* ↑↑↑ just give you a quick idea of ... my relationship with this game*
disclaimer : I love this game and I think Funpimps are awesome.... BUT
...been trying A19 for some weeks now and I have some salty opinion about this "progressive loot system".
long story short: it's not progressive at all, it's all about leveling, it's DUMB and LAZY. sad but true, sorry funpimps.
Can you imagine a police station / military base filled its armory with primitive bows and wooden arrows? or worse -- stone spear?
no wonder why there's an apocalypse going around in the first place eh?
there's nothing wrong with a progressive game design, but this 'low-level-low-life' approach is just the worst.
- it strip away the excitment of opening a chest, this is unbearable for a loot-heavy survival game!
- it break immersion and have no logic sense, it's just hilarious.
- it discourage player to go out and loot in the early game. forcing a linear and not-so-exciting gameplay strategy.
- it over simplified the relationship between player and the world, in a survival game genre.
- it discourage new player go deeper into the game, because they keep struggling at low level. no level, no progression.
- it makes blood moon boring in the early game. thus make the game less appeal to new players.
- it makes dealing with the enviroument and obstacles more of a torment and less engaging, cuz why bother venture into a lair full of nothingness while you can simply level up in the open.
here's a better solution: bring back the old progressive system with some new tweaks ---
- everytime you score a hit, you get some EXP into the weapon type you currently use -- weapon proficiency
- everytime you successfully craft an item, you get some EXP into the crafting skill you use -- crafting skill proficiency
- when you level in proficiency, unlock new abilities/traits/special schematics.
- some special books require a minimum proficiency level to fully understood -- you can't read a book and became some master, you practicing it first!
- different player profile MATTERS! for example some survivor have a built-in proficiency advantage, thus make different player have different performance at Day 1. just like class / role / background in other game genre. and it make multiplayer game more engaging, because my friend always pick loot skill and make me a builder!
- even more to that, it makes sense for a strong man firing a M60 non-stop while the ladies can barely handle a shotgun.
in this case, you don't have to take off that shotgun from player's hands at Day 1, it's just don't matter that much anymore, the damage, the handling, the accuracy is nowhere comparable to a seasoned survivor in Day 300, and the new player can experience those toys early on but cannot fully unlock it's potential. this create a motivation. this, in my opinon, is the utimate method to make player attached to the game and willing to invest their time hone their skill and really FEEL PROGRESSIVE.
excuse me for the grammar & spelling errors cuz I'm not an English native speaker, but I love this game and dev same as you do ... :) peace
