Story places/protected area changes that makes more sense with the sandbox nature of the game

[LadyWYT]

9 hours ago, Parco said:

I have played through it yea, but not read every associated bits of lore, so not fully updated on it, so yea it probably didnt fit with the lore, but you get what i mean by adding something more dramatic way of ending the world if those player actions were to be taken, either way its not really a fully serious suggestion more a quick response to potentially build on to what pizza lady said as a player consequence. 

No, I'm afraid I really don't get what you mean. Regarding the story, Tyron has a very clear vision of how things are meant to unfold, but of a planned eight story chapters only two have been implemented. While it is fair to point out things one dislikes in the storytelling, or suggest improvements, it's also pretty rude to demand the entire work of art change to something it's not meant to be. Spoilers ahead:

Spoiler

10 hours ago, Parco said:

at the end of that game you basically are locked in an endless fight until you eventually defeated, could add something similar, where the world eventually, maybe after a ingame year, falls into chaos where the rot returns and infect the player which disables respawning and temporal storms become more and more often until its constant and eventually player dies of rot or from drifters.

First and foremost, if the Rot fully returns, it's game over. For everyone and everything. The story makes it very clear that the Rot has no known cure, and wipes out everything in its path. If the player and associated allies can't find a way to stop it, there just won't be anything left but a dead mess of putrid black sludge. Given that the theme of the story so far has been persevering in the face of adversity and winning, it's going to be an incredible disappointment, after several many hours of gameplay and story buildup, the ultimate conclusion is "Rot returns, everything dies".

Secondly, the Rot surging back onto the scene and overtaking everything after only a single year doesn't track at all with how characters like Tobias are acting in chapter 2. Tobias is aware the Rot is trying to return, yes, but it's unclear if it's actually returned to the world yet, or whether it's still trying to seep in somehow. In any case, if it were simply a year from overtaking the world, he likely would be either a frantic mess or crying inconsolably in the corner, not working with optimism and joking about reaching a solution in a couple of decades.

Regarding temporal storms, as a gameplay mechanic they're a little weaker at the beginning of the game and get a bit stronger after some time has passed and the player has had a chance to equip themselves, in order to keep things fair for the player. In the lore though, the temporal storms we have now are actually quite mild compared to the storms that happened immediately after the great calamity. We learn this from Tobias himself.

As for player death...canonically, the player is immortal, or at least has limited immortality in that things that would kill a normal human won't kill a seraph(what the player is). It's unknown whether or not the Rot will affect seraphs, but for the reasons stated above, the Rot isn't something to bring directly into the story until it can actually be dealt with, in order to ensure the story has good pacing and a satisfying conclusion. As for drifters, those aren't capable of killing seraphs permanently, given that drifters and related monsters can already "kill" seraphs but can't stop said seraphs from immediately returning to the present.

In short, the theme of the story so far has been persevering in the face of adversity and winning, so if the ultimate conclusion after several many hours of gameplay is just "Rocks fall, everyone dies, the end", that's not going to be satisfying for anyone, nor does it fit the tone and style of writing that's been presented thus far. The ideas you've been proposing are better suited for mods(in which case, some already exist to do what you want, such as the one I linked earlier), which allows players who actually want that kind of gameplay to have it, without changing the game entirely for everyone else.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

10 hours ago, Parco said:

build on to what pizza lady said as a player consequence. 

I meant it quite literally. Not some wild world-ending, in-game consequence. The game should literally nuke itself from your computer's hard drive if you manage to achieve such a heinous act.

[Thorfinn]

16 hours ago, Bruno Willis said:

Adding interesting extra items into the portable items category: portable stoves, smoke screens, caltrops etc. and having them automatically collect back into inventory if you go too far away

Have them despawn, at best. Otherwise, you get infinite use out of caltrops? Go back and collect them if you want them back.

15 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

It literally belongs to someone else, even if they're dead.

Dead isn't dead. It's just respawn at a distance or after a time out. Either way, still owned property.

19 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Except land claiming is a game mechanic put in place to stop unintended player behavior in those locations.

Put a bit more bluntly, it's to block griefers, which this suggestion explicitly seeks to undo.

14 hours ago, Parco said:

you know, that could be an actually fun alternative gamemode.

Dude, there's already a game mode that lets you loot whatever you want, kill anything with one hit if you desire, and let you even skip the hard work of even going there. It's called "Creative Mode". Knock yourself out.

[ifoz]

I think the idea of allowing players to place pottery/beds/torches (at least temporarily, maybe structures would reset each temporal storm or something?) is pretty good. It would manage to blend the sandbox gameplay with the linear puzzle-based progression of the story locations in a nice way imo.

However, part of the problem with claiming in my eyes also stems from another problem - decor. Not decor in and of itself, but the fact story locations use a lot of special, cool and oftentimes exclusive decorative items that the player cannot obtain themselves.
Why can my Seraph make a perfectly fine 1x1 table, but not a 1x2 table? Why is that relegated to a story location exclusive?

I've said it before, but I think this would sting a lot less if we had alternatives for some of this stuff. More craftable/buyable basic furniture (tables, chairs, book stands). Let us stack books in rows on the ground like in a certain story location, let us put books on lecterns. That way story location decor is just "oh cool, this furniture has a bit of a unique style" as opposed to "I can never obtain this or anything like this because of the claim system".
Staring at the "tavern tables" in a certain location as they mock me from beyond their claim.... 

If the devs added a crime/reputation system with NPCs I would be squeaky clean, though their tavern tables might mysteriously disappear one day. I wonder where they went? Not me, I wouldn't know. There were tables here?

Edited November 16, 2025 by ifoz

[MKMoose]

8 hours ago, ifoz said:

However, part of the problem with claiming in my eyes also stems from another problem - decor. Not decor in and of itself, but the fact story locations use a lot of special, cool and oftentimes exclusive decorative items that the player cannot obtain themselves.
Why can my Seraph make a perfectly fine 1x1 table, but not a 1x2 table? Why is that relegated to a story location exclusive?

I've said it before, but I think this would sting a lot less if we had alternatives for some of this stuff. More craftable/buyable basic furniture (tables, chairs, book stands). Let us stack books in rows on the ground like in a certain story location, let us put books on lecterns. That way story location decor is just "oh cool, this furniture has a bit of a unique style" as opposed to "I can never obtain this or anything like this because of the claim system".
Staring at the "tavern tables" in a certain location as they mock me from beyond their claim.... 

I'll add to this, as there were a few discussions on related topics where I've seen chiseling portrayed as the holy grail of building.

Chiseling is often given as the primary way to create decorations, and it is undeniable that it has immense potential. However, chiseling is limited to a strict voxel grid and has extremely limited functional purpose on top of being decorative. This greatly limits the possibilities for the examples you gave of tables, chairs and lecterns, and many other items.

I would really love to have something like a vertical display case - it could basically be identical to the existing bookshelves but with a glass panel, as this would add great depth to the freedom of decoration. I could go ham chiseling out all the furniture I can think of, but ultimately it will never serve much of a functional purpose, and that is why chiseling is not sufficient. New furniture should be functional or fill a niche that benefits from the use of oblique angles, like chairs, corner shelves as seen in ruins, or the wardrobe concept that was shown earlier this month. Similarly, new decorative items should put significant focus on small detailing which is difficult to chisel out neatly, like bottles, flowers, books, and so on.

Edited November 16, 2025 by MKMoose
Spelling.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

12 hours ago, ifoz said:

I think the idea of allowing players to place pottery/beds/torches (at least temporarily, maybe structures would reset each temporal storm or something?) is pretty good. It would manage to blend the sandbox gameplay with the linear puzzle-based progression of the story locations in a nice way imo.

However, part of the problem with claiming in my eyes also stems from another problem - decor. Not decor in and of itself, but the fact story locations use a lot of special, cool and oftentimes exclusive decorative items that the player cannot obtain themselves.
Why can my Seraph make a perfectly fine 1x1 table, but not a 1x2 table? Why is that relegated to a story location exclusive?

I've said it before, but I think this would sting a lot less if we had alternatives for some of this stuff. More craftable/buyable basic furniture (tables, chairs, book stands). Let us stack books in rows on the ground like in a certain story location, let us put books on lecterns. That way story location decor is just "oh cool, this furniture has a bit of a unique style" as opposed to "I can never obtain this or anything like this because of the claim system".
Staring at the "tavern tables" in a certain location as they mock me from beyond their claim.... 

If the devs added a crime/reputation system with NPCs I would be squeaky clean, though their tavern tables might mysteriously disappear one day. I wonder where they went? Not me, I wouldn't know. There were tables here?

 

7 hours ago, MKMoose said:

I'll add to this, as there were a few discussions on related topics where I've seen chiseling portrayed as the holy grail of building.

Chiseling is often given as the primary way to create decorations, and it is undeniable that it has immense potential. However, chiseling is limited to a strict voxel grid and has extremely limited functional purpose on top of being decorative. This greatly limits the possibilities for the examples you gave of tables, chairs and lecterns, and many other items.

I would really love to have something like a vertical display case - it could basically be identical to the existing bookshelves but with a glass panel, as this would add great depth to the freedom of decoration. I could go ham chiseling out all the furniture I can think of, but ultimately it will never serve much of a functional purpose, and that is why chiseling is not sufficient. New furniture should be functional or fill a niche that benefits from the use of oblique angles, like chairs, corner shelves as seen in ruins, or the wardrobe concept that was shown earlier this month. Similarly, new decorative items should put significant focus on small detailing which is difficult to chisel out neatly, like bottles, flowers, books, and so on.

Both actually solid suggestions. I approve.