Do sprains need to be looked at?

[Hotzn]

In my current run (now in TWM), I am suffering from regular sprains that seem uncalled for. Before the TWM update, I definitely remember that sprains used to occur mainly when they "made sense" - when I was exhausted, when walking down steep slopes or taking a jump downwards, when encumbered, and expecially when several of these factors applied at once. Now I sometimes suffer a sprain early in the day when I am fresh, not encumbered and on easy terrain. It's not a game breaker, but it does get a little tedious if it happens too often. On the other hand, I may jump around overladen on a steep slope for an hour and not suffer any sprain. My feeling is something is off here, and in another thread over at Steam other players are expressing the same - the general feeling is something was changed here in v298 or later, and now possibly does not work properly anymore.

I am definitely pro sprains as a game mechanic, and I would even like them to be more severe than they currently are (it should not be possible to just heal them with pills or sleep them off in 4 hours). But the probability of a sprain occuring should be connected to factors like steep slopes, exhaustion, encumbrance, running etc. Players should be able to minimise the risk. And sprains occurring in very low risk situations should be rare.

[Sly]

In my current run (now in TWM), I am suffering from regular sprains that seem uncalled for. Before the TWM update, I definitely remember that sprains used to occur mainly when they "made sense" - when I was exhausted, when walking down steep slopes or taking a jump downwards, when encumbered, and expecially when several of these factors applied at once. Now I sometimes suffer a sprain early in the day when I am fresh, not encumbered and on easy terrain. It's not a game breaker, but it does get a little tedious if it happens too often. On the other hand, I may jump around overladen on a steep slope for an hour and not suffer any sprain. My feeling is something is off here, and in another thread over at Steam other players are expressing the same - the general feeling is something was changed here in v298 or later, and now possibly does not work properly anymore.

I am definitely pro sprains as a game mechanic, and I would even like them to be more severe than they currently are (it should not be possible to just heal them with pills or sleep them off in 4 hours). But the probability of a sprain occuring should be connected to factors like steep slopes, exhaustion, encumbrance, running etc. Players should be able to minimise the risk. And sprains occurring in very low risk situations should be rare.

+1

[chipinthedark]

I entirely agree, and listed sprains in A.301 as the most annoying aspect of the game. In my younger days I hiked in a lot of terrain similar to that portrayed in the game and never once experienced a sprain, so they seem to me much too common. However, pack loading, effective slope grade and fatigue factors are all good modifiers. But footwear, traversing, and experiential conditioning should also play a factor, as they do in real life.

I recently almost rage-quit the game when, after almost 6 months game time, with an under-limit pack load, on level ground, I sprained both a wrist and an ankle by bumping against the slight slope of the snow-bank forming a river's shoreline. Utterly ridiculous and a little insulting to the player as I see it, to lame him/her for a no-cause reason after 190 days in the game. It was more annoying because at that time I was stalking a bear and had to delay the hunt to find & brew some rose-hips -- earlier goofy sprains had depleted my pain-killer supply for the time being.

Please pay some serious attention to this severely bent if not broken game mechanic.

[Spottdrossel]

Two sprains per day were pretty normal for my run exploring TWM.

The guy should be called Will MacClumsy!

It's part of the ever growing "more and faster will make the game really exciting" approach.

More sprains, more wolves, more calories, more healing, more resources and more decay - the most thrilling "thoughtful survival experience" ever!

I doubt there's any value in bringing this to the attention of the developer, since they will consider it essential to the "game balance" and "know what they're doing", being the "business veterans" they are.

[Hesha]

It was more annoying because at that time I was stalking a bear and had to delay the hunt to find & brew some rose-hips -- earlier goofy sprains had depleted my pain-killer supply for the time being.

Wouldn't it have been much easier to find 4 hours worth of firewood and sleep it out?

[ChillPlayer]

I noticed some change too, when they introduced sprained wrists I was under the impression that I only get that when traveling while holding the rifle. In several hundred days of playtime I only sprained it then and never again while not carrying anything in my hands.

Right now I'm trying the new years challenge and my runs don't go longer than 2-3 days, but it happend several times now that I sprained the wrist in those few days already while not holding anything. Some less randomness would be nice, I'm sure that if one is careful he can walk for years without spraining anything, I haven't in my entire life and I spend a lot of time in and around the Alps.

So yes, +1 to have another look at that mechanic

[phaedrus]

I've seen a lot of complaints about an increase in sprains since the most recent update, but have never had an issue with them myself. I just made it from inside the tail section of the plane to inside the Mountaineer's Hut in 45 minutes (in game time) by going straight down the side of the mountain. I didn't use any ropes and wasn't particularly careful or slow with my decent. I just wanted to test out the route. I did not incur any injuries at all.

Maybe you guys need to take another look at your play styles?

[bethany]

This is actually something we are currently monitoring. If anyone is experiencing sprains when they're at 100 condition, on a flat surface, and not encumbered, please report it. I've forwarded this thread to our tech support so it can be evaluated.

[chipinthedark]

It was more annoying because at that time I was stalking a bear and had to delay the hunt to find & brew some rose-hips -- earlier goofy sprains had depleted my pain-killer supply for the time being.

Wouldn't it have been much easier to find 4 hours worth of firewood and sleep it out?

The possibility of a radical weather change (yellowish clouds gathering fast) made finding the rose hips more attractive, as I had about 2/3 of the necessary 25 already, but scrounging took me out of the bear's sight for a game hour or so. That's always a bit chancy as the animals seem to teleport once out of sight (kidding) and it can become much harder to recover their track. As it turned out I bagged the bear just as the storm hit and had to pack the first load through the gale, then sit the rest out. Not a real challenge in late-game Pilgrim, but as it was precipitated by the goofy sprains, it was irritating to say the least.

[chipinthedark]

Maybe you guys need to take another look at your play styles?

Actually not. Having hiked Alaskan foothills and trails in all seasons I'm pretty familiar with sound techniques like traversing slopes greater than about 20 degrees, side-stepping down steeper grades, and keeping pack loads at reasonable levels when doing chancy slopes. But too many sprains occurred when there was no logical reason for it, as if it's simply a random chance algorithm with no identifiable trigger conditions. Plus even after many moons having survived (better conditioning) and wearing the deer-hide boots that support both ankle and calf, the sprains occur at the same frequency. I admit I often travel with a slight encumbrance, usually less than 30 kg if not packing out a meat load or humping supplies from a source, in which case I will risk up to 40-45 kg if conditions allow, but twisting an ankle (or even less logical, a wrist) on slopes less than 10 deg (happened at least a half-dozen times) is simply nonsensical. The event is reported as a fall, but how do you fall if there is nothing to fall off of? Just a stumble & tumble? Perhaps in the first three or four weeks, but after 6 months, any normal person would have learned the ropes of stable hiking much better than that.

[KD7BCH]

Suffered a hand sprain without a foot sprain and without the apparent sprain fall down mechanic just out of the blue while working high terrain. I'll post a vid in a bit. https://youtu.be/FAFAGN-CcO4.

Was not on level ground and I wasn't at full health but I don't know if this is really how you want it look when it happens.