Time & Solo Play

[MushroomMan]

Time & Solo Play

Greetings everyone!

For context, I've been playing the game on and off both before and after the game's Steam release. I've done the usual early game things multiple times (scout for a proper spot, rushing to get pali up, claims, etc.), but I've always come to the conclusion: "This took way longer than expected."

My questions are the following:

1. How time-consuming is the game after the initial early game stages?
2. How much time do you spend a day playing to maintain your progress and get to new content?
3. Do you think a casual player can reach meaningful progress with, let's say a 2>h/d time investment (getting to midgame, mining, quality improvement, discover new content, etc.)?

I've really enjoyed the game so far, and like it conceptually (basically an open-air museum like playground with really good theming), but unlike other games I've found that scratch this itch, H&H -due to being an MMO- requires one to log on regularly to not lose progress. I don't mind the other features that often get complained about, such as PVP (though I've managed to avoid being hunted for sport in most cases). My only potential deal-breaker would be time.

Thank you for reading my post, and wish you all the best.

Sincerely,
A Sprucecap

[The_Lich_King]

I am only putting in about 2 hours a day right now and am approaching late game content... some stuff i will never be able to do like Whale Hunting or Meteorites because that is designed for top of the world villages with large groups but most content is accessible to you doing 2 hours a day IF you have the patience.

It will take you a LONG time to actually get to late game playing casually but if you know what to do you will get there eventually.

[Grog]

May I ask you what progress you fear of losing?

The only one i could think of is pre claim+wall, when people pickpocket your stuff.

[MushroomMan]

May I ask you what progress you fear of losing?

I think I worded myself poorly, by maintaining progress I meant "time spent getting to new stuff", as in not getting stuck for weeks doing the same chores for an extended period.
By losing progress I mean eg.: not getting your base broken into, stuff stolen, filling up the study table etc.

[Granny]

............"This took way longer than expected."

........My only potential deal-breaker would be time........

Heya! Everything you do will take way longer than expected. The chores are real, and it can be overwhelming. The game will just continue to consume time. I play ca 10 hours a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I log on often though. There are weeks I am just in maintenance mode, and in others I progress. You have more time than me, and I think you will do just fine. However - I think the key to playing Hafen long term is to scale your expectations of progress according to the time you have available. It can be that you set that limit for yourself, or others impose it on you. In that context - progression- might be interpreted differently. Taming a sheep or a horse, travelling somewhere new, escaping an attack from a bear or a player, finding oranges etc.I see as progress. What do you define as progress?

[Valgar]

weeks doing the same chores for an extended period.

This is H&H gameplay past the first 2-3 month

[Sephiron]

At beginning of the world I spent as much time as possible like 8 hours a day, always a ton of stuff that you needed to do before you logged off every day (build palisades, collect wood, do swamp runs to fill your study desk and get wax, hunt hunt hunt for food and bones and hide because you always needed it)
But now that I have a tree farm I never need to search for wood, I can make much better curios from inside my Pali than the ones you find outside, I still hunt but it's much easier and faster, and I have tamed animals and crops and cheese to supplement the diet. Now I just spend 3 hours at most a day, I check my silk in the morning before work and right after, and spend 2hrs expanding production, doing some mining, maybe a few credo quests,and general chores. I am at the point where I can skip a day or two if I don't feel like playing

[Grog]

As of now maintainance is fairly low for claims. I am watching one hold steady for a month now.
Raids on small farmsteads are extremely unlikely, they do not yield anything justifying the effort needed to do so.

There's still feeding lifestock, silk and steel.
Those do need some time effort, especially if you want to do them in high quality and quantity.
But, for a hermit, they aren't nescessary either.

So I think progress might be harder on you.
Stuff is slow, intentionally.
Even more so if you have no one to share the workload with.
And slow crops and treegrowth might be less punishing to those who log in every other day.

But imo the speed doesn't change too much.
So if you like the game now you will like it at least for 3 months more.

There's a reason that many old timers like me (10 year+) eventually end up casually playing as a hermit.

Just get used to the idea that you are building a sandcastle.
At one point the flood will come and take it all.

[anupsingh]

I play solo too, and I think it’s all about matching your goals with the time you have. If you spend around 2 hours a day, progress might feel slow, but it’s still fun if you focus on small things like taming animals or setting up a tree farm. The chores are part of the game, but they get easier as you go. Just enjoy the process instead of rushing.