by Joshk80k » Tue Oct 19, 2021 8:00 pm
Winter is almost manageable because sleds provide a unique experience when it comes to hunting and questing, and it mostly compensates for the inability to boat around. Being unable to farm or collect tree seeds in winter is okay (as in a manageable handicap), but it becomes kind of frustrating when you need something like clay and your spot has frozen over. It's true that you could always get a pickaxe and dig it out, but the tedium involved makes me feel like I should just quit H&H for a few days and come back when the ice has melted. The problem is I think people like sticking to this game because they enjoy the feeling of consistent progression, and Winter and Spring are in direct conflict with that feeling, especially when even after I log back in to collect my clay after the ice has melted, I still won't be able to continue tree progression due to lack of seeds for another week or so. We're bleeding players because the time it takes for Winter and Spring to be over is like a week and a half or something and that's entirely too long of a dead period to play a game to maintain interest in said game. I think if you want to slow down the inevitable acceleration to the end game, promote game health, and retain the player base, there needs to be a shift in progression focus rather than removing the ability to progress. I think I understand the thought process behind some of the developmental decisions, but I also think the player should be motivated to explore different avenues rather than say "Oh man digging clay is tedious right now I'll just come back next week.", because right now the system essentially is using negative reinforcement to extend the timeline to reaching peak qualities, when what it really needs to do is use positive reinforcement in other aspects of the game to keep things flavorful but still promote that feeling of progression.
The real problem in my opinion is Spring. The penalties of Winter are harsh but offset by some unique factors (though IMO it's still far from perfect and still plays second fiddle to Fall/Summer), but Spring ends up leaving me feeling almost depressed due to lack of progression. I think Spring is supposed to have this vibe of rebirth and renewal of life/progression, and it's just not there. Just spitballing here, but here's some ideas that might spruce up Spring:
1) Have seeds come back quicker and earlier (as in like a 20% chance per day starting the first of Spring or something) or better yet, rework how trees and seeds work. Rather than halting progress altogether, make logging in for the first day of Spring a real treat - On the 1st day of Spring, all seeds respawn, but to compensate alter the growth rate of trees by season, something like: For Summer, growth rate is 100% of what it is now, Fall is 80%, Winter 40-50%, and then Spring back up to 80%
2) Some sort of quality bonus on hunting/foraging in Spring (Idk like a 25% bonus to bear quality, a 'fresh from hibernation' spin or something?) This alone would be huge in increasing my sense of progression, I have a relatively small window of enhanced bonuses that could have major repercussions on other aspects of the game.
3) Maybe some kind of unique crop interaction (Spring onions that can function to make a unique curio or enhanced FEP meals?) Something that compels me to stay on top of crops instead of that being the one reason I even log in during the Spring.
4) A unique animal only available in Spring, I don't know about this one, just trying to stay on theme while making Spring more interesting. Having a small window to hunt something that newbies can spitroast for great FEP gains, has a hide that makes a good curio, and for more advanced players, makes a killer meat pie or something seems like a step in the right direction.
5) More uncommon but very valuable foraged flower or something so that when you're out hunting your increased Q animals, you're also on the lookout for the foraged items.
6) A general buff to spring specific foragables, something like making spring bees rarer but always being a minimum quality of 40 or something so that seeing one is cause for excitement, as it's a component in one of the better curios, and something similar for flowers (and make it so players can't just throw them in gardening pots so players are incentivized to go out and forage). Spring is fairly short and I think the player should feel encouraged to take advantage of unique bonuses only available in Spring.
7) Somehow implementing a bonus to livestock quality/birthrate for spring, the caveat being the player needs to interact with the animals in some way, and only in Spring (artificial insemination or something, but it is most effective in Spring?) The justification for this being animals already eat less/are somewhat dormant in Winter, and Spring can be a reawakening of fertility/growth. I am not a hardcore player, but there seems to be a lot of room in improvement of livestock quality growth, seeing as how my sheep are like q80 while I am regularly bringing in q200-300 bears, mooses, and boars.
Winter is in a better place but it's still not great. If you really want to redirect progression, I think mines and caves and providing incentives/bonuses in that vein are the way to do it. I think it would be really cool to be able to build a hot spring (fueled by coal or something to maintain heat) and for it to have specific requirements, like only usable in mountains and in the winter, and for it to provide a 30% mining strength bonus (or a mineral quality bonus?) for two hours or something as a way to encourage players to take advantage of the season to make progress in a mine they've been struggling with for the rest of the year. The idea of building a mountain base specifically to visit it in the winter and prep for a hard mining session sounds really good and would definitely make me pumped for the coming colder season and knowing that this might be the extra oomph I need to get to Level 7 of my mine or whatever. The fact that mountains are somewhat more uncommon than grasslands or forest means it would also encourage player interaction (for better or for worse).
The current methodology seems to be taking things from players in order to slow progression, and I think what instead needs to happen is for players to redirect their attention on progressing in different ways. I need to look forward to Winter, not groan as it approaches. I need to mourn Spring's transition into Summer because I no longer can take advantage of X, Y, and Z, but still acknowledge that at least tree growth is back to maximum value or whatever. I would hate for seasons to be removed, as somebody mentioned above it's a super cool idea in theory, it just needs significant rework to be cool in reality.