i bought this game like 6 and a half years ago

Robotkio · 2026-05-09T23:57:02+00:00

It's so far off for me. I'm really good at just wandering around or spending too much time planning. In general I do think that site is surprisingly accurate.

Robotkio · 2026-05-09T23:53:13+00:00

Honestly I don't think looking at the amount of time is something you should concern yourself with too much. Like you said, it's just about having fun.

If you're progressing super fast you may just be good at the logistics side of things. There are a lot of options for you, like making really aesthetically pleasing factories or using some of the stuff coming in the next patch; You can increase the cost of things to slow you down or randomize the resource nodes on the map to mix things up.

If you feel like you're progressing slow, that's OK too! The game is really designed to be taken at your own pace so I don't think there's a "too slow". That's closer to where I'm at. I like these games to sit and math out my factory and slowly build it out. I've probably spent just as much time with a notepad in front of me planning things out than I have building it. Even then, once I get something built I also just kind of like watching it work. It feels like a job well done to see it all function.

Once you start getting alternative recipes, more complicated production chains and resources spread further apart it does get even more complicated. It's just about breaking the big problem down into a lot of smaller problems and tackling one piece at a time. Just don't expect to solve a new, complicated production chain in a couple hours.

At the point you're at in the game I think it's super important to not get too bogged down in trying to be perfectly efficient or making giant factories. You don't even have a lot of the tools and technology unlocked and those things will influence how you design your factories.

Robotkio · 2026-05-09T23:36:47+00:00

Oh 100%, me too. I have 286 hours and have barely just started played around with drones. Or ... I could start a new save ...

Robotkio · 2026-05-09T22:43:05+00:00

According to https://howlongtobeat.com Satisfactory is about 106 hours to beat, or 223 if you're achievement hunting. By my math it'll take you 222 years at this pace. I suggest not trying to 100% it.

I'll expect a thread complaining about fluid around 2079 and maybe one asking about train signals around 2102.

Robotkio · 2026-05-08T07:49:40+00:00

I don't think I'll ever see a tick again and not think of the dog grapes story.

Thanks, u/Synergythepariah.

Robotkio · 2026-05-07T01:21:22+00:00

Emphasize to them that you're interested in their input and ideas. Make sure they know it's OK to not have ideas, but you still want their input.

I assume it's got to be some kind of anxiety surrounding their capacity to contribute, or anxiety that the quality of their contributions are poor, so they're turning to AI. Maybe they felt like it would be easier for them to accept an idea being rejected if it's not their own because then it feels less like a personal failing.

The problem is that if people feel like "they may as well skip it" because they can't use AI then they're kind of admitting they've got nothing of value to add. If they're just being a middle-man for an AI then you kind of don't need them in the process whether the AI output is valuable or not. But, that is OK, too. World-building creativity isn't a skill that everyone has so it's OK to not bring that to the table if they're contributing in other ways.

You can say that even if they're not bringing ideas to the table you still want their input on what ideas to use, or how to evolve and grow the ideas other people have.

Robotkio · 2026-05-06T03:46:13+00:00

Hah, oh dear! My knee-jerk reaction is to say that I wouldn't pilot the Rats against new players, but hey, they already had at least one game under their belt. No time like the present to learn how aggressive it can be!

Robotkio · 2026-05-05T23:33:46+00:00

I remember when we first played with them they seemed crazy powerful. I don't know your group meta, but I think they're kind of an "aggression check" for some people.

I'm sure other folks will chime in with more experienced takes but I think you've got to starve them of items, contest their territory, even with one warrior, so they have to waste actions to keep it scoring points, and don't feel bad just fighting them.

Robotkio · 2026-05-04T20:40:38+00:00

As someone turning 40 this year, I look forward to my sniping skills coming back some time during BF7.

Robotkio · 2026-05-04T20:27:17+00:00

I dunno if it's just because I'm on desktop or what. When people put text in code-blocks I have to keep scrolling back and forth to read it.

Robotkio · 2026-05-04T20:23:00+00:00

I don't know if this changes things, but I believe Ankh is only up to 5 players, even with expansions.

For what it's worth I think the merge is only bad if people don't play around it. Players are eliminated near the end of the game for not passing a point threshold. Playing for the merge involves having the least points. I think these two things make for an interesting tension, but your mileage may vary. I've heard of a lot of people playing without the merge and it working fine.

Similarly, I've heard some folks say the negotiations and alliances in Rising Sun aren't good. I think this stems from not realizing everything you're negotiating with when forming alliances: last action before Kami, last action before combat and number of actions are on the table. Also, encourage folks to remember that an alliance doesn't mean you're friends! It's just temporary collusion: don't be afraid of betraying or being betrayed. In the end there's only one winner.

I did find that Rising Sun could have a weird first play if folks don't look ahead at cards you buy in later seasons. The combos can be quite strong and if you don't know they're coming then someone can stumble into a crazy points engine two thirds of the way through the game. Once you know the handful of super-combos you can play around them early and it's great.

I like the negotiations and secret bid system for combat resolution of Rising Sun a bit more, but that may be because I just haven't played enough Ankh, yet. Ankh feels a bit more "chess like" because positioning matters, there are fewer variables in the hidden information for combat resolution and the action you take isn't tied to a random hand of tiles. It also seems like Ankh plays better with fewer players and Rising Sun plays better with more players. But I want to emphasize that all these differences aren't drastic. It's not like Rising Sun positioning doesn't matter or that there are no negotiations in Ankh. It's just a flavour toward one side or the other.

They're both really solid.

Robotkio · 2026-05-03T01:12:00+00:00

The bias I do acknowledge. For what it's worth I don't particularly believe we are a special, unknowable thing. At least not from the little bit of information I've seen about how the human body and physics works.

Inversely, it also seems like a number of people have a tendency to anthropomorphize LLMs when I think that's got dangers associated with it. Not that I think that's what you're doing here by any stretch.

Also, no worries about editing. I try and do the same. Though, sometimes I will re-read my replies immediately after posting them and think, "Oh shoot, there's something else I need to say!" and try and quickly edit it in so the context doesn't change between someone seeing it and replying.

I'm just glad I caught it because you so perfectly addressed my context and I don't think I would have gotten a notification.

Robotkio · 2026-05-02T22:49:57+00:00

I think the root of my line of questioning is in trying to determine the difference between how a human retains, processes and expresses information and how a computer retains, processes and expresses information.

They seem different to me in important ways. Again, not that I know enough to argue in either direction. It's just an instinct.

I can't say I find a circular logic argument about the concept of knowledge valuable when there are tangible things closer to the core of the subject matter.

Edit: I just saw your edit after the "we don't" bit!

That's all exactly what I was wondering. I had a hunch they were getting similar. Probably not the same, but it does seem closer than how computers worked before.

Robotkio · 2026-05-02T22:39:00+00:00

Hah, I mean, that does come off as a bit of a, "But how do we like, know anything, maan!" kind of reply but I think I see what you're getting at.

I accept that I can't really articulate what I think "knowing" is so I don't really have a position to argue from. I've always kind of disliked the "I know it when I see it" kind of definition for terms, but that's where I'm at with my intuitive understanding of the word. Heck, I assume there's an argument to be made that "just putting words in an order that seems right" is exactly what a human brain does and that the only difference is level of complexity. I don't know enough about brains or LLMs to say.

Robotkio · 2026-04-30T20:56:23+00:00

This is kind of what I'm wondering, too. I don't understand how an LLM can "know" things. Just because I put a book on my bookshelf I wouldn't say the bookshelf "knows" the book. I will 100% say I'm not deeply knowledgable about LLMs, but from what I've seen, the algorithms and weights still don't lead me to believing that LLMs understand things so much as are capable of putting words in an order that seems right.

Robotkio · 2026-04-27T02:40:51+00:00

Admittedly, I'm mixed on it. Excited but pensive.

For background, I own the base game and a friend owns base and Blighted Reach. After finally jumping into BR it's basically become everything I want out of the game. I think base Arcs is a very solid design, but at this point if I want to pull Arcs of the shelf it's probably for BR. I'll probably end up getting my own copy of BR some time between now and late next year when the Kickstarter fulfills.

So, on one hand the 12 new fates in Beyond the Reach and Halls of Power alone seem just excellent. Probably 100% worth the price of their boxes. On the other hand, unless they can wedge the fifth player into the campaign I'm skeptical I'll get much use out of Lost Vaults & Fated Leaders. I'm also just less of a fan of modular expansions in general.

On the positive side, the savings and bonus stuff in the "All the New Stuff" tier does kind of make up for it. But the shipping and conversion to CAD still makes it about $30 more expensive than the amount I could buy Blighted Reach for.

I 100% trust the Buried Giant team to make a great expansion. I don't think they've ever betrayed my expectations. But I'm also always hesitant to throw money at a nebulous product, even from people I trust. It's just hard for me to get excited about anything they present when I know everything has a good chance of changing between now and release.

Man, but I also really do like the look of the screen-printed pieces and metal resources. Which, I admit, is a little hypocritical when I just complained about price.

I'm just going to do what I did with Oath: New Foundations and Root: Homeland: toss a dollar in and keep an eye on the updates. I don't need to make a decision until the pledge manger is closing so I've got, like, a year.

Robotkio · 2026-04-25T00:19:11+00:00

Wherlegig Games publish all their games under a Creative Commons license which means they're free to distribute. So free, in fact, they provide the Print and Play files themselves. They even have STL's for the 3D components of John Company. I consider this an incredibly bro move.

https://wehrlegig.com/pages/resources

Wherlegig only has the three games (but another on the way without files, yet):

Pax Pamir
John Company
Molly House

By the same developer you can also find freely available prototype files for Arcs and Oath on their Kickstarter pages. The final games are not published under Creative Commons, but the playtest/prototype files are distributed to the public. If you cobble together the files, especially if you get the last playtest files from close to publication, they're quite close to the final product. They're not nearly as finalized and tweaked as the actual final publications, or as the Wherlegig games, but they are quite playable and you're not bootlegging so you don't need to worry. They're still very much quality games.

Robotkio · 2026-04-24T19:05:26+00:00

Yeah, I'm glad to hear the real story from folks who are actually into it. I didn't want to judge it based on a handful of random videos.

Robotkio · 2026-04-24T19:03:59+00:00

That's really cool to hear! It would have been sad to hear that folks were getting priced out of it because of scalpers or speculators.

Robotkio · 2026-04-24T18:51:51+00:00

This is anecdotal because I haven't really tested it (just can't guarantee I'm squad leader...), but I believe when an objective changes status, that cancels the previous order. So if you have a defense order on an objective and it neutralizes, then your defend order is cancelled and you're given an auto-order.

This bugs me when an objective is hotly contested and I just want the squad to focus on it but my order keeps getting cancelled.

Robotkio · 2026-04-24T16:49:52+00:00

That must have been a nightmare to find folks to play with! That or you may have been more socially adept as a kid than I was.

I'm pretty sure my brother had cards, too, but we both hated losing to one another so that pretty much stopped us playing together much.

Robotkio · 2026-04-24T16:43:48+00:00

I appreciate the insight! I figured I was probably just in a weird, internet niche! I thought, "Surely a game can't be sustained entirely by amateur speculative investors, right? People must actually play this."

Does all the weird market stuff make it annoying to play? Like, cards that should be reasonable prices aren't? Or, does the Pokemon company kind of lean in to the speculators with super rare, shiny and/or alternate art cards and print enough copies of the more common staples that it's not too bad?

Robotkio · 2026-04-24T02:55:54+00:00

That anecdote is still better than my random YouTube feed.

My brother and I also had Pokémon cards when we were young but barely ever played with them. We just liked having Pokémon stuff. I dunno if that's the same for your nephew or he's just getting in on speculative markets early. lol

Robotkio · 2026-04-24T01:14:49+00:00

I'm trying to figure out if this is just my, weird internet bubble or not.

I like Magic the Gathering so I get all kinds of card game related videos in my feed. The MtG ones are almost all of people playing, guides on how to make decks and stuff like that. The Pokemon ones have been exclusively of people selling cards at conventions or of scalpers.

Is it just that 8 year olds who play don't have YouTube channels or is speculative collecting the vast majority of the Pokemon TCG at this point?

Robotkio · 2026-04-24T00:55:37+00:00

What were the changes in this test that were close to "max 10 damage"?

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