I can't believe this unskipabble photosensitivity warning screen adds a whopping 14 seconds of wasted loading time! Can't you make it skipabble?

[Leeanda]

2 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

Hah fair enough! But the fact that others did agree means it was ultimately a good addition, so you're "guilty" of nothing.

I'm not saying it was a bad idea, I just want to be able to opt out of all of the opening stuff and go straight to the title screen. I know there's mods for that but I do play on Steam Deck time to time and modding the game on that platform requires a lot of extra steps, so I would appreciate being able to load directly to the title in the base game. 

I get that....,.   I don't have the option for mods and extras so I imagine it does all add up..... 

It's just Ive  got so many games that take ages to load that a few seconds is a blessing..😁. Plus Xbox has slow loading times in itself.  Milton is a nightmare with all those houses to go in and out of..

I have one game that actually loads for ten minutes before you can pick the loading options and a further four/five minutes to load those..

Edited June 22, 2023 by Leeanda

[Admin]

Thank you for your feedback. We will pass this along to the team. Our priority is to ensure the safety of our players, and we will prioritize that as we consider whether we want to make any adjustments. 

Thank you for your patience. 

[MarrowStone]

I think the warning is a good addition! But..

It seriously should be skippable, all disclaimers should be. After the first dozen or so times most people would be sufficiently warned don't you think?

10 seconds may not seem like a lot, but in the case of repeated booting, it can add up and also be a barrier to people even wanting to start playing! 

What OP is suggesting here isn't trying to disregard players with sensitivities, but simply suggesting a quality of life option for players who already have been sufficiently warned. I don't understand the comments arguing against it. It wouldnt remove the warning and hinterland should be safe. 

[Jolan]

Yes, player safety is essential, but the screen time is unusually long.  This is the first time I've ever complained about the photosensitivity warning in a game.  I suggest putting a click-any-button message to move through it and putting the detailed help info as an accessible link on the main loading page if you want folks to have that info.   The whole game loading process is already pretty long; with the unskippable warning, it's now a minute to load into a game.  Setting aside games with crowded servers (looking at you FFIVX) the last time I had that long of a wait was when we used 3.5 floppies.

[hozz1235]

I fully agree with posters.  You've done your diligence and displayed it - if users want to skip it after being displayed, that is up to them.

[ChaosArchbishop]

I'm very glad the message resonated. Let's hope for the most optimistic scenario.

[Admin]

Update: We are working toward a resolution for this, and we will share more information if/when it becomes available. Thank you, again, for your patience and feedback! 

[yollarbenibekler]

All these discussion... all the game needs is a "don't show this message again" checkbox.

[gmotagi]

This is the most ANOYING thing I've come across in any game for a long long time!

Fallen Skies has a very similar screen and guess what. It has a skip button!

So will be playing that for the time being as I don't want to start a game and be immediately pissed off for having to wait due to bad game design. 

Life's too short.

 

 

[deathbydanish]

23 hours ago, yollarbenibekler said:

All these discussion... all the game needs is a "don't show this message again" checkbox.

Yeah I'm not sure why this wasn't an option to begin with, you could even say that checking box was an acknowledgement of the message and then proceed to not show it again unless the game was uninstalled/reinstalled.

[Muestereate]

Can I get a disclaimer for Long Dark Addiction and emotional traumas may persist long after the glimmer of the screen had faded,  "into the long dark"

[Cattleman]

Lol... I really have to chuckle at this one... Have things really gotten to the point that folks dont have enough patience to wait a couple handfuls of seconds for entertainment??? Just my 2 cents.

Edited July 13, 2023 by Cattleman

[hozz1235]

16 hours ago, Cattleman said:

Lol... I really have to chuckle at this one... Have things really gotten to the point that folks dont have enough patience to wait a couple handfuls of seconds for entertainment??? Just my 2 cents.

Normally, I would agree with your remark; however, it does make sense that, once you've seen it, you should be given the option to skip it.  It is fairly standard in the industry today, so it has become an expectation.  Also, it doesn't hurt to ask for things, right?  HL may choose to ignore our requests (and that is certainly their prerogative!), but once again, can't hurt to ask.

[Leeanda]

2 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

Normally, I would agree with your remark; however, it does make sense that, once you've seen it, you should be given the option to skip it.  It is fairly standard in the industry today, so it has become an expectation.  Also, it doesn't hurt to ask for things, right?  HL may choose to ignore our requests (and that is certainly their prerogative!), but once again, can't hurt to ask.

Well it never hurts to ask no but some attitudes are way beyond asking..   the only skippable part I get is the logo after the disclaimer page has loaded and even then it takes a few seconds...  

Just seems a bit over exaggerated for such a trivial thing...   

 

[MarrowStone]

16 hours ago, Cattleman said:

Lol... I really have to chuckle at this one... Have things really gotten to the point that folks dont have enough patience to wait a couple handfuls of seconds for entertainment??? Just my 2 cents.

It's a quality of life suggestion. But you worded the issue in such a reductivist way so as to invalidate people's frustrations. 

 

Imagine if every time you started your car you were forced to listen to 10 seconds of warning for following speed limits, then another 10 for drunk driving, then suddenly there's another 10 for needing a license one day. And say its a crappy car that takes the average time a pc takes to turn on and boot up a game to start. Those seconds add up.  

 

You dont have enough patience to handle waiting another handful of seconds for transportation? Just wake up ealier and get home later. Wait 30 seconds every time you work on the engine and start the car to check if everything works. Mechanics would go insane. 

[ManicManiac]

6 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Just seems a bit over exaggerated for such a trivial thing...   

Yes... I'd agree.
and to reiterate my last thoughts on the matter:

On 6/22/2023 at 11:02 AM, ManicManiac said:

I recommend folks thinking a little beyond themselves for things like this.  A few extra seconds (or even 14) is objectively just not that big an inconvenience.  Hinterland put it there for a reason, I think that reason ought to be respected.

And I think folks might do well to feel glad that such a trivial thing could annoy them... I think it indicates they probably have themselves a pretty comfortable situation if an additional bit of text before they can get started playing their recreational videogame is what they are annoyed by. 

  

[Leeanda]

Out of curiousity I just timed mine,from loading the disc to being able to actually move and it took 3 minutes 10..  I'd be interested what the difference is between console and pc..  I know my Xbox is a bit on the old side  but I don't think it'd make much difference.

[Cattleman]

I understand that it can be somewhat frustrating... But alot of this seems blown out of proportion. And really its there to protect HL. In this day in age when many folks first response to being harmed by a product is to bring litigation against that products creator I don't blame HL for putting it there or making it non skippable. All it would take is 1 lawsuit and HL could no longer exist... I'm pretty sure none of us want that.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Cattleman

[hozz1235]

1 hour ago, Cattleman said:

I understand that it can be somewhat frustrating... But alot of this seems blown out of proportion. And really its there to protect HL. In this day in age when many folks first response to being harmed by a product is to bring litigation against that products creator I don't blame HL for putting it there or making it non skippable. All it would take is 1 lawsuit and HL could no longer exist... I'm pretty sure none of us want that.

I'm not a lawyer, but I imagine they are covered even if they make it skippable.

"blown out of proportion" - perhaps, but isn't that your perspective as well?

[hozz1235]

This kind of (IMO) unnecessary disclaimers/legal jargon is because all it takes is one person winning a lawsuit against a company.  Case in point, "Caution: Contents Hot" on coffee cups.  Now, companies are forced to CYA in many ways.

[Cattleman]

7 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

I'm not a lawyer, but I imagine they are covered even if they make it skippable.

"blown out of proportion" - perhaps, but isn't that your perspective as well?

Yes you are probably right... But I have heard of crazy stuff. Ex: a trucking company was sued after being involved in a wreck where a passenger vehicle lost control on slick roads crossed the median and hit the truck. One of the passengers died I believe and others severely injured. Trucking company and driver had not violated any rules/laws. The Trucking company lost to the tune of $90 MILLION!!!

[hozz1235]

11 minutes ago, Cattleman said:

Yes you are probably right... But I have heard of crazy stuff. Ex: a trucking company was sued after being involved in a wreck where a passenger vehicle lost control on slick roads crossed the median and hit the truck. One of the passengers died I believe and others severely injured. Trucking company and driver had not violated any rules/laws. The Trucking company lost to the tune of $90 MILLION!!!

Dontcha just love our justice system?!

[Sherri]

Agreed.

I wish all the opening notices & disclaimers had a timeout so I could at least boot the game, go grab a drink & be at the main menu when I come back.

An instant "press any key to skip" would be fantastic.

With the hundreds of hours I have in TLD... I am sufficiently warned about photosensitivity & that TLD is NOT real survival advice. Lol

There is a lot of "stuff" in this game's bootup & the one that used to make me smile - about the trees donation - was removed. 😭

Edited July 14, 2023 by Sherri

[Stuffed Plush Chainsaw]

I remember back in 2015/2016 having heated discussions about a linux box for a digital signage project we made the software for, and the point of contention was that it booted too slow. Mind you those things were spun up in the early morning, ran all day, and got shutdown after all visitors had left. Also consider that no user interaction was required other than pressing a power button once and then walking away. So even if it hardly ever mattered how long those boxes took to start up we spent a couple thousand dollars worth of development time to make the screen "appear" in 15 instead of just under 30 seconds.

What this tale tells us: people are unreasonable impatient.

[MarrowStone]

Asking for it to be skippable is in no way unreasonable, impatient, or entitled.

Why cant we suggest a change that respects our time? Especially a change that doesn't remove the warning? How is that mere request "blown out of proportion"?

Some of yall acting like respectfully questioning the devs descisions is blasphemy. That is what's blown out of proportion. 

They said they're working on a solution now, so it sounds like our request was heard and adjustments are being made. That eouldnt have happened if we all wouldnt have said anything. 

if the 2,602 daily peak of players rn watched 10 seconds of extra time, thats 18 days of all those players cumulative time gone. In a year of booting once a day theyd all lose 6,504 days cumulatively staring at a disclaimer theyve seen plenty of times.