I’m sure some will be disgruntled and / or confused over the decision in B29 to drop completion bonuses from components. I felt like it would be a good idea to voice some of the reasoning.
As some may remember, we did originally conduct a poll on this matter and the community was in favor of dropping the bonuses. At the time though, I was still reluctant because I knew there would be backlash. Dealing with component clutter and the inability to automate things like the blacksmith and shrines is the sort of minor annoyance though that grows over time and finally reaches a point where you want to be rid of it.
Below are my comments from the closed testing discussion, when they initially found out about the change:
Yeah, at the time I was more afraid of the backlash from people attached to components.
Over time though, I’ve been worn away by the constant complaints about the non-stacking / lack of inventory space and I’ve also been playtesting a lot more recently and experiencing the annoyance of it myself. I get to a point where I don’t want to see another component drop because I don’t want to pick it up and have it in my inventory but it also feels like a loss leaving it on the ground.
They become a constant annoyance and beyond that, they created annoyance in other features, like the blacksmith and shrines, where they can’t just automatically pull ingredients from your inventory. Then there is the gameplay aspect where, when I need to use one up in crafting, I have to debate about which completion bonuses I want to keep (cluttering up my stash for some theoretical build I may never get around to making) vs. the ones I can live without. That or you get disappointing bonuses on your self-found char and reluctantly attach it to your item knowing you’ll have to strip it off later. It’s also just one extra layer of disparity in player gearing that makes it more difficult to balance the level of challenge.
It occurred to me that this system just doesn’t feel good. It seems amateurish and unrefined. We’re afraid to let go of an old mechanic that is sort of cool but just not meshing well with this new game that has too many components you want to keep around, too much reason to save them and too many features that use them. I can just imagine press reviewers at launch talking about how components are cool at first but then become a mess that is frustrating to deal with.
I decided to implement this and see how it felt first before talking about it, since I felt there would just be outcry and endless debate. After playing with it, I just knew it was the right thing to do. It makes the game more playable, removing a source of tedium.
I’m sure there will be some backlash and someone will probably flip out and say they’re never playing again. But I think for the vast majority of people, this will be a big improvement and just makes the game feel that much more polished and playable. For the people who are upset at the loss, I think once the shock subsides, time will go on and you’ll adjust and then eventually enjoy the convenience and extra inventory space. I know I have. Plus, as Nine reminded me, components have been buffed and received additional bonuses to compensate.
It’s possible we may add in some similar form of additional randomized bonuses for people to hunt through an expansion feature.
