A step backwards with the new skill/perk system?

[Khulkhuum]

I would like to remind everyone that A16 ended with A16.4, so a sixth version of A16 (counting in experimental). This means that from A16e to A16.4 a lot of time passed and many updates/tweaks were introduced. Here we're still in experimental for just a few weeks. Don't expect everything to be done and rebalanced properly in a few days. Everyone needs to be a bit more patient and we'll see things better when stable comes into play.

 

In A17 i personally feel more purpose than in A16. Previously i had a specific route to take concerning what to do, what to "buy" and straying from it proved to be not so fun. Tried various ideas about progressing, but i mostly came back to specific directions i took (not to mention weight put on finding many things in the POIs).

 

I feel that in A17 it's a bit different (or at least meant like that) where you could focus on one thing at a time and others will follow in due time. It's not like you have to build a forge/a farm/a base/a bike/etc. at day 1 or a specific moment otherwise you're screwed. Surely you need some precautions for the bloodmoon, but apart from that you can advance how you want (and i hope with proper balancing of XP from crafting, exploring etc. will cover that).

 

Considering weapons/tools abundance - i had tons of gun parts in A16, sometimes needing 2 chests for all of that to contain. The prices for weapons/tools now are similar to the weapon parts i found in A16, with the difference you can use the guns and get ammo from them if sold. I still will gather them all and sell most of them, although i have now less options, as the trader will take only 3 hunting rifles for some time, whereas in A16 i could dismantle 3 more hunting rifles and sell their parts additionally.

 

As a last note: IF you really want to do a specific playstyle not much constricts you apart from the perk system. I started a game now which focuses on exploration and gathering materials, not strictly on killing zombies. Getting not much xp, but it's doable and quite a bit of fun, also at night and with wandering hordes swarming sometimes.

[ktr]

I would like to remind everyone that A16 ended with A16.4, so a sixth version of A16 (counting in experimental). This means that from A16e to A16.4 a lot of time passed and many updates/tweaks were introduced. Here we're still in experimental for just a few weeks. Don't expect everything to be done and rebalanced properly in a few days. Everyone needs to be a bit more patient and we'll see things better when stable comes into play.

 

In A17 i personally feel more purpose than in A16. Previously i had a specific route to take concerning what to do, what to "buy" and straying from it proved to be not so fun. Tried various ideas about progressing, but i mostly came back to specific directions i took (not to mention weight put on finding many things in the POIs).

 

I feel that in A17 it's a bit different (or at least meant like that) where you could focus on one thing at a time and others will follow in due time. It's not like you have to build a forge/a farm/a base/a bike/etc. at day 1 or a specific moment otherwise you're screwed. Surely you need some precautions for the bloodmoon, but apart from that you can advance how you want (and i hope with proper balancing of XP from crafting, exploring etc. will cover that).

 

Yeah, one thing I like about A17 is that resources like the trader and looting have more value early game now. I'm not a huge fan of RNG. However, for all of A16, finding things like tools was never an exciting moment. By the time I found any, I could craft better ones, reliably. Now, finding/buying/getting a reward of tools is a good moment instead of just one more thing to scrap. About the only thing I used traders for in A16 was brass, bullets, bullet casings and sometimes gunpowder. The systems need some balancing both in themselves and with each, but I think it's overall a good direction.

 

Considering weapons/tools abundance - i had tons of gun parts in A16, sometimes needing 2 chests for all of that to contain. The prices for weapons/tools now are similar to the weapon parts i found in A16, with the difference you can use the guns and get ammo from them if sold. I still will gather them all and sell most of them, although i have now less options, as the trader will take only 3 hunting rifles for some time, whereas in A16 i could dismantle 3 more hunting rifles and sell their parts additionally.

 

Same here. Except, I tended to have a storage per gun and another for ammo to contain them all. Quality of guns was never limited, for me, by the lack of parts, just my gunsmithing level. Since I looted a lot, I tended to have a high quality joe anyway and would find intact guns of high quality, relegating my chests full of gun parts to nothing but repair spares. I haven't run into many problems in A17 with selling because I usually have three or more traders close by, but I can see where that could be a hiccup.

 

As a last note: IF you really want to do a specific playstyle not much constricts you apart from the perk system. I started a game now which focuses on exploration and gathering materials, not strictly on killing zombies. Getting not much xp, but it's doable and quite a bit of fun, also at night and with wandering hordes swarming sometimes.

 

I like the game in which I've gone out of my way to not kill zombies. It slowed down the gamestage and let me focus on other things. However, I am a looter at heart and I do hope they lessen POI spawns a bit more (I'm still running across one room POIs with five sleepers), or give us some other ways to distract them/lead them away. I am hit and miss with rock throwing right now as they just seem to wander to back to their original spots after a few seconds and i don't see rock throwing as useful in POIs since if you go more than 30 (I think) blocks away, the sleepers will respawn.

[Sanepidi]

New perk system is in my opinion a way better.

 

That Gate-Perk system is really good idea to make the game more challenging. I found it alot harder to survive the hordes. A16 i used to get Iron and steel pretty fast and it was easy. Now in A17 it takes some time.

 

What i would change, it would be to give less xp for killing zombies and more for other activities.

[Kieron]

Seems people here who disliked A16 system really disliked the balance and not the concept.

 

I agree with this. Instead of changing the system so much they could have just balanced A16 skill system and it would have been awesome.

[Khulkhuum]

It would be so much better if the received XP from crafting wouldn't have diminishing values. I understand that this is for not "abusing" the crafting system to get 100 levels in 1 day, but receiving first 90 then 45, 30, 15, etc. down to 4-5 XP per craft is bad. It's tough enough that not everything grants XP and in the beginning you don't have enough resources to abuse this. I am hopeful in that destroying things (playing in the desert) like cacti or rocks gives substantial (but not comparable to zombie killing) amounts of XP compared to anything else.

 

From a different topic, raiding POIs when trying to not wake up sleepers nor kill them is tough, but not impossible. Once i managed to kite a by-the-door-sleeper out and lose him in the open (he lost interest) to come back inside and loot the place in a safe distance from the others (in stealth). Another time i destroyed a wooden wall to get in from a convenient side where no sleepers lay and grabbed items from the containers. At a different POI i simply lured all of the Zs out for a walk and ran inside to loot what i could fast enough to dart back out before they closed in on me.

 

I am atm day 5 (not much time playing recently) and looted a couple bigger houses and a couple small buildings like pills store (the little wooden western style) and hardware stores, but the abundance of sleepers make it impossible to simply walk in and do your thing in many cases. You have to be innovative or find a different place to loot. I am expecting huge changes concerning balance when stable hits.

[HerrKingsley]

I agree with this. Instead of changing the system so much they could have just balanced A16 skill system and it would have been awesome.

 

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