So - I am sitting here thinking about the “proposed” Living Settlements… and I am just sitting here gnashing my teeth. I truly worry about the development and design direction for this game. Because as was seen in so many other times recently - the people working on this game truly operate in an ECHO CHAMBER. In ADMIN MODE. With no points allocated.
So - I have some questions and considerations. I would love to hear if @den , @AndyB , or if anyone supporting the @Community leveled these questions at any point during the design phase and during the decision making process to proceed with Living Settlements.
I am certain that I WILL NOT HEAR. Because Funcom does not give a Shaleback’s cloaca about player community feedback. Because they are too busy giggling at their purple smoke blob in their ECHO CHAMBER.
But - I will ask the questions anyway. With the hope that one of them trips on this thread, reads, and then things: “Oooooh! We never considered that!”
Living Settlements
The observed goal of the “Living Settlements” system is to make artisan (bench) thralls a more active part of the player’s base or city. The added interactions will hopefully make the game feel more “alive.”
Questions
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How will this change bring positive change for all modes and all maps of Conan Exiles? PvE, PvE-C, AND PVP? Exiled Lands AND Siptah? How will this be a good addition for both the Official servers, the private server communities, and the RP communities?
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How will the now “killable” thralls respond to threats from all ranges of players? Will they be robust enough to avoid being killed easily by griefers? (Think mounts, and the mounts’ massive HPs. These HP pools were boosted to make it more difficult for mounts to be easily merked.)
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When the “killable” thralls are targeted, what methods will all ranges of players use to kill them? Which of these methods are acceptable? Are there any methods that our system introduction might garner that are not positive, or might negatively affect gameplay?
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Have we considered that players will routinely play for long periods of time seeking rare thralls? And that these thralls can now threatened and removed instantly by a wandering bear mob (PvE) or a focused PvP player? Are we okay with this? Are there other balance considerations that we may need to make in order to address thrall rarity as we implement this new system?
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Does the entire player community want this change? Do we need to consider a means of making this an optional change? So that players who do not wish for their precious/rare thralls to wander and run amok do not have to allow them to do so? Can we implement this system in an “opt-in” feature fashion, were the player flips a switch to send their Shieldwright to the kitchen to make a snack?
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Is there already a mod that does exactly what we are seeking to implement? If so - do they already do it better than we could do it? Should we consider absorbing or purchasing the mod? Would the game, and the ENTIRE player community (PvE, PvE-C, PVP, sweaties, RPer’s) be better served leaving this kind of a system interaction as a mod-only enhancement that they can introduce if and when they see fit?
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This system sort of looks like the TAVERNKEEPER SYSTEM. Are we copy/pasting the Tavernkeeper System in a way where we will be using that core system to deliver the Living Settlement System? If so - are we sure that the Tavernkeeper System is FULLY OPTIMIZED and FREE FROM BUGS before we compound our extensive bugs list by multiplying the current bugs? If the Tavernkeeper System is already poorly optimized, and brings server performance to its knees when 10 players have a Tavern running… what will server performance look like when 10 players have a Tavern AND a Living Settlement running?
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What current bugs that we still have not yet solved will potentially impact and ruin the launch of the Living Settlement System? What can be done to reign in all of the game-breaking problems before we give the player community another potentially broken thing to contend with? How can we solve some of the game’s current issues so that we can make Living Settlements a success?
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Is there critical feedback on this system that we need to evaluate from the player community before we continue forward? How can we properly communicate with the player community, and encourage them to be positive about our new system? How can we swiftly vet and incorporate their feedback so that we can launch the best possible new Living Settlement System ever?
Anyway… thanks, Funcom. For what it’s worth - I totally DO NOT expect to hear back from you. That’s the communication standard you have set. So… good luck. And I really really really hope that you don’t once again screw things up.