Balance of Starting Season

[AquaAtia]

I think all seasoned players of RoG can agre with me when I say this that Autumn is much easier to start than Spring. Which kinda makes stuff unbalanced as starting off in Spring will slow your future progress down by quite a lot or kill you very early unlike Autumn. Look at the differences

 

Autumn

• Rarely Rain
• Rabbit holes are not collapsed
• Similar to Vanilla's Summer where nothing unique happens
• Leads to Winter which is considerably easier than Summer
• Can mine Glaciers easially
• Starts off with more day

Spring

 

• Rains everyday pretty much
• Rabbit holes are collapsed which leads Wigfrid to struggle for food if no Catcoons are near
• Leads to Summer which is kinda hard when you can really only get a lot of Ice during Winter
• Leads to Summer which requires much more prep than Winter
• Hurts Sanity and can do a lot to WX who is usually ill-prepared due to the lack of Silk.
• Starts off with less day but steadially increases.

So what do you guys think? Think it's a balance issue and needs to be changed. I think I'm fine with it remaining as it makes each game difference (Hence why I didn't put in Suggestions/Feedback Area). Leave your comment.

[Midnight Tea]

I think RoG's seasons feels undercooked in a lot of respects, the seasons in particular.  I wouldn't blame anyone who opted to disable Spring and Summer since they seem to be challenging and annoying for the sake of being challenging and annoying as opposed to adding actual depth or character to the base game.

 

 

EDIT: And yes, needless to say, Autumn provides a cleaner start than Spring and I think it's reasonable to opt to always start in Autumn. It's actually pretty nice that Klei lets us tailor our own experience with the game to this degree w/o the need for modding.

[dingfengquek]

Huh? I find Spring much easier than Autumn. Rain = lots of food, mushrooms, berries, grass, twigs, reeds. It makes setting up a plant-based base a lot faster, easily saving 3 or more days. The downsides of rain is really easy to handle (Pretty Parasol + Straw Hat, Lightning Rod).

 

Once you find a Pig House in Spring, you get Manure from Petals, and that's fuel for the Firepit for the rest of Spring. Much faster than logging or grassing.

 

 

Summer vs Winter

And for Summer vs Winter, there are only 2 things in Summer that are much harder/inconvenient than Winter

- Large bases burning up, can't go near a large base

- Dragonfly (as compared to Deerclops)

 

The first is most easily solved by going to live in a Desert. Cactus is way overpowered during Summer. But any new and small base with a food source will do. Can be annoying if you really want to build a large base.

 

Dragonfly: If you don't mind large patches of barren land (which really isn't a problem), just lead the Dragonfly away from important resources (like Cactus!) with ashes. It's easier to run from Dragonfly than from Deerclops. I do mind barren land, so I clear the Dragonfly early. Just kite it with 3 sets of armor and some heals.

 

And advantages of Summer:

- You don't need lots of fuel to stay cool, just an Icebox and 2 Thermal Stones

- Beebox works in Summer (and even if it burns down, you can still get a Honeycomb back, and rebuild it if you want)

- Still can make things grow with Manure, if you really want to bother with it

 

But Summer is really boring because of smoldering. I don't like my world burning up, so I don't explore much in Summer, and there's usually nothing else to do in this game after the first 15 days or so. I suppose it's not a big problem since there's so much of every resource, so it's just a personal taste thing.

 

 

Wigfrid

When I play Wigfrid, I never bother with rabbits. Would a warrior destined for Valhaha deign to trap and murder innocent and helpless creatures? No.

 

Wigfrid is OP anyway. What is the minimum that Wigfrid needs for a base?

 

Buildings in base:

• Firepit
• Lighting Rod (Spring)
• Science Machine => Alchemy Engine => Thermal Stone (Summer)
• Icebox (Summer)
• (optional) Crockpot
• 1 Chest 

Base location:

• Close to Spider Dens: At least 1x level 2, or 2x level 1
• Or any other den of evil monsters: Frogs, Batilisks, whatever

Exploration requirement:

• Gold (need 4 to 10 each season, 4 more for first Lightning Rod in Spring, 4 more for first Alchemy Engine in Summer)
• Rocks (need 4 to 10 each season)

I can build a Wigfrid base in 1 to 2 days. The exploration requirement is the second simplest. The base is so small it's practically immune to being destroyed - you can build a new one anyway. The same food, sanity, and health source works for all seasons. For playing beyond 2 seasons, it's probably easier to find the Pig King rather than to find new gold, that's about it.

 

 

What else makes for a really good Wigfrid base?

• Birdcage
• 1 or 2 Pig Houses nearby to get a Ham Bat every 2 to 4 days
• Science Machine, for the Log Suit, and maybe a Backpack
• Lightbulbs nearby, for a Miner Hat, so you can kill things at night, and a Lantern, so you can kill big things at night with a helmet on
• Lots of gold and rocks! So you can let the spiders and hounds tickle you while you craft helmets in the midst of combat!
• Lots of chests for all the loot!

And this kind of base works anywhere, even in Caves and Ruins.

Works in any season.

Extremely simple to play.

Skips like more than half of the game mechanics.

 

Wickerbottom

Is just wicked in a Spring start.

• Backpack on day 1
• While exploring, collect berry bushes (6 is usually enough, 10 is good, 20 is more than enough), and maybe some grass tufts and saplings.
• Find a Pig House, get Manure from Petals
• Build a base near the Pig House, plant and fertilize
• Applied Horticulture + Collect Flowers for Sanity (up to 5 times) + Get Manure to refertilize
• = Enough food for the next 15 to 30 days, just need to return to base for it
• = Lots of Berries for Manure
• Crockpot + Meatballs is good, saves on the berries in case you didn't get enough, and lasts longer
• Crockpot + Trailmix is good for getting more Health (if you're lazy to setup Farms and Beeboxes), not that you'll be fighting

I can build a Wickerbottom base in Spring in 1 to 2 days. The only exploration requirement is Pigs (and some rocks and flint). And right after that, harvest 3 day's worth of food.

 

Applied Horticulture is even more awesome in a Desert.

• Find cluster of 4 Cactuses (3 is the minimum required for this)
• Applied Horticulture
• Cook and eat Cactus Flesh for Sanity
• During summer: Eat Cactus Flower for Health and Sanity
• Find more Reeds and Manure

Once food is out of the way (and food with Wickerbottom is really fast, even faster than Wigfrid), there's way too much time to prepare for Bosses, Summer, Winter, Caves, play with the Tentacles, etc.

 

[KalebSearle]

 

Huh? I find Spring much easier than Autumn. Rain = lots of food, mushrooms, berries, grass, twigs, reeds. It makes setting up a plant-based base a lot faster, easily saving 3 or more days. The downsides of rain is really easy to handle (Pretty Parasol + Straw Hat, Lightning Rod).

 

Once you find a Pig House in Spring, you get Manure from Petals, and that's fuel for the Firepit for the rest of Spring. Much faster than logging or grassing.

 

 

Summer vs Winter

And for Summer vs Winter, there are only 2 things in Summer that are much harder/inconvenient than Winter

- Large bases burning up, can't go near a large base

- Dragonfly (as compared to Deerclops)

 

The first is most easily solved by going to live in a Desert. Cactus is way overpowered during Summer. But any new and small base with a food source will do. Can be annoying if you really want to build a large base.

 

Dragonfly: If you don't mind large patches of barren land (which really isn't a problem), just lead the Dragonfly away from important resources (like Cactus!) with ashes. It's easier to run from Dragonfly than from Deerclops. I do mind barren land, so I clear the Dragonfly early. Just kite it with 3 sets of armor and some heals.

 

And advantages of Summer:

- You don't need lots of fuel to stay cool, just an Icebox and 2 Thermal Stones

- Beebox works in Summer (and even if it burns down, you can still get a Honeycomb back, and rebuild it if you want)

- Still can make things grow with Manure, if you really want to bother with it

 

But Summer is really boring because of smoldering. I don't like my world burning up, so I don't explore much in Summer, and there's usually nothing else to do in this game after the first 15 days or so. I suppose it's not a big problem since there's so much of every resource, so it's just a personal taste thing.

 

 

Wigfrid

When I play Wigfrid, I never bother with rabbits. Would a warrior destined for Valhaha deign to trap and murder innocent and helpless creatures? No.

 

Wigfrid is OP anyway. What is the minimum that Wigfrid needs for a base?

 

Buildings in base:

• Firepit
• Lighting Rod (Spring)
• Science Machine => Alchemy Engine => Thermal Stone (Summer)
• Icebox (Summer)
• (optional) Crockpot
• 1 Chest 

Base location:

• Close to Spider Dens: At least 1x level 2, or 2x level 1
• Or any other den of evil monsters: Frogs, Batilisks, whatever

Exploration requirement:

• Gold (need 4 to 10 each season, 4 more for first Lightning Rod in Spring, 4 more for first Alchemy Engine in Summer)
• Rocks (need 4 to 10 each season)

I can build a Wigfrid base in 1 to 2 days. The exploration requirement is the second simplest. The base is so small it's practically immune to being destroyed - you can build a new one anyway. The same food, sanity, and health source works for all seasons. For playing beyond 2 seasons, it's probably easier to find the Pig King rather than to find new gold, that's about it.

 

 

What else makes for a really good Wigfrid base?

• Birdcage
• 1 or 2 Pig Houses nearby to get a Ham Bat every 2 to 4 days
• Science Machine, for the Log Suit, and maybe a Backpack
• Lightbulbs nearby, for a Miner Hat, so you can kill things at night, and a Lantern, so you can kill big things at night with a helmet on
• Lots of gold and rocks! So you can let the spiders and hounds tickle you while you craft helmets in the midst of combat!
• Lots of chests for all the loot!

And this kind of base works anywhere, even in Caves and Ruins.

Works in any season.

Extremely simple to play.

Skips like more than half of the game mechanics.

 

Wickerbottom

Is just wicked in a Spring start.

• Backpack on day 1
• While exploring, collect berry bushes (6 is usually enough, 10 is good, 20 is more than enough), and maybe some grass tufts and saplings.
• Find a Pig House, get Manure from Petals
• Build a base near the Pig House, plant and fertilize
• Applied Horticulture + Collect Flowers for Sanity (up to 5 times) + Get Manure to refertilize
• = Enough food for the next 15 to 30 days, just need to return to base for it
• = Lots of Berries for Manure
• Crockpot + Meatballs is good, saves on the berries in case you didn't get enough, and lasts longer
• Crockpot + Trailmix is good for getting more Health (if you're lazy to setup Farms and Beeboxes), not that you'll be fighting

I can build a Wickerbottom base in Spring in 1 to 2 days. The only exploration requirement is Pigs (and some rocks and flint). And right after that, harvest 3 day's worth of food.

 

Applied Horticulture is even more awesome in a Desert.

• Find cluster of 4 Cactuses (3 is the minimum required for this)
• Applied Horticulture
• Cook and eat Cactus Flesh for Sanity
• During summer: Eat Cactus Flower for Health and Sanity
• Find more Reeds and Manure

Once food is out of the way (and food with Wickerbottom is really fast, even faster than Wigfrid), there's way too much time to prepare for Bosses, Summer, Winter, Caves, play with the Tentacles, etc.

 

This has to be the longest reply ever T~T

[J192]

I usually intentionally start off in Autumn. Spring isn't even challenging and just frustrating as heck, would rather start off in the Winter.

[dingfengquek]

This has to be the longest reply ever T~T

 

Heh that's my stile.

 

You can easily make your reply appear long like this:

• Use bullet points
• Keep each bullet point short
• Use short paragraphs
• Avoid dense walls of texts
• Don't squeeze a lot of information into a wall of text

[Ghostlight]

So what do you guys think? Think it's a balance issue and needs to be changed

 

 

I don't see why it needs to be changed. I assumed it was just like a difficulty setting. If you are really good at the game and want more of a challenge, start in Spring.

[ShnarfBird]

 

 

I don't see why it needs to be changed. I assumed it was just like a difficulty setting. If you are really good at the game and want more of a challenge, start in Spring.

 

 

There is no challenge to an annoyance.

[piratekingflcl]

I think certain characters are suited to different season starts.

 

Wilson for instance is probably one of the best characters for an Autumn start. He has good base stats, no drawback, and his Beard just so happens to grow to full length before Winter - giving him enormous roaming range during the month that many will spend tethered closely to their fire-pits.

 

Wendy on the other hand couldn't be happier with a Spring start. She has resistance to the sanity draining effects of rain, and with Abigail's help she can plow through the most common Spring enemies such as Bees, or the dreaded Frog Rain. The huge supply of plants and the freedom to roam throughout the torrents of rain give Wendy plenty of time to prepare for the harsh Summer beyond.

 

You can change the season to match your character if you like, but I sort of enjoy the challenge of a different seasonal beginning every once in a while. Sometimes it's more fun to prepare for Winter than for Summer, and other times you just really want to listen to Spring Cleaning for the hundredth time.

[Enbo]

Personally, I always want to start in Spring. This game is harsh for a newcomer, but if you played it for a while, spring is better because keeps your mind busy. That's how I casually play the game.

If you are a basebuilder, start in Autumn to avoid annoyance.

If you want survival, start in either winter or summer (still working on the last one).

[Zesi]

Hi. I am a new player but just want to put my opinion. I started playing this game a week ago. I also find starting in spring challenging. I have one that started in Autumn. Very easy to build your base to survive winter. In fact, winter is not so much of a challenging except it slows you down in exploration due to the constant need to set campfire. I don't think it is an annoyance to start in Spring. Personally I find that it's more to do with learning to explore in the beginning. For me, Spring challenge is all about time management and exploring. Find just enough resources to make necessary preparation for Summer. I prioritise 4 important resource for Spring is Ice, Gear (Clockwork monster), Rockyland and Beefalos. Once I have located all these 4 resources, I find a suitable ground, prefably savannah where the beefalos are. Set up base, make neccessary preparation, kill 1-2 beefalo for some meats. Next day hunt down gears and mine as much as I can in rockyland for 2 days. Rain is not a major issue with strawhat and flower parasol. Then proceed to build my base.

I am now at day 78, my best so far. I keep rerolling for Spring because my previous few playthrough in Spring was disastrous. I finally found my way to overcoming Spring-start challenge. It's not that spring is hard but the preparation required for Summer.

Just my opinion. (: