Temporal storms... just... why?

[CastIronFabric]

OP: I have no interest in TP storms either. Just turn it off in the settings.

done

[Maelstrom]

Game mechanic wise, storms are a nuisance; BUT they (and the temporal instability) are laying out the foundation the story is built on.  As a new player the storms and instability drew me in to search for the lore of the world.   What happened here?   Why is this craziness going on?  Finding books, scrolls and tapestries answered those questions.  Now the traders and story locations add in a lot to the random lore bits before the RA dropped in 1.19.

[LadyWYT]

2 hours ago, CastIronFabric said:

I do not think the solution to 'no temporal storms' is 'not having any ruins, traders, translocators'. 

The solution is just to turn off that option in the settings.

Right, and I hold similar opinions. However, at the time I posted that suggestion, the OP seemed to be more interested in the realism and survival mechanics than they were the lore. While I do think the game is lacking without the lore, players who are indifferent to the lore or otherwise don't really enjoy it will probably enjoy a game mode like Homo Sapiens(I mean that is why that game mode exists).

[LadyWYT]

28 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

As a new player the storms and instability drew me in to search for the lore of the world. 

My solution as a new player was to just turn the temporal storm frequency to the longest interval, which also happened to be the setting for the least intense storms as well. That way they were still part of the world, but less spooky and I had plenty of time to prepare or do whatever else I wanted before one arrived. Of course, like many of the settings I originally turned down while learning the game, I gradually returned to the defaults for a better challenge.

[CastIronFabric]

54 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

Right, and I hold similar opinions. However, at the time I posted that suggestion, the OP seemed to be more interested in the realism and survival mechanics than they were the lore. While I do think the game is lacking without the lore, players who are indifferent to the lore or otherwise don't really enjoy it will probably enjoy a game mode like Homo Sapiens(I mean that is why that game mode exists).

fair enough but the problem is not lore, the problem is ruins and translocators which in my personal opinion is a biggy. Even more so when you use Better Ruins mod because I do not think those would still be considered ruins by the game, so big deal.

[Maelstrom]

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

My solution as a new player was to just turn the temporal storm frequency to the longest interval, which also happened to be the setting for the least intense storms as well. That way they were still part of the world, but less spooky and I had plenty of time to prepare or do whatever else I wanted before one arrived. Of course, like many of the settings I originally turned down while learning the game, I gradually returned to the defaults for a better challenge.

Same.   I just wish the frequency and intensity were separate.  I wanted longer frequency but default intensity.

[LadyWYT]

9 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

Same.   I just wish the frequency and intensity were separate.  I wanted longer frequency but default intensity.

That would be nice. And I do find it a bit strange that the longest intervals result in weaker storms. I would have thought the opposite--fewer storms but nastier when they occur.

[Maelstrom]

Think of it from a player perspective.  As a designer if I imagine that my players want to reduce the impact of storms not only will they want fewer storms, they'll likely want less intense storms as well.

[regex]

Temporal storms as implemented currently are just boring gameplay; I turned them off after 80 hours in game. They are either very easy to take advantage of (according to others in this thread RE: almost-day-one mob farms) or very easy to avoid (dig a hole, take shelter). In the case of waiting them out, that begs the question: why am I playing this game? Now I'm just alt-tabbing to read a forum or something while this event takes me out of the game, or trying to find an activity to do in a cramped-enough space to prevent spawns but still allow work.

I think they're pretty pointless, even from a "oooooh, interesting lore" standpoint. I was far more intrigued by the ruins I found in a cave.

[Maelstrom]

I think you miss the point I was making.   The temporal instability and storms are part of the setting for the story in the game.

With the new mobs introduced in 1.20, I agree that storms are now a time out in the game.   Even with steel plate armor (end game top tier armor protection) they are dangerously deadly affairs unless some preparations are made before hand.  If one wants to makke the jonas contraptions there's a far safer way to farm mobs for jonas parts with a copper pickaxe and stone spears.

Personally, I like the stability and storms for the immersion factor.  Yes, I'm a weird birb; I embrace it.  Even though I've had to go from hunting double headed drifters with flint spears during the first storm of the world to hiding out in a bunker during a storm, I still like the storms and the instability.  I take the time to peruse the map to plan for resource gather, read the lore I've gathered or pan bony soil for easy gears/gold or lore.  But I get it.  Storms do halt game play.

[dakko]

1 hour ago, regex said:

In the case of waiting them out, that begs the question: why am I playing this game? Now I'm just alt-tabbing to read a forum or something while this event takes me out of the game, or trying to find an activity to do in a cramped-enough space to prevent spawns but still allow work.

I've thought much the same myself, which is why I'm grateful we have the ability to customize a new world to our own preferences. Sleeping through, or waiting them out, leaves me wondering "What's the point?"

eta: playing through storms is not an option for me as I get physically ill from the graphics and the residual effects last for hours

Edited December 19, 2025 by dakko

[regex]

15 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

I think you miss the point I was making.

Were you addressing me? Hard to tell when I'm not quoted.

15 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

The temporal instability and storms are part of the setting for the story in the game.

Yes, no denying. But here's the thing: temporal storms are boring gameplay. They are not engaging, they disengage me from the game. I can either make a mob farm (useful for who knows how long) or ride them out, either by digging a hole or taking up a hobby I may not need for my immediate survival in the smallest space possible. Exploration stops, mining stops, farming stops, animal husbandry tasks stop, building pretty stuff stops, etc... When one comes along I basically have two choices that are not, in any way, critical to my long-term survival beyond staying alive in the immediate moment.

I have zero problem with instability (the green gear?) because it's engaging gameplay. I worry about it and I can do something directly about it.

[regex]

1 minute ago, dakko said:

I've thought much the same myself, which is why I'm grateful we have the ability to customize a new world to our own preferences.

Yes, you'll note I stated that I shut the storms off because they provide nothing interesting to my gameplay. Quite frankly I think they should come with a warning on the configuration screen and/or be off by default for new players for that reason.

Edited December 19, 2025 by regex

[dakko]

Just now, regex said:

Yes, you'll note that stated I shut the storms off because they provide nothing interesting to my gameplay.

No, I missed that. I turn them off too - the edit to my post explains why. Well, that, and I do not like fighting. 

[dakko]

4 minutes ago, regex said:

Quite frankly I think they should come with a warning on the configuration screen and/or be off by default for new players for that reason.

Having a warning is a good idea! Temporal Rifts have more description in the configuration screen; something like that would be helpful for Temporal Storms too.

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, regex said:

But here's the thing: temporal storms are boring gameplay. They are not engaging, they disengage me from the game.

To be frank, this is a matter of personal opinion. To you, they are obviously not engaging gameplay, and that's fine. I myself find them interesting, since they keep me grounded in the world and I have fun planning around the storms. One of my most memorable moments in the game was racing with my friend against the clock to reach the safe haven of a certain story location before a temporal storm arrived. We didn't make it in time, of course, and ended up running through the dark during the storm trying to stay alive, as death would mean respawning thousands of blocks away back at base. 

It's fair to not like the mechanic, and obviously it's not a mechanic that will be everyone's cup of tea, hence why there are options to turn the storms off or sleep through them. However, turning storms off by default for the Standard difficulty would be a massive disservice to the story and its setting. 

[regex]

2 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

To be frank, this is a matter of personal opinion.

It's a demonstrable fact. You simply cannot participate in the large majority of the game when a temporal storm happens. It is disengaging gameplay, once you've experienced it once it becomes nothing more than a time sink.

[LadyWYT]

37 minutes ago, regex said:

It's a demonstrable fact. You simply cannot participate in the large majority of the game when a temporal storm happens. It is disengaging gameplay, once you've experienced it once it becomes nothing more than a time sink.

To be clear, you said this about the instability mechanic earlier as well:

2 hours ago, regex said:

I have zero problem with instability (the green gear?) because it's engaging gameplay. I worry about it and I can do something directly about it.

This is also a matter of personal opinion, because there are players that will adamantly tell you that it's an absolute fact that surface instability is boring, unengaging gameplay because it stops players from building whatever they want wherever they want, and there's absolutely no counter other than "don't build there" or "just turn it off".

Temporal storms are much the same. Not everyone finds them fun, hence why there are options to customize them. The player cannot stop them directly, outside of turning them off, but the player has options when it comes to dealing with them(work indoors, hide in a bunker, go fight monsters).

There's nothing wrong with finding a mechanic boring, and suggesting ways that it could change, but keep in mind that those changes are going to apply to everyone else. Altering or removing a mechanic from the entire game(for everyone) due to individual preference isn't the best logic to use, since not everyone has the same tastes. If that logic were fairly applied, there would be a lot more than temporal storms getting removed from the game; the end result would something very watered down, that likely satisfies no one.

Edited December 19, 2025 by LadyWYT

[Mowdan]

I've played the game a decent amount now but  I always just hole up somewhere and look at the map or the guide.... I mean I like the raid in minecraft because you get totems I think the monster payout is just too low.It is  simple logic, you fight things only if the thing you are fighting gives you something you want and doesn't set you back.The weak monster don't drop much so why would I fight the stronger ones during a storm? IDK maybe there is a reason...I haven't really gone into a deep cave either, the game just seems like it hasn't pushed me to do that. Seems like I can get steel just by looking around on the surface. There may be more to come underground though.Of all the monster I have ever killed I have only gotten 1 temporal gear, The yield is just too low.

[MKMoose]

14 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

This is also a matter of personal opinion, because there are players that will adamantly tell you that it's an absolute fact that surface instability is boring, unengaging gameplay because it stops players from building whatever they want wherever they want, and there's absolutely no counter other than "don't build there" or "just turn it off".

I'm not certain it makes much sense to discuss the whole stability mechanic by focusing on the very small part that is surface instability. Sure, there are also people who dislike the mechanic as a whole, but surface instability is separate in that it specifically has the problem of having nearly nothing beneficial for the game going for it. Both its gameplay purpose and the worldbuilding aspects are questionable, which cannot be said about the rest of the stability mechanic.

 

15 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

17 hours ago, regex said:

But here's the thing: temporal storms are boring gameplay. They are not engaging, they disengage me from the game.

To be frank, this is a matter of personal opinion.

Enjoyment of mechanics is subjective, and in a large enough playerbase you will always find a diversity of opinions. That said, I think we can discuss a mechanic by analyzing the constraints it applies to the player, the incentives that it provides, the punishment and rewards that it offers in different circumstances, and everything else about their design, without getting bogged down in an opinionated back-and-forth that goes nowhere (though this is still nothing compared to something like the gapped ladder threads, to be fair).

All the temporal mechanics are backed with reasonably strong arguments from the perspective of lore, worldbuilding and atmosphere, which increase the wiggle room for momentarily imposing limitations on the player and creating risk of punishment, and storms especially make liberal use of it. Some players don't mind it, like you, and some players find that it goes too far and becomes boring in spite of the intended effects. I will also note that the atmosphere and worldbuilding aren't really there for me as long as the storm begins in an instant and ends just as suddenly.

All the temporal mechanics are risky from a design perspective, because they are universally hostile to the player and designed as obstacles without significant rewards, which is a combination that easily reduces player engagement. Underground instability is fine as part of the risk of mining or caving, which itself is necessary or at least useful to obtain a bunch of resources. Surface instability is annoying for reasons that I probably don't need to explain again. Now, temporal storms are exceptionally imposing and punishing, which might point to them offering some sort of a reward, and... it's just rotbeast loot, which, to add insult to injury, is pretty useless unless optimized for large quantities with a mob farm.

What I would personally love to see are more upfront and everpresent temporal mechanics, with new and improved visual effects and sounds but removed direct tells in the UI and chat. Make them a big and interactive part of the world that the player actually has to keep in mind and deal with regularly (but without making them too threatening or imposing), with in-world ways to gauge stability and predict storms, and potentially limited means to exploit or counteract instability.

 

15 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

One of my most memorable moments in the game was racing with my friend against the clock to reach the safe haven of a certain story location before a temporal storm arrived. We didn't make it in time, of course, and ended up running through the dark during the storm trying to stay alive, as death would mean respawning thousands of blocks away back at base. 

I'm gonna twist this right around and say that it is indirectly an excellent argument for creating a short opportunity right as the storm starts to collect a unique resource. My thought was unironically some sort of nectar from a flower, because it could start growing as the storm is imminent and blossom right around the moment it hits, then wilt pretty quickly to remove the incentive to stay outside and keep collecting resources throughtout the entire storm's duration. This would make the player hurry before the storm to find a flower and collect the nectar quickly, then dash back home to process it into something in safety (possibly something that herbalism and brewing could help with, but it could also be used with Jonas parts somehow). Flowers appearing in random locations would make it much less cheeseable, and I'm thinking that they could even be deliberately made to only appear in chunks that are mostly unmodified by the player. There's plenty other options as well, if flowers sound a bit out there, but similar design constraints apply.

One thing that is fun to look at on this topic is the importance of autonomy as described by self-determination theory. Offering extrinsic motivation (i.e. an opportunity to collect a resource) may reduce intrinsic motivation in players to busy themselves with their own tasks during the storm, however, the storm already greatly limits intrinsic motivation by reducing the options available to the player as they sit in a small hiding spot. I think that as long as the additional incentive offered by the storm is not excessively strong (that is, the unique resource isn't absolutely crucial in the game - that is a bit of a worry I have with potential new Jonas tech as well), then this extra option would go a long way to increase player engagement during storms.

Edited December 20, 2025 by MKMoose
Phrasing.

[CastIronFabric]

13 hours ago, regex said:

It's a demonstrable fact. You simply cannot participate in the large majority of the game when a temporal storm happens. It is disengaging gameplay, once you've experienced it once it becomes nothing more than a time sink.

agreed.

I can settle with 'some people like it and thus it needs to be a setting' and not dive into debates over how rather silly it actually is. That said, I hold the position that running home to stare at a wall for 10 mins is actually not fun. Not for TP storms, not for early game monsters, not in this game and not in 7 days to die. If one sets aside their emotions, detach from all take a deep breath and think logically, it makes zero sense that one would enjoy that. That is not to suggest that after such meditation one can not continue to enjoy it regardless however it might give them pause the next time they want to debate someone who thinks its not vital game play.

 

Edited December 20, 2025 by CastIronFabric

[Loosebearings]

Starting with the lore side of things... The storms right now feel like they're just there to inconvenience the player, they aren't a threat to wildlife, nor a threat to traders (I know traders probably shouldn't die, but they could atleast act like they're scared of storms). The storms ramping up in difficulty each time doesn't make much sense either since temporal storms seem to have been happening for decades, even centuries at this point, why haven't they reached the maximum long before the seraph appeared? It feels too tied to the player instead of tied to the surrounding world and it seems intent on only causing a bad day for you.

I think rift activity should be tied to temporal storms, with monsters becoming more active as a storm grows closer, then dropping after a storm passes. Im not too deep into the lore just yet, but the temporal storms seem to just be a giant rift, with both letting the rust world bleed into our own. This would also let players gauge when the next storm will be at any time in the cycle, and not just by the chat messages the day before. Something like the storm skybox & Dave flickering in and out in the hours before a storm alongside the chat messages (or ideally replacing them) could work as an in-lore way of alerting players to an incoming storm. Also don't have monsters spawn inside the walls of my base, or atleast inside my house. That would fix around 90% of the problems with storms.

And just as a final thing to add on. How about temporal storms advancing the time required of certain processes? Think crop growth, sealed barrels, pit kilns and charcoal. This could add something minor to help the player, and make storms something more than a purely 'evil' force out to get you, but instead it just is, uncaring on whether it helps or hurts you.

[LadyWYT]

5 hours ago, MKMoose said:

I'm gonna twist this right around and say that it is indirectly an excellent argument for creating a short opportunity right as the storm starts to collect a unique resource. My thought was unironically some sort of nectar from a flower, because it could start growing as the storm is imminent and blossom right around the moment it hits, then wilt pretty quickly to remove the incentive to stay outside and keep collecting resources throughtout the entire storm's duration. This would make the player hurry before the storm to find a flower and collect the nectar quickly, then dash back home to process it into something in safety (possibly something that herbalism and brewing could help with, but it could also be used with Jonas parts somehow). Flowers appearing in random locations would make it much less cheeseable, and I'm thinking that they could even be deliberately made to only appear in chunks that are mostly unmodified by the player. There's plenty other options as well, if flowers sound a bit out there, but similar design constraints apply.

I'm against this idea mainly because I don't think it's a good alternative to turn temporal storms into what's essentially a "quick time loot event" by adding a unique resource that can only be acquired during the storm. It is a solution, sure, but the "unique resource" would have to be something entirely optional and not in any way critical to completing the story or other parts of gameplay, since if a player turns the storm mechanic off they won't have a way to access that resource.

A better solution, I think, is perhaps change the way that temporal storms spawn enemies. Perhaps instead of the enemies just blinking into reality, a special mini-rift spawns first, remaining for a few moments before spawning an enemy and disappearing. The player, as a seraph, could have the option of sealing these rifts to prevent the enemy from spawning, at the cost of some of their temporal stability. That kind of mechanic gives the player more control over what happens in the storm, as well as something else to do besides just "fight, hide, or turn it off". The stability cost also ensures that the player will have to strategize a bit depending on the storm; a light storm they can probably close every rift and not deal with monsters at all, while in a heavier storm they may need to fight a monster or two(or sacrifice a temporal gear) in order to keep their stability up while sealing rifts.

2 hours ago, Loosebearings said:

Starting with the lore side of things... The storms right now feel like they're just there to inconvenience the player, they aren't a threat to wildlife, nor a threat to traders (I know traders probably shouldn't die, but they could atleast act like they're scared of storms).

Well, yes, that is what temporal storms are supposed to be--unnatural disasters that are an obstacle the player will need to work around. The reason they likely don't affect animals or NPCs, is either the coding for such behavior isn't implemented yet, or more likely just gameplay reasons. Livestock is difficult to acquire but very easy to lose, and NPCs will eventually respawn if they die, but it does take a while.

 

2 hours ago, Loosebearings said:

The storms ramping up in difficulty each time doesn't make much sense either since temporal storms seem to have been happening for decades, even centuries at this point, why haven't they reached the maximum long before the seraph appeared? It feels too tied to the player instead of tied to the surrounding world and it seems intent on only causing a bad day for you.

This is also for gameplay reasons; weaker storms at the start of the game are more manageable, since the player doesn't have particularly good options for anything. In the late game, the player is much better equipped for a variety of scenarios, so it makes sense to throw stronger storms at them.

Ironically, according to what a certain NPC notes about the storms, the temporal storms of the present are actually much weaker than those that occurred post-cataclysm. It's possible that something could be causing the storms to strengthen once again, but if that's the case it has yet to be explained.

2 hours ago, Loosebearings said:

I think rift activity should be tied to temporal storms, with monsters becoming more active as a storm grows closer, then dropping after a storm passes.

Agreed, though I do think the rift activity should also keep a somewhat randomized pattern as well.

 

2 hours ago, Loosebearings said:

And just as a final thing to add on. How about temporal storms advancing the time required of certain processes? Think crop growth, sealed barrels, pit kilns and charcoal. This could add something minor to help the player, and make storms something more than a purely 'evil' force out to get you, but instead it just is, uncaring on whether it helps or hurts you.

Have to disagree here. Given what temporal storms are(unnatural disasters), they really shouldn't hold any kind of benefit, aside from whatever bit of loot the player manages to extract from monster kills. They're a distinctly bad thing, and presumably one of the things we're trying to fix in order to save the world.

From the gameplay standpoint though, I would argue that if temporal storms can shorten the time it takes to finish a task, they should logically be able to do the opposite as well. Which I think is guaranteed to frustrate players, even if the time extension penalty isn't a thing, since the "benefit" is relying on pure RNG. Of course, if the storm is just providing that benefit in every storm, then the player has much less incentive(from both lore and gameplay standpoints) to try to find a way to fix whatever's causing such storms, if a fix even exists. At the very least, if storms offered benefits like that, most of the NPC dialogue regarding them would need to change to reflect that.

[savewysp]

because theyre cool

 

[MKMoose]

2 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

I'm against this idea mainly because I don't think it's a good alternative to turn temporal storms into what's essentially a "quick time loot event" by adding a unique resource that can only be acquired during the storm. It is a solution, sure, but the "unique resource" would have to be something entirely optional and not in any way critical to completing the story or other parts of gameplay, since if a player turns the storm mechanic off they won't have a way to access that resource.

I don't know where you're getting the idea that it would only be collected during storms (granted, "unique" could mean "such that only one holder has it", but it's also "being the only one of its kind"). I even expressed a very similar concern in the next paragraph below the one you quoted:

8 hours ago, MKMoose said:

I think that as long as the additional incentive offered by the storm is not excessively strong (that is, the unique resource isn't absolutely crucial in the game - that is a bit of a worry I have with potential new Jonas tech as well), then this extra option would go a long way to increase player engagement during storms.

Whatever that resource may be, I'm calling it "unique" just because it would most likely be a supernatural item with rather fantastical applications, and I have nothing against allowing to collect small quantities of it in other ways. It would have to be very rare outside of storms, though, to avoid defeating the original purpose of the change. Maybe it could appear in a story location, maybe it could be purchased at a high price from a special NPC, whatever, really, it's beside the point.

The point is to give the player a reason to brave the start of the storm (period of preparation and anticipation, encourages the player to come out of their hiding hole), then hurry back home with the loot (something of a thrilling survival test, like you've described with your dash towards the story location), and give an extra something to do during the storm when it's not possible to stay outside (actually process the resource).

 

2 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

A better solution, I think, is perhaps change the way that temporal storms spawn enemies. Perhaps instead of the enemies just blinking into reality, a special mini-rift spawns first, remaining for a few moments before spawning an enemy and disappearing. The player, as a seraph, could have the option of sealing these rifts to prevent the enemy from spawning, at the cost of some of their temporal stability. That kind of mechanic gives the player more control over what happens in the storm, as well as something else to do besides just "fight, hide, or turn it off". The stability cost also ensures that the player will have to strategize a bit depending on the storm; a light storm they can probably close every rift and not deal with monsters at all, while in a heavier storm they may need to fight a monster or two(or sacrifice a temporal gear) in order to keep their stability up while sealing rifts.

I was considering this as well for a different reason, but I don't think it would change much of anything. For most purposes it would just add a delay to rotbeast spawns, with little to no impact on how interesting or engaging the storms are. Having to run around to close the rifts would be a job and a half in itself, you'd inevitably miss a few, and you wouldn't get much done besides closing rifts. At that point I'd probably prefer to just sit in the house cooking or panning - at least I would actually get something done, instead of risking combat and draining my stability for zero benefit.

Maybe it could work with a few tweaks, but I don't really see how it could improve storms in any way for the players who find them restrictive and tedious.

Edited December 20, 2025 by MKMoose