Development Update #3

Thats liiiit 🔥 

So all of this is great and all - I'm excited for the new breeding mechanic and the introduction of the T-III bases and all, but I have one complaint:

I've spent the last couple of days, when I have access to my computer, running through explore trying to find foxes to battle. The few that I have found to battle have dropped nothing. Given the requirements to make these bases, it feels like the game is artificially gatekeeping something that you are saying is not supposed to be "special" and rewarding people who are willing/able to spend either all day on the computer (unfortunately I can't because I work) and are willing/able to drop hundreds of dollars into premium currency (again, unfortunately I can't. I have purchased premium currency because I could, but at this time I can't).

This isn't to say that those kinds of people shouldn't be rewarded in some capacity, but it's discouraging for people who are more casual players to come in and struggle just to get by on a day to day basis without making any progress because they can't be on more often and can't pay to play.

There are other complaints as well - the fighting system within Explore feels too heavy-handed with RNG to the point where my lead wolf's level/stats feel arbitrary, not to mention the drop rates being ridiculously low (again, tying back into the expense of the recipes). SC currency also feels broken - everything being sold is hundreds of SC, but the only way I can reliably make SC is by completing ONE quest a day, which gives me just enough to buy food during the game's winter period because hunting becomes depressingly difficult. And if I want to breed one of my females to another male's wolf to get more markings/different bases? Well, guess I'll let all my other wolves starve, or I just won't do that. And if anyone suggests selling puppies - I think we're all aware of just how oversaturated the market is with unwanted puppies that eventually just wind up being chased.

I understand that the game is still early on in it's development, so changes may be in the pipeline that we're unaware of, but it's hard to get excited about this when it feels like it's just going to be forever out of my reach.

I think what they mean by the base is 'not special' has nothing to do with it being special as in, like, 'of worth.' Special, in this sense, is a base type, like Monochrome or Warm. There is even a base in the Grouse House guides titled 'Almandine,' which is labeled as Special Dark (presumably a TIII). From what I'm aware, it's currently unobtainable and I am going to guess that it will have specific requirements to breed, which is what makes it a Special base.

I'm not saying I disagree with anything about the RNG - it is definitely rough and I have begun to despise the battle system - but the staff isn't saying that the base isn't supposed to be special, just that it's not a Special type base. There seemed to be confusion/misunderstanding about this earlier too.

I will say I am the person that is pretty able to just sit at my computer all day and even I haven't had a single drop relating to anything fox so far, a few meat chunks but that's about it. It feels like in this case you have to have the money to buy GC and then enough so to buy the many components, or spend a boat load on expensive as crap studs

i have been fighting foxes at any chance i get in hopes of them them dropping one of the recipes. 

so far no luck. 

Someone willing to pay other users who are willing to sell their items does NOT equal a paywall. A paywall is when you have to pay real money for it and cannot obtain it for free. Just because someone else can afford to get it fast and you have a long grind ahead of you doesn't mean it's locked behind a paywall - you can still get it, it's just slow and you won't enjoy the benefits of having it first, since, y'know, you won't be first.

It is not the fault of the staff that some people are willing to drop $300 on the game in order to have something first. They can not stop them - if the items are tradable, they will be sold by those who want to instant profit off the release and they will be bought by people who want to make a profit off the base first. If the items can be ground out, there will be people willing to spend hundreds of SC and GC on Healing Salves and Guarana to grind it out fast. It's not fair to tell these people that because not everyone can afford to do it, either they have to stop buying or have to accept it being made easier - and therefore less valuable - for everyone else.

I will agree there are some... issues with this release, but they actually don't even have to do with the release itself. Rather, the RNG that determines the level of a battle encounter and the RNG that determines the outcome of the encounter are the problems. If battles weren't such a waste of health and encounters within your loot window actually had a decent chance of popping up, there would be zero issue here.

15 fox battles and 0 of any sort of items dropping - I wonder, maybe lucky feet prevent receiving trophies somehow? ADMINS, could I get a clarification if lucky feet are supposed to prevent getting a trophy from battling?

I just now finally got my first fox trophy, and I was using a lucky foot so that's not a deterrent. 

Thank you so much for listening to players, our males will hopefully no longer be genetic dead-ends!