Does the game really need lifeskills? Problems & Solutions

Wicked Feedback
1

I’ll preface with: I love the game, don’t get me wrong, i don’t mind a little of lifeskilling, but replaying the game makes me hate it, i understand that it plays a big role into upgrading the town, but i feel like it should be streamlined to no hurt the core gameplay experience of Wicked

The way the game forces you into these chores just to progress your character and the town is seriously hurting the core gameplay loop

Instead of hunting bosses, running dungeons (future endgame activity?), or actually playing the combat system, we are stuck spending hours chopping trees, picking up logs, picking plants and melting bars.. it completely kills your momentum.. in elden ring i’d pick up flowers once, then i’d stop because it’s just annoying to do

Solution:

  • make lifeskilling a rare event and make their resources more impact/valuable, this keeps the system but makes it less annoying:

    • resources become a rare event and gated behind a special encounter (mini boss themed around the resource)
      • rare golden tree
      • rare golden shroom
      • rare diamond vein
      • rare fishing spot

  • make lifeskilling a completely separate, optional activity by equipping a tool, you become a “Peasant/Artisan/Cook/Blacksmith” Class and you start to level it up to your liking, you unlock traits to make it faster, what ever suits you

  • make it a dedicated endgame activity (similar to solution #1)

  • hire dedicated NPCs to do the tasks for you, but then you share your time vs a timer, i don’t know if it’s better or worse

Keep the main game focused on combat and exploration stuff, this is an ARPG, not Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley, the lifeskilling should be its own separate thing for the people who actually enjoy it

But you may ask: what happens to town building? But imo that’s the wrong question to ask, the better one would be: “How to make town building more engaging?”

  • Become a related NPC’s guard, and help him deliver resources from point A to B
  • Go in an island to rescue workers
  • Recover stolen goods from a Bandit camp

Progress would be based on how well you do during the missions

Lots of possibilities, you have to be more creative

I think a good short term solution would be to make the lifeskills happen less often and make them more impactful, a easy win

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