@secelit3 said in PTS Update 08/04/2021 (13.12):
Okay, hardcore mode is a completely optional experience, and at a glance, it appeared he was requesting a nerf. Now, with the fuel trailers empty, I’m not so sure, as I have to restart to see how it plays out.
Because the mode is completely optional, it is upsetting and extremely concerning to see requests to make the mode less difficult.
Again, I don’t want to see the “it’s hard, so change it” mentality referencing an optional mode. It’s so common these days.
I'm inclined to agree, it seems somewhat daft to want to reduce the difficulty of an optional mode that literally has the title "Hard Mode".
Obviously, a well-thought-through balance needs to be struck, and that's somewhat the point of testing it before live rollout.
...but to my mind, I'd say the ideal balance to be struck should be aiming for a hypothetical case where if a player does things with, say, around 75% efficiency, they'll just about squeak through all tasks in a region without running out of money, accounting for the need to buy a handful of upgrades and perhaps a couple of trucks, taking into account all the money that can be gained from selling off unwanted equipment gained for free from exploration.
Clearly, that leaves a very wide scope of possibilities... but the point of a Hard Mode shouldn't be that literally all playstyles remain viable, and costs adjusted to allow that. Hard Mode should require significant care, planning and compromise, otherwise what's the point?
The rewards already available in the game are plentiful on a regular playthrough - and the proposed costs of fuel and repairs I think would solidly absorb a bunch of that excess without rendering a playthrough anywhere close to impossible, provided you play with care - a challenge! Exactly what we want from a Hard Mode.
Given that it's inevitable that people will want different things from Hard Mode, and have a different idea of what is "challenging but fair", this only lends weight to my feeling that it should present itself as a bunch of sliders when you start a new Hard Mode save - have reasonable defaults as the minimum values (so that beating Hard Mode is still a valid baseline achievement), but allow people to increase multipliers for each, so if we want to try and beat the game with 10x higher repair costs and 1.5x higher fuel costs, we can.