@CodeMage, you already know I’m a relatively new player—I mentioned it in another topic.
I’ll admit, I didn’t know about the issues with the hunger system, but wouldn’t it be better to fix a system that could have been well-designed, rather than scrapping it entirely? Honestly, a system that only offers positive effects without any negative consequences from player choices would feel hollow and lack any real challenge. From the moment I started playing, the game has already felt watered down for those of us who enjoy true survival mechanics.
Without the negative impact of, “I made a mistake, now I have to deal with the consequences,” it just doesn’t feel like survival. As my dad used to say, “Own your mistakes and face your choices head-on, good or bad.” That’s what I want to see reflected in the game—a system where you feel the weight of your decisions, not just the rewards. Otherwise, there’s no real satisfaction, no real sense of accomplishment in overcoming those challenges.
If they don’t polish something that brings challenge and keeps players engaged long-term, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stick with it. I don’t enjoy overly casual gameplay, and it feels like the game is shifting more and more in that direction. For example, I was already disappointed with the changes to pet bombs. I enjoyed having animal pets follow me, but they’ve become so weak that they’re practically useless—they just get killed too easily.
When I first started playing, I was told the game used to have even more survival mechanics. When I saw the server settings, I figured they were just working out bugs before reintroducing them, not features that had been abandoned. I also had hoped they would add more to systems like the sandstorm, perhaps allowing it to last longer or cover the entire desert instead of just sweeping by briefly. The opening cinematic shows the Sandbeast in the storm, but nothing like that was added in a meaningful way. They could do so much more with the systems they already have if they took the time to fix and improve them.
We’ll see where the game goes from here, but if everything keeps getting watered down for easier, faster gameplay, like many other survival games I’ve stopped playing, Conan Exiles might end up on that list too. For me, there’s just no satisfaction in a game where I don’t feel like I’ve worked hard to earn my progress.
So with this system, it would need to be more fleshed out, running on a Loyalty Bar where many things can trigger someone not liking you. The point of this system is to have something random happen to shake things up at your camp. I guess this could be considered a random event, but what I like about it is that it’s something unexpected. Always knowing what’s going to happen gets boring. Having random events or even ones triggered by player actions, like attacking a certain clan too much and them coming to fight back, makes things more engaging.
The mechanic of a Thrall staging an uprising would be that random element I was going for. And honestly, if something like that happens, I don’t care if it’s a Tier 4 Thrall or not—I’m cutting their head off. I don’t tolerate disloyalty. I play the game because I enjoy it, and the number of hours I sink into it doesn’t matter to me.