This game has a balancing problem.

[BugReportEnthusiast]

This is a bit of a rant.

When i say balancing problem, i mean game balance. Features are very strong or very weak in comparison to other aspects of the game.

Here is a list of questionable or simply unexplainable balance decisions hinterland has made over time since the DLC came out.

• The Technical balaclava having an increased windchill bonus, while being an inner slot item. I have no idea what the thought process behind this was
• The Hockey sweater having a similar windchill bonus as an inner slot item
• The Foreman's Tool belt being an underwhelming reward for a ton of work, which at best increases your inventory space by 1.5kg
• Miner's clothing supposedly being tougher than regular clothes, and yet having equal or worse protection compared to many civilian clothes.
• The miner's hat, a CONSTRUCTION HARDHAT, giving you exactly as much protection as a rabbit hat. And being able to get wet and freeze from snowfall.
• Tip up fishing being straight up overpowered, allowing you to get a bear's worth of calories per day, without any risk at all  (https://youtu.be/l8BIygi4K_k)
• Many new DLC foods instantly healing the player, which turns them into health packs, something Raph himself has said is a bad thing in the past
• The new cooking system's recipes also being funky, with some recipes being substantially better than others
• Revolvers and revolver ammunition being very common finds. The revvy isn't just a self defense tool, you can easily use it to hunt deer or even moose.
• Improvised insulation being very powerful, yet super easy to get early on. +4c warmth and +2c winchill is a massive boost, and the effort required to achieve it doesn't reflect that. Plus it completely invalidates wool ear wraps.

There probably are more things that aren't coming to mind right now, but i think you get my point.

This has been bothering me for a while. It feels like new additions are not well thought out and do not mesh well with the direction this game used to have, or other aspects of it. And these problems don't really go away, since Hinterland does not seem to revisit any of the things they've added in past updates.

 

 

[Leeanda]

The tip up requires you to stand out in random weather ,at risk from predators too,while you have to chip away at the ice..  id say that's enough for that ..

While I see your point about the miners gear it's not a problem as such,just don't use it..  same as anything else in the game..

 

[ManicManiac]

I disagree...

I don't think the game has a balancing issue... and I think it's a bit of bad form to imply the assumption that Hinterland did not give due consideration with regard to the new additions.

I can understand if you're saying that you personally don't like some of the choices Hinterland has made... but just because it's not the game balance that you personally would like... doesn't mean it's a bad game balance.  I mean I've not always agreed with or liked all of the things that Hinterland as added or implemented either, but I respect and accept what Hinterland chooses to put in their game.  More often than not... it's just something I can choose to avoid or not use.

I think that if something wasn't in line with Hinterlands' intentions, then they will likely change it.  

If these things are working as Hinterland intends, then I think the better answer is for the player to adapt and overcome.

Edited March 14 by ManicManiac

[odizzido]

Personally I think it's a lack of making sense for the most part. Why do inner clothing slots offer zero wind protection in the first place? It makes no sense and is so far off reality that people are confused by how it works. A hard hat getting wet like cloth and offering as much protection as rabbit skin is obviously nonsense. No sane person that knows what a hardhat is can look at that and not wonder for a moment what's up with that.

As to the rest like the new fishing or DLC foods I can't say since I have no experience with them.

 

Anyways hinterland talks big, saying things like they have the true survival experience and that their game is considered to be in a finished state but they fall really short. They should stick with saying things like "atmospheric survival experience" or "unique feel"....things that are true and are big positives for the game. Anyways my only hope for the sandbox version of this game is that they finish it and make modding support good so that all of the nonsense can be changed. The actual gameplay is, for me, not good with some truly bad points. Great presentation only gets you so far and it's why the story mode is really what I want.

[BugReportEnthusiast]

1 hour ago, Leeanda said:

The tip up requires you to stand out in random weather ,at risk from predators too,while you have to chip away at the ice..  id say that's enough for that ..

While I see your point about the miners gear it's not a problem as such,just don't use it..  same as anything else in the game..

 

Stay in a fishing hut with the stove on, and enjoy your 50 thousand calories per day spent fishing. simple.

You should be doing that anyway if you're fishing regularly.

[BugReportEnthusiast]

@ManicManiac okay, but what if hinterland is inconsistent with itself? what happens then?

Hardhat: Excellent physical protection, but actually not. Is that intended?
T. Balaclava: Warmer balaclava, but actually not. Is that intended?
DLC Foods: We don't want health packs in the game, but here are your health packs. Is that intended?

Hinterland is inconsistent with what they're putting into their game.

And i really don't think saying they don't properly think things through is an insult or unwarranted. Just choose anything from the list of decisions in the original post, all of them have problems.

[Leeanda]

10 minutes ago, BugReportEnthusiast said:

Stay in a fishing hut with the stove on, and enjoy your 50 thousand calories per day spent fishing. simple.

You should be doing that anyway if you're fishing regularly.

I don't fish very often but when I do I use a simple tackle,nothing else...   But not everywhere has huts so tip ups are the only option..

 

I get not everyone likes everything but I also recognise that it's a game and no game is realistic in every aspect..

[BugReportEnthusiast]

1 minute ago, Leeanda said:

I don't fish very often but when I do I use a simple tackle,nothing else...   But not everywhere has huts so tip ups are the only option..

 

I get not everyone likes everything but I also recognise that it's a game and no game is realistic in every aspect..

I think you're misunderstanding my point

I'm not complaining about realism or not liking the new tip up system.
Tip ups are great, and i really like that they exist. It's an elegant system that fits very well with the game's style. It's like a snare but for fish.

My issue is that they are too powerful as a method of getting food, since you can have up to 6 of them active at 1 time without a penalty, and thus you can produce an ungodly amount of food per day spent fishing, which makes other methods of getting food quite useless in comparison, especially the normal manual method of fishing. I do not like that you can set up an industrial fish farm on a lake and produce a months worth of food in 2 days flat, without any risk or strategy or.. anything really.

That is my problem with all these new features.
I don't hate that they exist, or are unrealistic, i hate that they do not have a proper place in the game, and often either become meaningless or completely invalidate other systems/features.

[Leeanda]

12 minutes ago, BugReportEnthusiast said:

I think you're misunderstanding my point

I'm not complaining about realism or not liking the new tip up system.
Tip ups are great, and i really like that they exist. It's an elegant system that fits very well with the game's style. It's like a snare but for fish.

My issue is that they are too powerful as a method of getting food, since you can have up to 6 of them active at 1 time without a penalty, and thus you can produce an ungodly amount of food per day spent fishing, which makes other methods of getting food quite useless in comparison, especially the normal manual method of fishing. I do not like that you can set up an industrial fish farm on a lake and produce a months worth of food in 2 days flat, without any risk or strategy or.. anything really.

That is my problem with all these new features.
I don't hate that they exist, or are unrealistic, i hate that they do not have a proper place in the game, and often either become meaningless or completely invalidate other systems/features.

Oh I see..  well that's still kind of player choice to some extent...   And it depends on what resources you have too..   one of the reasons I don't use them ,or lures is that it means gathering things that I'd rather use for something else..    plus I think that regular fishing is more beneficial..

People will always spam it if they can and want to though,there are mods etc to even help them but still at the end of the day it's their choice to use them..

[ManicManiac]

@BugReportEnthusiast

Fair to ask the questions... 

However, I think it's a tad unfair for folks to try and imply sloppy conceptualization/implementation when those folks likely don't know the extent of time, work and consideration, that Hinterland put into making the new game content.  That's all I'm talking about.

As I alluded to before... it's fine for folks to perhaps not like the decisions and pose questions to Hinterland about it.
Again though, I do feel it's more than a bit out of line to try and imply they are sloppy creators or that they didn't give "proper" planning, consideration, or balance to the new items, places, or systems they've given us to play with. 

Anyway... I've said my piece, and I stand by it.  

Edited March 14 by ManicManiac

[PilgrimReaper]

I've always thought these "inconsistencies" were purposefully meant to get (new) players to learn to not use things for their face value, but for their "actual" properties in the game. Condensed milk does not keep forever; the hardhat will actually not protect you the way you think; etc.