KickStarter Darkest Dungeon Pre-Release Thread

[Beastro]

The more persons introduced to Lovecraftian horror, the better, as it's a woefully underutilized genre...

That seems to be the only constructive, lasting impact DD will have.

It's over utilized.

Like the horror in it itself, it only works well as a genre when it's obscure and little know, which it isn't anymore.

 

[Matalarata]

Stress heals are supposed to be inferior to stress sources, it's something you sneak in between when you manage to get a free turn or two. As it stands now the game is quite easy but unnecessarily grindy. Stress is really manageable imho, I'm using a single inspiring tune Jester coupled with an abomination and the two compliment really well. I also have a party of ruin specialists with 2 crusaders merrily holy-lanceing their way through, one of those is spec'd for stress realief since I needed something to use in position 3. But apart from being able to finish dungeon on 0 stress (quite pointless since you have passive recover in the hamlet) stress skills are just a nice addition.

If you want to keep stress in check just use +crit constantly, either from traits ("regional" or "vs racial" traits are usually better, but there's one which gives 3-4% to ranged crits wich is huge), trinkets or skills. You'll get loads and loads of stress heals. If shit hits the fan, remember you can always retreat.

 

[Viata]

The more persons introduced to Lovecraftian horror, the better, as it's a woefully underutilized genre...

That seems to be the only constructive, lasting impact DD will have.

It's over utilized.

Like the horror in it itself, it only works well as a genre when it's obscure and little know, which it isn't anymore.

A lot of people knows about Cthulhu, not even half of them have read a single Lovecraft's story.

 

[prodigydancer]

Well, early game is actually easier than it was several months ago. I was going to check DD after release but all those "OMG, this game is impossibly hard now" comments piqued my interest. I made a fresh start and got 10 successful runs in a row (5 light and 5 dark) so far. 2-3 successful runs could be dismissed as pure luck but 10 are a tendency.

Many trinkets are more useful now that their disadvantages are not so severe. Monsters are much less likely to focus on the same character. Incoming damage and stress generation are manageable if your party setup makes sense and kill order is right. I lost only one character and it was entirely my fault: I forgot that one guy in the party had Stress Eater, mismanaged my food supply and was aptly rewarded with a hunger-induced deathblow.

Level 5 dungeons are probably a different story but I think it's intended that you can't go there with a random party, having no clear strategy and no plan B.

 

[Matalarata]

Yes, one of the biggest problems is the level up of heroes and dungeons. You can manage apprentice runs with any kind of throwaway party (and you should do that, to select promising candidates) but higher level dungeons require well thought parties, this coupled with the heroes refusing to enter lower level dungeons means that if your party has even the slightest exp difference you need do swap it around in order to level up those lagging behind.
This coupled with calsses that refuse to party together, the generally low rooster pool and the stagecoach RNG (My record is 46 weeks without a single Highwayman) means medium-high level adventures are a chore to micromanage. Not difficult, just a chore. Fortunately you can at least bring low level heroes to high level dungeons, but they get something like +40 stress just for embarking...
Also gold prices are way too high, and upgrades to stress relieving services in the hamlet are a joke, just spend everything on the stagecoach and in price-reducing upgrades, everything else can wait.

 

[Celerity]

So I hear you guys like modder drama. There's some more you're missing. Turns out there were two modders for this game. Me, who did a decent enough job with the very limited options available, and some guy who didn't really do much of anything except make the game grindier, more RNG based, more tedious, but actually less difficult. This other guy suddenly started caring about modding instead of his "career" (which at one point he used as a reason why I should quit my work and maintain his for no other reason) right around the time I wrote the game off as a lost cause, and although I seen some suspicious exchanges and made a prediction months in advance, I didn't think this was something I'd be more than dead on about. Several months of the usual shady shit and revisionist history from Rekt Hook later...

http://steamcommunity.com/app/262060/discussions/0/494632506576513220/

You see, apparently grindy incoherent design is perfectly fitting with their "vision", so much so that several patches, particularly the most recent one were actually the work of this guy and most likely so they wouldn't get a lawsuit for unpaid internships they hired him, then immediately threw him under the bus by directly saying he was responsible for some of the most recent design changes. Which was also a more than dead on prediction, I figured there would be some kind of delay before they shunted blame on him. Then again they're so delusional they probably think they're doing a good job so. In any case they are a good fit. They don't have a clue or an honest bone between them

 

[Infinitron]

The plot thickens!

The only thing better than modder vs developer drama is modder vs modder drama.

 

[Jimmious]

The plot thickens!

The only thing better than modder vs developer drama is modder vs modder drama.

Modder vs modder VS DEVELOPER
:kwanzania:

 

[Inspectah]

Celerity is the modder's gift that keeps on giving

 

[Celerity]

The plot thickens!

The only thing better than modder vs developer drama is modder vs modder drama.

It's more like modder vs userbase drama, since a lesser modder is ultimately responsible for all the grind/tedium related problems everyone's complaining about. I'm just hanging back and lacking at their revisionist history attempts.

Also, you know you're a respectable company when you announce you've hired someone and throw them under the bus in the same post.

 

[Gord]

Dude, please. The tedium and grind was in the game long before that other guy started his mod.
Maybe they share a design philosophy, but you can hardly hold him responsible for that stuff.
He even seems to have introduced several mechanics that Red Hook has avoided, even when they might have made the game better (e.g. more and better consumables, improved disease mechanics).

 

[prodigydancer]

What I really dislike in the current version is that getting to death's door applies a penalty that lasts until next camp (or the end of the run). It would be less annoying if it lasted for several turns or, say, until healed above some threshold.

 

[Viata]

I'm having more fun reading this modder vs modder vs developer drama than I'd have if I had bought/played the game.

 

[Andhaira]

Wow, I had no idea about this drama. Can anyone summarize the interesting bits, as I don't see any drama over at the steam forums (yet)

Also I haven't played the game in a long while, as I wanted to play the final version. In case anyone is interested the main inspiration for these guys is the tabletop pnp RPG Torchbearer.

Calling the King of all modders Drog Black Tooth to shed some light on the modding drama here. Drog could mod this game in your sleep if he wanted and show these young cry babies what a real modder can do.

 

[Celerity]

Dude, please. The tedium and grind was in the game long before that other guy started his mod.
Maybe they share a design philosophy, but you can hardly hold him responsible for that stuff.
He even seems to have introduced several mechanics that Red Hook has avoided, even when they might have made the game better (e.g. more and better consumables, improved disease mechanics).

He started his mod on week one. The grind wasn't so bad then. It didn't become bad until July, which is about the time I left and they started adding the specific sorts of grind he first introduced. In particular the high costs and debuff spam.

As for the potions and shit, that's mostly more RNG noise and removing the only unique thing this game still sort of has - no potion spam.

But ya know, for a community that immediately rages at the mere notion that someone might be a modder, you sure don't give any fucks about one directly and obviously ruining the game. But then selective reality is about what I expect from most people.

 

[Matalarata]

No, multiple people here have suggested that maybe, just maybe you're the only one seeing things this way... Yes, the game has its problems, but is nonetheles a fun dungeon romp sold at a low price, yes it could probably have been better but it could also have been so, so much worse.

The grind has nothing to do with costs or debuff spam (WTF?), it comes mainly from RNG, hard to replace heroes and high volatility of combat, all things that can still be tweaked, or modded, to your leisure.
And wtf does potion spam means? You simply got the chance to use holy water to remove debuffs and such, if any healing options are limited since after eating 4 foods a character is "stuffed".

Again, is not that the game is perfect, but your conspiracy theories and strange rants about people thrown "under the bus" are so amusing you actually manage to derail your own point 85% of times.

 

[Viata]

But ya know, for a community that immediately rages at the mere notion that someone might be a modder, you sure don't give any fucks about one directly and obviously ruining the game.

Because that modder is not here posting about some drama against the developer/community.

 

[Celerity]

No, multiple people here have suggested that maybe, just maybe you're the only one seeing things this way... Yes, the game has its problems, but is nonetheles a fun dungeon romp sold at a low price, yes it could probably have been better but it could also have been so, so much worse.

The grind has nothing to do with costs or debuff spam (WTF?), it comes mainly from RNG, hard to replace heroes and high volatility of combat, all things that can still be tweaked, or modded, to your leisure.
And wtf does potion spam means? You simply got the chance to use holy water to remove debuffs and such, if any healing options are limited since after eating 4 foods a character is "stuffed".

Again, is not that the game is perfect, but your conspiracy theories and strange rants about people thrown "under the bus" are so amusing you actually manage to derail your own point 85% of times.

Worse? Don't challenge them, that's the only "difficult" thing they might actually succeed at.

All of which were specifically amplified by this modder while actually making the game less difficult overall. The potion spam is about Gord's remark about "increased consumables". He did add a lot of potions in the mod. That did not make the base game.

These developers do throw people under the bus as a means of blame shunting, if you don't see how that helps make my points I can't help you.

But ya know, for a community that immediately rages at the mere notion that someone might be a modder, you sure don't give any fucks about one directly and obviously ruining the game.

Because that modder is not here posting about some drama against the developer/community.

He barely posts anything at all anywhere. He just does random shit. Which is in line with the Rekt Hook vision but isn't so good for the whole communication thing.

Anyways, anyone who doesn't care about the drama and just wants a good game shouldn't be in this thread at all because there's plenty of games that meet that criteria and some of those already have threads here I'm sure.

 

[duanth123]

No, multiple people here have suggested that maybe, just maybe you're the only one seeing things this way... Yes, the game has its problems, but is nonetheles a fun dungeon romp sold at a low price, yes it could probably have been better but it could also have been so, so much worse.

The grind has nothing to do with costs or debuff spam (WTF?), it comes mainly from RNG, hard to replace heroes and high volatility of combat, all things that can still be tweaked, or modded, to your leisure.
And wtf does potion spam means? You simply got the chance to use holy water to remove debuffs and such, if any healing options are limited since after eating 4 foods a character is "stuffed".

Again, is not that the game is perfect, but your conspiracy theories and strange rants about people thrown "under the bus" are so amusing you actually manage to derail your own point 85% of times.

Worse? Don't challenge them, that's the only "difficult" thing they might actually succeed at.

All of which were specifically amplified by this modder while actually making the game less difficult overall. The potion spam is about Gord's remark about "increased consumables". He did add a lot of potions in the mod. That did not make the base game.

These developers do throw people under the bus as a means of blame shunting, if you don't see how that helps make my points I can't help you.

But ya know, for a community that immediately rages at the mere notion that someone might be a modder, you sure don't give any fucks about one directly and obviously ruining the game.

Because that modder is not here posting about some drama against the developer/community.

He barely posts anything at all anywhere. He just does random shit. Which is in line with the Rekt Hook vision but isn't so good for the whole communication thing.

Anyways, anyone who doesn't care about the drama and just wants a good game shouldn't be in this thread at all because there's plenty of games that meet that criteria and some of those already have threads here I'm sure.

If you're going to put in this much effort during EA, I expect a proper post-mortem come 01/19/16.

Much as you are guilty of the crime of modder.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

No, multiple people here have suggested that maybe, just maybe you're the only one seeing things this way... Yes, the game has its problems, but is nonetheles a fun dungeon romp sold at a low price, yes it could probably have been better but it could also have been so, so much worse.

The grind has nothing to do with costs or debuff spam (WTF?), it comes mainly from RNG, hard to replace heroes and high volatility of combat, all things that can still be tweaked, or modded, to your leisure.
And wtf does potion spam means? You simply got the chance to use holy water to remove debuffs and such, if any healing options are limited since after eating 4 foods a character is "stuffed".

Again, is not that the game is perfect, but your conspiracy theories and strange rants about people thrown "under the bus" are so amusing you actually manage to derail your own point 85% of times.

Worse? Don't challenge them, that's the only "difficult" thing they might actually succeed at.

All of which were specifically amplified by this modder while actually making the game less difficult overall. The potion spam is about Gord's remark about "increased consumables". He did add a lot of potions in the mod. That did not make the base game.

These developers do throw people under the bus as a means of blame shunting, if you don't see how that helps make my points I can't help you.

But ya know, for a community that immediately rages at the mere notion that someone might be a modder, you sure don't give any fucks about one directly and obviously ruining the game.

Because that modder is not here posting about some drama against the developer/community.

He barely posts anything at all anywhere. He just does random shit. Which is in line with the Rekt Hook vision but isn't so good for the whole communication thing.

Anyways, anyone who doesn't care about the drama and just wants a good game shouldn't be in this thread at all because there's plenty of games that meet that criteria and some of those already have threads here I'm sure.

It blows my mind how literally all modders in the world are exactly like you.

 

[Celerity]

No, multiple people here have suggested that maybe, just maybe you're the only one seeing things this way... Yes, the game has its problems, but is nonetheles a fun dungeon romp sold at a low price, yes it could probably have been better but it could also have been so, so much worse.

The grind has nothing to do with costs or debuff spam (WTF?), it comes mainly from RNG, hard to replace heroes and high volatility of combat, all things that can still be tweaked, or modded, to your leisure.
And wtf does potion spam means? You simply got the chance to use holy water to remove debuffs and such, if any healing options are limited since after eating 4 foods a character is "stuffed".

Again, is not that the game is perfect, but your conspiracy theories and strange rants about people thrown "under the bus" are so amusing you actually manage to derail your own point 85% of times.

Worse? Don't challenge them, that's the only "difficult" thing they might actually succeed at.

All of which were specifically amplified by this modder while actually making the game less difficult overall. The potion spam is about Gord's remark about "increased consumables". He did add a lot of potions in the mod. That did not make the base game.

These developers do throw people under the bus as a means of blame shunting, if you don't see how that helps make my points I can't help you.

But ya know, for a community that immediately rages at the mere notion that someone might be a modder, you sure don't give any fucks about one directly and obviously ruining the game.

Because that modder is not here posting about some drama against the developer/community.

He barely posts anything at all anywhere. He just does random shit. Which is in line with the Rekt Hook vision but isn't so good for the whole communication thing.

Anyways, anyone who doesn't care about the drama and just wants a good game shouldn't be in this thread at all because there's plenty of games that meet that criteria and some of those already have threads here I'm sure.

If you're going to put in this much effort during EA, I expect a proper post-mortem come 01/19/16.

Much as you are guilty of the crime of modder.

Wanna know a secret? My review of this game has consisted of reposting the exact same thing and then adding one paragraph if the last patch actually added anything (it usually didn't) or just remarking that every problem with the game is still there and more, one by one. The game's so static and stagnant that if reviews didn't decay it wouldn't need a repost at all, just a commented addendum at best.

So I hope you're not expecting much as they're so lazy they probably won't even add new failures.

They are announcing some right now though. Anyone who wants the actual Roguelike experience, you know with a fail state and shit must first slog and grind through the regular game (3 times!) and unlock NG+. At which point you'll allegedly get the game you paid for. All of the "optional" tedium will also no longer be optional, suggesting that's what they think difficulty is.

 

[Seethe]

What I really dislike in the current version is that getting to death's door applies a penalty that lasts until next camp (or the end of the run). It would be less annoying if it lasted for several turns or, say, until healed above some threshold.

It's impossible to avoid death's door no matter what, and you get severely debuffed by getting your HP low. Add the fact that Red Hook made most enemy attacks debuff you for no logical reason, and this makes your oh so precious upgrades pointless. Game's beyond retarded at this point.

 

[Matalarata]

I don't get it... 90% of my runs no one reaches 0 HP, so no death door. Even if it does happen, just abandon the mission, if it bugs you so much. I'm certainly perfectly able to finish medium and high level dungeon even with the debuff. And please, tell me how giving cultist a +10% stress damage autodebuff is beyond ridiculous. Which debuff you find gamestopping?

 

[Seethe]

I don't get it... 90% of my runs no one reaches 0 HP, so no death door. Even if it does happen, just abandon the mission, if it bugs you so much. I'm certainly perfectly able to finish medium and high level dungeon even with the debuff. And please, tell me how giving cultist a +10% stress damage autodebuff is beyond ridiculous. Which debuff you find gamestopping?

I find that impossible. No matter what run I start, around the 4'th-5'th dungeon(after most of my characters gain negative quirks, and I can't get rid of them because I need money for supplies. And yes, characters do have a higher chance to get negative quirks than positive ones), someone will get crit for over half of their HP and a quarter of their stress bar, and then reach death's door after getting hit by someone else the next round. What did you say? Stuns and crowd control? Sorry dude, your retarded plague doctor just decided to skip her attack because she became too stressed due to the fight taking too long which is caused by your characters missing all the time. *applauds*

Or she was low HP and simply decided to switch places with another character, again due to being too stressed, which of course caused her to get hit by the brute in the front. Now call me a weakling or a casual or whatever, but if my characters could randomly switch their positions in Disciples 2, my favorite TBS of all time would turn into my most hates TBS of all time.

 

[Matalarata]

Then leave and do another mission. As I wrote above gold prices are to high for everything but if you upgrade for cheaper prices and don't waste money on doomed heroes gold is perfectly manageable, what does it mean you find it hard to believe? I'm hardly the only one able to reach current end game material... I'm currently trying a run with some self imposed limitations on top, week 52 iirc and only two dead, level 0 throwaways.
Also I ask again, which debuff you find so game stopping as to make your high level heroes useless? Why don't you just bring some holy water?
As for character acting under stress effects, latest patch makes it so that even if the action is refused (like trying to heal a masochist) you still get to choose a different action. Anyway having one charactet fail his or her resolve is usually a sign that you need to nope-nope-nope from the mission...