Seasons: speculations, hopes, dreams.

[ninja_yodeler]

Just curious about peoples thoughts on seasons and what they might mean for haven, and what they might actually affect. Are we going to see some form of temperature survival implementation where you might see increased stamina/energy drains if not dressed appropriately for the climate (aka, furs in snow, light gear in hotter climes) that are more or less drastic depending on the season. It'd add reasons for everyone to not be dressed exactly the same depending on what stage of the game they're in. What are peoples thoughts on something like that?

Or would it perhaps mean a slightly more dynamic landscape that can change with the seasons if mapgen would allow such a thing, with snow covering more and more areas. And then lakes and rivers perhaps receding to reveal more shallows and less deep water. (unless rain/drought systems were added, but i doubt mapgen would allow any of this anyway.

Personally I'd love to see it affect farming and foraging the most. In winter crops yield less, or take longer to grow, and foraging becomes rarer, both more likely to drop Q a little. This would add a sense of winter being something to prepare for (and endless 'Winter is coming' references) and also slows down the quality race for a while, every so often. Allows players (bots) to focus on other things for a bit, whatever they might be. And if countered with something like, higher levels of animals around (all out looking for food) it would encourage players to go outside the walls more, hunting. Alternatively maybe just up the aggro range of animals during the winters, or make foxes aggressive etc etc.

What would you like to see? what do you think you will see regardless of whether you like it or not? Discuss.

[Adder1234]

I can't imagine a temperature survival mechanic being added, because every player that joins in winter would pretty much freeze to death. I like the idea of crops growing slower or not at all during winter, but I feel that other things would have to be added to stop everyone losing interest every time it comes around. I think that different foragables, crops, animals and other resources should be easier or harder to get during different seasons.

[Hrenli]

Ice on rivers and boats stuck in it! Winter fishing via hole in the ice. Bears sleeping in the dens (if you wake them up they start their rage thingie right away).

[Adder1234]

Ice on rivers and boats stuck in it! Winter fishing via hole in the ice. Bears sleeping in the dens (if you wake them up they start their rage thingie right away).

nice ideas, but entire lakes freezing is kind of unrealistic, especially with the really massive ones.

[jordancoles]

I want to uncover cave galleys while mining which have items/objects inside that can only be obtained through that method

Examples: Ancient thrones and small chests with some randomized loot inside, sword hilts with gems and shit that you can attach to regular swords for aesthetics, or fancy ancient furniture with those circular doodles that Jorb loves to draw so much

[jorb]

circular doodles

They really are the best.

[ninja_yodeler]

I want to uncover cave galleys while mining which have items/objects inside that can only be obtained through that method

Examples: Ancient thrones and small chests with some randomized loot inside, sword hilts with gems and shit that you can attach to regular swords for aesthetics, or fancy ancient furniture with those circular doodles that Jorb loves to draw so much

I've never been a fan of things like that being the game, purely because of how much the thought of "everything you see that isn't natural terrain, was at one point built by other players" appeals to me. But still I'm always a slut for purely cosmetic loot.

[Amanda44]

@ ninja_yodeler ... I actually would like all that you have suggested in your post!

When it comes to temperatures I don't think mechanics should be introduced where you would actually die or would be so harsh as to make seasons far from enjoyable, as Adder says it would do more harm than good to players interest ... but for sure it could cause increased stamina/energy, maybe lowering of certain attributes if not dressed or prepared properly, such as constitution, strength, agility and could also bring in some more injuries along the same lines.

Seeing the landscape change with seasons is something I would totally love, fallen leaves during autumn, snow and ice during winter, an abundance of flowers blooming and regrowth during the spring and some form of drought maybe during the middle of the summer season.
Crops should most definitely be affected in some way. Food would not be too big an issue for players to prepare for during the other seasons but maybe we could have some better storage options for amassing quantities of different food types. Also the introduction of preserving foods.

Livestock could maybe slow down on breeding during autumn and winter, or even just keep two seasons for breeding.

Clothing would also come into play more and as you said would allow players to concentrate on gilding for more sets of clothes other than the standard sets everyone aims for.

Excited for seasons, but wary of Jorb, lol.

[iamahh]

hope it makes the world richer and more alive, immersive, and not simply add grind and difficulty like every other mmo

[ven]

The whole point of seasons should be to add replayability value and make us change our playing habits regularly. W7 was a long world and the major complaint by far then was endgame boredom. After a while all there is left to do is grind stats inside one's walls; the world doesn't change by itself, and so we don't need to change our way of playing either.

I'm excited about it too, but I also worry that seasons may end up being just some season-related bonuses and buffs instead of adding unique content. I'd love if it included some new crops that only grow during a certain season and new animals and forageables that only appear during a certain time. I'd really like to see people stockpiling strawberries or unique wood types in Summer and rushing outside to hunt polar bears and swans in Winter. I also imagine trade would be very interesting in this scenario.