Fer.al things!

[InspectorCaracal]

It's kinda frustrating that they have flying challenges in the season pass. I get having a mix of different types of activities, but level-locking some of them is just kinda mean.

I was hoping those challenges were only available to characters who had unlocked wings. :/ Yeah, that's bad. Although it's possible they're not meant to be for everyone and it's just broken, like almost everything else around flying is.

There isn't ANYTHING else in the WHOLE game that you have to unlock, tho, so it seems unlikely they'd code in a special mechanic just for one set of challenges. I think they just weren't thinking about it at all and it's technically an optional challenge so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm not super mad about it or anything just kinda sulking that it takes up an available challenge slot lol

[corvabird]

It's kinda frustrating that they have flying challenges in the season pass. I get having a mix of different types of activities, but level-locking some of them is just kinda mean.

I was hoping those challenges were only available to characters who had unlocked wings. :/ Yeah, that's bad. Although it's possible they're not meant to be for everyone and it's just broken, like almost everything else around flying is.

There isn't ANYTHING else in the WHOLE game that you have to unlock, tho, so it seems unlikely they'd code in a special mechanic just for one set of challenges. I think they just weren't thinking about it at all and it's technically an optional challenge so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm not super mad about it or anything just kinda sulking that it takes up an available challenge slot lol

I get that. I think they are going to add more unlockables though (like my pet theory that large wings will give freeform flight). And I *hate* when a challenge slot is taken up by something annoying XD


Oh, I'm planning to trial player-run races this week! Hide and Seek has gone really well so far and I'd like to have more game modes. I think racing could be pretty fun but it'll depend on how smoothly it goes given I can't place map markers or anything.

[InspectorCaracal]

I was hoping those challenges were only available to characters who had unlocked wings. :/ Yeah, that's bad. Although it's possible they're not meant to be for everyone and it's just broken, like almost everything else around flying is.

There isn't ANYTHING else in the WHOLE game that you have to unlock, tho, so it seems unlikely they'd code in a special mechanic just for one set of challenges. I think they just weren't thinking about it at all and it's technically an optional challenge so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm not super mad about it or anything just kinda sulking that it takes up an available challenge slot lol

I get that. I think they are going to add more unlockables though (like my pet theory that large wings will give freeform flight). And I *hate* when a challenge slot is taken up by something annoying XD


Oh, I'm planning to trial player-run races this week! Hide and Seek has gone really well so far and I'd like to have more game modes. I think racing could be pretty fun but it'll depend on how smoothly it goes given I can't place map markers or anything.

OOOOH RACING

hey lemme look up how the first roller beetle races were run in GW2 - they were entirely community-run events, so the logistics for them should translate pretty well. If I get any useful tips out of it I'll throw them at you.

edit: hmmmm no it sounds like they used custom map markers, so that's not super useful

i'm thinking volunteers at checkpoints, maybe, for the racers to aim for? and i can help design the race routes if you want/need some help or ideas

[corvabird]

There isn't ANYTHING else in the WHOLE game that you have to unlock, tho, so it seems unlikely they'd code in a special mechanic just for one set of challenges. I think they just weren't thinking about it at all and it's technically an optional challenge so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm not super mad about it or anything just kinda sulking that it takes up an available challenge slot lol

I get that. I think they are going to add more unlockables though (like my pet theory that large wings will give freeform flight). And I *hate* when a challenge slot is taken up by something annoying XD


Oh, I'm planning to trial player-run races this week! Hide and Seek has gone really well so far and I'd like to have more game modes. I think racing could be pretty fun but it'll depend on how smoothly it goes given I can't place map markers or anything.

OOOOH RACING

hey lemme look up how the first roller beetle races were run in GW2 - they were entirely community-run events, so the logistics for them should translate pretty well. If I get any useful tips out of it I'll throw them at you.

edit: hmmmm no it sounds like they used custom map markers, so that's not super useful

i'm thinking volunteers at checkpoints, maybe, for the racers to aim for? and i can help design the race routes if you want/need some help or ideas

I have found that it's hard to get large groups together, so having people acting as crew is unlikely. Even getting anyone to seek in Hide and Seek is awkward -- everyone wants to hide.

So my plan for small-scale, anyone-can-do-it races is we start at a starting point and I name an end location (small and recognisable, like Teeter's Shrine or the Blood Oasis in the blizzard. Then people get there however they choose with no teleporting and no wings.

A set route would be fun but I think much MUCH harder to set-up when the entire crew of the thing is just ... me. So in many ways the race is as much about pathfinding as it is about anything else, though I guess in a game where all speed is the same, that's always the case, just on different scales.

If I ever get enough people that I can have a set route with people to mark it though, I would love to plot routes with you!

[InspectorCaracal]

I get that. I think they are going to add more unlockables though (like my pet theory that large wings will give freeform flight). And I *hate* when a challenge slot is taken up by something annoying XD


Oh, I'm planning to trial player-run races this week! Hide and Seek has gone really well so far and I'd like to have more game modes. I think racing could be pretty fun but it'll depend on how smoothly it goes given I can't place map markers or anything.

OOOOH RACING

hey lemme look up how the first roller beetle races were run in GW2 - they were entirely community-run events, so the logistics for them should translate pretty well. If I get any useful tips out of it I'll throw them at you.

edit: hmmmm no it sounds like they used custom map markers, so that's not super useful

i'm thinking volunteers at checkpoints, maybe, for the racers to aim for? and i can help design the race routes if you want/need some help or ideas

I have found that it's hard to get large groups together, so having people acting as crew is unlikely. Even getting anyone to seek in Hide and Seek is awkward -- everyone wants to hide.

So my plan for small-scale, anyone-can-do-it races is we start at a starting point and I name an end location (small and recognisable, like Teeter's Shrine or the Blood Oasis in the blizzard. Then people get there however they choose with no teleporting and no wings.

A set route would be fun but I think much MUCH harder to set-up when the entire crew of the thing is just ... me. So in many ways the race is as much about pathfinding as it is about anything else, though I guess in a game where all speed is the same, that's always the case, just on different scales.

If I ever get enough people that I can have a set route with people to mark it though, I would love to plot routes with you!

Yeah tbh the only difference between what I was thinking and what you were thinking is the number of checkpoints lmao

Basically in order to make it interesting as a competition you wanna make sure you pick a place where there's an obstacle that needs to be navigated around to get there, or different routes that might be faster or slower, so even just picking start point A and end point B has some strategy involved for making it a fun race. And throwing even one checkpoint into the middle can make it way more exciting a race as a result.

The Blood Oasis is a good one, especially starting from the village on the hill I forget the name of. Teeter's Shrine would work if you start them off at Hallowmist.

[InspectorCaracal]

So my plan for small-scale, anyone-can-do-it races is we start at a starting point and I name an end location (small and recognisable, like Teeter's Shrine or the Blood Oasis in the blizzard. Then people get there however they choose with no teleporting and no wings.

Popping back to this with another thought: assuming you're the only one overseeing the race, something like Hallowmist Crossing -> Teeter's Shrine would work better than the Oasis, because you can start off the race, then *you* can teleport and get yourself to the end point before anyone else arrives. And it'd be super obvious if someone was running in from the portal 'cause the portal is the opposite direction.

Basically, if you're running it solo, ideally you wanna pick an end point near a portal so you can get to the end first without having to be in the race, that doesn't have a portal in between the start and finish locations, and that has multiple possible ways to run there.

[corvabird]

Ooh, thank you for the tips! I like the idea of there being an obstacle -- that was what appealed about the Blood Oasis, but I hadn't thought of it in such concrete terms before. And I really like the idea of a mid-way checkpoint.

I think my plan is to take part myself if it's just friends and trust that nobody is cheating, but I'd oversee if there were more participants or a more complicated race.

[InspectorCaracal]

Ooh, thank you for the tips! I like the idea of there being an obstacle -- that was what appealed about the Blood Oasis, but I hadn't thought of it in such concrete terms before. And I really like the idea of a mid-way checkpoint.

I think my plan is to take part myself if it's just friends and trust that nobody is cheating, but I'd oversee if there were more participants or a more complicated race.

Aha! In that case there are loads more options. 8) I'd offer to help or ask to be in the race but I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be in my timezone availability lol oh well

[corvabird]

Ooh, thank you for the tips! I like the idea of there being an obstacle -- that was what appealed about the Blood Oasis, but I hadn't thought of it in such concrete terms before. And I really like the idea of a mid-way checkpoint.

I think my plan is to take part myself if it's just friends and trust that nobody is cheating, but I'd oversee if there were more participants or a more complicated race.

Aha! In that case there are loads more options. 8) I'd offer to help or ask to be in the race but I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be in my timezone availability lol oh well

I know! I really want to play with you sometime!

If we ever cross paths and have time for a race or two we can totally do that though

[corvabird]

I uninstalled Feral yesterday. I don't think I'll be playing again unless the situation changes. Here's a brief overview if you're interested in why.

Negative Feral drama, blockchain

To make a long story ... less long? The CEO Clark Stacey announced a AMA about their new blockchain-based MMO they're putting out. It was a disaster in which they didn't answer many questions, constantly contradicted themself, and made it very clear that 'we knew our players would hate it but we're doing it anyway' and 'this isn't aimed at you'. They also made it clear that stopping financial support would lead to Feral being axed, not the new game, Cinder.

I decided I would not be giving them money any more but might keep playing Feral for free, since I love the community and the game.

Then it was revealed on the website for their new game that they'd been 'testing the platform' for that MMO with Feral. All the art, characters, and locations for the new game seem to come directly from Feral. The most significant difference is that you cannot customise your character -- instead you can purchase and collect 'randomly generated' NFT characters.

The idea that they never intended to complete Feral, and that all their words about 'stepping back to have more room for better updates' and all their big plans about what the world would be like were just ... lies ... was too much for me. There's also some speculation that they might use Feral player-created designs as the basis for their 'random' NFTs which bothered me a lot, so I scrubbed my characters before I uninstalled.

The AMA is on the Feral Discord under 'Clark Answers' and 'Clark AMA' threads, and includes a badly sourced article from the CEO about why blockchain is green now and NFTs are good actually.