Island sanctuary doesn't feel right.

[Limecat]

Probably workshops, so you can get more blue cowries sooner and in turn be able to upgrade various things sooner. Granary/Workshop III is the final stage of each, they simply do more of whatever they do. Workshops earn you blue cowries, granaries get gathered items for you automatically. Each upgrade also gains you exp, so you want all the building spots occupied and you want them all upgraded(you can make three workshops and two granaries). The bathouse is just for flavor. All the landmarks are. It doesn't matter which ones you make(you could make four bathhouses if you wanted), just that you build a landmark on every landmark spot. The reason for that is each one increases your groove cap. Groove increases workshop profits. Another important thing about granaries is that they bring back one special item type from each island area that you can't gather yourself, and those special things are required for all the most profitable items the workshops can make.

[Iscah]

Thanks. I thought there were some things like "automation" but I guess they were referring to upgraded Granaries. Speaking of which... what do those upgraded versions do? I'm saving up materials for those and don't know what to aim for first. Granary II? Workshop II? Or are they not as worthwhile so I can rank up to be able to get Clams (to make the Boiling Bathhouse)?

Upgrading the granaries makes them bring back more items per day.

Also, I'm pretty sure clams are one of the materials you can collect by hand, although by Rank 7 I think you should be able to craft the fishing spear that lets you collect the better items along with it. You can dive for underwater materials in the northern and eastern bays, which have different items in each place.

[MsQi]

My idea of a sanctuary isn't a mammet sweatshop.

[Rehayem]

Just an idle factory simulator. Once you max it out, there's really nothing else to do since your mammets do it for you.

[HeyMcFly]

The problem with IS is you can't actually customize your island

It's just a checklist of upgrades that you cannot decorate-
you don't have an island theme you can change over time
There are no fun events or Holiday scenarios on your island or mini games, nothing that feels personal

It's essentially a sweatshop/ tom nook simulator which isn't fun

You can't add a personal stamp to the island- everyone will end up with the same result

So if there are improvements added, it'd be to make the island completely customizable from the grass, to the foliage, decorations & npcs you'd want to see
Along with the holiday/ seasonal events on your island with seasonal rewards

I've come to the conclusion that whoever thought of the island sanctuary never played the type of life/farm simulator games but watched their kids play without context.
It's out of touch with what made games like animal crossing or stardew valley fun - but that's what I honestly half expected since it's SE

[Allegor]

My idea of a sanctuary isn't a mammet sweatshop.

The new landmark only has 2 mammets! they're listening!

[Krokov]

The problem with IS is you can't actually customize your island

It's just a checklist of upgrades that you cannot decorate-
you don't have an island theme you can change over time
There are no fun events or Holiday scenarios on your island or mini games, nothing that feels personal

It's essentially a sweatshop/ tom nook simulator which isn't fun

You can't add a personal stamp to the island- everyone will end up with the same result

So if there are improvements added, it'd be to make the island completely customizable from the grass, to the foliage, decorations & npcs you'd want to see
Along with the holiday/ seasonal events on your island with seasonal rewards

I've come to the conclusion that whoever thought of the island sanctuary never played the type of life/farm simulator games but watched their kids play without context.
It's out of touch with what made games like animal crossing or stardew valley fun - but that's what I honestly half expected since it's SE

In the live letter today they said you'll be able to place garden furniture in Isand sanctuary in development for 6.4

[Skivvy]

The new landmark only has 2 mammets! they're listening!

I do hope that one is also locked behind expert crafting. :/

[Rolder50]

The new landmark only has 2 mammets! they're listening!

That's still two more then I want to see.

[Jojoya]

Just an idle factory simulator. Once you max it out, there's really nothing else to do since your mammets do it for you.

You mean you choose to let the mammets do it for you, leaving you with nothing you're doing other than manage the sweatshop.

You don't have to have the mammets tend the cropland or pasture. You can skip access to the rare materials needed to craft the most lucrative items and gather your own materials to make the rest instead of using the Granary.

Just because SE has given you a sanctioned bot to do some of the game work for you doesn't mean you have to use it if you'd rather have more to do.

The problem with IS is you can't actually customize your island

It's just a checklist of upgrades that you cannot decorate-
you don't have an island theme you can change over time
There are no fun events or Holiday scenarios on your island or mini games, nothing that feels personal

It's essentially a sweatshop/ tom nook simulator which isn't fun

You can't add a personal stamp to the island- everyone will end up with the same result

So if there are improvements added, it'd be to make the island completely customizable from the grass, to the foliage, decorations & npcs you'd want to see
Along with the holiday/ seasonal events on your island with seasonal rewards

I've come to the conclusion that whoever thought of the island sanctuary never played the type of life/farm simulator games but watched their kids play without context.
It's out of touch with what made games like animal crossing or stardew valley fun - but that's what I honestly half expected since it's SE

For now, you're correct about the general lack of customization. But we also know that SE intends to add more features over time.

If 6.3 is a minor update with 6.4 planned to be a major update, hopefully that will be including a much wider variety of options.

It's actually rather smart of them to have released the limited form first to get player feedback. That way they have a better idea of what worked and what didn't work with the players so future development time spent on the Sanctuary is less likely to be wasted.