Game Development: As Above, so Below

[darnokpl]

Never liked the alchemy mechanics/system to begin with. At first it sounds like something cool and complicated, but once you do it for some time it feels like a chore. With this new update it sounds like an even bigger chore.

I have to agree with this. I wasn't fond of the alchemy mechanics and now I think I hate them. This is not reasonable for a solo player. To hunt out 4 different trees, clay, lime, animals, etc.... I think the reason this game doesn't have a higher number of players is because it is too complicated for some of the more casual players. Now it's gotten to the point where we should get a player manual sent to us in the mail, just to be able to play. This is the first update we have ever gotten that has actually made me consider dropping Salem and returning to H&H. I hated H&H's quality grind, but this is so much worse. There has to be a medium between this update and the crazy purities we had before. I don't know. Just sharing my opinion.

I can agree that for solo player it is not possible to get all elements high, but it is not single player game if you haven't noticed!
In HnH to get better quality in most industries you needed few people in your town, here it is starting to look like we need many people to get 4 elements high and I like it, maybe people will start to join each other and create larger (than 5 people) factions. It would also help them to defend their work from raiders.

For those who doesn't like idea of creating larger faction trade is always option.

As for the high leveled players out there, I am always against wiping, but it might be the only fair solution. Manually dropping everyone to 100 or something might work as well. However it's done, it just has to be done.

Well, I just don't know anymore....

100% agree, wipe after finish alchemy mechanic (mining next please) would be fair for all servers

[JinxDevona]

Honestly if they are going to cap humors, 100 is not reasonable whatsoever. Especially since water purity is the only thing restricting future food purity atm. Those who've actually played the months long period grinds know that 100 is not that difficult, and honestly i doubt it requires any purity whatsoever. If you're sitting here spouting a cap of 100... then you're likely dependent on buying purity from established players, you'd be at an even higher disadvantage with a hard reset since the rest of us know how to actually play this game.

Manually dropping everyone to 100 or something might work as well.

Don't know if you are referring to my post or not since you keep saying "he" which I am not, so let me clarify. I said 100 or something. Plus I did mean drop to 100 or something then let people go from there. Not a cap. I hate caps.

I can agree that for solo player it is not possible to get all elements high, but it is not single player game if you haven't noticed!
In HnH to get better quality in most industries you needed few people in your town, here it is starting to look like we need many people to get 4 elements high and I like it, maybe people will start to join each other and create larger (than 5 people) factions. It would also help them to defend their work from raiders.

Not completely true. My husband and I alone ran a village with all industries. Now that I'm playing Salem, he runs a village by himself. However for raiding purposes it is better to be in groups.

[Procne]

Remember that you don't need all alchemical elements. Right now they make a difference for food only, but even then you can do fine with only 1 or 2.

[Gallient]

Honestly if they are going to cap humors, 100 is not reasonable whatsoever. Especially since water purity is the only thing restricting future food purity atm. Those who've actually played the months long period grinds know that 100 is not that difficult, and honestly i doubt it requires any purity whatsoever. If you're sitting here spouting a cap of 100... then you're likely dependent on buying purity from established players, you'd be at an even higher disadvantage with a hard reset since the rest of us know how to actually play this game.

Manually dropping everyone to 100 or something might work as well.

Don't know if you are referring to my post or not since you keep saying "he" which I am not, so let me clarify. I said 100 or something. Plus I did mean drop to 100 or something then let people go from there. Not a cap. I hate caps.

I've just seen 100 spouted off constantly so it was a general statement. Its not like we didn't put any work into our humors, I don't see it as a solution to drop it THAT much just so others who haven't put in the time can catch up. They need to work out what purity they are going to make possible, and if dropping people is some sort of solution it needs to be based off what they expect. If they adjust and add factors that allow for 100% purity even if it takes a month, well most new players already have opportunities to entirely skip the seed grind, a month of work to manage 100% seeds is nothing.

Edit: Also not once did I say "he".

[martinuzz]

While I like the direction this update aims for, in making the different rescource purites matter more for crafting and farming, I dislike the extra grind it brings.
I had a love-hate relationship with the quality system in H&H, and for me, there was reasonable balance between 'fun through complexity' and 'grind', even though I grunted and mumbled about too much grind every once in a while.

Now in H&H, we only had 1 type of quality.
In Salem, we have 4. Four different elements, that each require separate purity grinding. Or 2 at a minimum, as Procne says, but I do not fully agree there.
That means 4x the grind. IMHO, it's a bit too much.

As for the alchemical properties of natural rescources, I like it, but I didn't like the node system in H&H. Too much power to a lucky few. Perhaps randomly changing all purity nodes at set intervals (every full moon? Witchcraft? ) could work.
Even though it is still early to talk about numbers, I'd like to add, that if observations made by the players up until now, about the purities ranging in between 0% and 5%, are an indication of what could generally be expected, I'd say that's pretty darn low.

[JinxDevona]

It is starting to feel like a game for only hardcore players. Those who don't have much time to play are screwed. Those that don't get it are screwed. There are over 31,000 members. Where are they? At the peak there are about 450 online at once. Probably around 1,000 regular players. Anyone see a problem with this? Just saying....

[Sachaztan]

Even though my alter-ego Father George is please, I myself am very sad indeed about this update. Here Jorb, you may have my tears

[darnokpl]

It is starting to feel like a game for only hardcore players. Those who don't have much time to play are screwed. Those that don't get it are screwed. There are over 31,000 members. Where are they? At the peak there are about 450 online at once. Probably around 1,000 regular players. Anyone see a problem with this? Just saying....

You need to focus on 1 element and find friendly people that will do same and then you share or trade your work and you can have all high purity things in Salem.


As for accounts imho we have:
300 hardcore players * 3 servers * alts accounts (for trading, farming, killing, scouting, spying etc etc) = 15,000+ accounts for pros
and 16,000 accounts for newbies that quit after first kill or two weeks

[JinxDevona]

It is starting to feel like a game for only hardcore players. Those who don't have much time to play are screwed. Those that don't get it are screwed. There are over 31,000 members. Where are they? At the peak there are about 450 online at once. Probably around 1,000 regular players. Anyone see a problem with this? Just saying....

You need to focus on 1 element and find friendly people that will do same and then you share or trade your work and you can have all high purity things in Salem.


As for accounts imho we have:
300 hardcore players * 3 servers * alts accounts (for trading, farming, killing, scouting, spying etc etc) = 15,000+ accounts for pros
and 16,000 accounts for newbies that quit after first kill or two weeks

Personally I don't like playing with others because they can end up causing you trouble. Leading scents back, etc. Remember rule number one in this game is trust no one, so playing with others contradicts that.

I did not think about all the number of alt accounts, I always forget to think like that...lol.

[Spazzmaticus]

It's happening! My prayers are answered! Long live the devs!