Insanity!

[Dallane]

Please make a meter to show insanity level too, or at least a warning when it is about to increase madness

There is a meter.

[Shizen]

I saw that a very low ammount of things reduce your insanity of a SMALL ammount, and a lot of things increase it...at least add something like this:

1: Eat while in a chair, in front of a table, inside your house, will reduce insanity, eating in the wilderness will increase it (I mean, not inside your house)
2: New item: Bed (if there's already one in the game, sorry, still didn't saw it). Staying in your bed will slowly reduce your insanity over time
3: Staying offline will reduce your insanity over time
4: If your Blood is not at max, insanity will slowly increase overtime (it hurts..)

I am okay with the insanity mechanics but as it's announced, it looks like "we want you to die sooner or later, you can do nothing about it, you'll die anyway"

And yes, I did read the patch notes, that's why I think that it "looks" too easy to gain insanity and too hard to lose it

You clearly didn't read them

Looks like he did read them. And I don't dislike the idea of eating (by which I'm going to interpret that as glutting) while sitting in a chair at a table in a house might reduce insanity. Sleeping in a bed (when you log out) and in general being offline reducing insanity I think I might have already suggested so I'm clearly biased towards that as well . Being reduced in blood... meh. Doesn't quite fit the abstraction as I see it, but certainly once the mechanic has matured I'm sure there will be conditions instigated by various creatures that will cause insanity loss. Bleeding, and harrowing experiences. Not to mention the Witch Curses. Nightmares. Gremlins. Drinking curdled milk... oh wait, need cows first. Damn you domestication!

Anyway, it's only natural that people will see doom and gloom in a patch of this nature. I'm still waiting for the clients to catch up so I can see just how bad it is for newbies. And to let the tobacco market spin up . I'm sure it'll be no problem for established characters.

[Brona]

AND STOP SAYING THAT I READ NOT THE PATCH NOTES, BECAUSE YOU LOOKS LIKE A BOUNCH OF STUPID PEOPLE! HOW COULD I HAVE NOT READ THEM IF I'M COMPLAINING ABOUT THEM?! CAN'T YOU THINK THAT MAYBE I DID MISUNDERSTANDED THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT CLEAR ENOUGHT?

Wow man you sound upset...

And for the record you can play the game indefinitely without gaining one level of madness if you do it properly. I have been on since the patch dropped and I haven't gained a single level with really minimal effort.

[Claeyt]

so we should all become carebear farmers then? never leave base

What are you talking about? From what I can tell, most of the stuff that increases insanity happens in your base. Travelling around hunting butterflies and flowers in the non-darkness and occasionally going to town to listen to music seems the safest things to do to avoid insanity.

[Shizen]

Swimming should decrease insanity, more with longer distances,
Making golden eggs should decrease insanity
Successfully cutting a gem should decrease insanity
Lighting a fireplace/woodpile/stove/torch/helmet should decrease insanity

Making boards should decrease insanity when below 40 boards in series and increase when above 40 boards, so making one board pile would give decreasing effect, while spamming them would cause madness.

Listening to NPC musicians should decrease insanity at least enough to counter AFK effects (while being exposed to random witches)

Sand sifting should increase insanity as it is a dumb task

Please make a meter to show insanity level too, or at least a warning when it is about to increase madness

Mmm, sand sifting idea is terrible . Cutting a gem? Lighting a fireplace?

I could see sitting by a fire/candle/etc. lowering insanity. I could see having books crafted with the right skills being read, trading inspiration for lowering insanity. I could see having a golden egg (or gems) on your mantle or in a display case and hanging out by it, lowering insanity, but most of these would probably defeat much of the benefits JC was hoping to realize out of the system. I could see having a storyteller skill read a book aloud allow him to trade inspiration for a reduction in insanity for all listeners. I could see the institution of a tip hat.

I could also see JC doing none of these things 8). But one can dream.

I do think it might be nice to have some sort of indicator as to whether your current activities were making you more or less insane (in a more gfx intensive game I might imagine a little animated portrait of your character making expressions appropriate to your current actions). So that one might learn through direct experience what sorts of activities caused what. Would also help with realizing fear from bears, etc. (and other effects from other creatures). And from various potential witch powers that might be introduced. Just some more suggestions. YMMV.

[Thor]

No signs of madness yet for me, just checked with default client. Try the game first it's not so bad.

[Claeyt]

I'm curious, with this patch are we saying new players need not apply? There is no way a new player can afford most of the measures to alleviate insanity. Does insanity bleed off naturally while you are offline? Or is Salem now the game of sitting around fishing and whittling all day long?

Afford? Pick flowers, whittling, fishing and planting pots? They could literally cure their insanity within an hour of playing.

The bigger question is how are they supposed to know about the insanity mechanic. Is there a tutorial or description for it somewhere in game?

[Dallane]

The bigger question is how are they supposed to know about the insanity mechanic. Is there a tutorial or description for it somewhere in game?

Yes its clearly posted on the forums and a NPC is telling them to check the forums constantly.

[Claeyt]

Indeed. Each note you hear gives you over 5 minutes of playtime 'shaved off' the impending madness level accumulation. So even listening to 20-40 notes could easily give you a few hours of not having to worry about insanity.

2 quick questions on this. Will sitting and listening to the drums by the fight club cliffs reduce insanity? Will my cowbell reduce insanity?

I'd suggest just sitting in a house should reduce insanity or sitting in a church.

In the end we decided that affluence will help you run a larger tobacco plantation, or a larger vineyard.

If you do vines then do beer please!!!

[Shizen]

I'm curious, with this patch are we saying new players need not apply? There is no way a new player can afford most of the measures to alleviate insanity. Does insanity bleed off naturally while you are offline? Or is Salem now the game of sitting around fishing and whittling all day long?

Afford? Pick flowers, whittling, fishing and planting pots? They could literally cure their insanity within an hour of playing.

The bigger question is how are they supposed to know about the insanity mechanic. Is there a tutorial or description for it somewhere in game?

Half those features weren't in when I posted that. Tobacco is out of reach for a new player for certain. As for the rest... I'm experimenting with a new character to see how bad it is, but I hate the default client too, so... I'll have to wait to comment further on this aspect of the patch until more time experimenting and clients have been updated, etc. has occurred.