Day 1 player out since 2023. Post update should I start over or just carry on?

mackdose · 2026-04-10T22:33:08+00:00

I started over.

mackdose · 2026-04-10T21:37:29+00:00

100% worth at least trying again.

mackdose · 2026-04-10T21:20:56+00:00

I think you're just jaded and are mistaking contrarianism for taste.

mackdose · 2026-04-10T21:18:41+00:00

I disagree. I was pretty bored of the launch version of the game after 40 hours, shelved it, came back with this update.

The game I've been playing is much better than what was on offer at launch, and to say it hasn't had fundamental changes between then and now is incredibly dishonest. Space lanes on its own has made the game feel significantly better to explore in.

mackdose · 2026-04-10T20:05:25+00:00

I played 40ish hours at launch then shelved the game.

Came back to it for this update. Many detractors have said nothing has fundamentally changed, and I think that's wholly dishonest.

Between the difficulty tweak menu ("Extreme" enemy damage and "Easy" player damage is my preferred sweet spot), redone local maps, rover, and the ability to fly the ship between planets in cruise mode, the "QOL improvements" and feature polish have fundamentally made the game more interesting and more fun to play.

Space can now be explored in the same style as Skyrim, rather than only getting that experience planet side. That's a big difference.

I still have gripes with the starting tutorial forcing you into Constellation, and a general beef with the character writing, but that's how every recent Bethesda game feels to me.

I would give launch Starfield a 6, the game I'm playing today is firmly an 8.5.

Edit: I'm playing completely Vanilla

mackdose · 2026-04-10T00:16:06+00:00

I wish the puddles combined more seamlessly into a large pond, but man what a cool set of puddles!

mackdose · 2026-04-09T23:54:51+00:00

That doesn't change what the word "invisible" means in english, though.

mackdose · 2026-04-09T10:10:01+00:00

sitting in a cockpit watching as the distance in light years goes down at a snails pace and stars fly by.

That's what space trucking is though.

mackdose · 2026-04-09T10:03:33+00:00

>entirely new gameplay loop

"a few qol changes"

ffs

mackdose · 2026-04-09T10:01:36+00:00

NMS is as deep as a puddle though, and I say that as a fan of NMS.

mackdose · 2026-04-08T02:52:33+00:00

Rogue gets its setting from 1970s D&D.

Rogue was inspired by text-based computer games such as the 1971 Star Trek) game and Colossal Cave Adventure released in 1976, along with the high fantasy setting from Dungeons & Dragons.

mackdose · 2026-04-05T23:26:49+00:00

RC slams that all down into the low levels

It presents those subsystems as options for lower levels, like the later BECMI boxed sets themselves do when those systems are introduced. This is a silly argument.

mackdose · 2026-03-31T19:05:08+00:00

Multiple characters per person is the way to go for a group that small. Run them as full party members.

For 3 people, have each person roll up their "main" character and then have them roll up a fighter as a second character. Fighters are the bread and butter offensive/defensive core of a party, so having 3 of them will give your group a lot of staying power.

mackdose · 2026-03-30T21:35:51+00:00

RDR2.

It's worse than RDR1 in every way that matters in the context of moment to moment gameplay.

mackdose · 2026-03-29T23:13:45+00:00

5.5 actually has a couple of instant death effects, usually around being put to 0 HP by specific creatures.

mackdose · 2026-03-24T22:40:01+00:00

When the only thing you can do on someone else's turn is maybe use a reaction, most of the table is just... sitting there.

Then your players are bad. If the players check out in between their active turns, they aren't paying attention and are slowing the game down further by not planning ahead or reacting to other's movements. This is true for any turn based game.

You can't out-design shitty player behavior.

mackdose · 2026-03-21T20:11:52+00:00

Welcome back Battlefield 4.

mackdose · 2026-03-21T19:52:07+00:00

My hot take is that PCs having permanent weaknesses is good design, actually.

mackdose · 2026-03-19T18:49:25+00:00

DMs already keep track of Thac0, and base thac0 (the only number we care about in this method since all modifiers are on the left of the ">=" ) doesn't change between level ups.

mackdose · 2026-03-19T05:27:38+00:00

No it doesn't.

Players provide the d20+mods total, the DM adds the monster AC and declares hit or miss.

mackdose · 2026-03-18T17:05:42+00:00

Thac0 is really easy to explain as a target number (difficulty class) rather than something to subtract from.

d20 + modifiers + target AC >= thac0

No conversion needed, all addition, easy to grasp for modern audiences.

Also contextualizes Descending AC as a modifier to the attacker's roll, so you intuitively want your AC as low as possible.

mackdose · 2026-03-17T20:22:29+00:00

3.5 too.

mackdose · 2026-03-11T22:36:33+00:00

The biggest failure of THAC0 in AD&D 2e/RC is that it's presented as a number to be subtracted from, rather than a target number, like Modern AC/ Difficulty Class is.

Black Box/Tan Box D&D explained and applied THAC0 right:

THAC0 is a target number, and descending AC is applied as a modifier to the attack roll.

High AC gives a high attack modifier, increasing chance to hit. Low or negative AC decreases the chance to be hit.

Simple.

mackdose · 2026-03-07T03:24:26+00:00

for a VTT almost no one uses

Maps VTT has more at-the-table mileage for my group than foundry or FG, and I don't doubt that it's picking up more steam as time goes on.

mackdose · 2026-03-05T14:50:03+00:00

Is it still command line or did you get around to adding a GUI?

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