Island Sanctuary feels intentionally slow and inefficient.

[Theox]

So you don't like, stardew valley, terraria, minecraft, rune factory, etc.

The biggest misconception about island sanctuary is a notion that it's supposed to be a sandbox farming simulator when in reality it isn't. Once your stuff is all upgraded and production scheduled there's literally nothing to do. The island is empty just like the gameplay. In stardew valley there's lots of content outside of timegated farming; while your crops are set up you can go mining, talk to villagers, explore new areas, go fishing, do quests etc. And on your island in this game once production is set up you just... log off. And no, going around a small island in circles collecting the same stuff that respawns in like minutes is not engaging gameplay. There's no skill expression or thought involved on game's part to actually be invested or interested about this reject of a mindless diadem 2.0 grind. It's just something that exists so you could log in every day to schedule your production and water crops or else you'll be missing out. Once I get my glamour out of this predatory excuse of "content" I'm dipping immediately.

[Theox]

Actually diadem seems to be more involved and engaging than island sanctuary now that I think about it lol.

[DixieBellOCE]

The biggest misconception about island sanctuary is a notion that it's supposed to be a sandbox farming simulator when in reality it isn't. Once your stuff is all upgraded and production scheduled there's literally nothing to do. The island is empty just like the gameplay. In stardew valley there's lots of content outside of timegated farming; while your crops are set up you can go mining, talk to villagers, explore new areas, go fishing, do quests etc. And on your island in this game once production is set up you just... log off. And no, going around a small island in circles collecting the same stuff that respawns in like minutes is not engaging gameplay. There's no skill expression or thought involved on game's part to actually be invested or interested about this reject of a mindless diadem 2.0 grind. It's just something that exists so you could log in every day to schedule your production and water crops or else you'll be missing out. Once I get my glamour out of this predatory excuse of "content" I'm dipping immediately.

There is also no 'Gameplay' Progression tied to new tools.

Yeah go grab that sand with your hands, its just as efficient as using a shovel.

Higher grade tools should harvest more than 1 of a low tier item.

[Ranaku]

I know what relaxing is, and so far Island Sanctuary feels like the opposite. An endless mound of busywork without even a clear goal to aim for.

Just gather some materials...let your workshops do the rest...come back after a week and level up like 3 or 4 levels at once and get tons of cowries. That way doesn't take more than like 2 hours of prep, lol. Ofc if you want everything the fastest way possible yes then it is a grindfest but that is your personal choice duh. It's not like you get better pve gear from it or any other advantage besides glamour and mounts.

[Jojoya]

I've hit rank 8 as of this morning, and I've got a few things I want to say about this new piece of content. Aside from the fact that It should be more connected to the actual game and not so isolated as a piece of content, I can't believe how slow the progression is.

I have gathered enough to reach high end material gathering and I feel like time-gating rewards and being capped at 10 exp per gathering node is something that was decided upon without consideration for the player's time. It actually feels like the game doesn't respect my time or enjoyment. If I wanted to bite down on a burger but a restaurant didn't let me finish the other half I would be very upset. This is essentially what is happening.

I just want to enjoy this game, but the game doesn't want to let me by time-gating this much. I know I am not alone as I have seen very many posts and comments on how badly designed this content is. What changes would you like to see done to improve the experience?

Personally, I think it should take nowhere near a full day for the workshop to finish, and I don't appreciate crops taking so long, either. The last thing I would like is a bigger island. It really honestly doesn't feel as big as it was advertised at all. Only 2 underwater zones and such a limited amount of animals to raise.

I feel like you didn't pay attention to anything YoshiP kept telling players.

"Lower your expectations"
"Intended to be relaxing content done at a leisurely pace when you want a break from other content in the game"
"More features to be added in future patches"

You aren't intended to have a maxed out, optimized island in a week.

[Darthgummibear]

I know a lot of people don't watch PLLs, but this was something Yoshida covered many times—it's removed from existing systems so it can exist on its own terms without outside influence.
It's meant to be a personal thing for you to pursue that doesn't influence or affect the game outside of it in any way.

For something meant to be personal, the personal aspects are non-existent.

[Ranaku]

For something meant to be personal, the personal aspects are non-existent.

Kinda wish they would've given us a grid system where we can place workshops etc. and fields and like everything manually to customize our island just a little bit. Would've been great, they could've mixed in some little decorations you could place freely around and it would feel more personal. But it is what it is, i hope there will be more customization options in the future...

[Payadopa]

ITT: People don't know what relaxing is.

People will min-max the fun out of anything. Collecting seashells on an island beach is apparently something that must be speed run for whatever reason. lol

[Raim]

I like how they said over and over that they wanted to limit the rewards so you didn't feel obligated, and that you should do the content slowly. And people are still complaining "Why cant I minmax this in 2 days for optimal gains?" So they go out and gather 10,000 items and say "I cant believe Yoshida would make me do this.."

[Mika_Zahard]

> Tries to speedrun a dripfeed type of content
> Surprised he has slow process

I swear, you people aren't even trying anymore..