What island sanctuary doesn't get about games like Animal Crossing/Stardew Valley.

[Greyhawk]

You understand that this isn't a good defense of the content, right? It's just embarassing that they said "oh don't expect much" from one of this expansion's main contents. When they said that I thought that they were talking about the people expecting instanced housing and something with as much depth as a full game. All I(and many others) expected was an enjoyable experience. It is worse than a free browser game.

It lacks QOL. Lacks any customization. Farming is poor. Collecting materials until you have your granaries set is a clicking nightmare and after that you spend 10 min a week on it tops, because there is nothing left to do. The only good thing to come out of it are the cosmetics and frankly they might as well have added them as rewards for something else.

You understand it's the perfect defense, right? I mean, they literally said that. As in - "fact", and nothing - NOTHING - has given us anything to think it's remotely different now than when they introduced the specifics in the Live Letter. It's not embarrassing at all that they said it, and it's NOT main content. Are we talking about the same thing? Because I'm quite sure it's got NOTHING to do with main content. At all.

What you *think* they were talking about and what they were actually saying are two different things, obviously. Because what I read was exactly what they said - it's not housing, don't expect a lot out of it, and it's just something that you can go and do to relax and was *extremely* casual content. If you don't enjoy it, fine. Just don't allow your expectations to get in the way of that after they had repeatedly stated what I have driven home here. Anything other than what they stated is delusional.

I have to quote Raven for truth here, because it was nailed:

I'm sorry but this is 9 part out of 10 the community fault. I mean ... have you seen the ridiculous level of expectation people have for IS when it came out? Some people thought it would be private housing, some thought it gonna be the harvest moon of FF14. Stuffs that they never said it to be but the community go ahead and decide it for themselves. It felt like everyone with some gribs with the game was expecting IS is the magic bullet that will fix all of their issue.

[Greyhawk]

There’s a reason I prefaced with saying that is completely unrealistic to expect a side activity to have the depth of a full fledged separate game, but like I said the gameplay loops devolves into a discord copy and paste which is disappointing. I don’t think I am asking for a lot when island sanctuary is one of the MAIN endgame content systems for the entire expansion. It just doesn’t have the depth of past systems like Bozja and the firmament as an endgame system. Even with their flaws they keep people engaged for longer. I’m just pointing out that the system doesn’t have the base sort of gameplay loop that keeps farming sims or life sims engaging and replayable. I think being able to continuously improve your farming and gathering capabilities would be more fun than what we have now. Stuff like unlocking automation and the tool recipes were a step in the right direction

It's not though - it is NOT main endgame content. It is extreme casual content - it's not competitive, it's not game changing, it's not anything other than something else to do that has absolutely nothing to do with anything main content related.

Again - expectations exceeding stated, factual outcome.

[ameliaw]

You understand it's the perfect defense, right? I mean, they literally said that. As in - "fact", and nothing - NOTHING - has given us anything to think it's remotely different now than when they introduced the specifics in the Live Letter. It's not embarrassing at all that they said it, and it's NOT main content. Are we talking about the same thing? Because I'm quite sure it's got NOTHING to do with main content. At all.

What you *think* they were talking about and what they were actually saying are two different things, obviously. Because what I read was exactly what they said - it's not housing, don't expect a lot out of it, and it's just something that you can go and do to relax and was *extremely* casual content. If you don't enjoy it, fine. Just don't allow your expectations to get in the way of that after they had repeatedly stated what I have driven home here. Anything other than what they stated is delusional.

They announced a game mode where you can plant crops, collect materials, place buildings, care for animals, release your minions and explore. When did I claim that they did not deliver what they said on the live letters? They delivered it poorly. How is that delusional lmfao. If you're happy with this kind of content good for you.

[Greyhawk]

They announced a game mode where you can plant crops, collect materials, place buildings, care for animals, release your minions and explore. When did I claimed that they did not deliver what they said on the live letters? They delivered it poorly. How is that delusional lmfao. If you're happy with this kind of content good for you.

They delivered everything you listed, exactly how they stated it was going to be. How did they deliver it poorly? By following what they said they were going to do? Or is it because you just don't like it? You've already said it's main expansion content which is false, so there clearly isn't enough there for you. Expectations exceeding outcome.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not whiteknighting SE at all, I'm just pointing out that they delivered. There was no surprises, there was no empty promises. There was a clear expectation of what was to come out of this. Yet, people are filling in their own fantasy of what *they* were expecting out of I.S., when none of what they are wanting/expecting, etc., was ever promised.

[ameliaw]

They delivered everything you listed, exactly how they stated it was going to be. How did they deliver it poorly? By following what they said they were going to do? Or is it because you just don't like it?

Yes, because I don't like it. Because many people don't like it. Me saying that they did something poorly is my opinion and so ''not liking it'' is enough. They can simultaneously do something poorly while following the "plant crops, collect materials, place buildings, care for animals, release your minions and explore" that they announced. As an extreme example, you can do what they announced in a text based adventure too. This means nothing.

[Avoidy]

Island sanctuary represents all of the bad of animal crossing with none of the good. A bunch of timegated grind, minus the customization, trade, or quirky npc dialogue. As an animal crossing fan, I'll never understand why people compare the two. They're nothing alike in my mind. You can't even interact with your friend's island or have a unique layout or anything; everyone's setup looks the exact goddamned same, grows the same wildlife and fruits, it's so sterile.

When Yoshi came out in the live letter and straight up said "please don't expect a lot," that, for me, was where I realized this was going to be a total nothing experience. All I wanted was a customizable workshop area and a place to put all of my then-useless outdoor furniture. Barely got the former, definitely didn't get the latter. Well, at least I got a sheep ranch out of it, but even that's soulless. I forgot about them for weeks and let them starve. When I came back and fed them once, their mood went from stormy to slightly cloudy and they were back to happily eating out of my hand like nothing had happened. At least Animal Crossing had enough balls to make your neighbors hate you if you deserved it. I went in expecting my sheep to simply be gone. Like, maybe they left when they realized I was a terrible owner. Or maybe instead of eating out of my hand, they'd bite my fingers. But nope. No real thought behind that aspect at all. I was surprised that petting did nothing. The rest of the system was so bare bones. Why include this singular element of flavorful fluff? God only knows. What a bizarre system. Can't believe devtime that could've gone into another exploratory zone went into this.

[Kaurhz]

It would have been nice if they could have used more general, already existing in-game mechanics, like a sightseeing log, or treasure maps, just have them be undertaken in a different way and something that promotes obtaining the animals, or seeds in a way that goes outside of the traditional catching/gathering/buying.

They already have some good in-game systems for this, frankly, so to see them unused is a disappointment.

I will, however, say that to a very large degree, this content initially was doomed to fail, bar a few cases, they have rarely ever gone to initial development with the intention of frontloading, e.g., Eureka Anemos was exceptionally barebones, just as barebones as this, similarly with Pagos (The only saving grace being that it was tied to relics) - I can only hope they intend to expand on the delivery.

Was equally doomed due to player expectations. Regardless of how many times it was iterated to the player base, many still went with the expectation that it would some way, shape or form act as a substitute for housing. Similarly, I would wager the comment made by Yoshida, didn't pertain to just this, but equally the substance, e.g., expecting the same level of quality or replay-value as a game that effectively dedicates itself to this form, e.g., Animal Crossing.

[Greyhawk]

Yes, because I don't like it. Because many people don't like it. Me saying that they did something poorly is my opinion and so ''not liking it'' is enough. They can simultaneously do something poorly while following the "plant crops, collect materials, place buildings, care for animals, release your minions and explore" that they announced. As an extreme example, you can do what they announced in a text based adventure too. This means nothing.

"I don't like it" != poor delivery. That just means you don't like it, and your expectations exceeded the outcome.

[ameliaw]

"I don't like it" != poor delivery. That just means you don't like it, and your expectations exceeded the outcome.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/...nglish/opinion

[Amh_Wilzuun]

It's not though - it is NOT main endgame content. It is extreme casual content - it's not competitive, it's not game changing, it's not anything other than something else to do that has absolutely nothing to do with anything main content related.

Again - expectations exceeding stated, factual outcome.

Level of difficulty=\=level of engagement and replayability. Just because content is for casual players doesn’t mean it should be lacking. Sort of an F U to casual players right? I think an endgame for more casual players is a GREAT idea. In fact EW has been criticized for having too much endgame for hardcore players like the savage tiers and the two hyper tough ultimates but not enough casual and midcore content for those players to really dive into. We have V and C which is much more disposable than Bozja was for midcore players for example.