Great game but a bit too easy. Here is why.

[shanharlmal]

So I enjoyed the game but after I got the feel of it (aka dying a few times), it became apparent what is needed to be done to NOT STARVE.

- The only time I died was to the dark, forgetting to either make one or not watching the time. That all changed when using the pyro character who can not die by the dark. The monsters were never a real threat, especially after crafting the log suite and even more so after the football helmet. Using the strongman is beyond easy when you can just kill a spider nest with a hatchet from the start of the game. And of course the tentacle spike makes killing things easier yet. So in response to this, MAKE STRONGER MONSTERS!!...except the Tree Ent, that kinda didn't die.

- Gathering food. I found the easiest source of food is simply farming meat and making Honey Hams. They seem to be the best food you can make and take little effort to harvest ingredients. Within 3 days I had 3 crock pots, 2 bee hives and all the meat I could need to make the hams. I planted 2 spider nests close to my base and just farmed them for meat. Once I found the beefalo..it was food overload. Within 10 days I had 2 chests full of Honey Hams and no fear of starving. If someone sets up beside the pig towns or a beefalo herd its just too easy.

- Researching. WAY too easy to farm research. Grass tuffs grant 20 points along with saplings. You can max out research points from a bare bones game in a day or so depending on what you find. Make research a bit harder or just add more things that require more research. 10 grass tuffs give you 200 points so...you see where it gets stupid in a grassland biome. And making the amulet so easy to find in the graveyards is a bit broke.

- Exploration. The maps are WAY too small, I am hoping that is just for beta. After 11 days I set out to explore the world and was very disappointed to reach the end of the path some mere 6 islands away. In those islands I only found 2 pig towns, a couple spider dens, couple graveyards and some beefalo herds. For this size game and graphics quality I was expecting a huge map to explore, especially when I zoomed out on the map and seen how tiny my measly 6 islands were.

- Content. I am sure there will be more content on release date but as of now there is very little. I explored the map in full, built everything short of feathered hat (can't harvest spots) and outfitted a whole town of pigs with stylish headgear all within 45 days. If I played again I could do it in probably 20 days or less seeing as YOU KEEP THE RESEARCH PROGRESS! That leads me to my last issue...why keep research progress on death? It defeats the purpose to even survive when you loose only items. Adding a definitive end game would also help...dungeons?

All in all great potential in this game, and hope it evolves to something epic!

PS.. If you add even a 2 person co-op this game would take off. If not that then a simple market system in which the player either builds or finds a market and by doing so can access a trade network to other players. I realize that wont happen but it would be amazing for a future game with more content. Also transports of some kind..maybe a bike or boat or something?

[kilozombie2]

So basically we need:

Content- No ****.

Exploration- When we have more stuff, we can have a bigger map.

Researching- THERE IS A NEW RESEARCH PLAN IN LESS THAN 30 DAYS. You won't keep research points from world to world, and it's done completely differently.

Food- Being worked on every update, sweetheart.

Dark- And that's how you're supposed to die to the dark- not paying attention. Usually it's not a problem. When all you have is a half of a torch and your fists, you'll start to get scared. Once again, sanity will make the dark even worse. And it's within a few patches.

[hatecreeper]

"The monsters were never a real threat, especially after crafting the log suite" Sure, 5 lines before u said "after dieing a few times"..

Met an Treemonster yet? Had a world with 3 Spidernests near together?

If you dont enjoy the game its your fault, this game is great. Go play another Survival if this is to lame for you..

btw you are talking alot of bullsh!t

[Toaster Fu]

Let's try to keep it somewhat civil. And he points out several things that most people consider OP or that need to be worked on.

[Potian Dragoon]

You expect some one called hatecreeper to be civil?

He does point out a lot of exploits but things will get harder and scarier! I am sure that for now they have made things easy and plentiful so that we all get a grasp of the game and so that we can test everything out to its full potential.

We are lucky that we get this time to play while the learning curve is not steep - I expect in the future this will be a very hardcore, creepy, scary and it will push the limits of your sanity and your will power!

Right now, make the game harder for yourself, set yourself challenges and rules to push your own limits - certain things like not using honey and effigies make this game a lot more challenging!

[mobius187]

This looks like a job for... me! Me-Man!

- The only time I died was to the dark, forgetting to either make one or not watching the time.

Yup. That's how Wilson met his end when I played him... I mean, or at least he would have if I hadn't suicide attacked a spider nest. Better to die fighting than be eaten by the Grue, I thought.

That all changed when using the pyro character who can not die by the dark. The monsters were never a real threat, especially after crafting the log suite and even more so after the football helmet.

Well it all depends on what you're doing. Willow is great for not being eaten by the Grue, but that's her perk. She also causes huge fires... and when the Sanity meter is added some people think she may need to start real fires (i.e. trees) to keep her sanity up. As for the armor, the football cap was a trade-off for adding the backpack, for those players who want it and armor. Sure, you can wear both... and then attack tentacles in the swamp and stuff. If that's not enough of a challenge I suggest waiting around until further content is added.

Using the strongman is beyond easy when you can just kill a spider nest with a hatchet from the start of the game. And of course the tentacle spike makes killing things easier yet. So in response to this, MAKE STRONGER MONSTERS!!...except the Tree Ent, that kinda didn't die.

Well strength and durability are Wolfgang's perks, so yes he'll do better in combat. Of course then you have to deal with the darkness you avoided with Willow. And then there's that Sanity meter again... but that's a guess how it will impact him. I suggest he suffer from Arachnophobia... heh... wouldn't that be twistedly ironic?

But yes, I'm sure more powerful monsters will be added with time. Until then feel free to suggest some.

- Gathering food. I found the easiest source of food is simply farming meat and making Honey Hams.

Really? I usually hunted rabbits to meat morsels and harvested berry bushes. The fact that the pig men are voracious eaters makes it harder to get the hams they drop when they die. Not that I attack them, I let them fight with spiders after I whack a nest or two, so that may be part of the issue.

They seem to be the best food you can make and take little effort to harvest ingredients. Within 3 days I had 3 crock pots, 2 bee hives and all the meat I could need to make the hams. I planted 2 spider nests close to my base and just farmed them for meat. Once I found the beefalo..it was food overload. Within 10 days I had 2 chests full of Honey Hams and no fear of starving. If someone sets up beside the pig towns or a beefalo herd its just too easy.

I agree that monster meat shouldn't be so easily transformed by the crock pot. Also, are you suggesting any changes to these elements? I personally don't hunt beefalo... they're an endangered species.

- Researching. WAY too easy to farm research. Grass tuffs grant 20 points along with saplings. You can max out research points from a bare bones game in a day or so depending on what you find. Make research a bit harder or just add more things that require more research. 10 grass tuffs give you 200 points so...you see where it gets stupid in a grassland biome. And making the amulet so easy to find in the graveyards is a bit broke.

In terms of researching, the whole research system will be revamped in January, so you won't benefit from this type of activity. Rather than gaining vanilla points to unlock random inventions you'll need to insert the necessary resources that will unlock specific inventions. So a gold axe requires you to insert gold ore and sticks. The initial investment will be higher than normal, as you'll be crafting a prototype and wasting resources to do so, but after that the resource price will be reduced for that item.

Why not take a peak at the discussion thread?:

http://forums.kleientertainment.com/showthread.php?1822-New-Research-Plan

As to Amulets, I've been told that ever since they were given a purpose (i.e. resurrection) their spawn rates were lowered to "rare" status for graves. Not to mention the obvious flaws of the Amulet, you need to be wearing it in the torso slot, which is commonly reserved for the log suit... which you would often be wearing in a situation where you might die, while the otehr flaw is the amulet beings you back to life in the same spot where you died... which can lead to a quick follow-up death.

- Exploration. The maps are WAY too small, I am hoping that is just for beta. After 11 days I set out to explore the world and was very disappointed to reach the end of the path some mere 6 islands away. In those islands I only found 2 pig towns, a couple spider dens, couple graveyards and some beefalo herds. For this size game and graphics quality I was expecting a huge map to explore, especially when I zoomed out on the map and seen how tiny my measly 6 islands were.

You guessed it, the map and world generation are still in Beta. I know for a fact that the overall size of the map was decided by the Devs because of the current content level. They didn't just want to copy and paste the same content over and over again, just to create a larger map. Rather they wanted to wait until more new content is added before expanding the size of the world.

Also, there's this teaser of what the new world map will look like:

http://forums.kleientertainment.com/showthread.php?3297-Juicy-Mappy-Goodness

I don't know about you, but I'm hoping the stone bridges are removed.

- Content. I am sure there will be more content on release date but as of now there is very little.

I think "very little" is a bit harsh, but yes, as you guessed there will eventually be more new content.

I explored the map in full, built everything short of feathered hat (can't harvest spots)

I weep for you. The feathered hat is, in a word, glorious...

YOU KEEP THE RESEARCH PROGRESS! That leads me to my last issue...why keep research progress on death? It defeats the purpose to even survive when you loose only items.

Well I support losing all research progress on death.

Adding a definitive end game would also help...dungeons?

There will be an end game I'm told. Just like in Minecraft. A small part of me weeps at the thought... but hey, what do I know?

PS.. If you add even a 2 person co-op this game would take off. If not that then a simple market system in which the player either builds or finds a market and by doing so can access a trade network to other players. I realize that wont happen but it would be amazing for a future game with more content. Also transports of some kind..maybe a bike or boat or something?

Sigh. I hate telling people there won't be any co-op/multiplayer... so I won't. Keep your dream alive!