Docklands is AMAZING | Forums

[Night.W0LF]

It's quite hard to find common ground it seems.
And since people are finding ways to play Anno their way, it's impossible because everyone has their own vision on how the game should be.
And the devs are obviously listening to the majority rather than the minority, regardless of what's right or wrong.

Let's take a different approach and simplify things.
1) A city building game should be revolving around micro management (industry, finance, building, resources, ecc).
By definition it should be hard but yeah, some people want it the easy way.
They just want to build pretty houses and that's about all they want.
...Maybe it's harsh to judge someone only because they have low aspirations but I will always be looking down on the idle minded.
However the devs should be able to strike a balance between Difficulty vs End Result.
2) Before Docklands the issue with New World, from which you had to import most of the resources you needed for investors (because yeah, I want every need fulfilled) was the fact that you had very low supply potential.
With every farm maxed out (tractors, specialists, ecc) you could only produce so much and after a certain point and if you placed more houses, you'd have shortages on those resources.
To get the maximum efficiency, I built on every piece of land on all the islands, on some even having 14 farms under the same trade unions. All equipped with the best specialists for crops and investing a lot of time and resources into it.
There are islands where I don't even have 3x3 squares left to place a single house.
Everything optimized to fullest extent.

Imagine my disappointment with Docklands when the game gave me infinite resources for free and had to delete New World.
This content might be good for zero skill players but what about for the ones who actually know how to play the game?
What is my challenge?
I'll tell you what it is... I'll have to start a new save, enabling every possible handicap and remove Docklands... but that will have some downsides.
I won't have the dock buildings like loading wharfs which are very nice, the harbormasters and the new ships.
Here you might say that I don't have to use the import feature... but come on dude, it's right there! ...I should be skipping it just to handicap myself?!
It's utterly absurd... makes no sense whatsoever.

Like in all games, I use everything at my disposal to reach the highest possible result.
The only thing that actually counts is IF the road towards that goal is enough of a challenge to be satisfying but not absurdly hard enough to become frustrated.
But since there are different skill levels between players, balance is hard to achieve.

Right now the scale of balance is favoring the simple minded folk.
...and for me, playing a game that poses zero challenge will most definitely kill my brain.
Have you seen the movie "Tropic Thunder" ? ...."never go full ******"

[P0PPYTAT]

i agree that Docklands makes the game a lot easier, but then, so does the Research Institute...you choose to use as intended...or just for the pretty buildings. both of these buildings give a massive advantage to those just starting out in Anno, but Anno players aren't really in any competition with each other so it doesn't matter who uses what to help them get ahead in their game...they don't need to ever know what it was like to try and keep everyone drunk and sober at the same time...unbelievable amounts of rum and coffee needed, Docklands removes that frustration.
i don't have the DLC yet, and i doubt i will benefit from the import/export it brings to the game, PC determines how big my game will get and i'm quite balanced at 161k pop.
i only want the buildings and i wish the mod let us have the buildings without owning the DLC but, i get it.

[Darkbirt]

I've got a more neutral position of it.
To put it short:
Pro:
- New decorations
- Possibility to build in the harbor area more freely
- build roads in the harbor area
- Huge harbormaster's office
- New ship
- And finally, a LIGHTHOUSE

Contra:
- I'm not happy with the fact that the influence system is destroyed, you build a docks on every island and it doesn't use influence.
- You end up almost playing only in the old world and Cape, as a matter of fact my game has two large islands with over 10000 investors and I still need to open the New World and the Arctic.
- I was hoping on some new items, so we can get new strategies
- The docks building can't be stretched out over the whole island.
- I like the trade system, but I preferred a more constant supply
- Some buildings of the docks needs to use influence. Adding over 10 items in the slots and way to many repair cranes will make the docks indestructible. I haven't tried it yet, but how can you take over an island with docks build on it. It's just impossible. The military take overs are impossible, because of this the gameplay comes at a standstill.

Luckly the AI can't build them so the game turn's in favor for the player.

[Brando_0070]

It's quite hard to find common ground it seems.
And since people are finding ways to play Anno their way, it's impossible because everyone has their own vision on how the game should be.
And the devs are obviously listening to the majority rather than the minority, regardless of what's right or wrong.

Welcome to the devs world - trying to keep everyone happy when every single player has a different opinion on what the game should be.
So it is mostly in their interest to listen to the majority opinions.

1) A city building game should be revolving around micro management (industry, finance, building, resources, ecc).

And it still does, with or without Docklands.

By definition it should be hard but yeah, some people want it the easy way.
They just want to build pretty houses and that's about all they want.

And they have every right to play the game the way they enjoy just as you do.
Why does it even matter to you how someone else wants to play a single player game?
And many people have already "beaten" the game exactly the same way as you, using all of the new world, exporting loads of gas from the artic, supplying loads of needs for scholars with goods from Enbesa.
Now with Docklands they dont have to do that if they dont want to, and it helps the people that are struggling too.
But that doesnt matter to you..see your next quote -

...Maybe it's harsh to judge someone only because they have low aspirations but I will always be looking down on the idle minded.

You must be fun at parties.

However the devs should be able to strike a balance between Difficulty vs End Result.

And they have done a pretty good job of that.

Imagine my disappointment with Docklands when the game gave me infinite resources for free and had to delete New World.

Who was the nasty man forcing you to delete the New World?

Here you might say that I don't have to use the import feature... but come on dude, it's right there! ...I should be skipping it just to handicap myself?!

You say you want a challenge so yes, just dont abuse the import feature!
How difficult is that? Just because its there you have to use it? erm no you dont.
To quote yourself - It's utterly absurd... makes no sense whatsoever.

The only thing that actually counts is IF the road towards that goal is enough of a challenge to be satisfying but not absurdly hard enough to become frustrated.

You just dont care about all the other players that are not at your, percieved level.
Well, they are just lazy, simple minded, zero skill players afterall /s

Right now the scale of balance is favoring the simple minded folk.

I wil say it once again as you obviosly have trouble understanding a very simple thing -
The scale of balance has not changed at all, the only thing making the game have zero challenge is you.
You didnt have to delete the New World just because you have Docklands, that isnt a forced condition of importing anything is it?

I get it, you paid money for a DLC which doesnt meet your, personal, expectations, but it has for many other people.
Once again your fault for not waiting and seeing if it would make your game hard enough or not.
By waiting and watching a few vids and reading others comments on the DLC you could have saved yourself a few $$/££ whatever.

Have you seen the movie "Tropic Thunder" ? ...."never go full ******"

maybe you should take your own advice

[IIAc3sII]

I'm not going to get this DLC, as others have pointed out, it takes away the challenge of the game.

[Brando_0070]

I'm not going to get this DLC, as others have pointed out, it takes away the challenge of the game.

At least you waited to see if it was something you would like.

If you have a bit more self control than the ones that are saying it takes all of the challenge away, then you could still take advantage of quicker loading/unloading, smaller coastal footprint and the other benefits (as well as a new, cool looking dock area if thats your thing) without changing the way the game plays at all.
Plus, if you did ever run into a goods shortage, for whatever reason, you would be able to bail yourself out, until you got it under control again.

No one is forced to take away any challenge at all.

[P0PPYTAT]

might take away the challange...but look at those beautiful buildings...

[Brando_0070]

might take away the challange...but look at those beautiful buildings...

Only takes the challenge away if you have no self control...

[baraterek]

Only takes the challenge away if you have no self control...

Why I should? Why game cannot predict/track such thing for me? Why I need to always remember to not use item X, not trade Final Good for Raw materials because ratio is to good, why I always need to think if I should use Garrick/Dario or not (even that there is no penalty to use them). Lot of things to track on top of actually playing.
There is lot of such things that devs (or either accountants, because devs do what they're payed for and specialists from UX and game designers decided) could implement in the game as difficulty settings on game setup phase, but they didn't.
It's verry comfortable, that when adding new content you don't need to look carefully if it wont "break" anything else and allows to create DLCs faster (less testing with alpha/beta stage). If it's the way that BlueByte decided the game should go, fine - they see that it generates profit/income.
It doesn't mean tho, that we're not allowed to complain or discuss about game balance changes. Allow us to do it, don't try to discredit our point of view. Does it hurt you so much, that devs could read it and even agree with some of our statements?Why you cannot stand that some of us enjoy the fact, that we must "beat the game"?
Woluld you like an RPG game, when if there is a boss fight, you can just click "meh, kill it and go on" ... probably yes, but for me it would take all the point of leveling, getting equipment and so on. I can then just not buy such game, go to youtube and watch walk-through for the story, but is it really what's best for this game?
I would even pay for such "tryhard" DLC which adds more game setup settings - it would be optional, and you don't need to buy it. Just like those purely cosmetic DLCs
I would also pay for a DLC which change how expeditions are handled to have more "text rpg style" where decisions are actually important (now it's autoclick on highest number). For making such things possible, there need to be demand. To show demad - there need to be discussions.There will be also critics, and you need to live with it, because it's how world is constructed.

[Brando_0070]

.....

You are not really discussing just Docklands here, it seems that you think the whole game should be harder or at least have more game setting to make it harder before you even start a game.

That is fine, I am not argueing against any of that at all

I dont know where you are getting the impression I am trying to discredit your point of view either, I am simply giving my opinion of the points that you and others are raising.
Or the fact that you seem to think I want the game to play itself and dont want any challenge at all.
That couldnt be any further from the truth.
I am arguing for the right for people to play and enjoy the game in a way that they want.
And the people that are saying that Docklands should have limits or have raw materials removed from import etc. (without this being optional) are just thinking of themselves, and want everyone to play it their way.

It seems like you have more of a problem with someone being a critic of your own opinions than I do
Which is strange as I have already said to you that I have no problem with having extra, optional harder settings added to the game, which is the thing you seem to want the most.

At the end of the day, the devs have created a game which is the best selling Anno they have ever made.
So even if you are, personally, not happy with how difficult it is or the design choices they have made, many many more people are.