Been playing and reading this forum and the reddit for the past few weeks. I guess I was hooked. I have some thoughts about the game and though they may only apply to me and my preference, I thought I would share them here. Note that I am only going to talk about things which I feel could be better, so everything else, that I do not talk about, is actually great for me!
The major thing that got to me is the game flow. I will try to explain with some examples.
1)For instance - bionics could be gotten consistently throughout the game from the very start and to install them you will require some competence in 3 skills. This I feel puts some kind of incentive for players to start grinding very early on as oppose to travelling. Most games, I do not have to walk very far, or away from the first major city, before I find myself settling down to get my skills up by reading/crafting. I read a suggestion here on the forums that hospitals may in the future be used for installing bionics, if that is true I think I will welcome such a change, then players will have the incentive to explore and find hospitals. It would the opposite motivator in what I feel to be a more fun direction.
- Learning recipes. I prefer the old way recipes are learned(thru reading) as opposed to the change that makes it what it is now. I feel maybe one thing is overlooked with this change - inventory management. Years ago, during my first contact with Cataclysm, I really enjoyed playing this survivor who travels on foot with a giant backpack and a tent/shelter. I also remembered a game where I travelled the subways on foot to other cities. With the change to how recipes are learned, I feel hardpressed to not build my mobile base in every game, so I can carry the dozen or two yellowed books(learned but with recipes I know I will need) with me. Or I can try to learn all the recipes so I can throw the books away but that soul crushingly grindy. Perhaps it is taken for granted that the player will want a vehicle? Though I like vehicle building, I do not want to feel like I had to drive in every run. (Still want to play my rollerblading guy)
Since it appears I am terribly verbose, I shall stop here. I understand the game allows alot of configuration to cater to different player needs, and that players themselves have adopted āroleplayā to get more fun out of the game, but I will still post this anyway in case there is some relevance.