I've been waiting very patiently since patch 1.5.4 for a patch that introduces a better leveling system, not too slow, not too fast, just right... a system that doesn't punish the player for leveling up and provides an overall enjoyable progression, maybe even limitless progression (no hard caps, whose idea was that?). A system where I would start a character of 20 years of age and by the time he gets to 40 after tons of in-game hours he's got many skills to 200-300 even (if I grind for this purpose), and each of them was enjoyable to level-up because they don't level at a dying sloth's pace later on...
As much as I appreciate the devs continuing the development of the game, I can't lie. It just hurts to wait for so long looking for improvements for some basic things that you really, really want and that shouldn't have been in this state to begin with. And they're still not getting any love after a whole year... The leveling in this game becomes so grindy and unenjoyable that you can give any kind of improvements to it and it can only get better, you simply can't make it worse (unless you make leveling too fast, and then you have another problem). Simple solutions like removing the reduced exp gain after level-ups and hard caps would be a godlike improvement with some more fine tuning, but I'm not going to get into this again, there have been so many suggestions given already.
There has been almost 1 full year of early access now and there are still unimplemented perks, too... seeing just a couple of perks being implemented every 1-2 months is just sad. Many perks are not interesting at all, they don't do anything special. They are most likely not hard to implement, they feel like they're there temporary and will be replaced at one point, if not by devs then by modders, so seeing some basic perks being implemented so rarely is just sad (like the smithing 2% more damage for weapon tip vs slash or whatever near the END of the perk tree. Just why. Weapons made at that level one-shot or two-shot anyway, it's literally a worthless perk that just occupies space because of lack of more creative ideas... There are many perks that feel meaningless, especially the combat perks).
I was also waiting for the roguery perk that allows us to get big armies of bandits and it's just not coming still (unless I'm blind, idk, I spent a few seconds scanning the perks and just wanted to quit the game already). A single perk that would actually give some value to the roguery tree which has worthless perks throughout. A simple perk that was to come but now I'm wondering if they changed their mind on implementing it. This game needs more 'game changer' perks, period. Every perk tree should offer some unique flavor to the game. Recruit big parties of bandits from roguery, buy castles from trading - those are the only 2 perks I can think of right now that change gameplay up a bit, that offer something new and refreshing (I never played with the turn bandits > to regular troops perk since leadership is poopoo to level without army playthrough, yet that may be such a perk too). Tactics should have allowed us to deploy our troops, but that will be a general feature later on in the game probably so tactics tree doesn't offer anything fun, only auto-resolve. Many (if not most) perk trees are just unfun, and they don't provide OP advantages either, and the game is easy anyway, so what is the point of them... at least make them fun. Also what is the point of leveling two-handed skill if you can already one-shot most units in the game by the time you're 100 in skill with a good enough weapon? It's simply not properly thought-out.
Anyhow, maybe 1.6 is supposed to be the "game changer", the big patch that makes gameplay enjoyable again. But even if this might just be the case, I've been hoping this for each patch for many months now, waiting every day, checking for a new update, just to be kind of disappointed in the end... It feels like insanity to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results at this point. Even if I go back 3 patches ago and jump to this one there is nothing new that really sparks my desire to play again. The pillage settlements feature was supposed to be a cool strategic thing (at least that's what most of us thought), where you devastate an enemy settlement and don't occupy it. It only made sense that that was the purpose of the feature. Yet no, you just destroy your own future settlement instead, so that's great... It just feels like the community and devs are many times not on the same page. Like, we sometimes have a wonderful vivid crystal-clear dream about how the game can look, while the devs take that dream and they record it with a 144p camera then wait around 2 months and then give it to a blind man to translate it and put it into the game and there you have the result. It's just so weird. I see tons of good suggestions that aren't taken into consideration or are just misinterpreted. Anyway.
I am not writing this post just to express my frustrations, but it is inevitable at this point. I'm just writing to make myself remember that I'm taking an official break from the forums and the game for at least 3 months. I am realizing that 1 month of development is definitely not enough new content to spark my interest, so I want to encourage everyone who waits for good content to not get too negative right now, and also realize that you will only get disappointed if you stare at the screen every day hoping for a miraculous patch with 30 days of development. We just have to accept that it's simply not coming, and everything will add up in time instead. So I don't know what you are all doing. Some of you may still play and bug-test, my hat is off to you. But if you just can't stand the disappointment anymore to the point where you feel obligated to express negativity, maybe think about it, reflect and consider my solution as well. Don't be negative, take a break, come back later and maybe there will be a pleasant surprise. After 2-3 months there is a higher chance for that than only after 1 month, that's the only logical solution I can think of now after so many patches that just aren't satisfying for me.
Take your time, play another game or do better things, maybe put your life in order a bit. Finish your deadlines, so there is less stress later on. Anything productive or relaxing. And if you still enjoy this game in this state, you might as well keep playing, that is also fine.
I'm taking a break, and I'm leaving this small essay to maybe give someone else a different perspective or ideas, and at the same time some feedback. At the very least I might leave for a bored individual something to read in these dire times.
What I want to do in my break is simple. I will stay away from games for a while, do my dissertation, and do more physical exercises. By summer I want a beach body. I want to go outside, take a walk/run through the park every now and then, and just enjoy spring. That's pretty much it.
See y'all in a couple of months, have a nice break. ??✌
As much as I appreciate the devs continuing the development of the game, I can't lie. It just hurts to wait for so long looking for improvements for some basic things that you really, really want and that shouldn't have been in this state to begin with. And they're still not getting any love after a whole year... The leveling in this game becomes so grindy and unenjoyable that you can give any kind of improvements to it and it can only get better, you simply can't make it worse (unless you make leveling too fast, and then you have another problem). Simple solutions like removing the reduced exp gain after level-ups and hard caps would be a godlike improvement with some more fine tuning, but I'm not going to get into this again, there have been so many suggestions given already.
There has been almost 1 full year of early access now and there are still unimplemented perks, too... seeing just a couple of perks being implemented every 1-2 months is just sad. Many perks are not interesting at all, they don't do anything special. They are most likely not hard to implement, they feel like they're there temporary and will be replaced at one point, if not by devs then by modders, so seeing some basic perks being implemented so rarely is just sad (like the smithing 2% more damage for weapon tip vs slash or whatever near the END of the perk tree. Just why. Weapons made at that level one-shot or two-shot anyway, it's literally a worthless perk that just occupies space because of lack of more creative ideas... There are many perks that feel meaningless, especially the combat perks).
I was also waiting for the roguery perk that allows us to get big armies of bandits and it's just not coming still (unless I'm blind, idk, I spent a few seconds scanning the perks and just wanted to quit the game already). A single perk that would actually give some value to the roguery tree which has worthless perks throughout. A simple perk that was to come but now I'm wondering if they changed their mind on implementing it. This game needs more 'game changer' perks, period. Every perk tree should offer some unique flavor to the game. Recruit big parties of bandits from roguery, buy castles from trading - those are the only 2 perks I can think of right now that change gameplay up a bit, that offer something new and refreshing (I never played with the turn bandits > to regular troops perk since leadership is poopoo to level without army playthrough, yet that may be such a perk too). Tactics should have allowed us to deploy our troops, but that will be a general feature later on in the game probably so tactics tree doesn't offer anything fun, only auto-resolve. Many (if not most) perk trees are just unfun, and they don't provide OP advantages either, and the game is easy anyway, so what is the point of them... at least make them fun. Also what is the point of leveling two-handed skill if you can already one-shot most units in the game by the time you're 100 in skill with a good enough weapon? It's simply not properly thought-out.
Anyhow, maybe 1.6 is supposed to be the "game changer", the big patch that makes gameplay enjoyable again. But even if this might just be the case, I've been hoping this for each patch for many months now, waiting every day, checking for a new update, just to be kind of disappointed in the end... It feels like insanity to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results at this point. Even if I go back 3 patches ago and jump to this one there is nothing new that really sparks my desire to play again. The pillage settlements feature was supposed to be a cool strategic thing (at least that's what most of us thought), where you devastate an enemy settlement and don't occupy it. It only made sense that that was the purpose of the feature. Yet no, you just destroy your own future settlement instead, so that's great... It just feels like the community and devs are many times not on the same page. Like, we sometimes have a wonderful vivid crystal-clear dream about how the game can look, while the devs take that dream and they record it with a 144p camera then wait around 2 months and then give it to a blind man to translate it and put it into the game and there you have the result. It's just so weird. I see tons of good suggestions that aren't taken into consideration or are just misinterpreted. Anyway.
I am not writing this post just to express my frustrations, but it is inevitable at this point. I'm just writing to make myself remember that I'm taking an official break from the forums and the game for at least 3 months. I am realizing that 1 month of development is definitely not enough new content to spark my interest, so I want to encourage everyone who waits for good content to not get too negative right now, and also realize that you will only get disappointed if you stare at the screen every day hoping for a miraculous patch with 30 days of development. We just have to accept that it's simply not coming, and everything will add up in time instead. So I don't know what you are all doing. Some of you may still play and bug-test, my hat is off to you. But if you just can't stand the disappointment anymore to the point where you feel obligated to express negativity, maybe think about it, reflect and consider my solution as well. Don't be negative, take a break, come back later and maybe there will be a pleasant surprise. After 2-3 months there is a higher chance for that than only after 1 month, that's the only logical solution I can think of now after so many patches that just aren't satisfying for me.
Take your time, play another game or do better things, maybe put your life in order a bit. Finish your deadlines, so there is less stress later on. Anything productive or relaxing. And if you still enjoy this game in this state, you might as well keep playing, that is also fine.
I'm taking a break, and I'm leaving this small essay to maybe give someone else a different perspective or ideas, and at the same time some feedback. At the very least I might leave for a bored individual something to read in these dire times.
What I want to do in my break is simple. I will stay away from games for a while, do my dissertation, and do more physical exercises. By summer I want a beach body. I want to go outside, take a walk/run through the park every now and then, and just enjoy spring. That's pretty much it.
See y'all in a couple of months, have a nice break. ??✌
