Survival or bureaucracy? New player struggling to find the fun in Vintage Story - am I missing something?

[Tom Cantine]

7 minutes ago, CastIronFabric said:

stories you say. The foundation of gaming for you is the story? stories is the main reason you play games do I have that correct?

 

Ok well consider this, games have existed for thousands of years and stories have always been possible and yet for the vast majority of human history games have not been story based.

why do you think that is?

I think you are looking at an artificially narrow sample of what you consider "games". Watch children playing with their toys sometime: they are constantly inventing stories and engaging in make-believe, an instinct to imitate and rehearse the things they may find themselves doing in adult life. Formalized games like chess evolved out of this and the story element often becomes so abstracted as to be almost absent, but that doesn't mean the game isn't story-based; it's so story-based that we forget it's there. 

In the last century, we saw the emergence (or resurgence?) of the roleplaying game, which took formal rule-based elements from wargames like Chainmail and started re-introducing more story elements to become Dungeons & Dragons, and then a host of other systems, which in turn informed the growth of a whole lot of computer game genres, where story is central.

And that brings me to the point I started to type last night for this thread but fell asleep before I could finish and the thread grew. FOR ME, much of the appeal of a game like Vintage Story is that it captures so many aspects of the human story that tend to be minimized or ignored in games like Valheim. Don't get me wrong, I love Valheim, but it emphasizes a very narrow range of challenge: the main danger or peril we have to overcome is dying gloriously in battle. And in a way, there is no failure there because dying gloriously in battle is how you are celebrated and taken to Valhalla in the first place, so win or lose the fight you're still a hero.

But I think, from a human perspective, there is also drama in the myriad other challenges we face, some of which also are modeled in Vintage Story. Worrying about how you're going to have enough food and fuel to last through the winter is no less compelling that worrying about how you're going to defeat Bonemass. And more to the point, BOREDOM! I know it sounds strange to say this, because you typically play a game to escape boredom, but realistically overcoming boredom is a bossfight in its own. Being stuck inside during a cold winter or a temporal storm, you get restless, but that in itself is an opportunity to develop the virtue of self-discipline. Maybe boredom is the wrong word, because I think I'm immune to boredom (my mind is ALWAYS racing along) but tedium is definitely a thing, and endlessly grinding stuff in a hand-quern before you get to wind power is absolutely tedious. But I never get bored doing it because there's always so much to be doing in my mind: planning meals, crafting projects, trying to work out the most efficient way to smith a tool with the fewest hammer strokes, etc.

And this is greatly enhanced by IMMERSING yourself in the game's reality. I mean, really suspend disbelief. Disbelief ruins the game. In the extreme disbelief case, you're not really playing any kind of game: you're just clicking a mouse button and pressing some keys. That's not really a bear; it's just a pattern of pixels on your monitor. Ho hum. What could be more dull than clicking buttons? But if you accept the premise that this isn't just an image on a monitor, but a bear trying to eat you, that's where the excitement starts to come in. 

Let it in all the way. The grind is a grind, absolutely, but be IN the grind. Feel your frustration and boredom at having to turn this stupid basalt quern handle again and again and yet again and jeez, why do you really need a pie after all if it's all this work? Just make porridge. Except dammit, you've been digging peat all morning and looking forward to that pie, and....

That's how I play, anyway, and I really enjoy it. I get that not everyone is into this kind of immersion, and that's fine. I really get from the OP's comments that they're kind of stuck in the narrow paradigm of winning and losing. And that's fine too, but to appreciate a game like Vintage Story more fully, you kind of have to get beyond that and embrace the nature of life and all its challenges, not all of which are as sexy as slaying dragons. 

[Bruno Willis]

On 8/31/2025 at 5:03 AM, ComeAves said:

For me in vintage story, suffering and getting frustrated is indeed the main course. Struggle is needed to, eventualy, feel like I'm thriving.
The accomplishment of finally leaving my dirt hut behind to live in an actual house I took time and care to design rooms, storage areas, smithing corner, etc, is one of the best feelings in the game, I've done that dozens of times at this point, it hasn't felt like less of an achievement yet.

Yes! and when you find that vein of iron which is just overwhelmingly large - it feels like all your hard work was worth it. It's such a great reward for a hard grind. I also love the way base building feels: everything is gradual and useful, and one day you log on and realize you've built a gorgeous home. 

[CastIronFabric]

3 hours ago, Tom Cantine said:

I think you are looking at an artificially narrow sample of what you consider "games". Watch children playing with their toys sometime: they are constantly inventing stories and engaging in make-believe, an instinct to imitate and rehearse the things they may find themselves doing in adult life. Formalized games like chess evolved out of this and the story element often becomes so abstracted as to be almost absent, but that doesn't mean the game isn't story-based; it's so story-based that we forget it's there. 

In the last century, we saw the emergence (or resurgence?) of the roleplaying game, which took formal rule-based elements from wargames like Chainmail and started re-introducing more story elements to become Dungeons & Dragons, and then a host of other systems, which in turn informed the growth of a whole lot of computer game genres, where story is central.

And that brings me to the point I started to type last night for this thread but fell asleep before I could finish and the thread grew. FOR ME, much of the appeal of a game like Vintage Story is that it captures so many aspects of the human story that tend to be minimized or ignored in games like Valheim. Don't get me wrong, I love Valheim, but it emphasizes a very narrow range of challenge: the main danger or peril we have to overcome is dying gloriously in battle. And in a way, there is no failure there because dying gloriously in battle is how you are celebrated and taken to Valhalla in the first place, so win or lose the fight you're still a hero.

But I think, from a human perspective, there is also drama in the myriad other challenges we face, some of which also are modeled in Vintage Story. Worrying about how you're going to have enough food and fuel to last through the winter is no less compelling that worrying about how you're going to defeat Bonemass. And more to the point, BOREDOM! I know it sounds strange to say this, because you typically play a game to escape boredom, but realistically overcoming boredom is a bossfight in its own. Being stuck inside during a cold winter or a temporal storm, you get restless, but that in itself is an opportunity to develop the virtue of self-discipline. Maybe boredom is the wrong word, because I think I'm immune to boredom (my mind is ALWAYS racing along) but tedium is definitely a thing, and endlessly grinding stuff in a hand-quern before you get to wind power is absolutely tedious. But I never get bored doing it because there's always so much to be doing in my mind: planning meals, crafting projects, trying to work out the most efficient way to smith a tool with the fewest hammer strokes, etc.

And this is greatly enhanced by IMMERSING yourself in the game's reality. I mean, really suspend disbelief. Disbelief ruins the game. In the extreme disbelief case, you're not really playing any kind of game: you're just clicking a mouse button and pressing some keys. That's not really a bear; it's just a pattern of pixels on your monitor. Ho hum. What could be more dull than clicking buttons? But if you accept the premise that this isn't just an image on a monitor, but a bear trying to eat you, that's where the excitement starts to come in. 

Let it in all the way. The grind is a grind, absolutely, but be IN the grind. Feel your frustration and boredom at having to turn this stupid basalt quern handle again and again and yet again and jeez, why do you really need a pie after all if it's all this work? Just make porridge. Except dammit, you've been digging peat all morning and looking forward to that pie, and....

That's how I play, anyway, and I really enjoy it. I get that not everyone is into this kind of immersion, and that's fine. I really get from the OP's comments that they're kind of stuck in the narrow paradigm of winning and losing. And that's fine too, but to appreciate a game like Vintage Story more fully, you kind of have to get beyond that and embrace the nature of life and all its challenges, not all of which are as sexy as slaying dragons. 

I am sure some people play for stories but I do not.

More over

-the best selling games of all time are mostly non-story based games.

-games have existed for thousands of years before the computer and all of them are not story based, chess, football, golf. Its not like the concept of gaming started when D&D hit the world and never existed before it.

-I would venture to say that the vast majority of VS players have no idea what the 'story' of VS is.

-'play' and 'gaming' are actually always the same thing. Gaming is a FORM of play. So for example when you are kid 'playing' cops and robbers one might say 'hey lets give this a break and play a game instead'. They understand its different. Play is free form, games are working within a ruleset.

I encourage you to watch this video. Its a standard 'how to feel good about life' lecture that is famous for Tedx which I am not a fan of but most of it gives a foundation of what I am talking about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFapT0I8ujs

 

Edited September 1, 2025 by CastIronFabric

[Myo]

On 8/28/2025 at 5:29 PM, LadyWYT said:

Valheim, as much as I enjoy it on occasion, is the picture of drudgery for me, due to all the grinding it demands for gear.

Funny thing about that is to bait a troll into doing the work for you cause they cause absolutely massive collateral damage to the enviroment which you can just vacuum up after.

[Toroic]

18 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Okay, no, this is absolutely not true. Blackguard is the fighter class, and for players who love melee and just being an absolute bruiser in general this class is the obvious pick. The health boost can keep you alive in situations that would kill other classes, they move faster in armor(never discount movement speed), the melee bonus lets you shred most things in close quarters combat.

When it comes to the weaknesses, the ranged penalty equates to an extra shot on average to kill a target, if you rely only on range. This can be a problem early in the game for hunting, if you are a bad shot, however...you don't need to hunt at range either. Boar are quite easy to find and offer a lot of meat; they're also very easy to walk right up too and goad into a fight. If they try to flee, just chuck a spear at them to finish them off, and then enjoy the meal. Wolves you can soften up with a spear or two at range, before either goading them into a fight and finishing them off. Bears are the only ones to really worry about, but that rule applies to all classes, really, not just Blackguards.

The hunger and forage penalties aren't really a problem either if you're at least halfway decent at finding food. Berries and mushrooms will keep you going easily enough, as will foxes, raccoons, boar, wolves, and whatever else isn't able to escape your hunting prowess. And of course, by the time you get a base established, with a farm and livestock, you don't really need to hunt or forage anymore.

Blackguard is probably the toughest class for a new player to pick up and start playing with since they won't have the experience required to fully utilize the class strengths while mitigating the weaknesses, but it's not impossible for a new player to play a Blackguard either. They might struggle a bit more, but if that's the class they really want to play, they should play it(this is essentially how I cut my teeth in the game).

Have to disagree here as well. Deserts/gravel fields are useful since surface ore is easier to spot, and there's little vegetation to obscure your vision of threats or points of interest. Oceans and large lakes allow you to utilize the sailboat, which is very useful for easy traveling or hauling lots of cargo. Swampy wetlands can have different tree types, depending on climate, and are generally a good place to find cattails and fish. Glaciers themselves even serve a purpose, since glacier ice can function like glass when building greenhouses(unless something changed in that regard). 

In any case, there's something useful to be found pretty much everywhere, in regards to resources. If you're judging a biome based on how pretty/good it is to settle in, that's subject to individual preferences.

You can skip improvised armor entirely, provided you have the skill. Iron chain is okay, but expensive. The only reason I can think of to craft iron chain, aside from looks or collecting all the armors, is to preserve a bit of extra accuracy. Otherwise, brigandine is a better option for this tier--it's a bit less protective, but it also costs less. If you just need something to tide you over until steel, brigandine will do just fine for your heavier fighting. Gambeson is the best general purpose armor; ideal for exploring the surface or wearing around your base, but it won't hold up very well for heavier fighting. For the steel tier, chain is one of the better choices, but again, it boils down to personal preference and the demands of your situation. 

Plate armor is generally the most ideal for base defense, since you'll have ready access to plenty of food, as well as safe spots to take a respite and heal. I will also note that plate armor tends to be a more attractive choice for Blackguards, since it doesn't slow them down as much.

Falx has an autoloot feature, when it comes to fighting monsters. Likewise, there will be situations where melee is stronger than ranged, especially if you're exploring underground or run out of ammunition.

For more dangerous enemies, a solid general strategy is to soften them up a bit at range, and then finish them off in melee should they close the gap.

Shields are good at soaking up a lot of incoming damage...provided that you're actually facing the attacker and blocking properly. The passive block feature is most useful against incoming projectiles, but won't do much against melee hits. Active blocking will mitigate both ranged and melee attacks significantly, but unlike passive blocking you need to actually crouch in order to raise your shield and actively block.

The better the shield, the more damage that gets mitigated. Even crude shields have their place, since they can mitigate enough damage to allow you to survive a fight that might have killed you otherwise. As for the off-hand hunger penalty...you only need to equip your shield when you expect trouble, so the hunger penalty isn't an issue.

I love melee and being an absolute bruiser, and having played a lot of blackguard and then tried hunter, hunter is vastly better at all phases of the game.

For a new player, Blackguard is probably the worst possible starting option due to their dismal early game, and as far as moving in armor goes, Hunter (and Clockmaker) is faster than Blackguard in every armor except for plate.  Negating 25% of the slowdown only matches a 10% improved movespeed when the movespeed penalty reaches 40%.

That isn't to say Blackguard isn't viable, all classes are viable but they're the best class at the least effective combat style (heavy armor melee)

Shields in fact are terrible against anything that isn't a low damage ranged attack, and from the number crunching and testing I've done, shields are largely ineffective defense against any enemy of similar tier (as in, low tier shields against low tier enemies, or high tier shields against high tier enemies).  What they are quite good for is fighting lower tier enemies, but those generally are a trivial challenge anyway so it's just a "win more" mechanic.

Because they reduce damage by a flat amount, and that amount is reduced before your armor mitigation is calculated, the best shield in Vintage Story reduces a two headed drifter's base damage from 24 to 19... assuming you don't get the 10% chance that active blocking randomly fails.  Against a double headed drifter while you're in full plate, this reduces the damage you take from 3.2 to 2.7.

This is not worth attempting to actively block instead of dodging where you just don't get hit in the first place.  As long as you dodge 20% of the incoming hits you come out ahead over actively blocking.

Iron chain is significantly better than brigandine, having a much smaller movement speed penalty (-9% vs -15%), ranged penalty, and healing penalty (30% vs 51%).  You're 100% correct that it's more expensive, but most people who hit the iron tier find a large enough vein that they have plenty to spare.

16 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

There is a fair bit of misconstrued information here.

1. I play hunter, but in the middle of a temporal storm, I'm 100% reaching for my falx when a shiver or bowtorn spawns inside my house. Melee is very useful and definitely required in some cases as the time to draw a bow or aim a spear and aim at your target while moving. Generally in tight spaces, ranged is just going to lose 90% of the time.

2. For the reasons above, Blackguard is an amazing class to play, especially during temporal storms or down in dark caves where you can't see to aim a bow or throw a spear.

3. Winter is actually quite interesting in VS because it forces you to change your gameplay. You are not only trying to make it through said winter on your food stores alone, but you also are forced to warm up or freeze to death if you're out and about. And if you run out of food... heheh, you better hope you can find enough. Being cold cranks up that hunger rate!

You say that combat is full of fake choices. I think you should be honest here and just come clean that you prefer ranged combat over melee. That's fine. You're allowed to do that, but I think a few people here have and will take issue with saying things like that without a prefix that it's your opinion. But during those heavy storms, a metal shield with steel armor will be the only thing that saves you from a tier 4 drifter nabbing your butt and mailing it to you postage due.

Which leads me to my final point.... Temporal Storms. You say that they're terribly designed and implemented. Again, another opinion. If nothing else, they promote good base design. Low ceilings stop most dangerous enemies from spawning. The rest are going to be drifters that manage to wiggle their way in anyway. Loot can range from flax fibers to Jonas parts and even Temporal Gears. Idk why you think that's mediocre at best, but again, that's just your opinion.

What VS objectively provides is a different learning curve from what most people are expecting. I think a lot of players are coming in and expecting a Minecraft clone or they were told "it's just like xyz game but with this instead" and come to find that their knowledge of other games won't help them here for the most part.

It needs to be taken as it is at first without comparison to other things. Once you get a handle on how it all works, then you can start drawing the comparisons between other games and offering suggestions on how to make VS better.

1) Even in the situations you describe, a thrown spear works because there's no real need to "aim" anything.  The main use for melee is cheaply dealing with weak enemies, which is a niche but not an important one.  Everything significant (high tier enemies, and both bosses) are better fought at range.

2) Torches are pretty cheap and absolutely will make caving easier.  You also can use dirt blocks to create cover or block enemies off as needed.  Off hand torch and spear is great for dark areas.

3) I'll grant you that may be true for the first winter, but in subsequent winters the cold is not a significant barrier.  The first winter is also the only time where food scarcity is at all a concern.  Beyond that it's trivial.

"I think you should be honest here and just come clean that you prefer ranged combat over melee."

I don't prefer ranged combat over melee, I actually prefer melee combat but am willing to use both if one is more effective in the situation.  The problem in VS is that I can't find any situations where melee combat is more effective.

Ranged combat is far stronger in VS than melee combat during all phases of the game, and the melee combat is much weaker than in other survival games, of which I've played many.

In most survival games, melee does more damage than ranged because it inherently has more risk because you are in attack range of enemies.  In a game like Valheim for example, melee combat has high dps and with correct parry and dodge timing you can also avoid damage in melee by understanding enemy attack patterns and using good timing.

VS doesn't require me to learn enemy attack patterns, just have decent aim so they die before they close the distance or using dirt pillars as I throw spears into their face.  The skill expression other than some basic aiming skill is minimal.

Yes, it is my opinion that temporal storms are terribly designed and implemented, and the fact that so many people who really like VS don't like or engage with temporal storms is a very strong indicator that the design and implementation are poor.  They're not a fun challenge, nor are they rewarding (most enemies drop nothing), so people just wait them out.  If I need flax I'll grow it, if I need gears I'll trade for them.  Temporal gears?  If I need more than are found through playing naturally, it's more efficient to do caving under light-controlled conditions.

If your definition of a "good base design" is one that is good in a temporal storm, then the "best" base design must be one of the cheesy mob farms that autokill the weaker enemies and leave the stronger enemies at low health for easy harvesting.

I fully understand how VS works, and I like the game while understanding the things it does well and the things it does poorly.  Combat is done poorly, and improved significantly with Combat Overhaul (as is the Blackguard class as a result of melee being much better and more skill-expressive).  Temporal storms I usually leave the option to sleep through so if I ever care about Jonas parts I can get them.

[Bruno Willis]

I've gone up against bears with an iron falx and an iron rimmed shield and no armor, as a commoner, and it's great!

Admittedly I've got a 50/50 kill or be killed score so far (when I go into the fight deliberately with that set up), but that's pretty good. I've found fighting on brushy hilly areas effective. With no armor I'm pretty nimble, I just try and hit the bear then run and get a bit of space, turn around and charge it and hit it again as I run past: they don't seem very good at turning around and they have a bit of a wind-up before they hit you back so if you're booking it down the hillside you can often get away. A few good hits like that with the falx and they'll run off to lick their wounds, which is a good opportunity to heal and wait for them to come back. 

I honestly don't know if the shield is much help, but it doesn't slow me down, and it has saved me from enough hits which would have ended me that I can't imagine fighting without it. 

The other part is having really good nutrition. I focus on eating a balanced diet, which means I can usually take one mauling and survive. 

Good food and a peasant's bravery is all you need!

[Thorfinn]

On 8/30/2025 at 2:51 AM, Gisbert said:

But macro knowledge -> holy moly, VS is on a whole other level of realism. VS is a simulation, not a game.

Patience. Put in a little time in grade and you will start thinking of it as more a cozy builder with unique (to the best of my knowledge) gameplay loops, Yes, even on Wilderness. Get good enough and it becomes more of an activity, not even a cozy. You start having to set your own goals, like getting a full set of all available clothing styles. A complete collection of seashells or butterflies or flowers.

[Echo Weaver]

On 8/30/2025 at 3:51 AM, Gisbert said:

VS is much easier mechanically. But macro knowledge -> holy moly, VS is on a whole other level of realism. VS is a simulation, not a game.

LOL. I feel validated in an earlier dispute I had with some venerated forum regulars .

(Though, to clarify, I said it was a simulation GAME, and I intended to refer specifically to agriculture.)

[Echo Weaver]

5 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

Patience. Put in a little time in grade and you will start thinking of it as more a cozy builder with unique (to the best of my knowledge) gameplay loops, Yes, even on Wilderness. Get good enough and it becomes more of an activity, not even a cozy. You start having to set your own goals, like getting a full set of all available clothing styles. A complete collection of seashells or butterflies or flowers.

Yeah, a goal I have in mind for a new game start is to build a house out of multicolor drystack. Once I start a game, I tend to want to stick with it and stop and smell the roses, so this is also the game where I'm planning to restrict myself to the stone and pottery age until after the first winter. And the Fauna of the Stone Age mods. I'm reluctant to give up on rifts entirely, though lore is not the focus.

I may have the exact opposite of your play style. Seeing the variety of play styles in itself entertains me.

Edited September 1, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[Rustybeastgaming]

Hey there friend, this game is meant to punish you! It's meant to be a challenging experience that you learn to handle in time. It isn't meant to be easy! That doesn't mean that it can't be fun tho! It's just like art or an Instrument. You need to put in the time before the fruits of labor show. Don't give in!

[Gisbert]

I'm giving an update because I've driven so many people crazy here. Thanks for the tips, everyone.
Unfortunately, I had less time to play last week due to real life work, which is why it took so long.

I did a little pottery, but the copper progress chain—guys, no. Simply no.

You have to understand, I really dislike this modern “congratulations, you've successfully logged into the main menu. Here's your cookie—*pat on the shoulder*—(82% of all players have also achieved this success.)”... I usually like to “work” in games. And I like to grind - a lot. But Vintage Story doesn't feel like the usual “work” in games for me. For me, work somehow requires a... reward? Dunno, but playing VS feels less like a "vintage story" and more like “voluntary slavery”. And I'm not really into quarries.

You chop, you shovel, you sort, and in the end you have... well, a pile of rocks. Without that famous “I did it!” moment. More like a feeling of, “200 more lumps of clay, then I can build a furnace. Maybe.”

I'm trying to explain it, but I think this feeling arises because

- progression is hardly emotionally packaged – you work hard, but the reward curve seems puny.
- the mechanics are realistic, but not playful – drying grain, firing clay, searching for metals → sounds nice, but plays like a work assignment from a medieval internship.
- the atmosphere is cold – where games like Valheim and Zomboid shine with atmosphere, VS feels like a gray geology lecture with a pickaxe.

Before people start thinking I'm trolling again—that's my take on it. It's subjective.

I'll just leave this here, not because I want to screw someone over, but for someone who also wants to buy/play and thinks similar, or this helps him, or whatever... a developer who takes it to heart? Maybe. But maybe/and/or perhaps I am just an exception. Or maybe it's like with Valheim and the devs don't give a shit anyway.

I don't mean that in a bad way; I even think it's a good simulator. It's just not really a game for me.
Quarry? Exactly that. The title makes me an unpaid miner. I guessed the stone striking beforehand, but "unpaid" is the problem.
And if this bothers you at the beginning, it doesn't get any better as you go along—on the contrary, the workload grows with every “step forward.” I know I haven't seen that much yet, but I can read the developer's handwriting here.

Yes, I enjoy working in games, but I don't want to feel like I'm being "forced" to work. I don't want to be whipped and end up hating myself for not enjoying the whip.
If you ask me, the packaging should say “simulator”.

And that's also the only and final point of criticism that annoys me a little and allows me to accuse VS of “advertising itself as something different”.
At least for me, it wasn't obvious what was actually in this box. The trailer and stuff are a bit misleading, and it takes a long time playing to figure this out. 
I was thinking to buy and play more of a "survival game", but it isn't.

I couldn't convince my friends either. Maybe I would have gotten a little more involved, but of course I can't say that now.
So I don't think I'll play the game again or come back here.

So much for my personal little vintage story.
Ultimately, we are all gamers – there's no reason to be sad as long as you at least tried.

Thanks anyway for the encouragement.
Best regards/

Edited September 10, 2025 by Gisbert

[Zane Mordien]

No point in playing a game if it isn't fun to you. 

 

Good luck finding a game that scratches that itch. I dread those times when I get bored of all my games and have nothing to look forward to playing.

[Toroic]

1 hour ago, Gisbert said:

I'm giving an update because I've driven so many people crazy here. Thanks for the tips, everyone.
Unfortunately, I had less time to play last week due to real life work, which is why it took so long.

I did a little pottery, but the copper progress chain—guys, no. Simply no.

You have to understand, I really dislike this modern “congratulations, you've successfully logged into the main menu. Here's your cookie—*pat on the shoulder*—(82% of all players have also achieved this success.)”... I usually like to “work” in games. And I like to grind - a lot. But Vintage Story doesn't feel like the usual “work” in games for me. For me, work somehow requires a... reward? Dunno, but playing VS feels less like a "vintage story" and more like “voluntary slavery”. And I'm not really into quarries.

You chop, you shovel, you sort, and in the end you have... well, a pile of rocks. Without that famous “I did it!” moment. More like a feeling of, “200 more lumps of clay, then I can build a furnace. Maybe.”

I'm trying to explain it, but I think this feeling arises because

- progression is hardly emotionally packaged – you work hard, but the reward curve seems puny.
- the mechanics are realistic, but not playful – drying grain, firing clay, searching for metals → sounds nice, but plays like a work assignment from a medieval internship.
- the atmosphere is cold – where games like Valheim and Zomboid shine with atmosphere, VS feels like a gray geology lecture with a pickaxe.

Before people start thinking I'm trolling again—that's my take on it. It's subjective.

I'll just leave this here, not because I want to screw someone over, but for someone who also wants to buy/play and thinks similar, or this helps him, or whatever... a developer who takes it to heart? Maybe. But maybe/and/or perhaps I am just an exception. Or maybe it's like with Valheim and the devs don't give a shit anyway.

I don't mean that in a bad way; I even think it's a good simulator. It's just not really a game for me.
Quarry? Exactly that. The title makes me an unpaid miner. I guessed the stone striking beforehand, but "unpaid" is the problem.
And if this bothers you at the beginning, it doesn't get any better as you go along—on the contrary, the workload grows with every “step forward.” I know I haven't seen that much yet, but I can read the developer's handwriting here.

Yes, I enjoy working in games, but I don't want to feel like I'm being "forced" to work. I don't want to be whipped and end up hating myself for not enjoying the whip.
If you ask me, the packaging should say “simulator”.

And that's also the only and final point of criticism that annoys me a little and allows me to accuse VS of “advertising itself as something different”.
At least for me, it wasn't obvious what was actually in this box. The trailer and stuff are a bit misleading, and it takes a long time playing to figure this out. 
I was thinking to buy and play more of a "survival game", but it isn't.

I couldn't convince my friends either. Maybe I would have gotten a little more involved, but of course I can't say that now.
So I don't think I'll play the game again or come back here.

So much for my personal little vintage story.
Ultimately, we are all gamers – there's no reason to be sad as long as you at least tried.

Thanks anyway for the encouragement.
Best regards/

I think this is a very fair take.  Part of what I enjoy about VS’s crafting is the immersiveness and the educational aspect (I had no idea what a pit kiln was before VS), but it is a slow paced game and certainly not the only one I play.

It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and the developers aren’t aiming for mass appeal.  There’s too many anti-QoL features (like needing to learn which ores correspond to which metals, how prospecting picks work) that make the learning curve very steep at the start, on top of being a niche game to begin with.