingly slow. This made exploration limited given the large map size; not to mention tedious!
+More reason to go out and loot with the reintroduction of the magazines for various skills
*this solved a problem of being able to dominate by just staying in base and crafting once moderate skills were learned (at least for me)
+The skill system now feels more RPG based to focus on certain skills that fit your play-style while still allowing you to play single-player and progress naturally through the game
+Ore is now more obvious on location by being above ground giving you the below ground location (THANK YOU!)
+New weapons AND some early game weapons (like the stone/iron sledgehammer) now do some serious damage in new games vs. having to hit zombies 10+ times to kill with clubs (which became repetitive and boring)
+The recipe in nearly every category has been revamped, and in my opinion nearly all now feel more realistic in cost to build
+Mid-game and late-game weapons and firearms now take down zombies much faster (THANK YOU!)
*Previously, even if on day 80+ looting buildings was frustrating because 4-5 zombies could quickly overtake you despite having the highest grade armor and firearms. This set unrealistic in-game expectations for me considering larger buildings could have 40+ zombies in them. While some may disagree with me here, I feel a balance was achieved to make you feel like your higher grade equipment has an effect vs. in previous version they felt very underwhelming and there was little sense of achievement because of it
There's many more small things here and there I could point out, but those are the biggest that come to mind and I've enjoyed thus far on my play through nearing day 35. Whilst I believe this direction is one of the first updates I've seen that is more positive than not, I only have a few suggestions/complaints that in my opinion would enhance the game:
Fixes/Improvement Suggestions
-While the design and look of various buildings are VERY well done, I still feel they remain half-empty with more looks than loot. Especially the larger buildings like the multi-story Shotgun Messiah and Sham factory in the wasteland. It's easier to just build up to the highest points and get the good loot and leave vs. going through the maze indoors that's filled with nearly zero loot and tons of zombies. It seems backwards to me to have the obvious single-story named stores that are basic in design have the best goal-oriented loot and then beautiful POIs be just that...eye-candy with minimal loot.
-While I previously named the magazines for crafting to be a plus, it can be a con too as it relies on too much RNG. It doesn't make sense for me to be nearly level 100 and I can't even craft a steel pickaxe. However, I do appreciate there's a balance as nearly all skills (once you reach their max or some specific level) can be unlocked without having to find the magazine. However, it can be very difficult to balance. Despite nearly level 100, there's still multiple things I still have not found the magazine to craft or I can only craft a low-quality level 1 of.
-Brass, brass, brass!!! Please allow for the mining of brass or at minimum offer it in significantly more places rather than just 1-off items, cars, and AC units. I believe the goal is to force the player to explorer, but it becomes a tedious and repetitive chore to spend an entire game-day wrenching cars only to produce enough for a few hundred shell casings.
-Bows/Crossbows still feel nearly pointless to me. Yes, they're quiet, but they're also slow, weak, and require precious amounts of time of looting many feathers to do a whole lot of nothing. It would be nice to see some version of a bow equal that of the rifle or something to make them worth-while to use
-Does anyone use the stealth system? Unfortunately, I feel it's very out of place considering some zombies hear/see you at the slightest fart and others you can shoot another zombie 1 foot away from them and they remain sleeping like a deaf drunk. I've not had the slightest interest in investing in anything stealth related because of this, so it would be nice to see it done away with in replace with something else or the zombie stealth system fixed to make it viable. Or maybe it's just because I've never invested in it...take it with a grain of salt, I don't know.
Additional Suggestions
-An introduction of unique/rare weapons that possess special skills/abilities that further entice players to explore and loot
-With brass being VERY limited, other options for automatic base defenses that utilize other resources that the player accrues like automatic crossbow/bow turrets (arrow/bolts), flame-throwers (gasoline), grenade/rocket launcher turrets (although I realize this may be limiting to the game engine)
-Prebuilt buildings that already have some defenses in them or are already semi-upgraded
*I realize there's the military bases, but I mean small houses/shops that have already have basic defenses to give players options to start bases there instead of building a player-built base. There's very few games I've played using the in-game structures because they're either too large or they're too weak and would require too many resources to upkeep in early-game scenarios. Furthermore, none have any pre-built defenses. This makes building a user-built base the best option nearly 100% of the time being you can build small and strong. However, if I had an option of a small house that already has some broken down blade traps, turrets, and/or safe rooms I would likely give those a shot instead.
All of the above is only my opinion and I realize that everyone has a different play-style and most importantly, different opinions. However, I would like to hear from the community and get your opinions on what you like, what you don't like, and what you think some good improvements would be.
*All of this is solely based on single-player as I don't play multiplayer
+Mid-game and late-game vehicles (i.e. the motorcycle and gyro-copter) are significantly faster. (FINALLY!!!)
*This was my biggest pet-peeve about the vehicle system. In previous versions, despite having the best vehicle, they all were overwhelmingly slow. This made exploration limited given the large map size; not to mention tedious!
+More reason to go out and loot with the reintroduction of the magazines for various skills
*this solved a problem of being able to dominate by just staying in base and crafting once moderate skills were learned (at least for me)
+The skill system now feels more RPG based to focus on certain skills that fit your play-style while still allowing you to play single-player and progress naturally through the game
+Ore is now more obvious on location by being above ground giving you the below ground location (THANK YOU!)
+New weapons AND some early game weapons (like the stone/iron sledgehammer) now do some serious damage in new games vs. having to hit zombies 10+ times to kill with clubs (which became repetitive and boring)
+The recipe in nearly every category has been revamped, and in my opinion nearly all now feel more realistic in cost to build
+Mid-game and late-game weapons and firearms now take down zombies much faster (THANK YOU!)
*Previously, even if on day 80+ looting buildings was frustrating because 4-5 zombies could quickly overtake you despite having the highest grade armor and firearms. This set unrealistic in-game expectations for me considering larger buildings could have 40+ zombies in them. While some may disagree with me here, I feel a balance was achieved to make you feel like your higher grade equipment has an effect vs. in previous version they felt very underwhelming and there was little sense of achievement because of it
There's many more small things here and there I could point out, but those are the biggest that come to mind and I've enjoyed thus far on my play through nearing day 35. Whilst I believe this direction is one of the first updates I've seen that is more positive than not, I only have a few suggestions/complaints that in my opinion would enhance the game:
Fixes/Improvement Suggestions
-While the design and look of various buildings are VERY well done, I still feel they remain half-empty with more looks than loot. Especially the larger buildings like the multi-story Shotgun Messiah and Sham factory in the wasteland. It's easier to just build up to the highest points and get the good loot and leave vs. going through the maze indoors that's filled with nearly zero loot and tons of zombies. It seems backwards to me to have the obvious single-story named stores that are basic in design have the best goal-oriented loot and then beautiful POIs be just that...eye-candy with minimal loot.
-While I previously named the magazines for crafting to be a plus, it can be a con too as it relies on too much RNG. It doesn't make sense for me to be nearly level 100 and I can't even craft a steel pickaxe. However, I do appreciate there's a balance as nearly all skills (once you reach their max or some specific level) can be unlocked without having to find the magazine. However, it can be very difficult to balance. Despite nearly level 100, there's still multiple things I still have not found the magazine to craft or I can only craft a low-quality level 1 of.
-Brass, brass, brass!!! Please allow for the mining of brass or at minimum offer it in significantly more places rather than just 1-off items, cars, and AC units. I believe the goal is to force the player to explorer, but it becomes a tedious and repetitive chore to spend an entire game-day wrenching cars only to produce enough for a few hundred shell casings.
-Bows/Crossbows still feel nearly pointless to me. Yes, they're quiet, but they're also slow, weak, and require precious amounts of time of looting many feathers to do a whole lot of nothing. It would be nice to see some version of a bow equal that of the rifle or something to make them worth-while to use
-Does anyone use the stealth system? Unfortunately, I feel it's very out of place considering some zombies hear/see you at the slightest fart and others you can shoot another zombie 1 foot away from them and they remain sleeping like a deaf drunk. I've not had the slightest interest in investing in anything stealth related because of this, so it would be nice to see it done away with in replace with something else or the zombie stealth system fixed to make it viable. Or maybe it's just because I've never invested in it...take it with a grain of salt, I don't know.
Additional Suggestions
-An introduction of unique/rare weapons that possess special skills/abilities that further entice players to explore and loot
-With brass being VERY limited, other options for automatic base defenses that utilize other resources that the player accrues like automatic crossbow/bow turrets (arrow/bolts), flame-throwers (gasoline), grenade/rocket launcher turrets (although I realize this may be limiting to the game engine)
-Prebuilt buildings that already have some defenses in them or are already semi-upgraded
*I realize there's the military bases, but I mean small houses/shops that have already have basic defenses to give players options to start bases there instead of building a player-built base. There's very few games I've played using the in-game structures because they're either too large or they're too weak and would require too many resources to upkeep in early-game scenarios. Furthermore, none have any pre-built defenses. This makes building a user-built base the best option nearly 100% of the time being you can build small and strong. However, if I had an option of a small house that already has some broken down blade traps, turrets, and/or safe rooms I would likely give those a shot instead.
All of the above is only my opinion and I realize that everyone has a different play-style and most importantly, different opinions. However, I would like to hear from the community and get your opinions on what you like, what you don't like, and what you think some good improvements would be.
