ThatMaxGuy

I do like the idea. Specialized tools can be hard to make actually worth it, but considering it's a tool you'd only use around your house (as people tend to do with snow shovels) there's no worry about it taking up an inventory slot.

It has my attention, let's see if it can get my interest too. They seem to have a devlog, so I'll give that a watch when I have time.

I feel like you're getting too hung up on the dichotomy between artificial and natural, but that's not what "artificial difficulty" is about. The term is somewhat nebulous, and can be applied nebulously too, but generally artificial difficulty means difficulty that does not care for your skill. If you quadruple an enemy's health or damage or whatever to compensate for bad AI, that is artificial difficulty. Racers rubber-banding (becoming more or less fast) to catch up to you if you're ahead, that is also artificial difficulty. You could argue that making you unable to craft certain items if you don't pick the right class is also artificial difficulty, but personally I don't see it like that. Classes are a way to have access to different tools, and millions of other games do it: picking a melee class in an rpg that can't cast spells isn't artificial difficulty, it's how I've decided to approach fights. As far as I'm aware, natural difficulty is not a widely recognized concept.

This post has led me to a rabbit hole on unusual quenching liquids, aided by my certified-blacksmith partner. The answer seems to be "stick to water and oil, snow would do a bad job at it." Although some kind of interaction between hot metal and snow/ice would make sense.

Exactly

By all means, if the tools are there to make it easier people can absolutely use them. The issue comes with demanding those tools, or claiming something is bad because it's hard. Not saying that either of those things are happening, and I'm not targeting anyone specific. What I'm trying to say is that: - personally I like where the game is going - customization is good, but not mandatory - give your opinion, but be respectful and let the developers follow their vision - if you end up not liking where the game is, it's fine. Bad purchases happen, and the team seems pretty lax about refunds anyway

I mean, this goes to the conversation that circles around during any soulsborne game release, on whether games should be made wholly accessible no matter the level of skill/time/dedication/whatever. Like CastIronFabric said, VS has a lot of customization, and that's good, but personally I don't think "It's too difficult" is a good reason to require change. You can give your opinion to the developers, of course, but if doesn't fit their vision, adapt or find a game better suited for you.

Kinda. You don't want to take your time? Stay in a cold place, but you better stock up on food. Don't want to spend time stocking up? Stay in a hot place, but don't overexert. They both affect how fast you progress through the game, just in different ways. I don't feel like a lower walking speed is that bad. I'm not talking about something massive, and it wouldn't be always in hot weather, only when the hyperthermia kicks in. Thirst is just hunger 2, I've never enjoyed it in any game. But it is a matter of opinion, and you're entitled to yours. Having no drawback to hot weather is an issue in my opinion, especially for a game that advertises itself as uncompromising. Ultimately the team will choose the best course of action, but something needs to be done.

I really don't think they should add hydration/thirst, like Ben said, it'd be micro managing hell. Personally I believe hot weather should be harder than cold weather, but less resource-expensive. In cold weather you need heat, and that requires fuel, heavy clothing and food as your hunger increases, while in hot weather you have to fight off heat. Don't stay under the sun, don't do hard labor: I know from experience heat can sap all your stamina out of you, so a change to walking speed instead of hunger rate could make sense. In cold winters things don't grow, but you can work on things like smithing no problem, in hot summers the debuff to plants and animals could be reduced (if not eliminated), while physical work raises your heat, meaning you can do less of it. Trading the need to stock up on resources with a slower development.