[2023] Am I alone in thinking...

Originally posted by Lizzard: Then TFP started removing more and more features by, ironically, adding more and more features. Every patch removes a feature that made the game challenging, and replaces it with a shortcut to cut out some of the game play. When traders started giving out quests, you could now go questing for exp instead of crafting, mining, and zombie hunting - they added 1 feature, which diluted 3 others. And that's basically a trend with this game.

Well on the one hand, they were removing purchased asset systems and replacing them with their own design. Which is the reason for 95% of the changes people tend to complain about.

That said though, you aren't wrong. I recall fondly playing Alpha's eight through fourteen. Then there was the new UMA system that tanked the number of zeds that could be displayed, and other limitations with Unity that additionally limited the number of entities that could exist. And now, even though most of those limitations have finally been overcome in a21, because of other systems and mechanics that exist now, there isn't enough overhead to have large numbers of zeds with a proper AI and still keep the game playable on all those low-end systems that should have been replaced 5+ years ago that people insist on using for modern games.

Largely though, I really miss the days where you could get overrun with zeds just by exploring a city, or even getting near one. When running out of food actually had a fatal consequence other than losing some stamina and having an overlay on your screen for a while. In the current game I've run around on no food or water for days. Sure it's a little harder because you don't have a lot of stamina. It isn't impossible if you know what you're doing though, and is quite manageable.

Slowing down progression in a21 is a step in the right direction, but it just isn't enough. I still have zero issues with getting water or maintaining food and other supplies. By the late-game the only real issue is waiting for bullets to finish manufacturing. I don't need supplies because I have literal walls of storage boxes full of supplies. We're smelting stacks of Dukes for brass for crying out loud.

For the past three or four years, I haven't really played the game for enjoyment. It's just something to pass the time when I'm bored with everything else, or I play it to test internal builds and replicate/track bugs.

IMHO the game has come a long way and made a large number of improvements. It's really lost the challenge that it used to have though, and the only time I really get even a little worried is in the rare jump scare/triggered zone inside POI's that manages to surprise me. I can kind of see where TFP is headed, and I hope that they do manage to get it balanced out properly. Because based on what I know of their vision, and what they have talked about in the past, we're close to the end, but it isn't properly balanced at all yet.

Originally posted by Pizzarugi:

Originally posted by SylenThunder: We're smelting stacks of Dukes for brass for crying out loud.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if TFP nerfs quest rewards and/or makes trader goods more expensive in the near future. Quests dole out currency like candy and there's simply not enough things to spend it on.

Maybe if TFP adds the Duke himself to the game, they can add a debt counter to your character that is extremely high which you can pay off over time or risk increasing bandit incursions. I dunno, just spitballing.

That's the worst part. We aren't even doing quests. We just sell spare books and some equipment to the trader. Nothing else. It's just way too easy to be fully set up so there is no longer a challenge.

Which is partially what TFP is trying to do with the new magazine system, loot stages, and changes to systems like water and farming. It's still just way too easy to game those same systems to push yourself forward to being OP too fast. Which makes the game basically resource farming, crafting, and then bloodmoon. And that is all there is after you are past day 41-49, and have hit level 100-ish. The max level is 300. I've not done it outside of testing, and have no reason to when I've mastered everything I care about only a third of the way there.