I've been following this game since it's kickstarter. I loved the concept, and had the kickstarter option that gave you four game keys. I remember the jumbled mess that launch was, and how torrenting sites got the initial build out better than TFP did. I don't blame them, they're a small indie studio, and even AAA games have a hard time launching smoothly. They've improved drastically since then. Over the years, through it's development, I've easily bought a dozen copies to chuck at various friends, and sunk countless hours into it. Each build, a buddy and I would launch a server, try it out, @%$# around until we were ready to move on, til the next build came out.
I'm by no means new to the game, even though I'm new to the forum. I remember when crafting quality went from 1-100, based on your skill with crafting that specific type of item. I remember when perks were added. The skill system was overhauled, a lot. Often enough that every new build did genuinely feel different enough to have to swap up playstyle. But, the last few releases were more or less settled on the skill and crafting system we had for the last couple of years. Small tweaks, but nothing huge.
Then we get to the current build. Where, for some reason, armor and clothing slots have been reduced. They REMOVED options for the final build. No more layering clothing with armor, and having leg armor. There's less versatility in the final build, and there's no real reason given for this. We had a system that was MORE versatile than we do now, and it got pared down. We used to be able to invest in perks to get access to crafting items we wanted, or at least get a discount if we found the schematics already. Now, we have to scrounge for crafting skill books? I'm sorry, but the crafting skill system was introduced AGES ago, and summarily scrapped, because it was a bad system. Back then you were at least getting enough exp from crafting and repairing that you could progress with it. Now, you have to loot or hit traders.
I've seen nothing the final build does BETTER, than the version before it. I know, I know, I can just load up an earlier version. There's nothing preventing me from doing so. I mean, people still routinely play earlier versions of minecraft because mod authors don't keep up to date with the current version. It's not new to have people prefer earlier versions. But with this being the final version, I expected something better, or at least more complete, than earlier versions. I didn't expect to regress to a long abandoned crafting skill, that was worse than the initial iteration. I didn't expect to lose gear slots.
This isn't even the complete game as promised. We hit the stretch goals, ages past, to let us tame and ride bears. We were promised animal husbandry, being able to domesticate animals and breed them for a reasonable supply of meat. We were promised enemy bandits, something that would have a better AI than shambling hordes of zombies. Not that I'm complaining about the zombies, it's a ZOMBIE game, but there was promised more. Hell, they dropped the hornets, which provided a solid early game threat when ranged weapons were in short supply, and their hives were a reasonable source of honey. But, I'm rambling on this point.
Stretch goals were not met. Promises were ignored. Animals are still just, kind of wandering around and an unreliable source of food, leather, bones, fat. They've had ample time to actually work on these things, and honestly, I wouldn't be so bothered by this, if they didn't completely throw out functional systems we had PRIOR to the full release, to replace them with inferior versions. Ones that were not asked for, ones that were not wanted, ones that were tried before and thrown out for being bad systems.
That they did that, then turned around and began building a new game under the same IP, is just a slap in the face. I'm not looking for endless updates; a final version was always the ideal. It was a kickstarter to allow them to create and deliver on that. I just want the game to be better than it's beta version, which it isn't, and for TFP to fulfill their kickstarter promises, which they haven't.
There are loyal diehard fans who've been around since the start, who are being let down, because the more lucrative option was to make a new game rather than completing the one we were promised and supported way back when.
I am severely disappointed in TFP over this.
I'm by no means new to the game, even though I'm new to the forum. I remember when crafting quality went from 1-100, based on your skill with crafting that specific type of item. I remember when perks were added. The skill system was overhauled, a lot. Often enough that every new build did genuinely feel different enough to have to swap up playstyle. But, the last few releases were more or less settled on the skill and crafting system we had for the last couple of years. Small tweaks, but nothing huge.
Then we get to the current build. Where, for some reason, armor and clothing slots have been reduced. They REMOVED options for the final build. No more layering clothing with armor, and having leg armor. There's less versatility in the final build, and there's no real reason given for this. We had a system that was MORE versatile than we do now, and it got pared down. We used to be able to invest in perks to get access to crafting items we wanted, or at least get a discount if we found the schematics already. Now, we have to scrounge for crafting skill books? I'm sorry, but the crafting skill system was introduced AGES ago, and summarily scrapped, because it was a bad system. Back then you were at least getting enough exp from crafting and repairing that you could progress with it. Now, you have to loot or hit traders.
I've seen nothing the final build does BETTER, than the version before it. I know, I know, I can just load up an earlier version. There's nothing preventing me from doing so. I mean, people still routinely play earlier versions of minecraft because mod authors don't keep up to date with the current version. It's not new to have people prefer earlier versions. But with this being the final version, I expected something better, or at least more complete, than earlier versions. I didn't expect to regress to a long abandoned crafting skill, that was worse than the initial iteration. I didn't expect to lose gear slots.
This isn't even the complete game as promised. We hit the stretch goals, ages past, to let us tame and ride bears. We were promised animal husbandry, being able to domesticate animals and breed them for a reasonable supply of meat. We were promised enemy bandits, something that would have a better AI than shambling hordes of zombies. Not that I'm complaining about the zombies, it's a ZOMBIE game, but there was promised more. Hell, they dropped the hornets, which provided a solid early game threat when ranged weapons were in short supply, and their hives were a reasonable source of honey. But, I'm rambling on this point.
Stretch goals were not met. Promises were ignored. Animals are still just, kind of wandering around and an unreliable source of food, leather, bones, fat. They've had ample time to actually work on these things, and honestly, I wouldn't be so bothered by this, if they didn't completely throw out functional systems we had PRIOR to the full release, to replace them with inferior versions. Ones that were not asked for, ones that were not wanted, ones that were tried before and thrown out for being bad systems.
That they did that, then turned around and began building a new game under the same IP, is just a slap in the face. I'm not looking for endless updates; a final version was always the ideal. It was a kickstarter to allow them to create and deliver on that. I just want the game to be better than it's beta version, which it isn't, and for TFP to fulfill their kickstarter promises, which they haven't.
There are loyal diehard fans who've been around since the start, who are being let down, because the more lucrative option was to make a new game rather than completing the one we were promised and supported way back when.
I am severely disappointed in TFP over this.
