Rip Van Winkell

[Schme]

A while ago, I stopped playing this game for a good stretch.

Eventually, I got a long stretch of free time which I have to take, enforced by the province, and so, having my activities severly limited, I decided to play this game again.

I was caught quite of guard by all the changes. There is now a spawn date thing, new symbols for the login screen, new tools, new signs, no names on anything, non-sensical options, crack, a wider talking box, and so on.

I don't know what's going on anymore.

But unlike good Rip Van Winkle, I did not awake to find my vile wife dead or anything so pleasant as that, but rather to a dystopian land of useless and annoying extra features.


I don't care what I sound like when I say this, but I think this game was better before. It's not because I don't know what these new things mean half the time. I've actually grasped them all pretty well by now, from skimming through discussions and so on, as well as playing the game.

It's that all this stuff is just new gizmos and such that clog up the operation. People always say "The game would be better with sex/clocks/instruments/rice" or whatever the hell else. But all that is is stuff to help you not have to use your head.

Instruments, for example. You can't hear them, they serve no purpose to your Cantr person other than for role play. It's stupid.

I had characters who would play music, role playing the use of tools or whatever else in that respect. So did others that I saw. Nobody needed a flute. It's a pointless thing to limit your head use.

And the recorded spawn dates. Tell you something, since the dawn of time people didn't know the exact date of their birth, and it didn't make a damn bit of difference. No one knows when Crazy Horse was born, but did it matter? He was still a wicked kickass king, and people could figure out about how old he was.

It's stupid to have you're birth date chiseled into your head. I know guys today who don't even know the day or even year of their birth. And not from stupidity. It's just not something they ever bothered with back home. People know around where they are, and they make up birth dates for forms and suchlike, but it honest to God isn't that important.

Why can't we stop with the add ons and let the players make the change? Societies revolve around people. I'm not asking for the good old days, I've been saying this since I first started playing.

[Duckers]

Damn straight. I mean, I think it's helpful to be able to talk to someone, and be able to safely include the word "flute" in the conversation without fear of CRB, but I respect your view, all the same. Like, with the spawndates. Some characters actually celebrate their spawndays, just like we would celebrate our birthdays. And, in this sense, the "chiselling" helps the role-play. One thing that I want to say is this, though. I don't think there should be so many useless items. I mean, clothes, you could just about get away with. But... lockable drawers? Mailboxes? I mean, come on! Sure, they might, marginally, enhance role-play, but I doubt that anyone is actually going to waste some good resources on manufacturing one. The broom can be used to hit people with, I think. But, a Mailbox? What, you want me to tear one out of the ground, and give someone a good beating with the sharp end? I don't think so, matey.

[Kreed]

Er... I know several places with mailboxes that are in use.
Having said that, I generally agree with the above, the extra objects are....ok, all the extra interface bits are fluff more than anything. While these things are being programmed are the major changes lying idle?
I want weather, individually named unique items, more diseases, animal husbandry, ect.

[Duckers]

I agree, Kreed. I would like to see the 'babies' thing implemented soon, too. It seems to be eagerly anticipated by many forum members. Also, the 'stacking' of animal types whilst travelling. Anyone else?
Edit: Perhaps you could enlighten me, Kreed, as to the use of a Mailbox, in Cantr? Maybe you could enlighten the CantrWiki, too...

[Kreed]

I havent actually used one myself yet, and after looking none of my charries are near one right now. I do know thay are lockable and you can drag notes into them.
There is quite a well established postal service in one area I frequent I'm sure one of the employees would know better than me.

[tiddy ogg]

Interesting. As I suggested in another thread about something completely different... Feature creep makes the learning curve steeper and probably puts off new players... it's even putting off not-quite-new playyers.
I'll go along with the view that the more is provided, the less the imagination and thus the roleplay... but you gotta have a tortoise shell hard hat for street cred.

[west]

If I had to start playing from scratch today, I wouldn't. And that's solely because of creeping featurism. There's still interesting things going on in cantr, but it takes that much more effort to get past the crap and get to them.

[AngelSpice]

Unfortunately, the characters that have ambition and want to make the larger things like cars and weapons, have to spend too much time repairing and not enough time working towards their goals now. Unforunately, I think a lot of people have left cantr due to this. In all but two of the English towns my charries are in, even the gathering limits don't limit resource gathering most of the time. Cantr's in a slow decline. The life and death of a game, I suppose.

[Duckers]

Ooh, harsh... OK, new term for me, here. What's "creeping featurism"?

[west]

click the link in my sig.

[Phalynx]

Unfortunately, the characters that have ambition and want to make the larger things like cars and weapons, have to spend too much time repairing and not enough time working towards their goals now. Unforunately, I think a lot of people have left cantr due to this. In all but two of the English towns my charries are in, even the gathering limits don't limit resource gathering most of the time. Cantr's in a slow decline. The life and death of a game, I suppose.

Spose all good things have to come to an end eventually...

[the_antisocial_hermit]

I wouldn't say the spawndate is chiseled into my characters' heads.. It's more of a useful tool to satisfy my curiosity (although I always wrote it down before anyway; this just makes it easier); I don't really use it in the game.

[Schme]

See, that's what I mean, like you said, Socialist Hermit. Sure, it's great to know, just for novelty, but if you want to remember it, then write it down. And if you fail to do so, you're character is just like a person in the real world, who doesn't remeber there birthday because there's no reason to. Sure, if you celebrate it, fantastic, but it's stupid to it tatooed to your arm (or whatever it is.)


And about all the stuff, that's what I mean. The repairing just holds everyone back. I agree things should deteriorate, good idea, but it should take a few decades. Remember, a "year" is only twenty days.


I remember the first time I played Cantr, I was totally confused as to what the hell was going on. "To hell with this.", I said, and stopped playing (as there was nothing to play.). I came back eventually, out of interest, but for me, it's really blind luck that I stayed long enough to figure it out, rather than perserverance. When someone starts playing a video game, they want to be able to start playing right away. This isn't that kind of game, but even the people who play this want to start playing within the first week.

[the_antisocial_hermit]

See, that's what I mean, like you said, Socialist Hermit. Sure, it's great to know, just for novelty, but if you want to remember it, then write it down. And if you fail to do so, you're character is just like a person in the real world, who doesn't remeber there birthday because there's no reason to. Sure, if you celebrate it, fantastic, but it's stupid to it tatooed to your arm (or whatever it is.)

My point was that my characters don't use it.. None of my characters remember their exact spawndates; it's just something I like to look at sometimes without having to bring up an extra file on my computer. I don't consider it as something tatooed to the character in any way because I don't use it for my characters. It's like looking at their name or their age.. I don't think those things are tatooed on them...

I agree on the deterioration..

[Phalynx]

Sometimes I think all the developments are specifically to keep this place exclusive and for the elite...

The rest of the time I remember that someone has to pay for this little lot so they do need the new players... I know Jos knows that, just sometimes wonder if Resources Dept and Prog D have a clue...

No offense to anyone, sure you work hard, the question is just wether your work benefits anyone, or should I say the tight people..