My "Day One of this new thing", thoughts.
The TL;dr: None of it's good. Counterintuitive, contrary, time-consuming, waste of effort for everyone.
1. (yes, this means there's more than one)
Can we do something about the horrific negativity of the mammets? I get that it's 'lore based' and whatever, but it really puts a DOWNward cast on something that is supposed to be a "FUN" getaway from the world. Why are you making it so that people don't want to do it? Would YOU want to interact daily with a bunch of super negative people?
The incessant 'oh you don't wanna do that', 'oh my back', 'why would you do that?', 'you are inferior' attitudes that you are met with during EVERY SINGLE interaction with any of them really makes me NOT want to continue interacting with them, meaning I don't want to do your 'island' stuff AT ALL because everything you do... involves interacting with an aggressive, negative, rude, condescending or flat out ridiculous creature. There's not one single 'ray of sunshine' in the entire place save for the mammets that DON'T SPEAK AT ALL.
2. Why does it cost 1000 cowries in just one exchange, to clear an area but you have no way to earn that many cowries BACK in a single day, much less earn more? How are we intended to profit at all at this rate? And if this is how you intended it to be, then why are the purchasable items 4-12,000 cowries? That's literally MONTHS to earn enough cowries to even buy the cheapest items on the vendor unless you SLAVE yourself to the island all day every day! NO ONE wants to DO THAT! Even the lowest ranks (currently rank 6) only earn about 150-300 cowries A DAY and then have to spend that AND MORE to 'renovate' (read upgrade), and forget expanding into new areas after the second one. It will cost you 1000 again but you won't HAVE that many nor a way to EARN that many, because you need to expand to build new stuff but after the first round of builds, completing new buildings no longer gives you cowries.
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ADDING A HUGE EDIT HERE:
After building the second workshop, you can actually earn more than 1k cowries a day. Add a third one and it goes to about 1500 ish, depending on how you stack your bonuses.
It still feels like a full time job to earn more cowries than you spend (which, one would assume is one of the myriad 'goals' of the Island) even though the mammets are doing the work for you.
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Edit 2 for #2. Third 'clearing' now costs 1500 cowries instead of just 1k cowries but you get the same '2 new plots'. One Landmark and One facility... why am I paying 500 more for the same or less than I got before? Inflation?
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I don't know about everyone ELSE in the game, but for me, I don't want ANOTHER FULL TIME JOB in a video game. You represented the Islands as a 'FUN GETAWAY' from the MAIN hustle and bustle... but it's not. It's a trick, it's a trap and I do NOT appreciate how this has been handled AT ALL.
<continued in replies>
Current Thoughts on islands
Printable View
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08-25-2022, 03:37 AMAshDiditCurrent Thoughts on islands
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08-25-2022, 03:37 AMAshDidit
3. Why does it take a full day to grow 6 crops? The time gate on these is ridiculous. The brand new pumpkin seeds are STILL not fully grown a full day after planting them but they're NEEDED to make better feed... This is one of the dumbest things I've encountered so far. The base feed even says it's crap IN THE flavor text but we have to wait eternity and longer to make better feed?
-----------------------------Day2/3 EDIT----------------------------------------------
It takes TWO full days to grow crops
but you get 5-6 from each bed 30-36 produce
So this one turns out to not be AS bad, but dang 2 full days is forever!
Also, for each 1 produce you craft into the better feed you get 3 feeds.
That is definitely a plus.
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4. It takes around 8-12 hours to build a new facility/landmark but it's a full 24 to gather 'leavings', get results from granaries, etc. That's after the first day, of course, because it's once a day at a set time at minimum but you can set the Granaries to take a whole WEEK to bring stuff back! woo hoo? NO! That's ridiculous given they only bring back 1 or 2 of each item and you can gather more than THAT yourself in FIVE MINUTES.
-----------------------------Day2/3 EDIT----------------------------------------------
It seems the -only- way to get rare materials is from granary expeditions and
pastured animals. The drop is low, -but- they are 'rare' items so this makes sense.
Not being able to gather rares yourself, at all, makes far LESS sense. :/
This one is still disappointing.
Further, if you set the granary to a week, it still returns materials daily? why?
I don't get this one at ALL.
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5. While we're on the topic of gathering... 1 each? REALLY? So you're constantly running from one node to the next as fast as you can to get... 1. sand. 1. log. 1. whatever... but it takes dozens of items to build, craft, cook, exchange... seriously? Oh, and ya know, it would have been nice of you to TELL us that we can dive in the ocean for certain items? Maybe have the glitter on the SURFACE as an indicator that hey, there's stuff under the water too? Had I not accidentally mount dove into the water I might have never known because the walls of the island are so close in, I didn't think we were allowed to go that far INTO the water.
6. Crafting vs. Usage. This one really bugs me. My crafting log is almost empty in every category except tools. Tools seem to be the only thing right. You get new tools as you need them per rank up. That makes complete sense.. but the restraints? The feeds? Time locked to oblivion and potentially devastating to the 'fun' of doing more 'fetch work'.
(EDIT for those who don't get this one: You get new tool recipes as you need them. You do NOT get new restraints or feeds AS you NEED them nor do you get the materials needed to make them until long after you've had the recipe...this is what makes no sense).
7. Timers on workshops... 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours to craft 1 to 2 items that sell for the equivalent of 'pennies' in this VERY COSTLY economy. It costs 100s and 1000s to build things but you get 'a handful' for FOUR HOURS of work??? Not to mention you can 'lose time' at the end of a cycle if you're not VERY careful about how you schedule your days. That's NOT to say I -did- this. But it's obvious you can.
8. Minions in the wild. WHY are they SMALLER than when they follow you? They're so tiny you can literally LOSE them in the environment. What's the point of releasing them to the wild if you don't get to even SEE them?
9. "29 minutes have elapsed since your last activity. If you are inactive for 30 minutes, you will be expelled from the duty." -
08-25-2022, 03:38 AMAshDidit
WHAT?! It's MY friccin Island but I can't AFK there? I'll get EVICTED from my island for being IDLE? Excuse me? What kind of Sanctuary KICKS YOU OUT for NOT MOVING? And why is there a BED THERE if I can't SLEEP in it longer than a NAP? I know people who never log out of the game, like at all. (terrible for your pc, but still), YOU gave them the ability to stay in the game 'forever' as it were, but then put a time on the Island "Sanctuary"... makes no sense.
10. "Sprint" 20 second timer, instantly reusable, ridiculous. if it's instantly reusable, why not just make it a toggle on/off ability? Why make us RE-click ANOTHER darn button every 20 seconds?
11. Island Prisms: What are they, where do they come from, how do I get them... NO INFO AT ALL but they're apparently REQUIRED to decorate... What?
12. Tactful Taskmaster, Excitable Explorer: Why are they just standing out in the open when they each have at least ONE building they belong to? The Felicitous Feline goes inside the cabin, why can't THEY go in the workshop/granary? Or a little hut somewhere, where they stand together gossiping while their 'teams' work? Making them MUCH easier to remember where they are, at that.
13. Modes: "Sow, Water, Cull" but no reap. I get that IF my crops ever finish growing I can 'gather' them, but it seems to me that there should still be a 'reap'.
Modes: "Feed, Pet, Beckon" Why is there a beckon? They all flock together anyway. Going to them is faster and easier given you have to force switch from feed to pet anyway... And Beckon is limited in range to boot.. so you have to run most of the way to them ANYWAY... (Edit: If the animal is more than half the length of the pasture from you, you have to run toward IT to beckon IT to YOU... O.o dumb.)
14. Modes: Why like this? Why isn't there a
Mode: Crops
subcommand menu 'sow, water, cull'.
Mode: Pasture
subcommand menu 'feed, pet, beckon'.
I mean, you put in a vanishing box for 'item' on some of them. So why not a vanishing subcommand row so that you can click the one you want instantly rather than having to click back into MODE and CHOOSE the next one over?
15. Last, but CERTAINLY not least... there is NO reason, whatsoever, for this ridiculous island to be gate-kept behind Endwalker lvl 90. That, in my opinion, is the DUMBEST part of the entire thing. There are people who would LOVE to waste their time here, but can't because they don't have the IRL time to do content, much less your 'side hustle lies'.
And just because I'm tired of listing more complaints, and because I think you get the picture at this point. -
08-25-2022, 03:39 AMAshDidit
You advertised this thing as a 'fun escape' but it isn't. It's yet another job that no one has time for. It doesn't go as fast as beast tribe dailies even. You've time gated, timer locked, price locked, gather-locked EVERY single aspect of the Islands beyond comprehension all for what? 3 mostly useless housing items and a new glam?
I AM going to do it, but only for the pixie wings. I may do it on an alt and just not BUILD anything. Just gather items for the island cowries, and rank up for the seafarer cowries, and run one workshop to earn more cowries then never touch this thing again.
But then again, since you can buy the pixie wings on the island then sell them on the non-island marketboard? I may just not do it again and wait for someone else to post the wings. Far less of my time wasted, and in the end I'll still get the item I want. Probably faster than if I tried to legit earn them myself as I don't have time to sit around in an 'alternate game in a game' for 8-20 hours a DAY. -
08-25-2022, 05:00 AMLalafellDown
This sounds horrible. I was excited to try no I don’t want too. The time gating with real world time is a major turn off in farming/building games.
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08-25-2022, 08:25 AMAmpLyra
Between all your randomly capitalized emphasis words that really didn't help you make your points and your constant droning on, as well as the outright false information, this is probably the worst "review" of Island Sanctuary I've seen yet.
Your only good point is that sprint should, at the very least, be a toggle. Everything else was either pointless drivel, showing your extreme impatience, or a flat out lie.
So let's start from the top:
1: This is irrelevant. Not only is it not true for most of the mammets, but they're also just your average workers, doing all the actual hard work for you while you go off to pick up some sticks and rocks. You're not the one crafting or removing trees or laying bricks and foundations. That's all them. Personally I found it funny. If you didn't, fine, but this is hardly worth flying off at the handle like you're foaming at the mouth.
2: This point will probably bear repeating quite a few times, but the point, and literally what they have solely marketed and outright stated is that you are meant to take your time and not rush Island Sanctuary. Whatever you think you're trying to get out of it, you are wasting your time and energy if your thought process even revolves around "MUST GO, GET THING, NOW". On top of that, you stated the obvious that the high-value items are, wow, high price. This is like complaining that Crafter Materia X's are 500 purple scrips.This is flat out not true, at all. It took me roughly 2 hours to get the materials I needed for a crafting cycle for all 3 workshops. You do not need to "slave yourself all day every day". That is a complete fabrication.Quote:
That's literally MONTHS to earn enough cowries to even buy the cheapest items on the vendor unless you SLAVE yourself to the island all day every day!
To your addendum in your first post. Nobody is forcing you to full-time job Island Sanctuary, in fact if you do that, you're probably playing it wrong (unless you enjoy that, I'm sure someone does, but it ain't me)
3: I feel like if you played Animal Crossing you would actually pull your hair out. You are so impatient. And this just returns to what I was saying earlier. You are not meant to rush this. Also if you read the tooltip, it says that Pumpkins take 2 days to grow. That is 2 days Earth Time. You plant the plants, you water them, you leave them alone, you water them tomorrow (or if you're on long enough for it to rain, the rain waters the plants), and then the next day, wow you have some pumpkins (or whatever else takes 2 days to grow). Also I was unaware 2 days was an eternity. I guess I need to re-evaluate my sense of time.
(continued in more replies) -
08-25-2022, 09:04 AMAmpLyra
4: There's a few reasons for this. One, as mentioned, it's not meant to keep your attention solely on it. You know when you need to come back for your daily stuff. As it so happens. 04:00 every morning, and even then you won't miss it unless you don't come back at all the entire day. Secondly, both granaries and leavings can (or in the case of rare animals, ALWAYS) give you a rare item, which is a lot more precious, can be used in higher value crafts, or sells for more green cowries. Don't think you can "gather" your precious silver ore or milk in just 5 minutes.
5: While it would be nice to gather more from one node, I ultimately don't think it's a necessity. Almost all materials you need are just easily collected from multiple nodes within short range of each other that are quick to respawn (iirc the amount is 11 nodes before the first one respawns or something like that). Also mate, if you saw that the gathering spots were in the sea with a DOWN ARROW, idk why you thought you couldn't dive. That one's wholly on you.
6: I genuinely don't understand your complaint on this one. You say it's okay to time lock the tools you need to gather more things because it makes sense, yet you don't think it makes sense to learn better restraints and feed as your rank increases. Why? Genuinely I want to know what makes you think one is somehow okay and the other is not.
7: Good thing you don't build things too often. I am currently rank 6 with all my buildings built and upgraded as high as they can be. It's still gonna be a bit before I even hit rank 7 and I already have the materials needed to be good for an entire week, as mentioned before. Didn't take that long at all, and that's passive income I now get, especially because I have it set up to take advantage of efficiency and then groove (makes your stuff sell for more). wrt the missing time bit, that's on you to pay attention to.
8: This feels... Weird. Like if that's how you see it, I can't tell you you're wrong per se, but they weren't too small to me, I had no problem seeing them, especially since they say cute little things while out and about (Really love Wind-Up Thancred's).
9: Firstly, it's a duty. That's why. Secondly, you'd know this if you tried at a crowded time, but several people couldn't get into their islands yesterday (probably today too, haven't logged on for island since this morning in which I played for 30 minutes then went about my day). It's to let more people play the game, same reason there was an anti-afk timer on Endwalker launch.
Skipping 10 because I agree with it, as mentioned in my first post.
11: While I think it would be better if they outright told you, the assumption is likely for you to check your crafting log (I did). They're part of Master Recipes 9. Very easy recipe as well. -
08-25-2022, 09:29 AMAmpLyra
12: This one's actually pretty simple imho. It's because they're both right there when you hit island return. Very easy and simple to get to. Also because you can have multiple workshops and granaries, it would be pretty dumb for them to go to only one since you manage all the buildings from them.
13: Needless dig at "if" they grow. You know when they'll finish growing. It's literally only 2 days. Anyway, personally I'd rather them not add another button for it, especially since you also use "gather" for your leavings from animals, and the pasture and farm are right next to each other.
14: Everyone loves pointless submenus, am I right? The approach to make them all easily recognizable buttons as soon as you click the modes button is far better. Is it a little cluttered, maybe, but I think it works a lot better especially since really the only two that this matters for are the pasture commands and farm commands. Really the only way I think it could be improved for the farm specifically is to make it context sensitive. Click an empty bed of dirt to select seeds to plant. Click planted seeds that can be watered. I personally don't feel that cull even needs to exist. Let people remove plants early from the farm manager guy instead so then you can just click ready to pick plants and take them. This could also work for pastures too, clicking an animal out of range to be pet/fed beckons them, and when in range, feeding takes priority and then you can pet them.
15: I soooooooorta agree on this however it is this way mostly for lore reasons. Could it be worked around, sure. It's very easy to argue that "Oh they wrote themselves into a corner." They likely did, but as-is, it makes sense. Would it be NICE if it was opened up way earlier? I think so, but story-wise I can't think of a time to fit it in because of how things are structured, especially since it involves two key characters to set it up, Tataru and Merlwyb. We know what Tataru's doing throughout almost the entirety of ARR-Endwalker. There's very little wiggle room to fit in something like Island Sanctuary, lore-wise earlier than it currently is. And Merlwyb definitely did NOT have the time for this pre-Endwalker either. Also needless dig again. At no point was this advertised as a side-hustle. It has always been marketed as content to relax and take your time with. You are contradicting yourself because you said earlier that you recognized they marketed it as fun and relaxing, now you're calling it a "side hustle lie". Get over yourself man. You even say they advertised it as a fun escape in your next post. Where is the consistency?
In conclusion, this "review" was awful. You barely made any points at all and rambled about the same repeated notion that you're impatient or just outright lied to people. Please reconsider what you even came to this content for, because if it's to profit in any way, you're missing the point. Thanks. -
08-25-2022, 09:21 PMAshDidit
In conclusion, this "review" was awful. You barely made any points at all and rambled about the same repeated notion that you're impatient or just outright lied to people. Please reconsider what you even came to this content for, because if it's to profit in any way, you're missing the point. Thanks.
Profit how? There's no way to "Profit" from the islands even if that was my 'goal', which it wasn't. Originally it was to enjoy an island sanctuary and build it up. MYSELF. I actually assumed we'd be clearing our own land, clearing our own gardens and pastures, and plots and crafting the things we needed to work the land and build the buildings with -some- automation assistance from mammets, like making furniture for US to use ON the island, not to be sold off to 'limsa markets'. And certainly Not a full blown "Let us do it for you while you pick up sticks and rocks".
You can hate my review as much as you wish, but it's MY review. You didn't have to read it and you didn't have to respond to it. And no, ma'am. It's not blatant lies. Not one thing is a lie. It's entirely MY experience with the place and the notes I took while doing it. And it amounts to... I hate it.
But don't worry, I'll leave it all to you -without- attacking you. Enjoy! -
08-25-2022, 09:29 PMSolarra
@ LalafellDown (great name btw)
My advice - try it for yourself first.
I thought it was fun and I was a bit skeptical after doing the WoW garrison. For me it's exactly what I expected only a little more addictive. The controls seem a touch on the clunky side but they're not hard to use.
You don't have to rush but you should be able to upgrade your cabin and add buildings on your first play unless you are very limited for time.
The good stuff:
The island is beautiful.
The default music fits the area and it isn't on such a short loop that you get fed up with it (looking at you FC workshop!).
You can choose how your buildings look (within limits).
The gathering and crafting are easy.
There are rare animals to capture.
All the information you need is there. I haven't had to do a web search for anything besides info on the rare spawns. Once you have gathered something, the location of the main deposits can be shown with a click on the item in the gathering log.
The Island Return makes getting back to base very easy.
You cannot finish this in one day (really, that's a positive), but you still feel you've achieved something from each session.
The glam is definitely worth getting and I appreciate having the shorts and trousers as two items so I can choose my look
It looks like you'll be able to set things up for less frequent checks as time goes on, handy for when there's new stuff to do elsewhere and watering those cabbages isn't quite as much fun as it was at the start.
The ever so slightly not so good:
Minions do tend to get a little lost, especially in the main area where there are mammets running around too.
Sprint would be better on a toggle. -
08-25-2022, 09:33 PMMasekase_HurricaneYou can make at least 1000 cowries per day if you have 3 workshops. Chain your recipes and build up your grooveQuote:
Originally Posted by AshDidit
The crops take 48 hours which is very fast compared to normal gardening.Quote:
Originally Posted by AshDidit
So what's your chains look like to get 1k per day with 2 workshops? Also I think your exaggerating quite a bit, I've upgraded everything I can and Rank 6 atm with 2.600 cowries to spare. At this rate I should have close to 8 - 10k by the end of the week. So 1-1.5 weeks for the dearest item seems quite reasonable to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by AshDidit
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08-25-2022, 09:34 PMAshDiditI am on technically. the morning of 'day 3' and while I didn't plant crops immediately, I DID plant them around mid-day on day one, and still none of them have blossomed, and you need that produce to make better feed.Quote:
Originally Posted by LalafellDown
It's been well over 24 hours, almost 36 hours at this point. It's a bit ridiculous for a thing that is supposed to be 'part time once or twice a day for a 'little' while to run.
If you put it all together, each little thing becomes a massive time sink despite what "Amplyra" has to say in rebuttal.
One of my friends is loving the entire thing and is already rank 8. I've no idea how she managed it but she's beginning to see the things I have pointed out here and is growing frustrated as well.
Treat the island like a 'zen garden' and let it slowly unfold and you may have better luck.
Try to rush anything? you'll just be sitting there with nothing to do but pick up sticks and rocks waiting for time gates to expire.
I will also edit to say, after figuring out the best put efforts of workshops, you -can- earn about 1k cowries a day.
Of course, you'll spend most of them too, on various buildings and such, so your profit to spend margin is STILL horrible if you're not letting daaays go by between building new things. -
08-25-2022, 09:34 PMAshDidit
You don't even need 3 workshops. I have 2 and made a bit over 1k after bonuses kicked in. So I will go back and edit that.
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08-25-2022, 10:20 PMAshDiditYou only get 1 per rare animal and 1-3 per day per granary... I get that is exactly what makes them rare... but it could have just as easily been 'gathered once a day from rare plant' so you know... we could look forward to something a BIT different and have that bit of extra joy of 'look at what I found!' But no they give it to mammets and sheep.Quote:
Originally Posted by AmpLyra
5.Also mate, if you saw that the gathering spots were in the sea with a DOWN ARROW, idk why you thought you couldn't dive. That one's wholly on you.
Literally hunted everywhere for the clams. Never saw the gathering spots OR arrows. The reason I assumed you couldn't go into the water is because when I tried in a few places it had a WALL right where the surf ends and the depths begin. So, no, not wholly on me but yes, partially on me for not knowing you could go further, actually dive, or that if you clicked on the item in the log it would tell you where to get it. (also not a down arrow on map for me, but location would have helped.)
6: ...[sic]You say it's okay to time lock the tools you need to gather more things because it makes sense, yet you don't think it makes sense to learn better restraints and feed as your rank increases. Why? Genuinely I want to know what makes you think one is somehow okay and the other is not.
I feel like you spent a lot of time after #3 just assuming rather than reading. "oh more complaining...skiiiiim"... because NOTHING you wrote there was even close to what I SAID. So here's a better explanation:
The way they did the time lock on tools was SENSIBLE:
rank 1. Need hatchet. Make hatchet.
rank 2. Need building tools. Make building tools.
rank 3. need shovel. make shovel.
meanwhile, over here... in pastureland
rank 1. Catch animal. Need food. Crap food + recipes for 2 better foods but no materials ANYWHERE for better foods.
rank 2. still no produce... animals being fed crap food. No Joy for animals.
rank 3. Still no produce... stll crap food....
rank 4. rank 5... rank 6... still. no. produce. to. make. better. food.
So
Rank 1-6: Need Better food: NOPE.
but not to fear! in 2 days you can harvest TWELVE produce total that you need 2 of to make 1 really good feed to feed 1 animal...
oh but wait...
that'll only feed 6 animals for 1 day...
but you have 10 animals...
which means 4 get to starve on day one?
and then all of them get to starve on day two
while you're waiting for -more- produce to grow?
I mean, sure you can make more of the 'sweet feed' that gives your animals no perk at all... or you can make the less good 'better feed' for 1 item each, but then why even GIVE us the third level recipe at RANK 1 if we can't MAKE IT? -
08-25-2022, 10:32 PMAshDiditNot when you have 10 animals to feed over 2 days (20 total feeds needed) but you only get 12 form the first two plots and need either 1 each for the better feed, or 2 each for the really good feed).Quote:
Originally Posted by Masekase_Hurricane
As it sits right now, I have 4 rare animals, to get the -better- rare leavings, I need to feed them the best feed (that I currently still can't make).
That will require 8 produce of the 12 I get every 2 days.
see the problem yet?
I didn't do the 8 hour ones. I strung the high-payout 4 hours and 6 hours together to get bonuses on everything after the first item of the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Masekase_Hurricane
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08-25-2022, 11:32 PMMasekase_HurricaneYou dont get 12 from the first 2 plots at all. Each plot gives 25 vegetables which is enough to makeQuote:
Originally Posted by AshDidit
30 servings of premium. Which means it will last you 3 days and crops take 2 days to grow so you are always ahead.
https://i.imgur.com/ygWYfDJ.png
Actually it's more than 30 servings (36?) as I didnt have enough seeds for the last one so I had to put in pumpkin -
08-25-2022, 11:34 PMNaizakaneBase feed still improves the animal's mood, just by 1 level. The other two recipes will probably improve their mood more, but I'll find out either today from someone else making a post about it somewhere or myself over the weekend when the crops are grown. Which, by the way, isn't all that long. Two days for these, and I can give them less attention than I'd give the plots at my house? Lightning fast. You'd hate trying to make money off thavnairian onions if you're caps-raging about a two day wait.Quote:
Originally Posted by AshDidit
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08-25-2022, 11:41 PMMasekase_HurricaneYour wish is my command lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Naizakane
https://i.imgur.com/O6IM8g1.png
Well with the base food they only had the cloud image and thats where it maxed. With this food they have the sun image so its defo maxed. I fed them whilst on cloud.Quote:
Originally Posted by Naizakane
Just caught 2 more animals the premium food only increased it from lightning to cloud
https://i.imgur.com/zg4zpGB.png
https://i.imgur.com/fYpoPno.png
LMAO info is in the playguide I only just realised. -
08-25-2022, 11:46 PMNaizakane
Thanks for trying the feed out for me, did you notice their moods increase more than they would have with base feed?
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08-26-2022, 06:11 PMdwodmots
I generally like the Island Sanctuary, but there's some small things that stood out to me.
-Sprint should be a toggle
-Harvesting a field with 10 visible plants on it should drop 10 plants
-It's raining so much that it's never required to water your crops -
08-27-2022, 03:52 AMNaizakane
You can hide the mammets in gpose.
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08-27-2022, 06:19 PMAshDiditBut... then you can't interact the same with friends... etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Naizakane
The RP aspect of the island is ruined, I believe, was the point. -
08-27-2022, 06:37 PMAshDidit
Ok, some Day 5 thoughts...
And I AM sorry I didn't explain this in the beginning.
I had thought the title of "current thoughts" "day 1" would have been enough to let people know that my THOUGHTS are subject to change and really, I was not caps raging at all but emphasizing things one way or another.
So, I'll work on making it more clear..
I -still- hate the island.
However, I am FC lead and have a large friend group that don't really always have a lot of time to research stuff for themselves so I do the content and from knowing these people, give them tips to help them choose where their time is best spent.
I created this post to vent early frustrations with what I was seeing at the time, knowing some of it would change and some of it wouldn't and that I could edit the 'woulds' as needed.
So, again. Apologies to those who got their knickers in knots over my supposed 'raging'.
I found it kinda funny that some people got a bit defensive but also felt bad for causing that reaction.
So, onward to day 5, rank 7, and having slowed down considerably given I still hate the island...
1. I just paid 1500 cowries for the third expansion area that gave me 1 landmark and 1 facility plot each.
Previously, I paid 1k for 3 plots (pasture, crops and landmark) and 1 k for 3 other plots (facility 3 and 4 and a landmark).
So, why? is it 1500 this time for -two- plots? Inflation? is there another plot here I missed?
2. Gathering routes... some are clockwise, some are counterclockwise, some look like the devs were high or something but...
It's kinda cool that once you figure out the gathering route for each item, you can just run that route in circles (or loop de loops *watches those devs*) because the first ones will respawn as you gather the last ones whether you sprint, walk, swim or ride.
For copper ore, it's on multiple levels and doesn't really run a pattern that I can discern. But by the time I get to the top, the bottom is respawned. It's kinda easier going bottom to top as you can just jump down and restart the cycle.
3. I -still- hate interacting with the mammets. They're still so rude. "Ah, the owner is here... " *shifty eyes* I have... a name. *yeets mammet into the ocean*
4. So far, it seems rare items STILL only come from the granary, nothing to be done for it. It drives me NUTS that I can't gather these myself. I can farm rare animals.. but not rare materials...
5. Is it just me or is that pasture kinda big for so few animals? I mean, RL, you usually want an acre per animal in your pasture, but this is a video game... can we fluff this up some please?
6. And also, make the beckon pasture wide... having to run to an animal to call it to me is mindboggling.
7. Thank you for watering my crops for me. But... now what do I do? go sit in my treehouse for 29 mins?
Never fear, more will come... but for now, that's all I've got.
P.S. SPRINT SHOULD BE A TOGGLE. <-- still not rage caps. yet. -
09-05-2022, 01:24 AMElizar_Naki
My own thoughts, from the perspective of someone who's a bit behind due to IRL health issues but also really doesn't wanna be here but is forcing themself to go through it anyway for the mounts and such at the end (I'll try not to let that bias creep in TOO much):
1. Island Sprint/Return are redundant. In any other content that isn't just the main map, Return is modified for the content in question, taking you back to the start of a dungeon/raid, back to your home base in PvP or Eureka/Bozja-style zones, etc. Here, there's two different Returns to juggle, and using the wrong one puts me all the way back in Radz-at-Han rather than my island base camp--user error, to be sure, but it's user error due to 6+ years of muscle memory with my standard Return shortcut suddenly working against me for the first time. Feels like something could've been done about that. Also, as others have stated, having to keep re-upping Sprint (reduced timer or not) rather than just having it on a toggle like they did for PvP recently feels like a step backwards.
2. the orchestrion is kinda not worth. Maybe I'm just too used to the static playlists at my or my FC's houses that keep playing until I change them, but the idea that the base camp doesn't save my music selection when I leave and return is a bit annoying. I'm sure it's the same at inn rooms as well (dunno for sure, never played the orchestrion there), but I don't generally feel like taking time out of every island visit to get my radio working properly again, so I've learned to just tolerate/tune out the overly-twangy default track and move on with my day rather than have something I enjoy playing there.
3. the mode selection thing feels clunky to me. I'm sure they were trying to cut down on sub-menu pop-ups as much as possible here, but having to shift between "modes" to gather or capture in the wild, feed or pet my pastured animals, water or sow seeds...like I said, it all feels clunky to me, especially when crafting something is a separate thing you can do independent of all that. I think I honestly preferred the sub-menus from standard gardening over this.
4. lack of lore on cowries. This one's kind of a nitpick, I'll admit, but most currencies at least get some kind of passing explanation when they're introduced--Allagan tomestones get a nice long explanation of what they are, why the House wants them, and what you get out of trading them away, and wolf marks, ventures, scrips, and GC/allied/Centurio seals all get at least a passing "we use this currency for this content" explanation when you unlock the thing they get used for. Here, the first time I recall the NPCs mentioning the existence of cowries was when one of the mammets asked me to fork a few over for an expansion, which felt out of place in the game overall. And on that note...
5. paying your reward currency away. This feels, among other things, like a holdover from the games they're trying to emulate that doesn't feel at home to me in FF14 as a whole, and ultimately just seems to needlessly gatekeep your progress towards the end rewards further than it needs to. Imagine having to pay wolf marks to go into frontlines, or having to give up tomestones to unlock a dungeon or run roulettes. The idea that you buy the rewards from the island with the same currency you have to spend to make the island worthwhile in the first place doesn't feel good; I don't feel like I'm making progress towards my goals when my currency count ticks down in large quantities every time I unlock a new patch of land or upgrade my pasture/cropland but only ticks back up at a trickle when a workshop project finishes. It's one thing with the game's main economy to have to "spend gil to make gil" in most cases, but again, you don't need to spend tomestones to make tomestones, or spend wolf marks to make wolf marks, so I don't get why cowries are the exception where the game's non-gil currencies are concerned.
6. workshop allocation. I'm not a fan of the idea that the island essentially lets you "double dip" on your materials and potentially hinder your progress by assigning workshop tasks that you don't have enough mats for, or that you do have the mats for at the time but end up using elsewhere by accident as part of some other crafting/renovation task. Sure, you can check your allocations tab and see where/if you have any supply deficiencies, but I don't get why they couldn't just remove the mats from your inventory right when you assign your workshop crew a task. Not only does that feel simpler from a gameplay standpoint, it also feels smarter from a supply management standpoint to cross materials off your available-to-use list if you've allocated them to something already.
7. the workshop in general. This, honestly, is where the idea of the Island Sanctuary falls apart completely for me. As I said, I don't generally enjoy this sort of gameplay, but up until rank 4 I could switch myself into task mode and go out and gather what I needed for any given thing, treating the whole thing like a variation on a standard crafting/gathering list I'd do for gear or bardings or whatever else in the main game. Island exp was sparse as far as individual gathering nodes, crafting attempts, or animal captures went, but it came steadily enough by way of crafting or expanding facilities, which gave me something to focus my attention on as I went. Then rank 4 hit, and while I fully expected the leveling curve to kick in somewhere, I wasn't expecting it to dry up as badly as it has. Tasks come at a trickle now, and my only real source of both cowries (which, again, I can't spend yet to get the things I actually want from this place because I need around 7.5k for future island expansions and such) and island exp boils down to a glorified spreadsheet simulator and a supply/demand curve so imaginary that my customers aren't even worth animating. Sure, this is supposed to be casual/relaxing content, but this isn't even really under my control; all I can do is assign tasks to my shop 'bots as best I can and...wait. It's like sending my retainers or adventuring squad on a mission, except instead of knowing what I'm getting into ahead of time, the content just kinda sprung the idea on me after I spent the first few ranks expecting to be an active participant. That's barely even content at that point, it's just me waiting while the game plays itself (especially when I eventually reach the point where, from what I understand, automating the process entirely and just check in for the rewards every day or two becomes the most efficient way of doing things). Casual content can still be stimulating, and it can still provide ways for folks to go ham if they really want to--far as things like the actual AC or SV games go, my wife plays both just kinda doing whatever, while some of our FC mates get really in-depth about planning their facilities out and min/maxing their activities. Island Sanctuary doesn't seem interested in that--at best, I can spend maybe 20 minutes to an hour gathering things for new tools or new/expanded facilities at each new rank-up, and then I'm at the mercy of the workshop timer regardless of the amount of effort I want to invest. That, or spend hours monotonously grinding away at gathering nodes for 10 exp each, which is just as un-fun for me because the gains are tiny compared to what I need for a rank-up and the process itself is kinda aimless. I feel like they should have gone more in-depth and involved with the actual building side of things, giving folks a more constant stream of tasks to do at whatever pace they wanted in order to get through the leveling process, and relegated the workshop side of things specifically to earning cowries--even if that meant I eventually hit a wall and had to wait a bit because I leveled too quickly for my cowrie earnings to keep up and let me do any given expansion, I'd still feel more like an active participant in the content than I do now.
But again, I acknowledge that this content isn't for me and that I'm kinda just brute-forcing my way through it for the mounts and such. Doesn't mean I don't wish they'd done a few things differently to make it a more palatable process, though. -
09-05-2022, 09:11 AMJojoyaWhat is so important about the mounts and other vanity items that you're forcing yourself to do content you do not enjoy?Quote:
Originally Posted by Elizar_Naki
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09-05-2022, 05:44 PMSolarra
Well, now it's not shiny and new any more, I'm a little less enthused about the Island Sanctuary. I don't hate it but I think I agree with nearly all of your points L'yira.
I accidentally set myself back a bit by failing to complete the upgrade of a workshop, because it looked exactly the same as the workshop beside it that was a level higher. So, that's something that I think it might be beneficial to change - Leave buildings looking unfinished until they actually are upgraded.
I'd still like a 'hide all unnecessary mammets' option, and please, put the shop outside my not-so-cosy-after-all-cabin.
Besides that, I'm surprised they inserted something for expert crafters into this and I'm not entirely sure that was a good idea. It's nice for crafters to have something but this is meant to be super casual content and they did say no crafting or gathering was required. That said, I'm not so desperate for an Otter Fountain that it's going to affect me.
As to RP value, it's too impersonal for me; why bother visiting your friend's island when it looks just like yours?
Given the choice between the Island Sanctuary or a large or even a medium house, I'd go for the house. I've had months of entertainment from my houses, as well as benefitting from the utilities. For me, Island Sanctuary is far less engaging than personal housing and far less social.
Once I've got all the items I want, it's probably getting mothballed. -
09-05-2022, 11:25 PMtsuchii
I think it's meant to be like one of those idle games where you just do it mindlessly. I gathered in my island with the music on and fell asleep. LOL
It's honestly oddly relaxing.
Don't be pressured to finish it asap. It's actually like so detached from the main game, it's like a game on its own. I wouldn't call it a game, it's like one of those idle build-your-world mobile "games" meant to just eat your time and for you to relax.