LadyWYT

If I'm not mistaken, the traders make it pretty clear that while there are villages out there, they are very few and far between. The ruins we see aren't just failed settlements, but remnants of the Old World that have been shuffled around and torn apart by the initial cataclysm event itself and the lingering unnatural forces after. That being said, I do like the idea of having ruins clumped together more, and having a higher chance of containing high fertility soil. I'd also make ruins more rare in that case, but they would be a more interesting find.

This and this; I'd also chalk some of it up to a drawback of getting older(that is, out of the early 20s and into your early 30s). Taking longer or more frequent breaks is a good idea, and taking a couple days off from the computer entirely usually clears it up. Getting more sleep at night and cutting back on caffeine can also help. That being said, if you take steps to reduce eyestrain and its still not clearing up or seems to be getting worse, you might consider seeing a doctor, as it could be a symptom of something more serious.

Really depends on your settings...I think there's a setting to shorten the distance between story locations, though I'm not exactly sure where that setting is. On standard settings though, I would say it takes roughly a couple of hours on average to travel from the world spawn to the first major location of chapter two(which I will note is not the first location of chapter two that you will visit). Elk will be a little faster and less resource intensive than traveling on foot, but going on foot will allow you to cut through dense forested and rough terrain a little more easily. Assuming you have the world settings for it, going by boat is very safe but also going to be a bit slower than over land and a lot more boring(nothing to see except water). The first story location(Resonance Archive) takes about half an hour on average to get to traveling on foot. In order to find it, you'll want to find a treasure hunter and complete a small favor in exchange for a map to the entrance. Once you've completed the Resonance Archive, talk to the treasure hunter again for a lead on the next part of the story.

Odd, the taskbar should be hidden on your primary screen. Maybe it's the operating system being a butt somehow, instead of the game?

Welcome to the forums and Vintage Story! There's already an option for this, I believe. Both a windowed mode, and borderless(always on top). I usually use the latter, as it keeps the game fullscreen but allows me to click over to my second monitor without it minimizing. I think creature behavior is being worked on to be a little more complex than it currently is; however, there may also be lore reasons for why certain wildlife(such as wolves) are so hostile to the player. If you got the message that the waypoint was created, but do not see the waypoint on the map, it sounds like a bug. You might also double-check your map settings though to make sure you didn't hide your waypoints by accident. This is one of those things that's rather rough on new players, but once you have some experience under your belt it's not so bad. I think once creature behaviors are a bit more refined it'll probably be a little less rough for new players to deal with, but otherwise I think that initial challenge is fine. Drifters and similar monsters haven't been fully explained, but it's implied that they may have been humans at one time. I believe water power is on the roadmap, but I don't know when it will be implemented, if at all. There's a lore reason for it, as well as why you're able to respawn after death. But it's a nice quality-of-life feature as well.

Welcome to the forums! I'm not entirely sure what's causing the light there, however...if you're not opposed to using a bit of creative mode, you might see about using it to set up command blocks to trigger specific music in that area. I'm not sure which blocks you would need specifically, or what kind of commands you would use. I do know it's possible as that function was teased in a trailer(I forget which update), and as far as I'm aware it's how specific music is triggered for certain story locations.

Next time you visit, place candles on the chandeliers and wait for the lights to go out. Places a lot more focus upon the resonator in the center, with all the shelves on the outskirts dimmed significantly.

You might give this mod a try for a variation on the hardcore experience: https://mods.vintagestory.at/temporallife Limits you to one life only, unless you have a temporal gear. Then you get one extra life per gear. Yeah, I do agree that loot for the story locations could be a bit more interesting. I wouldn't call what we have now bad, exactly, but it's not terribly exciting either. The more exciting part is just enjoying the atmosphere as you complete the content. I'd also say that part of the reason the loot is a little underwhelming is that there's not yet a lot that you can do with Jonas parts; once we get more Jonas tech options, then finding those parts will be a lot more exciting. Ironically, we already somewhat have that in the game, and it runs counter to what's presented about the storms in lore. According to a certain dear old friend, the temporal storms were a lot worse post-calamity than the ones we have today, which suggests that temporal storms are calming down as time marches on. However, in actual gameplay, the temporal storms actually get worse as time passes, which makes sense from a gameplay standpoint as that gives players time to prepare themselves. Otherwise, I'm okay with the way the storms are currently implemented. They're an unnatural disaster that the player has to deal with every so often, and help drive home the point that something dreadful happened to the world. I daresay whatever turned the players into seraphs in the first place is what caused the storms, so after a fashion they are a "reaction" from the Rust World to the "threat" that the players pose. I don't think I would make it a more direct reaction though, partly because it's clearly stated that the player is not the only seraph in existence and the player seems to be operating as an "everyman" sort of hero, instead of a "chosen one". Likewise, the lack of direct focus on the player for the temporal storms and associated things makes those entities feel a lot bigger and properly esoteric. Typically when I think "Lovecraftian" or "eldritch" I tend to think of enormous ancient entities that are so drastically foreign that normal things are beneath their direct attention, if even noticed at all.

Yes, though I think it's underwhelming as a reward right now since there's not really that much you can do with those items, hence why it's also relatively easy to stockpile them. Once the update for late-game tech arrives, then I suspect getting temporal gears and Jonas parts will be a bit more exciting, as there will be a lot more that you can do with those items. Which having more uses for those items is also going to push players to brave the temporal storms and deep dark places of the world in order to acquire those rarities. Yes, to an extent. They're there for narrative purposes, as well as a way to provide an environmental hazard that fits the setting and dispense certain pieces of loot. If it was just a matter of killing players, that job could be easily done by bears, outlaws, dinosaurs...any number of things. I think some sort of Jonas tech weapon or two might offer an interesting solution to the problem. If it's a powerful late game item, that gives the player a good goal to work towards without trivializing the struggle of the early storms. Plus if said weapon has limited charges and is refueled via temporal gears, that not only gives players another use for temporal gears, but also means that they'll need to be careful about when they choose to use the weapon, as overuse could deplete their supply of gears too quickly. It's the kind of thing I could easily see being a oneshot weapon for most low-tier enemies(maybe even most common enemies in general), so that players can easily mow through hordes of enemies as long as it has charge. Difficult to acquire, limited use, but ridiculously fun if you can get your hands on one.

It depends on what latitude you chose to settle in. On a default start, you'll start in the temperate climate zone, so assuming you settled down close to spawn(and not too far north or south) winter should start around late October/early November and last until late March/early April. Depending on the version you're playing on, the mob spawns could be due to a bug. There's been issues with monster spawns in 1.20.8 and 1.20.9. Otherwise, it could be that the room is too big/not cluttered enough for how you're trying to light it. Lanterns are probably the best light source overall, as they are quite bright, have a large area, and are relatively easy to acquire. Torches are the next best option if you don't access to lanterns; if you break them and put them back every so often, it will reset the burnout timer on them. In regards to oil lamps...while they do provide light, they aren't very effective at preventing monster spawns. If you're relying on oil lamps, it's best to build small. Cluttering rooms with decoration and storage is a decent way to cut down on potential spawns as well. Same concept applies to opting for smaller rooms instead of larger ones. There's nothing wrong with large rooms or lots of wide open space, but it does leave a lot more space for things to potentially spawn(especially during temporal storms, where normal rules don't apply). I think it's mainly something you learn from experience. Wolves like to howl, so if you hear howling nearby it's a good idea to stop and examine your surroundings. Bears unfortunately don't make as much noise, but since they're bigger they're a little easier to spot. As a general rule, it's a good idea to not blindly venture into thick bushes or other places that visibility is very limited. It's also a good idea to pause every once in a while and examine your surroundings for potential threats; even if you don't find any threats, you might spot something else of interest that you might have missed otherwise. Personally, I don't venture into caves unless I'm looking for ruins and have iron armor or better. Prospecting and digging mineshafts via ladders is a much better way to acquire ore than exploring caves, and while ruins are interesting there's also nothing that's really needed from them. Ruins are mostly a way to acquire cosmetics and pieces of lore(tapestries, books, scrolls), and while they do sometimes have useful resources, it's nothing that can't be acquired elsewhere in larger amounts. For exploring the underground, it's also important to note that the deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets. It's partly why I recommend iron armor--iron is relatively easy to acquire, and tough enough to withstand most beatings. The limited visibility and space underground also makes it easy to get cornered, so you may want to bring some materials along to block off passages as you explore. I'd also keep an eye on the rift activity--higher rift activity means more monster activity underground, so it's best to keep your exploring to calm(or otherwise low activity) days. Last but not least, if it's still a bit too much even with the steps taken above, there's no shame in just switching to creative mode temporarily to explore the underground. Nothing can bother you while you're in creative, and the mode will also allow you to easily clear an area of monsters and light it up before switching back to survival for a more peaceful looting experience. Once you're done looting, you can switch back to creative, clean up any of the lighting you wish to, and carry on exploring.

What quality were the gems and what quality was the trader after? If the gems you have don't match the quality the trader wants, he won't buy them. My guess is that's what happened here.

It would be the special ones that can drop the Jonas parts--that is, the deepslit/stilt/bellhead shivers. I know the deepslit shivers spawn during temporal storms, but I'm not sure if they can spawn elsewhere. The other two I've never seen, so I would assume they either spawn deep underground, or in that special area. Perhaps I'll rope my friend into some expeditions to see if we can find any. Normally I just grab the macguffin and leave the area as fast as possible as it's a little too spooky for me to want to hang around very long. Most of the caches are relatively small and don't hold anything too particularly noteworthy; a lot of them are just basic things that you could find in ruins. The caches that hold the most Jonas parts are located on a set of large floating islands that spawns somewhere in the area. It's a jumping puzzle to access those islands, but they are there. In regards to the original question of ideas for building monster farms...aside from building drifter kill boxes around hot springs or otherwise creating pits, arenas, or holding cells to trap monsters in, I'm not sure there's a way to really farm them. There's always going to be ways to exploit the creature AI, but I'd wager that trying to exploit AI weaknesses is usually going to be a slower method of dealing with monsters/acquiring goodies than just tackling them head-on.

There could still be some storm patterns that are mostly bowtorn; I'm just speaking for what I've experienced recently in the game. Overall, the monster ratios feel a lot better than they felt when 1.20 first launched. When armies of bowtorn do spawn, it seems to happen during periods of high rift activity during temporal storms, and the spawns seem to happen in specific spots rather than randomly around the landscape. Hence why I suspect that rifts themselves might be the cause of the issue during temporal storms; they seem to spawning nothing but bowtorn when active. Some of us are a little special like that. Honestly, I don't know why people do stuff like that, but everyone has their moments of it(myself included). Generally when I read about it in a post, I tend to chalk it up to poor planning/execution on the player's part, rather than jump to blaming the game itself. Depends heavily on the context.

Speaking of Valheim's food system, this mod just popped up on the DB. https://mods.vintagestory.at/valkyrnutritions I don't know how well it works, of course, but for those looking for a system like Valheim's, they now have that option.

I'd wager that probably hinges on what they're planning for 1.21 and how close they are to finishing it, compared to lingering issues from 1.20. If there's no terribly serious lingering issues(ie, issues that absolutely can't wait to be fixed) and 1.21 is decently close to a trial version, then I would say fixes will be implemented in 1.21. Otherwise, I'd expect another patch or two for 1.20 bugfixes while the devs are working on 1.21.

I'd argue it's been implied that the world was heavily messed up in the initial cataclysm, and then rearranged further in some of the temporal storms that followed, as those have been noted to have been a lot stronger than the ones the player currently faces. For at least one important story location, the structure's exact position is specifically stated to be unknown by a particular NPC, as the world has shifted. Gotcha. Floating islands aren't realistic, though I find them neat to look at and would chalk it up to be a side effect of the temporal forces exerting themselves on the world. As for the other bits, that's what I would call marshes, sand hills, or canyons/mesas. Certainly not as big as what you'd find in real life, but that kind of terrain does exist in certain parts of the world. As for navigating those areas in the game, I usually either find an easier path around, or sink in the time and resources to build a proper road through the terrain so future travels go more smoothly.

Welcome to the forums! Personally, I think first-person mode is the stronger mode to play in for a game like this, HOWEVER...it would also be nice to have a more functional third-person mode for playing so players can pick whichever they prefer. I'd also wager that such a mode would open up more possibilities for filming short stories and such in the game, especially if the crosshair was able to be toggled. You might give this mod a shot in the meantime. Judging by the comments section, it may be having some issues at the moment, but it's something to keep an eye on/fiddle with until a proper third person option is implemented in the game. https://mods.vintagestory.at/immersivetpscamera

I would assume by "ads" they meant the Youtube trailers. Which personally, what's showcased in the trailers fits my general experiences with the game pretty well, though I would say a lot of trailer showcase vs. actual player experience hinges heavily on individual playstyle.

I'd suspect such a change to drifters would result in an increase of complaints of how they hit too hard and take too long to kill. The rock throws are more annoying than actually dangerous most of the time, which is somewhat the point--to annoy players enough to potentially provoke a fight or otherwise cause errors in judgment. In large packs, drifter rocks can be much more dangerous, however, drifters are also a lot more likely to pelt each other instead and start a brawl between themselves in that scenario(which a player can use to their advantage). Bowtorn do a lot more damage, yes, however...their ranged attacks are currently countered easily by a shield or the most basic of armors.

Have you tried turning down the upheaval rate and/or turning up the landform scale? The upheaval rate is what governs how rough the terrain is, so turning it down will smooth things out significantly, though at the expense of losing more proper mountain terrain the further down you crank it. Landform scale affects how much area things like mountains, plains, and lakes cover, so the higher you set that value the larger the particular landform will be. Of course, while it can make the flat spaces a lot bigger, it also means that when you encounter difficult terrain(like mountains) it will cover a wider area as well. I do like this idea, and I suspect we'll see it implemented someday. Personally I'm satisfied with what we have available regarding terrain generation. However, I also expect it to go through a few more changes before the game reaches a "finished" state. Given some of the recent patch notes, this seems to be something the devs are working to fix.

I'm curious how you managed that, as I'm assuming you're hunting that area outside of temporal storm activity. Do the special enemies spawn there naturally? I know the place is crawling with higher tiers of enemies, and has little loot boxes scattered around to find that can include Jonas parts, but I've never considered going there to look for the special enemy spawns.

I think bowtorns and temporal storms are a case of buggy bits of code that haven't been fully swatted yet. I've been playing on 1.20.7 and the storms have been a LOT better in terms of monster ratios, being mostly drifters and shivers and almost no bowtorn. I say "almost", because my friend and I have been absolutely dumped on by armies of bowtorn spawning sometimes, to the point he has to go into creative with the admin blade and clean them up. I've noticed that when those armies spawn though, there's always higher rift activity, with rifts nearby that churn out nothing but bowtorn. Doesn't matter if it's day or night. And since those bowtorn are spawned from a rift and not the temporal storm, they will linger after the storm instead of poofing from existence. In other words, fix the rift spawns, and I think the bowtorn stop being a problem during temporal storms. I'm pretty sure this is a deliberate design decision to keep the monsters as an esoteric environmental hazard constantly looming in the background, rather than entities you actively want to hunt. Subnautica made similar decisions with its monsters--they don't drop anything or have cool death animations, so players don't have a lot of incentive to go hunt them. You can, of course, despite the lack of weapons, but overall they remain an environmental hazard that's best avoided in most cases than confronted head-on. Vintage Story is a bit different, in that you actually have the means to counter enemies. In most cases, it's still to your advantage to avoid combat if you can, since injury increases your death risk(which can have potentially severe penalties) and wears out gear faster. Sometimes you need to deal with the enemies though, whether to complete story objectives or otherwise secure an area, and in those cases the stuff the enemies drop is just a nice little bonus every now and then(and not enough to unbalance progression). Probably symptoms of hitboxes that need some tuning. The faster creatures tend to be harder to hit, especially if they move erratically, however, I'm not sure that the hitboxes always match the size of the creature they belong to. I'm guessing the hitbox sizes are probably why some attacks miss when it feels like they should have hit. It's something that I would expect to improve with time. I've not looked at hitboxes in other games, but my guess is that in some other games the hitboxes might be a bit bigger than the creatures they belong to, making it much easier to land attacks. This is something that may or may not change with a future update. Personally, I don't expect to be entering rifts, outside of specific story pieces. There's not a lot of lore on the Rust World yet, but what's been presented so far has made it out to be a place that you REALLY don't want to be. I also suspect that the majority of the game is meant to focus on the natural world, and from a narrative standpoint it's a lot easier to keep the Rust World esoteric if it's not something you can just visit on a whim or otherwise familiarize yourself with. To my knowledge, creature behavior is something the devs have been trying to work on. I do agree with @Thorfinn, in that I don't think wolves are really a big problem for the most part, outside of some goofy spawn mechanics. There's potentially lore reasons for wildlife being so hostile(though I think it's a point that hasn't been fully explained), but outside of that wolves are mostly a major hazard for brand new players and veterans who get overconfident. I'm guessing that we may see some major changes to wolf behavior once wolf taming is implemented. After all, if you're going to domesticate the beasts, they do need to be at least somewhat approachable(likely once certain conditions are met).

Welcome to the forums! The answer is yes and no...there are currently two story chapters implemented of the eight chapters planned. So far, each story chapter has had a "boss fight" as one of its highlights, though whether that remains a pattern for future chapters remains to be seen. As far as needing a Blackguard to tank...you don't need a Blackguard specifically to tank. They're the class best suited for it, but I would say it's more important to have a player that's good at that role filling said role, and then just give them the appropriate equipment. Ideally, they will be playing a Blackguard, Commoner, or Tailor since none of those classes have a penalty to melee damage, but the other roles could work in a pinch too if necessary. In regards to feeding a Blackguard...they aren't really hard to keep fed, especially if you have a dedicated Hunter or livestock. Now if you have several Blackguards, cranked up the hunger/spoilage rates, or otherwise have problems managing your food supplies, then you might have some problems. But if everyone is playing at least somewhat competently food really shouldn't be an issue.

It's an interesting idea, but... I'd argue that the primary fault of Valheim's comfort system is that it tries to translate aesthetical pleasure to mathematics. Now there is some math that's important for what makes things aesthetically pleasing(golden ratios, color theory, and the like), but you can't just translate art to a single numerical formula and expect it to work, because individual taste is a thing. If you try to tie the aesthetic elements to pure math formula and associated buffs and debuffs, then what happens is players will figure out the most efficient formula and just go with that every time. Which isn't exactly wrong, but it leads to gameplay going stale a lot more easily. Which is why I think that players are missing out on a certain element of sandbox games like Vintage Story if they never bother to engage with any roleplaying elements. Sure, not everyone is a roleplayer, and that's fine, but part of the fun of games like this is the ability to impose your own rules and thus experience something new rather than the exact same thing each time. It's partly why challenges like Snowball Earth and Scorched Earth exist, and why we have different classes rather than just a blank slate of a character. I think it also depends on which demographics one wants to appeal to. The wider general audience you try to appeal to, the more simplified/diluted the gameplay ends up being in order to have the needed broad appeal to keep the players happy. However, if you're trying to appeal to more specific demographics, then you'll need to tailor the gameplay to suit the kind of audience you're trying to attract, which usually results in a more niche product. A product that is too niche won't be able to garner enough support to stay afloat, whereas a product with mass appeal might have a huge playerbase but a comparatively shallow experience since it's trying to please everyone. Ideally, a game strikes a balance between those extremes so that it offers a rich, in-depth experience without being so niche that it can't garner the support it needs to stay afloat. Incidentally, that's one of the advantages of a sandbox game that has a robust modding community; the devs can create a solid baseline product, and players can season to their specific tastes with mods.

The main advantage to raising swine/other livestock over hunting, is that it's a lot less risky. When out hunting, it's possible to fall in a hole, get ambushed by a predator(or prey!), or potentially even get caught in a temporal storm/die from exposure if one isn't paying attention. With livestock, you don't have to leave the comfort of your base, and it becomes even easier to harvest them once they hit generation 3. The main nitpick I would have here is that for players who aren't in to roleplaying and just want to constantly push for progress, there's no real reason to sit in the base for extended periods, as that's basically time wasted. Which I'm not entirely sure how you fix that, as forcing players to sit in their bases for some reason will probably end up being more frustrating than rewarding. I think what we have now is fine, as it allows players to choose how they want to approach their own gameplay and doesn't force a specific route for acquiring food. I'd also suggest that a "Well-Rested" bonus could be used to deal with certain status effects, if one doesn't have the means to create a cure for it otherwise. It'd be the slower method of dealing with a temporary penalty though, so that players don't end up just ignoring a medicine system entirely. Incidentally, I think one of the main hurdles of game design to overcome is the tendency of players to opt for the path of least resistance...that is, the gameplay that appears "most efficient". While it's natural to default to the most efficient gameplay methods, efficiency doesn't always translate to fun. I'd cite bunny traps as an example--if you dig a deep trench around crops in Vintage Story, bunnies will happily hop into said trench to try to get those crops. It results in an easy source of protein, but it's not as engaging as hunting food yourself or putting in the effort to manage farms and livestock. Likewise, living in a basic dirt cube the whole game is efficient, but not aesthetically pleasing. That's not to say those ways of playing the game are wrong, but players might be setting themselves up for a shallower experience if efficiency is the only focus.